章 43: Showtime

As the girls and Aya chatted with Kiku and ate, Miki, Tomokazu, Satō, and I moved all of the equipment from the vans into the storage room. Even though Butcher stood outside in front of the door, the small room was cramped with boxes and people.

"Should we start assembling everything?" I asked Miki, not giving him even five seconds to breathe.

"We could take it slowly, but we might run short on time if there's a problem."

"Let's start now, then."

"Can I help?" Satō asked. "I won't be doing much until the girls start to warm up anyway."

"That'd be great," I replied.

"I need five minutes," Tomokazu panted. "I'm not used to this much physical activity in such a short amount of time."

"Sure. Join us as soon as you can."

He gave me a trembling thumbs-up before collapsing onto the floor. He's not going to revive soon.

"I guess we need to prepare the platform first," I said.

Miki nodded. "The parts are in these boxes."