Kaede726

Chapter 3: We Do Not Offer That at This Store Night, somewhere in the city As Celty Sturluson worked diligently on her courier work, the name of the man she thought of was walking down an alleyway in the outskirts of Ikebukuro, accompanied by a boy whose eyes began to grow more excited the moment the sun went down. “Shijima-san, what are you doing right now?” Shijima replied with cold eyes when Jami looked over towards him expectantly. “Nothing in particular.” “You’re pulling my leg.” “I’m not. Besides, I don’t plan for anything big. The only thing I'll do is pour oil on a flame that's beginning to burn somewhere in the city or blow wind on it.”

This story, which was serialized as part of the Dengeki Bunko Resurrection Series in Dengeki Bunko Magazine, has been published into a light novel form. Dengeki Bunko Resurrection Series is a project to celebrate Dengeki Bunko Magazine breaking through its 50th edition. The concept was something like, “have Dengeki Bunko writers write new stories to revive the worlds of popular Degenki Bunko works.” So I took the lead with the first step, bringing the collaboration of the awe-inspiring Ryohgo Narita’s Durarara!! series and my own work Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens. I considered calling the title for the novel “Hakata Tonkotsu Durararamens,” but at some point the main editor made the decision on it, and now it is this. I was worried if fans of Narita-sensei would not like it (I wasn’t the one who decided it!), so please give me some leeway...! Everything started last winter. I was told by my editor out of the blue, “you’re going to do a collab with Dura~,” and I was greatly taken...

Just how long has it been since they came to Tokyo? The other Ramens members returned to Fukuoka right away, but the second baseman and shortstop – Zenji Banba and Xianming Lin – stayed to enjoy sightseeing around the city. Or more accurately it was just Lin who had enjoyed himself. Yesterday he spent the whole day window shopping at fashion stores in Shibuya and Harajuku and had Banba tag along as his bag carrier. Banba watched Lin as he got joyous trying on every new one-piece dress with large shopping bags in both hands and an openly annoyed expression. Banba was bored the entire time, regardless of how often Lin made attempts at conversation, asking him: “how does this look?” or “Which do you think look better?” Banba merely replied with nothing more than, “um, don’t that look fine?” Under Lin’s demand, they ended up extending their stay for another day, and today they planned to eat pancakes at a famous restaurant that was exclusive to Tokyo. Since Lin tagged alo...

Top of the Eighth Inning Uno and his comrades headed over to Hakata pier via the fishing ship when two a.m. rolled around. The Hakata bay was quiet this night, and the waves were calm. After a couple minutes of crossing the pitch black ocean at a slow pace, their destination on the pier came into view. They anchored the boat once they arrived to Sunset Park. They moved from the sea to land, crossing over the small fence with the guitar cases in one hand. There were no signs of people in the park as expected at this hour. Only the silence greeted them. There was a futsal field near the park, but it was far past its business hours and thus was pitch black. Directly across from a multistory parking garage and the red tower, the Hakata Port Tower, was visible.

Epilogue: Hero Interview They had finished their practice game between the grass-lot baseball teams the Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens and the Tokyo Sukiyaki Westerns, and later that same night the Tonkotsu Nine met up at a restaurant in the city in celebration for the game. “Today is my treat! Drink up whatever you like!” Their coach Genzo toasted with a beer mug in hand. “So cheers!” “Cheers!” There was the clanking of beer mugs and exuberant voices. The Tonkotsu Nine each gave praise to every person who made a good effort in their game that day as they gulped down their drinks. Enokida, who was sitting across from the second baseman and shortstop Banba and Lin, was also downing his beer the same as everyone else.

Chapter 9: For a Few Yen More With the rush of customers dispersing the western bar Dodge City was more laid-back. It had been one hour since Banba and Lin had sneaked into the Wild Bunch Company. They should be finishing up there soon enough. Enokida informed Banba that the Wild Bunch Company had bounties put out for them. No matter if they were a hit-man group, they were no match for those two. Right now everyone should be tied up , Enokida imagined. Now his next job was waiting for him. Enokida finished relaxing at the end table of the bar and closed his laptop and put it into his bag. “I’ll be going. Thank you for the meal.” After he gulped down the rest of his glass he got up from his seat and placed money down onto the table. “Until the game then.” He told Wyatt.

Chapter 8: Continuation – Ikebukuro Duel When he took a moment to think about it, it was apparent almost immediately. He certainly found it odd.  Murder Inc. was rather lenient when John Wayne established his independence. They did not interfere or try to meddle with John’s plans but remained as a spectator. They were fine with it. Murder Inc. had already sent a spy into the inner workings of the Wild Bunch at that time. They could receive reports from their spy periodically and leave the Wild Bunch Company up to their own devices. If they had any utility value they would let them swim along undisturbed, and when they became a hindrance they would eliminate all of them.That was Murder Inc’s objective.

Top of the Seventh Inning Los Eses used one of the buildings in a warehouse in the center of a pier near Hakata pier as their hideout and drug storage facility. The factory appeared to have ceased running operations, with nails and metal pipe scrapes littered in the inactive space. There was a pile of cardboard boxes in the center that Uno and his comrades had carried in. Inside them were all illegal drugs. The Los Eses trio each spent their time as leisurely as they pleased in their hideout. Treinta was doing weapon maintenance, sharpening a dull carving knife. Ocho was sitting on his guitar case, smoking a cigar to pass the time. Uno was in the middle of a phone conversation.

Top of the Sixth Inning According to Enokida’s information, the Noma Group would be carrying out a drug deal on the second floor of a multistory parking lot in Nakasu an hour from now. Lin trusted his information, but when he had asked, ‘how did you figure that out?’ Enokida had answered with, ‘I overheard it.’ He must have put a listening device on someone again. But at any rate, he learned where their target was. All that they needed to do was carry out the plan. They would attack them during the trade and take the products and the payment. Their method of attack would be similar to last time when they went after Kishihara, with two people riding motorcycles and do a hit-and-run. The method was regularly used by foreign mafias as well. “Are you ready?” Lin addressed the other members as he put on his full-face helmet. “Let’s go.”

Top of the Fifth Inning It had been roughly two weeks since the three men from the drug cartel Los Eses had arrived in Fukuoka. They were selling their smuggled drugs well. The plan was going smoothly. “...So anyway, is there any better containers for this stuff?” Ocho complained as they walked down a street in Tenjin with the guitar cases strapped over their shoulders. Inside the cases were not guitars. Uno had guns, Ocho had rifles, and Treinta had blades; each a weapon of their choice. They had heard this city had an abundance of hitmen, so they carried out weapons on their person, but Ocho did not take a liking to using these cases.