Chapter 23 Twenty-two, the way home

I didn't mention anything to Mika about what we saw at Sensei Iwamura's house. It was about one o'clock in the afternoon when we returned to N station.Meixiang said that she was hungry, so I went to the barbecue restaurant next to the taxi boarding point, handed it to the uncle in the store for 160 yen, and bought tuna with green onions and grilled cartilage. "Mr. Daofu, don't you want to go somewhere else?" Mr. S, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke weakly. "Then, let's go to that park. I went there during the sketching event before."

There is a gentle uphill in the opposite direction from the station, halfway to the big park.We don't know what the name of the park is, but we call it "JR Park".From there, you can see the station and the surrounding streetscape.This spring, the whole class held a sketching party there.At that time I drew the artificial river that flows through one end of the park.I still remember that I drew Sumida's figure by the river where there was no one, and I was laughed at by Ibizawa and Yaoka. I bought a can of Coke from the vending machine next to the entrance so that I only had one ten-yen coin left in my wallet.

We came to the observatory, and there was no one there.I opened the Coke, and the moment the sweet and cold Coke flowed into my throat, I felt my limbs regain their strength.I hiccupped and asked Meixiang to taste it, but Meixiang said she wouldn't drink it. "Ah, yes. It's a carbonated drink." Meixiang and I were sitting on a bench eating skewers. Mr. S said nothing in the bottle. "It's quite unique." I deliberately said it in a natural tone, but Mr. S didn't answer. I raised my head while biting a green onion, and the neighborhood where we lived spread out in front of my eyes, and I could see the lonely mountains in the distance.The cumulonimbus clouds seen this morning have now disappeared and turned into fine and small clouds covering half of the sky.It might rain tomorrow.

"Mr. Dao, can we talk alone, okay?" Mr. S suddenly whispered.Before answering, I glanced at Meixiang.With the chicken still stuffed in Mei Xiang's mouth, she only said, "Okay." Looking towards the front of the square, Meixiang kept looking at the scenery.Mr. S and I watched Meixiang's back while talking.I sit on the left side of the bench, Mr. S is on the right side. "The one you saw at Mr. Iwamura's house, do you know what it is? Daofu-kun?" "do not really understand." I'm telling the truth. Mr. S smiled slightly. "Indeed, some people like that. That, well, it's just—the kind that's different from normal people."

"Does Mr. S like it too?" "Me? How is it possible!" Mr. S' tone seemed to be spitting out something dirty. "I was cheated by Mr. Iwamura. The first time he asked me to take off my clothes in the dressing room, I was very reluctant and embarrassed. But Mr. Iwamura said that this is a happy thing. ——He also said that although I can't feel anything, but I will gradually feel happy in the future. So I gradually believed in it." Mr. S continued to speak in a flat voice without circumflex. "You know, I don't have any friends, and I don't have a father. So, I am very happy that Mr. Iwamura treats me well. If he asked me not to tell this matter, then I would never say it. Because I don't I want to make him unhappy.——Now that I think about it, Iwamura-sensei chose me because of my thoughts. Michifu-san, he didn’t ask you to do that kind of thing, did he?”

I shook my head.I didn't see the end of that videotape, so I don't know what Mr. S means by "that kind of thing".Can only rely on imagination. "Will that kind of perverted hobby become murderous when it reaches a certain level? Or are you afraid that one day I will tell others and kill me..." Regarding Mr. S's words, I can only nod silently. On the high platform, a cool breeze blows. After being silent for a while, Mr. S suddenly said: "I must apologize to Mr. Daofu." "Apologize?—for what?" "Didn't I say it before, Mr. Iwamura killed me for some reason. To be honest, I don't know what the reason is. I don't know now. I just vaguely feel that what happened in the video There is a connection between it and I was killed later. So I think, if I tell you that I don’t know the real reason, you probably won’t agree to my request. I’m afraid that you will be killed because I don’t even know myself So I don’t believe what I said that I was killed by Mr. Iwamura.” Mr. S’s speech speed became faster.

"So I said it was because of some reason. It's kind of mysterious, right? It makes you think that I knew the reason why Iwamura-sensei killed me but I didn't say it on purpose, so that you will always feel very curious. Then you will have Interested in finding my body, I thought so. So—" "enough!" I interrupt Mr. S. A plane flies slowly across the sky. "Don't lie anymore." "Yep……" "Everyone has things they don't want to talk about — and I do too." Between the fine clouds, the plane trailed a straight tail cloud. My heart is full of sadness.

Did Mr. S not expect that Mr. Iwamura would play that video when we were hiding in Mr. Iwamura's house?Didn't he expect to be known by me? What happened between Mr. S and Teacher Iwamura?Or what did Mr. Iwamura do to Mr. S?Is Mr. S planning to keep silent? It may be true that Mr. S said that he did not know why he was killed.But Mr. S said that he did not tell the truth but lied about "some reason" to arouse our curiosity, which is probably not the truth. Mr. S must just not want to talk about it.He just wants to hide the truth.So Mr. S's ambiguous statement about "some reason" is just to cover up.

But even so, I don't have the slightest desire to blame Mr. S.I just think Mr. S is very pitiful. "but--" I try to speak in a clear voice. "It's a pity that Mr. S's body was not found. But I will definitely continue to look for it. I can also hide it in his room. If there is no chance, there must be another way. The crime of Mr. Iwamura must be brought to light!" Although I said so, there was no such thing as "another way", and I regretted it very much. I pursed my lips tightly, and my eyes fell on the grass under my feet.I couldn't stop thinking about how to find a good way to expose Mr. Iwamura's crimes.Is there any other way to find S-kun's body at Mr. Iwamura's house——

correct!How about reporting Mr. Iwamura's perverted hobby to the police?In this way, the police will somewhat suspect whether the death of Mr. Iwamura and Mr. S is related.I immediately told Mr. S about my idea. "However, if Iwamura-sensei denies it, there is no way to pull it off. If you hide those photos, videotapes, etc., or throw them away, there will be no evidence. It is probably impossible to conduct a surprise search based on the words of an elementary school student... ..." indeed so.I can only think of another way.I sighed, picked up the can of Coke and brought it to my mouth, the vapor of the Coke had already run out.

Just when I was at a loss, an idea popped up bit by bit from the corner of my mind.When Iwamura-sensei left the house—no, a faint inexplicable thought came to us from the time we saw those photos and videotapes. Something is wrong.Actually not. ——What exactly is it?An indescribable, ambiguous—— Little by little, that idea emerged from the corner of my mind and gradually took shape. "Yeah, I wasn't surprised at all at the time..." I said this inadvertently. "what?" "I wasn't surprised at all. Although I was shocked when I saw those photos and videos, I was not shocked in my heart. At that time, I didn't think it was very surprising." Seeing the figure of Mr. S in the video, I was really shocked.However, I was not at all shocked by the fact that such a thing appeared in Iwamura-sensei's house.It was a strange feeling that could not be felt.An ambiguous feeling. "Did you guess something about Mr. Iwamura's hobby?" Mr. S said. I thought about it and shook my head. I recall Mr. Iwamura's slightly unnatural and uneasy eyes when he sent us a questionnaire in the classroom. — This is anonymous.You can just draw a circle and draw a cross, and you don’t have to worry about exposing yourself with your handwriting—— The questionnaire was full of outlandish questions.Has anyone ever touched that thing between their thighs at home?Have you ever looked at your body and felt that it has changed recently? — Do you take a bath alone? (if cross) why? ... ——Answer as truthfully as possible.This is a very necessary formal inspection—— We giggled and made marks on the questionnaire.When collecting questionnaires, they also collected them in random order as much as possible. "Mr. S, that questionnaire is really weird..." "Well, there is no necessary formal inspection at all. It's just a hobby of Iwamura-sensei. He just wants to know things that we don't tell others." "That questionnaire was not anonymous at all." I saw it all then.Before distribution, the questionnaires were bundled into a bundle with a slash drawn on the side. "In this way, it doesn't matter if you don't write your name, don't know the handwriting, or even mess up the order when you collect the questionnaires. Whoever wrote each questionnaire will be known later. Just use a pencil or something on the side before sending out the questionnaire. Just draw a line diagonally. After the questionnaires are received, arrange them according to that line. As long as you remember the order in which you sent out the questionnaires, you can immediately know who filled out the questionnaires. ——Mr. Iwamura must have written the questionnaires we wrote I took it home. Then I spread it on the glass table and smiled smugly by myself." I fell for it too.I didn't have any doubts about that questionnaire at the time.I answered all the questions truthfully.I guess since it's anonymous, there's nothing to be ashamed of. "There is something else." I nodded to Mr. S's words.There are a few more things that impress.The same is true during the spring sketching session.Mr. Iwamura asked us to line up in two rows on the way from the school to the park, and the two people next to each other should hold hands.That is, girls hold hands with girls, and boys hold hands with boys.The girls did not have any objections, and held hands according to Teacher Iwamura's request, but we boys are different.To put it bluntly, we don't want to hold hands.Boys holding hands is disgusting.But Mr. Iwamura said: "What if we get separated?" He forced us to join hands.Then he watched with contentment as we held hands. "To put it bluntly, that guy is a pervert!" Mr. S's voice was full of anger. "I have a brain problem. I was killed by that perverted guy with a brain problem. I didn't do anything bad, but he killed me. I can't even bury my body in the grave. It must still be in that guy's hands now." Well. I'm dead and the guy is still doing weird things to me. Probably broke my leg and put a bar of soap in my mouth. Or something more disgusting. I—" Mr. S seemed to want to continue to say something, but held back, and only said in a low voice, "I'm really unwilling".There was silence after that. I inserted the skewer stick into the Coke can, stood up, and had the urge to beat something hard.For the first time in my life. "Meixiang, let's go back." I walked towards Mika who was staying on the side of the Observation Square, turned around and said to Mr. S who was still on the bench: "I will definitely find a way. There will always be a way. I will not let Mr. Iwamura go!" Mr. S seemed to say something, but a gust of wind hit him, so he couldn't hear it clearly.At that time, I didn't realize that the name tag on the front of the shirt disappeared. July 31st at nine past eight in the morning. There is an old smell in this house, Taizo thought. This kind of old, Japanese-style life accumulated and fermented here for many years, and Taizao didn't feel bored with the smell that pierced his nostrils a little bit.This smell permeated the old home in Kyushu during my childhood. The dog just now was still barking at the entrance.The dog is very thin, called Daji, what a strange name.It seems that he is very alert - he didn't expect to pounce on him.If it wasn't for the elementary school student's help just now, I really don't know what would have happened.Now Taizo still feels scared when he thinks about it. Outside the open window, sunflowers are blooming.There are probably a dozen or so.The big black and yellow flowers are arranged neatly.Not only the flowers, but also the leaves that stretch out in all directions from the thick stems are also very beautiful.The leaves at the bottom of the flower stem are as big as the leaves, and the part close to the ground is bigger than Taizo's two hands together.One leaf, however, was wrapped and drooping, which must have been done by aphids.After a closer look, only the sunflower didn't bloom. Turn your gaze to the front of the sunflowers, and there are really many trees planted in the courtyard.Cherry blossoms, nanshu trees, loquats, camellias—they seemed to not want to be pruned, and they stretched out their branches in all directions with anger. The sound of cicadas is disturbing.Countless shouts were mixed together, as if they wanted to completely stir up the hot air. In that piercing sound, Taizo heard a special sound from just now. That's an alert.An alarm that no one else can hear.A faint voice that only sounded in Taizo's heart. "Is it a bad premonition—" It has been like this since childhood.Deep in Taizo's heart, there is an inexplicable, tiny thing that makes a sound like this inadvertently.Taejo would regret it if he ignored that voice, and would think that it would have been better if he could have listened to that voice in the first place, "It was the same at that time..." When Taizo was nine years old, his mother died.Mother was just over thirty at the time.His father had died in battle, so Taizo and his mother rented a hut, trying to survive.His mother worked in a nearby textile factory, and brought up Taizao alone.There are no Sundays and no holidays, and my mother is always busy. To this day, Taizao still has a fresh memory. Although the mother is haggard, she is very beautiful.In the eyes of his son Taizo, his mother is as beautiful as a flower. But the mother died suddenly.That morning, Taizo lifted the quilt and found that his mother's eyes were open and her body was already cold.Mother's sudden death, even the doctor can't explain why. Mother has no relatives.All relatives died in the war.Therefore, the mother's funeral was organized by the nearby neighbors.At that time, companies specializing in funerals had not yet become popular.That day, Taizo sat alone, staring blankly at the courtyard.Watching people I know and don't know busily come and go, I feel as if I, too, have died.It also happened to be a hot midsummer. "That's when the 'alarm' sounded too—" Like a broken flute, or a baby's cry, the faint, almost inaudible sound kept ringing deep inside.Then, it gradually turned into human language, into a voice stubbornly confiding to Taizo.No, no, no—plug your ears—plug your ears—plug— "Damn..." Taizao shook his head vigorously, wanting to get rid of the afterimages of memory, while taking a deep breath, he pressed his temples with the fingertips of both hands.It seems to be emphasizing to myself that everything that is going to be done next is absolutely correct. "--please" Suddenly a teacup was handed over from the side, and Taizao was startled unexpectedly.I don't know when S's mother has come to his side.What a quiet person, Taizo thought to himself, and looked at that face again.Dark complexion, thin cheeks.Like S, his slightly squinted eyes are cloudy and dull. "If it doesn't taste good, please forgive me." A passing, small sound. "Yeah, so where. Don't be so polite." S's mother seems to be called Mizue. Mitsue quietly moved her knees, and moved diagonally in front of Taizo.She was wearing a crumpled dark gray shirt that didn't look too clean and a long skirt of a similar color. Her eyes didn't fall on Taizo, but stared straight at the tatami.That silhouette makes people feel that there is no life in her at all. "There are so many trees planted in your garden." Taizo looked away from Mitsue. "Ah, this one, yes. It is planted according to the flowering season. It is cherry blossoms in spring, nanshu in early summer, loquat in autumn, camellia in winter—sunflowers in summer. My husband liked it very much when he was alive." "A sunflower plant seems to have been eaten by aphids. If these aphids touched the leaves before they unfolded, the leaves would curl up like a package. This may be the reason why they didn't bloom in the end." "Mr. Furose, you know the details." "Yeah, where, the older people know something about it." Taizo laughed loudly, but the other party didn't respond. In the next period of time, only the sound of cicadas remained in my ears. "Well, you mean, you have something to tell me?" Mizue seemed to have made a lot of determination before asking. Taizo was finally ready, reached out to pick up the tea bowl, and drank it down in one gulp.Then turn to Mitsu River. "What I want to say first is that, as Mr. S's mother, you may not want to hear these words." Mitsue looked taken aback, his body stiffened. Taizo told the story of seeing Mr. S in the oak forest on the morning of S's death. "Is that so—so that person is Mr. Furuso..." It seems that Mitsue has learned from the police that there was a witness that day.So Taizo continued: "That afternoon, two policemen came to my house. I told the police what I saw in the oak forest. But, that——I forgot to tell the police. " Mitsue, who had been staring at her knee, suddenly raised her head. "I, heard Mr. S's voice." "Then, that child's voice..." "Yes, when I heard that voice, I always thought it was him talking to himself. So I thought, what is Mr. S muttering there alone. But after thinking about it, it was actually—" The inner alarm sounded again.Taizo ignored the voice, and said with emphasis: "Actually, he was talking to someone—now think about it." Mizue stared straight at Taizo's face, pursed his lips tightly, and finally said in a barely audible weak voice: "That, that is to say, what Mr. Furuse wants to say is—" "Mr. S is not alone. He must have been with someone at the time." Taizao talked more and more vigorously, and he had no scruples. "The words I heard from Mr. S seemed to be talking about me. I don't know what he was talking about. It may be because of the rustling of the oak tree leaves, so I didn't hear it clearly. However, the reason why I I don’t think it was talking to myself because Mr. S’s words at that time seemed to be asking someone a question, or confirming something, that’s the tone. So what I heard should be about me, not about myself. Soliloquy. Then I thought that if you talk to yourself, it's usually a low-pitched murmur, muttering in your mouth. It's impossible to pass from this room across the yard to the woods. It's—" Taizo paused for a moment, and swallowed a mouthful of sticky saliva. "That's talking to someone. That's what I thought." It was two forty in the afternoon of the same day. Taizo and Mitsue walked down the slope together in the rain, silent to each other.The two were each holding a transparent plastic umbrella.When they left the police station just now, Officer Guwei sent them to the door, looked up at the sky, and thought it was going to rain, so he lent them to them.On the white plastic umbrella handle, "Lesson 1" is written in a magic pen. "Thank you so much for today." Mitsue's voice seemed to be lost in the sound of the rain. "Accompany me to the police station, you are such a strong person." Taizo shook his head with extremely complicated emotions. Taizo and Mitsue came to the police station just now and were entertained in the third reception room on the second floor.Officer Tanio, who came after hearing the news, was full of expectations at first, but after hearing what Taizo and Mitsue said, he couldn't hide his disappointment. ——As a clue, we will refer to it.However, if I would like to talk about my feelings at this time—— Raising his head, he looked at Taizo and Mitsue separately, and the wrinkles on Officer Tani's forehead deepened. ——I’m afraid, that’s Mr. S talking to himself—— No matter how affirmed Taizo was, Officer Tani's attitude remained unchanged.This surprised Taizao very much.The juvenile who was determined to have committed suicide may have other secrets.But the police officer did not have any special reaction to this. However, on reflection, this attitude may be more appropriate for the police.Now they are investigating the disappearance of suicide corpses, and the current job is to search for corpses.So of course they think that such ambiguous clues will bring unnecessary confusion to the whole case.The police force to investigate the case is limited.However, more than ten days have passed, and the body has still not been found.It is understandable if the police decide to mobilize all police forces to search for the corpse now. His own thoughts were too naive, and Taizo felt very embarrassed. However, there is another way—— Taizo remembered what happened the day before yesterday.library.Fiction.The name of the author Kaoru Six Village. Inadvertently, the sound of rain tightened.Snapped!Just when I felt a big raindrop falling on the umbrella, countless raindrops immediately fell, and many black puddles formed on the ground, and the rain splashed.The sky was getting dark and the wind was blowing, as if a sea storm had suddenly struck. "What kind of weather! Umbrellas don't work at all!" "Well, really..." The sound of the two people's conversation also disappeared in the slanting raindrops. "Should I call a taxi?" Before Meijinjiang could answer, Taizao turned his head and searched for a taxi on the road.But the rain was so heavy that I couldn't see the road ahead clearly.Many people hurried across the road in order to hide under the eaves quickly. "Mr. Furose, we'll be at the station after a while. There's a taxi there—" "Oh, yes." The two trotted down the slope.There are several empty taxis parked in front of the station.Taizo walked up to one of them, made a gesture, and the door opened. "Come on, sit down." "Thank you very much. ——Mr. Furose, don't you want to take the car?" "Oh, me, I have to do something before the station." Taizo took out two 1,000-yen bills from his wallet and handed them to Mitsue who was sitting in the back seat.No matter how Mizue shook his head and refused, Taizo forced the money into her hand and left immediately. Walking into the station, perhaps because the sound of rain on the umbrella disappeared, Taizo felt extraordinarily quiet.There is the sound of a taxi leaving behind. Taizo closed the umbrella, heaved a sigh of relief, and looked up at the gray sky. "We have to wait until the rain stops..." In fact, Taizao didn't have anything to do before the station, he just wanted to think about it by himself. In order not to disturb the passers-by, Taizo walked slowly to the wall.Leaning on the plastic umbrella with both hands like crutches, he stared straight at his wet, wrinkled hands. "Bad premonitions can sometimes be inaccurate—" As a result nothing happened.Taizao's actions seemed pointless. At this time, Taizo suddenly heard the sound of pattering footsteps walking towards the platform. "It's that child..." A familiar face appeared in the opposite rain.