Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Volume 3 Chapter 6

Top of Sixth Inning

'Goodbye, Mao.'

Feilang sneered in front of him. He threw down his sword. Lin immediately turned over, rolling away to dodge the attack. Although he missed any vital areas, the cut made in his back was deep. It was hard to move. He could not dodge the next attack.

He was kicked in his wound, and a sharp pain ran through his whole body. Lin dropped to the floor once again. Feilang pushed him down from above him. He climbed on top of Lin and punched him in the face. A gash was made inside his mouth, and he tasted the metallic taste of blood.

He could not move. No matter how hard he tried, he could not escape from Feilang's grasp.

'Die.'

Feilang attempted to swing his sword down again. He was lightly smiling and his eyes were filled to the brim with killing intent.

I don't want to die. He clung onto that thought and spotted a weapon in his wandering vision. A knife was lying down next to his right side. Lin reached out for it and grazed it.

He was desperate. He managed to get it in his grasp and thrust it at Feilang's face. The tip of the knife embedded into Feilang's left eye.

'U-uwah!' Feilang gave a strangled cry and leapt off of him. 'Argh.'

He held both hands to his face and writhed. Blood gushed out from his crushed eyeball, covering half of his face in blood.

'd.a.m.n yoooou!'

Feilang shrieked and swung his sword carelessly. With part of his sight taken from him, he missed his target and attempted to strike again.

Now's my chance!

Lin gritted his teeth and stood up. He readjusted the blade in his hand and charged at Feilang and struck his heart.

'Gargh, ha-'

Feilang coughed up blood. He leaned forward onto Lin. He then slipped off of him and dropped to the ground. His limbs were convulsing.

After a while Feilang stopped moving.

'Ha, ah, haa.' Lin could only hear his own breathing in the now silent cell. The blood spread out around them. Lin's pulse was fast, and he could not calm down. His shoulders hefted up and down repeatedly, his breathing ragged.

The next moment the door opened automatically. It meant he must step outside. Lin took a step into the hallway, half dragging himself to do so. Boys came out one by one from their cells at a time. He heard shouting, and then one person died. The doors would open and another one would come out. Another shout and another died. And it repeated like that.

The boys, covered in blood, stood absentmindedly in the hallway.

'Congratulations.' The voice of the instructor poured over them. 'You guys have pa.s.sed the exam superbly.'

What 'congratulations?' Lin bit into his lip hard.

'Now that you have killed your partner, you all have cast aside your humanity. From this day forth, you have become human weapons.'

The instructor's words heavily weighed onto their hearts.

This is the first time I killed someone.

They were taught how to kill someone this whole time. They underwent five years of training for it. They had those lessons pounded into their head numerous times over. And yet they could not stop shaking.

Lin looked over the cell with red eyes. His partner's corpse was in there. He did not think of anything the moment he did it. He was just desperate to save his own life. By the time he realized it, he was dead.

A lukewarm sensation enveloped both of his hands. They were stained with Feilang's blood.

It finally sank in. I killed a person with these hands.

Feilang betrayed me. I killed him because I had to. That was what he told himself. And yet he could not shake off the feeling. It was not right to kill him. Regardless of the reason, there was no life that was alright to take.

'Ah-aah, aaaah!'

Lin collapsed where he stood and sobbed. He held his head in his hands and dug his nails into it. His brown hair dyed red with blood.

Something had changed within him. He felt like he had died. He felt a sense of bewilderment and fear as though he had changed into a different living being. Agony, grief, dismay, nihility, guilt – various emotions rushed through him like a flood gate had opened. It was hard to breathe. He felt like his heart would burst.

The other boys wept like Lin did. They grieved. They lamented. They mourned the death of their friend.

The instructor had told them to never cry. That tears weaken the heart. That man's words he beat into them pa.s.sed through Lin's head even at this moment. But they did not stop his tears. I know, s.h.i.tbag. Lin cried in large voice.

His friend, partner, and companion. And unfortunately he would only be the first one. From this point on he would have to kill dozens to hundreds of people in order to survive.

He finally realized. Just what sort of gruesome world he had stepped into. He wanted to get away from it as soon as he could.

But he could not retreat. Even if he wanted to go back he could not. I've become a murderer. This will be my job from now on. I can only live by killing people. All alone. Without trusting in anyone and only depending on myself with my own strength. I'll kill and kill and kill more people. All while being tormented and crying like this each time I take someone's life.

It's not possible. It's unbearable.

Just like that man said, I can only cast aside my heart, right?

Bottom of Sixth Inning

Lin quietly and slowly exhaled. After he finished telling his story from beginning to end, Lin placed his coffee to his lips. The ice inside it had thoroughly melted, lessening the flavor.

"I see." Enokida muttered in a near groan, following Lin's upbringing. "So after overcoming the harsh training in that boys weapon development facility you killed your best friend you shared a room with."

"Yeah."

That was the final procedure in the factory. The instructor instilled the boy weapons with the essential heartlessness in the final stage. So that they would not hesitate the next time when they killed someone. And in reality, it was effective. After he had left the factory, Lin never once hesitated when killing someone. Until this day.

"Yet the friend who should have been killed by your hand is still alive right now, right?"

"Yeah."

Lin nodded and reflected.

"……He must have been close to death. I was soft then."

He may have let up too much. His desire to not kill him may have unconsciously allowed that to happen. Lin formed his words as he thought back to that moment. "I wasn't calm at that time. I was in a state of shock and didn't get to have a good look of my surroundings. I did aim for his vital point, and he looked like he died……But apparently that wasn't the case."

So Feilang was alive. Just how did he manage to survive after that final exam?

"And how are you now?"

Enokida suddenly asked him.

Lin asked back, unable to read into the meaning of his question. "……Of what?"

"How do you feel about Feilang being alive?"

"How……" He was at a loss of words, bewildered. He himself was unsure. He did not expect Feilang to be alive. The man who was his best friend – the man who should have been killed by his hand was still in this world; he never considered the possibility.

"Well, I'm shocked. I feel like the impossible just happened."

"That's not what I mean." Enokida sighed. "Aren't you relieved to hear that? You don't think, 'I'm glad he's not dead' or anything?"

"Nothing like that." After Lin replied back in annoyance he added in his mind, probably.

"So the next time you meeUnet will you be able to kill him for certain?"

"I-"

He lost his words.

Could I kill Feilang once more? Lin asked himself that. Could I kill my best friend without any hesitation this time?

"……I don't know." After questioning himself on it, what came out was an unreliable answer. There was a part of him which loathed the Feilang who betrayed him. And yet there was another part of him that despite that wished for Feilang to smile at him like back then.

'How about we work together?' Does he still believe in that rash remark? Lin was exasperated. This is ridiculous.

Enokida saw Lin fall silent and shrugged his shoulders. "Looks like I should ask someone else to do this job."

"Wait."

Lin raised his voice. If possible, he did not want to kill him. He did not want to do the same act twice. And yet, he did want anyone else to kill him either.

In any case, he needed time to sort his feelings about this. "……Give me a bit of time to think about it."

He did not like this about himself. When did I become so soft?

Unexpectedly Enokida's smartphone vibrated. He must have gotten an incoming call.

"h.e.l.lo?" He hit the b.u.t.ton to accept the call and pressed it to his ear. "Ahh, Banba-san."

At the mention of his name, Lin grimaced. "Geh."

"Eh? What? Lin disappeared?" Enokida glanced over to him. "Lin-kun is-"

"Shh!" Lin quickly pressed his index finger to his lips.

"I haven't seen him. Yeah, I don't know. ……Got it. I'll give you a call if I do see him."

Enokida dropped the call and smirked.

"I didn't know you would run away from home. Did you two have a fight or something?"

"No." Lin replied straightforwardly.

"But I'm curious now. What happened? Spill the beans already."

"Shut up."

"If you don't tell me, I'll call up your guardian." Lin was taken aback as Enokida flashed his phone at him. Stop. Please, anything but that. He was forced to agree.

"Why did you suddenly leave home? Are you rebelling at your age?"

"……What do you think I've been through up until this point?"

Lin gave up reluctantly.

"For instance, a guy like you has a clear objective, right? You'll do anything for money for good or bad reasons, so you're easy to figure out."

"Come on now, giving me such compliment will make me blush."

"……But, he's different. I have no idea what he is thinking. It's unsettling. He's not someone I should easily put my trust in. And yet I've been too unguarded around him up until this point."

"Ahh, I see." Enokida exclaimed cheerfully. "In other words, you don't want to get betrayed by Banba-san, so you planned on getting away before that happened."

"That's not exactly the problem." Lin frowned and explained. "I'm just concerned for my own wellbeing. It's dangerous for a killer to live with someone they know nothing about, right? It doesn't matter whether he betrays me or not."

"Yeah, sure it is." Enokida gave him the simple yes-man response while holding his straw in his mouth.

"Hey, come on now……" What is with that att.i.tude? Even though he's the one who asked me. Lin gave a small sigh.

"Anyway, I have no choice but to go through with this. Because I've been living this pampered lifestyle for half a year, my senses have considerably dulled."

Lin considered it an ill tendency to have. At this rate he felt he would become useless as a killer. His very existence would be destroyed. So he separated himself from that man.

"That's not so bad." However, Enokida proclaimed optimistically. "The pampered life."

"And in what way?" Lin did not understand at all.

"You're far too hard on yourself. It's not like us people from the underground will have a nice death or anything."

That was true. That was their fate.

"We may be sliced and diced up into pieces. We may be tortured and die a painful death. Then shouldn't we enjoy the pampered life? Eat some delicious food and do what we like." His sharp gaze peering at him through his long bangs shot straight at Lin. "Or do you want to return to your previous self?"

Unsure of how to respond, Lin averted his gaze.

"And I think you can unexpectedly believe in anything else besides money. Although this is coming from me."

Lin could not agree to that. "Human beings are creatures who act for money."

"Huh, you think so?"

Enokida gave him a toothy smile.

"Then why did you kill people for five hundred yen just previously?"

Lin was startled at those words.

Anything else besides money – he felt like he could see the true meaning behind what Enokida said.

"……Actually, why do you know that?" Lin did not recall ever mentioning the price for the job. Lin frowned. As always, he's a guy who just knows everything.

The meeting with the Shouwan took place in the VIP room of a club called Eve in Nakasu. Li attended as a stand-in for the head of the organization and naturally Suzuki came as well. The negotiations went smoothly. They established to forbid anyone from killing their members, ensuring the safety of their people. The man Tony Lau was meek and civil, but they felt behind that facade he was fearful. As Zhao had said, they must be afraid of the possible group backing them. There was almost no possibility of them interfering with the Kakyuu Group again.

Having finished with the negotiations, Li got into the back seat of the car and gave a sigh of exhaustion and relief.

"Suzuki," he called him by his name. Suzuki thought he would ask for a cigarette, but he was mistaken. "You did well."

"No," Suzuki shook his head while still facing forward. "This was thanks to Zhao."

He did not do anything in this case. He just did as that man had instructed.

"That killer Zhao seems to have utility."

"Yes, more or less."

That man was excellent. He was young but skilled. He was just as Yang described him. Although, he was a tad bit insane and a loose canon.

"It is a little unfortunate he'll have to be killed."

Suzuki swallowed at Li's words he heard from behind him. "……Indeed."

What a waste, he thought. For him to have that much ability only to be wasted. However, it had to be done. Because he was talented they had to get rid of him. It was a dilemma for them.

"Well then, tell him about the case."

After he dropped Li off at his home per usual, Li told him that before getting out.

"Yes, I will." Suzuki nodded slightly. "As we arranged."

He immediately made a call to Zhao.

"Why did you call me so suddenly?"

After waiting for ten minutes for the other to arrive at a cafe in downtown Tenjin where he first met him, Zhao finally appeared.

"I thought I'd give you what you have asked for." Suzuki took out a USB drive.

"There are five hundred files of personal data on this. It has the person's name, address, year and date of birth, and their phone number."

Suzuki provided him with a list of personal data on individuals he purchased from a registry broker. Unoyama, who was killed the day prior, had this list. Unoyama's office earned small cash through fraud this way. After they made a call from the list, they would instigate them to take money.

"Use it as you please." Suzuki urged him.

"Then I will with pleasure."

Zhao took it.

"……What do you plan to do?"

When Suzuki asked him, Zhao grinned. "I'm going to kill Noriaki Hayashi (林憲明)."

"Noriaki Hayashi?" Suzuki questioned what he heard.

"I'm going to kill the man with that name."

Suzuki could not grasp the intent behind this man's actions. What could he possibly gain by killing some Noriaki Hayashi? "Why would you do that?"

"To inform him. That I'm looking for him. When the news announces someone with the same spelling as him had been killed, he'll take notice of that. I bet he'll come and find me because of it."

His way of thinking was insane.

"See you. Thanks for this." Zhao flicked the USB drive and got up from his seat.

"Wait," Suzuki gave him a stern voice. He needed to tell him. "My superior wants to thank you personally for this past case. He reserved a seat for you."

"……Really?"

"It's at a traditional j.a.panese restaurant in Nakasu Ni-Choume.  It'll be at one o'clock in the afternoon tomorrow. Don't be late."

"You guys are really treating me to something nice." Zhao left while waving his hand carelessly.

The meet up place with Lau was at the dock at Ohori Park like last time. Nitta received the sudden call and headed over there immediately. Lau was already there waiting for Nitta. However, unlike last time, his expression was not calm.

They got on the swan boat as last time, and Lau began to speak as they peddled into the center of the lake. "We have talked to the Kakyuu Group. We have agreed to form a truce without adding anymore casualties to either party. ……However, they have listed off one condition."

"A condition?"

"They told us to hand them over the hitman."

"That's-"

In other words, they wanted Saruwatari.

"The Kakyuu Group has a connection with that killer. They want to punish him with their own hands."

"……I see." His bill was due for cutting down a hundred of their men then.

"However, that is the same for us."

While it was the Shouwan that had thrown the first punch, Lau also had received casualties. Their warehouse was attacked by a killer from the Kakyuu Group and four of their comrades were killed.

"We also want to avenge our fallen comrades. So we settled to exchange the killer at the end of negotiations. Naturally, while alive."

They planned the exchange for tomorrow. It was a tight schedule.

"Here," Lau handed him a see-through vinyl bag with white, fine powder inside.

"It's a sleeping drug. Have Saruwatari drink something with this in it and bring him to the warehouse."

This man was going to sacrifice Saruwatari. Nitta grimaced in his mind while he etched a smile on his face. This has gotten troublesome.

After they got off the boat, Nitta called Saruwatri right away. "h.e.l.lo, Sarucchi?" He had to invite him out as naturally as possible. "Would you like to eat out together tomorrow?"

The dressed up restaurant attendee guided them into a private room labeled Ume no Ma. They opened the sliding doors and stepped inside the s.p.a.cious tatami floored room. Li and Zhao sat down facing each other while Suzuki sat next to Li. As a precaution, they stationed a subordinate to stand on watch at the entrance.

"I have heard from Suzuki. You have worked splendidly for us in this past case."

Li told him and set a duralumin case onto the table. He opened the case and showed Zhao its contents. Inside were stacks of bills packed in tightly.

"I said I don't need it. My objective isn't the money." Zhao laughed. He would not even glance at the case.

"It's a measure of our thanks. Please take it. We were saved because of you."

Li then lifted up his gla.s.s.

"I have brought us some nice sake to share. Let's have a toast."

He poured the j.a.panese sake into two sake cups and handed one over to Zhao.

"……Now then, in celebration of our victory. Cheers."

Li held up his sake cup. He downed the drink in one go. Zhao also imitated the gesture and brought it to his lips.

But he unnaturally stilled in the next moment. And then he smirked.

It was a surprise attack. Zhao suddenly grabbed the lackey beside him by the collar, and once he lifted him up he poured the contents of the cup down his throat. The man immediately began to heave in pain. Foam bubbled out of his mouth, and he convulsed on the tatami floor with his eyes rolled back.

"You tried to dupe me?" Zhao flashed his teeth in a grin. "You're naive."

Suzuki's eyes widened.

He saw through us?

In their negotiations with the Shouwan they had decided to exchange their hitmen. However, if they handed him over alive, their enemy would gain a valuable fighter. They planned to hand over his body with the explanation of 'the killer died in an unfortunate accident.' And that was why they had to eliminate Zhao. They laced poison onto the sake cup.

However, he had noticed it.

"I can recognize poison by smell. I was trained to do so."

Zhao moved. He took the sake cup he held and threw it at Suzuki. By the time Suzuki had dodged it, Zhao had already reached Li's side. It was only one moment. Zhao took out something long and thin from his pocket and stuck it into Li's neck. It was a syringe. A clear liquid was injected into Li's vein.

"Li-san!"

Suzuki shouted and pulled out his gun.

"Get away from him!"

Zhao raised his open palms to him when Suzuki pointed the gun at him.

"Hold on there. Don't shoot, okay? If I die, then your precious master will too."

"……What do you mean?"

Suzuki frowned. Both of his arms were shaking. He was unsure whether it was from anxiety or resentment.

Li pulled out the syringe from his neck and grimaced. "……Poison."

"It's a virus. I stole it before the Shouwan could release it. I also have the anti-virus. It's hidden in a certain place. You have a week of incubation. If you don't receive the anti-virus in that time frame, then you'll die."

"That's-"

Suzuki was taken aback. Renyi's face flashed through his mind.

"What the h.e.l.l have you done?!"

He yelled and grabbed Zhao by the collar.

'Quickly, bring him over here!'

The scene had turned into an uproar. Banba strained to hear the conversation going in and out. It appeared that Li had been poisoned and was down for the count. His subordinates were trying to bring him to a hospital.

Tranquility returned a few minutes later. The two remaining men in the room were conversing.

'By the way, I wouldn't use this restaurant again.'

He noticed, huh.

Banba tutted in his mind.

'This thing was hidden here.'

'……What is that? A cell phone?'

'It's a listening bug in the model of a cell phone.'

'A listening bug?' The other man was surprised. From the conversation he must have been Suzuki. 'There's no way. I had my subordinates check this room beforehand.'

'This kind of bug doesn't omit electromagnetic waves, so it's difficult to pick it up even if you use a detector. Even by the chance you find it, the device works as a camouflage as a customer's lost item in a place like this.'

'What? But that's……'

'In other words, it means our conversations up until this point had all been eavesdropped on. I don't know by whom though.'

There was a crunch sound, and the transmission cut off there. The device itself must have been crushed.

However, that was not the only bug implemented in there. Banba heard the voices in the earphone in his opposite ear.

'Now we can speak without restraint, right?'

He had set up bugs together with the food by paying the restaurant's employees. The cell phone type listening device was just a decoy. He did not plan to use it for a long period of time as it was about to run out of power anyway. Now he was left with the alternative ones.

'Why did you try to poison me?'

'……We made a deal with the Shouwan. We decided to trade both of our killers.'

'I see. So you devised a plan to kill me before you handed me over to your enemy.'

Shouwan, deal, killers. The face of that man suddenly came to Banba's mind. There was the possibility that Saruwatari could be transferred over to the Kakyuu Group right about now. Except, it was that man. He would not be captured that easily.

'Where is the anti-virus?'

'I won't tell you. You'll be working with me in this next week. If you behave yourself, I'll cure him.'

Dammit, Suzuki cursed. And there their conversation had ended. They must have left the restaurant.

Thanks to the listening devices, Banba learned which hospital Li was taken to. However, the rest of the Kakyuu Group members were probably with him. Banba could not approach recklessly. So he headed back to his office once more. Lin still had not returned. Just where on earth is he?

Banba sat down on the sofa and opened up a newspaper. It was the local paper of Western j.a.pan. He checked the sports section first. There was a huge report about a certain foreign player. He had fallen into a slump with his batting, having been prevented from managing another home run one point away from beating his previous record.

Just as he was looking over the front page casually, he spotted the characters 林憲明. A man under that name was stabbed to death in f.u.kuoka City.

"Eh." Banba unconsciously raised his voice.

It can't be, he thought. He quickly read through the article.

The victim was –

"Noriaki, Hayashi? Seventy-three years old……"

It was someone else.

Just my imagination then, Banba sighed and placed a hand on his chest in relief.

"……Dontcha scare me like that."

He then glanced over to the article next to it. It was a similar murder case.

"Eh."

He raised his voice in alarm. He doubted his eyes reading through its contents.

There were two murder cases that had happened in the city. Both of the men who were killed had the same name.

"……What the heck is this?"

The victims were Noriaki Hayashi. Were these just coincidences? Or perhaps they were–

Banba had an unsettling feeling about this. He immediately made a call. "Ah, h.e.l.lo, Enokida? I got somethin' that I need you to look into."

Suzuki did not want to see his master lying on top of a white bed, so he sent a subordinate in his place to the hospital.

Several minutes later, he received a call from him. 'We have the results of his examination.'

"Go on."

'He is currently stable and conscious.' He added with a gloomy tone. '……For the meantime that is.'

For the meantime. However, they did not know what would happen in a week. "……I got it."

Then Suzuki's first priority was to retrieve the anti-virus.

"Stay by his side for now. It may be dangerous until we take care of the Shouwan, so be on your guard."

'Understood.'

After Suzuki finished the call outside of the restaurant, he headed back to the private room and opened the sliding doors to Unoyama. Zhao was inside. He sat improperly with one knee up while scarfing down food.

"Hey, welcome back." He noticed Suzuki and raised one hand. "This food is amazing stuff. You should have some too."

Suzuki felt anger boil up at his carefree nature. "……I want to kill you right now."

Zhao cackled. "Alright, calm down now. Ah, that's right. Would you like a drink? Don't worry. It's not laced with poison."

Suzuki glared at him as he raised a sake cup to him with a cheerful voice.

"Well then, I guess we should get going." Zhao finished eating and stood up. He then ordered Suzuki. "Bring the car over. I have a place I want to go to."

This is a disgrace. Being ordered around by this man. Nonetheless, Suzuki had no choice but to follow through with it. "Where to?"

"Hakozaki Go-Choume. I'm going to meet an old friend."

Saruwatari was more insufferable than usual as he downed his cola at the creative cuisine restaurant near Ohori Park Station.

It can't be helped, Nitta thought. The Kakyuu Group ended up withdrawing after that prolonged ceasefire. To Saruwatari, this job was a mess. He really only got to kill one person for his test, so he did not make much money. And then he was drowning in the ocean (though he claimed he was swimming). His frustration was left unsatisfied and his contract had ended with the Shouwan without a chance to dissolve it.

"……What amateur. I'm gonna kill that red-headed b.a.s.t.a.r.d myself!"

Saruwatari downed the contents of his gla.s.s in one go and slammed it down onto the table. Nitta worried if there would be a crack on the bottom of the gla.s.s.

"What will you have next?"

"Cola." Saruwatari was curt.

Nitta called for a shop attendee and made the order. "Ahh, dammit. I wanna kill someone." The shop attendee was startled to hear Saruwatari whisper that.

"Come on now, just forget about the job and have fun for today. It's my treat too."

"……I'm gonna head to the restroom." Saruwatari stood up and began walked towards the bathroom.

His refill of cola was brought over. Nitta took out the drug he had been given – and he did verify it earlier that it was indeed a sleeping drug – and put it in the gla.s.s while Saruwatari was gone. After a while Saruwatari came back. He did not appear to have noticed. He took his new gla.s.s and brought it to his mouth. The cola mixed with the sleeping drug went down his throat and spread throughout his body.

Several minutes later, Saruwatari collapsed onto the table. He was completely out of it.

"……Really, Sarucchi? You've drank way too much for the daytime." Nitta raised his voice on purpose. He called to a shop attendant who happened to be pa.s.sing by.

"Excuse me, I would like to pay."

Notes: Thank you Voissane for editing!