Chapter 42 first quarter

At first there was no one there.Soon, Naomi appeared from the left hand side of the screen. Naomi sat down on the bench against the wall and looked over here.Except for a touch of lipstick, her face was plain as usual, without any trace of makeup. The white wall behind her made her bronze-colored skin more conspicuous.On the ears exposed from time to time under the short hair, there is a pair of red coral earrings. She blinked a few times, and her lips moved slightly.Afterwards, she took a deep breath and looked this way with eyes that were more determined than before. "coach."

This was the first sentence Naomi said, "I'm really...too tired." Then she closed her mouth again.She put her right hand on the chest of the team uniform, closed her eyes gently, and adjusted her breathing. This position lasted for a few seconds, and then she slowly opened her eyes.The right hand placed on the chest remained motionless. "This has happened several times before. Although every time I feel that I can't hold it anymore, but you always tell me, coach, just hold on a little longer, come on..." Naomi kept shaking her head, "But I really can't do it anymore. I'm not strong, I can't hold on anymore, I can't bear it any longer."

Naomi lowered her head and rubbed her hands.It was her habit when she was thinking about what to say next. "Do you remember that time?" After lowering her head and finishing speaking, she raised her head again. "When I was at my best, besides me, there were other players in the team. Nakano, Okamura, they were all there. Now they are all mothers, and they went back to work after retiring, but they always felt that they couldn't stay any longer. I finally quit my job..." Having said that, Naomi stroked her hair. "I want to talk to you about these past events." There was a lonely wry smile on her face.

"Do you remember? When I almost broke the national record in the 30-meter race? It was the last day of the national player selection. Although I had good results before, it was not impossible to win the championship. But at that time My legs were trembling, I couldn't aim at all, and with six rounds left, even my arms started trembling with my heartbeat... When you held my hand like this, Coach—” Naomi put the palms of both hands together as if she was holding some treasure. "There's nothing to be afraid of - that's what you told me back then. I'm right behind you and I've been watching you. So shoot an arrow with no regrets and show me. Don't worry about anything else People, the arena is so big, in fact, there are only you and me—”

Naomi sighed heavily, followed by another silence.His eyes were downcast and his body was motionless. "Do you know how much that inspired me?" She looked this way again. "After listening to your words, I didn't make any mistakes in a few rounds, and I ranked first... As long as the last arrow can hit the tenth ring, then the national record of 30 meters will belong to me, but the last arrow I won't Only nine rings were shot. Coach, did you notice at that time? When I shot the last arrow, I didn’t have the slightest tremor. I kept thinking before that if there was no tremor, I should be able to shoot more perfectly, but at the end tremble After it stopped, I only shot the inner nine rings. Now, I finally understand why the trembling stopped at that time. Because I feel very happy, and I feel as if I am really in a world with only me and the coach. There is no game in my mind anymore. So my heart is no longer afraid, and the trembling in my body stops. But coach, I can’t win at all like that. Just that one gap, I missed everything.”

After finishing speaking in one breath, Naomi took a breath and licked her lips. "But coach, even though I lost the game, I still feel very satisfied. It was the best game of my life, and it was also the most radiant day. After the game, coach, you walked to my side and praised me: Well done, and kindly joking with me about how it's always been my style to shoot the last arrow a little off the bull's-eye..." Her words stopped suddenly, she lowered her head, clenched her hands into fists on her knees, and her shoulders trembled slightly, she continued with her head lowered.

"Coach, I was really happy at the time. The company gave me a high evaluation of my performance, and the budget for the team was also greatly increased. The propaganda minister even came to see us training in person. The next goal is the Olympics—— This sentence really became the words of mutual encouragement between us.” Naomi raised her head, her eyes were red.In the blink of an eye, two lines of tears flowed from the corners of the eyes down the cheeks to the chin.She didn't raise her hand to wipe it, but slowly looked around the whole room. "Now, this house has become deserted."

Naomi said, "There used to be so many players, but now I'm the only one left. I don't understand how things turned out like this." She reached out her left hand and picked up something that looked like an alarm clock.It was a stopwatch, and looking at the cable, you could see that it was connected all the way to her jersey, and she showed the dial of the timer. "It's half-past three, and in an hour the switch will be turned and the cable will be energized. As far as where the current goes—" Naomi pointed to her chest, "The cable connects my chest and back. Once the electricity is connected, I can die without pain. I will take some sleeping pills next, and death will be in my sleep Come quietly."

She picked up the glass of water beside her with one hand and a handful of pills with the other.He stuffed the pill into his mouth and took a sip of the water in the glass.Perhaps because of the unpleasant feeling of the pill slipping down his throat, a pained expression flashed across his face. Exhaling heavily, she put the water glass back where it was and leaned against the wall. "Farewell, Coach." Naomi murmured, "I am very happy to be able to walk this far with you, coach. I don't regret it, but I feel a little tired... Farewell, coach. I am really happy." Naomi closed her eyes, sat on the chair, facing this way.A few minutes passed, and her body lay down quietly.Time slipped by again.

After a while, the video footage was interrupted. "I see." The criminal police officer of the police station who turned off the monitor screen should be about five years older than me, judging by his age.Although there is a beard around the mouth, it is well groomed and does not feel sloppy.The face is slender, but the eyes are quite round, and it looks like a good person. "Prepared to commit suicide. But having said that, actually used a video to record the scene of my own death... The times have changed, and even the form of the suicide note has changed." The criminal policeman finished speaking with a lot of emotion, operated the video recorder, and rewound the tape.

"It's just unbelievable." I said, "How did she commit suicide?" "But you have to believe it. The truth is there." The bearded detective turned his head and glanced at the video recorder.Seeing me nod, he cast his gaze aside.Next to the wall is the bench that Naomi was sitting on in the video just now.Naomi's figure has long disappeared, only the investigators rushing around. Thirty minutes ago, Naomi was lying on this bench. "Is it this camera?" The detective stood up from his chair and walked towards the tripod camera set in the center of the room. "The operation method should be quite simple, right?" the detective asked. "It's very simple." I sat in front of the VCR and answered. "Mochizuki should be able to use it too, right?" "I usually teach her to use it, but she has used it herself. The machine is so simple that anyone can use it easily." The detective let out a little exclamation, and looked at the camera carefully.However, the power is not turned on at the moment, so there should be no reason for it. The bearded detective moved his face away from the camera with some dissatisfaction, coughed dryly, and returned to my side. "Let me double check. You got here around five o'clock in the afternoon?" "yes." "Is the door locked?" "Up." "How did you open it?" "I have the key." I took out the keychain from my pocket and let the criminal police look at the door key.The detective stared at the key for a while and asked. "And then you found Mochizuki lying on the bench?" He told the same story as I said before, so I just nodded.The detective also nodded silently. "Seeing the situation at that time, you immediately understood that she committed suicide?" The "situation at the time" mentioned by the detective seems to refer to the situation where Naomi was lying on her body and connected to the cable, which was connected to the socket in the house through the timer. I shook my head feebly. "At that time, I didn't understand what was going on at all. I thought she was taking a nap." The detective looked at me with an approving expression. "But then I understood what was going on with the timer, and quickly pulled the cord out of the socket. Then I shook her body, but..." I didn't go any further.It's useless to say more about these things. "After that, you called the police, didn't you?" The bearded detective pointed to the phone in the corner of the room with his chin.I replied yes. "Then when did you find out that there was video in the camera?" "I found out as soon as I entered the house. Because this thing is usually not kept here. After reporting to the police and the company, I played the video tape inside. After that..." "It was found that Wang Yue's dying scene was recorded inside?" "right……" The criminal policeman stroked his beard, as if he was thinking about something, but soon his hand stopped. "Are the cables and the timer in this house?" "The timer is here. In winter, we connect it to the electric stove and use it to dry the house after practice. But it's too dangerous, so it's almost useless these days." "What about the cables?" "I don't know." "How did Mochizuki come up with the idea of ​​committing suicide in this way? Do you know anything?" "This..." I thought to myself.That's right, how could she think of this way? I replied that I don't know. "And those sleeping pills. What does Mochizuki usually use them for?" "Well... I think she should take that medicine often." "Eat it often?" The detective frowned in surprise, "What's going on?" "The night before a big game, she's often too excited to sleep. She'll take sleeping pills. I've banned her from taking them because of the drug tests at the bigger events." "I see." The detective nodded.Then he looked around the room, his eyes fixed on my face. "Then why do you think she committed suicide?"