Warning: Mentions of rape. Non-explicate.
Top of Sixth Inning
Yusuke Harada made the young woman they purchased from the human trafficking broker useless in one night. Like this no matter how many women are out there in the world it wouldn"t be enough, Munakata clicked his tongue.
[Munakata-san, I finished.] He had that call, and when he went to his residence the woman was dead on top of the bed. Her hands and legs were tied. Was she killed after she was violated, or was she violated after she was killed? He did not know which, but he did not want to know. Either way, it was apparent this man"s desire could not be sated unless he killed a woman.
"You satisfied?"
When he asked, Yusuke chuckled. "Well, for a bit anyway."
Past three o"clock late in the night, he stuffed the woman"s body into a large suit case and packed it into the trunk of the car. He then headed to the Tenjin business hotel. Reiko was waiting for him in room 602. Her hair was styled like a hostess"s, and she was wearing a slightly exposing, high priced one piece dress.
The room had a single bed, and a man he did not know was asleep on the bed. He was in his underwear.
"Who is this man?"
"Don"t know. I caught him quite drunk in Nakasu. His license said he"s a Takuya Itou."
Reiko asked the dead drunk man out and probably got in the room that way. And then she put him to sleep. She excelled at using drugs.
"Did you bring the woman"s body?"
"Yeah, in here." He opened the trunk. Just as he said to Reiko he brought the woman Yusuke finished playing with.
Seeing the folded, rigid body, Reiko scowled. "……That man is the worst."
"So, what are we going to do? With this body."
"We"ll have it rest here." Reiko pointed to the bed. "We"ll have him bear the crimes. All of the rape incidents that perverted son caused."
Bottom of Sixth Inning
His head was heavy. It was incredibly heavy. It felt like his brain tissue had turned into lead.
When he opened his eyes, Saitou was on a bed in a hotel. Right now it was six o"clock on his digital watch. He must have drank too much yesterday. He did not have any memory in the middle of it. His body was still shaky; apparently he was still not sober.
And suddenly something like the shape of a human arm grazed by his vision. Gazing over, a woman was asleep next to him. It can"t be. No, no, no. There"s no way. To have slept with a woman he did not know for a night. He did not remember any of it.
Just who is this woman? Peering at her face, Saitou gave a scream. The woman"s eyes were open wide. She was dead.
"W-what-"
How did this happen? Who is this woman? Actually, why is she dead? He did not remember. He could not remember. He was confused.
He instantly became sober. Jumping off the bed, Saitou checked his surroundings. He was in his underwear. The clothes he wore were scattered throughout the room. He fished through his jacket pocket. In there were his wallet and cellphone. There were also four business cards in there. Three were from clubs in Nakasu, and the other he received from Jiro the day before. He did remember visiting those clubs, but he did not recall anything after that. Remember, you gotta remember it. He desperately put his throbbing mind to work.
He was super drunk last night. He was unable to walk, and he hunched over in the street. Gradually the events of the night before come back to him. Actually after that he felt he was called out by someone. "Are you alright?" She said. She looked like a hostess at a glance. She was an elegant and pretty woman. He was told she would take the taxi with him, and she brought him up to the hotel room. After that he lost consciousness. Perhaps he brought the woman to the hotel due to his momentum under the influence. And then I killed her? Whoa, there"s no way, right? He got frightened.
He glanced over at the woman"s face. Huh, Saitou tilted his head. No. It"s not this woman. Her face is quite different from the woman who brought me here. It did not seem it was an issue with makeup. Both were beautiful people, but their features were different. The woman he met last night had a long face, but this woman had a round face.
Besides, she was quite young. She still might not be even in her twenties. The woman last night seemed more adult-like. Then who is this woman? Where did she come from and why is she dead here? He only grew more confused. Saitou was dumbfounded. Though right now he thought he could not stay here. At this rate he would be caught as a murderer. He had to get out of here fast. Putting his clothes on in a hurry, Saitou fled from the hotel with his shoes in one hand.
The following day, while looking down on the killer curled up sleeping like a cat on top of the sofa in the Banba Detective Office, Banba gave a bitter smile. What type of bodyguard is this? He"s sleepin" deeply.
If he woke up it will be troublesome again. He would persistently question him on where he was going and could end up going with him. So while he had the chance Banba headed out. Where he was heading towards was the internet cafe Enokida staying in.
When Banba came in Enokida was just hacking into the home page of the Meteorological Agency. He was playing around changing the weather reports in Okinawa all to "snow" for a week. He was probably on his break right now. Just what was so fun about it was lost to Banba.
"Ah, Banba-san." Giving a glance towards Banba, Enokida said cheerfully. "You were still alive."
"Somehow." He sighed. "A killer dropped by my place though."
"Whoaa, that"s tough. What are the casualties?"
"Took a blow to my food supply."
"Your food supply? Was it a starvation tactic?"
"I"m completely out. He"s a fella who eats. Two bowls of ramen and three cups of rice. I"m out of the mentaiko we bought yesterday."
"……What did that killer come to do?"
"He got the request to kill me, but seems he gone and had a dispute with his employer on money so he came here to protect me. He"s sleepin" at my place right "bout now."
"Sleeping? Not you put him to sleep?"
"Sleepin". Fast asleep."
"Just who is he?"
"I thought to have you look that up."
"Ahh, I see. So that"s it. What kind of guy is he?"
"He"s still young. He"s a man but dresses like a woman."
"Ah," Enokida raised his voice as though he remembered something. "I may know that killer."
As expected. He"s a fella that knows anything, he admired to himself.
"Isn"t this him?" Enokida took out the data concerning the man. His name was Xianming Lin and his hobby was cross dressing.
"Noriaki Hayashi?"
"Xianming Lin. In official doc.u.ments he"s Taiwanese, but it seems he was born in a farm village in China originally. There was a man looking for this person just a little while ago. I just looked him up."
Actually that killer had said yesterday that he was attacked by a man on his way home when he went to buy the mentaiko.
"You know quite a bit. Even the cross dressin"."
"It"s because there was a receipt for makeup in his wallet. Like lipstick and fake eyelashes."
"So how about his employer?"
"Who knows. I don"t know to that extent. Shall I look it up?"
"Nah. I"m gonna ask the person himself."
Handing over his payment, Banba left.
When he got back to the office,
"Welcome home."
A voice called out to him. Lin still remained.
"I"m home."
"A guest came by."
"A guest?" Is it a client for a job?
"Over there," Lin pointed with his chin. On the other side of the part.i.tion was a man in black clothes. His arms and legs were both tied by a long extension cord, and blood was flowing from his nose. It was likely this man was a killer that came to kill Banba and was beaten by Lin. He could imagine it with ease.
"Thank you for being so hospitable."
"Should I have brought out tea?"
Lin laughed.
"Say, what should we do with this guy? Kill him? How about we cut off his head and send it to his employer? With the refrigerated courier service."
The killer was frightened. He must not be well acquainted with this sort of job.
"Let the fella go."
When Banba said that Lin made a face like a child that had his toy taken away. Reluctantly he unraveled the extension cord around his feet. And then he got close to the killer"s face and threatened, "Tell him. That it"s useless doing this. Hurry and pay up."
By "him" he probably meant Lin"s employer. It seemed it was true they had a dispute about payment.
After the killer ran off, Banba went straight for the topic at hand. "By the way, Xianming Lin-kun."
Suddenly being called by his name, Lin"s eyes widened. "Why do you know my name?"
"Looked it up, I did."
"Just when I wondered where you ran off to you went and looked up something so pointless?"
"There are a lot of things I wanna ask you, but will you answer honestly?"
"Depends on the question." Lin answered back bluntly.
Banba started his questioning without concern. "Why did you become a killer?"
"It"s for money. Money. Of course it"s money."
"Money, huh……" With how hungry he was yesterday he did not think he lived an extravagant life. "By chance do you have debt?"
"Well, something like that."
Then this made it fast.
"If I said I"d pay that debt in exchange, what you"d ya do?"
Lin"s expression turned serious. "What do you mean?"
"Do a trade with me."
"A trade?"
"I"ll pay the price you give for the information you have."
How about it? He asked. Lin fell silent. He was probably calculating the advantages and disadvantages in his head. After a while he spoke. "If I get another 5,000,000 then I"ll be free."
"5,000,000. Is cash fine?" Banba opened a safe in the corner of the room and took out five stacks of bills. It was the money he received from Shigematsu. He piles up the 5,000,000 yen in front of Lin. After Lin confirmed each stack, Lin nodded. Negotiations were complete.
"First, can you introduce yourself?"
Lin snorted. "You know already. Since you looked it up."
"Your age?"
"Nineteen."
"Where are you employed?"
"The Kakyuu Group."
"The kah-kew group?" A gang organization? It was a name he did not hear before.
"It"s a Yakuza group excommunicated from the Chinese mafia family. It"s that so-called multinational mafia."
"What is the Kakyuu Group"s main source of income? Drugs? Weapons?"
"Humans."
"I got ya; human trafficking, that right?"
"I"m not involved with that so I don"t know the specifics. I just receive requests and kill them. And only repeating that do I receive money."
He moved on to the next question. "When did you become a killer?"
"I was hired by the Kakyuu Group two years ago. I underwent training since I was nine."
"Training?"
"The objective of human trafficking is not just for internal organs. They gather a lot of kids, discipline them and make them into soldiers or killers."
"That means you was one of those that gone through it?"
"That"s right. The Kakyuu group raise the organization"s killers out of their own expense."
"Your j.a.panese is good. Where did you learn it?"
"I was forced to learn it. I took cla.s.ses for j.a.panese and English in training. Besides I lived in j.a.pan for two years and use j.a.panese not just within the group."
"Then you converse with people of the group?"
"People from one part. I"ve gone in and out of the office before."
"Last question." He took out the photo from inside his desk. "Do you know the man in this photo?"
It was the photo of mayor Harada he received from Shigematsu. When he pointed to the skin-headed man that was only shown from the back,
"This guy," Lin"s eyes widened largely. After that he glared at the photo as though he was looking at a pest. "It"s Zhang."
"Zhang?" So he was an acquaintance then.
"It"s my employer. He"s a subordinate of the Kakyuu Group. He"s wearing a poor taste of a suit, right? He"s always like that."
"There ain"t no mistake it"s that man?"
"Yeah, without a doubt. Since I"ve always thought to someday pierce a knife into the back of his head like this."
I see, Banba hummed. It would be natural to be killed if he possessed the photo of the secret meeting between the new mafia and the mayor. With this he had grasped a great deal of information.
Lin was in a great mood, having earned money through unthinkable means. Now there was no need to heed Zhang"s orders. Meaning it was no longer necessary to receive payment from Zhang, and there was no reason to protect the strange detective Banba. Then all he had to do was pay back the debt right away and return to his country. His family was also waiting for him.
When he left the office,
"If there is any trouble, you can always give a call. I"ll be of help."
Banba told him, and he was given his business card. It was the business card written with [Representative of the Banba Detective Office, Zenji Banba.] It was the exact same as the one he received from Zhang.
"Don"t need it." Lin did not take it. He already had that business card and even if he did not have it he did not need it.
"Dontcha be so hesitant and just take it."
"I"m not being hesitant. I"m saying I won"t have anything for me to be saved by you."
"I don"t get you." Saying nothing but exclamations, Banba spread out both his hands. "Whatcha reckon" a killer needs?"
"Haa?" What a killer needs? It was obvious. "Of course that"d be strength."
"No, that ain"t it." Banba shrugged his shoulders. "Here"s a hint. It"s somethin" needed in baseball too."
"I don"t know what you mean." Lin spit out and turned his back to Banba. He hated riddles.
He decided upon returning home to change into a suit and head towards Zhang"s office. He got on the train of the Kagoshima main line heading towards Kokura from Hakata station, and just as he got off at Kashii station he got a call. It was from Zhang.
[Did you kill the detective?]
"No," Lin did not suppress his laugh. "I won"t be taking any more jobs from you."
[What"s this now? Aren"t you in quite the good mood."
"I got 5,000,000. Now the debt is fully payed. I"m a completely free person now."
[Huh, is that it?] Zhang"s response was less than he expected. [With your att.i.tude it seems you haven"t seen the news yet.]
"News?" What is he talking about? "When you say news, what kind of news?"
[Well whatever. You"d be happier not knowing.]
And there the call was dropped.
What does that man want to say? Lin tilted his head in confusion.
Once returning home, Lin turned on his TV right away. It was a local news program, and the announcer was reading off a script. There was an accident caused by drunk driving, a high schooler"s disappearance, and after that –
[The next news. This morning the body of a woman was found in a hotel in f.u.kuoka City. It has been discovered that the ident.i.ty of the body is the Chinese exchange student in f.u.kuoka City, Qiaomei Lin.]
"Eh"
Lin"s eyes widened.
"Qiaomei." It was his younger sister"s name. "There"s no way."
No, it can"t be. That"s not possible. He hastily called Zhang. His hands shook.
Zhang answered immediately. [I thought it was about time you would give a call.]
"What"s the meaning of this. This Qiaomei Lin -"
[It is your genuine, little sister.]
"Th-that can"t be…….Why is Qiaomei in j.a.pan?"
[Just like you it is because through human trafficking. She was bought by an abnormally perverted kid and made a toy of.]
"He bought Qiaomei?" Lin raised his voice. "Didn"t you promise not to touch my family?!"
[Are you an idiot? You think a person who does not follow the law could keep a promise?]
His body flared up in a rage. He was beyond rotten.
"Who," he forced out while crushing down his anger. "Who bought Qiaomei?"
[I can"t say that. It"d be a complication of confidentiality.]
"I"ll kill him. I"m going to kill him." Lin bore his teeth and yelled. "You and the b.a.s.t.a.r.d that did this to Qiaomei; I"m going to kill all of you."
[Ahh, I"ll tell you one other thing.] Zhang warded it off with a nonchalant voice. [Your mother died five years ago from illness. So about the rest of the 1,000,000 you"ve conscientiously been saving up every month, all of that went into our organization"s pockets.]
He had no words to reply back with.
[I warned you about it though. That if you make light of adults you"ll face the consequences.]
"…….Just you wait there; I"m going to go kill you now." He cut the call.
He took a taxi while still wearing women"s clothing and headed up to Haruyoshi. When he arrived at the targeted multi-tenant building, Lin got out of the car, tossing a ten-thousand bill to the drive after saying he did not need any change, and then ran up the building"s stairs. He climbed to the fourth floor as his hurried heels clicked off them and then with the same vigorousness he rushed into the office.
In the office there were five men wearing business suits. They were Zhang"s lackeys. They were lounging back idly talking on the sofa. He did not see Zhang. He was probably in the center room.
At the entrance of Lin in woman"s clothing, the lackeys were taken aback. They squinted, wondering who this woman was. One of them approached Lin while giving a bitter smile.
"What"s wrong miss? Have you mistaken the wrong floor? If you were looking for a beauty salon, it"s the second floor."
Lin made his move without answering back to the man"s words. Taking out his hidden knife, he slit open the man"s throat. Blood sprayed forth and stained Lin"s blouse red.
"Who the h.e.l.l are you?!" The men yell. "What are you doing?!"
Each of the men reached for their pockets. They were probably going to take out their hand guns. In that interval, he approached another man and slashed his stomach. He took the gun from the man. It was a Chinese model gun with a suppressor attached and a star mark carved into the grip. While using the man"s body as a shield he faced the remaining three men and shot. It had been a while since he used a gun, but he was far superior. He hit the first two in the head and the last one in the heart.
The office"s walls and floors, and his own clothes, were all covered in blood. He kicked open the door to the next room with that bloodstained appearance. And in there was indeed Zhang. He appeared to have been waiting for Lin to arrive. There was no speck of worry on his face. Just as always he was reclined against the desk with airs and was smoking a cigar. How easygoing. Even though he is going to be killed now.
With a knife in his left hand and a gun in his right hand, Lin slowly walked towards Zhang. "You"re rather calm."
Looking at Lin, Zhang laughed as though to make a fool of him. "What is that get-up? Did you plan to disguise yourself or something?"
"Who was it?" He thrust the barrel of the gun at Zhang"s forehead and demanded. "Who bought Qiaomei?"
"Who knows." Zhang"s composure did not crumble.
"You don"t plan to say who?"
"Yeah."
"Then die." Atone her with your death.
"You can"t. I won"t be killed by you."
"Ha, are you an idiot? You think I have any feelings towards you? You are special."
"I don"t mean that. You cannot kill me. After all, you"re not a killer."
"What the h.e.l.l are you saying?" I"m not a killer, he says? No matter how you look at it from how I look now I"m a killer.
"You"re not a killer. You"re just a murderer. The professional killers say that about that person doing things like that. Remember that before you die."
That person? Who is he is referring to?
Zhang"s gaze moved to behind Lin. He was taken aback. When he turned around there was a wall. When he looked closer it is a person. At some point the man was behind Lin. He was an incredibly large man. He thought he was like the Frankenstein monster in movies. Is this man also a killer hired by Zhang?
The man caught Lin off guard. His arm was. .h.i.t. The hand gun fell to the floor from his palm.
Zhang addressed the man, "I leave the rest to you," and went to leave the room calmly.
"Stop right there, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
He reached towards Zhang, but he was pulled by the hair by the man from behind. His head was thrown back. The man"s right hand came around right in front of him, and he put his forearm around his neck.
"Ah, gah"
He was losing breath. He moved the knife in his left hand to his dominant hand. He pierced the blade into the man"s arms strangling him. The man was calm. He did not let out a scream nor a groan.
"It"s useless. Knives don"t work against me." The man said with a small intonation of a voice.
"Wh-why -" Why does it not work?
"What a killer needs the most is a durable body." The large man spoke, whispering into Lin"s ears. "Killers have to be able to kill someone no matter the situation. Even if, for instance, there"s a place where you cannot bring in a weapon."
"Kah, ha." It was hard to breathe.
"Being able to fight with just the body will be a killer"s status. And so I build up my body. To be able to kill my opponent with just this arm. To be able to bear any attack."
Right now I have to fix my stance. Lin pulled out his knife from the man"s arm once. This time he tried to aim for a vital area and raised it towards his opponent"s throat. The man grabbed Lin"s wrist. He tightly held Lin"s fist grasping the knife from above and increased his force on it. He then tried to twist it in the opposite direction. Just as he thought he was going to break his arm, he was mistaken. The tip of the knife was facing towards his own stomach. Since the man"s strength was fairly strong he could not release the knife nor could he turn away from its trajectory.
The knife he was holding cuts into his side, and Lin gave a scream. "Ugwaah"
In the time his body shook in pain, the man attacked from the front. He pushed him against the wall and grabbed Lin"s thin neck with both hands. The man"s fingers dug into his throat. His bronchial tubes and veins were being pressed on; he could not breathe. It hurt.
Without oxygen circulating in his brain, he was getting dazed. Suddenly, Zhang"s words pa.s.sed through his mind.
– You"re not a killer. You"re just a murderer.
He felt like throwing up. What the h.e.l.l is that? I"m not a killer? No. I"m a genuine, professional killer. I"m not a slave or a dog. I"m a pro. I"m a professional killer.
Lin whispered that numerous times over in his head.
Translation Notes:Lin"s name is written as 林憲明. I"d say Banba read Xianming really off (I at least would have guessed kenmei). And hayashi is the kun-reading for 林, but it can also be read as "rin" for its on-reading. "Rin" is also actually the phonetic name in j.a.panese for Lin.