Chapter 46 Section ten

I was in a coma until the dull pain in my head woke me up. I reached out and touched it, and there was a swollen lump on my head.I don't remember hitting anything, but if I passed out while bending over to kiss a girl, that's where I'd hit my head. Yes, I did lie on the ground.It was a little dark around, but there was some light faintly.I looked at my watch, it was almost four o'clock, it seemed that I had been unconscious for a while, and I was lying on the ground in a distorted and unnatural posture, only at this time did I feel a burst of pain in my back, as if to remind me The swooning fact.I squinted my eyes, shook my head, and couldn't remember what happened.But the stone wall that came into view let me know that I was in the church now, and then I remembered that I came here with Mariko and everything that happened next.I looked around in a panic, unable to confirm whether these were dreams or reality.

The girl lay on the keys, as if she had been lying there motionless for a long time, and even the reverberation of the keys pressed by the girl's body had long since disappeared.For a split second, I thought she was dead.I ran close and grabbed her shoulder, but there was a burst of warmth in my palm.When I straightened her body, the piano made an uncoordinated sound. "Mariko!" Because of this call, I suddenly felt her death with certainty.The last words I heard came back to my mind, but I still couldn't be sure whether the person in my arms was Mariko or Chiori.I didn't know which name to call, so I could only shake her awake.Her cheeks had an incredible blush.

The girl in my arms slowly opened her eyes. "—Dad, Dad?" She looked at me deeply with incredible eyes. "Chiori? Is that you?" The girl opened her eyes wide, wrinkled her face and began to cry, she wailed, cried until she was out of breath, then choked, and repeated. "It's all because of Chiori! It's because of Chiori!" Mixed with crying, she screamed intermittently, "Qianzhi, I can't protect myself. Dad, fingers, are gone. My sister is dead. " Chiori stood up and threw herself into my arms.I hugged her tightly, and only then did I realize that Chiori understood everything.

"My sister is dead!" Qianzhi cried even louder. I was so heartbroken that I couldn't speak, I could only keep stroking her hair and shoulders. "It's all Chiori's fault! Chiori's fault!" I gently pulled away Chiori who kept repeating this sentence, and bent down to help her wipe away her tears. "Qianzhi, you don't have to blame yourself, you know?" Chiori tilted her head, then nodded quietly again. "I, like Mariko, don't regret protecting you at all, and I'm proud to have done it. So stop crying—do you understand?"

Chiori's head turned left and right this time, and the movement was bigger and more intense.I hugged Chiori again and stroked her head, but her hair was messed up because of her violent movements.I suddenly remembered the feeling of hair hanging on my shoulders—was that a dream?But I couldn't ask this question. Finally, I looked at her face again and said: "Welcome back." "I'm back." Qianzhi's expression slowly turned into a smile. This is indeed Chiori, which means that Mariko is no longer there.For a moment, I painfully realized this fact, raised my head and closed my eyes, however, the overflowing tears still flowed down my warm cheeks, and after about a minute, I covered my face with my hands and wiped away the tears .After opening my eyes, I found a pair of worried eyes staring straight at me.

Chiori seemed to want to ask something, but she didn't speak in the end.I thought about it and asked her. "Where have you been during this time?" "I don't know. A place far, far away." She turned her head and looked at me seriously, "But, there are many, many, stars. When Qianzhi sleeps, she goes there every time. But, a little bit, no the same." "no the same?" "Yeah. The stars, the sky, everything. Chiori's stars, a little bit darker. Here—" Chiori kept drawing circles with her fingers on the left front of her head, "this side has always been dark. But, no It's the same."

I suddenly realized that although this was obviously Chiori's way of speaking, it was the first time I heard her use many words to describe things.Could it be that Mariko is still helping Chiori in her body?No, no, she must be imitating Chiori's way of speaking! "Chiori?" "what?" There must have been a look of extreme surprise on my face at this time.Seeing this, Chiori asked back: "What are you doing?" Seeing her reaction, I suddenly felt relieved, this is an expression I'm used to, and it's an expression that Mariko has never shown in the past four days.

"fine." I hugged Chiori again and scratched her hair to a mess.She laughed and turned her head away from my hand desperately. "Do you remember?" "what?" "Everything." Seeing the expression of Qianzhi crossing her arms and poking her mouth out, I couldn't help smiling bitterly, "Do you know that I have slept for a long time? But now that you are awake, Dad is relieved." Chiori didn't seem to notice what I said, and after saying "Oh", she shifted her gaze to her chest with a strange expression, and as soon as she realized that the skirt was open, she hurriedly buttoned it up, and then pouted again.

"I don't remember, I don't know. But." Qianzhichuan pressed his index finger near his temple, "Qianzhi, I like Dad. But - a little bit, weird. It's different." Qianzhi stared into my eyes, but I found that something was wrong with her actions just now, and looked back at her in disbelief, Qianzhi's cheeks flushed immediately, and she lowered her head. "I don't know. It's the feeling that I don't know." ——That was probably something Mariko left for Chiori! I shook my head with a wry smile, and gently held Chiori's hand, but for a moment I didn't know what to say.If after a long period of time, this feeling remains the same, and it really becomes your own idea-I might have wanted to tell her that, but I didn't say it in the end.However, I don't think it's necessary, because from the moment I held Chiori's hand, I had already passed this thought on to her.

"Yeah." Qianzhi nodded and said, "Qianzhi, play the piano. Dad taught me. Qianzhi wants to become better, very good, very good. Then replace it, Dad's hand." I stood up and stroked her head, feeling very relieved. "Qianzhi, listen to me, you don't have to do this, from today on, you just have to play the piano happily for yourself." Looking up at me, my face is full of disbelief, maybe I should say I look disturbed! "Father, already, don't you want Chiori?" "Little fool, how can such a thing happen?" "Together?"

"Yeah! We are always together. We have to go to many places and let everyone listen to you playing the piano." "okay!" The uneasy expression disappeared, and Chiori returned to smiling. "By the way, I'll take you to visit the teacher sometime." I suddenly remembered this, and said it out. "teacher?" "Yes! It's the teacher. The teacher will be the most happy to hear that you can play the piano. Don't you remember? It's the grandfather who took good care of me in Vienna." "Ah!" Chiori thought for a while, "That person said the same thing as Sister Mariko." "What?" I asked her this time, "What do you mean by the same words?" "That's the sentence of God, help, help yourself." Qian Zhi said with a embarrassed expression on her face. When she said this, I remembered that Mariko had indeed said this sentence on the first night of our arrival, and suddenly remembered that when the teacher persuaded me and Chiori to go back to Japan together, a proverb he had said meant the same thing, But the teacher was definitely speaking in German at the time. "But Chiori, aren't these two languages ​​different?" I couldn't help being surprised. "It sounds probably different. But what does it mean? The meaning is the same." Qian Zhi nodded with a smile. I smiled wryly, sighed heavily, and finally laughed loudly: I thought to myself, your words are really difficult to understand, but it doesn't matter. Chiori looked at me who was laughing, and the smile on her face deepened.The sun seemed to have risen, and the surrounding area was getting brighter and brighter. "Qianzhi, I hope you can play a piece of music, and play it to Mariko for me—play it to my sister." Chiori nodded, sat down in front of the piano, put her hands on the keys, and put her left middle finger on the white key of E. "Do you know which one it is?" "Well, me too, I want to play - the same person as the puppy." "That's right, it's Chopin." Chiori nodded again, and after taking a deep breath, began to play lightly with both hands. Etudes in E major, with soft chords flowing from her fingertips. —— I prayed desperately and sincerely hoped that this piece of music would reach Mariko. Not long after, the first light of the morning came in through the stained glass.The calm and tranquil dawn reflects the Madonna and Child into brightly colored shadows.The two shadows became one, starting from us, along the central aisle, and extending long to the church entrance.