Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Volume 5 Chapter 5

Warning: Descriptions of past abuse.

Top of the Fifth Inning

Misaki, having just got under Jiro's protection, was in a terrible state. It was as though she had not had a bath in days. The clothes she wore had not even been put in the wash as they were slightly dirty, and she had a sour scent to her as well.

At any rate, Jiro had to get her clean.

"How about you go in the bath first?"

She had been utterly silent the entire ride home. She still was. She would not reply even when Jiro addressed her. She would just nod wordlessly.

"Can you take off your clothes by yourself?"

She raised her arms in an attempt to get her clothes off of her when she suddenly stilled. She had grimaced for an instant, indicating that she was probably hurt somewhere on her body. She shook her head left and right silently.

"……Your arm is injured, isn't it?" He had planned on tossing the dirty clothes anyway. "How about I cut them off?"

She nodded.

Jiro placed the scissors into her clothes and cut from the back down and picked up the pieces of cloth afterwards before looking her over. She had numerous bruises all across her upper body. They varied from brand new bluish ones to old black ones. They were proof that she had been abused for a long period of time. And then there were a couple of burnt marks along her back. The wounds looked like they were from the bunt of a cigarette being pressed into her back.

This is awful, Jiro whispered to himself in his mind. Why did such a young girl like her have to receive such brutal treatment?

As to not aggravate the wounds, he gently wiped her torso with a moist towel. She obediently let it happen. He let her lower half which had fewer injuries he cleaned from the shower spray.

He put on new underwear and clothes he had bought for her on their way home. She let him and merely watched the process like an emotionless doll.

"Alright, next. Let's wash your hair."

He began to carefully knead her lackl.u.s.ter, tangled hair with shampoo, making sure that it did not drip onto her clothes or onto her wounds.

"I was a beauty artist. I'm good, right?"

She nodded wordlessly again when he smiled at her.

After he had gotten her clean, he then brought Misaki to Saeki's place. Once Saeki finished treating her wounds, Jiro then brought her to a family restaurant.

"You're hungry, right? Go ahead and eat whatever you like." He told Misaki, pointing to the front of the menu.

She took it in hand, and after looking through it intently she muttered, "omelette rice."

Jiro called for a shop attendee and ordered her an omelette rice and orange juice and a coffee for himself. After a few minutes had pa.s.sed, their items were brought to their table. She ate elegantly, cutting up her food into tiny portions with her spoon and carefully bringing them to her mouth.

"Eat however you like. No one will get mad at you if you don't do proper manners."

The moment Jiro said that, she began to stuff her face full of food with great vigorousness. She must have been starving.

Her plate was empty in mere minutes.

"Can you still eat?"

Misaki nodded.

"What would you like?" He handed her the menu again.

After thinking for a few moments, Misaki answered, "a hamburger, a Dorian ca.s.serole, and a chocolate banana parfait."

Can she eat that much? Jiro was awestruck. He did not mind having her eat whatever she liked, but he was unsure how her small stomach could take in that much food.

Jiro suddenly realized as he drank his coffee. That reminds me, I believe professionals said on a doc.u.mentary program about abused children I saw in the past that those victimized children would eat to the point they would throw up. Because they were not provided with enough food with their parents giving up on raising them, they developed this way of thinking: 'if I don't eat when I can, who knows when the next time I can eat will be.'

Perhaps she thought the same too.

"You can eat tomorrow too, so you don't have to force yourself."

He said, testing the water. She instantly looked up at him and questioned. "……Really?"

"Yes, really."

"……I can eat tomorrow too?"

"You can eat as much as you want. You're my child now."

Misaki made a shocked expression at Jiro's statement. She then stared at the menu for a while and adjusted her order."……A chocolate banana parfait."

Misaki had the standard attachment disorder as seen in other abused children, unable to warm up to others. It could be that she was just bad getting along with people, but she was always expressionless, making it difficult to tell what she was thinking. But now she just started to open up. It was a huge step forward for her.

Because of her tragic upbringing, she was never able to be given anything until now. As such, Jiro wanted to grant her desires as much as he could.

But this he would not waver on.

"No."

Misaki pouted when he turned her down. "Why?"

"Because it's dangerous."

Jiro had a sudden job request and had to meet with his client. And Misaki had been whining to take her with him.

This had been happening more often as of late. Misaki would want to go along with Jiro whenever he got a job for his underground business.

Naturally, he could not let her go. He swore to himself that he would never let her be involved with his avenger work again.

"Take care of the house, alright?"

Jiro left their home, leaving the sullen Misaki behind.

After talking with Enokida, Lin and Banba left and spent the rest of the day questioning people around the park. But in the end, they got no result. The most they got was unhelpful rumors and gossip from a talkative couple that lived in the apartment building there: that the wife of a couple in room 105 committed adultery, that Has.h.i.+moto-san in room 304 had been downsizing, and that the father of the Is.h.i.+hara household in room 408 seemed to be a yakuza in the Mutagawa Group. They did not find any beneficial witness testimonies. Rena's whereabouts was still a mystery.

"This sure is odd," Lin c.o.c.ked his head in thought when they returned to the office.

It was not as though there was a lack of pa.s.serby near the park that day around that time that Rena had disappeared. If someone was wandering around that area, looking for a child, someone should have some recollection of that. "Is that what people call disappearing into thin air?"

"Maybe she was kidnapped by an unsuspicious-lookin' fella." Banba suggested as he poured water into the cup ramen.

"……Unsuspicious-looking?"

He mentioned the first thing he thought of, imagining someone who could pa.s.s by without looking suspicious when with a young girl.

"Like someone in a police uniform?"

A uniform had authority to it. People would have faith in anyone who wore a uniform. Especially if they were a police officer.

"Or maybe a woman around the same age as her mother."

Everyone's first thought when they see a woman and child together would be that of a mother and daughter.

"And then maybe……another child?"

If it was another kid, then that would not be suspicious. No one would suspect a child playing with her at the park to be the kidnapper. A child kidnapping a child?

"……There's no way."

The moment he laughed at the thought, the door to the office opened.

Lin and Banba's eyes widened when they saw their sudden guest.

It was Misaki.

"Misaki," Banba asked her while gesturing her to come in. "Whatcha doin' here at this hour?"

It was rare for her to drop by this place. And her caretaker was not here with her either.

"Where's Jiro?"

"At work. Doing avenger stuff." Misaki replied, looking up at Banba's face. "Can I stay here for today?"

"Huh? Why?" Lin scowled.
"I've ran away from home."

"Ran away?"

"Yeah. So please let me stay here."

Out of all the things to say.

"This isn't joke. We're not an orphanage." Lin objected. She should just hurry on back home. Jiro will be worried about her too.

"I didn't ask you." Misaki glared at Lin. "I'm asking Zen-chan."

What a brat, Lin grimaced.

"Hold on there. I don't mind ya stayin'." Banba crouched down and looked Misaki in the eye. "Could ya tell me why you ran away from home?"

Misaki nodded earnestly, moved by Banba's kind disposition.

She took a seat on the sofa, Banba sitting down next to her.

"……Jiro-chan won't bring me along for his work. He says he can't because it's dangerous."

According to her, she kept telling Jiro that she wanted to go with him to meet his client, but he would not let her. Annoyed, she wrote a note, 'I'm leaving home. Please don't find me." She had then left their house and came here.

"Hey, Zen-chan."

"Hm?"

"I have another favor to ask you."

"What is it now?"

"Teach me how to kill people."

"……Ha?" Banba was at a loss of words at her unexpected request. "No, sorry. I can't do that."

However, Misaki would not back down. "It's fine. Teach me. I want to become a killer too. So please. Even one week of it will do."

"Are you stupid? That's not something you can pick up." Lin frowned. "Are you making light of hitmen?"

"I'm not."

"Misaki," Banba said to admonish her. "A hitman ain't something you become by wanting to be. People become killers because that's the only thing they can become."

"……I don't get it."

Misaki pouted.

Lin could not go along with the kid's selfishness. He sighed. "No matter what you try to do, Jiro isn't going to have you tag along."

Jiro would not have Misaki help him with his work, no matter if she tried to run away from home or underwent training to learn how to kill people.

"Why?" Misaki was sullen.

"Isn't it obvious? Because a kid will only be a burden."

Lin stated bluntly. Banba hastily tried to make a follow-up. "That ain't it. Jiro cares for you, so he's worried-"

"I'm not a kid!" Misaki cut Banba off and yelled. "I won't be a burden!"

"How?" Lin looked at her head to toe and snorted. "You can't do a d.a.m.n thing by yourself."

"I can!"

Misaki rebuked, seething.

"Come on now, you two."

Banba chimed in, attempting to get in between them.

"Ahh, is that the case?" Lin replied back provocatively. "Then how about you do something yourself instead of sitting here and complain?"

At that, Misaki's face turned bright red, and she rushed out of the office. The door slammed with immense force, resounding loudly throughout the room.

What is up with that kid? Lin shrugged, exasperated.

"Really now?" Banba sighed next to him. "Lin-chan, why did ya say that?"

Lin slumped on the sofa and frowned deeply. "Was I wrong?"

"You're pitiful. She's just an elementary school girl."

"……An ignorant kid like her who knows nothing of the world p.i.s.ses me off." It felt like he was looking at his old self.

Misaki was at the age where she wanted to be included with adults. She had faith that she could do anything, unaware of her powerlessness. Someone had to make her acknowledge that she was in a weak position. If she was aware of it, she would not have been pestering Jiro to take her with him so selfishly. Lin could not let her say something so foolish as 'I want to become a killer,' despite not knowing what kind of world she was in.

"She has an idea of it in her own way," Banba shrugged and took out his cell phone.

'A burden.'

That word struck right into the most frail portion of Misaki's heart.

Xianming Lin. He's mean, foulmouthed and not nice. I hate him. I don't like a single thing about him.

She got irritated thinking back to him. And her irritation changed over into anxiety.

Would she be abandoned again? Like her mother did back then, when she left her behind in order to get away from her step-father?

Why did she not take Misaki with her?

She knew the answer. It was because she was a burden. It was easier for her to escape by herself. A young child would have just been a deadweight, a hindrance for her getting a new life. Misaki was useless to her mother. She could not do anything, other than needing to be protected. Her mother had gotten more injuries for s.h.i.+elding her.

Misaki had to do something this time. She swore that to herself the day Jiro became her new parent. She would not let herself make the same mistakes. She had to be helpful.

And yet despite her efforts, Jiro would not let her help him with his work recently.

If she was useless, then her existence had no value. At this rate, she would be abandoned again. She had to do something. She was getting more desperate to do so.

While she was briskly walking, anxious, she noticed the cell phone Jiro got her was vibrating. It was an incoming call from Banba.

"……h.e.l.lo?"

'h.e.l.lo, Misaki?' She heard Banba's worried voice. He was always kind, so she liked him. 'Where're you plannin' on goin'? Come back here.'

"I'm going home. I have to feed Kuro anyway." Kuro was the name of her cat.

'Ah, I see.' Banba suddenly sounded relieved. 'Where are you right now? I can come get you and drop you off.'

"It's alright. You don't have to."

Misaki hung up and then turned the device off. Jiro would not be able to track it if the power was off.

Her saying she was going home was a huge lie. Misaki headed over to Nakasu. She got on the subway and got off at Nakasu Kawabata Station. Once she got pa.s.sed the fourth exit, she saw the building she was looking for – the Gates Building.

She found the platinum blond head in a cafe on the first floor. It was the Ramens' lead-off man, the informant Enokida. He had his laptop on the table and was taking a sip of his coffee at the moment.

She took a seat across from him without asking, and Enokida looked over to her and smiled. "This is a rare guest."

"I have a favor." Misaki said, leaning forward.

"And what would that be, little avenger-san?"

"Find where Jiro-chan is right now."

"Why?"

She faltered under his sharp gaze. This man's eyes were difficult. She felt like he could read all her thoughts. "Just, please."

"I want to hear the reason."

"If you won't find him," Misaki pointed in the direction of the cafe register and stated, "I'll tell the employees over there that I'm being dragged around by an unknown man."

Children being kidnapped was just reported on the news the other day. Everyone in f.u.kuoka was frantic over the topic.

As expected, Enokida's complexion changed slightly when she said that. "……You're a frightening kid to dare threaten me."

"Give me information. I'll pay you if you want money for it."

"I don't think an elementary schooler's allowance will cut it."

Enokida relented almost reluctantly, taking out his smartphone. He seemed to be calling someone.

"You won't find him with your computer?"

"I can hear where he is without having to go out of my way," Enokida glanced over at Misaki and smirked. Shortly after, the recipient picked up his call. "Ah, h.e.l.lo? Jiro-san?"

Misaki was taken aback. The person Enokida called was her caretaker.

Does he plan on ratting me out to Jiro?

Enokida moved forward with the conversation, ignoring the anxious Misaki. "Where are you right now? Ah, you're going to meet with a client? Where at? Ahh, okay. ……No, there was something I wanted to tell you. I'll call you back later."

Enokida hung up. He could have found out his friend's location on his own, but he did not use hacking to do so.

"Where's Jiro-chan right now?"

"A bar in Nakasu. He's meeting up with a client."

"What's the bar called?"

"Smokin' hot. It's in 3-chome."

"Thank you," Misaki warned Enokida. "Keep this a secret from Jiro-chan, okay?"

"Ah, hold on a second."

She was suddenly grabbed by the arm.

Enokida turned her around and drew close to her face. "You might have to be careful. This bar is actually-"

Their meeting was at 11:10 pm. Jiro was running late due to unexpected traffic.

Jiro parked his vehicle at the bar's parking lot. To his right there was a large black van and on his left was a white Sedan.

Jiro entered the bar Smokin' hot and looked around the inside. There were two exits: the front entrance he just came through and an exit behind the counter. There was a large-built man behind the enclosed counter, probably the owner of the bar. His head was shaved with a tattoo on it. He was in the middle of wiping down the Collins gla.s.s.

Jiro could not say it was a refined bar. The place was unruly, and the employees as well as the customers were ill-bred. There were two men sitting at the counter. They were sitting apart from each other, but they were both drinking a non-alcoholic bottle with the same green label on it. There were three people in a booth near the entrance; each one had a bottle of ginger ale placed on the table. Jiro's client was another man sitting at the furthest table in the room. At least he a.s.sumed he was.

Excluding himself, there were six customers in the bar.

This is odd. Something's off.

Jiro felt slightly unhinged. However, he could not ascertain what it was.

"You must be s.h.i.+matsan, correct?"

Jiro headed over to the center table and called out to the client. The man had a stubble, and although he called himself s.h.i.+mata it was likely a fake name.

"Yes," the client nodded. "And you're-"

"Yes, I'm the avenger."

"Nice to meet you," He shook hands with Jiro. "Thank you for coming."

Jiro sat down facing the man and asked him, "so what sort of revenge do you wish for?"

The client languidly said. "I had a pet dog that was killed."

"……a dog, you say?"

"A kid in the neighborhood did a prank by throwing a loaf of bread with rat poisoning into my yard. And my pet dog ate it. ……The dog died. My daughter who was very fond of it was very shocked."

"How unfortunate."

"……Ah, does it have to be a person to avenge? Do you not accept taking revenge for animals?"

"No, not necessarily."

What his client asked him to do was unexpected, but it was not particularly rare either. Yet there was something about it that caught his attention.

"Have you ever taken a job like this before in the past?" The man asked a strange question.

"Like this as in?" Jiro, not understanding the man's meaning, replied to the question with another question.

"Avenging animals. Have you ever taken a request to avenge dogs or cats?"

Jiro was internally bewildered upon being asked that. Why would this man ask him these questions?

"Well," Jiro tried to be ambiguous. "I'm responsible for keeping secrecy, so I cannot talk about other clients."

"That won't do for us if you won't say anything."

The man's att.i.tude abruptly changed. Jiro heard the intimidating tone to his voice along with the click of something metallic. It was from a gun being c.o.c.ked. A man held up a gun with a sound suppressor on it towards him.

Jiro tutted in his mind. He knew something was fishy. This man was not a client, just as he thought.

"……If you're going to shoot, then go ahead and try." Jiro smirked up at him. He then glanced around the bar. "There are other guests here. And there are even employees. Would you really pull the trigger in a place with so many eyewitnesses? You'll be reported and captured by the police in no time."

However, the man had little reaction. The reason, Jiro found out, was from what he said next. "This bar is our group's facility. The customers and the employees are our buddies. Even the bar owner is a hitman working under us."

Jiro was taken aback.

He finally realized it. The oddity he felt when he first came in was this.

He shot up from his seat and looked around his surroundings. At some point the other guests had guns, all pointing towards Jiro. The person behind the counter had one pointing to him too. Jiro could not move.

"Sit."

He had no choice but to obey.

"……I thought it was strange," Jiro gave a wry smile as he sat back down with both hands raised. "There were too many non-drinkers in here."

There were two cars in the parking lot when Jiro had arrived. There were five other people besides the client and himself. All of them were drinking non-alcoholic beverages. The reason they would come to a bar and not to drink that Jiro could think of was that they had drove here. But there were only two cars in the parking lot. Even if the others were employees, it was unnatural. Five people at a bar together not drinking alcohol? It clearly was too many to be a coincidence.

So this was a trap.

"Now then," The man in front of him began to speak.

"I'll have you tell us." He took out a tablet device and showed the screen to Jiro. "This video was your work, right?"

The footage was that of a torture session.

It was familiar to him. He had avenged a cat a high schooler had killed. He had Enokida post that video on the website the boy uploaded his videos to, to punish anyone else who had did the same atrocities.

"My, I don't know." But Jiro would not admit to it. "I'm unsure what this is."

There was a gunshot. The man in front of him had pulled the trigger. A sharp pain shot up his arm, and blood spurt out. Jiro's body was pushed back against the wall behind him from the force of the bullet.

"Your other arm will be next."

Jiro bit his lip and glared at the man. Jiro put pressure on his wound with his other hand to try and stop the bleeding.

His dominant arm hurt, but he had get out of this situation somehow. He put his mind to work. The weapon he had on his person was one gun for self-protection. It was fully loaded. But there were five yakuza men and one hitman with guns. He was at an overwhelming disadvantage in a gunfight.

He had to alert Banba somehow and buy time until help arrived.

"Well, I don't really care whether you remain silent about it or not." The man said. "I'll just get it out of that precious kid of yours."

"Wh"

Jiro's breath caught in his throat. For a moment, Misaki's face appeared in his mind.

Was she caught by these guys?

The man grinned upon seeing Jiro's complexion change. "……I see. So you got a kid?"

He got me.

He had asked a leading question. Jiro was careless. How could he let himself fall for a simple trick? This was proof that he was losing his composure. He had to calm down.

"I'll ask again. Think hard about it and answer me." The man asked the question again. "This video was your work, right?"

Jiro fell silent.

The unpleasant silence reigned the bar.

What should I do?

Jiro put his mind to work.

The man had said 'our group' earlier. They were definitely yakuza, but Jiro could not grasp their objective. Why would the yakuza be after the person behind the revenge of the high school boy?

The man grew tired of waiting for Jiro to reply after so long and went to speak, when something happened.

The doorbell suddenly chimed, breaking the silence. Someone had came in. All of them turned around, turning their focus over to the entrance.

"Hey, can't you read?" The hitman running the bar called out to the person first. The sign reading 'close' was hung on the door k.n.o.b. "We're closed for today-"

The hitman's expression stiffened.

Everyone there was dumbfounded seeing the person who appeared.

It was a clown.

The man wore a peculiar outfit like a clown. He wore a round red hat on his head, and underneath it he looked like to have dull pink, wavy hair. His face was painted white with greasepaint and red coating of paint for makeup, but the left and right sides of his face differed. The lipstick on his left side of his mouth curved upward, and the right side of his mouth was painted downward. A tear mark was drawn below his right eye. It looked like the left side of his face was smiling while the right was crying.

The clothes the man wore were asymmetrical too. He wore a dark red s.h.i.+rt, but the designs on his vest on the left and right side did not match. The right side was pure black, but the left side had a black and white diamond-pattern to it. The man wore bright red slacks with cuffs that were rolled up at his knees, and his socks that were poking out from underneath them had a border line pattern for the right sock and the left was a diamond pattern.

He had a small red, false nose and a black bowtie. The shoes he wore were dark red clown shoes that were rounded at the tip. His outfit gave the impression of that of a street performer.

Jiro and the yakuza men were awestruck and at a loss for words, watching as the clown walked into the bar while humming a tune. The man gripped the f.l.a.n.g.e of his hat and bowed in gesture as though a show was about to begin.

"……Who the h.e.l.l is this?"

One of the men voiced.

"This guy is h.e.l.la creepy."

"You having a costume party nearby or something?"

Some of the men laughed at the man who was dressed inappropriately, sticking out like a sore thumb. But their smiles froze for a moment.

"Hey, clown guy, hurry up and get outt" The hitman walked up to the clown to shoo him away when his yelling abruptly changed to that of a groan. "Uugah."

The clown had taken out a blade out of nowhere and had thrown it at the man. The knife struck directly into the hitman's throat.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?!"

"You're dead!"

The yakuza men got into an uproar at the sudden guest's actions. The men all pulled the triggers on the guns they held; the repulsive sounds going off in quick succession. The barrage of bullets were all aimed at the clown at once. The clown dodged them all on light feet. He was taking steps as though dancing and hid himself in their blind spots.

Bullets flew around the inside of the shop as though it was the front line of the battlefield. Jiro ducked under the table as to not get hit by stray bullets. He looked out and examined the battle ground. He heard the clown's laughter mixed in with the gunshots.

Just who is that clown?

But this was not the time to be wondering that. Jiro had to take this chance and get out of there.

While the men were preoccupied with the a.s.sault on them, Jiro leapt over the counter and rushed outside through the back exit.

The gun shots continued until everyone ran out of bullets.

'This bar is actually a front business run by the Mutagawa Group.'

Enokida stopped Misaki and told her that.

'This information is a service. I don't need more pay for giving it to you.' Enokida then added. 'There was a post on undergroundjobs of someone wanting information on the avengers. When I looked into the origin of the post, I found it was from the Mutagawa Group.'

The Mutagawa Group was looking for an avenger, and the place Jiro's client set up to meet at was at the Mutagawa's bar. This was not a coincidence. Someone from the Mutagawa Group had pretended to be a client and called up Jiro on there.

Then Jiro-chan's in danger.

Misaki took off. Since Jiro's bar was in the Nakasu neighborhood, she knew the area well. When she asked for the place's address, she knew where the bar was exactly. Misaki headed over there while making sure to avoid the Nakasu police.

The neon lights for the bar Smokin' hot's sign was lit, but the sign hanging on the doork.n.o.b read closed.

It would not be a good idea for her to just barge in. She first had to examine the situation inside. Misaki moved towards the back. For some reason, the gla.s.s window was broken.

Misaki peered inside the bar, standing on her tiptoes.

There was a man's face.

That was the first thing she saw. She refrained herself from screaming. The man's face was upside down. His bloodshot eyes were wide, and below was his mouth. He was suspended upside down, dead.

The corpse's face was gazing blindly in her direction. Misaki turned her attention to inside the bar, trembling.

There was no one who looked like Jiro in there. There were more bodies hanging instead.

There was someone else there. A man wearing red clothes was moving around the bar. He was hanging up another body while humming cheerfully.

Did this man kill all of these men?

In the next second, the man turned around. His white face was facing towards her. Misaki felt her voice trying to escape upon seeing his creepy figure. She instantly covered her mouth with her hands and bit her lips to silence herself.

The man with the white face had seen her.

Her heart thudded in her chest.

This isn't good. He spotted me.

He had noticed her.

I have to get away; I need to get far away from here quickly-

Her heartbeat quickened. Misaki scolded her cowering body and turned on her heel.

"Hey."

Misaki yelped when a voice abruptly called out to her.

The man stood in front of her.

Her heart leapt in her chest once more.

I'm going to be killed.

When she attempted to flee, his red arm reached out and wrapped around Misaki's waist, and his other hand covered her mouth. She was unable to escape or call for help.

The man picked up Misaki while humming a tune.

Bottom of the Fifth Inning

"What on earth happened here……?"

Kase was bewildered at the sight.

"……This is terrible." Sanjou could only groan out that next to him. They had rushed over as soon as they were contacted, but the tragedy that happened here at the bar Smokin' hot was worse than they imagined.

Six corpses were hung inside the bar. All of them were hung upside down. Their legs were bound together by a rope that was fastened to a pillar that reached the ceiling. All the bodies had both their arms dangling down towards the floor.

And even more bizarrely was that there were marks on the bodies' faces. They had no idea what they stood for.

What was clear to them was that they had lost six important p.a.w.ns: five of Sanjou's lackeys and a hitman working for their group.

"Is.h.i.+hara," Sanjou called out to the sole survivor and witness to the event, Is.h.i.+hara. "What happened here?"

Is.h.i.+hara was spared since he hid himself in the refrigerator. He was in a stupor when Sanjou and his men arrived.

Fortunately he had only gotten minorly ill. Is.h.i.+hara had been given immediate treatment, but he was still chilled. He was sitting hunched over himself. Maybe he was cold because he was in the refrigerator for a long period of time or it was because of the blood loss. Or it could have been from fear. He spoke with trembling lips. "……There was a strange guy that came in when we started questioning the avenger."

"A strange guy?"

"He was really odd. He was dressed up like a freakin' clown." Is.h.i.+hara pointed over to the counter. "Carlos threatened him."

Carlos was the hitman and bartender here. He was half-Venezuelan. And now he was hung upside down above the counter.

"The guy threw a knife at him. And it struck Carlos in the throat……And then everyone pulled out their guns-"

"And it became a gunfight?"

There were numerous gunshot marks that could be seen on the walls and the windows were broken as well.

"It was just us shooting him rather than a gunfight between us. He didn't have a gun, so he nimbly ran around the bar……"

It was not just the windows that were broken. The alcohol bottles and gla.s.sware behind the counter were shattered too.

"Once we ran out of bullets, he rushed at us." Is.h.i.+hara thought back on the situation and grimaced. "I thought he would throw more knives, but he used juggling clubs instead……That guy was killing everyone while smiling like he was high on drugs on something."

Sanjou questioned him, pointing to the bodies hanging upside down. "Did that man do this too?"

"……I think so. That guy remained here for a while doing something."

The clown had apparently walked around the bar while humming.

"This manner of killing," Kase recalled something and chimed in. "The Noma Group guys were killed in the same way."

"The Noma Group? Is that true?"

Kase nodded. "I heard about it from a cop I know. He said the guys from the Noma Group were hung upside down like this too."

Then perhaps someone had hired that man to attack the Noma Group and their group. "Is this clown a hitman?"

"……I don't know." Is.h.i.+hara said, slumping forward. He was still shaking. "He was just super creepy and terrifyingly strong. He easily killed a hitman of ours."

Sanjou sighed. "……This has gotten out of hand."

Translation Notes:

In j.a.pan, it’s a 0% alcohol tolerance when driving. So if it’s unusual for that many people to be drinking non-alcoholic beverages when they had to drive afterwards in western cultures standards, it is even more so under j.a.panese law.