Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Volume 1 Chapter 9

Top of Ninth Inning

A few hours after that a call came in from s.h.i.+nohara to Reiko's smartphone.

[It seem the power was cut off so Ivanov-san's cell phone log was lost midway, but there was a response in just one location. It's the internet cafe in the Gates building."

That meant there was a signal at that place just once.

[I was able to look into the internet cafe's security cameras of that time from the police. I'll send the footage over right away.]

And the call dropped. A little while later a message arrived. There were several video files attached. They parked at a nearby parking garage, and Munakata and Reiko thoroughly checked through each one.

Munakata had a response at the third video. He pointed to the tall man walking down the hallway in the footage. "It's this man."

"What is?"

"It's the man who got away with Lin. He appeared in the surveillance cameras in the Kakyuu group's office."

The man stopped in front of one of the booths and knocked on the door. There was another man inside. He was a man with a gaudy appearance and silver dyed mushroom-like hair. He was handing over something. It looked like a cell phone. "So this guy had Ivanov's cellphone then?"

The men were having a conversation in the booth. They could not tell what they were talking about. He ended up thinking, if only Ivanov was here at a time like this. Even though he could read lips.

"For the mean time, we're going to catch this man."

The tall man left the internet cafe, but the mushroom head man may still be in the booth. Munakata turned the handle. He made a U-turn and headed for Nakasu.

The man was not in the internet cafe facility. When they asked an employee he apparently said he had business in meeting someone and was going to go out for a bit. Munakata and Reiko decided to keep watch at the facility's entrance.

After awhile, a man got off the elevator. From his appearance he looked like the person shown in the surveillance footage. It was without a doubt that man.

Reiko blocked the man's path from upfront and Munkata sneaked up on him from behind. He pressed the tip of the gun in the center of the man's back and threatened with, "Don't move." They then dragged him into a nearby multipurpose bathroom. The man obediently followed them without any resistance.

"What's your name?"

"Enokida." The man answered. Because his long bangs covered his face he could not read his expression, but his tone was calm and composed. "Do you have some sort of business with me?"

"Enokida-kun, you have someone else's cell phone, right?"

"Ahh, I see." He raised his voice as though he remembered something. "So you're Ivanov's friends then? The killers hired by the mayor."

Munakata could not hide his surprise. Why does this man know that? When he questioned it suspiciously, Enokida smiled, "I'm an informant after all."

Reiko thrust the gun at Enokida's head. "I'll give you a warning. You shouldn't do anything remotely noticeable. Informants do a dangerous sort of work after all."

And then Enokida suddenly stated something absurd. "Say, why do you think the back of redback spiders are red anyway?"

"Ha?" Spiders? What did he say? Munakata frowns deeply.

"Don't you think mixing in with the normal spiders would allow them to not be noticed by humans? Even poisonous mushrooms are like that. Even though they could kill more humans if they don't have such a flashy color and stick with a soil color like s.h.i.+take mushrooms instead. Wonder why that is?"

Like I'd know, Munakata thought. It seemed he had a little more to add.

"I thought a reason for that." Enokida smiled, showing his teeth. "That it's definitely just because it's cooler."

Doesn't that rock? He made meaningless comments. He did not follow.

"Enough with the pointless talk. If you don't want to die, answer us honestly." He did not have the time to partic.i.p.ate in Enokida's nonsense. Munakata showed him a single photo. "You know this man, right? He was shown in the surveillance cameras with you."

He thought he would be more reluctant, but Enokida surprisingly gave an immediate reply. "Yeah, I know him."

"Who is this man?"

"Hmm," Enokida turned towards Munakata and held out his open palm. It meant if he wanted information he would have to pay up. It looked like this man was not exactly their ally then. He was just a mere informant. Right now he was still on fair ground. Informants made a heartless business. They would turn to any place with an abundance of money. It seems I can use this man, he thought.

After he took out several ten thousand yen bills from his wallet and handed it over to Enokida, he immediately began to speak. "The man's name is Zenji Banba. He's an independent detective."

"Tell me his whereabouts."

"You don't need to. He'll come on his own."

"What does that mean?"

"You know Xianming Lin, right? His sister was killed by the mayor's son. His objective is revenge against his son. And Zenji Banba is a.s.sisting him in that."

"So he would come to us on his own then? When? How?"

"Hm," Enokida held out his hand again. When he gave him more money reluctantly, he once again confessed honestly. "That is not yet decided. The ones who decide are you."

"Us?"

"They plan to disguise themselves as a broker for human trafficking and make a trade with you. And pretending to be a bought woman he would get close to the mayor's son and kill him. That's their plan."

"I see."

Reiko spoke up. "What do you plan to do with this man? We got everything we wanted out of him and he knows about the mayor and us, so I think we should kill him."

"You think so? I think it's more beneficial to get along with an informant though." Enokida spread out his hands saying that in disappointment. "How about I help you? I'm trusted by them and it's simple to lure them out."

"We can't trust you." Reiko was obstinate.

"Then, how about this?" Enokida took out his smartphone and made a call. "h.e.l.lo. Banba-san? It's Enokida. I know the time of the dealing with the Kakyuu group."

[When is it gonna be?] The sound was set to speaker phone, so they could also hear his voice.

"They say it's going to be today at ten o'clock at night. I'll contact you later with the location."

[Alrighty. Thanks.]

"Then, see you later." And he cut the call there. "Do you believe me with that? After that if I tell them the meetup place then their plans can start going on the move. But if you kill me, then their plans are setback. They would be wary if my call was stopped. They would easily not come out in front of you."

"So it's, 'I'll help you out so spare me', huh?"

"That's what it is."

That was not a bad deal. This informant may be of help to them in the upcoming job. A human who would do anything for the next paycheck was rather easy to handle. "Alright. We'll do as you say. The meetup place will be in front of the Mitsukos.h.i.+ lion statue. Tell them that."

"Okay. The negotiations are finalized. Well, let's get along from here on out." Enokida said and placed his arms too friendly around Munakata and Reiko. With a gloomy expression Reiko brushed off his arm.

Munakata released Enokida from the restroom. As he was leaving, he stated something else odd. "Ah, that's right. It seems the Kakyuu group hired an outrageous killer."

"An outrageous killer?"

Enokida grinned. "Look forward to meeting him."

The plan was made to meet their opponent before the lion statue at ten o'clock tonight. Munakata and Reiko went to visit the Kakyuu group's office to give that report to Zhang. On their way they met up with s.h.i.+nohara who was acting as bodyguard for the mayor. He summoned him for an emergency situation.

There were no more dead bodies in the office. Everything had been returned to its original state; perhaps the workers cleaned it all up. It was so clean it was unthinkable that this was the scene where six men were murdered at.

Zhang was in the center of the room. Munakata explained all of the details. "And so we have the plan to meet that man, but what shall we do then?"

"Please bring Lin to this place while pretending to remain unaware by their trap." Zhang handed over the paper with the address on it. "It is an empty tenant building we own. The walls are sound proof, and it is a place we use often for executions and torture."

"Understood. What shall we do with the detective Banba?"

"Ahh, then," Zhang smiled. "We'll have him killed by him."

"Him?"

"Yes, we hired a killer." Actually, Enokida said something like that too, he recalls. He mentioned that the Kakyuu Group hired an outrageous killer.

"I think he'll be here soon." It was when Zhang glanced down at his wrist watch. They heard the sound of knocking on the door. "Come in," Zhang prompts.

One man came in. He was wearing a black suit and black necktie as though he was returning from a funeral. He was tall with long limbs. A j.a.panese sword was attached to his waist belt. The top half of his face was covered by a mask. It was the red Niwaka mask.

The moment he looked at that face, Munakata unconsciously felt he would cry out. His pulse sped up. He remembered that man to an unpleasant extent.

– It's the Niwaka Samurai.

The man who took Munakata's right eye long ago. The killer who specialized in killing killers. He never thought he would meet him again like this.

Zhang explained the details to the Niwaka Samurai. And then he handed over a sc.r.a.p piece of paper. It was probably the same note he gave Munakata just previously.

"Understood." The Niwaka Samurai spoke. It was a surprisingly gentle voice. "Now then, I will go ahead and look out on the building's premises. His comrade would be waiting around there."

He said, and the Niwaka Samurai took his leave. It seemed he would be taking his own course of action. He was a bit taken aback.

Munakata and his group also left the office and returned to their vehicle.

"s.h.i.+nohara and I will go to the meetup place. Reiko, go act as Yusuke's guard for that one off chance. Watch him so he doesn't leave the room."

"Understood."

He departed with Reiko, and Munakata and s.h.i.+nohara got into the car. s.h.i.+nohara talked excitingly in the pa.s.senger's seat. "Really, that was a surprise. The Niwaka Samurai actually does exist."

Munakata was sullen as he fastened his seat belt. "What are you so happy about? It's like he is saying he couldn't depend on us."

"Well, that's true. But, you were surprised too, weren't you?"

"Not really." He was. And then he was disappointed. At himself for feeling nervous in the presence of the Niwaka Samurai.

He looked down at his wrist watch. The time was nine forty. It was already almost time. He started the car and headed for Tenjin. It's happening again, he thought. He was strangely caught in red lights. It felt as though someone was impeding Munakata's path.

Bottom of Ninth Inning

The date for the next exchange with the broker and the mayor's side was ten at night today. The place was in front of the Mitsukos.h.i.+ lion statue. That was the call he got from Banba. It was information Enokida provided him. Returning home and changing into women's clothing, Lin headed to Tenjin on the Nis.h.i.+tetsu bus. He would meet with Banba in front of the Solaria Vision sign.

The time was 9:50. There was ten minutes before the exchange. He's late. Just as he was getting impatient he was called out by a man in a suit. The man had his s.h.i.+rt open wide showing his chest and his hair was closely kept back with hair gel. He initially thought he was a host from somewhere, but it was Banba.

"Sorry there, I was tardy. Preparations took some time." Banba made a grim face and said, "How 'bout it? Do I look like a mafia fella?"

"Well it's more like a struggling host."

That's not nice at all, Banba's shoulders slumped. He then looked Lin from top to bottom and nodded his head in approval. "You actually look rather fine."

"I know right? They're my victory clothes."

Banba told him to come decked out, so he came wearing his favorite flower patterned one-piece dress. He also put on more makeup than usual.

He was then lead by Banba, and they walked up to the coin-operated parking s.p.a.ce. Banba's car was parked in there. A large carrying case was packed into the incredibly narrow backseat.

"I pretended to be a fella of the mayor's side and went and told the broker to cancel the exchange."

He seemed to have had Enokida look up the broker's contact information and gave him a call beforehand. Then he just had to dress up as the broker and make the trade with the mayor's people. Banba asked as he opened the case. "You ready?"

Lin nodded. "Yeah."

He sunk down into the case, entering it in the form to hold his legs. It was a little tight, but he could bear with it for a little while.

Just before he shut the lid, Banba handed something over to him. "This here's a charm. Keep it on you."

It was the redback spider model listening device. It seemed a homing device was installed into it.

"If somethin' happens, call me on it. I'll come and save you."

Banba closed the case as he told him that. His vision turned pitch black.
Lin was dragged along roughly in the case, but they stopped after a while suddenly. They had reached the meet up place.

"My apologies. I was late." A few minutes later he heard the voice of a young man. It was probably one of the people hired by the mayor. "There was a lot of traffic."

"This is the promised merchandise. Here." The voice now was Banba's. The carrying case Lin was inside was being handed over to the other person. "Now then, I'll take my leave."

After this the plan was for Banba to head back to the car and track Lin on the transmitter. Lin would be taken to the apartment building the mayor's son resides in now. Then immediately after he got alone with him and completed the a.s.sa.s.sination, Enokida would cause a blackout throughout the entire building with his specialty hacking skills. And Lin would pa.s.s through the dark and escape. That was their plan.

His body was lifted up suddenly. The case itself was being lifted up. He was probably going to be put into the trunk. He heard the sound of the engine.

After ten minutes of driving, the car suddenly came to a stop. He heard the apartment the boy was living at was in Momochihama, but they arrived unexpectedly early. The trunk opened, and he was lifted up once again and then dragged. After some time he heard the sound of an elevator. Have they arrived to the apartment?

"I have brought a woman, Yusuke-san." A man spoke. Yusuke was the name of the mayor's son. It is about time. He finally made it here. In front of his sister's adversary. The palpitation of his heart beat harder. Sweat formed on his hands.

The carrying case was opened. He was released from the airtight s.p.a.ce. Alright, where's that s.h.i.+tty kid? He looked around him.

However, Lin was struck into silence at the scene in front of him.

The person before him was not the mayor's son.

It was Zhang.

"We meet again, huh, Lin." He is grinning.

Lin's eyes widened in shock. "Why are you here-"

More than that, where am I? It's not the apartment building. There's nothing left here; it's just a normal floor.

What's the meaning of this?

Five men surrounded the terrified Lin. They had guns facing in his direction. Beside him was Zhang and two others. Then a little ways off there was a man wearing an eye-patch and a young man wearing gla.s.ses. He had no chance in victory with five against one.

The man with the eye-patch drew closer and stated. "Your plan's have fell through."

"Why-" Lin was at a loss for words. Why. How did it leak out?

"You guys were tricked. By that man. Informants are allies of people with money. You trusted in him too much."

Informants? It can't be. Enokida? So it was his work. We were set up. Lin bit into his lip.

"Don't move." Zhang threatened. Without him saying it, he was not so much of an idiot to move recklessly in this situation. The person next to Zhang approached Lin with rope in one hand and bound his hands behind his back.

"This serves you right, Lin." Zhang was looking down on him.

It turned far down south. This was the worst case scenario. What should he do? He was far too worked up, and he could not make a calm decision.

Suddenly Banba's face appeared in his mind. Banba said to call him right away if something happened. He said he would come and save him.

"Banba, can you hear me?" Turning to the bug, Lin called out for him. "The plan fell through. What should I do?"

However, there was no response.

"Hey, Banba, can you hear me?"

"- Banba as in this man?"

There was a voice abruptly from behind him.

When he turned around there was a man. He was in a business suit like the other men, but his appearance was quite different. His face was hidden by a ridiculous looking mask, and a j.a.panese blade was hanging from his waist. He knew that appearance. He had heard of him from rumors.

It can't be. This man is the Niwaka Samurai?

The Niwaka Samurai held something in his right hand. He then tossed it at Lin. Lin gave a voiceless scream, seeing the black object fallen before him. It was a human head. It was covered in blood. He recognized the ruffled hair and the long-faced features. Both of its eyes were crushed, but there was no mistaking it.

"Ba-Banba-" His voice broke. What is this? Why is he just a head? He felt he was losing all hope at the shock of it.

"He was loitering around the premises of the building, so I had him killed." The Niwaka Samurai reported with a soothing voice.

Zhang was ecstatic. "You did great."

"You're kidding me, there's no way-"

Banba is dead? He was killed? Why. Why did you go and die? Lin tightens his fists and hit them against the ground. Don't you dare die. Weren't you supposed to save me? That stupid Banba. He faced the severed head and begged it. "Save me. Hey…….Didn't you say you would save me?"

The head offered no answer. No one would save him. What should I do now? I can't think of anything. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"You d.a.m.n kid. I'll tell you what happens when you make light of the adults."

Zhang gave him a few punches on his cheeks, but he did not have the will to resist it. He was kicked into the stomach and he vomited. He despaired at himself, groveling on the floor like a caterpillar. Like this he was no different from then. Isn't this the exact same as that time I scavenged sc.r.a.pes off the ground? Does this mean I haven't changed at all since then?

"Hey you," Zhang gleefully ordered the Niwaka Samurai. "Cut off this guy's head."

The Niwaka Samurai nods wordlessly and drew his sword.

Lin stared closely at the severed head. Hey, Banba. Looks like I'm going to be the same as you now soon. He sneered in contempt.

As he was gazing at the head, he suddenly recalled Banba's words. "You don't know what's gonna happen 'til the ninth inning has two outs and three strikes." He said such a thing. Though he said that, he could only give up. It was difficult to even move one finger.

He knew the end result.

It'll be game set. It's my loss.

"It's gonna be five years worth of mentaiko."

Abruptly, Lin raised his head in surprise; he felt he had heard Banba's voice.

He quickly looked over to the head, but there was no change from before. Lin scoffed at himself. I'm quite the idiot. There's no way a corpse would speak. It's just a hallucination. Just what was I waiting for?

Despair had clouded over once more.