Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Volume 5 Chapter 2

Top of the Second Inning

Mothers were crowded around the elementary school's gate to pick up their children. It was not that fathers were not present at all, but they were rarely there, making Jiro stand out among the crowd.

I'm so glad I wore a suit, he sighed in relief. If he had appeared in another abnormal, ill rumors could have been spread. The other parents would have gossiped among themselves, wondering what Misaki's father did for work. Jiro had to play the role of 'a nice father who slipped out of work to pick up his child,' so they would not look too far into him.

The children left he school one after the other, escorted by their parents. Next to them stood a woman waving her hand with a smile. She was Misaki's homeroom teacher. Naturally they were well acquainted. She seemed to recall Jiro's face as she greeted him with a bow when their eyes met. "Tanaksan, good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, sensei," Jiro returned the smile. "I'm sorry I was late to get her."

"Oh, it's no problem. We're grateful that you'd come all the way here despite work."

A boy in the local area went missing yesterday. Someone has apparently been kidnapping children, and the culprit has still not been caught. Because of the incident, the elementary school Misaki went to had ended earlier and the parent's day visit had also been cancelled. Parents would have to drop off and pick up their children for a while.

Jiro had been looking for Misaki earlier, but he did not find his child. "……So where's Misaki right now?"

"Misaki-chan is waiting in the cla.s.sroom. I'll take you there," the homeroom teacher suggested. "I was just about to head back to the cla.s.sroom myself."

She was going to show him around. He was grateful. The interior of the school was a complicated maze, so he felt like he would get lost no matter how many times he had come here.

The two of them began to walk towards the school building when the homeroom teacher spoke to him quietly. "The truth is, I had something I wanted to talk with you about."

Jiro was taken about and accidentally replied in an exhausted voice, "wh?"

The instructor continued, having difficulty wording what she wanted to say. "I feel like Misaki-chan is having a difficult time making friends."

Having a difficult time making friends. Jiro was startled at those words, his eyes widening. "Is that girl being bullied?"

"No, that's not it. She talks with the other children and is part of the circle just fine."

He was relieved with that out of the way. But then the teacher added.

"It's just, she sometimes makes a very cold expression. Even when she's smiling, she has these cold eyes……"

That was a familiar sounding scenario.

Misaki hardly smiled. Jiro had never seen her laugh in a large voice or holding her waist from her laughter. Her expression was stagnant, and it was difficult to tell what she was thinking.

"Even in her circle of friends, I feel like she doesn't really give an honest smile……I suppose it'd be better to say she's trying to fit in with everyone else than to say she's just poor at expressing herself."

Misaki would smile with the other girls in the cla.s.s during break. But her smile was a lie. Since she could not open up to anyone, she played the elementary school girl getting along with everyone. All while ridiculing her cla.s.smates in her mind, thinking they were all stupid. Jiro could easily imagine his child doing that. He slumped his shoulders.

"Perhaps she has difficulty connecting with the other children because she's being single-handedly raised by me, a male, as ashamed as I am to admit it." It may have been a desperate excuse, but Jiro had nothing else to go with.

They had arrived to the cla.s.sroom in that time. When they checked inside, Misaki was there, looking at her desk intently. She had her notebooks and drill sheets spread out on it. She seemed to be working on her homework for the day.

"Tanaksan, your father is here for you."

Misaki looked up when the teacher addressed her. Jiro felt her usual cold expression softens once she saw his face.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Misaki," Jiro smiled at Misaki while she stuffed her belongings into her knapsack.

He placed his right hand on top of her head when she approached him. "Alright, let's go home."

Misaki nodded readily.

"Well then, take care, sensei."

"Goodbye, sensei," Misaki also bowed her head the same way Jiro did.

"Hey, Mischan."

Jiro addressed the girl walking beside him once they had left the school.

"What is it?"

"……Is school fun?"

Her homerun teacher's words had been bothering him.

Misaki had fallen silent. I must have asked something stupid, Jiro regretted to himself. There was no way she would find it fun.

After a few moments of silence, Misaki stated, "If I said I didn't enjoy it, would it be okay if I don't go?"

"No, it wouldn't……"

He regretted asking her that again. His question had been a failure.

"I know," Misaki replied, still facing forward. "It's boring, but I don't really hate it. I'm doing alright with the other kids around me, so it's fine."

'Doing alright,' and 'it's fine.' Those words were not of that of an elementary schooler.

"More importantly, Jiro-chan."

"What is it?"

"Why are you in a suit?"

Misaki glanced over at him and pouted, "you could have just worn what you usually wear." She did not seem very pleased.

"Isn't it fine to spice things up by wearing this on occasion? Does it not look good on me?"

When he asked her that, Misaki shook her head. Jiro already figured out what she wanted to say, but he had to avoid it.

"Jiro-chan, you always wear a suit when you come to my school. And you talk like a guy then too."

She was unhappy that he played the role of a 'normal father.'

"But wouldn't you get bullied? Others would poke fun at you saying, 'your dad is an okama,' right?"

"I hate it more that you are bearing with it."

"I'm not."

"You are."

Misaki's reply was unusually stern.

"You're doing that and bearing with it for my sake." Her expression clouded over, and she cast her gaze downward. "Even back then with the cigarettes -"

Misaki cut off.

Jiro knew what she tried to say when she mentioned cigarettes. He could not say anything. Finis.h.i.+ng what she was going to say would just awaken her tragic memories.

Instead, he gave a kind suggestion, "how about we go and buy some cake and head home?"

Without any clients in the Banba Detective Office, Banba spent his free time as he usually would. He stood topless in front of the mirror and practiced his swings, examining his batting form.

Out of Banba's periphery, Lin was folding their training gear he had just washed. Just when he picked up the deep blue unders.h.i.+rt, he recalled the last practice session.

"That reminds me."

Lin called out to Banba, who was continuing with his practice swings.

"Hm?" Banba turned to face him.

"What's up with you all of the sudden?"

"For what?"

"Switching which side to bat from. You're a right-handed batter, right? So why did you start practicing batting with your left?"

That was not the only thing; he had asked an odd request to Saitou as well.

"And then you suddenly proclaimed that you wanted to hit a sinker."

Banba wiped  his cheeks at replied to Lin's question in a murmur.

"……Ah, just a little somethin'."

You're hiding something, aren't you? Lin glared at him.

Banba ignored Lin and started swinging again. It bothered him how open he was lately, so he had been trying to fix his form carefully. This man was always taking things so seriously when it came to baseball.

"So I take it you were telling the truth when you said you wanted to be a baseball player."

"Well, yeah," Banba smiled bitterly. "It was an occupation I admired."

It was a dream for any baseball boy to have. However, in Banba's case it was not just a dream.

"I really put the effort to make it happen. I practiced in the club teams since I was in elementary and even got in the baseball club in high school. I thought someday I could get into the draft team or an independent league and be an active member of society that way."

"Really?" Lin lifted his head curiously when Banba spoke of his past – a rare occurrence. "So why did a high school baseball kid like you, aiming to become a professional, become a hitman instead?"

Banba chuckled.

"Who knows." He c.o.c.ked his head and replied back ambiguously. "How did that happen?"

His tone indicated he himself did not know the answer rather than it was an attempt in evading the question.

"How 'bout we go out for ramen?" Banba put on a s.h.i.+rt and suggested to Lin. It was almost time for dinner anyway.

They headed to the usual food stall.

That reminds me, Jiro thought back.

He had never heard Misaki mention the name of a friend even once. She had never stated anything to him like any other elementary schooler would like 'I'm going to hang out with someone today' or 'I'm going to hang out at so-and-so's house today.' She had never brought any friends from cla.s.s to their house either. Jiro vaguely sensed that she did not have any cla.s.smates she was particularly close to, but the situation could be far more severe than he originally thought.

When he thought back to his own elementary school days, he felt like he only had fun days. He never had felt constrained and was able to chase the ball around the school grounds on breaks, spending his time freely. But for Misaki's case, he felt like she just accepted as compulsory education.

"……Raising a child is so hard."

Jiro chugged down the beer left for him on the table and sighed. This was his third gla.s.s.

Jiro dropped by Genzo's shop after Misaki had fallen asleep. He thought he could drown his sorrows and have someone to complain to, but then Martinez and Enokida, followed by Zenji Banba and Xianming Lin, appeared together and it had gotten quite rambunctious.

"How are ya holdin' up, Jiro? You're makin' this fretful face." Genzo leaned forward, refilling his beer.

"If ya got somethin' troublin' you, we'll listen," Banba who sat next to him drew closer.

After Jiro made another sigh, he stated. "I went to Misaki's school today."

"Ah yeah. For that parent's day event, right?"

"No, the event got cancelled. There was that incident with a child being abducted, right? The culprit hasn't been caught, so for the time being the parents will have to drop off and pick up their children since it's too dangerous."

"Apparently in America, parents dropping off and picking up their kids is seen as common sense." Enokida cut into the conversation. "There are states where it's required for them to have information on known s.e.x offenders available to the public under Megan's Law, and pedophiles receive terrible treatment in prisons. They are even looked down upon by other convicts."

"That's the natural response. Pedos are despicable." Martinez also piped in.

"It's really only j.a.pan that is fine with leaving their kids alone."

After Jiro nodded in agreement he returned to the main topic at hand. "So when I went to get Misaki, her homeroom teacher told me that she doesn't open up to the people around her and would sometimes have this cold gaze."

Misaki's upbringing was unique. She had been abused by her stepfather and abandoned by her mother.

Apparently children who were abused have a chilling cold gaze. Their emotions freeze, having been hurt by those who were supposed to be their protector and betrayed many times. Jiro knew Misaki's cold expression she sometimes made was the same as the characteristic other abused children have.

However, Jiro did not think that was the only cause of that as of late. He had Misaki a.s.sist him in his underground work for some time now, and there was something that he vividly remembered even now.

"When I took a job to avenge a man's death, Misaki suddenly insisted on helping me. I was at first against it. But she told me, 'if there are too many people, then you'll be in trouble. A child like me could make them drop their guard.' Her plan was to pretend to be an innocent girl and get close to them to inject them with a muscle-relaxant."

"Ahh," Martinez nodded, recalling that case. "You mean that one? She did a good job."

"Yeah, she did……She accomplished that without a change in expression at all."

Misaki took action exactly as according to plan. She was unafraid of the man and did not tremble from anxiety; she was calm and composed.

And that reminded him of a sense of impending danger.

"……That's frightening, isn't it?" Jiro cast his gaze downward, examining his wrists. "I'm wondering if I'm raising Misaki to be this terrifying monster."

This was not normal. He had to have been raising her the wrong way.

"That's why I try not to talk about work in front of Misaki, and I don't let her tag along with me for any dangerous jobs."

"That's wise." Lin stated. "What a child learns when they're young isn't easy to break off from when they become an adult."

"……Yes, exactly."

"If she is raised learning about crime, then she'll lose the feelings of dejection and guilt towards crime."

Lin had apparently been raised in an establishment which produced hitmen. With him having personally experienced that, his words stung Jiro's heart.

Lin had lived killing people. Even though he now played as a member of the Ramens team, at first he did not listen to what people told him to do. He would not stick to the rules or follow their signs and would take actions on his own, without considering everyone else.

"I know you care a lot about her, but I think what's going on right now will be bad for her later. If you want to raise her as a normal kid, then do it in a way where she's not involved in crime." Lin told him while slurping down his ramen.

He had changed. Jiro thought that to himself as he gazed at him from the side. Lin would now progressively partic.i.p.ate in their practice sessions, and Genzo commented that he had started to choose his own jobs recently. It was the change in environment that had changed Lin. His connection with others had nurtured his human heart.

"Hey, Banbchan, give me some tips." Jiro elbowed the man drinking his beer next to him.

"Tips?"

"Tips in raising a kid."

"Ha? You got a kid?" Lin's eyes widened. "You have a love child or something?"

"What? No, I ain't got none."

"But you got a big kid, right?" Jiro glanced over to Lin and asked Banba. "How did you manage to raise him to be so modest?"

"Hey, he didn't raise me." Lin scowled.

Enokida was the next to speak up. "A child will grow up healthy if you provide them with the standard love normally. Children who don't receive love or children who are given twisted love or put under excessive pressure will grow up more or less twisted."

"Oh, are you talking from personal experience? That's got some weight to it," Martinez said to him in a teasing tone.

"I also agree if this continues as is it'll be bad for her later." After Enokida had glared at the large, swarthy man for a moment, he continued on. "As long as you're beside her, Misaki-chan will grow up watching you. She'll end up thinking that she will have to commit crimes in order to carry out vengeance, meaning she'll have a life like ours in the future."

So her living together with him would not be to her benefit after all. "……What do you think I should do?"

"If you want her to be the successor for the avenger business, then I think you can keep doing what you're doing now. If you want her to grow up as a normal child, then she has go back to living a normal life." Enokida stated. "Children grow up terrifyingly fast. You should let her go as quickly as possible."

"Shouldn't you consider what the person herself would want?"

Lin objected Martinez's thought. "But naturally she would want to stay with Jiro."

"Then what are the other options? Send her back to her mother? Or find her new parents?"

"Her mother won't do." Jiro had never contacted Misaki's mother again since that one time. At the time, she had another man's child in her womb. By now she should have a new family and would be proceeding towards the second phase in her life.

"Then that leaves foster parents. I heard there are more foster parents that will help out immediately."

"Or perhaps Jiro could cut his ties with this industry."

Jiro was at a lost of words at Genzo's suggestion.

Cut his ties.

If he were to consider it with Misaki's best interests in mind, that would be the right path to take. But he could not give up being an avenger.

What caused Jiro to start this job was the death of his lover. Taking revenge on the man who had killed his lover was his origin as an avenger. His love had died in suffering. And he could not do a single thing about it. He hated and resented himself for it. Maybe it was just his ego. Yet on that day, Jiro had imposed punishment on himself, choosing to take the path to live as an avenger.

So now if he were to go back to living a normal life. If he were to live his life carefree and happy, he would not be able to bear it. He would not be able to face his lover.

"By doin' work as an avenger, you're causin' all kinds of people to hold resentment against ya. Misaki could get caught up in the mix and get hurt. There's no tellin' when some fella is gonna go after ya and show up one day."

What Genzo said was absolutely true.

If in the one in a million chance something were to happen to Misaki because of his work, Jiro would regret it. Just like when he had lost his lover.

Danger would follow him around as long as he stayed with Misaki and spent time around her on a regular basis. There was the possibility when someone who did hold a grudge against the avenger shows up they would target Misaki, not him.

"Be careful of someone seeking vengeance from the avenger."

The avenger being revenged.

Genzo's warning stuck in Jiro's head uncomfortably.

There could be a day when the tip of the spear would be pointed at them. That was linked to being an avenger.

Bottom of the Second Inning

Their meeting place was at a tranquil restaurant similar to that of a coffee shop in Hakata. After giving his order to the middle-aged owner behind the counter, Sanjou took a seat in the center of the table. He glanced over the morning newspaper spread out on the table while eating his light meal and sipping his coffee. The words 'three young children gone missing' caught his eye. The incident was from the day before, while going back home after the festival. A mother went with her youngest daughter to the restroom, and when she had returned to the car her boy was not inside. Apparently the child was abducted by someone after getting out of the car on his own.

Professionals' opinions were published as well. The culprit was likely to be a male in his thirties or forties. He would be living alone or with his parents, without a spouse or children. He would have had to have caused minor offenses in the past like making attempts at calling out to children and taking them away somewhere. That was what was written there.

Sanjou smiled at the criminal image made up by a criminal psychologist. When a child gets kidnapped, naturally s.e.xual predators were suspected; anyone who had a preference only for children or could only get turned on by children. The police would investigate anyone with that criminal history.

"You look like a normal salary man reading the newspaper like that."

When Sanjou was about to reach out to pick up his hot cup of coffee on the table, he was suddenly called out by someone.

He looked up from the newspaper. Before him stood a man. He was short with a protruded stomach. He wore a suit but had a work s.h.i.+rt instead of a jacket. There was an embroidered seal for Yamazaki Transportation.

The man's name was Kunio Yamazaki. He was the president of a freight company as well as Sanjou's business partner. Sanjou's trade was able to hold up because of his company. He was a huge support for him.

"It's been an issue recently," Sanjou gave him a smile back as he folded the newspaper. "I don't look dignified enough, so I get underestimated by others."

"That's not a bad thing. There's no one but those intimidating looking guys in the yakuza world these days." Kunio took a seat, sitting across from him. "I'm sorry for calling you out here so suddenly."

"Not at all."

Sanjou looked like gentle and kind as any normal salary man would, but he actually held the position as a young leader for the Mutagawa Group. His contradictory appearance had been useful at times. It made others easily place their trust in him. Receiving the support from various entrepreneurs allowed him to push his company to the forefront.

The president of Yamazaki Transportation was also one of Sanjou's supporters. With the Mutagawa Group managing a contraband trade on drugs and weapons, having a transportation routes was crucial. And with the help of his company, Sanjou's group was able to send their smuggled products from overseas to their clients across the country swiftly and safely.

Kunio glanced at the newspaper left at the edge of the table. He made a slight grimace when he spotted the term 'missing.' "We haven't been able to find my grandson either."

His grandson, Shota Yamazaki, had suddenly disappeared last year in October.

"You have my sympathies. Your grandson was a high schooler, wasn't he?"

"He was," Kunio nodded. "We found a note that said, 'I'm leaving home. Don't look for me.' That was Shota's handwriting. Because of that, the police weren't able to help us. There are an insane amount of high schoolers who run away from home. The police can't be bothered to look for each and every one of them."

It was said that there were more than 100,000 people who go missing in this country throughout the year.

"……Yes, unfortunately."

If someone ran from home, then that was a family issue. Unless there was something clearly unnatural about their disappearance or their body had been found, they could not use the police for a.s.sistance.

"But my daughter wouldn't believe it."

His daughter was Shota's mother, Mieko Yamazaki.

"She still proclaims that Shota wasn't the kind of kid to run away from home and that he's a good kid who never caused any problems."

"She is his mother, so that is to be expected." It was not as though Sanjou could not understand her feelings.

"Mieko asked private detectives to investigate Shota's whereabouts. Ten months pa.s.sed, and they had no lead. My daughter lost it. She now loses her temper frequently, and she has been ingesting more alcohol and smoking more tobacco."

Sanjou had heard Mieko doted over her son. She must have turned to familiar articles of taste from the loss of her son and stress.

"Sanjou-kun," Kunio turned his attention to him. "Do you have any children?"

Sanjou shook his head left to right. "I do not."

He was unmarried and had no children. His parents had already pa.s.sed away. Sanjou had no one he could call family nearby. He only had a half-brother of a different father who lived in a distant land. Despite only having half the blood relation, his younger brother had identical facial features as he did. However, they only looked similar in that aspect alone; he was a modest person with no relation to the underground world. Sanjou rarely talked with him.

He had felt the desire to be with someone before, but he was in no rush to marry.

"But I can understand where you are coming from."

"Yeah. Shota was her one child she had after having infertility treatment."

Shota was the eldest son his daughter wished for whom she had with his son-in-law. And her son had been taken from her. The sudden tragedy that struck her blessed and happy household had left a deep scar in her heart.

Sanjou was irritated at Kunio for not telling him why he had called him out here, but then he realized what it was for. "Could it be what you meant by business-"

"Yes." Kunio nodded. "I want you guys to look into my grandson."

"……I would greatly want to be of help to you," Sanjou shook his head. "But we're just the yakuza. We're not professionals for finding people."

A detective could not even find a single lead on the case after ten months. There was no way a gang that specialized in smuggling goods could find him.

At that, k.u.mio had smiled bitterly. "I don't want you to look for my grandson's whereabouts. That kid is more than likely dead."

Sanjou felt a chill behind his tone.

"Dead? Why would you-"

Why would he say that?

"Shota was not as good as we thought he was."

Kunio shrugged and took out a single photo.

A high school-looking boy wearing a school uniform was sitting in a chair, covered in blood.

"……This is-"

"It's Shota."

"Wh"

Sanjou lost his words.

Kunio paid no mind to that and continued plainly. "That kid got involved in something. He must have been killed by someone in the underground. ……I thought it was best to ask someone from the underground to look into the underworld."

Sanjou was finally able to read his intentions. "So that was what you wanted?"

"I want you to find whoever killed my grandson. I won't question the methods used. I don't care how many people die. I plan on paying any price you want. It'll be a cheap price to pay if it would relieve my daughter even a little bit."

Sanjou nodded. "Understood. I'll have my subordinates look into the matter immediately."

With the main concern addressed, Kunio changed the topic. "That reminds me, how is the new project? Do you think it will go well?"

"Yes," Sanjou smiled. "I have Is.h.i.+hara taking charge of it. He said he could have the promised items ready this week."

What Kunio meant by a new project was a certain good for their smuggling business. The Mutagawa Group primarily managed smuggling goods from outside the country. However, they were going to smuggle out certain goods overseas as a test. If this was successful, they would be able to make another important trade since this could cultivate another route. What they would be dealing had much higher risks than their other products, so Kunio must have been concerned on its progress.

Kunio suddenly looked up. The regional news program was playing on the TV set up in the restaurant. The middle-aged announcer read off the ma.n.u.script with a meek tone of voice. 'Last night, a third year elementary school child has gone missing-'

A child has gone missing. It was one of the incidents Sanjou saw in the newspaper earlier.

"This country goes into a riot when just one kid goes missing." Kunio muttered as though to himself, glancing at the TV.

He seemed to be warning Sanjou, 'so make sure what you're doing doesn't cause an uproar.'

'Moving onto the next incident. Last night, the bodies of three men were discovered on the road in f.u.kuoka City. Since the victims were members of the Noma Group, the police are looking into whether this was a dispute between gangs or not.'

The Noma Group was an opposing organization to Sanjou's group. There had several skirmishes with them for providing the same merchandise.

"Is that your guy's work?" Kazuo looked over at the TV and gave a slight smile.

"No," Sanjou negated. He was not lying. He did not recall such an event happening. "We have done nothing."

Sanjou c.o.c.ked his head while watching the screen, wondering who could have been behind it.

Translation Notes:

If the name Yamazaki sounds familiar, or for any anime or manga only visitors are here who don’t recognize Shota Yamazaki’s name, I recommend checking out the from the first volume for a refresher of who this person is and what happened to him.