６．Ｓａｔｕｒｄａｙ　Ｍａｒｃｈ　２，　２０１９

Well, Should we change the subject around here? Maruta thought.
Is your dachshund feeling better?
No, even though Kira had mentioned dogs in the direct message he sent me today, it is not right to suddenly bring up the subject of dogs. To begin with, I am not inclined to change the topic here to the one about the dog that Kira has. In any case, should we cut the subject of the case for today and carry it over to the next time?

While Maruta was mulling over these sterile thoughts, Kira began to speak. His tone was faltering, but it was tinged with a subtle strength that could be described as 'Outpouring of Resolve'.
"It's okay. I already trust you enough, Maruta-san. I am sure those guys, Tokyo Spread, have the video data from the day of the incident."
Maruta was about to open his mouth to ask, "Are you and they close?" But Kira would not stop talking, so he shut his mouth again and listened to his unusual banter.

"I'm still in touch with those guys, in case you're wondering. Those guys have been participating in Silva's video shoots for some time."
Marta has often seen 〈Tokyo spread〉 in 〈Silva〉's videos. He has repeatedly witnessed many 'collaborations' with 〈Tokyo spread〉 in his observation of them. He tries to trace his memory as he listen to Kira's story.

Yes. 〈Tokyo spread〉 first appeared in a video around August 2017. In other words, it was two months after 〈Milley〉's death. Besides, the search for 'haunted places' on the day of 〈Silva〉's murder must have been planned as part of the 'collaborations'.

"I'm embarrassed to say that," Kira continued, his face somewhat downcast. "They don't think very highly of me."
"Do they not treat you well?"
"No. I used to be sort of behind the scenes of Silva's channel. You know I was in charge of shooting the video, so I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about."
"Yes."
"And before that, I was a NEET [*1]. I didn't go on to higher education or get a job after high school, I had been just staying home."

Maruta did not laugh, but kept a grim look on his face. He did not find anything even remotely funny in Kira's confession.

"I feel your pain," Maruta's tone was soothing. "I went to college and joined my current company as if the world was pushing me. But I still think it is difficult to completely eliminate the difficulty of working in Japan's uniquely closed society. For me, too, the thought of quitting is an everyday occurrence. I had many part-time jobs when I was a student, and I often wonder what it means to be a 'senior' as I felt at that time. In Japan, there is a tendency that 'seniors', so-that, 'those who joined the organization first' are unconditionally great. This is a natural part of the relationships that are naturally formed by those who have come before us, based on their experience and the pride they take in having supported the organization up to a point, and it is hard to overrule. But I cannot believe that just being a 'senior' gives them the right to move 'juniors' at will. When I was a 'junior', I had many bad experiences with series of instructions and coercion from 'seniors'. Unwarranted directives are never logical, but rather often for the purpose of control. Even if logical, if they are overbearing in the way of speaking, they can make people feel extremely uncomfortable. When 'seniors' who are obsessed with domination are disregarded by 'juniors' for their instructions, they usually become stubborn and try to get 'juniors' to do what they say no matter what. So, especially in Japan, if we are critical of 'seniors' instructions, they will harden his attitude even more and become more authoritarian. This is such a vicious cycle that sometimes even suicides occur. And sometimes when we are in the position of a 'seniors', we will be now also bothered by 'juniors',"

"Do you also have sassy juniors?"

"Yes. But people are seldom outwardly cocky. Especially in an office-based workplace like the one I'm in. On the surface, everyone is as polite as if they were all 'made to order'. I do my best not to be a 'senior' as I just said. But if it goes too far, it now becomes like neglect. Most of 'juniors' will act on their own initiative with common sense advice from us, but there are some who require more communication than we expect. It is what is commonly referred to as 'Clingy'. This is the type of a person who can only find the cause of the loneliness in the other person. These types get unilaterally angry at others who do not show enough interest in them to their satisfaction. We must make a first move before such 'juniors' are left alone and lonely. Otherwise, they will run into a mean-spirited response, such as not greeting a 'senior' who doesn't want to take care of them."

"So both of the 'seniors and juniors' are Big Babies."

"Of course, the 'seniors and juniors' I just mentioned are actually only a small part of the organization. Really nice are most of the people at work. The people who bother our head are a small percentage of the population in any given place. If the only people at work were the ones I just mentioned, I would have quit a long time ago."

"In my case, it's totally different."
"Oh, that's not what I said?" Maruta was again ashamed of himself for inevitably getting ahead of himself. Then, slightly fearful, he silently urged his guest to speak.

"For me, I haven't gotten to that stage yet. But it is not unrelated to what you just told me. What I didn't like was that I was forced to do everything at home and at school, although it is difficult to describe exactly it. I guess. I know it sounds presumptuous, but to me, all the adults seemed timid. For example, some Japanese adults make their children study like crazy, and I wondered why. Then I realized that it was because they were worried about their children falling behind. Still, it would be fine if they just forced the kids to study, but when their grades drop they unilaterally assume that the kids are 'Bad'. When I was a child, I was even more obedient than I am now, so I made an effort to study as I was told. But it's ironic. Looking back now, I wonder if it was something like this, but I guess a plain guy like me is not so dexterous after all. The social guys in schools vent their stress well. Their bodies and hearts naturally develop a cycle of studying and releasing accumulated stress gas through chatting and playing. But in my case, I was tired from studying that I didn't want to do, my grades dropped, I was criticized for being 'bad', and when the gas built up, I didn't have the means to release it properly. I had a fair amount of friends, but I was more at home playing games by myself. As the gas built up, I naturally spent more and more time playing games at home."

"Thank you for even talking about that." The sense of Maruta's disrespect for Kira from earlier had been blown far away.

"OK. That's mutual. Well, that's why I failed the college entrance exam, as I should have. That's when something in my head snapped. I don't mean that I got angry and lashed out. It was like a thread of tension that had been taut until then, and it snapped. From there, I became lethargic as if I were rolling down a hill."

Marta had no desire to condemn this man as pathetic.
Maruta's expression was serious, as if he were looking at a Buddhist scripture. Also, a feeling began to grow in his brain that the conversation was finally going to make progress.


[*1]: A term created by the acronym "Not in Education, Employment, or Training". They are considered "young people who don't work," and have become a social problem in Japan since the 2000s.