２．Ｓａｔｕｒｄａｙ　Ｍａｒｃｈ　９，　２０１９

They took the narrow elevator up to the fourth floor, where they found themselves in a dimly lit passageway curved at right angles like a hook. There were only two doors on the floor, and it seemed that the room they wanted was just around the corner.

"Here is," Kira whispered.
Maruta's nostrils caught the smell of dust mixed with the breath of human sleep. He looked around curiously, but the place was devoid of anything that might be found at a typical entrance, such as nameplates and umbrellas.

"Shall I push the intercom?" Kira says, holding his finger to it. Maruta nodded silently.
A few seconds after, in the back echoed a light electronic sound, the metal door opened. They were greeted by 〈Shaggy〉, who had a rich afro hair.

"Hey, Yuya. It's been a while."
"Yeah," It was obvious that Kira was forcing a smile as he said this.
Maruta took a half step forward to attempt a greeting himself. But, 〈Shaggy〉 said, "Well, come in." and quickly went to the back, so the opportunity was lost.

The living room wethey were shown was messy, just like the impression Maruta had seen in the video. Seeing Kira sitting in a chair provided at the table, Maruta followed suit.
Nothing happened for a dozen minutes after they settled into the chairs. Maruta had anticipated in advance the scene where he and 〈Captain〉, the leader of the group, would introduce themselves to each other. But apparently, no such formal exchange took place.
Maruta, of course, turned his head from side to side during this time, carefully observing the interior of that room, which he rarely had the opportunity to enter. By comparing it with his memory of the exterior, he confirmed that there were three rooms there, including the living room. The other two also appeared to be wooden floor rooms, and he estimated that the rent there would be roughly 110,000 yen, or a little more than half of a college graduate's starting salary.

The door to one of the two was open, so both of them could see what was going on inside. 〈Shaggy〉 and 〈Kirvy〉 seemed to be there, conversing in low voices with occasional chuckles. Even Maruta, an outsider, could tell that this was not a consultation about softdrinks to be served to guests.

The floor and the table tops were full of miscellaneous items that had been freed from order. Plastic bottles, empty cans, ashtrays, empty cup noodle containers, gum wrappers, undressed sweatshirts and tops, socks, paper bags, magazines, comic books, cushions, cables of unknown use. If Maruta made a list of them, he could easily fill a sheet of A4 paper, even if he wrote in small letters. Among them, what caught Maruta's attention because of its strangeness above all else were a huge suitcase with an open mouth and a model of the human body used in science experiments.

Kira, as if he had no other choice, kept smiling nonsensically, not making eye contact with Maruta. Maruta did not feel uncomfortable, but he figured that Kira would not be in charge of the situation anyway, so he just waited for it to change.

Then, 〈Shaggy〉, who had also greeted them earlier, approached them.
"Yuya, did you have lunch?"
"No, I didn't."
The friendliness was only superficial, and just as at the entrance, it was easy to sense the tension hidden deep within Kira's feelings.

"Did the bro over there eat lunch?" 〈Shaggy〉 asked Maruta the same.
He answered responsively, "I've already eaten." But he failed to hide his impatience as one hand raised from his knees made contact with the edge of the table.

"Yuya, we have some leftover curry from yesterday, do you want some?"
"No, thank you." Kira replied, but 〈Shaggy〉 said, "Don't be shy," and turned on the gas stove without a second thought.

"Excuse me, Shaggy-san?"
〈Shaggy〉 turned around at the sound of Maruta's voice. A haze of languor covered the entire surface of his face.

"My name is Yoshikage Maruta. I'm a friend of Kira-san. Sorry for interrupting you out of the blue today."
〈Shaggy〉 said, "Ah," throatily, then asked, "What's your job?"

"I'm an office worker in Kawasaki."
"Closed today?"
"Yes."
"Well, take your time."
With that, he turned toward the kitchen again, looking languid. They seemed to have no intention of welcoming Maruta wholeheartedly. But 〈Shaggy〉's complete lack of interest in the situation was strangely comforting for him. Maruta wondered about this sensation that was difficult to analyze.

"Your spoon is," 〈Shaggy〉 placed a steaming bowl of curry in front of Kira. "Around here somewhere, so find your own."
Unable to refuse, Kira reluctantly began searching for it on the messy table. Meanwhile, Maruta thought he heard a sound behind him and turned around.

Coming out of the closed door, a man locked eyes with Maruta. 〈Number 4〉, carrying a handheld camera, gestured to him to hold the mouth with his index finger.
Compared to the other four members of 〈Tokyo Spread〉, Maruta paid particular attention to this man, who has appeared in fewer video clips. The dark skin shows mild allergic symptoms and has a slight reddish tinge overall. He is slender in stature and not exactly flamboyant, but for all that, he appears to be good at staying in the background.

Another large man, 〈Kirvy〉, came out barefoot, wearing a T-shirt and half pants. He is holding a bag of sealed snacks in one hand.

Finally finding a spoon on the tabletop, Kira began to slowly eat the curry that was served to him.

"Now," 〈Shaggy〉 put his laptop on the table. "Yuya and bro there would like to see the video from Silva's case."
Maruta answered on behalf of Kira, whose mouth was full. "Yes."
"Okay, I'll play it now." 〈Shaggy〉 pressed the play button on the media player already on the screen.

What was shown was a man on all fours, completely naked. Maruta knew immediately that this person was neither 〈Silva〉 nor anyone else from 〈Tokyo Spread〉. Immediately thereafter, 〈Shaggy〉 and 〈Kirvy〉 began laughing hysterically in their falsetto voices. Several pieces of chewed pastry popped out of the edges of 〈Kirvy〉's mouth. A groan indicating the agony of a man lasciviously exposed on the screen came over the speakers. The volume was turned up to the max.

"How's it looking, Yuya?" 〈Shaggy〉's face was filled with joy. "Can you eat curry with a good look while watching the video? We went to the Ueno station area yesterday to buy the suitable roux. Don't look away from the screen. That's right, stare at the screen while you bring the spoon to your mouth. "

Behind Kira, 〈Kirvy〉 was literally rolling on the floor with laughter. The bag of snacks in his hand fell off, scattering its contents in a disorderly manner. But he didn't care and continued to laugh, slapping his knee with his hand.

"All right," said 〈Shaggy〉. "The title of today's video is 'Can you eat curry while watching a hygienically problematic video?', that's settled. How about it? Yuya, we've got another one for you. We'll get 500,000 views today, thanks to you. What's wrong? You haven't lost any curry at all. You haven't had lunch. Don't be shy. Eat curry. Yes, watch the screen and eat it. Go without pause, keep going. Keep your eyes on the screen, yes, put the curry in your mouth. Don't run away from difficulties, Yuya. Eat as if there is a babbling brook there. And, show us with a look that says, 'There is no better curry on earth!'"

Kira steadily reduced the amount of curry as instructed by 〈Shaggy〉. However, he seemed unable to suppress the nausea that came over him. Like the actor in the video, he plastered the color of pain on his face.

This man must be very slighted. Maruta looked at Kira with this thought.
Eventually, Kira could take it no longer and finally threw up. 〈Shaggy〉 and 〈Kirvy〉's laughter reached a climax when vomit spread at his feet.
"Yuya, what are you really doing throwing up?" They both said in unison. Maruta, who could not find any opportunity to stop their terrible pranks, could only remain silent.