Chapter 43 Section 42

Takumi misses Sumiko Tojo's funeral.When he arrived, the cremation was over.Tojo Junko immediately set up an altar in the back room for him to offer incense.Tojo Sumiko in the photo is young and full of vigor, exactly the same as Takumi's memory.He regretted it too much: it would be nice to talk to her more at that time. "It seems that there is no name of your friend." Shang Wanxiang, Tojo Junko handed a newspaper in front of him, like an evening newspaper. Takumi opened the newspaper, and the first thing that caught his eye was the headline "The Artery of Circulation—Tomei Severed", and below it was written "Six People Died, Sixty Vehicles Burned".This is a report about the fire accident in the Nihonzaka Tunnel.The article believed that it would take several days to restore the traffic. The cause of the accident was a continuous rear-end collision by six vehicles. After the truck carrying the flammable ether burned, the fire spread, causing about 160 vehicles to explode and catch fire.The temperature of the fire site is too high to be extinguished, and it can only be allowed to burn naturally.Readers of this report, Takushi couldn't help getting goosebumps, because as long as the time difference is a little bit, he might have been buried in the flames.

The deceased has been identified, indeed, there are no current names among them.The vehicles in which the victims were transported have all been identified, so even if Shi Sheng was a fake name, it must not be among them. I can breathe a sigh of relief. Where did Ke Shisheng go?After waiting at Shizuoka Station overnight, he didn't show up, thinking that he had passed through the tunnel when the accident happened, but he didn't come to Tojo's house either. "Leave it alone," he said.Why had he made up his mind to bid farewell there?What is he going to do? After all, who is he?Why does it appear?And why did it disappear?

Takumi once asked Junko Tojo if Shishenghui was his distant relative.At first, Shisheng introduced himself like this.However, Junko Tojo showed an expression of disapproval, tilted his head and said, "It seems that there is no such person in the Asaoka family." Her answer was naturally expected.Takumi always thought that this statement was just an excuse.Sometimes there is something hidden, it is inconvenient to disclose his identity, and he must get close to Tuoshi.What is the secret?However, no matter how much Takumi thought hard, he couldn't come up with a reasonable answer.

Tojo Junko wanted to stay with Takushi for a few days, but he still left Tojo's house soon.He had a vague premonition that he would come to this price many times in the future.What he is worried about now is Shi Sheng. When I returned to Tokyo, I didn't see Shi Sheng appearing either.Tuoshi had no choice but to resume his life of working in a printing factory.When he returned home after a tiring day, no one was waiting for him.Before Shisheng appeared, Tuoshi's life was like this, but for some reason, he feels very empty now. On the tenth day after the Nipponizaka Tunnel accident, he saw a report that the tunnel was open to traffic in the upward direction, but the traffic jam was still very serious.

In the past, Tuoshi didn't read newspapers very much, but after the accident, he also began to care about newspapers.He doesn't buy it himself, but reads the newspapers that others put in the workshop during his break.He thought he might find some more victims.Fortunately, however, the death toll from the accident did not increase. Just when he felt that there were fewer and fewer reports about that kind of accident, he stared at a corner of the newspaper's society page-there was a photo taken at this time, a frontal photo, with the words "found drowned Reiji Kawabe's body," the headline of the report was "Discovered body that had disappeared for two months."Takushi started reading immediately.

A strange thing happened on the seaside of Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture: the body of a drowned person who washed up on the beach two months ago was once unknown, but has now been rediscovered at the same location.The deceased was Kawabe Reiji (20 years old), a third-year student at Seongnam University. He was caught in a storm while sailing in early May, was sucked into the sea and drowned.At that time, Yamashita Kota (20 years old), a member of the sailing club, also drowned on the same boat as him. The bodies of the two washed up on the coast at the same time and were found by nearby residents.However, when the witnesses went to call the police, Chuanbian's body was missing.The police and Coastal Security Headquarters believed that it was more likely that it was swept back into the sea by the tide, and searched for it, but found nothing.In the early hours of this morning, basically at the same place, the body of the drowning man was found again. According to the items he carried, he could be identified as Kawabe, and his family also agreed.The body was barely damaged and had not decomposed.The police believe that when Chuan Bian was washed ashore two months ago, he may have been in a state of suspended animation. After waking up, he did not know where he survived, and now he was drowned again.But the clothes he was wearing were the same as they were two months ago.Because this is still a mystery.

Tuo Shi stared at the photo many times, although the picture is not very clear and difficult to identify carefully, but it is undoubtedly Shi Sheng. two months ago... Takumi recalled the scene of meeting Tokio at that time.Isn't it exactly two months ago?The day of breaking up with him was the eleventh of this month, that is to say, before Kawabe Reiji's body was discovered. No way?Reiji Kawabe, who woke up from suspended animation, claimed to be Tokio, and stayed with him for two months?How could such a thing happen?Takumi doesn't know Reiji Kawabe at all. The report has been lingering in his mind.He even wanted to call the newspaper office to ask where Reiji Kawabe's home was, and then sneaked in to investigate.But just thinking about it, not putting it into action.

In fact, he also felt that all this must be accidental, just a coincidence.But at the same time, he was even more afraid of deriving the conclusion that Shi Sheng was the drowning person.Takumi wished he was still alive somewhere. About two months after the accident, one day, Tuoshi took a long-distance bus on the expressway alone.He had heard that the downlink of the Nippon-Zaka Tunnel had finally opened.Tojo Junko had contacted him before, saying that some of Sumiko's relics were to be handed over to him.He promised to pass on the first rest day after the tunnel was fully opened. While waiting for the start of the train, a woman he had mentioned got on the train.After a little thought, he figured out where he had seen her before—at the Ashigara service area before the tunnel accident, and at Shizuoka Station shortly after the accident.Back then, she wore a ponytail, but now she has long hair and a dark gray dress.

She sat obliquely in front of Takumi.After the car started, she began to read the library.Tuoshi kept looking at her, and found that her face was about to move, so he quickly looked away. The bus also agreed to drive into the Ashigara service area.Tuoshi came back to his senses and found that he had been paying attention to the girl's movements.Where is she going?If you strike up a conversation with her, will she be offended? After a while, the bus departed from the Ashigara service area.Toshi was a little drowsy.At this time, a passenger said "Nihon Saka Tunnel", and he opened his eyes.

Tuo Shi knew that the tunnel was approaching, and he wanted to see the traces left by the big accident.Before that, he glanced at the girl again, and couldn't help but hold his breath.The girl was pinching a string of Buddhist beads. The tunnel is near.The white lines drawn on the road are eerily white.There was a commotion among the passengers, a groan or a sigh that could not be distinguished. The girl had already held the prayer beads in her fingers and clasped her hands together.Takumi stared straight at her. The next stop is the Hamanako service area.Seeing the girl get out of the car, Takumi also stood up.

"Sorry..." Tuoshi made up his mind to greet her.He was mentally prepared to be treated coldly, but there was no surprise in her eyes. "what?" "Did anyone die in that accident... that is, the Nihonzaka Tunnel accident? A friend?" She lowered her head a little shyly, as if she realized that the gesture of clasping her hands had been seen. "I suppose you and your friend were unharmed? Perhaps it was very dangerous and the Corolla was burned?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "I saw you in Ashigara that day. I was on a coach that day too, and you were driving a red Corolla, right?" She showed a dazed expression and nodded slightly. "You remember it so clearly." "My companion paid attention to you. Later, I saw you at Shizuoka Station. After the accident, you went there, right?" "Ah, yes. When we reached the tunnel, we were caught in a dilemma. We couldn't move." "Really? That's really amazing." "Nearly got burned. We threw the car out and jumped out. It was a friend's car." "What a close call! We're all safe and sound, thank goodness." "Yes." The girl put her hand on a handbag made of beads, and the string of Buddhist beads was probably inside, "It's really too dangerous. Before the accident, we happened to have some minor incidents, because we were late entering the tunnel. A little earlier... However, thinking about those victims, I couldn't relax. If we had passed directly at that time, we might have been the victims. So..." "I understand what you mean." Tuo Shi replied immediately.He thought she was a kind-hearted girl. After the rest, back on the bus, Tuoshi asked if he could sit beside her, and she readily agreed. Her name is Reiko Shinozuka, she works in a bookstore in Ikebukuro, and lives in Nippori with her parents. This time she is going out to attend a friend's wedding in Kobe.Takumi gave her a business card.This is a work he created with a printing press without permission. Just when they introduced themselves to each other, they realized that the bus had already arrived in Nagoya.Time really flies. "Can we meet again when we return to Tokyo?" Takumi asked tentatively. Lizi hesitated for a moment, then smiled, and wrote a phone number on the back of the business card he gave her. "Only before ten o'clock at night. My dad is annoying." "I'll call before nine o'clock." Tuo Shi said and took the business card. The promise was fulfilled three days later.The two made an appointment to meet on a day off, and the first date was in Asakusa.Needless to say, Takumi acted as a tour guide. Takumi immediately fell in love with Reiko.Reiko's personality is a bit informal, and she is always grateful no matter what.Tuoshi felt that when he was with her, he felt peaceful and stable, and some sharp things in his heart melted quickly. Every rest day, Takumi meets Lizi, and calls to hear her voice when he can't see her.In a blink of an eye, three months passed, the New Year came, and so did the 1980s. On the afternoon of New Year's Day, Takumi and Reiko went to Sensoji Temple for New Year's worship.On the way home, the two walked into a coffee shop. "I'm going to change companies." Tuoshi said while drinking coffee. Reiko rolled her eyes. "What company did you switch to?" "The person in charge of communication has long said that he will call me over after it is established, and now it is finally ready." Gao Cang contacted him at the end of the year.This matter has been said long ago, but Takumi didn't take it seriously, so when Gao Cang called, he was surprised. "communication?" "Mobile phone service is the main thing, but that's not all." Takumi talked about the future telephone network system he imagined in his mind.These are all heard from "him".Speaking of these now, Takumi feels kind and bitter. "I don't really understand." Lizi smiled happily, "Since you work so hard, you will succeed. Come on." "Thank you." He nodded with a smile. Reiko's eyes moved diagonally upwards.There was a TV there, and singer Kenji Sawada was singing. "It's Julie. This song is weird, like a new song." Seeing the text displayed under the screen, Tuoshi couldn't help but let out a soft cry.The title of the song is "TOKIO". "So it flew into the sky..." Tuoshi murmured. -------------------------------- Note: