As soon as he reached the intersection, the car started to turn, and the dazzling light emanated from the headlights, which stung Matsuda Jinpei's eyes.

He felt as if he was suddenly in a hospital morgue that was so bright that it was so bright that his eyes were red with the cold incandescent light above his head. He wanted to shed physiological tears. Suddenly he was walking on a dark road again, surrounded by that cold incandescent light.

A car with high beams on makes my eyes sore.

That feeling was very fragmented. When he felt that he was in the hospital, there was a sticky feeling on his hands. It was the blood that Hinata had dried up. When he felt that he was on the dark road at night, there was a sticky feeling on his hands.

It's cold, like holding a bottle of cold water.

...Or maybe it was Hinata's hands that were completely cold.

There are also two intersecting knife marks on the wrist of that hand.

It is a very professional method of committing suicide. It is not a horizontal cut, but a vertical cut along the blood vessels on the arm. Even if Matsuda Jinpei noticed something was wrong at the first time and rushed over, he could only touch the still warm water.

He could only carry Hinata, who was not breathing, on his back to meet the emergency personnel who also rushed over quickly.

Why does it become like this?

There may have been signs of this a long time ago.

As early as the day when Matsuda Jinpei met Hinata Reason, on that day, he did not arrive in time and only rescued Hinata Reason.

When confirming whether Hinata was still conscious, he looked closely at those green eyes. There was nothing in those eyes, only the calmness of a dying person.

On that day, Hinata's reasonable life was rescued, but something left with his mother.

That time, after the first aid was over, the doctor in charge of the first aid showed no expression and simply announced: "The rescue is back, the family members are going to sign, and the subsequent medical expenses have been paid, right?"

Matsuda Jinpei could only write his name in embarrassment and pay the medical expenses in advance.

But this time, after the first aid was over, the doctor responsible for the rescue solemnly came out and bowed deeply. He did not say the result, but just said: "I'm very sorry!"

The signature this time is not on the expense bill, but on the notice confirming the death.

In fact, there was no need to go to the emergency room at all. Before the ambulance arrived, Hinata's reasonable breathing had stopped. When he entered the emergency room, Matsuda Jinpei insisted on using instruments for cardiac resuscitation in an attempt to revive his friend.

After confirming that the time of death on the notice was correct, Matsuda Jinpei signed the notice.

When he lowered his head to sign, he heard the doctor say regretfully: "The deceased's wishes were very decisive and the wound was very smooth. Even if first aid was provided as soon as the incision was made, it would probably be...please don't blame yourself too much, Officer Matsuda."

The wound was very smooth, indicating that the deceased did not hesitate at all when the knife was cut. Even if he felt pain, he did not hesitate, but continued to apply force firmly until the wound was completed.

When he took Hinata out properly and pressed the wound, Matsuda Jinpei discovered it.

He nodded randomly, as if he heard everything, but also as if he didn't hear anything.

All I knew was that when the door of the emergency room opened and something covered with white cloth was pushed out, the doctor said again: "Officer Matsuda can do this, which is already very benevolent."

"I have heard some stories about Mr. Hinata. He is a very great detective. Even if he has such an unfortunate past... he has psychological problems and it is normal to choose to leave in this way.

Then he advised: "After all, Officer Matsuda has nothing to do with him. Fundamentally speaking, he is just a stranger. If he knew that you were so sad, Mr. Hinata would also be sad, right?"

No, it won't.

He couldn't organize his words well, and he didn't refute at all. He followed the hospital bed covered with white cloth all the way to the temporary morgue.

'With such an unfortunate past and psychological problems, it is normal to choose this method' means that Hinata's reasonable mother chose to leave on her own. Although it is not the same method, it is the same decisiveness. The child will be affected by the mother.

The impact is really too normal.

And for so long, Hinata has often been in contact with criminals, often witnessed death...and has no friends.

If Hinata reasonably does not admit that Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji are his friends, Matsuda Jinpei can confirm that the other party really has no friends.

The other person is like a white cloud floating in the sky, or a handful of soft snow falling on the pine tree. There is nothing that he cares about, and there is no one who can save him.

Because, as early as the beginning, when Hinata was just a kite floating in the air with a string, the string was broken, and since then, no new kite string has been formed.

then……

Why did she commit suicide? Hinata seemed reasonable and had no reason, and seemed to have no reason at all, so she could convince everyone.

When almost everyone learned the news, they would show expressions of understanding and confusion, and say in an understanding tone: "So that's it, he committed suicide by slitting his wrists... That's no wonder, Officer Matsuda."

Matsuda Jinpei was very familiar with that method of slitting the wrists, because that was what he taught Hinata to do properly.

In a previous case, Hinata met a woman who committed suicide by cutting her wrists, saved her, and then asked her thoughtfully, "Obviously, she has cut her wrists for so long, but she is not dead yet, but is struggling in pain, and...

I hope someone can save her, but I also hope that no one passing by will find her. Why is it so contradictory?"

At that time, Matsuda Jinpei replied with a lot of words, and tried his best to break them up and feed them to Hinata for reasonable listening. After finishing speaking, he rejoiced and said, "Fortunately, it was a transverse cut. If it was a vertical cut along the blood vessels,

Then there is no way to save him."

For Matsuda Jinpei, it was just a daily professional life that was somewhat ordinary but also somewhat extraordinary. What was extraordinary was that a life did not pass away, and what was ordinary was that he often saved lives.

But it wasn't until he held the corpse's wrist in the morgue that he suddenly realized that for Hinata, that day might be very unusual.

What’s unusual is that the other party remembered that ‘if you hurt yourself, you won’t be able to save yourself in time’, and executed it very well today.

A feeling of exhaustion spread, whether it was physical or mental. In short, Matsuda Jinpei was exhausted.

He repeatedly recalled every detail of his acquaintance with Hinata Reasonable, re-recognized Hinata Reasonable's expression every time he looked at the world from a distance, and recalled the calm expression on Hinata's face when he poked the child's forehead and warned the child not to cry again.

Recalling that after rescuing someone, the other person smiled faintly and said with a soft expression, "I respected her wish for me to pass by and not go in, and I also respected her wish to ask for help. It's a double reward."

He even recalled that when he received Toru Amuro's message and went to find them, Hinata put his forehead against the glass, relaxed into a deep sleep, and had a quiet expression on his face, as well as the sudden words "I'm so tired" that the other party suddenly said after waking up.

When the other party uttered "I'm so tired", Matsuda Jinpei iced the other party's cheek with a cold drink, then smiled and praised the other party without taking the complaint too seriously.

But now...but now.

When Matsuda Jinpei closed his eyes, he could feel that his eyes were extremely astringent, his throat seemed to be stuffed with cotton, and the feeling in his heart was like when he knelt next to the bathtub and picked up Hinata from the warm water.

, that dull and slippery feeling.

I can't even breathe, I can only exhale a little bit of air from my stomach, as if I'm sick.

The doctor was actually right.

Fundamentally speaking, he and Hinata are just strangers who have known each other for six years.

Looking back now, he realized one thing. Human beings cannot completely understand each other. He cannot be sure about things that have not been communicated with each other, just like when the doctor said, "You are just strangers."

, Matsuda Jinpei couldn't retort firmly, couldn't question what the doctor was saying, couldn't say confidently, 'We have known each other for six years and are friends!'.

For six years, he didn't realize that the other party had gradually strengthened his belief. Of course, he couldn't be considered a close friend.

Let alone friends, even if he is really Hinata's reasonable elder, the two of them are just separate living entities.

An independent life cannot be responsible for another independent life.

But life is not a cold program that only operates according to 'theoretical' principles. In theory, it has reached this level and can save Hinata for a reasonable time at the beginning, and discover the abnormality at the first time, and rush to the scene urgently.

By Hinata's side, he's already doing pretty well.

But emotionally, it was difficult for Matsuda Jinpei to accept that someone he spent almost every day with would end his life like this, so he chose to end it on his own.

No one around him noticed anything unusual about him, nor did he accept his distress signal.

Or perhaps, Hinata's every non-cold reaction was a signal for help, such as walking out of the hospital alone and coming back with a pale face, such as clearly hating being touched, but still not resisting, such as playing with him.

Balloon game, for example, when eating something that is too spicy, they will stick out their tongues to breathe, just like dogs. Once they keep breathing to relieve themselves and laugh at the same time, the other party will immediately kick them.

…

All in all, too many.

There are simply too many.

The more he recalls, Matsuda Jinpei's instinct as a human being and as a police officer will continue to sound.

If, if he could discover it earlier, if he could arrive earlier, if he could pay more attention to Hinata in a reasonable way, if he could reach out to Hinata in a reasonable way.

If you could go back to the day we first met, if you could save Hinata, it would be reasonable.

if……

The piercing horn of the car suddenly sounded, and passed by Matsuda Jinpei's ears. His arm was forcibly pulled by someone, and he staggered to the side along with his body.

His eyes were still blurry, and Matsuda Jinpei could not clearly see the scene in front of him. He could only feel from the light that this was not a morgue that was so white that it was blinding.

Immediately, he heard Hagiwara Kenji's angry voice, "At 23:68 on September 7, XX, at 2-chome 36, Mikka Town, a white Porsche with high beams on was speeding and stopped on the sidewalk.

When you go racing, the license plate number is xxxxxxx."

It was Kenji Hagihara who was recording the time, place and license plate number of the speed racing gang’s illegal activities.

...XX year, September 7th, twenty-three o'clock, sixty-eight minutes?

Matsuda Jinpei blinked blankly and saw the surrounding scene clearly. It was a road.

Not far away, a white Porsche was speeding away.

Six years ago?

He stayed there blankly, without reacting. He just lowered his head and looked at his hands, then raised his head and looked around.

After reporting to the communicator, Hagiwara Kenji frowned and looked at him, "Are you okay? Why didn't you hide away just now? Are your eyes okay?"

Blinking his eyes in confusion again, Matsuda Jinpei gradually came to his senses and repeated: "Six years ago, September 7th... twenty-three sixty-eight?"

This date, this time!
To be continued...