Chapter3 7.Saturday March 9, 2019

The two then relaxed with a cup of coffee, which was better than rainwater, as part of the meal service set. Gradually, Kira's attitude became so bold that he treated Maruta's tablet as if it were his personal property. Maruta watched the scene with fondness, partly out of a sense of satisfaction from having heard everything he wanted to hear.

"It's nostalgic to see them like this." Kira seemed to be randomly viewing videos left by Silva.

"There are many edited by you, aren't there."

As Maruta casually watched Kira's gestures, a thought popped into his head.

"Kira-san, can I borrow that for a moment?" Moving dexterously the fingers, Maruta opened a video entitled 'Visiting Alma Mater with Tokyo Spread.'

It begins with a close-up of a stone sign engraved with the words 'Metropolitan Shideno High School.' After the screen recedes, 〈Silva〉 and the four members of 〈Tokyo Spread〉, excluding 〈Number 4〉, are shown lined up in a horizontal row.

"We've come to our old alma mater!" 〈Silva〉 exclaimed, imitating a TV personality. Immediately afterwards, the others clap their hands repeatedly with spirited shouts. The video was uploaded in March 2018. Maruta's mind instantly confirmed that this was about five months before 〈Silva〉's death.

"This is the main gate of our Shideno High School. I miss this place too." Kira says with deep emotion.

"Silva's mood is completely different from his Internet live-streaming days."

"That guy used to say, 'I've switched to the popularity direction.' I guess he thought that there would be no growth in popularity if he just continued to talk badly about people in the style he had been doing on live Internet streaming for so long. He has gradually mellowed out since he became a video creator. He took the time to tamp down his tongue-in-cheek style to make himself acceptable to the masses."

In the video, 〈Silva〉 and the others are seen walking around the classrooms, including the archery club room, for a while. Next, the two see the schoolyard, where 〈Silva〉, surrounded by many current students, exclaims in his best manner, "I will definitely be a star!" Just before the end of the video, Maruta couldn't help but giggle when he saw the excited students chanting "Star! Star!" in unison.

"Now," Maruta meaningfully removed his earphones. "You were also a member of the archery club, weren't you, Kira-san?"

"Yes."

"Is it possible to contact the juniors at that time, now?"

"Are you going to contact my juniors?"

"Yes."

"Who are you going to contact, my juniors?"

"First, contact your junior, who is 'one year below' you. Can I have you, on the application, call one of your juniors who is a grade below you? There is a space in front of the restroom for a phone, let's move there."

Maruta said in a hushed tone as he moved.

"Kira-san, you were born in 1992."

"Yes."

"Just a few days ago, almost all high schools in Japan held graduation ceremonies. The generation that graduated there is referred to as 'today's high school juniors'. Then, most of 'today's high school juniors' were born in 2000. So there are," Maruta counts, folding his fingers one by one.

"There are eight generations in all, from the generation one grade below you to the 'today's high school juniors'. Okay, Kira-san. Let me ask you first. Were any of Tokyo Spread guys enrolled in your grade?"

"No."

"Okay, let's call them. You already know what I mean. First, you call someone a grade below you and ask, 'Were there any members of Tokyo Spread in your grade?'. Since they are such a habitual bunch, I don't believe those guys were the type to be cooped up in the library all the time. People in the same grade as Tokyo Spread will remember those guys with disgust. And if you get the answer 'no,' ask for the contact information of one person one grade further down. We repeat this up to eight times until someone says 'Yes'."

"I see."

"It would be nice to use Silva's name. He was a well-known alumnus, so his name must have some influence. If you tell them you are a friend of Silva's, the juniors will easily grant you that much wish. So it is more desirable to trace the connection to the archery club. You may put me on the phone when you get through."

"No, I can do it myself."

This process took several dozen minutes. Some of them had never heard of 〈Tokyo Spread〉, so the two had to ask them to check their videos each time. The work was finally completed when Maruta began to think that it might be time to bother the restaurant by occupying the phone space forever.

As a result, of the eight students randomly selected from each generation who had attended 〈Silva〉's alma mater, none of them answered that members of 〈Tokyo Spread〉 were in the same grade.

"Kira-san," After returning to their seats, Maruta said each word clearly. "Tokyo Spread guys are lying. They are not Silva's 'juniors'. Of course, they are not your 'juniors' either. They are truly Obscure Guys!"

Chronology of Chapter 3

April? 2015 〈Silva(GING)〉 and 〈Choice〉 were dating.

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.