Second Entry: Confusion, Pain and Rage

Well, looks like I'm doing another one of these. Not sure why they suddenly decided to have me do another one. I've gone on, hell I don't even know how many missions now. Somewhere in the twenties I gave up counting. The number isn't important anyway, it's the results that matter. Scumbags are dead, that's what it's all about. Rapists, murderers, abductors, hell even some home-grown terrorists that felt like they could blow other people up just because they didn't play the same game of make-believe. Yeesh. I feel dirty touching them now, but it must be done. Monsters have to be purged.

Guess I got a little side-tracked. Back to the point. This one was bad. I still can't get her face out of my mind. Wait, lemme start over.

I got this mission the same as always. Head to the safe-house, check the logs, send the 'ready' signal and wait for Loly. Annoying little shit that she is. Yeah I know since she watched the last one, she'll likely watch this one too. Doesn't matter, if she could do this job, they wouldn't need me. Stay off my back, you midget bitch! I get my shit done, it may not always be pretty, but I've maintained a perfect record, haven't I? One damn time I mention she reminded me of my little sister and she nearly tore the damn room apart. Never again.

Anyway, I got the mission slip from little Miss Asshole and went about my normal routine. Head outside to enjoy the breeze in peace and check the mission packet. I got a really bad feeling as soon as I saw that it was a female Target. I'm not good with those. I keep telling myself that a Target is just a Target. That they no longer have any identity other than Target, but it's so hard to get past hurting women. Every time they scream I hear my mother. Ms Mallia says that I should open up more about my mother to help get past it, but it just hurts so much, and to have every female Target sound like my mother when I use the Touch on them… It's almost too much. Ms Mallia, if you watch these too, I think I need a break. Loly, I know we don't see eye-to-eye, but please do something. I'm not sure how much more I can take.

Okay, erm, right! Bad feeling, another female Target. That feeling only gets worse as I read the rest. Name: Sarugaki, Hiyori. Height: ~4.5ft. Weight: ~60lbs. She's tiny! At this point I'm short of breath, I can barely even stand. Hair color: Blonde. She's almost a dead ringer for Yuzu, are you kidding me?! I have to Touch a girl, well woman, that's so much like one of my little sisters? I had to go for a walk just to sort myself out. About an hour later I get back to the final few entries. Crimes: Violent assaults, many ending in massive head trauma, damage caused by blunt, wooden object. No confirmed fatalities. Last known whereabouts: edge of town, near an abandoned warehouse. Known accomplices: Hirako, Shinji.

That last bit didn't hit me until recently. At the time I was too stressed out to make the connection that she and the child rapist from my first mission were connected. I guess she fit his preferences and since she was legal he didn't have to worry. Enough of that. Uhm… yeah, so after another walk to get myself psyched up, I decided to head out to find this warehouse.

Once I make it out there I can tell that everything out there is falling apart. How does someone hang around buildings that are literally missing large chunks of walls and roofs, much less actually sleep in one? It's not safe and it can't be comfortable. That only makes my bad feeling that much worse. It's dusk, safety lights are flicking on back towards the not abandoned area a little ways back, and I've got to search a condemned warehouse for a woman that is roughly the size of my innocent little sister? Yeah, nothing wrong here at all. Just another day for justice to be done! If only…

[Ichigo grabs his face and presses quite roughly on the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger]

Well if wishes we're dollars, we'd all be millionaires, or however the hell that stupid saying goes.

[Ichigo drops his hand back to his lap, returning his gaze to the camera]

So, I'm just entering the warehouse, it's dark as hell. Shadows are all over the place, there's broken glass on the floor from all the busted out windows. I can see roof support beams hanging down, some of them even completely detached from the ceiling on one end. It's pretty quiet, so every sound I make seems that much louder. It's creepy as hell and the extra tension from having to move carefully has my nerves shot. Honestly, my sense of time from then is gone, but I'd say it took about an hour just to find anything of note. When I say of note, I mean something that wasn't debris. I really wish I hadn't. I found bedding tucked away in a small room down the hall from the main warehouse storeroom. This room actually looked to have rather solid walls, so I can only assume it was a safety shelter for emergencies.

On one of the walls I saw a list of names, all of them with scratches through them. I can't remember all of them, but one really stuck out at the time. SHINJI. It was written with the largest letters and easily had the deepest scratches through it. I could also see what looked like bloodstains all over the wall around the names and on the floor under them. I'm guessing she used a piece of debris that she found to gouge the names into the wall all the while tearing her hands up. I couldn't stay in that room long, so I backtracked a little and found a hallway that I hadn't checked yet.

[Ichigo takes a long pause, breathing deeply.]

This is the room I found her in. Her face was bloody, tribal like markings made their way all around her eyes and mouth, even down to her neck. Where the rope was. She, she'd hung herself from a busted roof support and apparently was alive long enough to tear at her face and neck. I can't get her face out of my head. Every time I close my eyes, I can still see it. I wish I could've gone to Ms Mallia first, but no, this time I just HAD to make a recording. That's it, this one is done. To hell with it.

[The camera abruptly shuts off as Ichigo's foot smashes into the lens]

[Scene shift]

"He's wonderful. Simply wonderful. It's a shame that Ms Sarugaki took the coward's way out though. I can just picture the pain in his eyes after having to kill her by his own hand." Aizen leaned back into his chair, eyes closed as he imagines just that.

A sharp knock on the door breaks him out of his reverie. "Enter." Aizen says as he turns to see the door opening rather quickly.

"Sir, there's been a disturbance. We've lost contact with security and Ms Aivirrne is missing." Aizen's eye's go large at the words coming out of his right-hand man's mouth.

"What's going on Gin?"

AN: Another shout out going to [fallowell] for being the first to favorite! I extend to you the same offer as before to [Reader of a thousand tales]. Feel free to send a PM with something you wish to know or would like to see and I'll do what I can.

Wow, at the time of this writing I have broken the five thousand word mark! I honestly can't believe just how much is flowing out for this story. For those of you who may be feeling a bit lost, I have changed the main tag from "mystery" to "suspense," as I feel it fits better. We are moving to the conclusion, but do NOT expect a long, "Ichigo kicks Aizen's ass" sequence. That is not how this story is meant to go.

Answers will follow after the conclusion, I hope to tie up loose ends in a slightly unconventional way.