Chapter 14 13

4:09 Mari and Takahashi sat side by side on the two swings in the park in the dead of night.Takahashi looked at Mary's side face, his expression seemed to say "unintelligible".The conversation just now is still going on. "Don't want to wake up?" Mary said nothing. "What's the matter?" he asked. Mary seemed to be having a hard time making up her mind, silently watching her feet.She's not quite ready to talk about it yet. "...Hey, why don't you take a walk?" Mary suggested. "Okay, let's go, walking is a good thing. Walk slowly and drink plenty of water."

"What is that?" "My motto in life: walk slowly and drink plenty of water!" Mari looked at Takahashi's face.Fantastic motto.But she didn't comment, and she didn't ask.She got off the swing and started to move, Takahashi followed.The two walked out of the park and walked towards the bright place. "Still returning to 'Skayraku'?" Takahashi asked. Mary shook her head: "It seems to be quite hard to read quietly in a restaurant." "I think it's understandable." "If possible, I would like to go to 'Alpha City' again."

"I'll take you there, anyway, it's near the practice place." "A Kaoru can go anytime, without causing trouble?" Mary said. Takahashi shook his head and said: "She doesn't know people, but she is very upright. Since she can go at any time, she can go at any time, so she might as well accept it." "Well." "Besides, that place is very free at this time. She must be happy if you go to play." "Are you still going to band practice?" Takahashi glanced at his watch: "Because today is the last time to participate in all-night practice, I plan to work harder and have a small orgasm."

The two turned back to the center of the street.After all, this time has come, and there are almost no pedestrians on the road.Four o'clock in the morning, the most deserted moment in the city.All kinds of things are scattered on the road: empty beer cans, trampled newspapers, deformed cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, cigarette butts, fragments of car taillights, a single labor glove, coupons from somewhere, etc. There is vomit.A big, dirty cat keeps sniffing the smell of garbage bags, trying to secure its share before the rats scramble and before the ferocious crows come to feed after dawn.Most of the neon lights have been extinguished, and the lights of the all-night convenience store are starting to look dazzling.Several advertising leaflets were strewn about on the windshield wipers of parked cars.The sound of large trucks passing by was heard continuously from the nearby arterial road.For truck drivers, now is the best time to run when the roads are empty.Mary pulls her Red Sox cap down and puts her hands in the pockets of her blazer.Walking side by side, there is a considerable height difference between the two.

"Why the Red Sox cap?" Takahashi asked. "It was given to me," said Mary. "That means it's not a Red Sox fan." "Baseball doesn't know anything." "I'm not very interested in baseball either. Relatively speaking, I'm more of a football fan." Takahashi said, "By the way, about your sister, what I said just now." "Well." "I don't quite understand, that means Eri Asai is completely asleep?" Takahashi asked. Mary looked up at him and said, "I'm sorry, I don't want to say this while walking, it's a little delicate."

"Understood." "Say something else." "What else?" "Anything. Tell me about you," Mary said. "I?" "Well, about yourself." Takahashi thought for a moment. "Can't think of a happy topic." "It's okay, even if you're not happy." "My mother died when I was seven years old," he said. "Breast cancer. It was discovered late, and it took only three months to die. It developed so fast that there was no time for serious treatment. During that period Father has been in prison all the time, and he said it just now."

Mari looked up at Takahashi again. "Your mother died of breast cancer when you were seven, and your father was in prison during that time?" "That's right." Takahashi said. "Does that mean you're lonely?" "Exactly. My father was arrested for fraud and sentenced to two years. MLM, but the method seems to be very dishonest, and the amount of fraud is quite large. In addition, he participated in student sports organizations when he was young, and he was arrested several times at that time. So I was not granted probation. I was suspected of raising funds for an organization, but it didn’t really matter. I still remember the situation when I followed my mother to visit the prison. It was a very cold place! Half a year after my father was imprisoned, my mother’s breast cancer was discovered, and she was immediately hospitalized. In short, I was temporarily orphaned. My father was in prison and my mother was in hospital."

"Who took care of you during that time?" "Later, I heard that the hospitalization and living expenses were paid by my father's parents. My father has a bad relationship with his hometown and has been in a state of breaking off relations for a long time, but after all, he can't ignore the life and death of a seven-year-old child. There is an aunt among relatives who seems to be reluctant. The neighbors also took turns to take care of them, doing laundry, shopping, and delivering meals. My house was still a civilian area at the time, which may be fortunate-the factor of the neighborhood is still playing a role. But most of the things It seems that I did it by myself. I cook simple meals by myself, pack up for school by myself...but I don’t remember clearly, it seems to be something that happened to someone else.”

"When did father come out?" "It was about three months after my mother died. After all, the situation was special, and early bail was approved. Needless to say, I am very happy that my father is back. I am no longer an orphan. I have a big and powerful adult, so I can rest assured. So far I still clearly remember the rough feel and the smell of cigarettes on my father’s old coarse woolen jacket.” Takahashi took out his hand from the windbreaker pocket and scratched the back of his neck a few times, “But, getting to know my father again After seeing it, I couldn’t feel relieved from the bottom of my heart. I couldn’t express it well, anyway, things didn’t settle down on me. How should I put it, I always feel like I’ve been fooled casually. That is to say, the real Where did my father disappear forever, and another person was temporarily sent to me in the form of my father for the sake of continuity—is this feeling understandable?"

"Vague." Takahashi was silent for a while, and then continued. "Specifically, at that time, I felt like this: no matter what happens, my father should not abandon me, I should not be an orphan in this world. No matter what the reason is, I should not go to prison. As for the prison What kind of place it was, of course I was not sure at the time, after all, I was only seven years old. But I still generally knew that it was like a big drawer. It was a dark, scary, and ominous place. My father was not You should go to that place." Takahashi stopped there. "Your father was in prison?"

Mary shook her head: "I don't think so." "Where's mother?" "No, I think." "Fortunately! It's a great joy for your life!" Takahashi said with a slight smile, "I'm afraid you haven't noticed it yet." "Didn't think about it that much." "Most people don't think about it. I think about it." Mary glanced at Takahashi. "...After that, your father never went to prison again, did he?" "Father never had a problem with the law after that. No, maybe he did, or rather he certainly did, I think. Because he wouldn't walk straight in the world. Still, the risk of going back to prison was never involved." I don't know if I've been in prison, I'm afraid I'm afraid of going to prison, or I feel personal responsibility for my dead mother, and I generally feel in his way. Anyway, it's - albeit in a rather gray area - well-behaved Industrialist. It used to be a lot of ups and downs. Our family was sometimes very rich and sometimes poor. It was like riding a roller coaster every day. Sometimes we rode a chauffeured Mercedes · Mercedes-Benz, and sometimes I can’t even afford a bicycle, and I even did things like running away at night. It’s hard to live and work in one place, and I change schools almost every six months, and of course I can’t talk about friends. Going to junior high school It was generally this feeling before.” Takahashi put his hands into his coat pockets again, shaking his head to drive away the gloomy memory. "But settled down in a decent place. After all, it's the post-war baby boomer generation who can take a beating. Mick Jagger's knighthood generation. Can always stand on his feet at the last minute, even if he doesn't reflect. I can also learn lessons. I don’t know what kind of job my father is doing now. I didn’t ask, and he didn’t take the initiative to say, anyway, the tuition is paid on time, and some pocket money is given on a whim. Some things in the world are still unclear For good." "Your father remarried?" "Four years after my mother died. He wasn't the admirable type of a man who raised a child by himself." "There were no children between your father and the new wife?" "No, I'm the only child. Because of this, she really raised me like her own child. I'm very grateful for that. So, the problem lies with me." "what is the problem?" Takahashi looked at Mary with a smile: "That is to say, people who were orphans once died orphans. I often have the same dream: I am seven years old, and I am an orphan again. I am alone and have no adults to rely on. Time It’s evening, the surroundings are getting dark moment by moment, and the night is coming. I always have the same dream, and in the dream I always return to the age of seven. Once the software is contaminated, it can never be changed.” Mary just listened in silence. "I usually try not to think about this kind of nerve-wracking thing." Takahashi said, "Because—when I think about it, I can't think of the result. Today is over and tomorrow is——I can only live in such an extremely ordinary way." "Just walk more and drink water slowly!" "It's not like that," he said. "Walk slowly and drink plenty of water." "Everything seems to be the same thing." Takahashi thought about it seriously in his head: "Yeah, maybe it's really the same thing." The two of them didn't say anything, just moved silently.Breathing out white air, she climbed up the dark stone steps and came to the "Alpha City". Even the fancy purple neon lights made Mary feel kind and warm at this moment. Takahashi stood still at the door of the hotel, and looked at Mary with rare serious eyes: "I have something to confess to you." "what?" "I thought the same thing as you," he said, "but not today, without nice underwear." Mary shook her head in amazement: "I'm tired, can you stop making such meaningless jokes?" Takahashi said with a smile: "I will pick you up around six o'clock. If you want, we can have breakfast together. There is a restaurant nearby that serves fried eggs very well. The hot and soft fried eggs... By the way, do you think fried eggs are delicious? Are there any problems with eggs as food? Like genetically modified, organized animal cruelty, politically inappropriate..." Mary hesitated for a moment. "I don't understand politics. But since chickens are problematic, it goes without saying that eggs are also problematic." "It's difficult," Takahashi frowned, "There always seems to be something wrong with what I like." "I like fried eggs too..." "Well, let's find a compromise!" Takahashi said, "It's a delicious fried egg, that's it." He waved his hand and walked alone to the band practice place.Mary put her hat back on and went through the hotel door.