Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

Top of Extra Tenth Inning

It was four in the morning.

The area was still dark, and there was no pedestrian traffic in Nakasu. Genzo begins preparing to close the store earlier than usual even though he could earn more profits.

Today was July 15th. It was the day of the finale of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa, Oiyama. In the past Genzo would partic.i.p.ate in the festival as a carrier, but at his age he could not anymore. He had gotten physically weaker and his lower back pain had worsened, so he had retired from partic.i.p.ating in Yamakasa. But each year he would not miss watching it.

It was when he was going to move the food cart after closing the shop. His cell phone vibrated. He had an e-mail from an unknown address. There was no subject. "Tell the Niwaka Samurai. We have his friend." The text stated. And there were a few files attached in it.

"Wha-"

Genzo opened the files and was shocked. There were two image files. One showed a male body. It was a young man with long, brown hair. He was sitting, slumped against a wall covered in graffiti.

"Could this be…Lin?"

The second photo was a close up of the upper half of the body. The face had no trace of its original form. The eyes were gouged out, and the ears had been clipped off. Its entire body was b.l.o.o.d.y.

"No -" He covers his face with his left hand. It can"t be. He had thought he was late in getting back to him, but for this to happen to him.

He called Banba immediately. However, he could not get in touch with him. That was to be expected. Today was the Oiyama.

Then he had to meet up with him and tell him directly. Genzo ran off, leaving the food cart where it was. He pa.s.sed Meiji street and crossed over the bridge to head to the starting point of Oiyama, Kushida Shrine.

When Genzo arrived, the street was already packed with people. The decorated floats lined the street, and the carriers of the floats were nearby preparing for their turn. The air was mixed with hot enthusiasm and antic.i.p.ation. Paper lanterns and food stalls were s.p.a.ced out on the side of the road, and observers of the event crowded the area with cameras in hand.

Genzo weaved his way through the wave of men wearing the happi jackets, searching for Banba. After pushing through he saw the nagare group Banba belonged to. Everyone was wearing their happi coats. He spotted Banba among them. He had his hair neatly smoothed back unlike his usual ruffled style and was wearing a headband. He was wearing a white happi that was left open in the front, a shimekomi of the same color with a straw rope in it to use when they carried the float, as well as deep blue kyahan and jikatabi for footwear. He was dressed fully prepared to partic.i.p.ate in the festival as usual and was doing stretches while chatting with others in his group.

"Banba!"

Banba turned around at his loud yell. "Huh? Old man?"

"Enough of that. Get over here!"

He grabbed him by his arm and dragged him to a place with less people.

Banba was baffled. "What"s got you so bent out of shape?"

"L-Lin is -" He told him as he regulates his breathing. "Somethin" terrible happened to Lin."

"……To Lin-chan?"

Genzo explained the details and showed him the e-mail.

"What"s this….."

Naturally Banba was also at a loss of words seeing the violent imagery in the photo.

"Looks like his eyes was crushed and his ears cut off. I don"t know what sc.u.m even did this……"

He was only left with the regrets. He should not have let Lin go.

After reading the text in the e-mail Banba turned on his heel. "……It"s too late."

He had been severely hurt and major blood loss. Lin could not be saved. If he let Banba go there it would be another repeat of Lin. That was what he felt. He did not want the same regret for him again. "Lin is already dead. You ain"t gonna do nothing by goin" to save him."

Banba was not that dense. He should already know that without Genzo telling him so. He was going even though he knew that fully. That was the kind of man he is.

"……It don"t matter whether he"s alive or dead."

Banba placed a hand on Genzo"s shoulder.

"It"d be lonely for him to be left there on his own." Banba smiled. "I"m goin" to get him."

Bottom of Extra Tenth Inning

There was a large crowd of people in the neighborhood of Kushida Shrine. The festival was about to begin, so the men wearing happi were crammed together in the street. Observers were lined up on the side of the road. Saruwatari walked by pushing through the ma.s.ses while dragging a large traveling suitcase.

The time was just before five am. The area was still dim and dark.

The place they told the Niwaka Samurai to go to was at a construction site near the shrine. He pulled aside the tape, ignoring the no trespa.s.sing warning.

The building was covered with black thin sheets, seemingly at the very start of construction with nothing but the iron bars as the framework set up. With no ceiling he could see the night sky. The only objects in the area were the materials, and the outlook was fine and s.p.a.cious.

The Niwaka Samurai had been waiting for him already. He was there standing in the center of the inorganic s.p.a.ce. Saruwatari was taken aback by the sight of him. He was wearing a white happi and shimekomi. He had a headband on his head, and a rope was dangling from his waist. He was dressed the same as the men he saw earlier. This man must have planned to partic.i.p.ate in the festival as well then. Even so he found he was not taking this seriously for him to come see him, who had his friend as a hostage, like this.

Just as the rumors said, half of the Niwaka Samurai"s face was covered with a red mask. His height was between 170 and 180 centimeters, and his hair was black. He matched the characteristics. Saruwatari was certain he was without a doubt the real one. He knew from experience. The man had a different atmosphere around him compared to all the other killers he had faced up until this point, regardless how ridiculous he looked right now. Even unarmed he could feel the difference.

"Finally the real one appears, huh." He smiled underneath his kerchief. Naturally after sending him the photo of the atrocious body of his friend the Niwaka Samurai could not ignore it. "You sure irritated the h.e.l.l outta me."

"Where"s the man from the photo?" The Niwaka Samurai questioned him. He said it with a low, cold voice. He did not appear to be in a good mood.

"Dead. He"s in here."

He kicked the traveling suitcase he brought over to him. The wheels on it spin and then stopped right in front of the Niwaka Samurai. Inside was the stand-in body and the j.a.panese sword he had on him.

The Niwaka Samurai opened the case and checked its contents. He viewed his friend, now deformed. And then Saruwatari saw the edges of his mouth curl into a faint smile.

He frowned deeply. "What"re you smilin" for?"

"Nothing much."

The Niwaka Samurai fully smiled as he said this. What a creepy dude.

"Well, whatever." Saruwatari took out his weapon he had hidden underneath his hooded jacket. He then pointed to the j.a.panese sword with his chin. "Go and pick that up already."

The Niwaka Samurai"s response was cold in contrast to Saruwatari"s provocation for a fight. "The Yamakasa is "bout to start. I ain"t got time to play with you."

"Then give up on the festival." He had no intention on letting him get away. Saruwatari stood in the way, blocking the exit. "If you"re so persistent on it, then go after you kill me."

"Ten seconds!"

They heard the voice of the announcer counting down the beginning of the festival from the direction of the shrine.

The Niwaka Samurai seemeds to have gotten in the spirit to fight him. He picked up the j.a.panese sword out from the case and faced Saruwatari.

"Five seconds!"

The countdown proceeded.

It was about time. Saruwatari could not suppress himself from grinning. His eyes were alight and deeply gaze at the other. He antic.i.p.ated it excitingly, and his breathing picked up.

He made a smooth exhale and then stopped.

"Yaaaah!"

The men"s shouts resounded around them. The festival had begun. The two men moved with that as their signal. They pulled out their swords and stepped forward. Saruwatari was slightly faster.

There was a sharp metallic sound. The two crossed blades; they glinted in the darkness.

"Oissaa! Oissaa!"

They could hear the yells of encouragement to carry the floats incessantly. There was the raise of cheering and taiko drums playing.

Unyielding to the fast tempo, Saruwatari swung his sword in quick succession. He did not give him the chance for a counter attack. As the Niwaka Samurai stepped back he blocked the attack made to mow him down.

He is definitely the real thing. He thinks. This man is strong. Stronger than anyone I"ve faced up until now.

Saruwatari pushed back with great force, but he did not let down his guard. He dodged Saruwatari"s fierce attack with impossible moves and awaited for a chance to deliver a counter attack. All while judging Saruwatari"s strength and exhausting him. As expected, he was f.u.kuoka"s number one "killer" of killers. His dynamic vision in seeing through his blade work was good and his reflexes in dodging his attacks were good; he was a formidable opponent.

"Oissaa! Oissaa!"

The shouts got louder. The floats had left the compound of the shrine and were spreading out into the city. The men pa.s.sed by on a nearby street as they raised their voices.

Saruwatari pulled back his ninja sword from swinging, gripped it underhand and made a sharp thrust. The Niwaka Samurai used the momentum to his advantage to made a cut as he bent over to dodge the attack to his upper body.

Saruwatari made distance once while preparing for the attack with the scabbard he held in his left hand. This is getting fun. Saruwatari licked his lips as he gazed at the strong opponent in front of him.

It is then.

"That"s far enough!"

"Don"t move!"

They suddenly heard the voices of multiple men in the area. The two of them stopped and turned their gazes to the direction of the voices. Men in black surround Saruwatari and the Niwaka Samurai. From the look of it, there were roughly more than ten people. All of them were holding guns and had them pointed at the Niwaka Samurai.

And from the group Li appeared.

"……So that"s how it is." Saruwatari whispers. He recalls the leg brace equipped with the GPS. It seems he had been followed by the Kakyuu Group.

"Discard your weapons and put up both your hands."

The Niwaka Samurai obediently followed Li"s orders. He was subdued by the men and got captured, unresisting. Out front there were three high quality, black vehicles parked. Li"s subordinates covered the Niwaka Samurai"s head with a sack and put him into one of them.

"Hold on a sec!"

Saruwatari raised his voice to stop them. But the men did not. They pushed the Niwaka Samurai into the backseat and took off.

Saruwatari was dumbfounded as he watched the black car grow smaller. This was the second time his prey had been s.n.a.t.c.hed from him. He shook in fury. s.h.i.t. He clicked his tongue. Everyone is getting in my way.

"……What"s the meaning of this?" He bit back at Li, suppressing his anger. "You guys are the one who asked for his a.s.sa.s.sination, right? Why"d you interfere?"

"The circ.u.mstances have changed. We received the order from the president to bring him in alive."

Don"t f.u.c.k with me. He kicked a nearby metal bar.

"You worked splendidly this time." Saruwatari snorted at Li"s grateful statement. I haven"t done anything since you s.n.a.t.c.hed him up at the perfect moment.

"……What"re you gonna do with him?"

"When the president returns he will be executed before us. The president has said he wants to kill him with his own hand."

"When will he be back?"

"Who knows." Li tilted his head. "He has been with a lover in a hotel since last night, so I am unsure."

After he said that Li turned on his heel. He got into the car with a few other men and left. The ones remaining were Saruwatari and two of Li"s subordinates.

"Here is the promised amount."

The men carried out a duralumin case from the trunk of the other car. They placed it at Saruwatari"s feet.

"Check it."

They urged him to do so, but Saruwatari did not move.

"……You won"t look?"

"Yeah." He did not have much interest in money. He did not care if all of it was fake or if everything was just sc.r.a.ps of paper.

More than that,

"Where are you bringing the Niwaka Samurai to?"

He questioned the men. He could not just withdraw after coming all this way. They both shook their head.

"As if we"d just tell you."

"Yeah, our lips are sealed."

Of course they"d say that. He thought. They should not readily talk about the organization"s secrets.

"Your lips are sealed, you say?" Saruwatari grinned and asked back.

"That"s right."

"How about we test that?"

His right hand moved and swung the ninja sword quickly. He stuck the tip of the blade to the man"s lips. He then moved it to the right and sliced the right corner of the man"s mouth. Blood poured out.

The other man was taken aback. He cried out and ran. Saruwatari beat him to it and blocked the exit.

He stalked up to the man and asked the same question.

"Your lips are sealed, you say?"

The man"s complexion changed.

"I got it. I"ll tell. I"ll tell you!"

He seemed to get it. He lost his footing and tumbled back on the cold concrete.

"I-in Susaki City, we have a building we use. We have a soundproof floor there, and we often use it for torture and executions. The Niwaka Samurai will likely be taken there."

After he heard the address of the building from the man Saruwatari sliced open his throat.

It was past five in the morning with the area starting to become brighter. Nitta was in a hotel connected to the Ca.n.a.l City. He was in a suite room on the eleventh floor. He was waiting for someone, laying down on the king size bed in the s.p.a.cious, high-cla.s.s room. When he turned on the television the broadcast of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa was on. He was not particularly interested, but he had nothing else to do, so he decided to watch it.

She should be here soon. It was when he considered this. He heard a knock. It was a sound of a window being tapped on and not a door. When Nitta looked outside he saw a woman in a bathrobe waving at him. Her long hair was caught by the wind and was waving about restlessly.

Nitta"s eyes widened. This was the eleventh floor. She had asked him to wait for him in this room so he did, but he did not expect for the person he was waiting on to appear from there. The woman had tied curtains together and used it in the place of rope to descend down from the highest floor. She did not appear to be wearing anything else underneath her bathrobe.

"This is quite the shocking entrance. In many ways."

Nitta opened the window while bitterly smiling and invited her in.

"Since you called me to the hotel so suddenly, I was in a bit of antic.i.p.ation. Yet this is just some help with your work."

"My apologies." The woman moved down into the room and smiled at him.

Her name was Sayuri. She was a killer he is acquainted with. She was quite a few years older than Nitta, and a rather beautiful woman.

"How did it go? a.s.sa.s.sinating the president of the Kakyuu Group."

He asked her while closing the window. She had just finished her job from the floor at the very top.

"It went great. In just another thirty minutes the subordinates waiting in front of the room will find his body." After answering him with a composed expression she asks Nitta. "And how about the articles in question?"

"I have them prepared."

He told her and handed over the uniform for the hotel employees. They were for her escape.

After taking them in hand, Sayuri unhesitatingly took off her bathrobe in front of Nitta.

"Wa-wait. Please don"t change here." He quickly averted his gaze.

"But I don"t have time."

Sayuri was calm. She efficiently put on the uniform.

"Say, Sayuri-san." Nitta addressed her while still facing away. "Would you mind taking one more job? I was asked for another murder."

It was from the day before. Nitta had received information that there was a live witness of the Niwaka Samurai and took off to confirm it. The witness was a woman and she was in prison. She brought up the terms of exchange with Nitta in their meeting. In exchange for telling him the characteristics of the Niwaka Samurai she wanted a certain man dead. He was on a time crunch.

"It"s a simple job and easy money."

"No." That was her immediate reply. "I"m tired for today. Nitta-kun, since you do nothing but use others, how about killing someone yourself once in a while?"

"I"m not good at killing people. Besides, I"m more suited for my current position."

He gave directions to others and they followed through. Nitta preferred his current position where he could do as he liked with people he was no match for in strength. It was fun for him and he had less danger in losing his life.

"You"re skilled and if you"d work together with me it would be fun. Won"t you use this opportunity to pair up with me?"

"I like being on my own."

"You won"t ever get married like that."

"And I don"t want to pair up with some creepy guy."

"Ahhh, I got turned down." Nitta says jokingly.

"Thank you for today. You saved me."
After she finished changing Sayuri, now as feigning as an employee, went to leave.

"Sayuri-san." Nitta stopped her and asked. He had a slight interest in it. "Who was it? The one who gave you the insane request to a.s.sa.s.sinate the head of the Kakyuu Group?"

Sayuri smiled and only answered with, "an insane man," before closing the room"s door.

Now alone again, Nitta lied down face up on the bed. As he was watching the television he pondered over who would request such a task. Abruptly, Saruwatari"s face came to his mind. He had gone to go kill the Niwaka Samurai and had ceased contacting him. I wonder if he died. He considered. Even if he was alive he hated killing small fry. He would probably not accept it.

He called over to the next killer that comes to his mind.

"h.e.l.lo, Gondo-san? It is Nitta."

After conversing for a bit, he brought up the main topic at hand. "By the way, I have a job for you……"

Gondo agreed readily. [If it"s a request from you, then I"ll gladly accept.]

"I want you to kill a certain man."

After he told him that he typed on his tablet with one hand and sent an e-mail.

"I sent you the photo of the man to your computer."

Gondo seemed to have checked his e-mail right away. He sounded surprised to see the man in the attached photo. [This man is – ]

"……Do you know him?"

[Yes.] Gondo confided to him. [He is a shop attendant of a convenient store I go to often.]