Lin and Banba had decided to do some bounty hunting since their luggage had been stolen at the batting center, but they never expected to actually end up b.u.t.ting heads with a real bounty hunter.

They came to an abandoned warehouse to seize a man with a 300,000 yen bounty named Kasaoka, but a man calling himself a bounty hunter had appeared. It was a young man in a cowboy getup.  When Lin had cornered the man and tried to add the finishing blow, another man made a sudden appearance. He was a large-built man wearing priest clothes, and his target also seemed to be Kasaoka"s bounty.

The minister guy had addressed the cowboy one with a mimicry of carelessness, completely not reading the situation. It seemed they were acquaintances. So did he come to save his friend? Lin wondered.

– However, it was not.

"And this is why you"re a former delinquent! Your bad upbringing is showing!"

"I don"t you to be told that by a pampered selfish kid like you! You spoiled rich gorilla!"

"What did you say!? You got guts to say that for being an uneducated junior high graduate!!"

"You saying a stupid university student from a stupid private university is so great!? Aahh!?"

The cowboy and the minister started to bicker. They approached each other right to their face and while cussing out the other their argument steadily got more intense.

In the end it had evolved to a fist-fight.

"You unrefined Hanshin fan!!"

"You Giants fan with no integrity!!"

It appeared both of them had completely forgotten of Lin and Banba. They were only considered with each other.

– What"s up with these two. Are they stupid?

Lin watched the fight between the priest and the cowboy dumbfounded.

And then,

"Lin-chan, Lin-chan."

Banba motioned to him in a low voice from behind the drum can. He then pointed to the exit. It was the signal for "let"s run while we have the chance."

They had accomplished their goal in capturing the bounty. There was no further purpose to stay in this place longer than necessary, and they did not need to partic.i.p.ate in these cosplayers" fight.

As not to be noticed by the two decking it out, they stealthily sneaked out of the abandoned building with the bounty in tow. As they were walking through the city of Ikebukuro,

"Just who in the world were they……?"

Lin questioned recalling the previous pair.

From the looks of it they were acquaintances but not friends. I guess it"s something like that. They could be rivals in their trade. Actually now thinking about it, he recalls. Banba and I used to b.u.t.t heads at work, and we had even fought like that before. That brings back memories.

"Well, whatever."

Banba was in high spirits.

"He got ourselves a bounty. So let"s hurry up an" get our pay and go for some tonkotsu ramen."

"And like I said, why tonkotsu ramen? I"ll decline."

Lin objected Banba"s attempt at suggesting his own preferred food.

"We came all this way, so let"s eat something more Tokyo-like."

"Like shoyu ramen?"

"Something else besides ramen."

No matter how much they disputed over this here without money they could not be able to receive food. Their first priority was to receive their payment.

Lin took out his smartphone and opened up the web browser.

"Well first let"s call up these guys at this NPB place."

……I got it bad.

Tora and Rabito walked alongside each other grudgingly while thinking that to themselves. They had no choice but to head back to Wyatt"s shop empty-handed because they lost their bounty.

"You must be type-B." Tora glared at Rabito on the side and said to him. "And you"re an only child right? You"re selfish and you"re inconsiderate."

"What"s with that? Can you not take liberty in labeling me like that? Besides, that"s rude to all the only children in this country that are type B. Apologize."

Even while walking through downtown Shinjuku the two"s bickering was still going on.

"I despise people who judge someone based off their blood type and if they have siblings or not." Rabito stated to Tora, sparing him a glance. "It"s a standard fact a person"s personality is not determined by blood but by how they"re raised by their parents."

Tora snorted. "Then you having been pampered to your whole life must make you have the worst personality."

"I don"t want to be told that by you: a former delinquent and juvenile sc.u.m that had to go to a detention center."

"I"ve never been to a detention center. Don"t make up a person"s past."

"I think it"s so badly fitting a parent would give their child the name "Torakichi" though."

At that moment veins appeared in Tora"s face.

"You just dared to insult my mother, didn"t you?!" He bore his teeth and drew close to Rabito. "And then to insult even my name! Apologize for all the Torakichis in the country!"

"They isn"t anyone else but you with that stupid, odd name!"

"There may be! Don"t you decide if that"s the case!"

The two arrived at the western bar Dodge City.

As the two pa.s.sed through the swinging door while hollering at each other the owner was there with an exasperated expression. "……You guys are rambunctious as ever. I heard your voices all the way from here."

"Wyatt!"

"Uncle!"

"Listen!"

"He made me lose it!"

The two spoke up at the same time and pointed at each other.

"Because of this filthy rich gorilla -"

"Because of this poor hoodlum -"

"I got it already. Anyway calm down, you two."

Wyatt cut off the other two and pressed further.

"We have a guest over. So will you hush up?"

"……A guest?"

Tora and Rabito tilted their head in wonder.

When they looked more attentively there was a young man sitting at the table facing Wyatt. He was a man with a blond mushroom-shaped head and a vague impudent expression that gave off an audacious presence.

After he looked between Rabito and Tora he smiled a toothy grin. "I heard that two interesting newcomers joined, but they really are quite something."

"Aren"t they?" After smiling wryly back, Wyatt introduced the visitor to the two. "This is Enokida. He"s an informant I"ve known for a long time."

Tora took off his hat and gave his salutations. "I"m Torakichi Nishino. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. Your oldest younger brother Tiger-kun entered his third year in middle school, right? Has it been decided which high school he"ll go to?"

"Wha-"

He widened his eyes. Why does he know?

Tora glared at Wyatt suspecting he mentioned it to him, but Wyatt shook his head side to side. "Enokida specializes in hacking."

Enokida smiled while typing on his laptop, "as long as I know the name I can easily pry into personal information."

At that,

"Hey listen,"

Rabito"s eyes lit up, and he bent forward.

"How much have you looked into me?"

After Enokida glanced at his laptop screen,

"Rabito Westwood-kun. I see you got your black hair from you j.a.panese mother and are a Giants fan due to her influence. It seems you bought a period pa.s.s to Tokyo Dome with the black card you received from your parents."

"Whoooa." Rabito"s eyes widened, and he raised his voice. "You"re amazing. That"s an informant for you."

" – By the way."

Wyatt looked back at the two and changed the topic.

"What"s up with you two? Both of you are hurt. What on earth did you do? What about the bounty?"

Tora spoke first when asked. "Someone else got there first."

"Someone else?"

"Yeah. When I went to the abandoned building Shinta Kasaoka was hiding up in there was a group of two people. They took my prey."

"What were they like?"

"One was a man crossdressing as a woman."

"Eh? That woman was a man?" Rabito was shocked. "You serious. He was crossdressing? I didn"t notice at all."

"……Crossdressing?" Enokida responded to Tora"s words.

"What"s wrong?"

When Wyatt asked Enokida just shook his head. "No, it"s nothing."

"The other was a tall man and had a thick accent. I think it was a dialect from the Kyushu region. Like Hakata dialect or something."

"……Hakata dialect?" Enokida responded again.

"What"s this. Do these two sound familiar to you?"

"No, not at all." Enokida denied and asked Wyatt in turn. "Do you know them?"

"I"ve never heard of a bunch like that. At least not anyone in our group (NPB)."

"Probably." Tora nodded in agreement. They were certainly new faces for him. "They could have been amateurs from another region."

It was then.

"Ahh! I just remembered!"

Rabito sounded yelled out.

"……Just shut you gorilla."

Ignoring the three raising eyebrows at him dubiously Rabito pulled out a large luggage from the counter. It was a black traveling bag. He took out a wallet from the inside pocket and fished inside it for its contents.

"This guy. It is this guy!"

What Rabito held up was the driver"s license that was in the wallet. The photo was the exact same as the man who spoke Hakata dialect at that place.

Tora nodded as well, "Yeah, that"s him. There"s no doubt about it."

"I had thought I"ve seen that guy"s face somewhere before."

"His name is Zenji Banba, and his address is Hakata Ward, f.u.kuoka City. ……So he really is an outsider."

"……Say."

Enokida spoke up suddenly.

"Could I take this luggage off your hands?"

Wyatt nodded. "I don"t really mind, but what are you planning to do with it?"

"I"m going to give it back to its owner. This address is close to where I"m staying at."

"Well that"d be a great help if you could do that for us," Wyatt frowned in suspicion. "……but were you always this kind of a person?"

A man picked up the call when they called the number listed for the NPB. "We got the bounty," when Lin reported that to them the other man gave them a time and place for the exchange. They were ordered to bring the man to the second floor of the parking structure in thirty minutes.

As instructed Lin and Banba went to the designated parking garage with Shinta Kasaoka.

The other man was already waiting for them. He was slim and wearing black clothes, but since he was wearing a mask to hide his face they could not tell further details. He was a very suspicious man.

"It is you guys who contacted us right?"

The man addressed them upon spotting Lin and Banba.

"Yeah, it is."

Lin nodded and pointed to the captured Kasaoka with his chin. "This is the guy you"ve been looking for, right?"

Kasaoka was still unconscious. Banba had carried him all the way here with his limbs bound. He was currently laid down at their feet.

After confirming the bounty"s face the man nodded. "Yes, it is. There is no mistake."

The man held a paper bag.

"This here is your reward."

He held the bag open as they peered inside of it. They could see from afar that bills were inside. There was certainly 300,000 yen in there.

They finished their exchange.

After handing over Kasaoka and receiving the paper bag two other men appeared. They picked up Kasaoka"s body and put him into the trunk of the car parked nearby. They had finished their task. The men left them behind and got into the car.

After the car had left Lin raised his voice in excitement. "We finally got money."

Who knew making 300,000 yen would be so much effort. Jobs away from their home really are too much work.

"I"m starving. Let"s go and eat right away, Banba."

He addressed him, but there was no response. "…………"

He turned around and asked him with his head tilted to the side. "Banba? What"s wrong."

Banba was focused on the contents in the paper bag.

After a moment he called his name in a tightened voice.

"……Lin-chan."

"What is it?"

When Lin asked back Banba whispered with dead eyes with no light in them.

"……These here are fake."

The mysterious group of two Tora and Rabito ran into at the abandoned building – the man with the Hakata accent and the man crossdressing as a woman.

Enokida had lied that he did not know them, but he had realized it was those two right away. No matter how he thought it it had to be Banba and Lin. So they came to Tokyo as well. He vaguely suspected it. He was unsure of the reason why they came so quickly though.

Even so just what sort of connection does the man they were looking for have?

"They must have been quite skilled." Wyatt slipped a wry smile while he was treating the wound on Tora"s face. "For them to hurt you this much."

"No," Tora shook his head at Wyatt"s words and pointed with his chin to the large man sitting next to him. "This is from that stupid rabbit guy. Seriously, it"s so bothersome."

"I could say the same." Rabito says with a pout while wiping off the blood at the corner of his lips with his thumb. "Because of you my handsome face is ruined."

"……So you guys fought again."

Wyatt sighed.

Their fighting seemed to be an everyday occurrence from what he could tell from that expression.

"Rabi, you had my gun again, didn"t you? I"ve told you countless times to not use a gun."

Rabtio answered while smirking ungracefully to Wyatt"s scolding, "it was just self-defense."

"What "self-defense." He just fired w.i.l.l.y-nilly."

Tora scowled and tattletaled to Wyatt.

"He was just as skillful as ever. Please, Wyatt. Please don"t ever let this hopeless idiot wield a gun again. Because of this idiot I have to get a new hat. My expenses this month are piled up as it is."

"Stop your pitiful crying. I can easily buy a hat. A brand a pauper like you can"t get your hands on."

"That"d be with your parents money anyway. Quite acting like you"re so great."

Among the high tense, near explosive situation, "Tora, Rabi," Wyatt chimed up.

"Give it up already. Or I"ll confiscate your license."

The two were bounty hunters employed under the NPB. If they were deprived of their license issued by the organization they would lose the ability to receive work.

It seemed Wyatt"s threat worked. The two shut their mouths and looked away from each other.

Enokida whispered in a murmur while watching the two trying to behave, "……This brings back memories of two certain someones."

He recalled the past while gulping down his gla.s.s. Those two fought like this in the past before too. It was especially bad during baseball practices or games. They bickered back and forth calling each other "idiot" or "hopeless."

While he felt the nostalgia, he received a call from those two. He hit the accept call b.u.t.ton and pressed the device to his ear. "h.e.l.lo?"

[ – Hey, mushroom.]

Lin"s voice sounded irritated.

[We need you to look up something; it"s urgent.]

Enokida frowned at the forced tone. "What happened?"

When he asked, [It"ll take a long time to explain.] Lin started off before continuing. [The truth is, we……we"re in Tokyo right now.]

"Hmm, is that so?" He did not say that he already knew.

[And we really need money right now.]

Lin did not say the reason why they needed money, but he already had an idea as to why.

[We thought of getting money by catching a bounty listed on Undergroundjobs.com.]

"And that was what Shinta Kasaoka was for?"

[That"s right.] Lin verified and continued on. [So we caught him and handed him over to the client……but the money we received was fake.]

"I see." Enokida gave a faint smile. "So you guys were put to work for free?"

[We can"t let this go. We"re professional killers after all.]

How dare they look down on us, Lin spat out. He seemed to have taken great offense to this.

"So you want me to locate their location so you can have them pay you for real?"

[Thank you for getting to the point.]

After they dropped the call he received an e-mail from Lin right away. There was no text in it except for just the URL. The link was to the page Undergroundjobs.com Tokyo Version. The mentioned post appeared to still be on there.

"For those who catch this man we will pay a bounty of three hundred thousand yen. The people to hand him over to is at the NPB."

– That is what was written. The given phone number is probably a prepaid, throw away device.

The NPB did not put up bounties on a place like this. In other words someone was using the NPB"s name and set up Lin and Banba.

The internet was Enokida"s home (stronghold). It was easy work for a hacker like him to find the one who posted the request on the site with the basic technique of identifying the IP address. As long as they were not specialists there should be no concern in receiving a counter attack.

The edges of Enokida"s mouth curved upward, "now then, shall we begin?" And like playing the piano his ten fingers danced over the keyboard.