Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

Top of the Second Inning

Ca.n.a.l City Hakata, its nickname the Ca.n.a.l, was a commercial establishment complex lined with every entertainment and recreational facilities imaginable from clothing shops and restaurants to cinemas and theaters. Just as the term Ca.n.a.l suggested, a stream ran through the inside of the building and a large water fountain as well. Programs occurred frequently on the stage, and there had even been performers appearing in events and live shows there as well. It was a landmark of f.u.kuoka City located right next to the entertainment district of Nakasu between Tenjin and Hakata.

Enokida had been staying at the internet cafe nearby here as of late.

It was a weekday, so there were not many people visiting the Ca.n.a.l today. The caricature artists at the center of the bas.e.m.e.nt floor all look bored. And the street stalls aligned with silver accessories and power stones all seemed to be unoccupied.

He was told by his friend, the torturer Martinez, that he needed to talk with him on the phone, so he decided to meet with him in a cafe on the first bas.e.m.e.nt floor. He waited several minutes at his seat near the window while drinking his cafe au lait. He saw the dark man over 190 centimeters tall at the store"s entrance.

He did not even have to raise his hand to let him know where he was. Martinez ordered an ice coffee and then found Enokida"s bright colored hair right away.

"Sorry I was late."

He walked over to him and took a seat in the chair opposite to him.

"I was wondering if I got lost even though I should know better," Martinez gave a wry smile. "Why is the Ca.n.a.l built so complicated?"

"True, you"d think this place would be the first floor, but it"s actually the first bas.e.m.e.nt floor."

"Exactly. Just who made this building?"

"It seems the one who designed it was an American architect called Jon Jerde."

"Don"t you find it hard to understand how foreigners think this up?"

"Are you really one to say that?" From Enokida"s perspective the Dominican Martinez was a legit foreigner.

"Now then, what did you want to talk about?" He said before entering the main topic right away.

"I have something I want you to look into. There was that traffic accident in Tenjin a while ago, right?"

He saw that accident on the news. "It was at the intersection on Watanabe Street if I recall. There was reckless driving, right?"

"That"s it." He nodded before continuing. "It hit the other cars around it and drove off. I"m looking for the driver."

"There are plenty of security cameras in that area, so I think if I can at least find the type of car and plate number, then I can figure it out from there."

"It"d be a great help if you can."

Martinez looked outside, and he suddenly gasped, "ah." He seemed to have seen something on the center walkway he could see from the window.

"Hey, look." Where he pointed was at a young woman. When he looked closer it was a familiar face. It was not a woman but a man. "Isn"t that Lin?"

"It really is."

Lin dressed in woman"s clothing. He had makeup neatly applied, and he was pa.s.sing through the center from the north side of the Ca.n.a.l, walking towards Hakata Station.

"What"s he doing? Shopping?"

"Probably."

Lin had shopping bags around both his arms and was walking in a stately manner. He pa.s.sed the side of the cafe without taking notice of them.

"Really though," Martinez tilted his head in wonder. "I wonder why he always crossdresses."

"Isn"t there a certain side to it? It satisfies him to identify with his dead sister."

"You think so? Either way, it looks like he"s doing it out of his own enjoyment for it."

Once he took a step out of the air-conditioned facility mucky humidity clung to his body. The last day of June in f.u.kuoka had the sun shining brightly and with seething heat. Even though he was wearing a cooler outfit with a T-shirt, short pants, and mule shoes he was already sweating just by walking a little bit. The large shopping bags he was carrying in his arms was eating away at his strength.

I bought a little too much, he reflected to himself. He came to Ca.n.a.l City to stock up on some summer clothes, but each time he would try one on he would end up liking each one of them and after fumbling over which ones he should buy he just ended up bringing all of them to the register. It"s too bad I just look good in everything.

After he left the Ca.n.a.l the monument of the venomous colored frog came into view. Ahead of that the light for the pedestrian walkway was just about to turn green. The melody to cross began to play, and the people all started to walk and cross the black and white street. Just as Lin was about to step forward in that direction his cell phone in his bag vibrated. It was an incoming call. He took it out as he was walking and placed it to his ear.

[Where are you right now?] What he heard was the voice of Banba.

"I"m in front of the Ca.n.a.l."

[And the mentaiko?]

He suddenly recalled when he was told that. Actually now that he mentions it, I was asked by Banba to go and buy mentaiko. That was close. If I went back empty handed, this guy would make such a fuss over it.

[Dontcha tell me.] The tone in Banba"s voice changed. [You forgot it, ain"t that right?]

"I remember perfectly." He completely forgot. "I was just about to go and buy it."

[How long you gonna make me wait. Hurry up and get it already.]

"Shut up. Can"t you wait half a day?" This mentaiko addict. Hurry up and die from taking in too much of the salt, he cursed in his mind.

[You got it now? It"s the regular non-artificially colored one, so dontcha go an" -]

So Banba could not finish what he was going to say Lin replied before cutting the call, "I got it!"
He had a debt to Banba. He had saved his life, and in compensation he owed five years worth of mentaiko. On top of that he let Lin, who had nowhere to go, live at his place. Lin had been paying his share while freeloading at the office he owned.

He purchased the designated mentaiko at the company shop in the station"s underground shopping center, and afterwards he came out of the Chikushi exit at Hakata Station. After walking for a bit a small building complex came into view. He could see the characters "Banba Detective Office" on the third floor"s window.

When he opened the door to the office Banba stood in front of a full-length mirror topless and was in the middle of practicing some swings. He was swinging the metal bat with a full waist swing while grunting. Sweat was pouring down his upper arms and stomach, and just by looking he seemed to be sweltering. It"s really revolting. I bought that mirror so I could check if I match my outfit right, not so you can check your batting form. He wanted to say that, but Lin held it in.

"I told you not to practice your swinging in the middle of the room. You"re in the way. Go to a batting center."

Banba finally noticed him when he had addressed him. "Welcome back. Where"d that mentaiko be?"

That"s the first thing you have to say? He is exasperated.

Alright, alright, I got it for you. He held up the f.u.kuya bag wordlessly. Banba"s expression brightened up.

"A non-artifically colored?"

"Regular."

When he answered it like one would with a pa.s.sword, Banba gave a satisfied grin. "Correct!" But then his complexion immediately changed, and he pointed over to Lin"s handbags. "What"s that mountain of bags you got there?"

"What do you expect? They"re clothes. They had a sale at the Ca.n.a.l."

"……You wasted money again."

"What does it matter to you? It"s with the money I had saved up."

"But you don"t need so many of them clothes."

"I need them." He whipped back with a scowl. "And exactly how many baseball gloves have you bought? Just how many arms you think you got? Are you a spider or something?"

"It"s all part of utilities." Banba boasted. "I got them infielder one and an outfield one, and a first-base mitt and a catching mitt. All of them got different uses."

"And my clothes all have different uses. Like ones for work and ones for private."

"All them look the same to me……" Banba said as he began to dig through the contents of the bags. He was inconsiderately putting his sweaty hands into the lovely designed shopping bag.

"Hey, don"t touch that with your filthy hands. Go wipe off the sweat."

"……What"s this cloth? A towel? That"s perfect, can I use this to wipe them off?"

"It"s not a towel, it"s a shawl! Don"t!"

He quickly went to make a grab for it, but Banba kept up his teasing. This time he pulled out a hair band with a large ribbon on it from the bag and wrapped it around his head.

"Whatcha reckon"? Does it look fine on me?"

The pink ribbon was buried into his greasy, ruffled hair.

"Stop it, it"ll get dirty!" He reached out to take it back, but he could not reach the man"s head with a height difference of fifteen centimeters.

Banba took a look at himself in the mirror and nodded in approval. "……It sure looks fine on me."

"It does not!"

He was at the end of his patience. Lin took the metal bat and swung it. "Give it up already, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

"Wah," Banba bent backwards. "That was too close."

"I"ll beat you to death!"

"A bat ain"t somethin" to hit people with!" Banba rushed to the sofa, reached out and grabbed a cushion on it. It was a cheap cushion Lin used for a pillow when he slept. He used that to block the attacks. However it was a one-sided defensive battle. "It"s for giving hopes and dreams to people!"

"Shut up!"

"Treat the tools with care!"

"Then stay put and let me hit you!"

The clash between the metal bat and the cushion went on, and the room became a complete mess with objects and the desk fallen over.

Banba received a swing with all its force. The cushion that took the blow dropped to the floor. He sidled up to the unarmed Banba and swung the metal bat down towards his head. Banba stopped the bat, catching it between his hands.

It was then. They heard the door opening quietly.

"Ah."

Lin and Banba froze in place with him still holding the bat between his hands. They both turned towards the entrance of the office.

There stood an unknown woman to both of them. They could not feel any particular killing intent off of her, so it did not seem to be a surprise attack from a killer. The woman looked at both Banba and Lin and blinked her eyes multiple times.

"……Um." The woman asks in fear. "Is the Banba Detective Office here?"

An unexpected client has come to the detective office open year round.

"Yes." Banba answered her. "I am the head, Banba."

"Th-thank you……" The woman stared at the half-naked man with a ribbon on his head with an expression that could not quite be put to words.

After Banba tossed off the hair band and put on a T-shirt, he smiled pleasantly. "My apologies. Please, come this way."

The woman headed inside as instructed. She was looking around the room in apprehension. The Banba Detective Office was divided in half due to a part.i.tion, separating the living s.p.a.ce and the reception area. When she spotted the mountains of trash and laundry scattered around on the part.i.tion side, the woman"s complexion changed. It was one of regret, saying she had come to a strange place.

"Please, take a seat." After instructing the client, he addressed Lin. "Lin-chan, get some tea."

"Haa? Why do I have to?"

"Just get it, quickly now."

Lin reluctantly went to get the gla.s.ses from the cupboard. Clients rarely came so each gla.s.s had been left unused for a long time and were covered with dust. I better wash these first. What a pain in the a.s.s. He slumped his shoulders and headed to the sink.

Banba spoke from the other side of the part.i.tion. "Now then, what is your request?"

The woman was silent for a while. After a moment she stated in a small voice. "……I would like for you to investigate into my husband"s affair."

" – Speaking about Lin," Martinez removed the gla.s.s left half filled with coffee from his lips and changed the topic. "That was pretty bad. Our previous game."

"Yeah," Enokida nodded in agreement with the straw kept in his mouth. "He had three blunders, didn"t he."

He let a ball roll by, had a throwing error, and even fumbled. He had a truly bad play. He wondered how they managed to win with that.

"When those two"s coordination is bad it pulls me away too. Thanks to that I feel I"ll be making errors too."

"So it isn"t just because you suck?"

"Shut it. Outfielders should keep their mouths shut."

He nearly inhaled the cafe au lait down his throat. "Well I would like it if they didn"t start fighting in the middle of a game."

You"re telling me, Martinez was in an agreement with him. "The tournament is around the corner too. If they keep doing that the opponent will laugh at us."

"Is our team the only one with two players that can"t manage a double-play?"

"I would like them to have a play with them coordinating well together. Like Randy and DJ."

"Who are they?" They were player names he had never heard of before. "Are they from the major league?"

"They are the protagonists of a foreign novel."

"Mar-san, you read light novels?" He was surprised. He never expected to hear the topic of literature from this man. He could not imagine a hearty man like him quietly reading a book. Enokida laughed teasingly. "It"s probably a gay novel, right?"

"You don"t know it? Peter Lefcourt"s The Dreyfus Affair: A Love Story."

"You certainly follow through on my expectations."

"Don"t mess with me. That"s the name of the work." Martinez said sullenly. He then explained in detail. "Randy is a star player as a shortstop. He has a wife and even kids, but he starts dating the second baseman DJ on the same team as him. And it then gets let out to the public, and they get into a tough situation being discriminated against by the other teammates and being booed by their fans. And they receive harsh treatment from the opposing team. In one match the other team"s catcher insulted Randy. He called him by provocative names and then purposefully threw the ball straight at him. There were no outs and he was the runner on third base. What do you think Randy did?"

Enokida tilted his head curiously. "As if I"d know."

"He managed to steal home." Martinez said in excitement. "Even though there were no outs, he made it to home plate. He rammed into the spiteful catcher who insulted him and his lover and had thrown the ball purposefully at him. He didn"t care if he succeeded in stealing the plate or not. He only thought of knocking down that catcher. Randy slammed the 225 pound guy over and raised his fist. "You learned your lesson now, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?" Like that."

That was like him right? Martinez said excitingly. I guess so, Enokida consented with a suitable reply.

"More importantly about that hit-and-run case."

Martinez pouted when he tried to change the topic back to work. "And just like that……you"re a boring guy, you know? How about enjoying idle chat a bit more? You"ll lose friends this way."

"I don"t have the time for that." It was principle for an informant like him to listen carefully to people"s conversations, but he had errands piling up after this meet up. He also had an appointment to meet with another client later that night.

"Why are you looking for the guy who did the hit-and-run?"

"I"m helping Jiro. Avenger stuff."

Avengers were, as the name implies, people who carryied out vengeance. Their motto was "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," and overkill was taboo. For someone who had made three shots with a gun they only gave three shots back. They did not make any more attacks than that. They bestow the same pain onto the one who had afflicted that to someone. That was Jiro"s policy.

"They got a request from the man who got hit by that car in the accident. They said they wanted to be avenged for having their brand new vehicle demolished."

Most requests that came Jiro"s way were from victimized families who had their lovers or family members killed. It was a fairly rare case for him to receive a traffic accident related one.

"They"re busy and don"t seem to have time for it. And so I ended up taking the job in their place."

"……Since you"re off of work at the moment."

He sent him a pitiful glance. Martinez"s large body slumped, and he gave a sigh. "That"s exactly it."

"Torturers aren"t making much, right?"

"More or less. There"s been a bunch of weak guys. They spit out the information without having to be tortured for it, so our work isn"t necessary." Martinez complained. "I got a job after a long time just recently, but it got cancelled right away. The client was from some small yakuza group. Guess they had one of their subordinates betray their group and they ran. They caught one of the guys close to him to get the information on his whereabouts out of him. And so they called me up…….But the guy lost his nerve and told them of his location before I got there."

Pathetic isn"t it? Martinez slumped his shoulders.

"If you advertise more you could get an increase in jobs? Put out an ad."

"I don"t have that kind of money."

"Then there"s an easy way."

Enokida took out his laptop from his bag. After he connected to the network and opened up a certain website he faced the screen towards Martinez. UndergroundJobs.com f.u.kuoka Version was displayed in the center of the screen in big characters.

"……Underground jobs? What"s this?"

"In short, it"s an underground website. It"s the most active site in f.u.kuoka right now. If you write up a post on the job applications page it"ll help in advertising."

"Seems like we"ve gotten into an age where everything can be solved on the net."

Enokida nimbly typed on the keyboard. ""Do you want to get information out of someone?! Do you want them to suffer?! Do you want them to hurt?! I"ll answer to any of your needs. A cheap torturer will be sent. Quotes are free via e-mail." How is something like this?"

""Your first time will be 50% off." Add that too."

"Okay~"

Guess I should get going then. It was just as Martinez stood up.

"Ah, that"s right. I"ll give this to you too." Enokida took out a new device from his skinny jean"s pocket. "The redback spider model transmitter listening device, version 2.0."

Martinez tilted his head in confusion. "Version 2.0? How is it different than the previous one?"

" – An affair, you say?"

The woman nodded after Banba asked that. "Yes. He seems to be meeting up with women somewhere……I would like you to look into it."

"Meeting up with women, huh……" After he muttered this Banba raised his voice. "Lin-chaan. Is the tea ready yet?"

"Shut it!" I"m not your secretary. Lin shoved the cup of tea towards the client while cursing that under his breath. "Here you go! Regular tea!"

The contents splashed over a bit the instant he placed it on the table so roughly. Banba chuckled while wiping it up with a tissue. "My apologies. He has not had a proper upbringing."

Lin huffed as he turned away before sitting next to Banba and crossed his legs.

According to their sudden guest"s, k.u.miko Izuku"s story, her husband Tadafumi is a rather normal company employee. k.u.miko is thirty-three, and Tadafumi is thirty-one years old. They have been married for four years and have had no children. k.u.miko has been supporting her husband as a housewife.

However about a half year ago there was an irregularity to her husband"s behavior.

"He is always late coming home."

He should be leaving work at nine in the evening at latest, yet there were multiple times he came home past the early hours of four o"clock in the morning. Whenever she asked for a reason she always gets, "I was with a fellow co-worker," or "I couldn"t turn down a client"s offer." There was even an increase of times of him leaving home saying he had business trips. k.u.miko, feeling doubtful, checked their room while her husband was out. And that was when she made her discovery.

"This was in the desk drawer……"

k.u.miko handed over several business cards to Banba. They had Club.Eve and a woman"s name written on each of them. From the looks of them, all were night club business cards.

"He has been late because he frequently been visiting this club."

And what of it? Lin whispered to himself while stifling a yawn. "It"s not that big of a deal hanging out at a cabaret club, right?"

"It"s three days a week? That"s abnormal!"

That was far too often. It pa.s.sed the category of spending time with a.s.sociates at work. This isn"t for the hostesses right? But where could the money come for that? k.u.miko managed their monthly wages thoroughly. Her husband had about 50,000 yen a month to spend however he wanted. k.u.miko becoming even more anxious just could not handle it anymore. So she then made her next course of action.

"I looked at my husband"s cell phone."

"……You"re kidding me." Lin made an apparent unimpressed expression. Even though they"re husband and wife is it really alright to do that? To h.e.l.l with privacy I guess.

"There are many names of women registered under his contacts."

Banba tilted his head. "Many names of women?"

"Aiko, Kaori, Maki." k.u.miko began to cite each of the girls" names. Does she have them all memorized in syllabary order? He was impressed. "Miyu, Yuri, Reina……And just in case, I have all their numbers as well."

"Jeez." Lin thoughtlessly spoke out loud. "Of course that"d make him want to cheat." When he whispered that Banba quickly smacked him on the head.

"Have you asked your husband about this club?"

"No, not at all." k.u.miko shook her head in denial. "However, I was concerned and I went to that club."

"Whoa, you really went that far?" Lin was shocked. To go to such lengths that has to be depressing or something.

"Did you enter the club?"

"No. So my husband wouldn"t leave right away, I hid nearby and watched. And sure enough my husband appeared. Two young women came out of the club. They got into the car and took off somewhere."

k.u.miko stated, "these are the photos from then." She handed them to him. Each of the photos showed the man and women harmoniously together.

"……How about you quit being a housewife and become a detective?" He mentioned that next. Banba glared him down with an expression saying "don"t say something ridiculous."

"I thought of getting into a taxi and following them, but I didn"t have the will to from the shock of it all, so I just went home."

"I am sure it must have been hard for you to see that." Lin snorted because of how Banba said that so insincerely.

"If my husband is really cheating or what his relationship is with the women……I want to know the truth. Please, can you look into it?"

How foolish, Lin thought. She should already know that her husband is just not into her. She just probably can"t accept the truth without definite evidence. She"s believing in any possibility despite her doubt towards her husband. What a troublesome woman.

"I will accept. Would two weeks be alright for the investigation period?"

k.u.miko nodded her approval. After inquiring for the details about the investigation methods and costs from start to finish she signed the doc.u.ments.

"Alright so in two weeks from now on July 14th I will give you my report for the results of the investigation."

Banba informed her.

k.u.miko finished with the legal formalities and bowed her head towards Banba before leaving the office. Lin sighed as he watched her back from the window.

"You don"t even have to do any investigation c.r.a.p." He can get why he came to cheating with a wife like that. "He"s guilty. Completely guilty."

"I reckon" about that." Banba seems to believe in the husband"s innocence. "Dontcha think it"s strange?"

"Strange?" He did not really think there was anything off. "Strange where?"

"The contact list. There was too many women"s names."

"Didn"t he just cheat with a bunch of women? Her husband is still around his thirties, so his s.e.xual needs are still pretty high."

"Dontcha reckon" investing money for a hostess he"d just be into one girl?" Though he asked him that, for Lin who had never payed for a hostess or had been interested into a particular woman it was a question he had difficulty answering. "Like h.e.l.l I"d know. You speaking from experience?"

"There are too many business cards."

There were different names on each of the three business cards k.u.miko brought. On one there was "Maki," the second one had "Yuri", and the third had "Aiko." They matched with the names k.u.miko recited like a spell earlier.

Aside from the women"s names on the business cards their e-mail addresses and telephone numbers were listed along with the name of the facility Club.Eve and its address.

Seeing that Banba was taken aback. "This Eve place……."

"You know it?"

Even though he asked Banba did not reply. Instead he began to make a call somewhere. "Ahh, h.e.l.lo? Yamato-kun?"

Yamato was the name of a young male acquaintance of his. He was a man who specialized in little tricks and made a living off as a pickpocket. Lin had been a victim of his in the past too before. He was skilled at what he did, but he could not eat off of that so he worked as a host as a side job.

"You know somethin" "bout a club called Eve? Ain"t that an affiliated store of yours?" The club Yamato works at should be Adams though. "Ah, so that is the case. You know the owner? Then I got a favor for ya……I got someone who wants to work at Eve, so can you introduce them so they can get "em hired?"

Yamato appeared to be at a disagreement as Banba pressed on with his request. After a few minutes the other seemed to finally cave in. Banba ended the call with a, "thank you."

"He said it is fine." Banba turned around towards Lin and gave him a smile. "Ain"t that good?"

"Ha?"

Good? What could be "good" for him?

As he made a dumbfounded expression Banba gave him a thumbs-up. "Good luck there, Lin-chan."

Bottom of Second Inning

" – What did ya say?" Saruwatari glared down the woman in front of him.

"Like I said," The woman repeated back in a bothersome manner while wiping down the counter. "We can"t hire you."

He made the attempt at contacting the mediators in Kitakyushu from the list he received from Nguyen. However, there were no mediators who were willing to lend an ear to him, and every one of them turned him away.

The last building was a darts bar called Lady Madonna in Konya city of the Kokura northern ward in Kitakyushu. The owner seemed to mediate jobs to killers. Lady Madonna quietly set up its store in an especially non-conspicuous place in this neighborhood aligned with nighttime establishments like cabaret clubs, brothels, and host clubs on the streets. It was an indecent bar like ones in America"s bad neighborhoods. There was a lack of uniformity with the brightly light red and blue neon lights. Several young people were playing at the three dartboards in the building.

For employees there was one woman at the counter. She appeared to be the owner. Her face and figure was that of a punk female. She had red-dyed long hair parted straight through the middle. She was wearing a corset camisole top and had spider tattoos on both of her bare shoulders. She was beautiful, but the heavy eye-liner surrounding her eyes gave off a strong impression that she was unapproachable.

Unlike the previous mediators, this female owner at least felt like hearing Saruwatari out. Saruwatari explained his circ.u.mstances to her and asked for help in getting work his way, but the woman rejected that instantly, "that"s impossible."

Not able to accept it he pressed for the reason behind it. "And why you says that?"

"Well," the woman put a cigarette in her mouth and lit it. "You have never done any jobs in this city before, right?"

Just as the woman stated he had never done a job in Kitakyushu before. Saruwatari"s debut was in Tokyo, so he had only carried out jobs given to him in the Kanto region.

"I been employed by Murder Inc. for seven years."

"Murder Inc.? ……Ahh, I"ve heard of the rumors once." The woman ridiculingly said while blowing out the white smoke. "They"re that company that will employ anyone if they even write their name in the company entrance exam, right?"

The woman made an amused smile when Saruwatari"s expression turned to one of offense. What an annoying woman. She"s makin" fun of me. That b.i.t.c.h. Saruwatari clicked his tongue.

"Without being introduced by someone else I can"t quite hire a nameless killer. Now then, go home already. You"re interfering with my work." The female told him while making a swiping motion with her hand as though to chase away a fly. His pride would not forgive him for backing down after being treated like that of course. The door slammed shut when Saruwatari left.

He sighed while walking down the street to the hotel he was staying at. It was a total loss. Even though he had gotten the list of mediators in the end he was not hired anywhere.

However, he had no other options in finding any other positions right now. He only could rely on this list. Guess I should go out a piece tomorrow and look "round in f.u.kuoka City then. This is like a salaryman searching "round for a job with a job advertis.e.m.e.nt in his hand. This is a joke. He walked through the Kokura Station plaza while thinking that over to himself. It was then.

" – Hey mister over there, you sure look rather depressed."

He heard a man"s voice.

He turned towards it. There sat a young man on the bench. His age was about the same as Saruwatari"s. He was wearing gla.s.ses. He had a deep blue jacket over his stripped shirt and thin necktie and was wearing eloquent white chino pants. The man was facing towards Saruwatari and was waving at him.

As if he would a.s.sociate with a strange man after not finding a job. He was not lucky today.

Saruwatari turned on his heels and began to start walking again when –

"Eh? You"re going to ignore me? Wait a second."

The man followed him.

Saruwatari grimaced. Who the h.e.l.l is this guy? So creepy. He picked up his pace in an attempt to get away from him.

Yet even so the man pursued after him.

"Aren"t you mean? You shouldn"t treat a friend you haven"t seen in a long time like that."

The word "friend" catching his attention, Saruwatari immediately stopped in his tracks. Turning around again, he closely looked at the man"s face.

"It"s been awhile, Sarucchi."

The man gave him a toothy grin.

He remembered him. There could only be one person who would call him "Sarucchi." "You"re – Nao?"

"You finally remembered."

Naoya Nitta. He was one of his cla.s.smates from high school. He was from the same baseball club as him, and they were batterymates. It was a surprise for him to meet him at a time and place like this.

"What are you up to now?"

"Work. I live here now." Nitta said and smiled at him. "Since we"re just standing around talking, how about we go eat at Sukesan?"

After getting off the pedestrian deck at the Kokura Station south exit and walking alongside the monorail, the Heiwadori Station came into view. Just around the entrance of the arcade in the Uomachi shopping district there was a Sukesan restaurant. It was a very familiar udon shop to the Kitakyushu residence. Saruwatari ordered hiyashi yamakake udon, while Nitta ordered yaki udon.

Though they were a battery in the same baseball club it did not mean he was particularly close with Nitta. They only a.s.sociated with each other in club activities. Furthermore they have not met in the past seven years since his time in high school, so he was not sure what to talk about. Saruwatari remained quiet and slurped his noodles instead. He felt like he was nearly suffocating, completely uneasy.

"……By the way."

Nitta did not appear to feel that way however. His eyes narrowed, and he asked getting straight to the heart of the matter playfully.

"Sarucchi, you"re a killer?"

"Buh" He unintentionally spat out the water he had in his mouth. He questioned back while choking over his own breath. "W-why do you kn-"

"I heard the rumors in Kokura. That a young killer is going around to all the mediators and trying to self promote himself. That"s you, right?"

Nitta mentioned the term "killer" with a calm expression. That meant this man was also part of this industry (the underground world). Could he be the same as me?

"……What are you?"

"I apologize for not mentioning it earlier." Nitta corrected his casual speech to a former tone. "Let me introduce myself."

He sat up straight and proper and handed over his business card. "Killer Consultant, Naoya Nitta."

"A killer consultant?"

"As the characters imply, I play the role of consulting a.s.sa.s.sins. That sort of thing." He explained while slurping up his udon. "All killers come to do work with various thoughts regarding it. "I want to make good money efficiently," "I want to become famous," or "I want a job to feel the thrill." Providing precise advice to grant each of those needs is my job. As you can see, I have quite a bit of skill. I hire many popular killers after all."

Who knew in seven years the pitcher and the catcher from the same baseball club in high school would meet again as a killer and a consultant. Could this be coincidence, or could this be the world is smaller than it seems?

"But more than that, Sarucchi, you"re looking for a job, right? If you"d like, how about following through with some of advice. I have connections around this area, and I may be able to introduce you to some of them."

It did not matter if they were fellow cla.s.smates; he was a someone with an occupation he knew nothing about. There was no way he could believe him. However, he was intrigued at the word connections. "What"s important is connections." The words of his superior rang in his mind. He felt if he let this chance go he may not find a job again, so he wavered.

He decided to talk with Nitta about his experiences up until now while he thought it over. About entering Murder Inc after graduating high school. About working as a killer. About working those seven years and quitting just the other day.

"You quit the company? Why?"

"It was h.e.l.la boring." He spits back.

Saruwatari felt like he was a boxer going up against a sandbag everyday at that company. It was not even sparring or even facing off in a match, it was just continuously hitting an unresistant black ma.s.s. That was how he felt. He was just killing the most delicate of human beings. His opponents never once were able to fight him back.

"I wanted to go up against much stronger guys. If I can, I wanna fight another killer as me."

"I see. So you became a freelancer and tried to look for a mediator, but no one was hiring anywhere, right?"

"d.a.m.n none of them said they hire a nameless guy." But he could not accept it. He found it wrong. It should be the same as saying professional umpires were just as excellent nameless. It should be obvious killers should not be known by name.

"Shouldn"t be nameless = excellent?"

Saruwatari had not been known by anyone or even slipped up once; he just followed through with his jobs. That was how he was nameless. Wouldn"t it be a disqualification for an a.s.sa.s.sin"s name to be widely known when they need to be secretive?

Nitta gave a bitter smile at Saruwatari discussing that with him.

"I think you have a principle to your sense of being a killer. That train of thought would be correct if you were employed by some organization. But not selling yourself out by giving a name as a freelancer won"t do. You won"t pa.s.s it around in this city especially. How many killers do you think there are in f.u.kuoka?"

"Like I know," he cut the answer short. "I don"t know."

"That"s right, you don"t know. Anyway there"s a lot. So much so that they say 3% of the population is made up of killers. How can you stand out among them? How can you leave an impact? That"s what is important." Nitta spoke with a serious expression. ""Rumors" become "reputation," affecting your "renown." And if it becomes great enough then you become a "legend.""

All the work done at a company up until this point would not help at all here. To f.u.kuoka even Saruwatari was a nameless newcomer. He had to toss away what he had of his career and start from zero. How interesting. Ain"t this a step up? He felt like the boredom that coiled around him for these past few years had disappeared in an instant.

His whole body shook. I"ll definitely rise up to the top, the edges of Saruwatari"s mouth curled up into a smile.

"Say, Sarucchi." Nitta was grinning as well. "Won"t you work with me?"

"Ah? With you?"

"Correct. I"ll make you into the number one killer in f.u.kuoka as a consultant. The strongest "killer of killers"."

He had always been a man he could not read. He was sociable, but he had no idea what he was thinking inside his head. He occasionally felt a sort of eeriness behind his smile. And that atmosphere surrounding him was still going strong even now.

His eyes shone a dangerous gleam within his gla.s.ses.

"Let"s team up again. The two of us. Like in the past."