Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

Season Opening Ceremony

"I"m a killer, and I came to kill you today."

Shunsuke Saruwatari concisely stated his business and flicked open the knife he was holding.

The other man was greatly surprised. Since a killer with a weapon suddenly busted into the bathroom as he submerged himself into the bathtub and was relaxing, it was natural for him to be shocked.

"Here."

The man was even more surprised when Saruwatari handed over his knife.

"……Eh?"

His mouth gaped open, and he stared at Saruwatari"s face. He had thought he would be killed out right, yet for some reason the killer gave him his weapon. How come? What does he mean to do with this? Is it a trap? Uncomprehending, the man was left bewildered. That was his mannerism.

"Here," Saruwatari grasped the blade of the knife and had the scabbard face the other. "Take it."

"Ha? Eh? W-why -"

"Get right on with it."

So he was pressured, and the man took the knife in hand in fear.

"It"d be h.e.l.la boring just to kill ya, so I"ll give ya a chance." he told him, and the edges of his mouth curved up into a smile. "You can get away if ya beat me an" win."

The man"s expression turned hard at Saruwatari"s words. He was completely nude, but he had a knife. On the other hand, Saruwatari was unarmed. He was dressed in a rough looking outfit with a parka and sarouel pants. He could win. The man made a splash getting up from the bath tub hastily.

"Oowaaah!"

While letting out a war cry like a shriek the man made his attack. He thrust the knife towards Saruwatari"s heart. Saruwatari hit his hand, and when he dodged the tip of the knife he put in a hit in the man"s face. He grabbed the back of the staggering man"s head and shoved him into the bathtub. Air escaped from the man"s mouth, and the water"s surface bubbled like a jacuzzi. After awhile the man"s frantic movements stopped. It was Saruwatari"s win. It was too short.

He sighed. In the end it did not change from being boring. Employees at Murder Inc. did not have the concept of a general national holiday. New Year"s was also work. And the employees were running about with murders even today being New Year"s Eve. And Saruwatari, having been with the company for seven years, was one of them. When he headed back to the company after finishing the deed, it was already past noon as he was going to report to his superior and client. He was hungry, so Saruwatari headed to the staff canteen.

With it being lunch time and busy for New Year"s Eve, the cafeteria was crowded with employees. He ordered the special grilled fish and took a seat in the corner. As he was pecking at the fish with his chopsticks, he saw one of his co-workers carrying katsu curry on a tray heading towards him. He was a Vietnamese man named Nguyen. He had strong facial features and healthy skin. Such an non-j.a.panese like appearance made him easily stand out in a crowd of people.

"Hey there, good work." Nguyen took a seat facing Saruwatari. Taking a look at his complexion, he gave a wry smile. "You look tired. Had an overnight shift?"

"Yeah, well," Saruwatari nodded as he brought the rice to his mouth. "I killed a weak one."

He recalled this job from this morning. He had heard the target was a killer, so he antic.i.p.ated it to be a bit fun. But in actuality he was just a one timer with the name of one. Simply put, it was a boring job.

And it was not limited to just today. He considered all his jobs boring. Since he joined the company he never once felt he had a job worth while. Not a single strong opponent that could endanger Saruwatari"s life ever appeared. Every one of them were killed without resistance. He did not like that.

It was not that he wanted to torment the weak. It just was not fun if they did not make a counterattack, and it was not fun if they were not strong. Saruwatari right now felt like a player holding back against a weaker, unskilled team with him having a ten point lead at the ninth inning. He wanted to fight in more thrilling circ.u.mstances. A match with a veteran team with a one point lead, no outs, and bases loaded. He wanted to get up on the mound at such a setting and make three strikes on the next three people consecutively.

"Every job is an easy victory to you though." Nguyen smiled. He entered the company the same time he did, and he knew Saruwatari"s strength more than anyone here. "It"d be quite the mess if our company couldn"t ask you to kill the small fry."

"Every d.a.m.n year I"m feeling it"s a-getting busy though." Even though there should be newcomers every year. "They need to hire some new recruits."

It was commonplace in any work place for new employees to not stay and retire quickly, but the tendency was especially so for this company. Perhaps coupled with the contents of the business, but there were far more retirements, disappearances, and deaths on duty than number of people who joined the company.

" – Speaking of new recruits," Nguyen seemed to remember something. "Was it the rookie from this year, Saitou? Seems he was sent to f.u.kuoka."

"Saitou?"

"Yeah, that timid guy. He was next to you."

"…….Ahh, right." He remembered him. "There was that sort of guy "round here."

The junior who sat next to Saruwatari"s desk was certainly called Saitou. Though at some point the top of his desk was cleaned off, and he completely stopped coming to the company.

"Why was he sent there?"

"He failed in killing the parliamentarian. I had to clean after his a.s.s."

"Ahh, that right."

Saruwatari did not have the disposition to get to know someone else deeply from the start, so he could not quite remember what kind of man Saitou was. He only remembered him writing his formal apology while crying.

"Still what a disaster. To get transferred to f.u.kuoka." He put a spoonful of curry into his mouth, and after chugging down water he continued. "Isn"t f.u.kuoka the battleground of the killer industry? It"ll be tough for a newbie. Seems there"s lots of "killer-killers" too."

"……Killer-killer?" It was a term he was unfamiliar with. Saruwatari dropped his chopsticks and moved his gaze upward. "What"s that now?"

"You don"t know? It"s a killer who specializes in killing killers." Nguyen pointed the tip of the spoon towards Saruwatari"s face and continued. "Among them are fairly strong ones, and apparently they killed some of our own guys too."

"……Killing killers, huh."

Chills ran down his spine. An unknown emotion crept up his whole body. It speed up little by little.

"Naturally their habitat is different from ours." Nguyen groaned.

Fairly strong, killing killers, habitat – He digested Nguyen"s words in his mind. And then he imagined it. Him facing off with the killer-of-killers. A fight between two killers with which living or dying uncertain. And isn"t that what I"m searching for? If I can fight with the killer-killer, I could be satisfied. That was what he thought.

"……Hey, Nguyen."

"What is it?"

Saruwatari suddenly declared. "I"m quitting the company."

Top of First Inning

It was the top of the ninth inning; the score was three to three. It was a tight scenario with one out, bases loaded at a tie on the last inning. The batter returned Saitou"s pitch. The ball flew in the direction of the short-stop. It was an ordinary ground ball. It"s a double-play, he thought.

The one protecting the short-stop is Xianming Lin. He was waiting for the ball around base. He lowered his glove down and made the motion to catch. His long hair pulled back into a ponytail wavered in the wind.

However, the ball did not enter Lin"s glove. It pa.s.sed through the narrow s.p.a.ce between his feet and rolled towards the outfield. It was quite the opening. The runners returned home one after the other. Two made it home with ease while the left fielder retrieved the ball. With this it was five to three. They had gained the lead at last.

The runner on first base continued on to third base, but Saitou pulled himself together and looked at the next batter. Shigematsu"s request was a low slider. He nodded back. He took his stance and made his pitch. The batter made his swing.

Unfortunately the ball flew towards the short stop again. It was on the course for a double-play. He sweated a little, but this time Lin caught it safely.

"Hey!"

He ran towards second base while the second-base man Zenji Banba called out to him. Lin quickly moved the ball over to his right hand and threw it at Banba.

"Ah"

However, Lin"s pitch had gone astray. Banba hastily made to reach for it, but he could not get it. The ball rolled out to the outfield. During that time the runner on third made it home. The runner on first also made it all the way to third base.

"You gotta throw it good now." Banba told Lin. He seemed a bit annoyed.

Due to the short-stop"s throwing error a point had been added, and the score was now six to three. There was one out, and first base and third base were occupied. The next batter flew the ball towards the short stop again. It was a powerful ground ball, but Lin stopped it with his body.

He tried to quickly throw it to second, but he was too slow. Maybe he fumbled in his hurry, but he missed again. Banba lost his balance on top of second base, but he managed to catch it and stepped on the plate. He then tried to throw it to first, but he stopped. It would not make it in time. The force-out of second base was more than enough; the double-play was prevented.

"What was you doin"?!"

Banba finally lashed out at the frequent errors. He squared his shoulders and walked over to the short stop in long strides. He reached for Lin and grabbed him by the collar.

"Makin" no good with your misses! You messin" with me?!" Normally he was a gentle, kindhearted man, but his personality completely changes when it comes to baseball.

"What the h.e.l.l"s your problem?" Lin bore his teeth, brushing off Banba"s hand. Because his uniform was grabbed roughly, wrinkles formed on the characters TONKOTSU. "You just shut up, idiot-Ban!"

"Who"s the idiot "round here?!"

The two who had positions necessary as a combo started to fight on second base.

"Hey, hey, you guys," the first-baseman Martinez forcibly separated Banba and Lin going at each other. "Stop it; we"re in the middle of a game."

Turning his back to Banba, Lin started leveling the ground with his foot. He then sent a glance over to Saitou on the mound,

"……Sorry."

He placed a hand to the tip of his hat and said that in a whisper. It was rare to have Lin apologize earnestly. He also must be contemplating over it in his mind as well.

It was only recently Lin had gotten to have relations with other people. On top of always having been alone up until now, Lin was also bad at putting in good teamwork with others. When the sign for a bunt was given in his first game he was almost resentful about it, "why do I have to get out for someone else?" Saitou considered it quite the growth for him to come out to baseball games seriously. And so he could not complain for the errors.

The humidity of June was gradually eating away at his strength, but Saitou psyched himself back up. He removed his hat and wiped away the sweat on his face. He bore with it and pitched the next ball. He wanted to end this inning somehow. He wanted to make one out quickly. He did not want it to be hit towards the short stop. Idle thoughts took over his mind. He strained himself in his haste. He put in too much power behind it, and the ball flew high. Unable to maintain control of it, he ended up giving them a walk.

The next batter managed to hit the easy straight ball in the center. The moment it was. .h.i.t he knew it would be taken away; it was a critical hit. The ball flew high towards the right-field and then pa.s.sed over the fence. It was a home run insuring three runs.

Desperately holding back the feeling of his heart breaking from it, Saitou faced off with the next batter. The manage to get them out with a straight pitch – a first foul for them. The Ramens long defense had finally come to an end.

For a gra.s.s-lot baseball practice match losing seven points in one inning was inexcusable. Errors made by their teammates played a part, but this was still inexcusable. As Saitou covered his head with a towel and slumped on the benches,

"Hey, Lin," He heard an unhappy voice. It was Banba.

Lin was drinking a sports drink on the benches and made a clearly detestable expression when he was called by name. "……What is it?"

"About before. How many times I gotta tell you to remember? Dontcha throw right at my chest." Banba criticized Lin"s blunder. "You gotta pay attention. You even done made a stupid opening like that."

"I couldn"t help that. It was an irregular bound."

"Dontcha make some excuses now. Don"t I say you gotta never let your eyes off the ball "till the end?"

Lin was still a beginner. Besides, for a game it was just a practice game. He thought he did not have to be so critical over it, but Banba was strict on it.

Lin looked downward and whispered. "……I"m tired of listening to you."

"The ground was uneven, so you should"ve prepared for an irregular bound. You gotta take into consideration the condition of the ground, you -"

"Ahh, enough already!" Lin was at the end of his limit as well. He cut off Banba and yelled back. "Just shut the h.e.l.l up!"

"What"s with that att.i.tude?! I"m givin" you some advice here!"

"Excessive advice!"

The Tonkotsu nine quickly rushed over to the two, having begun to fight once more. Shigematsu and Jiro broke in between them and separated Banba and Lin.

"Hey now, don"t fight."

"Make up already, you two. You two are a team."

No matter how much they bickered, they could not take back the points they lost. Nonetheless, having gotten into that situation of all the bases loaded, the mood of the team (well more specifically the two of them) took a turn for the worse. He was feeling down more and more. Saitou hung his head.

"A seven point difference, huh." The score was ten to three. Unconcerned for how far behind they were, the coach Genzo smiled cheerfully. "Well, we"ll manage somehow."

Even though it is not a difference where we can manage something. Just where is he getting that confidence from? Saitou does not understand.

And then Genzo clapped his hands once and suggested. "Alrighty, if any of y"all can"t get to makin" an effort, you"re gonna get the end stick of the punishment game."

The other eight members besides the pitcher Saitou joined in on it.

"That"s a nice idea." The first to give their approval was their slugger Martinez. "How about the person with the least amount of base hits treat a meal to everyone?"

"Alrighty then."

"Isn"t that rather interesting? I"m in."

At Genzo and Maritinez"s suggestions the long hitter cleanup group gave their approval cheerfully. The other Yamato frowned, "Ehhh, you serious?"

"That sort is fine once awhile." Enokida was on board against their expectations.

"Lin has three errors, so his. .h.i.ts start from minus three."

"Haa? Why?"

"Isn"t it obvious? You caused quite the trouble for the team." Jiro smiled. "Isn"t this fine? You are the lead batter this inning, so you can get the most turns."

He seemed to have felt responsibility for his errors, and he did not say anything back in a retort. "d.a.m.n it," he let that out and then got up from the benches. He put on the helmet and made his preparations.

It was the offensive and defensive switch. Bottom of the ninth inning the Ramens offense began. The first batter Lin entered the batter"s box and held up the bat.

The pitcher made his throw. The first pitch was a straight ball. It was an easy ball right in center, but whether he could not do it or he did not feel like hitting it, but Lin calmly let it pa.s.s him. The second pitch was a dropped ball. The ball bounced once in front of the umpire. It was an apparent bad ball. But Lin responded. He matched the timing of the ball hitting the ground and bouncing back up to skillfully hit it. The ball grazed past the pitcher"s glove and flies towards center field.

Everyone on the bench went wild over Lin"s wonderful play. "Did you see that? That child hit a one-bounce ball just now."

"Hey, hey, is he Ichiro?"

"Though he let the straight ball pa.s.s, why did he go for that kind of ball?"

"Lin-chan, nice batting!" Banba yelled excitingly. Even though he was so angry just previously; he was a man who switched over quickly.

Naturally coming to the ninth inning they could begin to see the other team"s pitcher was also getting exhausted. His ability was clearly decreasing, and the next batter, number 8 Shigematsu, hit the weak straight ball with ease. The ball flies far. It was a two run home run heading to the left field.

"How about thinking what to treat everyone?" Shigematsu smiled as he came back to the benches.

The pitcher Saitou was being exempted from the punishment game. Though there was no way he could let himself get an out while they forgive him for such a lead for his pathetic pitching. He had to contribute to the team a little bit. He at least wanted to make a one base hit or make it to base with a walk.

He stood up to the plate and took up his bat. The pitcher took his stance and threw. The white ball was coming at him. He could gradually see it get larger. Feeling it would come flying at his head, Saitou unconsciously cried out.

"Hee"

He greatly threw his head back, but the ball was easily caught by the umpire in a set area. It was an in high straight ball. It was in the striking zone. The umpire raised his hand.

This was Saitou"s weakness. Due to the trauma he had taken with a beanball to the head in a practice game last year, he could not hit inside pitches. He would step in and not be able to swing the bat. His body always dodged it on its own.

In the end two pitches were made in the same place in the inside corner, and Saitou"s turn at bat ended with three strikes he let happen.

"That was a complete in course attack, wasn"t it," As Saitou was walking to the benches Enokida called out to him while practicing his swings among the circle of the upcoming batters. "Well, if you jump back like that of course your weakness would be let out."

"I"m sorry for not being of any help……"

"Don"t worry about it, don"t worry about it."

Enokida headed for the batter"s box. As they were pa.s.sing each other, he placed a hand on Enokida"s shoulder.

"Whoaa, they came out in front of the outfield." Seeing the garrison formation, the ends of Enokida"s lips curved upward. "Think they"re underestimating me?"

It was Enokida"s turn at bat. He swung the air missing the first pitched ball, a slider. Even when watching from the benches, it seemed he did not match the timing of it at all. The second pitch was also the same as the first: a slider. It entered the strike zone a bit more than last time. Enokida bore his white teeth. Here it is, that was his expression. He twisted his thin body and made a powerful swing. For the fast runner type, it was a rare full swing from Enokida. He tossed the bat away and made a dash for first base fluidly. The ball flew high towards right field. It made a huge arch. It was not coming down. With the a.s.sistance of the wind, it then disappeared over the fence. It was a home run.

"My, it got in." Enokida after running around the bases made it back to home plate while grinning all the while. He returned to the benches and made a high five with the nine members.

"Hey, hey, so even you can make a home run?"

"You missed the first one on purpose. You were aiming for a slider."

"Are y"all against the punishment game that much?" Genzo slumped his shoulders.

"I"m just a guy who hates losing."

With Enokida"s solo home run, one point had been added. It was ten to six. They were four points behind.

The next batter, number 2 Yamato, also made it on base with a hit in front of center field. The Ramens Nine"s fierce offense pushed on.

The third batter Banba had a hit in front of right field.

The fourth batter Martinez had a powerful hit towards the short stop. And then the short stop had a throwing error to second base. In that time they scored one point, and the runners moved to the next base. And so they had one out, and a runner on second base and a runner on third base. The score was ten to seven.

The fifth batter up next was Jiro.

"Jiro-chan, good luck!" The elementary school student Misaki jumped up from sitting between the benches and gave her support.

"Fufu, leave it to me. I"ll give it my all." Jiro smiled back to her and entered the batter"s box. Immediately after he made a full swing while yelling in an intimidating voice, "dora.s.shaa!" The ball he hit managed to fly over the heads of the left-wing players, allowing for a two RBIs. Jiro made it to the second base and made a triumphant pose.

The next batter was number six, Saeki. It was the sixth pitch persisting as a foul from the fifth. The ball once more fell along the first-base line. Everyone thought it was a foul ball, but the first-base umpire"s decision was that it was fair. The first baseman caught it and stepped on the base. It was an out.

Banba was furious, unsettled with the verdict. "That was completely a foul right there!"

"It can"t be helped. It"s an umpire hired by the other team."

"Let"s just finish this game and go home quickly."

They now had gotten two outs with this. The batting order was back to Lin again.

"Lin, we"re counting on you! Get at them!" Cheers come from the benches.

"At this rate the punishment game is going to be on you!" There is also jeering.

The ball the pitcher threw was a charged ball that slipped from his fingers. It flew up at the height of Lin"s head. The umpire reached out to try and catch it. Anyone watching would undoubtedly see it as an unfair ball, yet Lin swung the bat. And he hit it. It was rough, but Lin excelled at running.

"It"s always the hard ones to hit." Admired voices rise from the benches as well. "He hit that well. That sort of s.h.i.tty ball."

Banba was joyous and clapping his hands in excitement. "Nice, Lin-chan! Nice run!"

With Lin"s safe infield hit, they were hanging by a thread. Shigematsu was. .h.i.t by the pitched ball. With this the bases were all loaded. The other team"s infields were gathering at the mound.

"Now then, the next batter -"

The gazes of his teammates all moved towards him, and his anxiety spiked. Next was the ninth batter Saitou.

Saitou had been cheering his comrades on from the benches until now, but he did not expect his turn at bat to come around again. And with one point behind, two outs with full bases – a chance for a complete turn around with a single swing.

However, the other team had realized Saitou"s weakness. Due to his greatest weakness of being so scared of inside pitches from his trauma to the head he could not hit. If Saitou stood up there like this and they throw continuous inside pitches it would end with three strikes. That was a conclusion anyone could predict.

The game resumed, and Saitou took up his bat at the batter"s box. The umpire"s request was an inside pitched straight ball just as he thought. The ball quickly approached him. It was coming at Saitou. That was the sensation that pa.s.sed through his head. Saitou"s body responded to the inside b.a.l.l.s and greatly jerked back. The umpire called a strike.

"Time!"

Suddenly Genzo stood up from the benches. He beckoned for Saitou and called him over.

What does he plan to do? When he rushed over to the benches,

"Saitou-kun, good work you put out there," Genzo put his hand gently on Saitou"s shoulder. "Leave the rest to me."

"Eh?" Leave it to me? What does he mean?

Genzo proudly states in front of the dazed Saitou.

"Pinch-hit with me."

Everyone on the bases and in the benches, and all of the Tonkotsu Nine were taken aback by the coach"s words.

"Eh"

"Hey, hey, you serious?"

"You"re kidding."

Ignoring the fl.u.s.tered Nine, Genzo put on a helmet and began to make practice swings. He appeared to seriously intend to bat.

Words to try and stop him come from the benches.

"This isn"t a senior league! Don"t overdo it!"

"That"s right, you"re not young anymore!"

"Dontcha be ridiculous now," Genzo huffed. "I"m still young."

"All the elderly say that!"

"No matter how you look at it you"re an old man!"

"I always got an old lookin" face since I was born."

No matter how much they tried to stop him, Genzo was persistent.

While the Tonkotsu Nin watch, Genzo confidently entered the batter"s box. And then he took up the bat. It was a pinch-hit with no b.a.l.l.s and one strike. The pitcher threw the second ball, and Genzo swung hard. The swing had a trait to it as though his age was not affecting him, but it did not even graze the bat and was caught in the umpire"s mitt. It was a missed strike. They had been driven into a corner.

"Weren"t you just completely slow at swinging it?"

"It"s pointless."

"Three strikes, three strikes."

Everyone in the benches had given up. It was then.

The third pitch was thrown. It was the same as the last one: a straight ball. It was the same course. Genzo swung hard again. Just as they thought he would miss again, this time he perfectly matched the timing.

There was the metallic pitch that could wake someone up.

"……Are you serious?"

Someone whispered.

The Tonkotsu Nine dashed out of the benches and watched the whereabouts of the ball dumbfounded. The white ball flew high in the sky, pa.s.sed over the fence towards the right field, and then further flew all the way to the parking lot. It was a critical hit in which the moment it was. .h.i.t they knew it was a home run. The other team"s pitcher was hanging his head, standing on the mound.

"He took it away in the opposite direction……what insane power he has, that old man." It was a surprisingly greater distance than the team"s fourth player made.

It was an impossible pinch-hit ending home run with bases loaded. At the end of the strong offense of the batters, the coach"s one swing settled the game.

Bottom of First Inning

[The ball flew towards the right field! This is big! Will it make it? Will it make it!? It made it! It"s a game-ending home raaaan!]

"……Haa? You"re kiddin"."

Saruwatari was dumbfounded at the announcer"s yell he can hear from the radio. He got irritated bit by bit and kicked the front seat a few times. "f.u.c.kin" h.e.l.l!"

The annoyed face of the taxi driver was reflected in the rearview mirror. Saruwatari reclined back into the back seat and clicked his tongue loudly. d.a.m.n. Even though it was just one more out.

Trying to be more conserved, he cursed to himself. "…..Just the h.e.l.l is the pitcher doing?"

[The Giants have made a splendid victory with a pinch-hitting offensive! The BayStars were unable to accomplish their ninth consecutive win!]

It was the end of the month of June when the Professional Baseball Interleague Season ended and the general pennant race restarted. It was the game with the first and second place teams at Tokyo Dome, the BayStars versus the Giants. The last inning had the team take four points with the incredible confusion done thanks to the iron wall that is their relief pitcher, regardless of the five point lead. The new pitcher for the prolonged game was unable to keep that one point deference.

It was not rare for the game to suddenly change with one hit in the confined Tokyo dome. Along with being cornered with three strikes, they also were bombarded with straight b.a.l.l.s. It was the worst.

Naturally he was upset the team he supported had lost. And it was not even a normal lose either. Saruwatari hated the words "walk-off game" the most in this world. And he hated the term "game-ending home run" even more. His frustration did not lighten up a bit. He felt like there was a haze in his heart. He was vexed.

Usually at times like this he would kill some people and let off some steam, but he had just decided he would do any killings in Tokyo anymore.

[This is live from the booth. It is the hero interview.] He heard the reporter speak. [The hero of today is of course this fellow here! The pinch-hitter who made the game-end home run -]

"Oi," he turned to the driver"s seat and addressed him. "Turn off the radio will ya."

"O-okay," the driver replied in fear and immediately turned off the power to the radio.

He moved his gaze to the outside of the window and looked at the streets of Shinjuku. He was born and raised in Kitakyushu and had lived in Yokohama for three years. Since then he had always been living in Tokyo, but it was time to say farewell to this city as well.

Saruwatari suddenly thought of his grandfather. He was from Shimonoseki and was a major fan of the Taiyo Whales. He was also an experienced baseball player and had coached for high school baseball before too. It was his grandfather who had taught him how to play baseball when he was in elementary school as well. It was his influence that Saruwatari supported the BayStars.

It seemed his grandfather had also aimed to become a professional baseball player when he was younger, but having to give it up due to injuries he entrusted that dream to Saruwatari. At his grandfather"s strong recommendation Saruwatari transferred to a veteran school in Yokohama instead of his local high school. It was a study abroad for baseball so to speak. Saruwatari had spent his youth absorbed in baseball, but in the end he did not fulfill the dream of becoming a professional; perhaps there was a mishap down the line somewhere, but now he made a living by killing people.

After some time he arrived at his destination. "I don"t need them change." He handed over a ten thousand yen bill and got out of the taxi. He looked up at the pure black building towering over the office city. It was a building of Murder Inc Saruwatari worked for. The entrance was firmly locked. After holding up his employee ID the security latch unlocked, and Saruwatari stepped inside.

The third discussion upon entering this season was being held in a small conference room. His superior was sitting in front of Saruwatari. He was around his mid-thirties, his bangs parted smoothly, and he seemed like a nervous type of man at first glance. His hair had a black l.u.s.ter to it from using too much product.

"I have said it many times now, but it is a big problem for us." His superior says and pushed up his gla.s.ses with his middle finger. "You quitting."

It was last year"s New Year"s Eve when Saruwatari decided to quit the company. Although he had sent in his letter of resignation, it had been put off countless times and a half year had dragged by.

"Your record against other killers is 24 encounters with 24 wins. You are a killer with no loses; an ace of the Murder Inc Tokyo home branch. You are the largest earner for our company, so we cannot allow you to quit so easily. We are low on people as of right now."

Saruwatari tutted at his superior"s words. The reason you guys are low on workers in the first place is your fault isn"t it? You send off incapable employees to other branches because you hate taking responsibility for them. Who do you think has to go through all the trouble for shifting the blame like that? His dissatisfactions from the first day he started here boiled up, and Saruwatari glared at his superior"s face.

"Can"t be helped when you leave it all to me." He was going to quit. He did not care what his superior thought of him, Saruwatari gave a retort back with an impudent att.i.tude. "Since you don"t properly train the newbies."

"……Anyway," his superior exhaled out quietly. He was making a composed expression, but he could see he was desperately pushing down his anger. "Your work is acknowledged by the president as well, and we"ll put down as much as you want to keep you. Won"t you reconsider?"

"No way."

"I think your earnings will greatly increase from what you have now."

"1,500,000,000 for three years plus shares." The corners of his mouth curled up into a grin at the statement, and he stated. "If you say you can offer that I can think it over."

His superior glared back. It was the hateful expression screaming, how dare you taking advantage of this.

"It"s a joke." It was not like Saruwatari wanted to make a fuss over wages. It was not an issue about money. "No matter how much you offer, I"ll still quit."

I don"t have anymore enemies here (Tokyo). Even if I work for this company it won"t feel worth doing it. I can"t smolder away here. To kill killers I need to aim for their habitat. Saruwatari hardened his resolve.

"So you quit and then what?"

"I"ll do freelance work." He was not aligned for working for a company anyway. "I"ll go back to my home."

As long as he had his strength, he would get approached anywhere. He would be well demanded by various organizations. Request after request would fly in, and he would be more busy than his time in this company. There was no doubt that sort of future would await him. Saruwatari thought that so,

"There is no way a nameless killer like you would be able to eat under freelancing."

He could not ignore his superior"s declaration.

"…..What do you mean by that?"

"But isn"t this true? You"ve been getting jobs up until now because of the company"s name. It"s not because of your strength. If you leave the company, you"ll just be a nameless killer."

"Even without a name, I got a record." He should be recognized right away.

"How naive. Having a few accomplishments in this world won"t help you at all. It"s really only just you with confidence in yourself. Just that won"t do."

"You"d just be mortified if I manage to get away, so please cut it with the sore loser act."

"I"m not being a sore loser; it"s a warning. What is vital in this industry is a name and connections. Unfortunately for you, you don"t have either."

Saruwatari scowled. What warning. How arrogant. This p.i.s.ses me off.

"I won"t care if you come to regret it," his superior snorted. "Our company doesn"t rehire anyone."

Saruwatari stood up vigorously and kicked over a nearby chair. A loud crash resounded in the quietened conference room. He never broke the habit of hitting something when he was frustrated from his high school years. "I"m fed up with talking, so give up the severance money already."

"Stop doing drugs before a job."

This was the third time he has said this now. And yet Yamamoto would needlessly retort back and dismiss it, "it"s just pot, so it"s fine."

What "it"s just pot" c.r.a.p, Abe was exasperated. Though a dried plant with synthetic cann.o.binoid in it similar to what cannabis had could not be called just pot.

The cigarette Yamamoto was holding in his mouth had the leaf part sc.r.a.ped out with an illegal cannabis stuffed inside there. He warned him countless times to cut off from the drugs, but each time Yamamoto would just laugh, "Without this my hands shake and it"d impair me for work."

A white van was parked on a one lane street in the center of Hirao. Their destination was the third floor of the five story building on the other side of the narrow street. They looked up at the black brick building. From the window on the third floor there was no light on. It appeared to be vacant. All the other windows on the floor had a paper reading taking "tenant applications" in them. If the gang"s office is in the same building I guess they could not find any renters, Abe thought.

"Seems those yakuza folk aren"t back yet." His partner who was sitting in the pa.s.senger"s seat, Yamamoto, said. "What will we do?"

Abe and Yamamoto both wore overalls. Abe was wearing a hat, and Yamamoto had a white towel wrapped around his head. At first glance they looked like ordinary blue-collar workers, but they actually go by the name of killers. The two of them were a pair of killers.

"I"m going to go buy coffee," Abe said while opening the car door. "Keep watch on the building. Tell me exactly how many come back."

Yamamoto replied back stupidly at Abe"s order, "Allllriiight." Is it really alright to have this man keep watch? He won"t do anything again while I look away right? He was anxious.

After Abe bought a can of coffee to energize himself at a nearby convenient store he returned to the car briskly. He asked him while opening the driver"s side door. "How was it? Was there any movement?"

Yamamoto nodded. "They came back."

"Really?"

"They went in the building just now."

He looked up at the mentioned building. A light turned on on the recently pitch black third floor. Just as Yamamoto said it appeared their targets finally arrived.

"Their numbers?"

"There were five."

"That so."

Abe moved around to the back of the car and opened the trunk. He took out a gun equipped with a sound suppressor on it from inside. It was an automatic handgun made by a German company he had been using for many years now. It was plastic reinforcement, so it was lighter than the naked eye would expect and it was easier to wield. He pulled the slide. The amount of ammo was full with fourteen shots. His targets were five people, so it was enough to shoot two for each, but he grabbed two machine guns prepared just in case.

Yamamoto also got out of the car. He was walking a bit unsteadily because of the drugs, and Abe felt his anxiety peek again after the hundredth time. He put on his ski mask and tossed over the other to Yamamoto.

"You know the conditions the client gave right?"

When he asked him Yamamoto looked up at the building. He made a blissful expression and pointed to the third floor. "We kill all the men on that floor – that right?"

"No."

Even though he explained it already, just how bad is this guy"s memory? He was on the end up his rope. "They said it"s alright to kill them, but you can"t kill all of them."

Their client"s instructions were as follows: there would be a Yakuza meeting in the middle of the night tonight in a small office on the third floor of this building. It seems it was just a meager gathering with the people in the inner circle. Watch the office until that time, infiltrate in and shoot at the yakuza inside. There was no need to kill them, but they would not care if they had them killed if they put up a resistance. The difficulty was not that high, but as a job for a killer to receive it was slightly odd.

There were two strange conditions to this job. One was to leave one person alive for certain among the people in the office so there would be a witness. The other was to ask the witness "where is Kitaguchi?" This "Kitaguchi" was apparently a person"s name; it did not refer to the northern exit in this case.

"I"m jokin", I got it I said."

Yamamoto, now with a ski-mask on, had said that. He was probably grinning stupidly underneath. Even with the mask on he knew.

"We leave one person alive and ask the question. It was "where"s Nishiguchi," right?"

"It"s Kitaguchi."

Is this guy really alright? A sigh escaped from Abe"s lips. Yamamoto was dumb and his memory was terrible. And on top of that he was a drug addict. He was a helpless idiot. Is it because he is an idiot that he"s into drugs, or is it because he"s into drugs that he"s an idiot?

"Don"t mess this up."

"Mm-hm."

They climbed up the stairs of the building with a gun in one hand and sneaked up to the office door. After he took multiple breaths and calmed his racing heart, he knocked.

"Who is it?" He heard a man"s voice.

"It is express delivery. Please provide us a signature." When he answered that back he heard the sound of the lock unlatching. Wow, for them to fall for such an old trick. Aren"t they too careless?

Abe held up his gun and pulled the trigger. One shot hit the heart of the man in the black suit as he opened the door. He stepped into the room while using the body as a shield.

"Wh-who the h.e.l.l are you?!"

The other stern looking men yelled. He fired in that moment of time. Before they could stand up from the sofa he rained bullets onto them. Two shots for each person. The cries mixed together. After a moment they all fell.

The five men groan while groveling on the ground. To ask the question he picked the young man with the least amount of wounds that still was conscious.

"Hee," when he grasped him by the head the man shouted. "D-don"t kill me!"

"Hey," Yamamoto asked. "Where"s Nishiguchi?"

"……It"s Kitaguchi."

After Abe whispered it to his ear, Yamamoto corrected himself. "Where"s Kitaguchi?"

"K-Kitaguchi-san is," the man replied. The man"s jaw shook bit by bit out of fear and his teeth were chattering. "He"ll be late from another job, they said."

Shooting the man in the foot as so he could not pursue, the young man shouted again. They managed a surprise attack at the office and relayed the question. With this their job was done.

"We"re leaving," he said, but it was when Abe turned on his heel.

From behind them he heard a small noise. He turned around. Another man appeared from the restroom.

His reaction was late from the unexpected situation. The other also had a gun and fired it. He instantly dodged it, but the bullet grazed his right hand. While grimacing, Abe fired back. He pulled the trigger aiming between the man"s eyebrows. The bullet struck the man in the head. Blood and hunks of flesh splattered on the white wall behind him.

"Abe-san, you alright?" Yamamoto rushed over to him. "You"re bleeding."

He had told him to call him by his alias, not his real name while on the job. Abe clicked his tongue.

They quickly left the building and went down the stairs. He took off his ski-mask and then put pressure on his wound. So the blood did not drip down he pressed it hard on it. He then glared at Yamamoto. "There were six."

"Heh?"

"You said there were five, right?"

And yet there were six people in that office.

"Ahh," Yamamoto chuckles like usual. "Sorry "bout that, I counted wrong."

"As if that"s good enough." Give me a break, he thought. He wanted to give him a punch, no, three punches into his stupid grinning face. "Since you"re using drugs you made such a stupid mistake."

"Sorry."

He got into the car and braced the handles. His wound stung. When he grimaced Yamamoto looked over at him from the pa.s.senger"s seat. "Is it that bad? I can switch with you."

"As if I"d be in a car with someone driving under the influence."

He tried to bite back, but he could not put any strength into his right hand. Since the bullet only grazed him it would heal in just a few days, but right now it was difficult to drive the car. Abe reluctantly switched with Yamamoto. All that was left to do was to report that they had finished the job and to collect their reward.

They drove towards Nakasu where their mediator was. During that time Yamamoto expressively talked on and on at length. Maybe it was the excitement after finishing a job or he had gotten high because of the drugs. It was awfully depressing. Abe was frustrated. He was sleep deprived and his hand was throbbing in pain. Because of his useless partner his life was in danger again. "I"m going to sleep for a bit so shut up." He spat out coldly and pretended to sleep. Yamamoto also quietened.

Why did I choose this stupid man as my partner. Thinking back to his foolish self half a year ago, Abe gave a small sigh. The start of it was the change in conditions for f.u.kuoka killers. Over the past few years the number of killers who make a pair or team to carry out jobs had increased. The common lone wolf in hard boiled movies for killers nowadays had already pa.s.sed. It was certainly better to have allies.

As to not be behind on riding the wave of the new era, Abe also sought out comrades. What he found at that time was the name of an underground website called UnderGroundJobs.com f.u.kuoka Version. Information from underground companies were on there and various exchanges with clients were made on there. It was a website that largely developed over these few years. And when he sent out a notice for a partner the first name to appear on it was this man Yamamoto.

Yamamoto was originally not a killer, but he apparently made a living as a convenience store bugler and a purse s.n.a.t.c.her. He was twenty-three years old and was five years younger than Abe. However, his complexion was poor and he did not seem young. The undersides of his eyes were dark and he had a lisp to his speech. Abe immediately discerned that he was a drug addict when he first met Yamamoto. And then he became nervous. Is this man alright? Can I entrust my life to this intoxicated man as my partner? However, the deadline for a job he had taken was coming up. If he cut ties with him and tried to find a new partner his schedule would become rather tight. And that would be a bother. And so Abe had to team up with Yamamoto.

And their first job came to pa.s.s. Yamamoto aimed for the target with a gun, but because of the drug"s effects his hand shook and missed, nearly killing Abe on the spot. On their next job Yamamoto went in with two handguns with the reason that "it"s just cool." Since he held both guns at the same height the cartridge of one of them he fired from the gun hit his other hand and it bounced into Yamamoto"s face. And so his shot went astray and he almost killed Abe. He got into trouble at every job because of this man"s mistakes. Becoming partners with him was Abe"s greatest mistake in life. Although he thought that he still kept their partnership and now with their third job as of today that was how it has been.

While he was thinking over that the car Yamamoto was driving crossed over Watanabe Street in Tenjin while going at a speed of a crawl. They stopped, caught in the red light at the intersection. They would arrive at their destination soon enough. They would finally wrap up this job. It was when he thought that.

" – Ah."

Yamamoto spoke up.

"It"s the cops!"

"……Ha?" Cops? Does he mean the police? "What did you say?"

Yamamoto suddenly started to shout. "Behind us! The black van! It"s an unmarked police car!"

Abe quickly turned back in more of a scurry than usual. He saw the driver in a minivan stopped two cars behind them. However, no matter how he looked at it it was a normal bystander. He did not see anyone that would be a police office in the area as well.

"They must have been following us!" Yamamoto yelled. He was acting off. It was probably because of the drugs. Again, he thought. It was quite often that Yamamoto would be subjected to hallucinations.

He grasped Yamamoto"s shoulder and soothed him. "Hey, calm down. It"s your imagination."

" – G-gotta get out of here."

Yamamoto let go of the pedal. There were three lines of cars waiting for the light and each direction was blocked. Even though they were surrounded by all the cars from in front of them, behind them, and to the side of them he recklessly stepped on the acceleration pedal. He crashed into the other cars and pressed forward to make a way through the cars.

"Oh, wah"

Each time they collided with one the car shook greatly. His head swung forward and the back of his. .h.i.t the seat with the recoil.

"Oww……" Abe yelled while rubbing his head. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing?!"

"What do I do, what do I do." He did not register Abe"s voice. Yamamoto was in a state of confusion. He was muttering to himself. "c.r.a.p, c.r.a.p, c.r.a.p."

This was a disaster.

Even though after finishing the job they could just give their report and go home. Why did it come to this? It is always a disaster pairing up with this man.

The drivers of the other cars that got hit are yelling at them. He saw one get out of their car and approach them. This isn"t good.

"Alright, just get out of here!"

When Abe yelled at him, Yamamoto smashed on the accelerator. The car lurched forward, brushed off the other driver and ran down Watanabe Street.

His home greatly changed over the past ten years. Haven just got off the shinkansen at Kokura Station, scenery he had never seen before spread out in front of Saruwatari. The fashion building behind the station lined with clothing stores popular to young people was now a subculture, commercial establishment aimed towards otaku. Famous statues of manga related to Kitakyushu were lined up on the pedestrian deck of the northern entrance of the JR Kokura Station. He had heard that Kitakyushu City is abundant with underground jobs like f.u.kuoka City and that there was a large population of killers as well, but it only looked like a truly peaceful city.

A few days had pa.s.sed since he defied against his superior and quit the company. Haven finished with his arrangements he finally was able to return to his home place. Until he settled on a place of residence he had decided to stay at hotels. He chose a cheap business hotel two minutes on foot from the shinkansen entrance. It was a small and enclosed room, but it was enough.

Now then, what should he do. Saruwatari considered his options as he opened the curtains and looked outside his window. Even if I go with freelancing, I first need clients. It don"t matter if it"s my home town, I don"t got none connections in the area since I"ve been away for ten years. Sucks to say it but he was right in that sense.

And so there"s one option left. I gotta talk with a mediator and get jobs through them. It"ll eat up the cost, but I got nothin" else. Now the issue is where can I find one.

He noticed his cell phone on the table was vibrating suddenly. It was an incoming call. The characters read Nguyen on the screen. After he pressed the accept b.u.t.ton and put it to his ear he heard the cheerful voice of his old co-worker.

[It"s been awhile, Saru.]

Since this past spring Nguyen had been moved to another station. And so the number of times they could see each other decreased and even the time eating together lessened. It had been awhile for them to converse like this.

[I heard about it. So you finally went and quit the company, have you? It"s been a panic over your post.]

"Glad to hear it," Saruwatari gave a dry laugh. Thinking of the troubled face of his hateful superior put him in a good mood.

[So? What are you doing now?]

"I came back to Kokura."

[Uh-uh.] Nguyen stated happily. [I"m actually in f.u.kuoka right now.]

"How come?" Why would Nguyen, a member of the main branch, be in f.u.kuoka? It can"t be, it dawned on him. "You got demoted?"

[No. It"s for business.] Nguyen explained while laughing. [The troublesome job of the killer scouts got pushed onto me……You know that guy Saitou, right? The rookie from last year?]

"Yeah," he recalled him immediately. "The guy sent to f.u.kuoka?"

That"s right, Nguyen affirmed. [Seems that guy managed to ditch the company. Around winter of last year they haven"t been able to contact him. They think he cut his ties" from this industry. It"d be more of a problem to bring it to the police, so they have to eliminate him right away but…… Unfortunately there wasn"t enough people at the f.u.kuoka office so they haven"t been able to find him.]

It was the end of June right now. It had been a rather long time since Saitou"s disappearance. "After that long-a-time, couldn"t they just let him go?"

[We can"t. It involves the company"s people. And to help the busy f.u.kuoka office I was sent out. Well, it"s also within our position to eliminate company traitors.]

"It"s almost like the ninja world."

He had seen something like that in some movie before. The fugitive ninja was chased down until his death for abandoning his village. And the traitor and the pursuer who had shared the same meals together when they were young would fight to the death ruthlessly. In the end of that movie the pursuer lost to his emotions and had let the fugitive go. The pursuer was executed by the villagers as a traitor. That was his harsh end.

"Will one come for me?" He asked out of sudden interest. "A pursuer of the fugitive ninja?"

If a fugitive of the company was to be executed then he was no exception. That was what he thought, but Nguyen just laughed.

[If we tried then the company would lose a.s.sets.]

It was exactly as he said. There was no killer above Saruwatari in that company. No matter how many pursuers they would send, he had the confidence he would just finish off all of them. A company already short on people would not waste their employees lives so meaninglessly.

[At any rate, until that"s finished I can"t return to Tokyo. So let"s go for some drinks.]

Saruwatari vaguely nodded at the invitation unsure if he meant it for real or if it was just talk.

Though just now Nguyen said "killer scouts." His position in the general company was similar to a personnel office. They had mediators of each area, find and scout out for skilled killers, and bring them into the company by various means. And they had a list of looked up mediators with particular qualities.

He may be able to use this.

"Oi, Nguyen. I got a favor for ya."

[What is it?]

"Could ya send me the list of mediators in f.u.kuoka prefecture?"

[Eh,] Nguyen choked on his words for a moment. [……Are you serious. If this gets out, I"ll be killed for it.]

"Then don"t get yousself caught."

[……Guess I can"t refuse.]

He agreed in a reluctant manner. He was told, [treat me next time,] so he had to find a nice place.

Thanks to the help of his former colleague he managed to get his first step in the right direction for freelancing. "What"s important is connections," the words of his superior pa.s.sed through his mind, and he felt a little bit sick at that.