Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Volume 1 Chapter 8

Top of Eighth Inning

An unknown man answered Ivanov's cell phone. For a man he had a slightly higher pitched, young voice. Zhang had said there was a kid he wanted punished. The man on the phone was likely the killer Lin that was employed by the Kakyuu group.

Munakata hurried to the Kakyuu grou's office with the car. He made the call to Reiko to head there as well. While waiting at the light, thoughts ran through his head. What's the meaning of this? Why did Lin answer the phone? It can't be; is Ivanov dead? He was killed by that man? It can't be. Would Ivanov be killed by such a kid? Perhaps he just dropped his cell phone. However, he did not think Ivanov would slip up like that.

Unpleasant thoughts clouded over his mind, and he shook his head in an attempt to swipe them away.

"…….No, it's still unknown." Munakata whispered. His voice had that tone as though to convince himself. He should not a.s.sume he was dead already.

Even so, isn't this light too long? It had been red for some time now. More than five minutes had pa.s.sed. No, it is because I'm in a hurry is all, right? It turned green, and he moved the car forward. It's irritating. It made him think there was someone making the lights red on our purpose.

Being held back due to the lights, it took thirty minutes to arrive at the office. Even though normally it was a distance that should have been only ten minutes to get to. Naturally it was already after Lin had escaped.

It was a sea of blood in the room. There were five bodies fallen on the ground inside. Two were stabbed, and three of them were shot down. Zhang and two of his lackeys were in the room .

"I'm disappointed." When he saw Munakata, Zhang addressed him in displeasure. "It seems the killer you provided wasn't that much."

Zhang gazed towards the door leading to the next room. He had a bad premonition. He opened the doors quickly. In the center of the room Ivanov was fallen. He was dead. What the h.e.l.l? He felt lightheaded.

Zhang and his lackeys were watching the television screen next to Munakata. He heard the words "fast forward it" and "rewind it." They appeared to be watching a recorded video. It was probably footage from the security cameras. The entrance of the office was being displayed on the screen. Munakata and them confirmed the footage.

In the footage it first showed a young looking woman figure. When he asked who this was, Zhang told him it was Lin. Wasn't he a man? The next who came in was Ivanov. A little while after that a tall man came in. And then the man and Lin covered in blood came out together.

Are these two friends?

Zhang's expression was precipitous. He ordered his underlings with a sharp voice. "Kill these guys no matter the cost. Hire the best killer in Hakata. I don't care how much he'll be."

One of the lackeys nodded at Zhang's order and left the room immediately.

"Please wait, Zhang-san." Munakata spoke up. "Won't you leave that job to us?"

His colleague and precious friend was killed. Even he could not simply withdraw from this.

"Could you do it?" It was the mimicry of looking down on him.

"Of course." It was a foolish question. Killing was a killer's job.

"Well, it's fine then. In exchange I have a condition. You cannot kill them. Capture them alive and bring them to us. And since we will do it ourselves, if we find them quicker than you and we kill them, you can't complain about it."

"……Understood."

As he answered with that Reiko arrived at the office. In front of Ivanov's corpse Reiko also was trying to hide her shock.

Munakata carried Ivanov's body to the car. It was a task that could break his bones carrying a body more than one hundred kilograms, but he did not care. Since the body was too big to fit in the trunk when he tried to stuff it in there, he folded it in the back seat. Munakata got in the driver's seat, and Reiko got in the pa.s.senger's seat.

Munakata hung his head, nearly leaning on the wheel. "…….If it was going to end up like this, I shouldn't have sent Ivanov on his own."

He scratched at his head. Ivanov dying was a miscalculation on his part. He underestimated the other killer.

"It's not your fault." Reiko's tone was calm. "The opponent was a killer. It's different from the general people or yakuza we deal with usually. Don't you think it is just like a hunter who can't catch anything but rabbits to suddenly hunt a bear? If it was an opponent even Ivanov couldn't handle, it would be the same result even if we were there."

"Can you believe he could lose? I'm sure a dirty trick was used. Like he was taken by surprise and shot. If I came along, he wouldn't have died."

"That's wrong." Reiko looked over her shoulder. "Look, on Ivanov's arm there are defensive wounds. His opponent met with him and won in close combat."

There was reason in what Reiko said as well. However, Munakata could not help blaming himself.

"So that killer Lin is rather strong then. For killing a killer like Ivanov. Perhaps he was the rumored Niwaka Samurai."

"No, he's not." Munakata shook his head feebly. Ivanov was shot in the forehead with a gun. "That method isn't the Niwaka Samurai's."

"Really?"

"I would know." It was because he met the Niwaka Samurai before. "The Niwaka Samurai doesn't use guns."

It was that moment. A call came in. On the screen the characters "son" was displayed. It was from Yusuke. He sighed with irritation. "It's from the perverted son."

[Heey, Munakata-saan,] He heard the usual idiotic voice when he answered the call. [Still nothing on the next giirl? I can't wait any longeer.]

"I'm busy right now. Do it later!" He thoughtlessly yelled.

"Hand it over to me for a minute," Reiko unable to let this pa.s.s took the phone from the side. "We'll contact the broker right now and buy one. Please just wait patiently."

After Reiko finished the call, Munakata spoke harshly. "That little s.h.i.t. Just how high is that kid's drive? It's abnormal. We can kill him right now. That way we drop some pointless jobs, and it'd be of some good for the world too."

"Calm down. You should rest for a bit. Did you take any naps?"

"I can't do that." Even though he was busy enough between being bodyguard for the mayor and cleaning up after his son, at this time his priority was his friend's vengeance. He had no time to rest. However, he did not care about that. "I won't get any rest until I find that Lin and his friend."

Reiko was making a call somewhere with Munakata's cell phone. "…….It's not ringing."

"What's wrong?"

"Ivanov's cell phone isn't ringing."

It should not have been dropped in the office. "So they left with it?"

"Probably." Reiko was making another call again. "Ah, h.e.l.lo? Shinohara? Is right now alright? I want you to look up the GPS in Ivanov's cell phone, ASAP."
Bottom of Eighth Inning

He appeared to have lost consciousness after that. When he woke up, a familiar scenery entered his vision. It was the Detective Banba's Office. It was messy as always. Lin was in the bed. He had a changing of clothes. He was wearing black sweatpants, but the size on him is baggy. It was probably Banba's. Bandages were wrapped around the wound on his stomach. Was I given treatment at some point?

"It's alright. I had a doctor come look at you." Banba voiced. He was right next to him, gazing at him.

Lin slowly raised his upper body. His wounds flared up in pain. When he tried to crawl out of the bed he was stopped by Banba. "Dontcha move now."

"……I gotta go."

"Where you reckon' you goin' in that shape?"

That was obvious. It was for revenge. Since a listening device was planted on him Banba should already know the details. "I'm going to go kill him. The culprit who killed my sister."

"How?"

"What do you mean 'how?' I'll kill him like I always have with everyone else." The usual killing method did not change. He would stab them with a knife. That was the end of it.

"Who're you gonna kill? Do you know who killed your sister? Do you know where he is?"

Lin was taken aback when he said that. He just killed according to what Zhang told him until now. Having his target's name, face, and address looked up already, he then just had to kill the target. However, it was different now.

"You're makin' a face of someone who thinks he can do ever'thing by himself, but people can't live alone."

Banba's words pierced into his heart terribly.

"……Even so, I have to live alone."

He did not have family anymore. His mother died. His sister was also killed.

Banba gave him a smile. "You gotta learn to depend on others more."

"Depend on? That's ridiculous." Lin rejected. It would be a matter of who would help him when he asked for it. "Or else what? Are you going to help me?"

"Haven't I said I'd be of help when you're in a pinch?"

"You're just saying that."

"I ain't sayin' I can't."

"Ha!" Lin laughed at him. "Then find the culprit for me. That perverted b.a.s.t.a.r.d who killed my sister."

Banba closed one of his eyes. "Leave it to ol' me. Background checks are a detective's specialty."

It was then. They heard the sound of knocking on the door.

"It's as messy as always."

A man appeared while giving a shocked voice. His age was around forty. His hair short. The width of his shoulders were wide, and he had the figure of someone who did rugby or American football. He was called "Shigematsu-san" by Banba. The man Shigematsu spotted Lin in the bed and was startled. "Hey, hey, Banba. What is the meaning of this? I didn't know you were sheltering a woman."

"He ain't a woman. He's a man."

"I'm not sure how much that would change it."

"Shigematsu-san, look at that kid's neck."

"His neck?" Shigematsu got close to Lin. He intently examined his neck, and his eyes opened wide. "This – it can't be."

"What is it? Scrutinizing me like that. What's up with my neck?" Lin frowned deeply.

Just what are they talking about? He was the only one out of the loop.

"How'd you get this bruise?" He was asked by Shigematsu.

"Bruise? Ahh." It was probably something he got when he was being strangled by that large man. He was unsure how he should answer this.

When he sent a glance towards Banba, he nodded with a smile. Since it was the expression of "it's okay to talk about it," he decided to tell him honestly. "I was attacked by a killer. Though I managed to get back at him."

"What type of killer?"

"He was a large man. About two meters tall. It seemed he had friends." After he answered, he looked at Banba. "Hey, who is this old man?"

"A police detective."

"A police-" Lin unconsciously raised his voice. His blood pressure instantly dropped. "It can't be. You sold me out?"

Just as he thought he was betrayed he was proven wrong. Shigematsu smiled wryly. "Don't worry. I don't plan on arresting you."

"It's a-okay. Shigematsu-san is a nice detective to killers. I got him to look into the man who killed your sister."

"Here, look." Shigematsu handed over a stack of papers. "This is the investigation data you asked for."

"Thank you." Banba took it.

"The culprit's name is Takuya Itou. Last night he was playing around in Nakasu and was apparently pretty drunk. There is also eyewitness reports. From oppabus, s.e.x cabarets, and hustles Itou hopped from he – "

"Wait a second." Lin started. "What's an oppabu?"

"A place where you can touch girl's b.o.o.bs." The one who answered was Banba.

"Then, a s.e.x cabaret?"

"A place where you can touch girl's b.o.o.bs."

"A hustle?"

"A place where you can touch girl's b.o.o.bs. You got it?"

"……. I get that this guy likes b.o.o.bs."

"Any man is like that." Shigematsu said.

"I like b.u.t.ts more." Banba reb.u.t.ted.

"Like I know." He could care less about that.

After clearing his throat, Shigematsu returned to the main topic. "However, there is something a bit strange."

"Strange? What is?"

"There were two similar cases in the past, but both of the women's bodies were thrown away in the outskirts. For some reason only this time it was left in a hotel room. What's more, this officer worker Itou apparently just arrived to f.u.kuoka from transferring work places. When I looked into it he took a shinkansen just last week. So when the two previous cases occurred he was still in Tokyo."

"That is really strange."

"Right? Well, this is as far as I've looked into it."

"Thank you, Shigematsu-san."

"If something happens, contact me." He finished with that and left.

He looked over the data he received from Shigematsu. Aside from what he talked about just previously, there were no other important information written. "So that just led to an end where we still don't know anything." Lin shrugged his shoulders.

"Nah, there's a lot we got to know."

"You think?" Lin was half in doubt.

"What we can deduce from what Shigematsu told us is that there are two patterns to think of. One is that the culprit who killed your sister is different from the culprit of the previous two cases. The other is that all three cases was done by the same person, and the suspect Itou was just pulled into it."

"Even if we know that, how are you going to find the killer?"

"Mentaiko will do." Banba suggested out of the blue.

"Whaa? Mentaiko?"

"The pay. I'll take your request for five years worth of mentaiko." Banba started to make a call to somewhere.

After Shigematsu departed, thirty minutes later there was knocking on the door again. This time it was a young man who appeared. Well, it was uncertain whether he was young or not because half of his face was hidden by his long bangs. However, his outfit was flashy and he seemed young. He was called "Enokida-kun" by Banba.

The man Enokida looked at Lin, and the corners of his mouth curved into a complacent smile. "You're Xianming Lin? Seems you're in quite the mess."

Lin looked over at Banba. "Hey, Banba. Who is this mushroom guy?"

"He's Enokida-kun. He's an informant-san."

"An informant?"

Enokida took out a laptop from the backpack he was carrying. "Hey, Lin-kun. Those guys in the Kakyuu group are pretty mad, you know? They say they plan to hire the most skilled killer in Hakata to kill you."

"That's perfect. I'll just get back at them then." He tried to act tough, but the wound on his stomach throbbed. Would I be able to fight a killer in this state though? He could not brush away his uneasiness.

"Just as Banba told me, I looked up the data in the cell phone." Enokida handed over the cell phone to Banba. It was the large man's. "I restored all of the deleted messages too, but there wasn't anything left that would be evidence worthy. It seems all the important calls were all exchanged on the phone."

"That's unfortunate."

"Well, don't get so down now. It's not like someone like me came all the way here with no information to give." Enokida huffed proudly. "I looked into the security cameras at the hotel Takuya Itou was staying at, but something interesting was shown."

Enokida said and opened up his laptop. The footage played on the screen. It was at an angle displaying an elevator on a floor somewhere in the hotel. Enokida explained as he pointed it out. "Look here. At first Itou and a woman come in. At this time it seems Itou-kun is already quite drunk."

With certainty the man on the screen was walking while being half pulled by the woman.

"This woman resembles the woman in the photo. She was with the mayor and Zhang."

"I compared them, but they are with little doubt the same person."

And then Enokida fast forward it a bit and then stopped it again. "Thirty minutes after this a man wearing an eye-patch comes in. While pulling in a super large case."

"He really is. It's the large size a person might could fit into."

It can't be, he thought. "Does that mean Qiaomei was stuffed in this and carried there?"

"Probably so."

"So for her to be killed elsewhere and brought here means Itou was just dragged into the incident. How unlucky that fella is."

"So, ten minutes after that the eye-patch guy and the woman from before leave with the case in tow. After this it shows Itou running away come morning."

"Why would they go through all this trouble?"

"It's simple." Enokida answered. "They want to camouflage the true culprit."

"For a killer hired by the mayor to be involved……it can't be; then mayor Harada killed the woman?"

"There's no way he has the time for that. It's a busy period of time for him." Enokida opened a sound file on his laptop this time. "Listen to this. This was a recording of a conversation from the listening device you put on that large man's body."

They listened closely. They heard a man's voice from the laptop. [It's from the perverted son. – I'm busy right now. Do it later!] After that was a woman's voice. [Hand it over to me for a minute – We'll contact the broker right now and buy one. Please just wait patiently.] Lastly there was the voice of the man again. [Just how high is that kid's drive? It's abnormal.] He recognized the man's voice. It was the man from that phone call.

"He says something about a perverted son."

"That's right. The mayor has one son. His name is Yusuke Harada. He's a university student. Seems he's quite the naughty guy. He's rather famous in some areas. Even though he gets involved in various crimes, it seems they're all erased due to his father's money and influence."

Broker, buy, perverted son, drive, abnormal. Imagining the scenario from those words, are they buying women off of human trafficking to try and satisfy his abnormal s.e.xual drive?

"So that s.h.i.t bag Yusuke Harada bought my sister and killed her?"

"Most likely. And the one who a.s.sisted in the deal was the Kakyuu group."

It was Zhang's work. I'll kill him, he bit into his lips. Lin jumped off of the bed.

Banba grabbed Lin's shoulder. "Wait up a sec now. Where you reckon' you're headin' to?"

"I'm going to kill him. That son." He moved his gaze from Banba to Enokida. "Hey, mushroom. If you're an informant then you know at least where that d.a.m.n kid is, right?"

"I haven't looked into it, but his card would be strict. If you jump in upfront, you'll be killed by the killers the mayor has hired. I think you should give up on that."

"I'm not that stupid. I have a plan."

"A plan?"

"Taking into account of Yusuke Harada's s.e.xual habits, then there should be another human trafficking exchange to take place between the mayor's side and the Kakyuu group. I'll aim for that. We'll impersonate someone from the Kakyuu group and make the exchange."

"But to do that, you need a woman for the trade."

"If it's a woman we need, we have one right here."

"……You don't mean."

"That's right. I'll crossdress, be sold, and enter the enemy's territory. Then I'll aim for the moment I'm alone with that d.a.m.n kid and kill him." But that was an impossible plan to do alone. Lin bowed his head towards Banba and Enokida. "I want you to lend me a hand. Please."

Banba's expression was sullen. "But a plan like that has too many risks. You ain't gettin' away scott-free."

He did not really care. "I'll be fine with it if I kill him."

Banba gave a small sigh. He patted a hand on Lin's head and smiled. "Dontcha spout some depressin' stuff now; we gotta plan on how you're gonna skedaddle outta there."

"……Okay. But if it gets dangerous for don't hesitate to leave me behind. Alright?"

Banba did not nod. "Enokida-kun, you can use bugs or do some of that there hackin', so can you find the date and time of the next dealin' and the meetup place?"

"Okay." Enokida was excited.

After escorting Lin home, Banba parked his car in a Nakasu parking lot and visited his favorite food cart. It was a store named 'Gen-chan,' and the boss's name was Genzo, but Banba called him "big daddy." He was already over his mid fifties. The lonely hairs on his head told a story.

"Ohh, Banba, huh. Welcome." Genzo greeted him with a smile. His eyes narrowed and wrinkles formed on his face when he smiled. "Is the usual fine?"

"The usual? You got nothin' but ramen."

"We got beer too."

"Beer is fine. I'll take a car back. Ramen and a cold beer."

While Genzo was the owner of the food cart, he was also famous killer agent in this industry. He mediated jobs to free-lance killers.

"You know," Genzo started speaking, lowering his voice. "An unbelievable request came in from the Kakyuu group today."

"The Kakyuu group?" It was the organization Lin worked for. He answered while chewing on the ramen. "When you mean Kakyuu group, you mean that Chinese mafia? They make easy money from human traffickin'."

Genzo nodded, amazed. "You know quite a bit, as expected. Just as you say, the Kakyuu group gathers youngins for human traffickin' and have a portion of them special education for killin'. And that even among them they hire especially talented kids as their own organization's killers."

"Huh."

"But they say a killer rebelled."

"Rebelled?"

"They gone against the organization and killed plenty of their employees. Seems they had a dispute over money."

That was without a doubt Lin. He already knew this. "That seems to be quite the pickle there."

"Also, the talk has come 'round here. Said to introduce a freelance killer to them. Said they wanted a veteran with real experience from another team than a native born rookie and have 'em be the ready fire power."

"I see."

"The one who's more surprised is me." Genzo moved his face in closely.

"What is?"

"That ridiculous request was to kill two men. The first was the former killer of the Kakyuu Group, Xianming Lin."

Genzo left one photo next to his ramen.

"The second is you. Zenji Banba."

The photo showed Lin and Banba escaping from the Kakyuu group's office. It was probably an image taken from the security cameras.

Genzo had an exasperated face. "Seriously. You done got involved in trouble again. Enough already."

"Hehe." He laughed and did not even try to fool him.

"The Kakyuu group said to hand over the most skilled killer. A killer suited for killing killers among those contracted with us is – the Niwaka Samurai."

The Niwaka Samurai was one of the killers Genzo mediated work for. Only a small portion of people knew the Niwaka Samurai's existence, but everyone who did put down everything they had to try and request a killing of a killer.

"Well, I reckon' that's the case."

"Although I didn't want you dead, I ain't got many taken requests. Hey, Banba. What should I oughta do? Should I introduce the Niwaka Samurai to the Kakyuu group?"

Banba gave an immediate reply. "Yeah. That's fine. Go introduce him."

"Are you sane now?" Genzo was surprised. It could not be helped. "It's a request to kill you. How you gonna go about it?"

"I reckon' if I should play dead."

Genzo shrugged his shoulders. "Watch yourself. Dontcha dare up and die."

"You bet." Banba raised his hands and responded. "Thank you for the meal."
Once Banba finished his meal, he went to the small clinic, Saeki cosmetic clinic, in a place facing Watanabe street. Naturally at this period of time it was closed, but it was not like he came for an examination. The director of this place, Saeki, was an acquaintance of his and helped with various underground jobs.

"Saeki-sensei, thank you for today. You was a great help."

Saeki was the one who attended to Lin's wounds. When he said his thanks, he gave a bitter smile. "You're about the only person who would bring a patient stabbed with a knife to a cosmetic clinic."

"I got no one else to look at him."

"So then, what's wrong this time?"

"I have a bit of a favor to ask of you."

In the examination room there were no patients or nurses. It was always Saeki alone at this time. However, there was a preceding visitor. He heard a cheerful voice from the examination room. "Oh my, isn't it Banba-chan?"

It was an acquaintance of his. "It's Jiro. What are you doin' around here?"

"No way. There's only one reason a woman would come to a place like this (a cosmetic surgery clinic). It's because she wants to become beautiful."

"He came to dispose of a body." Saeki answered in his place. Saeki was in his mid-thirties, had his hair parted and wore gla.s.ses. He had the habit to talk politely regardless if the person was older or younger than he was. His eyes and personality seemed earnestly mild and gentle-mannered, so no one would even consider he did an atrocious job as a cleaner.

"What kind of body?"

He peeked into the examination room. A body was lain out on the examination table. It was a corpse with his head and body severed.

"A boy. He's young. A high-school student."

He thought of a good idea. Banba suggested to Jiro. "Hey, won't you sell this body to me?"

"That's fine, but his eyes are crushed. His head is also cut off."

"That's perfect."

"What will you use it for?"

"To play dead with." Banba suddenly remembered. "Actually, Jiro. I have a fella I want revenge on, but can I ask this of you?"

"If it's a favor from you, I'll listen to any request. Who is it?"

"The mayor's son."

"My, the mayor's? Just what happened?"

"Well, an acquaintance of mine had his sister raped and killed. Look here, it's on the news right now, right? That case with the body of the Chinese exchange student found at a hotel. It seems the culprit is the mayor's son."

"Wait a moment, Banba-chan." The smile on Jiro's face vanished. He had a serious expression and bends himself forward. "Will you allow me to hear the details?"

"Why?"

"In truth, there's a person I know who got involved in that incident. He said when he woke up he was in the hotel and that a woman was dead on the bed."

"Oh my goodness." This was a coincidence. "The world is rather small, huh."

Jiro nodded keenly. "No kidding."