Chapter 4 "Pastoral Melancholy"

We stayed in Numazu for one night, and the next day after Ito finished his business, we returned to Tokyo together. Later, we were inseparable like a couple, like glue.I am obsessed with Ito's brilliant ideas and skills. A prank master not only needs to have a good plan, but if he does not have superb acting skills, he will not get wonderful results.Ito is even a famous actor who is proficient in disguise, and he also has an eloquent tongue.When I write about his pranks and related deeds, I am always fascinated and forget the passage of time.Ito suits the black suit perfectly, he is slim and handsome as Mephisto, and I even have a Sherlock Holmes remnant of Superman in him.

Ito lives with his beautiful wife and maid in a small but quite high-end bungalow in Takaki-cho, Aoyama.It was an antique wooden western-style building.The interior layout is quite in line with Ito's style - classical and full of Mephistopheles chic.Probably in order to cater to the trend of the time, there is a piano in the living room, and he and his beautiful wife both play the piano well.I don't know anything about music, so I can't comment, but they seem to be able to play even fairly difficult classical pieces. Ito has no occupation.After we got acquainted, I asked him what he did for a living, but he didn't disclose in detail, only saying that he "inherited some property from his parents".Speaking of which, like me, he is an idler.His wealth seemed to be beyond my reach, but because of the commonality of being idlers, the friendship between the two of us quickly grew deep.

Ito's wife, Miyako, is twenty-seven years old and a beauty. They have no children.I think half of my relationship with Ito is due to Miyako.The main reason to visit the Ito's is, of course, to hear the witty words of Ito, the unconventional prankster, but his beautiful wife undoubtedly adds to the Ito's charm. Miyako's appearance is vaguely similar to the dream girl on the train I mentioned earlier.No, the two of them can even be said to be lifelike.Beautiful phoenix eyes, the distance between the eyes is wider than that of ordinary people, the well-shaped nose is slightly upturned, the upper lip is extremely delicate and lovely, and the wheat-colored skin is soft and smooth.

For me, Miyako's character is flawless.She's smart, kind, and playful.Her beauty and personality are very "mysterious" - I think it may be because of my obsession with her relationship.Once hooked, any woman can become a mystery. As a result, I visited Ito's house very frequently, and Ito occasionally came to my poor apartment.My apartment is located in Roppongi, and I only need to take a few stations of Toden or bus to go to each other's houses. Having said that, I have to describe the situation in which I met Ito for about a year, and under his influence, I gradually found a lot of fun in pranks and indulged in them.In order to record more clearly, I decided to divide those things into indoors and outdoors.I'm an air man, so of course I can't remember everything clearly.Fortunately, I took notes at the time for reference. I wanted to adopt a dramatic technique that integrates time and place, and found some interesting parts to share with readers.The first is the outdoor part, the general situation is as follows.

One day, I forgot whether it was spring or autumn, but it was neither too hot nor too cold, Ito and I walked side by side on a street in the Aoyama area.We were both wearing suits that day, and Ito didn't wear his usual black, but a striped suit.Mine is of inferior quality but has the same pattern. There are many shops lined up on both sides of the street in a chaotic manner. Large shops, small shops, European-style shops and Japanese-style shops are lined up in different heights. Ito walked with his unique pose.He stopped suddenly, pointed to the shop beside him and said: "Let's go into this hardware store to play some pranks. I don't specify, but you will soon understand my intentions, so please cooperate with me." He said and strode into the hardware store.

There was a clerk in the store, about twenty years old, standing in the aisle dusting off the merchandise. "Please give me a copy of "Pastoral Melancholy" by Haruo Sato." When Ito said something inexplicable, the clerk's eyes widened, but he quickly laughed and replied: "Fifth up front is a bookstore. We're a hardware store here." But Ito continued as if nothing had happened: "Oh, a leather or cloth cover will do." "Although you say so, we are not a bookstore here." "Ah, any wrapping paper is fine, brown paper is fine too."

"Hey, hey, this is not a bookstore, as you can see, this is a hardware store!" The clerk seemed to think that Ito was deaf, so he put his mouth close to his ear and shouted loudly. "I understand that. It doesn't matter if the binding is uneven, as long as there are title pages and no missing pages. I'm not very picky about these." "Hey, hey, haven't you noticed that you've gone to the wrong place? This is not the bookstore you were looking for!" The clerk couldn't help but yelled. "It's okay, I'm not in a hurry, take your time and help me wrap it up."

The clerk ran to the back room and pulled the boss out after a while. The boss in his fifties seemed to be eating, and he was still chewing when he came out. Seeing Ito's attire, he asked respectfully: "Hello, what are you looking for?" Ito's expression was still as if nothing had happened, and he said: "I just scratched the skin of my mouth. I just want a small fork for eating fruit. I want the best kind." The boss hurriedly rummaged through the shelves and found a box of small forks. "How about this one? It's the most expensive thing in the store."

Ito slightly lifted the lid of the box and took a look: "Well, good, that's all. How much?" Then, after Ito asked the boss to pack it and paid the bill, he cast a sideways glance at the stunned clerk, and walked out of the store in a big way. I followed Ito, as if I had read a detective novel with a big twist in the ending, and I was extremely refreshed.Ito's acting skills really amaze me.