Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

Although today was their once-week baseball practice session, it could hardly be said it was a good day for baseball with the unfortunate sky patterns. Grey clouds were overhead, and it looked like it could rain at any moment.
“...Looks like a storm"s comin".”
The manager of the Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens gra.s.s-lot baseball team, Genzo, sighed as he looked skyward on the baseball field in f.u.kuoka City.
“Say, have you seen the sports news? That man is retiring this year.”
“Oh yeah, that was a hot topic on the news yesterday.”
“I"ve been a fan of his since I was in elementary school, so I was in tears when I heard the news.”
“And how many years has it been since you were in elementary school, Jiro-san?”
“Let me think about it...about ten years ago?”
“As if that"s even possible.”
The team members congregated at the benches as the hour for practice drew near, having pleasant conversations among themselves.
“What do you think he"ll do after retirement?”
“Maybe he"ll be the manager for the Hawks?”
“He"d be a coach before that.”
“I"m sure the details will come out soon enough.”
Unfortunately the weather was not the only thing that was poor today; the turn out for practice was too. There were only five people: the catcher Shigematsu, the shortstop Lin, the center fielder Enokida, the left fielder Jiro, and Misaki. The other members were absent. Genzo racked his brain, trying to decide what exercises he could have them do.
He first had them start with warm-ups. After they did a light jog, they moved onto stretches before shifting to playing catch. They grouped up in pairs - Lin with Enokida, and Jiro with Shigematsu - and threw the ball to each other to work their shoulders. Genzo also got to practice with Misaki"s help.
After they got warmed up, they went to practice bunting. The members transitioned with bat and ball in hand. Genzo acted as the pitcher. They all lined up for their turn at bat and b.u.t.ted the b.a.l.l.s Genzo pitched, making them roll across the field. Most of the members performed flawlessly, except for the beginners Lin and Misaki, who only managed to hit pop flies.
After the team members each hit three b.a.l.l.s in three rounds, they took a water break. Since there were few people at practice today, it would be difficult for them practice full defense. So they would focus on batting instead.
They moved onto the next set.
“Alright, next. Toss batting.”
The manager Genzo would toss the ball to the batter from a close distance. The batter would hit it. The other members would take defense positions and react when the ball flew. It was fundamentally batting practice, but it also served as defense practice. It would be killing two birds with one stone.
The members followed the manager"s directions and went to scatter around the field. But in the next moment there was a flash of light in the sky. Immediately following, there was booming thunder.
“Whoa. It"s lightning.”
Immediately after Enokida shouted that, rain came pouring down. It was not uncommon for people to get struck down by lightning in a baseball stadium.
Practice was suspended, and Genzo had everyone retreat under the roof at the benches. All the members were drenched from the rain and were drying themselves with towels.
“Doesn"t look like it"ll stop.” Genzo muttered as he looked up at the sky.
“We should probably cancel practice for today.”
“Might as well,” Genzo agreed with Jiro"s suggestion.
They did have the option to practice indoors, but there were few people who showed up today and there was no need to continue. Genzo decided they should disperse for the day.
“Hey, you know,” Enokida spoke up as he wiped down his sodden mushroom-hair. “Banbsan didn"t show up today. That"s unusual of him.”
The captain of the team, who always took initiative and partic.i.p.ated in the sessions, strangely took today off.
“Yeah,” Shigematsu answered. “Today is that day after all.”
“That day?” Lin asked questionably as he removed his baseball cap and tied his hair into a ponytail with the red hairband.
“Oh, it"s that day.” Genzo recalled. “Another year sure goes by fast.”
“Like I said, what"s that day?”
“It"s the day Banba"s father died. He probably is visiting his grave today.”
Banba"s father pa.s.sed away thirteen years ago. It"s already that time of year, huh? Genzo thought.
“...Visiting his grave?”
Lin seemed intrigued by something. He c.o.c.ked his head.
“Is his father"s grave far away?”
“It"s outside the city, but it"s not too far out. I"d say it"s about a thirty-minute drive from Hakata.”
Shigematsu questioned Lin in return. “Why do you ask?”
“I was just curious of something. He left home with huge luggage-”
Lin cut off in the middle of what he was saying. Noticing Misaki staring at him intently, he frowned at her, “What are you looking at?”
“That hairpin is cute.” Misaki pointed to Lin"s face. A flower shaped hairpin shone on his front bang.
“...Ah, this?”
Lin took the pin out of his hair and handed it over to Misaki, “here, it"s yours.”
Misaki did not seem to expect Lin to give it to her. She was stunned. She looked at Lin with wide eyes. “...are you sure?”
“I don"t mind. It was cheap anyway…” Lin told her bluntly as he ruffled his wet hair with a towel.
“Take good care of it.”
Misaki cast her gaze downward and murmured, “...thank you.”
It was a pleasant exchange. It brought a smile to everyone"s face.
If this was the Lin from a year ago, he would not have done this kind gesture. He would have told her outright, “what are you looking at, you d.a.m.n brat?”
He changed. Perhaps this was also thanks to his roommate.
“He sure grew up…”
Genzo accidentally voiced his thoughts. “You"re going on about that again?”
Lin snorted at him.

The severity of the rainfall only worsened. And the lightning did not cease. The baseball practice was cancelled, so they all would be leaving soon.
Going home in the rain is going to be a pain. Just as Lin was gathering his belongings at the benches by himself, Jiro called out to him.
“Hey, Lin-chan.” He held car keys in his hand.
“I can take you home if you want.”
“Are you serious? You don"t mind?”
“It"s to thank you for the hair pin.” Jiro winked. “Besides, I also have something I wish to talk with you about.”
Lin decided to take Jiro up on the offer. He got into the minivan"s back seat after giving his thanks. Misaki was already in the pa.s.senger"s seat.
Once Jiro started the car, Lin asked the question. “So? What did you want to talk with me about?”
“I have a job for you.” Jiro answered, still facing forward.
“I"ve been tasked to take vengeance for drugging-robberies.”
“Drugging-robberies?”
“A burglar who puts their target to sleep or intoxicates them to steal their money. Two female clients of mine were victims.”
“Whoa. That"s low.”
So someone worked by stealing from irresponsible women. What a coward. Lin scowled. That said, it was not like breaking into a home was any better.
“I"ve had two clients come in back to back with the same request.”
“That"s unusual.”
“Yes, it doesn"t seem like a coincidence, right? It"s like this is part of G.o.d"s will. I can"t help but feel something"s off about this. It makes me wonder if these robberies are connected to something greater.”
Lin did not believe in G.o.d, but he understood what Jiro was getting at. This was not a case that could be ignored.
“Mischan, would you mind?”
Misaki nodded wordlessly in the pa.s.senger"s seat. She took a file out of a bag in Jiro"s place and handed it over to Lin. “Here. It"s the data on the cases.”
Lin took the file and opened it up.
“For the record, we had Enokidchan look into it.”
The file contained reports on the cases as well as two photos. The images looked like they were printed out from the security footage as they had the date and time stamped on them. Both photos showed a man and a woman walking together, but they were not clear images. Lin could not distinguish their faces.
“The women in the photos were the victims. The photos taken on the day the robberies happened.”
“So then the man next to them is the culprit?”
“Most likely. But since the credit cards he used were stolen, so we can"t figure out who he is. And with the quality of these images, we can"t look him up in a facial recognition software program.”
“So there are things the mushroom can"t figure out.”
“He said he doesn"t have enough information, so he"s at a dead end.” Jiro sighed. “If we at least got clearer photos, he could look up who the man is.”
Naturally with only low resolution images and the victims" vague testimonies to work off of, it would be difficult for even Enokida to identify the culprit.
“Is there no other leads?”
“I asked Shigematsu-san about it. Apparently the police are discussing similar cases.”
There was a report regarding a third female victim in the file. “That"s this woman, huh?”
Lin looked over the reports on the victims. They had the tree women"s background on it. All of them were in their thirties and were single. They worked for big corporations. Their testimonies were written in detail.
“The methods and the victims" profiles were the same. So same culprit for all of them.”
“We can a.s.sume so.” Jiro nodded. “According to Shigematsu-cahn, they found fingerprints on the fake business cards the victims were given. But they did not find a match in the ex-convicts database. They still haven"t figured out his ident.i.ty. Although he may not have any past criminal records, it could also mean he just hasn"t been caught yet.”
“I see.” Lin looked at the photo and muttered. “So the only things we have on culprit is from the photos and his fingerprints?”
“And one other thing.” Jiro added. “All the victims attended the same event.”
“Event?”
“A matchmaking party.”
Lin frowned. “Matchmaking what?”
“You don"t know what it is?” The one who spoke was Misaki from the pa.s.senger"s seat. “It"s a party where men and women go to find a partner.”
“Oh, that?”
Lin recalled seeing a scene on a romance drama where the heroine attended a party of that nature.
“...You sure are a know-it-all.”
After Lin glanced over to the pa.s.senger"s seat, half in awe and half in exasperation, he turned his focus back to the driver"s seat.
“So that means there"s a high possibility he"s looking for his victims by going to these matchmaking parties.”
“Yes, most likely.” Jiro nodded. “I had Enokida hack into the sponsor"s server and go through the list of past partic.i.p.ants, but as we expected the man registered under a fake name. And he"s changed names every time.”
“He"s definitely paranoid.”
He must be feeling guilty about it.
“When we looked into the upcoming event, we found a man who registered with a fake name. And Enokidchan said he accessed the site from the same device.”
When Enokida traced the access point, he found it came from a computer in an internet cafe within Hakata. The computer was for visitor"s use only, so Enokida could not find out his ident.i.ty through there. However, he did know where the culprit would make his next appearance.
The light turned red. When the van slowed to a stop, Jiro pulled out his smartphone.
“I"ll send you an e-mail right now.”
Shortly thereafter, Lin"s cell phone vibrated. He got Jiro"s message.
When Lin opened it up, he found a URL link. After he clicked on it, he was brought to the page to sign up for the matchmaking party.
“This is the party, huh.”
“Yes. The culprit is planning to attend.”
Lin nodded in understanding. He figured out what job Jiro wanted to give him.
“In short, you want me to sneak into the party and act as bait?”
“Exactly.”
Someone that weary would not change his methods as long as he kept getting away with it. He should be keeping to his pattern as he committed crimes. The culprit would go to the same party, and Lin had a good enough understanding of the type of victims he would be looking for. If they did not know who the culprit was, then they had to use bait for him to grab.
The two avengers could not fit the bill. And so Lin was selected.
“So how about it? Will you help us out?”
“I wouldn"t mind. However,” Lin shrugged as he glanced over the important notes in order to partic.i.p.ate. “The partic.i.p.ants are for men and women in their thirties.”
“...Wh?”
“It"s written right here. You have to be over thirty to attend.”
Jiro parked the van on the side of the road and turned around to face him. “You"re kidding. Are you sure?”
“Do I look like I"m in my thirties to you…?”
Lin knew he did not look that old.
Getting into the party itself would be easy. Even if he needed an ID, he could easily have a fake one made. But there was no way the culprit would take an interest in Lin who clearly looked twenty. It would be hard to fool him even with makeup and dressing differently.
“I"d look suspicious, and he"d be weary of me, right?”
“...I didn"t think things through.” Jiro help his head in his hand and heavily sighed. “I"ll have to think of another plan then.”
“You"ll have to.”
Jiro nodded and started the car.
“Absolutely.” He glanced over to Lin in the rear view mirror and smiled wryly. “You don"t quite have the allure of a grown woman.”
“...Sorry.”
Even if you ask me to do it, Lin pouted.
The allure of an grown woman.
A thought suddenly dawned on Lin from what Jiro said. A woman"s face crossed his mind. A woman who had a mature allure as Jiro described.
That woman could be competent.
“Actually, hold on a second.”
Lin spoke up.
“Let me handle this task after all.”
“That would be a huge help...but will you be alright?”
“Yeah.” An idea formed in Lin"s head. “I"m going to call for a helper.”

Bottom of the Second Inning After Banba had packed up his belongings and left the office, he got in his mini Cooper and drove towards the eastern ward. After driving for half an hour, a grave site surrounded by greenery came into view. It was a large, private cemetery. Large and small tombstones of various shapes were lined up in rows across the expansive estate, and there was even a belfry, a pound, a funeral hall and shops in the area. When Banba first came here, he felt like he could get lost since the place was so grand.
Today was the anniversary of his father"s death. Banba would come to visit his father every year on this day without fail.
Banba parked in the parking lot and got out of the driver"s seat. Today the weather was poor and had been raining for several minutes. It was not an ideal day to visit a grave, so there were few people in the cemetery.
There was thunder around noon, but now it has lightened up to a drizzle. There was not so much rain that he needed an umbrella. Banba took the gift he brought and a s...o...b..ttle as he walked into the cemetery.
The cherry blossom trees bloomed beautifully in the spring, but at this time of year they had a depressing look to them. After walking down the sidewalk for a couple of minutes, he arrived at the j.a.panese style tombstone he was familiar with. ‘Banba Family"s Grave" was written on the slab.
“...It"s been some time, dad.”
Banba stood in front of the grave and began to talk to his deceased father.
“I brought the sake you like.” He held up the bottle of j.a.panese sake with a smile. It was a local f.u.kuoka brand made in Itoshima. His father drank it often when he was alive.
Banba took the gla.s.ses out he had prepared and poured the sake in them, placing the cups in front of the grave.
“I took a car here, so I can"t drink.”
So instead Banba raised the cup to the sky.
Banba had talked to his father over a lot of topics here. He would talk about his work at the detective office, the gra.s.slot baseball team, or how the Hawks were performing. The day the team won the league championship a couple of years ago he toasted here in celebration with him, and when they had thirteen consecutive loses he muttered complaints to the tombstone at length.
Banba had told his father about the roommate he had made as well. He told him how strange it feels since it has been so long since someone else lived under the same roof as him.
Normally Banba would keep the conversation going for hours, but today he did not. He was unsure what he should say. He remained silent, trying to find words to say.
“...Dad.” After a while, Banba spoke. “It"s gonna be over soon.”
That was right. Everything would be over soon. His next kill will be his last.
“It took a while.”
More than ten years has past since that incident. Banba had grown greatly, having been just a high schooler at the time, and now he was almost thirty. The days and months had pa.s.sed, and he and the city of f.u.kuoka had changed with time.
And during that span of time, he had taken many lives.
“...I don"t even know how many I"ve killed.”
Although it was his job and even though his targets were criminals, he still kept soiling his hands. Banba had no intention to make any excuses to his father.
Banba gave a small smile.
“You must be mad at me...But I think I"m glad to have chosen this path.”
His father did not wish for his son to become who he was now. If he was still alive, he would beat him until his face was swollen. There was even the chance he would have cut their ties as parent and child. And Banba was fully aware what he was doing would anger his kind father to that extent.
But if his father was alive, Banba would not have chosen to go down the path of becoming a hitman.
Banba tightened his grip on the gla.s.s in his hand. He looked directly towards the tombstone and whispered.
“...I"m gonna avenge you.”
Immediately after stating this, he heard the sound of footsteps.
Banba turned around. On the other side of the sidewalk he saw a woman walking towards him, holding a black umbrella. She had short hair and wore a white, neat one-piece dress. She had a bouquet of flowers in her hand. It was Sayuri.
“Sayuri-san.”
Banba fully turned to face her as she came up to him. He caught a whiff of the moderate perfume she wore. It was her signature fragrance.
“You came?”
“Yes. It is the anniversary of your father"s death after all.” She answered as she placed the flowers on the gravestone. “The father of my ex fiance.”
“Attempted engagement.” Banba smiled self-deprecatingly. “You tried to kill me before I heard your response to my proposal.”
“Haha, I"m sorry about that.”
“Thanks to you, I"ve remained unmarried.” Banba shrugged. “Maybe I oughta go to a matchmakin" party.”
Sayuri only chuckled audaciously towards Banba"s resentful tone. Of course, he did not actually have a grudge against her.
As Banba got pelted by the pain, Sayuri held out her lace umbrella to him, “you"ll catch a cold.”
Banba expressed his thanks and stepped underneath it, taking the umbrella from her. He adjusted the height of the umbrella to make sure her shoulders would not get wet.
The pair stood in front of the tombstone as they conversed quietly.
“...Hey, Sayuri-san.” Banba decided to ask her. “Do ya remember your first job?”
“I do.” Sayuri c.o.c.ked her head slightly. “What"s wrong with you all the sudden?”
“I was just thinkin" back on some old memories.”
Banba smiled bitterly.
“Even though it was so shockin" when I first killed someone...I don"t feel the same now.”
He muttered softly to himself as he gazed at his palms.
He remembered washing his hands constantly whenever he had finished a job when he first started. He was overwhelmed by a false sensation of the blood still sticking to his hands, unable to come off, so he kept washing them. He had many unpleasant dreams from his guilt. He had done meaningless acts of atonement, visiting the graves of those he killed or going to check how the family left behind faired.
However, now was different. Shigematsu had mentioned he had not changed, but Banba thought otherwise. He believed he did.
“It"s frightenin" how much I got used to this.” Banba hung his head. They were pathetic words, but they escaped his lips all the same. “...I"m scared of myself.”
There was no need to put up an act in front of Sayuri. She was the one who had exposed him at his most vulnerable in the past. And so Banba expressed his true feelings to her.
Regardless of what reason he had, murder was a crime. He was not misguided into thinking what he was doing was right. It was not like he was unable to differentiate good from evil. And it was not that he lacked pity to those he killed. However, he has felt fear towards himself, who had become insensitive towards killing people. And the tormenting guilt he had suffered from had loosened its grip on him too.
Sayuri softly smiled. “It"s the same for everyone. Even me.”
“Really?”
“Yes, very much so.” She nodded before stating firmly. “But I think that"s how it should be. If you feel anything after killing someone, you should quit this job. If you feel heartbroken over killing someone, you aren"t suited for this work, and if you feel joy from killing people then you"d be nothing more than a psychopath. Personal feelings are not needed in the field of a.s.sa.s.sination.”
They could not let their emotions get the better of them; the only thing they had to think about was to carry out the mission. That was how a hitman should be. And she had the resolve to be one. She was staying on this path without hesitating or straying from her beliefs.
Banba admired her strong will. “You really are quite somethin", Sayuri-san.”
He glanced at his watch. It was almost one in the afternoon. He had a ferry to catch, so he could not leisurely pa.s.s the time here.
“Alrighty, I gotta get goin" now.” Banba returned the umbrella to Sayuri and gave his thanks. “Sayuri-san, thank you for comin".”
Banba slipped out from underneath the umbrella and lightly jogged back to his car.

He started the mini Cooper and returned to Hakata, heading towards the pier. Once he got close to the red metal tower, the Hakata Port Tower, he saw the large commercial facility - the Bayside Place Hakata pier.
Banba recalled having been here just the other day. The memory of the night he fought against the dealers of a drug cartel was still fresh in his memory.
Banba parked his mini Cooper in the multi-story parking garage located on the opposite side of the street. The car would wait for its owner to return for a couple of days. Banba walked out of the parking garage and walked to the facility on foot.
The Bayside Place had an area to board the ferry. The liner set sail from this location to the numerous remote islands around f.u.kuoka. Banba purchased a ticket from the automatic ticket machine in the second terminal and boarded one of the ships. The vessel was called the ‘Midorimaru" on the first platform. The boat could hold up to eighty people at max, but there were only a few other pa.s.sengers besides Banba onboard. Banba sat down at one of the seats near the end. The ferry began to slowly take off as the time for departure came. The ship changed directions and gradually picked up speed. By the time the prompt finished, they were far away from the port.
Even now the rain continued to pour down. The waves were high due to the bad weather, and the ship would shake on occasion. The evening variety TV program was playing at the front of the ship. Currently they were on the topic of local sports. The entertainers on the program were discussing the retirement of the baseball player as well.
Banba looked outside the window. There was just the expansive sea. Ahead of them was the f.u.kuoka bay area. The f.u.kuoka tower and the familiar dome of the baseball stadium was visible.
It was a familiar scene. The first time he got onto this ship was long ago. Banba at the time watched the city of f.u.kuoka grow smaller in the distance apprehensively, bringing large luggage with him. Thirteen years ago, he made the resolve to discard his normal life and take the path of a killer and got on this boat. At the time, he was not confident in the choice he made. “Was this really for the best? What awaited him?” The unanswered questions bounced around in his head the whole time he was on the ship.
It"s been thirteen years, huh.
Banba felt like it had been a long time and yet it had been short as well. The sensation that this long awaited day has finally come gradually grew stronger as the ferry progressed further to his destination.

The journey took thirty-five minutes. The ferry arrived to the island while Banba reminisced in memories. Genkai-jima was a small remote island located in the western ward of f.u.kuoka City. The parameters of the island was 1.17 square kilometers in a circular shape. The area was roughly four kilometers long. There were no commercial places like tourists spots or hotels, but nature was abundant and many people were here to fish. In the tale of Yuriwaka, it was said the military commander Yuriwaka spent his time on this land, so there were historical landmarks located around the island.
Once Banba got off the ferry, he was greeted by the island"s scenery. There were numerous fishing boats at the port, and there were some stray cats wandering around in search of leftover food. Banba could see a couple people fishing off of the breakwater. Mountains towered over the residential town in front of them.
It was a nostalgic place. Banba had lived here long ago. It was only for a short time, just a few years, but the place was no different from his memories. That person greeted Banba at this fishing dock when he arrived to Genkai Island on the ferry, with a slightly bewildering expression as though he was saying ‘so you finally made it."
If I remember right, his house should be in this area.
Banba walked down the road, depending on his memory to find the house. The rain had stopped when he was not paying attention, but the sky was still dark.
After ascending the tall staircase, he arrived in the residential area. At the corner there was a j.a.panese style home with a tiled roof. This was his house. Banba"s memory served him right.
There was no intercom. After he knocked on the door a few times, he heard footsteps coming from inside moments later. Then the sliding door opened, revealing the owner of the house.
It was a man. He was tall, slim, and was dressed casually nowadays. He had black hair that could nearly reach his lower back. The only difference from the last time Banba had seen him was the color of his clothes. Right now he wore white instead of his usual black.
“Zenji…”
The man"s eyes were wide, as though doubting if he was looking at Banba or not.
“It has been a while, Masataksan.”
Banba bowed to the man.
“I"m glad to see you have been doing well.”
“Does it look like I am?” The man scowled at him sullenly. “The doctor has said I only have about three years left to live.”
“They said the same thirteen years ago.”
Banba smiled at him.
“Shut it.”
The other man smiled back.
“More importantly, why did you come here after so long? Are you here to demand for money?”
“What a terrible accusation. I just came to see you as pupil and teacher.”
The man Masataka was the legendary being known as the strongest killer of killers in f.u.kuoka - the first Niwaka Samurai. And he had trained Banba and raised him to be a hitman.
Masataka was not originally from f.u.kuoka. He had been carrying out underground jobs given to him as he wandered around the country, and when he arrived in f.u.kuoka he took a liking to the city and took residence there. Several years ago he was diagnosed with cancer and went into retirement. Now he lived his days in retirement leisurely on Genkai Island.
“It"s been some time. How old are you now?” Masataka asked.
“Twenty-eight.”
Next month on his birthday, he will be one year older.
Banba came to this household when he was seventeen and left when he was twenty. He had not seen Masataka face to face in many years.
“And how about you, master?” Banba smirked. “How old are you now?”
Masataka snorted. “As if I"d tell you.”
Banba had heard he was around the same age as Genzo, but Masataka looked much younger. So young, it would not be odd to say he was in his forties. He had slimmed down a bit due to his illness and aged a bit, but he was still kicking. He did not look like he would drop dead even in twenty years.
“So? What have you come to this remote place for?”
“To see my master"s face after so long.”
“Don"t lie to me.”
“Oh, you got me?” Banba smiled. “I just need to train a bit.” He answered. “I"ve been feelin" out of shape as of late. So I was hopin" I could train here for a few days.”
“Really?” Masataka smirked. “I get it. That"s admirable.”
He doesn"t look like he believes me, Banba smiled wryly internally.
“Well, nothing much goes on in here, but feel free to relax here.”
Masataka invited Banba inside, and Banba bowed once more. “I"ll be under your roof for a while, so thank you.”
----
Translation: Kaede726
Reposts are prohibited and should be exclusive to Kaede726 on blogger.
Editor: Voissane
----