Chapter 07: Lost Girl.
It was crazy how human being was unable to face the change, one day they are just little children and without realizing it they become adults. But for Ichiyo, the change she experienced in her life was faster than normal, for example, a few months ago she was a provincial girl who worked in a bar to support the family and now she had become a kind of criminal who believed herself to be a femme fatale when she was weak.
There were a lot of triggers that caused the change in Ichiyo's life, first on the list was her pervert father who was abusing her sister, the second was her decision to leave her hometown on a whim, the third was her kidnapping, the fourth was her decision to jump from the third floor, the fifth was the murder she committed and the last on the long list was the suicidal mission to kill the mayor, all of these events drove Ichiyo to breaking point, drowning her mind in darkness.
Ichiyo was blinded by the strength she was starting to feel in her new life as a criminal, she thought she was no longer a weakling which led her reasoning astray and brought her to ruin. Her biggest mistake in judgment was believing she was capable of killing the mayor like she did with the owner of the lousy motel, she had greatly overestimated herself in both cases except that she was lucky in killing the woman unlike the mayor who was not stupid. Now the tables had turned, she had become the target of the man who was supposed to be her target.
She had woken up for a while now but she was still sleepy, she was gagged and tied with a rope to an iron chair in the middle of a sort of large garage. Darkness pervaded the place and from what she could see through the high windows, day had not risen. She wondered if she had been sleeping for minutes, hours or days; anyway getting an answer wasn't going to change anything, she was in deep shit.
The pounding in her head and the ringing in her ears were probably side effects of the drug she took, she felt that she was not fully awake because her eyelids were very heavy which prevented her from fully opening her eyes. She felt the pain run through her spine which was due to her awkward position, anyway her physical condition was the least of her concerns at the time, with that thought she felt a rush of adrenaline rush through her body, she was in total panic mode. She began to struggle to try to undo the ties that bound her, rocking the chair she was sitting on and falling to the side, the result had not been beneficial for her because she banged her head against the hard ground.
Ichiyo became more desperate because her position was more uncomfortable than before, she could no longer support the full weight of her body which was resting on her shoulder and the wig she was wearing began to suffocate her, she could not even pull the hair away from her face because her hands were tied.
Her situation was pathetic and she knew it was going to get worse when she heard a door creak and footsteps coming closer to her. She had visitors which was surely not in her interest, it was surely the hour of her punishment that had come, she remembered that before she fainted, she had heard the mayor say he was going to kill her or something, deep down she knew he was going to torture her first.
The footsteps stopped and silence returned again, she tried to see her visitors but the damn black hair of her wig prevented her from doing so. She was scared, extremely scared, she could even piss herself so much she was scared, her heart was going to run out of her chest because it was racing so hard. She psychologically prepared to face her fate, she may have come to the end, she may fall into eternal slumber and leave this life for good. The movie of her years of existence began to play in her mind, it was a boring and empty life, there wasn't even a person who cared about her except her sister.
"Natsu." She thought about her reason for living, it was the indestructible thread that bound her to life.
She moaned in surprise as the chair she was sitting on jerked up. With this change of position Ichiyo had a new perspective that was even more demoralizing for her because now she could look straight into the eyes of the man she had tried to kill, the mayor was accompanied by two mountains of muscles that could surely kill her with a single flick.
"So how are you my pretty?" The mayor asked her sarcastically, as if she could answer him with the duct tape stuck to her mouth.
Without warning he slapped her hard, rocking the chair she was sitting on and knocking her once again onto her right side which was still painful from her first fall. She felt her face heat up from the blow she had received, a mixture of shock and terror paralyzed her, she wanted to scream and cry to clear the load in her chest, but she couldn't succumb to fear in front of the predator that was about to devour her, she tried with all her might to hold back the tears that had accumulated in her eyes, concentrating entirely on this difficult task to keep her mind from thinking about what to expect.
Once again, one of the gorillas accompanying the mayor lifted the chair and straightened it. Ichiyo closed her eyes waiting for another hit because apparently the mayor was in the mood to hit her, but the blow didn't come, instead she felt the tape over her mouth suddenly come off. She opened her eyes again while she started to breathe hastily, as if the air was going to run out, she couldn't hold back her tears as she saw the man's mischievous smile,
"Let's start," He moved closer to her to intimidate her. "Mori sent you to kill me, didn't he?"
She was silent because she didn't know if he was really chatting with her or it was just a monologue before hitting her like he had before, besides, she didn't know if telling the truth was going to get her out of the mess she was stuck in.
"I asked you did Mori send you to kill me?" He articulated his question slowly, signaling to her that he was really waiting for an answer.
"Nooo," She stuttered before clearing her throat to control her voice and at the same time think about what to say, after a short thought she decided to stick to her original plan. "I came here for the night, my job is to please men not kill them," She cried as the man's expression in front of her became more sadistic, he probably didn't believe what she was saying. "I don't know what you're talking about, I don't even know someone called Mori."
The longer the lie the less believable it is, Ichiyo knew she had exaggerated a little too much and talked too much but that was what an innocent person would have said. But the man in front of her wasn't stupid and she could read his face like an open book, he hadn't believed a single word of what she said.
"I'll answer for you." He frowned as his smile faded. "Your name is Ichiyo Higuchi and you are Akutagawa's new toy, you were ordered to kill me to join The Port Mafia," He paused to look at her with narrowed eyes. "Remind me if I forgot anything."
Ichiyo widened her eyes, she didn't understand the turn of events at all, apparently the mayor was aware of the whole situation and he was well informed about her. She didn't know what to think or feel any more, she was shocked and disappointed because from what she could understand, she was offered to the mayor on a silver platter. She wondered who had informed the mayor, it was probably a member of The Port Mafia, maybe it was Koyo, it was obvious that the woman hated her to death since the day she jumped from the third floor.
Doubt ignited in her like an inferno, burning everything in its path. She had been foolish to believe that she could win in a dangerous game and now it was game over for her. She cried and cried, not holding back because she had given up all hope. It was like a nightmare except she was awake, so there was no escape.
"I see I'm right." The mayor chuckled smugly. "But I'm disappointed, am I so small in Mori's eyes that he sends a novice to kill me? Have you ever killed someone?"
Ichiyo looked away when she heard the question, in truth, she had already killed someone, but at that time she was accompanied by Akutagawa which was a great psychological help for her unlike her current situation, she was all alone and apparently her enemy was one step ahead of her, he knew of her coming and he was waiting for her.
"I feel like this is a joke." He growled, drawing the woman's gaze to him again. "I expected him to try to kill me, but not by sending a kid to do the dirty work." The expression on his face grew dark. "He put me down all the time and he continues to do so."
This time Ichiyo's face took a punch that landed directly on her nose, the force of the blow knocking her down with her chair back, but the impact of the fall did nothing to her because the pain that tore her nose monopolized all her senses. She could feel the warm liquid flowing from her nostrils while stomach acid burned her throat, she wanted to vomit and a feeling of unease washed over her, too bad someone straightened her chair, depriving her of her lying position. She kept her eyes closed because not only could she not open them anymore, she also didn't want to see the man in front of her.
From what she could understand, the mayor had some sort of inferiority complex and apparently the godfather of The Port Mafia was the reason, because of this, she was going to suffer the consequences of his anger because she had been sent by Mori. It was not the first time she was hit in her life, in the past her father mistreated her until she started working and brought him money, but she never forgot the feeling of being beaten. At this point, the old wound she closed reopened, she was once again struck and humiliated except this time she might not come out.
"Tell me everything you know." The mayor spoke with a firm tone, making it clear that this was not a request but rather an order.
A lump rose in her throat as she tried to keep her treacherous eyes closed, but she couldn't help but stare at the man so as not to be hit by surprise.
"Speak!" He cried out as he leaned over to bring his face closer to hers. "Tell me everything you know!" He repeated his order in a louder voice than before.
"I know nothing." She whispered shakily, saying the first thing that crossed her mind.
"Don't tell me Akutagawa's little accomplice doesn't know anything at all." He shouted, emphasizing the word accomplice.
"I don't know anything, I don't even know what I'm doing here, I don't even know who I am anymore, I don't know anything anymore." She spoke a lot more to herself because she was going through a kind of awakening moment, she had realized that she knew nothing at all, she was an ignorant woman whose only goal in her life was to protect her sister, even in that she was not good, in reality she had no purpose in life, she was a lost girl who lived under submission, in the past she was submissive to her father and now she was under the control of Akutagawa, she couldn't live freely because she didn't know how to do it, she didn't know anything.
"So you don't want to make it easy for yourself." The mayor snapped her out of her deep thoughts with his grim voice.
She waited and waited for the blow that would surely shatter her pretty face yet again.
"She doesn't know anything at all." A white haired man stepped out of the shadows, Ichiyo hadn't noticed her presence if he hadn't stepped forward. "She is Akutagawa's new puppet, he plays with her until she wears out."
"What do you mean?" The mayor turned to the other man.
"I don't understand either." He replied with a sneer. "It's Akutagawa, no one understands him."
"Ace!" The mayor called out the white-haired man as a warning. "What shall we do now?"
For a short while, Ichiyo forgot what was happening to her as she listened to the two men's discussion, the newcomer clearly knew Akutagawa and called her a puppet, as Koyo did before.
"It's up to you," Ace shrugged. "It's you they tried to kill, not me, plus I've already done my end of the bargain by warning you."
"Ichiyo almost screamed upon hearing the man's statement, so it was he who had informed the mayor of her mission. She wondered who was he?
"I think Akutagawa must start looking for a new puppet." The mayor turned to her again, looking at her coldly.
Her breath hitched as she understood what he was implying, he was going to kill her in that dark place, that wasn't how she had imagined dying, but apparently she had come to the end.
