Tokyo, 1994, starting with medical training

Chapter 78 Expressing One's Feelings Frankly

However, the driver's brows furrowed immediately.

Although the fare to get to Chiyoda-cho Ginza Street from here has already exceeded the starting price, the road there is narrow, making it easy to drive in but difficult to get out.

Furthermore, Maebashi City was divided in two by the Tone River.

We are currently on the west bank of the Tone River, while the bustling streets of Chiyoda-cho are on the opposite bank.

To get across, you have to cross the bridge.

Ligen Bridge, or Dadu Bridge.

The current road snow melting system is worrying, and the famous "Joshu wind" of Gunma Prefecture will turn the bridge surface into a huge skating rink in such blizzard weather.

There is no geothermal heating on the bridge, and it is suspended in the air on both sides, so it cools down very quickly.

If even one car skids and veers across the bridge, the entire bridge will be blocked, turning into a parking lot where no one can get in or out.

Would you sacrifice your entire evening's prime time just for this one deal?

No need, we'll have plenty of guests tonight anyway.

Why not run short-distance trips on this side of the river, or pick up a couple of business travelers on long-distance trips at the station?

Snapped.

Without any hesitation, the driver pressed the switch on the dashboard and turned off the red "vacant" light on the roof.

"I'm sorry."

"I just remembered that there's a waiting car (reservation) ahead."

He rolled up the car window, blocking the banknotes that Imagawa Ori hadn't had time to slip in.

"Wait...wait a minute!" Imagawa Ori froze, pounding on the car window. "I have money! I have money!"

"I can pay double! Or, or even triple!"

But the Toyota Crown ignored it, roared its engine, spun twice in the air on the snow, and sped away.

Two bright red taillights disappeared into the vast snowstorm.

"Aaaaaahh ...

As Imagawa Ori watched the car disappear into the distance, she finally broke down.

She slammed her handbag to the ground, scattering her lipstick, powder compact, and mirror all over the floor.

"Your mother is dead!"

Imagawa Ori rarely loses her composure like this, but it's really hard for her not to express her true feelings.

It's quite a distance from here to Chiyoda-cho, where "Kagura Club" is located.

Walk there on two legs?

Wearing these seven-centimeter stiletto heels?

The icy snowflakes fell down my neck; I'd probably freeze to death on the roadside before I even got halfway there.

……

The heavy snow was like a thick white quilt, trying to suffocate the entire city of Maebashi.

Visibility has dropped to less than five meters.

The strong wind whipped up snowflakes, which pelted the GG signs on the roadside with a crackling sound.

Imagawa Ori stood in the snow, her chest heaving violently.

"Cough cough... cough cough cough..."

Her angry roar didn't stop the departing taxi; instead, it forced her to inhale a mouthful of cold air, causing her to bend over and cough violently.

After a while...

She raised her wrist and glanced at the watch face in the dim light of the streetlamp.

10:25.

ended.

Even if a car were to stop in front of her right now, it would still take twenty minutes to drive to Chiyoda-cho.

What are you going to do?

Are you just going to watch others open champagne?

After realizing this, Imagawa Ori calmed down.

When the input-output ratio has become negative, cutting losses in time is the optimal solution.

Continuing to stand here will only lead to freezing to death or catching a bad cold that prevents me from going to my shift at Nishi-Azuma Welfare Hospital to earn money tomorrow; there's no point in doing so.

Actually, she wasn't that obsessed with the year-end champagne prize.

If it were any other time, if I couldn't go, I just couldn't go; at worst, I'd only earn a little less money.

But tonight is different.

First, the car that was supposed to pick her up didn't come, and then she stood in the cold wind for almost an hour, unable to even flag down a taxi despite having cash in hand.

This feeling of frustration from everything going wrong made her a little defensive.

She crouched down, preparing to pick up the scattered cosmetics from the ground and put them back into her handbag.

Just then, she caught a glimpse of someone standing next to her out of the corner of her eye.

Imagawa Ori's hand froze in mid-air.

Oh, Kiryu is still around.

Did they see everything about my embarrassing behavior just now?

She turned her head abruptly.

Then I saw Kiryu Kazusuke still standing a few steps away, his hands in his coat pockets, half his face buried under his scarf, only his calm, expressionless eyes showing.

He didn't leave.

But they didn't offer to help; they just stood there.

"Kiryu-kun, what are you still doing here?"

Imagawa Ori's eyes were fierce, like a wildcat cornered against a wall, ready to unleash its claws at any moment.

Isn't this kind of snowy weather perfect for murder and silencing witnesses?

No, the body is difficult to handle.

"Senior, I have snow blindness, I can't see anything."

Kiryu Kazusuke pointed to the vast expanse of white around him, clearly lying through his teeth.

Snow blindness is temporary blindness caused by strong light stimulating the retina. Where could such a strong light be coming from in the middle of the night?

It was simply a way to save face for both sides.

"snort."

She snorted, didn't expose him, and turned back to continue picking up her things.

At least he's sensible.

Kiryu Kazusuke watched her figure.

Under the streetlights, Imagawa Ori's movements became increasingly sluggish.

She picked up a powder compact, but her hand trembled, and the compact fell back to the ground.

I tried to pick it up again, but I couldn't hold on tight.

This is not normal.

As a surgeon, Imagawa Ori's hands remain as steady as a rock even after performing surgery for ten consecutive hours.

Kiryu Kazusuke narrowed his eyes.

Imagawa Ori's lips have turned bluish-purple, a condition medically known as cyanosis.

She was trembling.

It wasn't the slight trembling caused by anger or cold, but rather uncontrollable spasms throughout the entire body.

Knees were fighting, teeth were chattering.

This is a self-protective mechanism that the human body activates to generate heat when its core body temperature drops.

A chill ran down my spine.

In addition to her clumsy movements just now, her fine motor skills have begun to be impaired.

It has already started to lose its temperature.

Kazusuke Kiryu quickly made a diagnosis in his mind.

But from nine o'clock to ten o'clock now, an hour has passed, and she has been standing by the roadside the whole time.

However, I was in a state of emotional turmoil just now, and the adrenaline masked my physical discomfort. Once I calm down, the chill will come back like a tsunami.

At this moment, Imagawa Oriya realized that something was wrong.

She tried to pick up the lipstick from the ground, but her fingers felt like carrots in a freezer, completely numb.

My head is spinning.

My vision began to blur, and my thinking became sluggish.

Just moments ago I was trying to figure out how to explain my lateness to Sachiko Nakamori, but now my mind is a complete mess.

I want to sleep.

I just want to lie down on the snow and take a nap.

No.

can not sleep.

Imagawa Ori bit her tongue hard; the taste of blood brought her back to her senses a little.

She haphazardly swept the things on the ground into her bag and stood up unsteadily.

Go to the station.

It's not far from Maebashi Station. Just walk there, get on the tram, and even if you only have to wait in the waiting room, there's heating there.

In fact, Japanese people usually use things like "go to hell" (死ね, shine) and "you bastard" (手前, temae) to curse others.

(End of this chapter)