Chapter 23
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At their first formal meeting, Noble began to feel intimidated when he saw the two men.
He had thought that the most likely people to come would be Yamato and Cobra, but he had never imagined it would be Naomi.
He might have thought about it, but he deliberately ignored the possibility that it might be Naomi. He couldn't imagine facing Naomi in person.
The car accident was undoubtedly the direct cause of Tatsuya's death. Tatsuya himself was not bad to Noble, and the relationship between them was also very good.
Even though Noble himself was not the real murderer, his guilt towards Tatsuya and his prediction of everyone's hatred were not as painful as Naomi's accusations.
Hana is Noble's sister, and Naomi is Tatsuya's sister.
Naomi lost Tatsuya, and Hana also lost Noble.
No matter how much sadness and fear Naomi has, Xiaohua is no less than her.
He felt sad for Naomi as a friend, but also worried about her as an "older brother".
I'm sorry, Ichika, I'm not by your side.
But please try hard.
Yihua, Yihua, you must be strong. Persevere until I find you, or you find me.
Noble could feel his eyes welling up. He stopped and took a deep breath. When he looked up again, Naomi and Cobra were staring at him in silence.
/
"Who's driving?"
"I." In fact, this question and answer were repeated over and over again during the trial.
"You couldn't have done that. You were with me," Cobra stated. "We went to the ward together."
They had a drink that day, but the weather was bad and threatened to rain, so Naomi was worried about running low on supplies and asked Yamato to go get some. So, only Cobra and Noble were drinking.
Cobra was completely speechless and couldn't even talk about anything. Silent people repel each other, and Noble wanted to speak up, but the atmosphere was so awkward that they ended up just drinking.
After drinking half of the wine and feeling a little tipsy, the two of them started to talk.
"The blow you brought yesterday was really powerful."
"Which one?"
"When that bastard hits you on the back of the head."
"Oh, I saw that guy looking gloomy beside me."
They looked at each other and suddenly laughed. Cobra bumped his shoulder and said, "Let's have a competition sometime."
"OK."
But they never fulfilled their promise. Cobra slumped drunkenly on the table, waking up to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He looked up, and Noble was still sitting next to him, glass in hand, staring silently ahead, though there was nothing in front of him. He stared at the air with such seriousness. But Noble's alcohol tolerance was even better than he'd imagined, Cobra thought.
Cobra answered the phone, and a crying voice came from the other end: "Where are you? Brother Ryuya and Brother Jiujiu were hit!"
/
"You were drunk," Noble replied to Cobra's accusation. "You fell asleep, didn't you? You don't know what I was doing during that time."
Just like during the trial. Cobra frowned, still about to say something, but Naomi spoke before him: "You will never hurt Brother Ryuya."
/
Naomi doesn't participate in fights. She owns a Western-style restaurant, and MUGEN occasionally has visitors. She has connections to MUGEN, but isn't a member. Her brother and childhood friend are prominent members, and she knows many of them, maintaining a somewhat ambiguous relationship. It's precisely because she's outside of MUGEN that she can more clearly see through its inhabitants.
Yamato is loyal, a little impulsive, speaks directly, but is not a bad person; Cobra is taciturn, but thoughtful; Arden has good grades, is a little introverted, but also sincerely considers his friends.
Noble arrived later, and wasn't a talkative guy, but he was much more sociable than Cobra, though he kept his thoughts to himself. He wasn't a deep thinker, and Naomi always felt that he had a lot on his mind, a lot to say, but for one reason or another, he couldn't express it.
He is a man with a story. Although he is young, he seems to have experienced a lot.
But none of this matters, because he is a good person. He will take care of MUGEN members even if he doesn't know them during a fight, help clean up the western restaurant, listen to her complaints about Yamato's fight, and help her grandmother, who has difficulty walking, go home.
When they get to know each other better, when Noble trusts them a little more, he'll tell them one day.
However, Noble told her, "I hit her."
/
Noble and Tatsuya actually have more contact than others think.
Long is a man of great talent, yet he is also very considerate. He sincerely wants MUGEN to get better and better. One day, he called Noble and said, "Noble, let's talk."
His tone didn't sound like he was doing anything bad. Naomi took the unwashed cup from him and told him to hurry over. Noble nodded, wiped his wet hands on the cloth, and followed Tatsuya out of the store.
It was getting late and the western restaurant was also preparing samples, so there was no one else in the restaurant, and only one or two people were wandering around the street occasionally.
Long also said: "This is a good street."
Noble said, "Yes."
"Is that why you wanted to come from Little Asia?"
Noble was stunned.
Jiulong didn't prepare a household registration for him, or in other words, a completely new "identity".
MUGEN initially consisted of locals, but as its fame grew, young people from nearby cities also flocked to the scene. This wasn't the era of high-rise buildings, so neighbors kept in touch, and fellow townspeople kept in touch. Long asked around, but couldn't find anyone who remembered Noble. And it was an English name. He went to Nameless Street, but no one knew of a "Noble," about 17 years old, with delicate features, a slender figure, and a formidable fighting skill.
There is no such person at all.
Someone on Wuming Street suggested that maybe he came from Little Asia, which would explain everything. So he went to Little Asia again. Noble was once a somewhat famous name, strong, and had done nothing wrong. He even had a younger sister. Then one day, he and his sister suddenly disappeared, and the timing matched.
Long didn't delve into it any further; that was enough. What about Noble's sister? Long also had a sister, so he figured the reason wasn't a happy one. Little Asia wasn't a good place, he said, "It's nice here, and it's fine for you to stay here."
He thought that Noble had gone through something on his own and finally decided to stay in MUGEN. This was a good destination. The beast who lost his family was healing here. One day he would get out of his grief and find his own home.
Noble knew roughly what he was thinking.
But this was the first time someone told him, "It's good for you to stay here." It was as if he was completely accepted by this place and had a place to return to.
/
The conversation did not go smoothly. The person who was supposed to be the victim's family member firmly persuaded the murderer, but the murderer firmly stated that he was an unforgivable criminal.
It ended in vain.
At night, Noble leaned against the wall, his hands covering the back of his head, and stared blankly.
I heard Hinata Norihisa muttering to himself, "The same prison guard followed you during both conversations."
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