"3rd up to Bat" is the third chapter in volume 1 of the Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens manga.
Synopsis[]
Saitoh meets his new boss, who gives him a new alias and tasks him with killing a university student named Jun Murase by 9pm that evening.
Meanwhile, Zenji Banba meets up with Enokida in order to find out more information about the killer who is working under the mayor. They that Reiko Asakura is a former Murder, Inc., and deducing that she is most likely not responsible for Takeda's death, Banba requests that Enokida search for a killer who specializes in strangulation. They discover that another former Murder, Inc. employee, Hisashi Ivanov, is the most likely culprit.
After leaving the internet cafe, Banba bumps into and recognizes his friend, the professional pickpocket Yamato. When Banba receives his wallet back from the thief, he is surprised to find Yamato had also grabbed the Shigematsu's photo. Yamato immediately recognizes the young man in the back of the photo, a waiter named Takashi who had recently been killed, and informs Banba of the high-class Club Miroir, describing it as a dangerous organization. After paying Yamato for the information, Banba heads straight to Club Miroir.
In the meantime, Reiko is sent to deal with the mayor's son, Yusuke Harada, who is casually watching television in spite of the grisly scene Reiko discovers in his bedroom. Although she is disgusted by his actions, Reiko scolds Yusuke for not thinking about his position as the mayor's son and for not properly disposing of the bodies of the women he has killed. As she turns away, Reiko notices the video Yusuke is watching, a recording of his friends beating up a foreigner. Furious, she demands the names of the people in the video with intent to eliminate them.
At the same time, Saitoh heads to Jun Murase's apartment and wonders whether or not he can really go through with killing him.
Character Debuts[]
- Enokida
- Yamato
- Yusuke Harada
- Jun Murase (on video)
- Tatsuya Yamashiro (on video)
- Masaki Yoshida (on video)