１０．Ｓａｔｕｒｄａｙ Ｍａｒｃｈ ２， ２０１９
文字数 6,689文字
"I really," Maruta's voice reverberated through the completely deserted cafe. "I really appreciate it. For giving me the details."
"I already know that Maruta-san is not a strange person."
Maruta was able to see the connections to the subsequent incident in a brighter light by connecting these to the information he had. Its completeness was incomparable to the meager string of information he had previously possessed.
"Kira-san, then, Silva-san changed his name from 'GING' after that."
"Yes."
"He couldn't stay in a depressed mood forever, so he needed a fresh start."
"That is exactly right. He refrained from activity, next, lifted it himself, uh, that would be around August 2017, I believe. He started posting videos again as 'Silva'."
As Maruta listened, touching his tablet, he opened a page on the 〈Silva〉 channel. He wanted to check the videos that were posted around that time, before the image of 〈Silva〉's restart faded away. What caught his eyes was a thumbnail of a certain video shot indoors.
In addition to this,
Seeing the faces that joined them as an added bonus brought back a wicked impression that he had almost forgotten.
"Thankfully," Kira says, while Maruta stares at the tablet. "We received many warm messages in the video comment section. Silva's popularity continued to grow, with some even commenting that 'He will always be popular.' and that 'He will eventually be a star.'....What's the matter, Maruta-san?"
Looking up stiffly, Maruta pointed to one of the thumbnails on the tablet. "It was right around this time that Tokyo Spread first appeared in Silva's video."
At Maruta's suggestion, Kira also looks at the tablet. The video shown was posted on August 13, 2017, titled 'Juniors from the same high school as me'. It was only about ten seconds long and simply showed the 〈Tokyo Spread〉 members relaxing in 〈Silva〉's room.
"This room is," said Maruta. "Different from the one Silva-san was in at the beginning, isn't it?"
"Yeah, maybe because of the Milley's incident, he moved out of his old room for a change of scenery around this time. But, the room grade has not changed much. That place in the video is also a cheap apartment in Ueno."
"Did the Tokyo Spread first appear around the time this video was shot?"
When Maruta asked this, Kira instantly clammed up. On this day, the first impression Maruta had received from him returned. This man is not good at talking about the 〈Tokyo Spread〉, Maruta is sure of it.
"Kira-san." Maruta, who had elicited so much information, had little desire to be put off by his guest. "Could you tell me about your impressions when you first saw the Tokyo Spread? How did those guys approach Silva-san?"
"Those guys," Kira spoke out as if he was spared the use of his vocal cords. "Were getting close to us before we knew it."
"Before you knew it? The 'us' you refer to are you and Silva-san, right?"
"Yes. They were among us without our knowledge, I guess."
Kira cut off his words there. When Maruta tried to ask for more details, he did not wait for him and said again.
"I entered my current technical school just about a year ago."
"Uh-huh."
"So about six months before that, Silva resumed posting videos, as I mentioned earlier. That's when I started thinking about going to a technical school."
Maruta remained silent, looking directly into Kira's face. Kira continued, avoiding his gaze.
"I also heard closely about the Milley's case. Furthermore, I may have felt tired of supporting Silva, who was still taking videos at the same pace after his return. While editing them, I also developed an interest in filmmaking. So, I started to prepare for entering the film and video department of a technical school little by little, though which wasn't so much studying for an exam."
"Cool."
"Around that time, the guys at Tokyo Spread took over the video shooting and editing work that I had been in charge of."
"Did you gradually move away from Silva's activities?"
"I think it is safe to say so. That's why I honestly don't know when they got to know Silva."
"Okay." Maruta said.
"It's not that I stopped being involved with Silva and the others at all. Occasionally I would help with video shooting for them. Because I was the one who shot the video that Maruta-san appeared in."
"That is certainly true. You are implying that Silva's participation in your activities had decreased."
"Yes. If you remember that time, you will understand that Silva had a lot of acquaintances. Especially since cronies like Tokyo Spread were always around him."
"The Tokyo Spread guys were not in the video I appeared in, were they?"
"No. I'm sure the Tokyo Spread guys weren't there, then."
"Excuse me,"
A man's voice interrupted them and they looked up. There stood a male waiter with a bewilderment tucked behind his smile.
"It is time for us to close for business, so we would like to ask you to leave now."
Maruta checked the time on his tablet. It is already past eleven o'clock in the afternoon.
"Oh, sorry." Saying so, they stood up honestly. The male waiter went back to his busy work, not paying attention to what they were doing.
"Kira-san," Maruta said, "Don't be afraid of the guys of Tokyo Spread."
"Not that I'm afraid of them."
Maruta, who was getting ready to leave, could no longer hear Kira's words.
After watching Kira disappear into the Shinjuku crowd, Maruta continued to walk between buildings for a while without meaning to.
Today, I really did something bold. Perhaps the aftermath of the strange meeting that had just ended gave him extra vigor. He couldn't help but feel an intense desire to walk endlessly, no matter where.
Chronology of Chapter 2
January 2016 〈Silva〉 begans posting videos as 〈GING〉.
January 2017 〈Silva(GING)〉 and 〈Milley〉 began dating.
April 2017 〈Tokyo Spread〉 joined the offline gathering of 〈Milley〉.
May 2017 〈Milley〉 injured.
June 2017 〈Milley〉 died.
August 2017 〈Silva〉 began to go by the name 〈Silva〉.
August 2017 〈Tokyo Spread〉 appeared in 〈Silva〉's videos.
August 2017 Kira has started considering enrolling in a technical school.
August 2018 〈Silva〉's body was found.
"I already know that Maruta-san is not a strange person."
Maruta was able to see the connections to the subsequent incident in a brighter light by connecting these to the information he had. Its completeness was incomparable to the meager string of information he had previously possessed.
"Kira-san, then, Silva-san changed his name from 'GING' after that."
"Yes."
"He couldn't stay in a depressed mood forever, so he needed a fresh start."
"That is exactly right. He refrained from activity, next, lifted it himself, uh, that would be around August 2017, I believe. He started posting videos again as 'Silva'."
As Maruta listened, touching his tablet, he opened a page on the 〈Silva〉 channel. He wanted to check the videos that were posted around that time, before the image of 〈Silva〉's restart faded away. What caught his eyes was a thumbnail of a certain video shot indoors.
In addition to this,
Seeing the faces that joined them as an added bonus brought back a wicked impression that he had almost forgotten.
"Thankfully," Kira says, while Maruta stares at the tablet. "We received many warm messages in the video comment section. Silva's popularity continued to grow, with some even commenting that 'He will always be popular.' and that 'He will eventually be a star.'....What's the matter, Maruta-san?"
Looking up stiffly, Maruta pointed to one of the thumbnails on the tablet. "It was right around this time that Tokyo Spread first appeared in Silva's video."
At Maruta's suggestion, Kira also looks at the tablet. The video shown was posted on August 13, 2017, titled 'Juniors from the same high school as me'. It was only about ten seconds long and simply showed the 〈Tokyo Spread〉 members relaxing in 〈Silva〉's room.
"This room is," said Maruta. "Different from the one Silva-san was in at the beginning, isn't it?"
"Yeah, maybe because of the Milley's incident, he moved out of his old room for a change of scenery around this time. But, the room grade has not changed much. That place in the video is also a cheap apartment in Ueno."
"Did the Tokyo Spread first appear around the time this video was shot?"
When Maruta asked this, Kira instantly clammed up. On this day, the first impression Maruta had received from him returned. This man is not good at talking about the 〈Tokyo Spread〉, Maruta is sure of it.
"Kira-san." Maruta, who had elicited so much information, had little desire to be put off by his guest. "Could you tell me about your impressions when you first saw the Tokyo Spread? How did those guys approach Silva-san?"
"Those guys," Kira spoke out as if he was spared the use of his vocal cords. "Were getting close to us before we knew it."
"Before you knew it? The 'us' you refer to are you and Silva-san, right?"
"Yes. They were among us without our knowledge, I guess."
Kira cut off his words there. When Maruta tried to ask for more details, he did not wait for him and said again.
"I entered my current technical school just about a year ago."
"Uh-huh."
"So about six months before that, Silva resumed posting videos, as I mentioned earlier. That's when I started thinking about going to a technical school."
Maruta remained silent, looking directly into Kira's face. Kira continued, avoiding his gaze.
"I also heard closely about the Milley's case. Furthermore, I may have felt tired of supporting Silva, who was still taking videos at the same pace after his return. While editing them, I also developed an interest in filmmaking. So, I started to prepare for entering the film and video department of a technical school little by little, though which wasn't so much studying for an exam."
"Cool."
"Around that time, the guys at Tokyo Spread took over the video shooting and editing work that I had been in charge of."
"Did you gradually move away from Silva's activities?"
"I think it is safe to say so. That's why I honestly don't know when they got to know Silva."
"Okay." Maruta said.
"It's not that I stopped being involved with Silva and the others at all. Occasionally I would help with video shooting for them. Because I was the one who shot the video that Maruta-san appeared in."
"That is certainly true. You are implying that Silva's participation in your activities had decreased."
"Yes. If you remember that time, you will understand that Silva had a lot of acquaintances. Especially since cronies like Tokyo Spread were always around him."
"The Tokyo Spread guys were not in the video I appeared in, were they?"
"No. I'm sure the Tokyo Spread guys weren't there, then."
"Excuse me,"
A man's voice interrupted them and they looked up. There stood a male waiter with a bewilderment tucked behind his smile.
"It is time for us to close for business, so we would like to ask you to leave now."
Maruta checked the time on his tablet. It is already past eleven o'clock in the afternoon.
"Oh, sorry." Saying so, they stood up honestly. The male waiter went back to his busy work, not paying attention to what they were doing.
"Kira-san," Maruta said, "Don't be afraid of the guys of Tokyo Spread."
"Not that I'm afraid of them."
Maruta, who was getting ready to leave, could no longer hear Kira's words.
After watching Kira disappear into the Shinjuku crowd, Maruta continued to walk between buildings for a while without meaning to.
Today, I really did something bold. Perhaps the aftermath of the strange meeting that had just ended gave him extra vigor. He couldn't help but feel an intense desire to walk endlessly, no matter where.
Chronology of Chapter 2
January 2016 〈Silva〉 begans posting videos as 〈GING〉.
January 2017 〈Silva(GING)〉 and 〈Milley〉 began dating.
April 2017 〈Tokyo Spread〉 joined the offline gathering of 〈Milley〉.
May 2017 〈Milley〉 injured.
June 2017 〈Milley〉 died.
August 2017 〈Silva〉 began to go by the name 〈Silva〉.
August 2017 〈Tokyo Spread〉 appeared in 〈Silva〉's videos.
August 2017 Kira has started considering enrolling in a technical school.
August 2018 〈Silva〉's body was found.
