Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - LightNovelsOnl.com
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As Lin was walking back alone his stomach abruptly growled. That's right; I haven't eaten anything today, he recalled. Now that he was able to relax knowing Banba's life was not in peril, his appet.i.te quickly caught his attention. Lin decided to go out to eat and headed to Nakasu. It was already five o'clock in the evening. The food stalls should be open by now.
He walked along the Naka River, and as expected Genzo G.o.da's food stall was open for business.
“Hey, Lin!” Genzo gawked when he saw Lin. “What's with the blood!?”
“...Wh?”
Blood?
Lin finally noticed it when Genzo pointed it out. His clothes were drenched with blood. He completely forgot his clothes got soiled with blood when he held onto Banba. That would explain why the pa.s.serby stared at him on his way here.
“Ah, it's alright.” Lin replied lightheartedly to rea.s.sure Genzo. “This isn't my blood.”
“Then whose is it?”
“Banba's.”
Genzo was further startled.
“...Your guys' fights are gettin' serious.”
He misunderstood him.
“That's not it,” Lin shook his head as he took a seat. He then explained everything that happened earlier this morning to Genzo.
After hearing the details, Genzo frowned in worry. “So is Banba gonna be alright?”
“Yeah, he'll pull through.” Lin answered. “The doctors said he should be regaining consciousness soon.”
“That's great to hear.” Genzo sighed in relief before comforting Lin. “You musta gone through a lot. I'm sorry.”
He placed his large hand on top of Lin's head.
“...Yeah.” Lin gave a small nod.
All he did was escort Banba to the hospital, and yet he was thoroughly exhausted. This was probably a sign of how much mental stress weighed on him.
Lin rested his chin in his hand and muttered softly. “...It was the first time I've seen him like that.”
He had never seen Banba so frail before. His limp body against his felt terribly small and brittle. His skin was as cold as ice, and he was so pale Lin could not sense any life in him. It was as if Banba was a soulless corpse.
“I almost felt he'd die then and there.”
The thought pa.s.sed his mind for a terrifying moment. Lin's hands shook as he held Banba's stone cold, drenched body.
Lin believed that man would never die no matter what he faced. He never voiced his opinions of him, but he had considered Banba to be stronger than anyone as a st.u.r.dy and reliable person. He was sure no matter what could happen, he would pull through unharmed.
However, this time he did not. If Lin had arrived a few minutes later, he may have already slipped away. It did not matter that he was the ‘hitman of hitmen,' rumored to be the strongest of f.u.kuoka; anyone could die from blood loss if they were stabbed in the stomach. The Niwaka Samurai was not an invincible hero or an immortal monster. Lin was kindly reminded that he was just an ordinary human being.
Lin sighed. He felt at an all time low today. Though that was inevitable given what he went through.
“I'm glad he made it.” Genzo purposefully tried to be cheerful upon seeing Lin's dark expression. He gave him a toothy grin to rea.s.sure him. “He's a tough one. He'll be fine.”
Lin smiled slightly back. “...Yeah, I guess so.”
In any case, he was grateful that he pulled through. That was all Lin had on his mind at this point.
But there was one thing that bothered him.
“...Why do you think he returned to the office?”
Lin was unable to figure out why he came back. Banba had driven himself back to the office by with his will alone despite his grave injuries. If he had the strength to do that, then he should have went straight to the hospital instead.
“His head probably wasn't in the right place, so he might've not thought of goin' to the hospital.”
Lin c.o.c.ked his head. “You think?”
Banba was definitely not fully aware when Lin found him, so he was probably not in a state to make logical decisions. Lin was actually impressed he was able to drive in his condition.
“...But shouldn't he have instinctively tried to save himself?”
There should have been other options he could have went with, like calling an ambulance or seeking help from pa.s.serby. But Banba did neither of those. Lin felt he was almost avoiding help. Instead the stupid choice he made was choosing how he died.
“Maybe he chose his place to die.”
Genzo murmured.
“...His place to die?”
“Yeah. He might've thought he couldn't be saved. So he didn't go to a hospital and instead chose his home to spend his final moments at - his office. He wanted to die peacefully in the comforts of his own home.”
Lin nodded in understanding.
It was an intriguing concept.
A place to die.
Lin had never thought of what would happen when he died. He had always been so desperate to survive in this world that he never once even considered the idea.
He was struck by a sudden thought. If he found himself at death's door, where would his last moments take place at? Where would he want to die?
Just as Lin pondered over the question, his cell phone began to vibrate. It was an incoming call from an unknown number.
When Lin answered, he discovered it was from the hospital. Banba had apparently woken up. He should be able to have visitors in the afternoon tomorrow, and Banba himself agreed to the terms.
Lin told Genzo the news after getting off the phone. “They said Banba woke up.”
That was one concern dealt with.
Genzo also sighed in relief. “That's great to hear.”
“They said we can visit him tomorrow afternoon.”
“Then you should drop by.”
Genzo said as he placed a bowl of ramen in front of Lin.
“Anyway, eat up and feel better.” He smiled, causing wrinkles to form around his eyes. “Here, it's my treat.”
“Thank you. I'm starving.”
The elder's kindness touched Lin's heart. Lin clapped his hands together and said, “thank you for the meal,” before splitting his chopsticks.
“I'll have a bowl of Ramen too.”
A voice said from behind Lin just as he was about to eat his noodles.
“Gen-san's treat, right?”
Lin could see a platinum-blond head poking out from underneath the shop's curtains - it was Enokida.
“You're gonna pay for it.”
“...tch.”
Enokida whispered under his breath before sitting down next to Lin.
“Hey, is Banbsan alright?”
Lin's eyes widened. You already knew that? Information reaches him fast.
“Yeah, he's hanging in there.” Lin answered as he slurped his noodles. “...On that note, how did you know about Banba? Did s.h.i.+gematsu tell you?”
“Nope.”
“You didn't hack into the hospital, did you?”
Lin momentarily worried whether this man had the information on all the hospitalized patients in f.u.kuoka City or not, but apparently that was not the case. “That's not it. Just an educated guess.” Enokida provided for an answer.
“I tried to call you to tell you something, but I couldn't get a hold of you. So I looked up your location through the signal to meet up with you directly, and you've been in the hospital for most of the day. Since you seem to be fine, I could only a.s.sume you either escorted someone there or went to visit someone in the hospital. And out of everyone you'd know, it'd probably be Banbsan.”
He was as sharp as always. Lin could not help but admire his intellect.
“It's rare to hear that Banbsan is in hospital. Did he overdo it in his baseball training? Did he pull a muscle swinging the bat too much?”
“He was stabbed. He had a deep wound in his side, but fortunately the surgery went well.”
“Oh? That's great to hear.”
“So?” Lin changed the topic. “What did you need to tell me?”
“I needed to give this to you.”
Enokida placed a stack of paper beside his ramen.
“What is this?”
“The job you tasked me with.”
Lin remembered now. Enokida was referring to the drugging-robberies. Lin had asked Enokida to find out the culprit's ident.i.ty.
“That completely slipped my mind. A lot happened over the past couple hours.” Lin was too tied up with Banba to worry about the job.
Enokida reported his findings as he ate his ramen. “The man's fingerprints matched one the police had.”
“So it is him.”
This meant the man was behind the other cases as well. They finally confirmed that he was the culprit behind all of them.
“I looked through his belongings too. His license and insurance cards were all fake. The names and occupations he had listed for all of them varied from being an attorney to a travel agency employee. He seemed to have played numerous roles.”
Lin took the papers and looked through them. The data Enokida typed up had the man's fake ID information listed.
“So who is he?”
Lin thought it would be impossible even for Enokida's skills to find out his ident.i.ty, but apparently he had.
Enokida smirked.
“About that, I found out something interesting.”
He elaborated excitingly.
“I was able to find the man's ident.i.ty through his cell phone's contractor information. The device itself is pretty new, but he had been contracted with the same company for fifteen years and kept the same number. Look at this page.”
Lin turned to the page Enokida indicated. The man's information was written on it along with his profile. He had the same face as the man Lin captured. It was the same person.
“This man's name is Kouki Bessho. He's thirty years old and single. He grew up in an establishment with no parents, but he did have an older brother.” Enokida grinned. “And his name is Eitarou Bessho.”
Lin snapped his head up. “Eitarou Bessho. Isn't that-”
He was the man who killed Banba's father. Lin had heard his name multiple times today.
“I've got a copy of the official family registry here.”
Enokida pointed to the data and stated with a slight smile.
“Eitarou Bessho was the culprit who attacked Banbsan's family thirteen years ago. And you caught his younger brother. Isn't that interesting?”
Lin no longer had the time to sit and idly have a meal. He quickly finished his ramen and promptly headed to the business hotel in Nakasu. The room number was 627. Lin opened the door with a card key and entered.
The man was there, still bound to the chair. Upon noticing Lin, he began to make noise and twist his body. Duct tape sealed his mouth, so Lin could not understand what he was saying.
After the duct tape was removed, the man began to speak at once.
“I got it, okay? I'll admit it. I did it. I was behind all of those cases. I drugged the women and stole their money. I took all the accessories they had on them and exchanged it for cash. I'm sorry. Does that satisfy you now? Let me go. Come on.”
“I'm not here for that.” Lin shook his head. “I have something to ask you.”
“I'll tell you anything, so hurry up and let me go. I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Eitarou Bessho.”
The man's expression stiffened.
“He's your older brother, right? Kouki Bessho.”
The man remained silent.
However, he was clearly shaken. His expression read, ‘why does he know that name?'
“So it is true.” Lin nodded. Enokida's information had been correct. This man and the man who stabbed Banba were blood-related siblings.
“I heard you two were raised in a facility after your parents abandoned you. Is that right?”
“Why do you know-”
“I already told you earlier. That we were going to figure out everything about you.”
So Lin had said, but honestly he did not expect to uncover this truth back then.
Lin slowly approached the man and read off Enokida's report. “Your brother became a hitman in order to support you. But then he got arrested thirteen years ago. With your brother gone, you started to commit crimes to earn money to get by on your own. That all right?”
There was no salvation for the two sibling criminals, but at least the younger brother did not have the resolve to commit murder, unlike his older brother.
“You've even committed marriage fraud a couple years back. When we recovered the e-mails you deleted, we found all your exchanges with numerous women.”
The man's eyes widened in shock.
This man's wrongdoings had come to light. Lin's job was finished. Normally he would hand the man over to an avenger at this point. But Lin had changed his mind. He still had business with him.
“Your brother stabbed one of my friends. He almost died.”
Lin took out a cell phone. It belonged to Kouki Bessho. Lin had taken it from Enokida.
Lin held the screen in front of the man's face and asked.
“Which number is your brother's?”
There were numerous contacts listed when Lin looked through it, but no names were listed - just the numbers.
“I want to contact your brother.”
Lin only questioned his actions when he said this: ‘what do I plan to do?' Lin was not sure. What do I want to do once I know Bessho's number?
He did not know. But he could not do nothing. He could not let Bessho off the hook.
He questioned himself internally. Do I want to avenge Banba? Do I want to call his number and threaten Bessho to come over here with his brother as hostage? And then what? Do I kill him? Or do I capture him and drag him to Banba?
Lin had no clue what he should do or what the right course of action was. He still had not found an answer. But he did not have to get it now. He can think of the answer when the time came.
“Hurry up and tell me. Which one is your brother's number?”
Kouki Bessho snorted. “Like h.e.l.l I'd tell you.”
“...I see.”
He fell for it.
Lin smirked.
“You messed up on your answer just now. The correct answer was, ‘he's not in there.'”
“Wh” The man grimaced. “What do you mean?”
“Based on what you said, your brother's number is among this list, correct? Then I could just try them out until I find it.”
Lin called all the numbers of the phone. Mostly women picked up. They were either the man's lovers or targets.
“So I guess it has to be this one.”
The last number should be Eitarou Bessho's. Lin called it, however-
‘The number you have called is currently out of service.'
Lin frowned when he heard the automated message. “......What?”
“It's like you said.” The man spoke. “That was my brother's number. But it got voided years ago. Too bad for you, I guess.” The man laughed.
This b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Lin tutted internally. The nerve of this guy. Irritation clouded over his mind. He was now in a foul mood, and he could not stand even lighthearted comments at the moment.
“Alright then.” Lin had other methods to figure out Bessho's whereabouts. “I just have to make you tell me where your brother is.”
They had a strong brotherly bond due to their upbringing. There was no way the two have not seen each other. They should have a means of contact when his older brother got out of prison. This man had to know how to reach Eitarou Bessho.
However-
“I won't tell you anything about my brother, no matter what you do to me.”
Kouki Bessho stated firmly. He glared back at Lin with determination.
“How loyal. I could cry.”
Lin snorted. He took out his knife pistol and looked down at his target with cold eyes. He would show no mercy if that was how he wanted to play.
“Let's see how much you can endure.”
I won't need to call in a professional. I'll make him talk with my own two hands. I'll see for myself how much he can take.
Bottom of the Eighth Inning Thirteen years ago on that day-
Ever since that incident, his life descended into madness.
Banba had fractures all over his body due to getting hit with a metal bat numerous times, and in some areas the bones were broken. His internal organs also received damage, and Banba was nearly on the verge of death.
They could not save his father. He lost too much blood, and immediately after he arrived to the hospital he was announced dead. By the time Banba recovered enough to walk, his father's funeral was over with. Banba had spent that time lying in bed and was not granted enough time to mourn the death of his only family member.
His father was returned to him as bones in a small box.
Once Banba recovered enough to hold conversations after the incident, police detectives frequented him in the hospital to get his testimony. They interrogated him for every detail about what happened at that time. He was forced to dig up memories he did not want to remember every time.
In all honesty, he was fed up with it.
The day it happened a man had been in his house when he returned home after his club activities. The man was strangling his father. Banba pulled out his bat and tried to hit the man in order to save his father. However, the man managed to steal the bat away from him and used it to beat him up, over and over, and over again. There was a sharp pain in his head, and the world around him grew blurry. At some point he had lost consciousness, and when he woke up his father had been stabbed by the man. Banba explained the same details to the police every single time.
There was one thing he noticed was odd. There was a Niwaka masked man who had saved him that night. But whenever Banba mentioned the man, the detectives all questioned him. ‘There's no way someone like that would be there.' ‘You must have imagined it.' ‘Maybe you hallucinated him being there in your dazed state.' They all told him.
Banba did not make it up. He did not hallucinate it. He knew there was another man there. He was dressed in black, casual clothes, hiding his face behind a Niwaka mask and wielded a j.a.panese sword.
Distrust began to form. He could sense it in his gut. These people were trying to hide something from him. Banba sensed something was off from the detectives' att.i.tude, as if they were all in on the same secret.
When he turned on the TV, the local f.u.kuoka news was on. At the moment they were covering the incident he was a part of. The name of the culprit behind the act was also provided. Eitarou Bessho, twenty-eight years old, unemployed. The photo of his face shown on TV was the exact same as the man he saw back then.
This man murdered my father.
Almost immediately the memories stirred within him. The scene flooded into his mind like a rus.h.i.+ng stream - the memories of that night when he had been unreasonably a.s.saulted. His body shook from just the memory of it. Numerous emotions towards the man swirled together - anger, fear, hatred, and bitterness - and his wounds began to ache.
He still did not understand it. Why did that happen to him? Why did his father have to die? ...He did not believe there would come a day where he would learn why. He was convinced he would have to go through life without being able to understand the reason behind it forever.
Banba turned off the television and laid down on his side in the hospital bed. To escape the unpleasant memories, he tried to think what awaited him now. He had a feeling he would not be able to return to his normal life after this. He could not rose himself to return to his studies and resume club activities after everything that happened. And he had lost his father, his only relative, so he would not have the chance to go to school or continue playing baseball. He had to work to get by now.
He must have fallen asleep in that position at some point as the sound of knocking woke him up. After murmuring a response, the door opened. The person who came in was a police detective. He was still young, around his mid-twenties. He wore a suit but carried his coat over his arm.
Banba was sure his name was s.h.i.+gematsu. Many detectives have visited him during his hospitalization, and he had seen his face the most frequently among all of them.
“How are you doing?” s.h.i.+gematsu asked. “Is rehab going well?”
“Yeah, I guess so…”
Banba answered vaguely. He had been recovering well physically, but he could not say he was doing too great otherwise. He had been constantly depressed emotionally.
The detective suddenly started an idle conversation. “By the way, I heard you play baseball. What's your position?”
“...I'm in the infield. Mostly second base.” He clarified.
“Nice. I hope you'll recover quickly enough to partic.i.p.ate in club activities again.” s.h.i.+gematsu smiled before talking about himself. “I also was part of a baseball club when I was in school. I was a catcher.”
The doctors had told him they expected a full recovery for him. Fortunately he would be able to play baseball like he did before. However, the issue was his mental state. After that tragedy, no one could say he would mentally return to the way he was before.
Banba suddenly recalled the news he saw earlier. He had something he wanted to ask the detective about. “Um.” Banba addressed s.h.i.+gematsu.
“Will he get the death penalty?”
What sort of punishment will that man - Eitarou Bessho - receive? Banba was curious what would happen to him.
“...It's hard to get the death penalty. And it was his first crime too.”
Banba gawked. “No way…” He muttered.
“He claims he accidentally stabbed him after a scuffle, so there's the possibility they'll take that into consideration and reduce his penalty.”
s.h.i.+gematsu gave him a pitiful look.
“The prosecutor will try to go for a life imprisonment, but his sentence may be twenty years at most. And at worst, he may get only ten odd years of imprisonment. If he behaves himself, he could get released even sooner.”
Banba was in disbelief.
A person had killed someone, had stole his precious family from him, and yet would not be give the death sentence. Banba became discourage hearing this truth. He found it unfair and could not let it go.
My father's life was only worth fifteen years?
Banba balled his hands up into fists and let the sense of helplessness pa.s.s.
If someone had taken a person's life, shouldn't they have to atone for it with their own life?
In just ten odd years, the man who murdered his father would be set free. If he had known this would happen, he would have preferred the Niwaka masked man to kill him. The thought pa.s.sed his mind.
That was if that man was not an illusion like the other detectives said he was though.
“...No one's believin' me.”
Banba thought perhaps this detective would believe him. After a few moments pause, Banba spoke.
“I saw a man wearing a Niwaka mask that night. He had a j.a.panese sword and was going to kill my father's killer.”
There was a slight reaction from s.h.i.+gematsu. His face stiffened a little. So he does know something about him.
“The other detectives won't believe me. Or rather, I think they're hiding something…” Banba looked s.h.i.+gematsu in the eye before continuing. “The police know something about him, don't they?”
“That's-...”
s.h.i.+gematsu slurred his words.
“Please tell me. Who is he?” Banba leaned forward from his bed and pressured s.h.i.+gematsu. “How can I meet him?”
s.h.i.+gematsu seemed troubled. He asked a question back, eyebrows furrowed. “...And what will you do when you meet him?”
“I want to ask him something.” Banba answered firmly. “I just want another chance to talk to him.”
He wanted to confirm some things with him. Why was he there on that day? Why did he save him? Banba thought he may know something behind the event. He may even know the reason why his father had to die.
After a few moments of silence, s.h.i.+gematsu sighed before speaking. “...I heard this from someone I know working at the Nakasu police box-”
He seemed like he would tell him. Banba listened closely to every word to avoid any misunderstandings.
“He apparently sees a man dressed in casual wear around there. I hear that man often goes out drinking in Nakasu on weekends.”
That was all s.h.i.+gematsu told him.
If you go to Nakasu, you may be able to see that man.
That was enough. It was a huge lead for him at this point.
By the time Banba was released from hospital, it was already spring. His hair had fully grown out as well.
Banba ended up dropping out of high school. He never met any of his cla.s.smates or his teammates from baseball club ever again. Everyone in the school should have gotten word of what happened to him by now. If anyone saw him now, it would just bring unwanted attention. He would cause the atmosphere to be uncomfortable just by being there. He was not sure if he could bear their pitiful gazes. He knew he did not have a place as a regular high school student anymore.
After getting discharged, Banba returned to his home. The cleaners went into the apartment, but otherwise everything was the same as that night. Nothing had changed here. The only thing missing was his father.
Ever since that day, Banba had habitually went out to Nakasu every evening to find the Niwaka masked man. And he also could not bear staying in that room by himself.
He started a part time job to get by as well. He faked his age and began to work as a server in a cabaret club in Nakasu. Every evening he rushed around the floor escorting customers to their tables and carrying liquor around.
He spent a half year sleeping during the day and being out at night when that day happened. He had been wandering around Nakasu to barker when he suddenly spotted a man in black casual clothes walking by. The man did not wear a Niwaka mask, but Banba instantly recognized his physique. It was him.
He finally had found him. The person he had been searching for all this time was right before his very eyes, and his heartbeat sped up.
The man was currently crossing the f.u.kuhaku Deai Bridge. Banba quickly ran after him.
“Ex-excuse me!”
He raised his voice towards the man.
However, the man ignored Banba.
“H-hold on a second!”
The man did not turn around to face him. He did not even glance over to him. He kept walking away with large steps. “Sorry, but go try hara.s.sing others. I want a drink to enjoy, not women.” He spat out.
“That ain't it!” Banba shouted. “I've been looking for you!”
The man instantly stilled in the middle of the bridge. He finally turned around and saw him. He seemed to recognize who Banba was.
“Ah,” his eyes were wide. “You're that kid from-”
A year had pa.s.sed since that night, but the man had not forgotten who Banba was. Banba nodded while feeling a sense of relief. He told him he was the one he saved back then.
“...What on earth are you wearing?”
The man grimaced seeing Banba's black uniform.
“I'm working as a host for a part time job.”
“How about school?”
“I quit.”
The man sighed heavily. “...What have you done? Jeez.”
He sounded disappointed.
But then-
“So? What did you want from me?”
He asked disinterestedly as he scratched the inside of his ear with his pinkie.
When Banba told him he wanted to talk, they relocated. Banba followed after the man wordlessly. He decided he would skip work today. He could not afford to worry about work right now. He finally had found the Niwaka masked man, so he could not let this chance slip by. At worst he would get fired - not that he minded. He could always find another job, but he may not come across this man ever again.
The man headed over to the food stalls along the Naga River. He slipped underneath the curtains of a shop named Gen-chan as he greeted the owner. “Good evening.”
The food stall Gen-chan was relatively new. It might even have just started up. The owner was in his fifties.
“Oh, is that you? Masataka.”
The owner exclaimed. He seemed to be acquaintances with him. He was friendly chatting with the other from across the counter. Perhaps the man was a regular customer.
The owner had called him Masataka. That had to be his name.
Masataka gave his order. “Two bowls of ramen. And beer...Ah, just one beer since he's still a kid.”
“Alright, I hear ya.” The owner glanced over to Banba before asking teasingly. “Who is that boy? Is he your love child?”
“Give me a break.”
Masataka grunted in pure disgust.
Their ramen was placed in front of them as Banba took a seat next to him. “Here, eat up. You must be hungry.” Masataka prompted him. It seemed he would be treating him. “Thank you for the meal,” Banba clasped his hands together and expressed his grat.i.tude.
“So,” Masataka started once Banba picked up the noodles with his chopsticks. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
That was right. This was not the time to casually eat ramen. Banba had a huge list of questions to ask this man.
Banba put down his chopsticks and asked his first question. “Who are you?”
“You don't need to know.”
Masataka promptly shut him down. Looks like this will be tough.
Banba continued, undiscouraged. “Everyone in the police is pretending like they don't know you.”
“Then you should pretend you don't know me either.”
“Please give me a straight answer!”
Banba grew fed up with Masataka's att.i.tude with him and slammed his fists on top of the table. There was a loud smash, causing the owner to stare at them in bewilderment, but Banba did not care. He moved onto his next question.
“Why were you at my house that day?”
On that night he had said, ‘I was too late,' while looking down at his father bleeding on the floor. It almost indicated that he knew they would be attacked that night.
“Why did you save me?”
“How am I supposed to answer those all at once? This is why I don't like kids...You all just keep going, ‘why, why.'”
“Please tell me.”
Banba demanded harshly. Masataka grew sullen and fell silent.
After a few moments-
“...You really want to know?”
He glared at Banba. His tone was serious, unlike before.
“Hold on, Masataka.” The owner who had been watching the two wordlessly suddenly spoke up. “You don't mean to tell this kid-”
After Masataka cut him off with a glance, he spoke once more. “I already warned you. I told you to forget it and not to step over onto this side. You are responsible if you b.u.t.t into this. Don't complain to me otherwise if you end up regretting it.”
Banba shook at the threat behind his tone and drew his lips shut.
If he was honest with himself, he was a tiny bit afraid to know the truth. His life had already drastically changed, and he felt if he learned everything he would not be able to return even more.
But at the same time, he could not pull back now. He looked at the man straight in the eye and slowly nodded. “I won't regret this.”
Banba was not jumping in out of pure curiosity. He would regret it more to remain ignorant. He had to know the truth. That was the last thing he had to do.
Banba must have gotten through to Masataka as he seemed to be willing to talk know. He placed his chopsticks aside and turned to fully face him. He looked at him with a stern expression.
“I'm a hitman.”
Banba's mouth dropped open.
“.........A hit- a hitman?”
“That's correct. I kill people for an income.”
Masataka had tried to kill Bessho that night, but Banba did not expect he would have an occupation of that nature. He was dumbfounded. He could not believe people like him existed in other countries let alone j.a.pan.
“You're really a hitman…” It was honestly a hard truth to swallow. “Do they really exist?”
“They do. Here.” Masataka shrugged. “There are a ton of people who work in the underground in this city. And many of them belong to the a.s.sa.s.sination industry. There are so many of us they say about three percent of the population is made up of hitmen.”
He couldn't be messing with me, right? Banba had considered for a second. He wondered if this was some kind of joke.
“If you can't believe it, then you don't have to. I didn't expect you to anyway.”
Masataka's face was serious.
“That night, I went to kill that man Bessho for a job I was a.s.signed. That's why I went to your house. That's my answer to your question.”
Banba was still in disbelief. He looked at Masataka suspiciously. “...Are you telling the truth?”
“G.o.d, you're stubborn. You saw me with a weapon back then.”
It was true; that night Masataka had a weapon: a j.a.panese blade in a white scabbard. He had taken it out to kill his target, but upon seeing Banba he decided not to because he was a child.
Masataka gulped down his beer and sighed.
“If I had killed him, it wouldn't have come to this. If I had gotten to that house sooner, your father's life would have been spared.”
And that was why he said he had been too late. What he had said was consistent.
“I feel bad about what happened.”
Masataka poured himself another drink before going on.
“I occasionally get jobs from the police. There's one police detective I'm quite familiar with. He's probably the reason why everyone is covering for me.”
That was a groundbreaking statement. Banba's eyes widened. “No way...You're telling me the police hire hitmen?”
It was one unbelievable revelation after the other.
“Of course they do.” Masataka stated as though it was obvious.
“There are people who can't legally be brought to justice in this world - criminals who do as they please in society. And so the police hire hitmen such as myself to dispose of them. Secretly of course. It's not that inconceivable, right?”
People who do as they please in society. Banba made the connection when he heard those words.
Bessho had committed a crime. He murdered someone. And yet in just ten odd years he would be set free. He would be free and continue to do as he liked in society.
Banba did not believe he should be allowed to live.
“Masataksan.” Banba felt like he had found his answer. He phrased his words naturally. “I have a favor to ask of you.”
“What is it?”
This had to be what he was searching for. Banba intuitively believed this to be the case. He bowed his head and exclaimed.
“Please teach me how to kill someone!”
Masataka was taken aback at Banba's sudden request. “Huh? What the h.e.l.l are you getting at? And don't say something like that so loud. Think about where you are right now.”
He had struck him in the back of the head. Nonetheless, Banba kept his head lowered. “Please!”
“Come on…”
He heard a large, forced sigh.
Masataka rested his chin in his hand and stated exasperatedly. “Jeez, what is going on in your head? What are you going to do when you learn how to kill someone?”
The answer was obvious.
“I'll take my revenge.”
Banba had finally found it: a way to come to terms with the loss of his only family member and the thoughts he could not shake from - a single way to settle matters with that man.
If he could not be put to death by law, Banba had to execute him with his own hands.
“I want to avenge my father.”
Banba bowed his head once more.
However-
“No way.”
Masataka turned him down.
He snorted. “Besides, why do I have to teach you? You can take vengeance on your own.”
What Masataka said was true. He had no obligation to help him with his revenge. But Banba knew he currently was no match against that man. He would only end up beaten again. He had to change.
“I want to become strong.”
Banba did not want to feel so pathetic again. He needed to become strong to achieve his goal.
“Please, anything.”
Banba continued to look at Masataka in the eye.
Masataka frowned, making a conflicted face.
After a few seconds-
“...I heard from the detectives.” He abruptly changed the topic. “You're not your father's true son?”
There was a brief ache of pain in Banba's heart. He made a small nodd. “...So it seems.”
“Did you know beforehand?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I heard about it for the first time from the detectives.”
His father - Kazuyos.h.i.+ Banba - was not his true father. He had no blood relation with him. He had spent all this time with him completely unaware of this fact.
He only learned of this recently.
Banba had his DNA samples taken for the police to use in the investigation, and they discovered from the samples they took from his father's body that they had no blood relation. Banba had been asked the startling question when the detectives came to his hospital room for questioning. “We apologize in advance, but what is your relations.h.i.+p with Kazuyos.h.i.+ Banbsan?” He was then explained all the details and learned the truth through them.
“Are you saying you want to become a murderer for some random person you aren't even related to?”
Banba hung his head when Masataka bluntly asked him this.
Discovering his recently deceased father was not his real father took him by surprise. Banba was unable to take the shock of it back then when he was emotionally weak. He had only become able to face the reality with a level head recently.
“...To me, he is my father.” Banba replied, his voice shaking. “Even if we're not related by blood, we've always been family.”
He still had no idea whose child he really was or how his father ended up taking him under his care. Nevertheless-
“It doesn't matter that we're not related.”
He did not care. Kazuyos.h.i.+ Banba was his father, regardless what others say or what the DNA results indicate. This was the conclusion Banba arrived to.
Banba could not let the man who had taken his precious family away from him live. So he wanted to take revenge. He would kill Bessho. There was nothing more to discuss.
If the police and the law were not going to kill that man, then he had to do it himself. Banba stared at Masataka intently until the man gave a shrug.
“...So I have cancer.”
He had narrowed his eyes before abruptly saying this.
“...What?”
Banba's eyes widened, confused as to why he would suddenly proclaim this.
“It's terminal cancer. The doctors say I've got about three years left to live.”
Banba remained silent, unable to find any words to say. He looked at Masataka closely. He did not seem very ill. Banba could not understand how someone must feel knowing they did not have much time left to live. Just as he was pondering over how he should respond, Masataka spoke first.
“I happened to be looking for a successor right about now.”
He grinned before adding.
“If you'll become my apprentice and inherit my work, then I'll train you. I'll make you into the finest hitman anyone has ever seen.”
“Ye-”
“However!” Masataka cut Banba off from shouting in joy and added. “Think over this well. Think about whether you have the resolve to become a murderer or not.”
Banba fell silent.
The resolve to become a murderer.
If he accepted the deal, he would obtain the power to avenge his father. But in exchange, he would be losing much more as becoming a hitman would end with him straying from a normal life.
“I'll give you a week. If you're dead set on doing this, get on the ferry bound for Genkai Island from the Hakata Pier.”
Masataka said no more as he got up from his seat. After expressing his thanks to the owner, he walked out of the food stall.
“Wai- hold on!”
Banba called out to him, but Masataka did not turn back. He kept walking at a fast pace until he disappeared within the crowd.
“Hold on a second!”
Banba's shout echoed desolately within the area.
So he wasn't going to treat me?
The owner of the ramen shop laughed loudly seeing Banba's stupor. “Your master is quite the handful!”
So it seemed. Banba nodded internally in agreement as he took out his wallet
He had dreamed an old memory.
By the time Banba awoke a second time, he was on a bed. He attempted to get up, but he could not force the muscles in his abdomen to work. He grimaced at the sharp pain that shot through him. He completely relaxed, sinking back into the bed.
Where am I? He was able to examine the room thanks to the dim lighting of the emergency lights.
It was a private room. And there was a bathroom in it too. There were large windows on the wall, and the curtains were pulled back. From the scenery he could see outside, it seemed he was on the first floor.
Right. I'm in a hospital.
He recalled. He had been transferred from the ICU to a general hospital once he had regained consciousness and was stable.
It was already dark outside. When he glanced at the clock, he saw it was past two in the morning. The date had already changed. The surgery had taken a long time, but he still felt a bit listless from the anesthesia. Still, he was lucky to have made it through. He was well accustomed to getting injuries due to his occupation, but he really thought he was done for this time.
I've always been the stubborn one, he mocked himself.
In that moment the door to his room opened. Banba saw a man in white garments come in. He found it odd and wondered what he could be here for at this hour, but upon seeing his face he realized it was not a doctor.
“...It isn't cool to cosplay at your age.”
Banba teased the white figure.
The man walked over to him after locking the door. “I'm not cosplaying. This is a disguise.”
The white figure was no one other than Masataka wearing a doctor's outfit.
“What's so uncool about this anyway? You dumba.s.s. This is still in style.” Masataka muttered complaints. “I came all this way to see you and you have to be so rude to me.”
“And where did you get those clothes?”
Banba examined Masataka before sighing. Masataka had a name badge on his chest. But the name on it was not his.
“When I went up to the receptionist, they said no one could visit yet. So I sneaked into the locker room and took the outfit from a doctor's locker who was off-duty. I've been to this hospital before too, so I knew the general layout.”
Banba gripped his head in astonishment.
“But hey, I at least look pretty good in this, right?” Masataka spread out his arms and showed off his white garments.
“I don't like doctors with terminal cancer. I don't want to see that.”
Masataka laughed before placing a hand on Banba's head. “You must be feeling pretty well to make jokes like that.”
“No thanks to you.”
Regardless, Masataka was as unprecedented as ever. Banba never expected him to pretend to be a doctor in order to see him. He was always surprised to see his actions.
“You didn't have to sneak in. You could have waited until the afternoon tomorrow.”
Banba would be allowed to have visitors soon. If he just waited until then, they would be able to enjoy talking with each other leisurely. He was so impatient.
“I figured I had to hurry on over and cheer up my sad, pathetic, stupid apprentice.”
Masataka smiled teasingly.
Banba had nothing to retaliate with.
Pathetic, huh. Yeah, I am, he berated himself. There was no other term to best describe his current state.
“He really got you good.” Masataka sat down on the bed with one leg crossed over. “What happened?”
Banba could not hide anything from his teacher. He slowly rose into a sitting position and began to talk.
“I met with Bessho.”
He bit into his lip recalling the memory. Banba retold everything from the encounter with Bessho after thirteen years to how he got here now.
“...I tried to kill him, but I couldn't.”
He was not able to kill him. The moment he went to, his body began to shake. His mind went into disarray, and he felt like he was paralyzed, unable to move.
“I couldn't do a single thin'.”
Bessho had pulled out a gun while Banba stood frozen, knife in hand. Banba instantly returned to himself and dodged, causing the bullet to graze his shoulder. Bessho did not get another chance to shoot. Immediately afterwards, they got into a scuffle where Bessho ended up taking his knife. Bessho pinged Banba down and swung the knife at him. Banba tried to twist his body to avoid it but was unsuccessful. The knife plunged into his side.
As Banba spat up blood and began to faint from the pain, Bessho went to add the finis.h.i.+ng blow with the very knife he killed his father with.
“I just was lucky to even be alive right now.”
Someone had interfered just as Bessho was about to kill him. A man Banba had never seen before appeared and attacked Bessho.
It was sheer luck for Banba. He was able to run away from Bessho, but after the fact his memories of what happened were vague. Banba had got into his car in his dazed state and drove off.
At one point he felt the freezing chill settle in, and he was prepared for his inevitable death. And then before he was aware of it, he had arrived to his office.
He vaguely recalled Lin screaming his name desperately. He dimly thought to himself back then that his face would be the last thing he saw. Afterwards, he remembered nothing. When he became aware again, he was in a hospital and had already had surgery - he had lived.
Fortunately, his life was spared. However-
“I…”
Banba murmured in a near whisper.
“...I lost to him.”
He had lost to Bessho, but what was more pathetic was that he barely made it out alive. He felt so humiliated he would have rather died.
“That's not so bad. You fortunately got out of there alive.” Masataka said after listening to everything Banba had to say wordlessly. “You still have the chance to try again.”
“I can't.”
Mastaka's eyebrows furrowed deeply at his immediate response. “Why not?”
Banba slowly shook his head.
“Bessho is already…”
It was impossible to kill Bessho as he was already dead.
Banba had momentarily seen Bessho as he fled the apartment. He saw him slung over the man's shoulder, limp as though he were a corpse. He knew immediately that Bessho was dead.
His father's murderer was dead. There was no one who could take revenge on in this world anymore.
“...I couldn't avenge my dad.” Banba hung his head. He tightened his hands into fists as the bitterness swelled up within him.
He had messed up.
He became a hitman in order to kill Bessho. He worked so hard to achieve that simple goal, and yet his revenge plot ended in failure. He had let his single chance go.
All his work for the past thirteen years went to nothing. And all that he was left with was the sense of loss that his target had been taken from him and an overbearing sense of misery where he wanted to die.
“Say.”
Masataka spoke once more.
“Did you really want to avenge your father?”
What are you saying all of the sudden? Banba frowned. “...What do you mean?”
“Didn't you just want to avenge yourself?”
Banba still was not able to comprehend what his master was getting at.
“...I didn't think about that.” He stared at Masataka intently. “Are you sayin' it's because we're not blood related again?”
“That's not what I'm telling you. I'm saying this is an issue with yourself.”
His own revenge. The avenger Jiro had said quite often before: revenge was something you do for yourself. Even if someone claimed it was a just cause to avenge the deceased, in the end it was to satisfy their own anger and to get peace for themselves.
Under that definition, Banba supposed it was possible to call this his own revenge.
“It's true that I may be doin' this for my sake, but I was tryin' to have my father rest in peace-”
“That's what I'm getting at.”
Masataka cut him off and pointed a finger at Banba's face.
“That's where you're mistaken.”
“...What?”
Masataka elaborated with a stern face. “Rest in peace? Don't be stupid. A parent would have even more regret knowing their child had become a murderer.”
“That's-”
Banba knew that. He did not like this himself. He had apologized to his father in front of his tombstone many times.
“As long as Bessho was alive, you couldn't live peacefully. So you wanted to lose the humility you felt thirteen years ago and remove the disturbance in your life. Correct?”
Banba could not ignore that statement.
He grew sullen and retaliated. “Are you sayin' I spent these past thirteen years afraid of Bessho's shadow?”
“No. The opposite.”
Banba only grew more confused.
Mastaka saw Banba's bewilderment and heavily sighed. He seemed exasperated by how slow his apprentice was on the update. He looked him in the eye and asked: “How did you feel when you were about to kill Bessho?”
“Where's this coming from?”
“Listen. Think back to how you felt.”
Banba followed his master's instructions and recollected his memories. In that moment when he encountered Bessho in the apartment, at first he was hot. There was a scorching heat as though he was on fire. Then his hands began to shake. Then it was his whole body. He was overcome with emotion and was unable to control his body.
“...My mind was in a mess, and I was shakin'.”
“Why were you shaking?”
“Because-”
Banba closed his eyes and thought back.
His body shook. It was not because of the fear - it was because he was excited.
To his shock, he was ecstatic. His heart had beat wildly when in Bessho's presence.
His whole entire being was overjoyed to finally be able to kill him.
“You wanted to kill him, right?”
Masataka read his mind, causing Banba to swallow hard.
Masataka was right. Banba felt the desire to kill him. He wanted to kill Bessho so much it was overbearing. In that moment, a ferocity he had never known - a sinister bloodl.u.s.t - had overtaken Banba's mind.
Banba could still vividly recall how it felt even now. He wanted to kill Bessho. He wanted to thoroughly hurt him, torment him, and toy with him before ending his life. He wanted to break all the bones in his body with a bat like he did to him thirteen years ago until he died. Those thoughts pa.s.sed through his mind. His resentment heightened when he was in front of Bessho and felt a strong urge to kill him.
He had never had this happen before. He had been doing this job for a long time, and he never once felt the desire to kill someone. As such, Banba was at a loss. He felt like he had not been himself. He felt like if he had acted upon his urges, he would have become a senseless monster.
In that moment, it was not that he could not move. He prevented himself from taking action. His rationality was at work subconsciously and prevented him from acting upon his urges. His subconscious desperately tried everything to make sure he was not overtaken from his extreme emotions. And due to that, he was unable to kill Bessho.
“...I ain't a murderer.”
Banba muttered weakly.
There's no way I wanted to kill someone.
He was in disbelief. It seemed like he was a sociopathic murderer. He did not want to acknowledge that he had that thought.
He was a hitman, not a murderer.
Those emotions were foreign to him. That was not him. That had been something else. Banba wanted to believe this.
“You're a murderer.”
However, Masataka easily denied it.
“You've always been putting the blame on someone else. You killed because of work, because of the job, because someone else asked you to. You found any reason to excuse yourself about becoming a hitman - to kill Bessho, or to put your father at rest by killing Bessho - and in doing so, you emotionally distanced yourself from taking responsibility. ...Come on, Zenji. Isn't that what you're doing? You want to kill, so you do.”
Every word Masataka said struck his fragile heart. Banba was unable to say anything. He could do nothing but sit in silence.
“Having the t.i.tle of a hitman doesn't act as a pardon.”
Masataka looked over Banba.
“You need to admit you're a murderer already. That's what it means to have this job.”
He heaved a sigh.
“That's why I asked if you were really prepared to do it.”
Banba gasped. He recalled what Masataka had said that night. On Banba's last night at Genkai Island, Masataka had asked him that question. In that moment, Banba had readily nodded without knowing the true meaning behind it.
It was not just that night either. Masataka had asked the same question to him before he became his apprentice. ‘Do you have the resolve to kill someone?'
He had overlooked the real meaning of his question. He had not taken this job seriously. Just how foolish had I been?
Banba's shoulders slumped.
“...Well, I guess it was my mistake to have never told you properly.” Masataka smiled wryly. “If you were actually prepared to fall into h.e.l.l itself, you would have been able to easily kill Bessho.”
He said before getting up from the bed.
“I don't know what you'll do from now on, but I'll give you these back.”
Masataka handed him two items. They were the Niwaka mask and the j.a.panese sword, wrapped in a cloth. Banba had returned these items to him on that night on Genkai Island.
Masataka set them on the bed and smiled mockingly. “But for now, recovering is your priority. Just lay there and mope around for a bit.”
Banba frowned, displeased.
Did he think that would be encouraging? Did he just come here to make me feel worse?
Banba knew this man well and was fully aware he would not say anything kind to him. He was prepared for him to pour salt into his wounds, but he felt like the man had put on gauze soaked with sulfuric acid instead.
“Maybe I should sneak in a nurse's outfit next time.”
Masataka joked. Banba glared at Masataka and muttered, “dontcha ever come here again.”
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Translation: Kaede726
Reposts are prohibited and should be exclusive to Kaede726 on blogger.
Editor: Voissane
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