Chapter 23 Section 22

Tendo pressed the "down" button.The red light is on.There is also a hill after getting on the train from the station, so I think it is better to walk directly. In the full bus, I was holding the ring, and Tiantong had no seat. He was a head taller than the other passengers, as if his head was about to hit the ceiling.The road is straight, but the bus shakes violently from side to side, probably due to poor driving skills.The passengers' breath formed a layer of fog on the windows, and it was drizzling outside.The umbrellas in the hands of the passengers had already been put away, and the falling water droplets wet the ground.

The bus arrived not long after, and I followed Tiantong and squeezed forward.After paying the fare and getting off the bus, the rain splashed on me, so I quickly opened my umbrella. After the two of us got off the bus, the engine of the bus started up again, and we drove on the misty road, filled with a unique smell of car exhaust. The raindrops hit the umbrella, making a crackling sound. "Get it for me." This simple black umbrella can be opened at once, and Tendo quickly handed the handle to me.I put the bag under the original armpit of my right arm first, and held my umbrella in my right hand, then stretched out my left hand to take over Tendo's umbrella, and covered Tendo's head with the umbrella as if stretching.He bent down and quickly put on the black top.

"thanks." The humid air around is still sultry, why did Tendo wear an extra coat, I don't quite understand. The car whizzed past us on the right. "Let's go." The sidewalk is too narrow for the two of us to walk side by side.Of course, even if it is spacious enough, Tendo will not let me walk beside him.Usually he goes first and I follow.As the rain fell, Tendo, who was taller than me, acted as my shield. We crossed the road halfway and turned to the right side of the road.On the right side of the sidewalk is a low fence similar to the one in front of the hotel. When walking, the sidewalk becomes narrower as it turns into a brick fence. After walking for a while, the road finally widens again.

"It's here." As Tendo said, he gestured to the right side of the way with his chin. There was a magnificent gate over there, and the guards guarding both sides were wearing uniforms and raincoats.Tiantong walked in quickly and calmly, and I followed behind. There was a big wooden sign on the doorpost, and the words on it startled me.Because the words "Member's Hall" are written in regular script on it. There were still guards inside the gate, and they took Tiantong to the hut near the gate, as if they had to go through some formalities.I pushed all the troubles to Tiantong, and stood behind in a daze, looking down at my attire.I accidentally dressed more formally today, so I breathed a sigh of relief for now.But if you want to come to this kind of place, it's better to tell me in advance.Thinking of this, I stared at Tiantong's back.

In the middle of the courtyard is a large parking lot with three buildings, a building similar to a teaching building on the right hand side, and two small buildings on the inside on the left hand side.Trees of equal height are arranged at equal intervals beside the fence, adding greenery to the courtyard.In the slanting rain and spray of spray, all the landscape was covered with a layer of mist. "Hey, Tatsumi, register your name here." Tendo greeted me and made room for me.When I came to his position just now, the staff on the opposite side of the window handed over the sticky board with the documents and asked me to fill in information such as address, name and phone number.I hesitated while writing the name.In this case, it is necessary to write the real name, or a pseudonym is also acceptable.I ended up writing the pseudonym "Tatsumi Marumi".I handed back the registration form and the staff gave me a badge.

"Let's go." Tendo took a step ahead, and we walked towards the building on the right.No one happened to be around, so I questioned his back. "Why are you here?" "He seems to be working as a secretary. Father is a member of the Senate." "Ugh?" I couldn't close my mouth in surprise.That Oiso actually? When I came to the porch of the building, I put away my umbrella and finally breathed a sigh of relief.After thinking for a while, he got the badge and clipped it sideways where the buttons of his shirt overlapped. Through the glass door, there is another reception inside.Tendo took out a piece of paper from the box next to it, wrote something, and handed it to the front desk.Then he walked back to the wall, sat down on the sofa and smoked.I also sat next to him.

Seeing Tendo smoking, my mood calmed down for some reason. This chic lobby is a bit like a hotel lobby, with walls and floors covered in polished marble, and chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling.There are two elevators next to the reception.Between us and the elevator hall, there are several golden pillars surrounded by yellow lines like those on commercial streets.The red carpet has been laid from the opposite side, extending to the dark corridor that is divided into two forks on the inside. After waiting for a while, Oiso appeared from the inner corridor.He smiled when he recognized us.

"Yeah, sorry sorry. Keeping you waiting." I hurriedly got up, bowed my head and saluted, and then looked at Oiso again. His burly physique is unexpectedly suitable for wearing trousers, and the appearance of walking towards us with a bag under his arm is exactly the same as that day, but his wording seems to be more polite. "Let's go." Tendo put out the cigarette in the ashtray, got up and didn't turn in the direction Oiso came from, but went to the elevator and pressed the button on the wall.Not long after, the elevator came with a ding.We passed the uncle who came out, and Oiso pressed the button for the third floor.My body felt the acceleration of gravity.

"Yeah, it happened to be raining by chance. Yes, I read, 'Forest of Mechanics' later, and it was quite interesting." "thanks." While speaking, the feeling of acceleration of gravity suddenly disappeared, and the elevator door opened with a ding. "Ah, this way, let's go to the lounge over there." The corridor and the first floor after coming out are also covered with red carpets.The vaulted zenith is high, and elegantly designed lighting fixtures are hung all around.The lower part of the side wall of the corridor is a reflector, and the upper part is sprayed with white paint. There are room doors at intervals, and Oiso is pointing to the nearest room on the right.

After entering, turn on the light, and here is a long and deep room, with a table in the middle placed vertically, and many chairs lined up on the left and right.There are windows on the opposite wall. The function of the room itself is not much different from the meeting room in Ten Rivers, but the interior decoration is much more luxurious. Oiso sat on the chair on the left, and Tendo and I sat across from him.The wooden chair, even the armrests, is a whole. The surface is covered with fabric, and it feels soft when sitting on it, as if covering the whole body. "...Are you here today? It seems like before——"

"Well, I still have a few questions to ask you about that day, that's why we came to visit in the rain." "Please feel free to ask." Oiso said and opened the palms of both hands to signal. "Then I won't say polite words. First of all, after we arrived at the villa, you went out on a motorcycle once. Where did you go?" "Yeah, I didn't go to any special places. There is a mountain in front of me, and I finally passed it in the summer--because of the snow in winter, I can't drive a motorcycle--so I want to take a look." "How long did it take?" "Should be back in an hour." "And then prepare a barbecue with everyone?" "While I was away, you two picked up the poor man. Then I'll be with you." Tendo nodded without saying a word.When we came back to our senses, Tiantong and I were not leaning on the back of the chair, our backs were straight.Oiso was different, leaning back deeply, clasping his hands on his stomach. "I see. Now let me ask you about what happened after I separated from everyone. Everyone except me went up to the tower, around ten o'clock. Thirty minutes later, Tatsumi also returned. ... And what happened later?" "Someone is following behind the teacher, it's Xiaoxia——I think about it, what's her last name?" "Nishino." "Ah, that's right. Natsuko Nishino. She, there are three more, and he also chased after her. So at that time, only Shihe, Kaori, me, and... Matsuura were left. The four of us drank and chatted, probably Stayed there for an hour and a half." "What did the four of you talk about?" Daiso thought for a moment. "...What is it, I can't remember, sorry. It should be nothing important." "How's Kaori doing? Like something that looks like it's going to happen after that, or something—" "No, not at all. The next day—when the body was found, that was the first thing I thought about, but I couldn't think of anything suspicious." Daji frowned and paused for a moment. "why." Daiso added another sentence. Tiantong coughed. "Back to the topic just now... the four of you were drinking in the hut on the top of the tower. I heard that it was almost midnight when we broke up. Shihe and Kaori went down, and Matsuura went down, and you were the only one left there... …and after?" "It's nothing. Then, I went down too. Drinking alone is too boring." "I don't know how long it took you to go down. Anyway, after that, Kaori went up the tower and jumped off the building. I want to ask you something about the last time you left the room. Are the windows closed?" "The windows are closed and the curtains are drawn." "Where's the bucket?" bucket?Daiso was a little overwhelmed. "Yeah, I didn't care, I kept it outside the window." After hearing this answer, Tendo paused for a while before continuing to ask. "...Have you run out of beer?" "No... maybe there are two or three cans left... I don't remember." "After Matsuura also left, you were the only one left. At that time, the clouds suddenly opened and the moon brightened." Daji frowned and nodded, his eyes seemed to be looking into the distance. "Yes....Well, the moon came out. Because of the rare opportunity, I called Matsuura, but the guy has already gone away." "You went to the terrace to see the moon." "I went to the terrace." "You look at the moon and want another drink, so you look at the bucket." "Did I read...? But... By the way, I remembered. At that time, I was still holding an unfinished can of beer, so I didn't open a new one, and just drank the can in my hand." "Finally, did you see the bucket?" "I looked. It seems that one of the buckets is gone, and there are two cans in the other... Maybe. The ice has all melted, and there are probably two cans of beer in the water." Any questions?Tendo glared at Tendo.Tiantong put up Erlang's legs and leaned slightly. "Morning is gone." "Ugh?" "I went up the tower that morning before the police arrived. But there was no beer, only empty cans on the table." "bucket--" "There are two empty buckets next to the entrance—empty ones with no water left." Daiso was lost in thought. "...That is to say... Kaori drank it?" Tendo raised a hand and interrupted him. "Back to the topic just now. Yes, the moon appeared, you drank the beer in your hand, then closed the window and went down the tower. Then?" "I'm going to sleep right away." "So, you didn't hear the sound of her falling to the ground?" Daiso's expression became serious. "Yes, I probably slept like a dead sleeper." "The next morning, you were the first to wake up." "I always get up early. I took a shower after waking up. After the alcohol passed, I felt better. When I came out, I saw that Xiaoxia was the only one who got up, and everyone else was probably still asleep. I was alone with her I don't care if it's true, but I thought she was a little pitiful, so I forcibly pulled Shihe up." "Didn't you want to wake up Kaori?" Hearing Tendo's question, Oiso snorted. "It's not good to wake up the eldest lady." Realizing that there was something wrong with me being silent all the time, I asked the question. "Oiso, what do you think of Kaori?" Oiso looked at me as if he had just discovered that I was here. "What do you mean by asking me how?" "After all, she looks so cute." "That's what it means." Daji smiled, not knowing who he was laughing at. "Then let me be honest, I thought she was cute at first too, and I actually dated her." dated?Kaori?And this Oiso? "When did it start?" Tiantong asked immediately. "I think about it, about two years ago, it only lasted for about half a year. After the peak season of the previous year, we broke up unconsciously. Later, we became ordinary friends—you think, no Do you often hear this sentence? From now on, let’s treat each other as ordinary friends—although neither of us has said such stupid things. But in fact, this is how it feels. In a general sense, this kind of similar companion The relationship with her has also been maintained. To her, I am my brother's bad friend, and to me, she is the bad friend's sister. "Well, I didn't keep it a secret either. Shihe also knew about it, so we were recognized by my brother as a couple at the time. Didn't that guy mention it to you?" Tiantong remained silent. "You are investigating under Shi He's orders, right? You said that the teacher's floppy disk has gone somewhere. I don't know if it's true or not, but it's definitely not your main purpose. Your main purpose is Kaori about it, right. Okay, okay, I get it. I don’t know why Kaori jumped down either." "Your relationship ended two years ago?" Tendo confirmed to him. "Well, I think that kind of extremely refreshing breakup between men and women at that time was very rare. It probably happened that both parties stopped pursuing each other at the same time." "...How do you know that Kaori no longer pursues you?" Daiso narrowed his eyes. "Because of her character. In fact, when I dated her, I rarely considered the issue of marriage. I dated her with the goal of getting married. Probably the other party has sufficient conditions in terms of family background and future development. .” "You're saying she's fine with all these provisos. But character?" What happened to Kaori's character?I'm curious to know what Oiso will say next. "In short, it's self-willed. If something goes wrong, they will forcibly return to the direction they expected. If I explain it this way, you will find it difficult to understand." He snorted again. "Because she didn't show it. On the surface, she played the role of an honest and good boy. By the way, I hope you don't tell Shihe about this—" Having said that, Daiso's expression became more serious. "That person—this is just my guess—maybe she didn't even notice that what that person actually wants to pursue most is Shihe—that is, her own brother. I have this feeling."