Chapter 19 Section 19

As we got closer and closer to the school, we could already hear the cheers of the children.Occasionally, a woman's voice can be heard from the loudspeaker, but it's not Takeko Hashimoto's.Then came the song "Heaven and Hell".Heisuke couldn't help thinking that compared with the past, the current sports meeting has not changed much. It was almost 12 o'clock when we got to school.I don't know which grade is in the tug-of-war competition, and the cheering sound of "one two, one two" is exactly the same as in the past. The parents' seat was already full of people.Most fathers have cameras in their hands, and some have video cameras.Hirasuke belongs to the camera group.

In order to find Naoko, he paced up and down the arena.The sky is a little cloudy, just right, and this kind of weather is most suitable for the sports meeting. In fact, before going out this morning, Naoko made excuses for herself that she didn't want to participate.She said she didn't want to suffer in vain. "Sports games are just for children who want to participate. Why do you have to force them to participate? It's ridiculous!" She finally grumbled as she left the house. Heisuke knew the real reason why she didn't want to participate.Recently, she has been studying for exams day in and day out, and she is very tired. It is hard work for her to get up early on Sunday.

Heisuke found the area where the sixth grade students were concentrated.Just as he was about to find out Naoko, the figure of Hashimoto Taeko came into view.She is counting balls for a shooting contest. Probably feeling that someone was watching her, Hashimoto Takeko raised her face.Seeing it was Heisuke, Hashimoto Takeko walked over while showing a bright smile.While the other female teachers wore sweatpants that covered their feet, she wore white shorts. "Is your job okay? I heard from Sami Nami that Dad often has to go to work on weekends, so he might not be able to come." "Ah, I don't need it today." Heisuke replied while touching his head.

When he was masturbating recently, every time he thought about Hashimoto Takeko's face.In his fantasy, Taeko Hashimoto would be at his mercy like a slut.Perhaps it was for this reason that when he was face to face with a real person, he dared not look directly at her face. "It is estimated that the tug-of-war competition will end in a while, and then it will be lunch break." Hashimoto Takeko said.After she finished speaking, she looked at Heisuke's hand - she didn't take anything. "Have you brought food?" "Ah, I was going to discuss this with you. I didn't bring any food, so I wanted to take Sami Nami out to eat."

The school stipulates that as long as they are accompanied by adults, students can go out to eat during lunch break. "That's fine." Hashimoto Takeko stroked her chin thoughtfully after finishing speaking. At this moment, the tug-of-war competition on the sports field was over, and the announcement came from the loudspeaker, announcing that it was lunch break before 1:00 pm. "Mr. Sugita, can you wait for me here after you find Sami Nami?" "Ah, ah, yes." Just when Heisuke gave a vague answer, Hashimoto Takeko had already run away.He stood there helplessly.At this moment, a voice came—"Father!" Naoko, wearing a red scarf, waved and walked towards him, "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, that..." Heisuke recounted his conversation with Hashimoto Takeko.Naoko just said "Is that so?" Hashimoto Takeko finally came back, still carrying a white bag used in convenience stores in her hand. "If you don't mind, you can eat this. I made it myself, so it may not taste good." After she finished speaking, she handed over the bag.It looks like it's packed inside. "Ah, no, I'm so sorry, this is the teacher's lunch." "I still have some. I guess some parents forgot to bring food, so I made more. Please don't be polite."

"Ah, so that's the case. Then, what do you think we should do?" Heisuke asked Naoko. "Eat anything." Naoko said while smoothing her hair. "Then I appreciate your kindness. Thank you very much." "There are cans of tea in the bag." After speaking, Takeko Hashimoto walked towards the teacher's seat. "It's not easy being a head teacher. You have to take this kind of thing to heart." Hearing what Heisuke said, Naoko looked up at him impatiently. "Stupid! Do you think that was really extra work?" "What did you say? The teacher said that himself."

"Would you accept it if she didn't say that? I guess she's eating the bread the school prepared for the teacher now." "Ah, is it? It's really bad if that's the case. Let's go and pay her back." "Forget it, it would be even worse if you send it back." Naoko pulled Hirasuke to the back of the teaching building, and sat down side by side on the small steps at the entrance of the hall.There is no playground in sight at all. "Staying here doesn't feel like a sports meeting at all. Let's go to the parent's seat." Heisuke said.

"No need. I think it's very good here, there is not so much dust. Give me some tea first, my throat is thirsty." Heisuke took out a can of Japanese tea from the bag and handed it to Naoko.Next he opened the plastic lunch box inside, which contained rice balls and colorful side dishes. "It's delicious!" Heisuke praised after taking a bite of the rice ball.The rice ball is wrapped with fish roe. "It looks okay." "Why did she give us her box lunch?" "This problem—" Naoko said after taking a sip of Japanese tea, "it should be because she likes Dad."

Hirasuke almost choked when he heard it. "Stop fooling around, you have to be careful when joking!" "I'm not kidding. She's really interested in Dad. She asked me several times today if you could come." "I'm a man with children." "But you are a bachelor, the age gap is not a problem, the rest is a question of whether you have feelings." Naoko looked at Heisuke's face seriously and continued, "Even if you like her, I don't care about her." It would be unacceptable." "How is such a thing possible? Don't talk about it, Naoko will try it too." He said, stretching out the plastic lunch box to Naoko.

"You will call me Saka Nami in the future, at least on occasions like today." Naoko looked around and reminded in a low voice. "Ah, I'm sorry, Sami Nami..." It's been so long, and Heisuke still hasn't called her by her daughter's name. Naoko reached out and grabbed a piece of fried egg, stuffing it all into her mouth. "The smell is too strong! It seems that she should be from the countryside." She tilted her neck as she spoke. At this time, Hirasuke's heart was already drifting because of the matter of Hashimoto Taeko.So it is!It seems that I may really have a play.But at the same time, another self in him reminded him: You still have Naoko, and she must not let her find out that you are already in love. "What are you going to do after the sports meeting? Do you want to go with me?" Hirasuke diverted the topic elsewhere. "Did you... mean to sign?" "Yes, at that hotel in Shinjuku." Compensation for the accident has roughly reached an agreement.Today is the day to sign the agreement.Last night, Heisuke proposed to Naoko whether she would like to attend this last meeting as a survivor. "I still decided not to go." Naoko said after spitting back the half-drinked Japanese tea. "yes." "I don't really want to witness the moment when there is a price tag on my life, even if it is a high price." "I understand." Heisuke took the tea pot and took a sip of herbal tea. The announcement that the lunch break was over came from the loudspeaker, and Naoko hurried back to her seat.Hirasuke wanted to thank Hashimoto Taeko, so he went to find him.He spotted her figure at the entrance. When he approached her, Hashimoto Takeko ran over with a bit of surprise. "Is it okay to eat the box lunch?" "Ah, it's so delicious! Thank you!" Hirasuke bowed his head several times to thank her. "Really? That would be great. Then, give me the lunch box." She held out her hands. "No, no," he waved his hands again and again, "I'll return it to you after I finish washing. My daughter also said that doing so is the most basic courtesy." my daughter also said "Did Sami Nami say that? It seems that she is still so well-behaved." Hashimoto Takeko said with a smile. Heisuke really wanted to talk about other topics, and at the same time speculated that she might wish to do the same in her heart.But for a while, I couldn't think of any topic.At this time, another female teacher called Hashimoto Takeko, and she immediately agreed. "Then, I'll go first." Only Heisuke stood there alone, staring at the calf of Hashimoto Takeko who was going away. After the lunch break, the third competition event - the sixth grade race began.Heisuke came to the front of the parents' seat. As soon as the starting gun was fired, the five players rushed out of the starting line almost simultaneously.The distance is 50 meters.According to the pre-design, the children will run past the parents' desk.Parents were very excited and shouted loudly to cheer for their children. At this time, Hirasuke discovered that one of the two people standing at the finish line and pulling the finish line was Hashimoto Taeko.Of course, Hashimoto Takeko did not look towards Heisuke, but greeted the children who were running towards her with her kind smile. Naoko played in a very deep group.This group is full of tall players.She didn't look nervous at all, but she gave people a feeling that she was too lazy to run. The gunshot rang, and the five players rushed out of the starting line together.The two rushed to the front, and Naoko was in the third position, and this ranking was maintained until the finish line.During this period, Heisuke pressed the shutter twice. Heisuke thought, this was the ranking when Sami Nami ran before.Although she is now an adult mentally, her body is still her original body after all, so it is not surprising that such a result has occurred.Naoko, who crossed the finish line, found Heisuke in the crowd with a flick of her eyes, waved to him lightly, and showed a wry smile.Hirasuke did the same thing to her. Finally, he respectfully raised the camera in his hand.But this time what he peeped through the viewfinder was Takeko Hashimoto holding the finish line with one hand.When the autumn wind blows, the long brown hair flutters over her cheeks, and she naturally brushes it back with the other hand.Heisuke pressed the shutter at this moment. 52 million yen. Seeing the amount written in the agreement, Hirasuke didn't realize it for a while. The 5 and 2 are followed by 6 zeros side by side, that's all.As for what this number specifically meant, he didn't feel it.I heard that this has been a very successful number.If you refer to Dahei Traffic's previous accident compensation standard, or calculate it according to Hoffman's calculation formula, the compensation amount will be far lower than this number. No one has the joy of success.This is just a sign of the end of their loss of the one they love. "Can you sign?" the man sitting opposite asked.Hirasuke had never seen him before, nor had he seen the man sitting next to him.As soon as Heisuke entered the room, they both stood up at the same time and bowed deeply, probably to express their apology.Ping Jie didn't know how much sincerity they had in their hearts.It has been several months since the accident, Dahei Transportation has undergone a lot of personnel changes from the president to the employees.The two people in front of them are just ordinary employees, and they have no responsibility for the accident at all. It seems that this incident will gradually fade out of people's field of vision in the future, Heisuke thought, only this piece of paper in front of him will become the record of this tragedy. Heisuke followed the instructions of lawyer Mukai who was sitting on the side, signed at the prescribed place, and affixed the seal he brought with him.After writing the bank account number for receiving the compensation, the signature is over. "You've worked so hard, it's all over now." Attorney Mukai said.A faint smile played on his lips.For him, this is also a major event, and it is understandable to show such an expression. "Thank you so much for putting so much effort into this matter!" Heisuke expressed his gratitude to Mukai. Mukai stood up.The two people on the opposite side also stood up and said, "I'm so sorry!" What are you apologizing for?It has nothing to do with you! ——Heisuke really wanted to say that, but he didn't say it, he just left the room silently. After all members of the Survivors' Federation had signed, everyone assembled again in the meeting room.Attorney Mukai gave a detailed explanation.Finally, Attorney Mukai also asked everyone for their opinions on how to express their stance to the media. "Specifically, it is the issue of the amount of compensation." The lawyer said, "This is what the media is most interested in." "Is there any benefit in telling them?" Lin Tian, ​​director of the Survivors' Federation, asked. "It will become a reference for claims in the future when similar accidents occur. It is estimated that this amount of compensation will be difficult to obtain through court judgments." "That is to say, there is no special benefit for us?" "Well, you can put it that way." Mukai said with his head bowed. In the end, the people present reached a unanimous conclusion through a show of hands: the amount of compensation will not be announced. "Are there any other questions?" Mukai asked, looking around at the faces of everyone present. Hirasuke actually had a question he wanted to ask, but he hesitated whether to ask it on this occasion.If you don't ask now, you won't have the opportunity to select samples in the future. "If not..." Mukai was about to continue when Heisuke raised his hand.Mukai looked at him with some surprise: "What's your question?" "Excuse me, how much compensation did the Kajigawa family get?" Heisuke asked. "Kajikawa?" It seemed that the lawyer didn't remember who Kajikawa was. "Driver, the driver of the bus." "Oh." Mukai nodded.Someone around Hirasuke also made a sound of sudden realization. "I didn't ask about that because he has nothing to do with the survivors' association." "Oh, I see." "It is estimated that there will be a certain amount of condolence money, but I don't know the details. Is there any problem?" "Ah, it's nothing." Hirasuke had to sit down again. The other survivors looked at Heisuke with strange eyes. "He is the chief culprit of the accident." Someone said something. The seven-month compensation negotiations came to an end.The bereaved family expressed their gratitude to Mukai one after another, and chatted with other bereaved family members whom they met through negotiations.After that, they exited in twos and threes.No one had an expression resembling a sense of fullness on their faces.People seem to think that, by now, it's time to quell the anger.At this time, he recalled that Naoko once said that whenever she thought about what happened to her and couldn't get rid of her thoughts, she hoped to find someone to vent her anger on. When I came out of the hotel, it was completely dark outside.He wanted to find a place to have a drink, but the thought of Naoko waiting at home alone made him give up. Then buy a cream cake and go home.Thinking of this, he strode towards the station.