Chapter 42 Section 8

Terao Yusuke called in mid-September when the heat had eased a little.Hearing the voice on the phone, Zhigui didn't immediately recognize that it was him.Maybe it's because I haven't heard his voice for a long time, but I also feel that his voice is deeper than before. Probably because of the usual singing, I always want to rest my throat when I talk, and just say it with my mouth.He is not young, and he always talks like this, which makes people feel that he is not a serious man.Terao put his legs in black leather pants together and said with a smile. In the coffee shop next to Ikebukuro Station, the two sat facing each other, because Terao said on the phone that he wanted to meet.Zhigui is now working in a nearby electrical appliance store. The work doesn't end until 8:00 pm, and there is an hour's break from 3:00 pm. He uses this time to meet up with old friends.

"It's very hard to transfer jobs and move house!" Terao said. "Yeah." Zhigui nodded.Only a very limited number of people were notified about the move.I don't have much contact with Terao, but I still come for New Year's cards every year, so I added him to the notification list. "How's the band going? Is it going well!" Naoki asked. "Still working hard. Almost never appeared on TV, you should know. The record company may have lost confidence. Now I plan to release the next CD first, but the specific things have not been implemented yet, I don't know. What will happen in the future."

It's still the same, Naoki thought while drinking his coffee.I often watch music programs and professional magazines.Of course, it was because he cared about Terao and the others.But I can't remember the last time I saw the name of the "Cosmic Light" band. "Recently, my parents often complain, saying that it's almost time to do something serious. From the perspective of my parents, we are not doing serious things now." Terao smiled wryly. "How about the other members? Are they still holding on?" "Anyway, so far." Terao's eyes dropped for a moment.

"so far?" "Xing Tian, ​​do you remember, he said he didn't want to do it anymore." Naoki looked at Terao in surprise, "Why?" "If I don't want to do it, I can't force him to stay. If he leaves, Atsushi and Kenichi will probably be shaken." Terao smiled and sighed, "It's already a candle before the wind." Hearing this, Zhigui lowered his head.What would happen if I did it myself?The thought flitted through his mind.He didn't think it would be successful, maybe the world of music is harsher.If we continue to work together, we will have the same thoughts as Terao.Although the reason is not so reasonable, the way of getting out may be correct, and the mood becomes complicated.

"How are you? It's Shiji, I heard her voice on the phone. It seems to be a very pleasant atmosphere." "Oh, it's okay. The salary is not high, so it makes my wife suffer." "It doesn't matter what Yushiko said." Terao nodded, straightened up and looked at Naoki, "How is brother? Are you still in touch as before?" "My brother," Zhigui said after a pause, "I have cut off the relationship, and now I have no contact with him, and I haven't told him where he lives." "Really..." Terao seemed a little at a loss.

"Now, no one in the company knows about my brother. The people around the house and the kindergarten where Shiji went. They never dreamed that we are relatives of the robbery and murderer. That's why we can live in peace. After moving here, Shiji also became more cheerful.” "After we broke up, a lot of things happened." "Just like Imagine." After hearing Naoki's words, Terao let out an "ah" and opened his eyes wide. "A world without discrimination and prejudice is just a product of imagination. Human beings are creatures that need to be accompanied by such things." Naoki stared at Terao intently, and said in a calm voice that surprised him.Terao looked away.

"Imagine... eh, the song you sang for the first time in front of us." "I still like that song now." The corners of Zhigui's mouth relaxed. Terao moved the coffee cup and water cup in front of him aside, put his elbows on the table, and leaned forward. ""Imagination"...do you want to sing it again?" "what?" "I mean, do you want to sing with me again? You don't hate music, do you?" "Are you kidding me?" "I'm not joking with you. I'm going to have a concert recently. You don't want to try it? A friendship performance, according to the current view, it's a cooperative performance."

Zhigui burst out laughing, "Did Koda and Atsushi put me in because they wanted to leave?" "It's not like that. If I continue to make music, I can do it alone. I thought about it a long time ago. But, in fact, I started to challenge new things last year." "What? You said something new." "Go to a prison show." "prison……" "I played and sang for inmates in the prison. Atsushi and the others also participated, but most of them were done by myself." "Why did you do such a thing?" "To put it bluntly, it's a groping, what is music? What role can music play? I want to confirm again. I just started thinking like this. I don't know if you know that there is basically no income, and it is not what the prison asked us to do. It's totally a volunteer activity."

"Oh……" Zhigui thought, the band is about to break up, but this man has not changed at all, he is still pursuing his dream.That dream is not something like becoming popular through music.Thinking of just now, it might be right for me to think that I didn't work with them, Zhigui felt a little ashamed. "The next time it will be held is in Chiba." Terao said and glanced at Naoki. Naoki lowered his head and squinted at him, "So you invited me to participate?" "Don't have any other misunderstandings. I ask you not to add any more topics. There is only one point. I hope there will be something like a bridge to connect the audience with me. I have done it many times before, and I can't get it. The sense of distance from the audience is not allowed. So I want to try to play again while confirming the positional relationship between the prisoner and myself.”

"You want me to matchmaking?" "It's just in my heart, I said. You and your brother are absolutely confidential." "Of course, I don't think Terao said these things just to create some topic." "There is another reason, it's just that I'm nosy." Terao said, "When I decided to do it in Chiba, the first thing I thought of was you. I wondered if you were still troubled by your brother's affairs. I think it's important for you , is it a chance to clear up the estrangement. You haven’t visited anyway, have you?” Naoki lowered his eyes, crossed his arms, and made a moaning sound.I haven't seen him for a few years, and this guy is still his relative and friend, he realized.

"I just said that I have severed relations with my brother." "I know. I don't think what you did is wrong. But it's physical, what about mental? It won't make you feel better because of it." Terao's words pierced Naoki's heart like needles.However, he still bit his lip and shook his head. "Wu Island..." "Thank you for your concern, but it's over." Zhigui grabbed the bill and stood up, "Although singing... I still like it." He walked towards the exit, but Terao didn't call to stop him. Five days have passed since meeting Terao.Yushiko put a letter in front of Naoki with a complex expression on her face. "What? This." He glanced at the sender and took a deep breath. It was Qianshan, the father of the prisoner who robbed the bag last time.In the envelope, besides the letter, is the ticket to Tokyo Disneyland.The letter was full of words apologizing again for his son's misbehavior, and then asking about Shiji's later situation, and then, asking if there is anything that can help, please tell them. There was still a scar on Shiji's forehead.Now it is covered by the hair in the front, and the doctor suggested that it is better to receive laser treatment when it grows up a little. "Why do you do this? We've almost forgotten about that." Naoki put the letter and the admission ticket back into the envelope, "It's for self-satisfaction. Doing something like atonement will make you feel better ?” Yumiko seemed to disagree with what he said, and stared at the envelope with an unhappy expression. "What's the matter?" "Hmm... I was wondering, is that so?" "What's the meaning?" "As for me, when I saw this, I thought to myself, I haven't forgotten us yet! Several months have passed since then, and I always feel that they must be concerned about the future of their son and forget about the victim Yes. But I haven't forgotten." "However, it's not clear if they really apologize to us if they just do this. I think they are just intoxicated with the satisfaction of doing good deeds." "Maybe. But I think it's better than doing nothing. Even sending a postcard will show that they haven't forgotten the incident, which is somewhat comforting." "Comfort, really?" "It's a great comfort." "Really? Maybe that's the case." Zhigui removed the admission ticket from the envelope again, "Then, it was specially given by someone, so the three of you should go and see it together during the next break!" Yushiko didn't answer him, "Naoki-kun," she called him by her husband's name that she hadn't used for a long time: "I will do what you want. I didn't say anything about you cutting off the relationship with your brother. However, I think there are some things you must remember. It's not just you who can't forget the incident of your brother, but also The more painful person. You have concealed the matter of your brother, and we are happy now, but there are still people in this world who cannot be concealed. We should distinguish clearly. " "What are you trying to say?!" He glared at Yushiko. You Shizi lowered her gaze in silence.It's like saying, let's not talk about it anymore. "I'm going to take a shower." He stood up. Holding his knees in the narrow bathtub, Naoki reflected on his wife's words.Terao also said the same thing, for you, is this an opportunity to clear up the barriers—he said.From the facts, it should be clearly distinguished.And what they said was by no means empty words. After getting out of the bathtub and washing his face with cold water, he looked at his face in the mirror and muttered to himself, "It's time to see..."