Reo the Rescuer! Unwanted Help for Hire (Mission)

Missions:

Detour time! Reo knew he had to get stronger, need to be big and strong to protect his new family, Kintsugi. His brother Akaime was his shining example in this regard. Just feeling his chakra was enough to make Reo shiver. His was palpable as it filled the air. He knew that his brother would always protect him, but who would protect his brother? Who would help him defend his sister or father? He knew it needed to be him. He would die before being alone again. While his family was newly born, they already meant everything to him.

So he found himself ducking out from the caravan as they rested in a nearby village to fulfill some missions on his own. He didn't bother to leave a note, knowing he could catch up to them easily and would likely be back by morning. After reviewing a nearby board for help wanted he picked out five missions that were to his liking. The first one was an escort service for an old lady. He hoped he gave her treats! A nice juicy body, ready for the cutting, once he had completed his task. It wasn't long before he pulled up in front of her house and knocked. His other hand spasmed unconsciously as if he were already beginning to dissect a corpse.

A woman answered the door, clearly looking her age, likely in her late sixties. "I'm sorry child, I don't have anything for you at the moment. In fact, I'm waiting for someone to pick me up for a family reunion soon. If you come by on my return I'm sure I could find something for a beautiful boy like you."

Reo smiled up at her, a picture of charm unless you caught the occasional mad glint in his eyes. "Sorry to bother you miss! I'm here to escort you to that reunion! I promise I can do it. I may not look it but I'm big and strong, just like my big brother!"

The woman looked him up and down doubtfully but quickly sighed. She probably realized that no one else was going to take her request in time. "Alright sweetie, you can take me. Just be careful it can be a dangerous walk at night."

Reo beamed at her, "Don't worry miss. Family is so important! I'll make sure you get there nice and safe. I swear on the Kintsugi name I do!"

With that, they were off. It was an uneventful trip. Reo babbled on and on about his new family, and thankfully, the woman listened. She smiled and nodded, pleased the boy was so family-centered. Luckily, Reo behaved and didn't say anything too concerning. So when they arrived at the destination she had nothing but a smile on her face, surprised at finding such a lovely boy. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and thanked him, passing him a small bag of coin at the same time.

"It was lovely meeting you, Reo. Perhaps next time you are in these parts I'll have you over for tea and you can introduce me to your family. They sound lovely, and if they are anything like you I'm sure it will be a pleasure to meet them."

Reo's hand twitched eagerly at his words, thinking of what her insides would look like. What unique shade would her organs have? What discoveries could he find hidden in her DNA?

"You bet miss! I'll introduce you to my mommy and daddy next time I'm around. They love tea time! They'll be so happy to meet someone new!"

With that the woman entered the building, shouts of joy and laughter echoing behind her as the door closed. Reo tried not to pout that she hadn't given him a treat, but he perked up when he thought of having tea time with her in the future. It was so nice when someone volunteered, although they always seemed to be surprised when he brought out his scalpel. As if tea time could mean anything else?!?

With that, he was off on his next assignment. Luckily he didn't need to meet the client beforehand, they had made clear the description of his target and what he owed. He was happy to help and quickly combed the streets for the man. He was apparently a known gambler and would carouse the streets late into the night, hoping to make back the losses he had at each place he visited. It wasn't long before Reo found him.

He was a tall man, clearly drunk, stumbling along a quiet street. His average looks and grubby clothes told Reo he probably wouldn't be missed. So he ran up to the man quickly and spoke. "Heya mister! Mister! Hello? Someone left their purse in an alley nearby and I was wondering if it was yours? I didn't want to be a meanie and just take it for myself. Would you come take a look?"

The man at first seemed bemused, surprised by the turn of events. Children were rarely out this late, let alone waylaying him in this way. But as Reo's words finally became coherent to the man, he smirked broadly and tottered along after him, hoping that there was enough ryo in the purse to cover his evening expenses. As they rounded the corner in a dark alley he didn't realize his doom was upon him. He stumbled further into the dark, searching for the non-existent coin purse.

"Hey, where is it kid? I'm sure it's my purse so help me find it double quick!"

Reo smiled and palmed his scalpel. "It's right here mister, right behind you silly! Come look, quick!"

As the man turned around, Reo seized his chance. He quickly dove in and stabbed the man repeatedly in his torso. He aimed for vital organs but knew the shallow scalpel blade likely wouldn't hit anything critical. As the swift attack finally registered it dawned on the man to at least try and fight back. He lifted a hand as he stumbled backward, prepared to take a swipe at the blood-crazed child. This mistake was as fatal as following the boy in the first place. While attacking back may have been a smart decision, lifting his arm high for a strike gave Reo access to a few more dangerous area, his throat. He leaped up and slashed the man's throat with a proficiency only one versed in biology could achieve. As he landed back on his feet the man had tottered over, clutching his throat and gurgling in horror. Reo stared down at the man, a bloody, manic smile on his face. His scalpel burdened hand continued to twitch as he debated where he would cut first, what part of the body would lead to the most discovery?

With a wild cry, he dove on the man, expertly cutting away his clothes and immediately began the revelry of cutting open a recent corpse. He began a catalog of the man, slowly but surely removing his organs. He hadn't done this in a while, and the joy and thrill of the autopsy went through him and beckoned him onwards, goading him to continue to cut, cut, cut. It wasn't until a while later that he realized this wasn't what he was supposed to be doing. He berated himself for getting carried away and hit himself on the forehead repeatedly, leaving a bloody palm print on his face and hair. He got up and went to the ma'ns clothes and removed his purse. On checking it he breathed a sigh of relief. There was enough there to turn into the gang and keep as a reward.

He looked at the body again and sighed, the sound full of remorse. He moved away and cleaned himself up in a barrel full of water and moved on with his mission. He hated to leave a body only half worked on, out for someone else to discover. For someone else to feel the joy of cataloging and researching his remains. But it couldn't be helped. His family needed his strength and that meant completing these missions.

It was a short detour to dead drop the money with a note of what happened. Before he knew it he was off to complete his next job. A flyer of a poker night with a prize of 1,000 ryo had perked his interest. Oh, it wasn't an official mission by any means, and Reo knew they wouldn't let a child like him in to play the game. But he wanted to make up his own rules and show his father he was capable even outside of the clear constraints of a typical mission posting. But as he advanced towards the tavern he noticed a strange man lurking nearby.

The man was holding a package and was trying to look nondescript trembling, as if waiting for someone, in an alleyway. He looked at Reo with alarm as he realized he was noticed and quickly beckoned the cherry blossom haired child over to him. Wary of this being a similar trick to what he pulled on the gambler Reo kept his scalpel in his hand but palmed it upwards to keep hidden from the curious stranger. His other hand reached non-descriptly into his jacket where he placed a senbon between each of his knuckles. With that, he was ready for action.

But as he entered the alleyway the man didn't attack. He just looked incredibly panicked and spoke quickly, "Here! Take this ryo and pretend you never saw me. I'm sure a kid like you could use the money. Buy yourself something pretty but don't mention me, to anyone, ever!" With that the man extended his other hand, proffering a set of bills.

Reo tucked his scalpel away and glanced at the man doubtfully. His senbons still gripped tight beneath his jacket he reached out quickly and took the offered ryo. He glanced at the package the man held but was only vaguely curious. While the man might value it Reo knew he certainly didn't. If the package was a cooler it could have all sorts of goodies inside of it! But in the cardboard box, it was highly unlikely to contain any organs or bio-matter of interest. Let alone would be viable for experimentation. He continued to eye the man distrustfully and backed away from him slowly, retreating from the alleyway.

"Hurry, hurry! Go away and remember, you didn't see me!" The man shouted at him.

With one last look at the man askance he bolted away, only after rounding a few corners did he look at the take he had been given. It was 1,000 ryo! He was dumbfounded. If he got money like this more often Father would definitely pick him as his favorite! He began to bound away with glee, a large spring in his step, as he went onwards into the night.

It wasn't long before he found the inn in question and he began to scope out the place. He ducked into the building and surveyed the room. There seemed to be a large playing table in the center that a lot of patrons were gathered around, aside from that it was a typical tavern with customers strewn about at various tables chatting away. He was worried he would seem out of place and whenever he thought someone looked at him askance he would go near a table and triy to look as if he was someone's child. But he quickly found this was unneeded, the place was too busy for anyone to give a stray child much thought. Servers rushed to and fro, trying to get alcohol to tables. They seemed as if they couldn't move fast enough and only stopped to chat with people for the barest few moments before they swept away to take care of someone elsewhere.

He quickly identified the kitchen, as servers streamed in and out of it at a constant rate. Equally obvious were the patron rooms, the stairs nearby occasionally having non-staff go to and from. The only room that was unaccounted for was a door in the corner that no one seemed to use. As he knew the prize wouldn't be out here he non-discreetly wandered over to the door and placed his ear against it. When he heard nothing, he tried the handle. Locked! Feeling giddy and quite pleased with himself he worked two senbon out of his pocket and began work on the lock. It didn't seem complicated, and he had picked up the talent when he realized picking locks couldn't be nearly as hard as a delicate surgery. It had come in handy when he was starving and on the run after Pap-pap was murdered.

Before long he heard the lock spring and he opened the door and slipped into the room with none the wiser. He was greeted with blackness, no light in the room turned on, but that was swiftly remedied. Once the light came on he took the room for an office. A quick rummage through the room found him rewarded with a lockbox tucked underneath the desk. So his senbon came out and he began his work again. He was almost there when he heard a sound at the door. With little time to spare, he left his senbon in place and slipped under the desk, trying to make himself as small as possible.

"That's odd, I could have sworn I turned out the light in here." There was a pause as the voice reached him, but then the sound of shuffling told him the man wasn't too concerned about it.

"Where did I put those damn papers? These bureaucrats are going to be the death of me. All this red tape over a stupid poker tournament. It's almost enough to make me shut the thing down. But knowing I'll also be taking their money is enough for me. I'll have the last laugh. Red tape bearing bastards."  With that, a sigh, and a last shuffle of something on the desk the man left. His exit was marked by the sound of the door shutting. However, this time he didn't 'forget' to turn out the lights.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Reo let his eyes adjust to the dark before he crawled back into position. Lockpicking was more a matter of feel anyways. With his senbon undisturbed from his last gambit it wasn't long before he popped open the lid. He was well rewarded, it was clear the prize money had been left within. He frowned a little as he felt for anything extra, but all he felt that remained were a few documents. With a frown, he retrieved his senbon and slipped from the room, the building, and out into the night.

The cool air greeted him, a chilly reward for his recent coup. He enjoyed the shiver it sent down his spine. As left for his final task he counted his take and realized it was exactly the amount of the prize money for the tournament, 1,000 ryo. It took him a while to wander from the village. Nothing ran through his head but the regret of leaving that body in the alleyway earlier. He almost doubled back twice to retrieve it. But the night was nearly gone and he knew he needed to get back to his team soon.

It was while thinking of this that he found himself at the farm in question. The site of his last mission. It was clearly the right place based on the activity around the building and the guard placed outside. Farms didn't have guards Reo knew. However, the barn wasn't guarded. With that discovery, it didn't take much for him to gather some hay and slip up to the roof of the farmhouse. With a light of a match, his job was complete. He hopped down and ran a safe distance from his arson attempt. A thought struck him and he turned and sat for a moment, the light of dawn had arrived and looked beautiful as it came in as the backdrop to the building on fire. The competing lights danced and fought with each other as the morning set in. Reo bobbed his head happily, a job well done. He couldn't wait to tell everyone about his nighttime adventures. Although maybe this was just for him, a beautiful memory.

He held his hands out as if they were close enough to feel the warmth of the flames. He debated waiting some more and going back in hopes of scoring a burned corpse. But he knew if he waited any longer his family might miss him. With a sigh of regret, he stood up and walked back towards the caravan.

WC: 2803
TWC:  2803

Exit:

1058/1500 WC Mind Body Switch Technique (The rest earned here)
1000/1000 WC Mind Body Transmission Technique C Rank
745/1000 WC Mind Clone Switch Technique

2803 WC used - 0 remaining

Stats:
+20 chakra
+8 speed

Mission Completion:

+5,000 ryo
+25 ap

Reo Mana wrote:

Missions:

WC: 2803
TWC:  2803

Exit:

1058/1500 WC Mind Body Switch Technique (The rest earned here)
1000/1000 WC Mind Body Transmission Technique C Rank
745/1000 WC Mind Clone Switch Technique

2803 WC used - 0 remaining

Stats:
+20 chakra
+8 speed

Mission Completion:

+5,000 ryo
+25 ap

Approved