Chapter 22 Section five

"It surprised me that." Makikawa made a weak voice and poured tea into the cup.Yuki had been sleeping on my back on the way home, and now she is sleeping under the comforter in the room next to the entrance, breathing softly. "Yuki's ears are healed..." There are several thick envelopes on the coffee table.It was just that Mu Chuan took it out of the refrigerator, and it contained the cash that should have been stolen. "That means Yuki knew about the fact that I sneaked into my house that night." Holding the teacup in both hands, I nodded. "She said she heard the sound of crutches."

No matter what, I couldn't look directly at Makikawa. That night, after Mu Chuan left the entrance, he walked around to the balcony from the outside of the apartment.Although it was said that Yuki was sleeping in the room next to the entrance, but the house only had two bedrooms after all, she must have heard the sound of crutches near the balcony.There was also the sound of Makikawa climbing over the railing, the sound of the window being opened, and the sound of things being taken out of the drawer.But she didn't know what Mu Chuan was going to do at that time.It was impossible for her to confirm it even if she pretended to be deaf.

"The next morning, after knowing that Mr. Makikawa stole her own money, Yuki must have been very confused. She must have been very puzzled why you did this, and she also felt that she must keep it secret and pretend that she didn't know .” "Ah, yes. The police were called after all." She was there when Makikawa lied to the police.When Makikawa's daughter made a hysterical sound because of this lie, she was also beside her.In the end what happened?Why did Muchuan steal his own money and lie to the police?Yuki must have thought it was a bad thing until she fully understood it.A lot of uneasiness must have accumulated in her little chest.

—Who do you think is the thief? —— On the embankment in the evening, Yuki asked me this. —What did you hear next door? —— Is that confirming to me?Check if I, who lives next door, heard the crutches.Make sure I know what Makikawa did. "Yuki must be... very heavy." Makikawa said suddenly. "Well, I didn't expect that at all. The baby is really heavy when he is asleep." I thought of Yuki who was getting heavier and heavier on his back on the way home. "When a child falls asleep, the whole body relaxes. My daughter does too. She gets heavy immediately after she falls asleep and is very warm."

Makikawa blinked slowly as if in a dream. Yuki's body temperature still lingers on my back.That feeling seems to be as clear as it will not change after many years.The back of Mu Chuan, who is spending the rest of his life in front of him, must still have the body temperature of his daughter back then.Looking at his lonely expression staring at the teacup, I think it must be like this. When asked why he stole his cash, he gave roughly the same answer I expected. "I want to educate my daughter again... this kind of boring reason. After my daughter lived here, I regretted it very much. Because of the previous education method. My wife and I have been obedient to her since childhood, which made her like this. Money, money, money, everything is money. I left home and came to me for money."

After sighing deeply, Makikawa raised his head for the first time. "I really regret it. My father is not money and I am not a bank." This kind of remorse and the desire to no longer regret made Mu Chuan make this move. "I'm going to pick a time to tell my daughter the truth - why I did such a stupid thing. Tell the police that it was my misunderstanding, and the money was found in the drawer." Makikawa loosened his shoulders and lowered his head again. "...What a troublesome grandpa." In the room where the setting sun was shining in the west, Mu Chuan suddenly shrank very small, like an ancient tree that had been growing there all along.

"But Mr. Makikawa, why did you come in from the balcony on purpose?" I asked with a deliberately smiling voice. "Isn't there an easier way to get the money 'stolen'? Or just take it out of the drawer and hide it—" "I'm afraid of being found out." Makikawa poked his head out and smiled. "Because you see, if the police were to investigate, they would have figured it out pretty quickly—did anyone come in or out of the balcony or something. So I actually climbed over the balcony fence with gloves on like a thief." The wrinkles on Makikawa's face when he smiled were clearly visible under the setting sun.There must be regrets in those wrinkles, precious memories, and the sadness and loneliness that I want to forget.

"It's too difficult for me to think of a way." After a while of silence, a sweet and sour aroma came from the window.It seems to be Shen Dinghua.Is there Shen Dinghua outside the apartment?Makikawa noticed my expression and told me: "Just next to the balcony, there is a very thin Shendinghua." Mu Chuan looked over there, and rubbed his thin fingers against his earlobe. "When I sneaked in before, I also discovered it for the first time." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as if savoring the aroma. "It smells good." "Well, it's very fragrant."

Constantly taking deep breaths, sniffing the fragrance from the window, I suddenly felt unbelievably different between myself and Makikawa, Makikawa's daughter, and Yuki.People are very similar.It is precisely because of similarities that we worry about each other, hate each other, help each other, and have superfluous love for each other. The scent of the lilacs is gradually dissipating, and spring is over. When summer came and cicadas started to be heard in a nearby park, Makikawa came to the shop where I worked.With his daughter and Yuki.When he sat on the seat, the crutch standing by the table fell down, and his daughter muttered something and helped the crutch up.

How the theft was explained to the police I don't know.Although I could ask Makikawa and Yuki when I saw them, I didn't do that.Makikawa's daughter still lives next door, and I just meet and say hello.However, as time went by, her face gradually softened.The indifferent expression gradually increased the temperature. To use an inappropriate word to describe it, she became more and more like Yuki. "I also want to—" I heard Yuki say this to her mother when the food was served. "Then buy me—" Leaving their seats, listening casually, it seemed that Yuki was asking her mother for the second volume of "Solution Sensei".It turned out that it was a set of books.

How would her mother respond?What will happen to Makikawa who sees this? ——I am a little concerned.But the dishes on Mu Chuan's table have already been served, and there is nothing on the nearby tables.I could only prick up my ears and try to move away from the three of them as slowly as possible.