Chapter 18 fourth quarter

"Sorry for keeping everyone waiting. Noji-san, I'm so sorry." Kumajima shrugged his broad shoulders and walked in through the gate.He rubbed his hands and approached while talking about how the wind was outside. "Officer Kumajima, would you like a cup of coffee too?" Kumajima said "OK" and raised three fingers at Noji who was walking towards the counter. "Can I have three glasses?" "Okay—but..." "I just contacted Xi Chuan, he seems to be here soon." Kumajima sat down on an empty chair.Suddenly a gust of wind came, bringing the smell of night.

"Three cups—uh, you, Officer Xichuan, and..." Noji, who was counting with his fingers bent, stopped here.He looked at Gui.Gui noticed his gaze and looked at Kumajima in surprise. "I heard that others are at home, and we will come together later." When Kumajima lowered his head slightly and said this, the door at the entrance was opened again. "I'm back." Behind Xi Chuan's slender figure was a face that Ji Chuan didn't recognize.A middle-aged man with thinning hair parted sideways with hairspray. "...Gui." The man's eyes met Gui's, and a timid expression appeared on his face.Gui didn't make a sound, just gestured with a calm gaze as if facing mourners during a public funeral.

"Is that Mr. Satoshi Onogi?" Kumajima asked gently. "Ah, yes, I'm Onogi." "Such an unfortunate incident has happened, please let us be condolences." "Yes..." Kumajima gestured for him to sit on the chair next to him.Onogi, who was wearing a sweater, hunched his back, avoiding the sound of footsteps and moving towards the chair. Noji stood up and bowed his head to his old friend: "I'm really sorry that this happened in my orchestra practice center." Onogi shook his head in surprise, and waved his hands to tell Noji not to say that.During this period, Gui just stared at the tabletop, refusing to raise his head no matter what.

This man named Soichi Onogi was completely different from the person Himekawa imagined from Hikari or Katsura.In Himekawa's imagination, Hikari and Katsura's father was an unruly man who played drums at LiveHouse one night, lived an irregular life, and constantly caused troubles for his family, but still loved his two daughters in a way that was not good at words.Can life really change a person?Or will human beings seek a life that suits their own nature in order to survive?The name Satoshi sounds a bit similar to his father Soichiro, maybe because of this, Himekawa always had an impression of him being strong and unbreakable, but Satoshi who appeared in front of him now is just an ordinary man who can be seen everywhere man.

Himekawa suddenly remembered Tanio's words: "You can listen to the tape and play instead of yourself." Tanio said that he would use MTR to record his performance, and he could listen to it when he was older and his body couldn't bear it. "There should still be that kind of atmosphere." Maybe that's really the case, maybe Tani Wei is right. I heard that Guang met her father three months ago. At that time, she must have been very disappointed, and she must have felt a strong feeling of being betrayed.Then…… ——But, don’t you feel empty? ——I want to pick up a musical instrument to play, but find that I am completely different from before, which is even more emptiness.

She must have felt so empty. I knew I shouldn't have met.It's better not to see each other.You should be content to keep good memories, and just take them out to relive them once in a while.That must be the only way for people to have happiness no matter how many years they have passed. In the mother's apartment, countless paintings of my sister were scattered all over the place, because my mother painted her sister before her life almost every day.That was the real appearance of the older sister—maybe it was the method chosen by the mother in order to never forget the true appearance of the elder sister who no longer existed in this world.Maybe my mother was living in that house, playing my sister's memories every day.

Kumajima explained to Onogi how Hikari's "accident" happened.He uttered "Ah, ah" which sounded like a sigh in agreement, kept his face stiff, and occasionally asked faintly meaningless questions.He always cared about Gui at the edge of his field of vision, maybe because of this, no matter what he said, it sounded like he was apologizing. "—The situation seems to be like this." After finishing the explanation, Kumajima bowed deeply to Onogi and said, "It's really an unfortunate accident. I can understand your feelings." "No, no, don't say that, you're causing trouble to everyone..."

Onogi shook his head and waved his hands again, just like what he did to Noji just now.Probably because I habitually feel retreating when I bow my head to others.His demeanor gave no sign of a father who had just lost his daughter. At this time, Gui said: "I heard you met your sister." "Huh? Ah, um, yes, not long ago." Maybe it was the sudden question that surprised him, or maybe Gui's tone was too respectful, Onogi replied with a stiff face: "I just told you?" "Brother Yeji said it." After Gui finished speaking in a stiff tone, he added softly, "Just told me."

That was the last time Himekawa heard their father and daughter talking. Soon after, Kumajima asked Himekawa, Tanio, and Takeuchi to go home first, while Katsura and Onoki were taken to the University Hospital where Hikari's body was temporarily parked. "Sorry for delaying everyone so late, everyone has to go to work tomorrow. Mr. Noji too, thank you very much for your cooperation. I will take my leave today." "Thanks for your hard work." "Regarding this accident, if you think of any new clues, please contact me, even if it's just a clue." Kumajima handed Noji a business card, and at the same time sent it to Himekawa and the others.There is a special phone number printed under the department name "One Section".

"Can you let the three of them go back?" Nishikawa said with a sideways glance at Kumajima. "Of course." "But that thing..." "It doesn't matter." Unexpectedly, being stopped by Kumajima, Nishikawa closed his mouth with a dissatisfied face. What does Nishikawa want to say?Himekawa was very concerned.Thinking about it now, when Xi Chuan brought Onogi back, his eyes seemed more serious than before, especially when facing Himekawa, Tanio and Takeuchi.Does this have anything to do with the "that thing" he was talking about just now?Himekawa cared more than that.Just now, Kumajima walked out of the orchestra practice center and came back. He said at that time that he was talking on the phone with Nishikawa.However, it was too long to leave just to make a phone call.What exactly did Kumajima do outside the door of the Lequan Practice Center at that time?

"Mr. Himekawa, can I ask you a question?" Xi Chuan looked at Himekawa and asked.Kumajima seemed to want to say something, but Nishikawa didn't care. "You are dating the victim, have you heard anything from her recently?" "Nishikawa." Kumajima stopped him. "What do you mean?" Himekawa asked. Nishikawa ignored Himekawa's words and repeated the same question. "Did you hear what she said?" "Xi Chuan, don't ask." The light pregnancy thing.Himekawa confirmed at this time that Nishikawa should be asking about this matter.Should I say it out of my own mouth?Of course he didn't intend to pretend to be ignorant. After all, he even signed the abortion consent form, and lying would be exposed immediately. "It's okay, Liang, I'm sorry. You can go back, brother Guwei and brother Takeuchi can go too." Tanio and Takeuchi looked at each other wonderingly, but they didn't seem to want to delve into it, so they immediately picked up their coats and put them on slowly.Tanio carried the bass on his back, Takeuchi packed the MTR in the corner of the waiting area into a large bag, and Himekawa carried the guitar case strap across his back. "Then, let's go first. Gui, come to me if you need anything." Takeuchi said wearily, and waved goodbye to Gui gently.Tanio also imitated him and said: "If there is any situation, please contact me immediately." "Thank you." Gui didn't look at Himekawa from the beginning to the end. When the three of them were about to walk towards the exit... "Mr. Noji, do you have tape?" Xi Chuan asked suddenly.Ye Ji looked dazed for a moment, but then he took the tape from the counter and handed it to Xi Chuan. "What are you going to do?" "Just part of the search. Can you come over here for a while before you leave? I'm sorry, but could you please line up facing the back." Just thinking about what Xi Chuan was going to do, he tore the tape into small pieces, and silently started sticking the collars of the three coats of Himekawa and the others.Kumajima stood in the distance watching with a puzzled expression on his face. They were probably collecting the hairs of the three of them.Himekawa knew right away that it must be for DNA comparison with the child in Hikari's belly. "Thank you, it's ready." Nishikawa stuck the tape on his notebook and quickly wrote on the blank space with a ballpoint pen.When he was about to put the notebook in his pocket, he stopped suddenly, because he found Onogi standing beside him with his head lowered in fear, silently revealing the collar of his coat.Although Onogi couldn't figure out the situation, he must have felt that this was some kind of important evidence-gathering that he had to participate in.Nishikawa had to do the same procedure with Onogi, and then taped it to another page in the notebook.Although it is not necessary to even collect the hair of Hikari's father, it is impossible to say this at this moment. Kumajima walked them to the door. "Mr. Kumajima, can you tell me something?" After Tanio and Takeuchi walked out first, Himekawa asked. "No problem, what do you want to ask?" "It's obviously an accident, why did you come here when you belong to the first class?" "That's because...huh?" Kumajima frowned, as if thinking about something. "You seem to have asked me the same question, did I remember wrong?" "You remember correctly. After Gu Wei called the police, I also asked you when you first arrived at the orchestra practice center." "That's right. You asked me the same question at that time. Of course my answer was the same as that time." Kumajima stood up and smiled gently. "Just in case." "But when I think about it, I still find it strange. There are accidental deaths everywhere. If the people who searched the first class went to the scene just in case, would they still have time to do the work they were supposed to do? ?” "Because we happened to be free, we were sent here this time. I should have told you about that." "but……" "Actually, I really want to ask the same question." Gu Wei stood aside at some point. "I have a relative who is a criminal policeman, so I know a little bit-this kind of situation is quite rare, I mean a criminal policeman who has learned a lesson from a simple accident." "Ah... that's right. So, it turns out that you have a relative who is a criminal police officer." "yes." Kumajima frowned and stroked his rough, broad chin.In the end, he looked at Himekawa as if he had made up his mind and said, "Actually, I asked my boss to let me come to the scene this time." "why?" "When I received the report, I happened to be in the bureau, and I heard the content of the report by accident. At that time, I learned that the scene of the accident was the practice center of this orchestra, so I hurriedly asked for details, and only then did I know that the woman who died was Hikari Onoki, so—— No, I didn't come here because I knew her, I came here because, Liang, you..." Seeing Kumajima hesitate, Himekawa continued for him: "Are you worried about me?" Kumajima nodded: "Yeah... I'm worried about you." Ji Chuan suddenly felt very irritable: "I just feel worried about you." Kumajima also used the same words to explain why he often appeared beside Himekawa, whom he knew through the case.Whether it was then or now, Kumajima is sincere.He has always been very worried about Himekawa, and he was the first to worry about Himekawa when he heard that the "electric guitar player" had an accident.Himekawa lost his father and sister when he was young, and he didn't get along well with his only family member - his mother.Kumajima must have regarded Himekawa as his unfortunate relative or something.In the past, Himekawa was very grateful for his existence, and every time he saw him, he could dilute the loneliness and melancholy in his heart.but…… This time, the appearance of Kumajima in the first investigation section brought only boredom and fear to Himekawa. "Can you stop doing this?" Himekawa looked away from Kumajima, "I really want to forget about that thing before, I don't want to see things that remind me of that thing again, and I don't want to see you again To someone who will remind me of that." Of course Himekawa knew that these words were meaningless.Kumajima has already been in charge of investigating this incident as a police officer. Nothing Himekawa says will change Kumajima's future actions. However, Himekawa still can't help but want to say: "Please don't do that again." As Himekawa said, he turned his back to Kumajima and walked away.