Chapter 21 Section 21

The driver was driving very carefully.From his action of manipulating the auxiliary brake, it can be felt that he will never relax until the last moment.If the driver Kajikawa had been so cautious at that time, the tragedy would not have happened.However, it is useless to say these now. A year has passed since the accident, and they celebrated a death anniversary.This was proposed by the directors of the Federation of Survivors last year.They negotiated with Dahei Traffic again, and finally decided to let all the survivors take the bus to the scene of the accident to hold mourning activities.Of course, Dahei's transportation department did not dare to complain, and the board and lodging expenses were naturally borne by them.

The door of the car was opened, and the Dahei traffic employee who was the team leader went down to have a look, and then came up again soon, holding a microphone in his hand. "Next, please start from the front row and get off in order. Please don't be in a hurry when getting off. There is snow under your feet and it is easy to slip, so please hold on to the handrail on the door and get off the car one step at a time. " The people in front got off the car in an orderly manner according to the instructions, and it was Hirasuke's turn soon. "Let's go." He said to Naoko who was sitting by the window.Naoko was wearing a black overcoat with a hood.

There was a gentle wind blowing outside.Probably because I was dizzy from being blown by the air conditioner in the car. At first, I felt very comfortable being blown by the cold wind like this.But it didn't take long before I started to feel pain on my face. "It's really cold here." Heisuke muttered in a low voice, "My ears are almost freezing." "Is this still cold?" Naoko asked.Only then did Hirasuke realize that coming here is almost equivalent to coming to Naoko's hometown. The original accident site has been completely restored.The broken fences that were seen on TV and newspapers at that time have been replaced by new ones.Heisuke came to the new fence and looked down at the valley where the bus rolled down.

The slope of the mountain is about 30 to 40 degrees, but due to the illusion of the eyes, it looks so steep.This slide leading to death is about tens of meters long.At the other end of it, flows a small river.The small river feels like it is flowing right under the eyelids. It is noon now, and the snow on the mountain reflects the sun's rays, making it so bright that it hurts the eyes.The river below was also glistening. The accident happened early in the morning when the sky was still a little dark. Considering the shading effect of the surrounding mountains and forests, it is estimated that the valley should be completely dark at that time.

Heisuke saw the bus rolling down the valley in the dark.Just thinking about it for a moment, he felt horrified, and his stomach twitched violently.In any case, he didn't dare to imagine the feelings of the passengers sitting in that big coffin and rolling to the bottom of the valley. Crying began to sound all around.Someone clasped their hands towards the bottom of the valley, while Naoko just stared down at the hillside blankly. Several young monks from Tokyo who accompanied me began to chant sutras.The survivors all lowered their heads, falling into their respective griefs, and their crying continued uninterrupted.An old woman next to Heisuke also began to sob.

After chanting, everyone threw the flowers they brought to the bottom of the valley.Not just flowers, but some of the deceased's favorite items were also dropped.When a football was thrown, there was an even louder groan from all of them.It is estimated that the deceased was a member of the college football team. Naoko, who had been staring at the bottom of the valley, raised her head. "Can you believe it?" "Believe in what?" "At that time, I thought that I would die like this. Although it was a bit unbelievable, I did think of my own death for a moment-the whole body was pierced in many places, and my head would split open like a watermelon..."

"do not talk!" "However, I don't think that's a problem. What I can't accept is letting Sami Nami die together. If she dies, I won't have the face to see you again, and I'm so sorry for you. Is it very embarrassing to say that? Ridiculous? I’m going to die anyway, so there’s no need to worry about it. Anyway, my only thought at the time was to let the child survive, even if I sacrificed myself, to save her.” At this point, she asked Heisuke again: “ Will you trust me?" "I believe." Heisuke replied, "You did it too, you saved Sami Nami."

"But it's only half saved." She shook her shoulders. Ping Jie thought to himself, the rest is my mission.Protect Sami Nami's body and Naoko's heart—this is my mission. "You bastards!" Someone lost control of his emotions. Looking in the direction of the voice, it was Fujisaki who had lost her twin daughters.He folded his hands around the loudspeaker and yelled "Bastard!" again. Probably because of his stimulation, several people also shouted.Of course, what they shouted was all kinds of things.A woman shouted "Farewell!". Probably because of conditioned reflex, Hirasuke also wanted to shout.The sentence he came up with was "rest in peace!", which he thought was okay.

He stood facing the valley and took a deep breath.At that moment, Naoko grabbed his sleeve. "Too vulgar!" "Ah, is it?" "Yes. Let's go." After Naoko finished speaking, she walked towards the bus, and Heisuke followed her. The day after returning from the memorial trip was the elementary school graduation ceremony. The graduation ceremony was held in an old auditorium.Heisuke sat in the middle of the parents' seat at the back, watching the primary school graduates go on stage one by one to receive their graduation certificates. "Sugita Sami Nami." Heisuke's daughter's name was called on the stage.

"Here!" After a crisp answer, Naoko stood up.Like other graduates, she came to the stage and said "thank you" to the principal after receiving her graduation certificate.Ping Jie was very involved in the whole process. After the graduation ceremony, the playground becomes the venue for the final farewell.Especially Naoko, she was surrounded by a large group of classmates.She was admitted to a private middle school and will never see everyone in school again.Hirasuke stood a little further away and watched her being approached by her classmates to shake hands and sign her graduation message.Some of the girls were in tears.Naoko stroked their shoulders and said something comforting.Her figure is not so much like a schoolboy, but rather like a mother.

Compared with Naoko, it was Hashimoto Takeko who was surrounded by more people.Surrounding her are not only the children, but also the parents of the children.Her normally fair face was a little rosy today, but she didn't seem to shed any tears. After the farewell lasted for a while, the graduates and their parents began to walk out from the main entrance of the school.The teachers who had completed an important task showed a sigh of relief while expressing emotion. Naoko finally walked towards Heisuke.She was holding a dark brown plastic tube in her hand, which contained a graduation certificate. "I kept you waiting." She said with a wry smile on her slightly tired face. "This time, it's more than enough to shake hands." "Hands hurt. Let's not talk about this." Naoko looked at the place where the classmates were concentrated and asked, "Have you said hello?" "with who?" Hearing Heisuke's question, Naoko frowned. "With her! Is there any need to ask!" She moved her jaw slightly.She was referring to the place where Hashimoto Takeko was. "Ah—" Heisuke patted the back of his head, "It seems that it's better to say hello, isn't it?" Naoko sighed, turned his eyes away, and glanced diagonally upwards: "Hurry up, I'll wait for you here." "Huh? Are you letting me go alone?" "That's right." Naoko turned his gaze to the ground this time, and wiped the dry soil on the playground with his feet, "Don't you have a lot to say to her? This is something you can talk to her without making excuses Last chance." In an instant, Hirasuke understood everything.It seems that that night, Naoko still saw the photos in the book.Although she hasn't said anything since then, she must have been worrying about this matter in her heart-should she accept Hirasuke's relationship? "I've made up my mind," Heisuke said, "Let's go, let's go there together." "Ah," Naoko raised her face in surprise. "Go and say hello to the teacher together." He repeated. "Really?" "Of course. How strange it would be otherwise. Come on." After speaking, Heisuke handed out his right hand to Naoko.Naoko hesitated though.But still grabbed his hand. The two came to Taeko Hashimoto and said goodbye, "Thank you teacher for your care in all aspects", "Teacher take care" and so on, all of which are customary polite words. "I'm not doing well enough. You should also take care of your health." Hashimoto Takeko said with a smile on her face.That's just the expression of an ordinary teacher when facing parents. On the way home, Heisuke kept holding Naoko's hand.Thinking about it, it's been a long time since I walked with her like this.Strange to say, in fact, before the accident, when walking with Sami Nami, he always held her hand. On the way, the matter of Hashimoto Takeko was never mentioned again. When he got home, the postman stopped in front of his house and was about to stuff letters into the mailbox.Hirasuke stopped him and took the letter directly.It's an express postcard. He was taken aback when he saw the sender's name. "Who sent it from?" Naoko asked. "Itsumi Kajikawa." "Kajikawa..." "It's the daughter of driver Kajikawa." Heisuke turned the postcard over and looked at the back. After reading it, he felt that the blood all over his body was subsiding, and goose bumps appeared on his skin. "What's wrong?" Naoko asked anxiously. Heisuke handed her the postcard. "Kajikawa Seiko is dead."