A Great Start

See Reiko's History entitled "The Prelude"

Date: December 7th (One Year Prior to Present)
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Reiko flipped tediously through the mostly inane articles in her checked-out copy of the “Kumo Chronicle” before landing on a column that finally caught her attention.




A smile crept upon the fiery-haired teen’s lips as she grabbed a quill and parchment from the basket next to her. Sitting in the small and relatively bare “closet” that constituted the Kumo Prison’s library, Reiko quickly scribbled her response to the distressed adulterer.






Standing from the bench table, Reiko happily rolled the parchment, tying it with a piece of twine before throwing it in the “outgoing” basket at the corner of the guard’s desk. “Another piece of fan mail?” the large burly man asked. The girl smiled, giving him a quick wink. Reiko hated people who betrayed those they loved, and even more so, when they wanted sympathy afterwards. “Lost & Confused” deserved what was coming. “You know, they’re never going to print your stuff, right?”

“You know, you should not give prisoners access to twine?” Reiko replied cheekily. The guard looked over at the limited supplies on the table, curiously wondering how else a weapon could be made as the eccentric girl skipped out of the room.

“Work on your case next time for god’s sake!” the man called out as she escaped from earshot.

Reiko pranced down the dimly lit concrete hall, seemingly oblivious to the perils of the prison that she had occupied for a little over a week now. Despite having been arrested for her mother’s murder, the teen was being given a curious amount of freedom in the facility, although it did not appear to be unique to her. Population size had already reduced significantly since the acquisition of Kumontanamo Bay prison in the Volcano Country, a maximum-security setup for the dastardliest of criminals. Slowly, the old Kumogakure prison was beginning to resemble more of a local jail or transition spot for those in the midst of legal proceedings.

Stopping at a large iron door at the end of the hallway, Reiko waited for an unseen “CO” to buzz her through. With a ring, the door swung inward, revealing an open three-story general population living pod known as “Block C.” Compared to the other areas of the prison, Block C was a “protected” pod, and as a minor, she was housed with mostly non-violent and high-security need prisoners. All that would change, however, if she were to be certified as an adult—a decision a judge would be making in just a few short days that could end up sending her to Kumontanamo Bay. But for now, Reiko enjoyed running the show in the pod filled with mostly wimps.

For the past week, the chaotic and brash young girl had been stealing food, hiding homemade weapons, and flexing her authority to every woman who dared look her in the eye. Whether an inmate was legitimately scared of her or (more likely) just did not want to make waves, they mostly seemed to defer to Reiko and her antics. Two unfortunate souls had tried to confront the teen when she arrived on her first day, and both of them were promptly thrown into solitary when Reiko hid shanks made out of broken light shards under their mattresses prior to a cell sweep. The act quickly made a point to the others that she was a walking problem best to appease and/or avoid.

Walking into her cell (which she now enjoyed alone since making her roommate sleep on the floor outside), Reiko grabbed a handful of snacks from her desk and plopped down on her bed. Fluffing the several pillows she had taken out of others’ rooms without permission, she positioned them into a fluffy hammock-like arrangement and laid back in comfort. Happily munching on the first of several cookies, she closed her eyes to relax and think about her next move. However, the break would be shortly interrupted.  

“What it do?” a short but stout woman barked, now blocking the cell doorway. Reiko looked up annoyed, cocking an eyebrow at her challenger. Frankly, the teen was surprised it took this long for someone to finally get fed up again.

Hopping out of her pillow fort nonchalantly, Reiko stood with a little bounce in her step. “What can I do to you, you dumb useless waste of air and resources?” The older and larger woman glared, her nostrils flaring and fists’ balling. “It’s good you try not to answer that. Words look hard for you, and people are watching,” the teen prodded before stepping back to lean against the far wall.

In a flash, the angry inmate closed the distance, jamming her forearm up into Reiko’s throat and pinning her against the cold brick. The woman pulled her own shank from a sewed makeshift pocket in her jumpsuit and pressed it against the young girl’s side. “You gon’ give up all dem pillows, all dat food, and you gon’ sleep outside wit nuthin from now on, ya hear?” she threatened.

Reiko laughed between gasps of air from the throat shot. “I didn’t hear any of that because it sounded like ghetto-trash gibberish. Why couldn’t you just die doing drugs and save good taxpayers 147 ryo a day before getting arrested and becoming the village’s problem?”

The woman pushed her forearm harder into Reiko’s throat. “I’ll kill ya, baby girl!”  

“Ok, ok!” the teen finally protested, throwing her hands up in surrender. The inmate unpinned her and stepped back, still holding the shank out just in case. Carefully, Reiko gathered all the snacks and threw them into one of the pillow cases, handing over the bag.

Seeing the act of submission, the older woman smiled and placed the knife back into her concealed pocket before grabbing the snacks. “Bring dem pillows and mattress to my cell too!” she commanded as she turned towards the door.

“One second…” Reiko interrupted, pausing the inmate in her tracks. “You’re right. I am a baby girl. A sweet… cute… very giving baby girl,” she said, fluttering her eyes at the woman. Several of the onlookers outside peered at one another, unsure of where this turn of events was going.

“Oh, baby girl, you trying to smush me?” the woman replied with a laugh, turning to the others to see their reaction.

“No,” Reiko replied flatly, both her submissiveness and charm suddenly fading. Before the older woman realized it, the girl had maneuvered in front of her, now standing eye to eye as she took control of her challenger’s knife-side wrist and pressed her own shank up against the larger inmate’s throat. Where did the weapon even come from and how did she get to it so quickly? It was like she pulled it out of a hat, and now Reiko was in control.

The woman protested, her demeanor suddenly changing as she underestimated the fiery teen. “Yo, yo, yo…” she stuttered nonsensically.

Reiko mocked her speech in response, mimicking her bumbling. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to drop my bag and crawl out of my cell on your hands and knees begging me for forgiveness. If you do that, I won’t ‘smush’ the head of cafeteria who really likes this ‘baby girl’ if you know what I mean. Unless you want the rest of your time here to be munching down crushed glass in your soup, go get everything in your cell that you have left and be sure to crawl back to me with it. Now, I would tell you to ‘please’ me afterwards, but looking at you, I mean… no one wants that, including any of the COs in case you get a bright idea to try and copy me. Remember that I look like me, and you look like a diseased bear. Genetics and life were unkind to you.”

The older inmate paused, her expression turning to one of defeat as she looked upon the other disappointed members of the group. Several already started to walk away, shaking their heads at the woman’s failed attempt to change the pod dynamics. Begrudgingly, the ones that remained watched as Reiko’s challenger got down on the floor and crawled back to her cell to fetch the last of her things. The teen smiled contently—her dominance reestablished. Now, she only worried about a potential transfer to the hells of Kumotanamo Bay.

[WC: 1,538]

The Next Day
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“Sit down. Wait here,” the sullen guard commanded before leaving the tiny meeting room, closing the auto-locking door behind him. Reiko had been called for a follow-up meeting with her lawyer and whisked away from her comfy cell early the next morning. Sinking back into the chair, the young woman pulled her hair back, tying the uncombed knotted locks into a messy ponytail. Prison soap was not an adequate substitute for high-quality shampoo and conditioner, and she was dying for a full wash before she developed dreads.

Within a few minutes, the door opened again and a studious looking middle-aged brunette woman with glasses walked in, nearly dropping her file as she approached the desk in the middle of the room to take a seat. Reiko had already met her lawyer once the day after she was first incarcerated. She was not impressed. “How are you today, Reiko?” the woman asked half-distracted as she opened her notebook and began to scramble through paperwork.

“Tough morning?” the teen responded sarcastically, folding her arms. The lawyer looked up confused and oblivious to her disjointed demeanor before returning to focus on a particular document. “What’s this?” Reiko continued as the woman handed over the piece of paper.

“It’s your exoneration,” the lawyer replied with an awkward smile. The teen paused then quickly snatched the document.

“What is this?” Reiko inquired both intently and confused, her nonchalant demeanor fading.

“Last night’s arrest report of a suspect matching the description given by a new eyewitness my office’s investigator found in the vicinity of where your mother was . . .”

“I got,” Reiko said sharply, cutting her lawyer off. “Get to your next point.”

“The man’s clothing, build, and appearance fit the description from the eyewitness,” she continued. “Kumo police arrested the man for an unrelated public disturbance, but the kicker was a knife found on his person with a unique serrated edge that matched the cuts ... ”

“Again, don’t finish that sentence. Next point.”

The lawyer paused, catching herself as she realized that she may have been describing the situation a little too cavalierly. “My apologies, Reiko. You’re just so… unflappable. I got ahead of myself and should have been more sensitive of the situation.”

The teen stayed silent for a moment, memorizing the details of the report. “You said your investigator found this eyewitness? Did he confess?” Reiko asked, still a bit surprised.

The lawyer nodded in a “sort of” kind of way. “The interrogation squad pulled it out with jutsu. Frankly, if you had just given your arresting officers a little more cooperation and told them what you knew, they may not have suspected you to begin with. Everything they had was very circumstantial, and they got nothing… of value anyway… out of their examination of you after you refused the voluntary Mind Read.” By “examination,” the lawyer meant the brutal tortured interrogation Reiko was subjected to after refusing to cooperate.

The teen cocked her head to the side. “So, your advice to me is to… talk to the cops in the future?” she replied with an exaggerated drawl. “I was going to compliment you for a moment, but nope… you’re still an idiot.”

The lawyer’s head sunk in response. “You’ll be released shortly,” she said with a sigh, gathering her things and quickly leaving the room.

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By mid-afternoon, Reiko was free. Stepping through the penitentiary gates and onto the thin and desolate roadway that cut through Kumogakure’s mountainous terrain, she took a deep breath—the heavy but crisp air filling her lungs.

Smells less like ass at least. Thank God.

Throwing her satchel over her shoulder, the teen wandered back towards the residential center of the village, contemplating what life looked like now that her mother was gone. She was all alone with no one to watch out for her and an uncertain future. Even worse, Reiko held in a dark secret—one that she failed to share upon her arrest.

She, in fact, watched her mother’s murder.

All Reiko could do was watch pathetically as the woman whom she had a “complicated” relationship was struck down, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. In truth, she was too weak, too scared, and too indecisive in the moment. Deep down, she felt like a failure and also guilty for the part of her that was relieved by the passing of such an abusive parent. However, no matter their relationship, this was not how it was supposed to end.

The walk ahead was foreboding and cold… just like Reiko was used to.

[WC: 765]
[TWC: 2,303]

Continued in The Plan

TWC: 2,303

Word Count Claims:
SP Claim - 2,300 WC for 23 SP : 18 Chakra | 5 Speed
Technique Claim 250 WC towards E-Rank : Out of a Hat (250/250)
Technique Claim 250 WC towards E-Rank : Sensory Deprivation (250/250)
Technique Claim 250 WC towards E-Rank : Transformation Technique (250/250)
Technique Claim 250 WC towards E-Rank : Clone Technique (250/250)
Skill Claim 1,303 WC towards : Beloved Presence Skill (1,303/2000)

Bingo Entry Updates: (Current Stat Page)
Chakra Stat Change : 5 ~ 23
Speed Stat Change : 10 ~ 15
Learned : Out of a Hat (E-Rank) | Sensory Deprivation (E-Rank) | Transformation Technique (E-Rank) | Clone Technique (E-Rank)