CASE FILE: The Mischievous Vagabond

000: Pointless Exposition #1

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OOC| POST RATING [M 17+] Frequent Strong Language|Suggestive Themes|
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[ARTIFACT]
Video recording confiscating from the apartment of wanted criminal Reese Celestin, otherwise known as "The Mischievous Vagabond". The video recording was found on a SSD card during a police raid, in a box addressed to the precinct, labelled "Lata Bitches". Portions of the recording will be played over the course of this exposition.
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[Recording Excerpt: *Recording begins with a black screen.
"Listen up, you government pigs! If you are watching this recording it means I have just robbed the Karakura General Bank --gotten away with it-- and you shitheads have raided my old apartment trying to figure out who I am and how the Hell I did it. And, since the detective heading the investigation into me, a Mr.Jenkins from America, has the mental capacity of a fresh chimpanzee turd, I figured you'd need me to do your fuckin' jobs for you."

*A photograph appears in the center of the screen. It is a profile of the suspect, Reese Celestin. He is wearing a red track suit jacket with white strips going down the sleeves. His green hair is neatly slicked back. He wears a smile but seems a bit nervous, as if the photo was suddenly taken without his knowledge. The photo has been digitally modified, there is a big read arrow drawn on it, pointing to Reese. On the other end of the arrow the words "bitch-ass pushover" are written.

"This shitter is the old Reese Celestin, he's 23 years old, lives in Karakura City, and on June 19th 20XX he lost his very first job. Sounds straight forward enough and, as I’ve read and been told, not very unusual. There are hundreds of strangers in the world who lose their jobs all the time. So, I’d imagine that any prospective viewers of this video --my story-- would be thinking “Well, so what?  Nothing special here.” At least that’s what I would be thinking IF I didn’t know the story. So, take it from me, another stranger with the insider exclusive, you’re gonna want to hear this story if you want any chance of figuring out how I did what I did. Grab a drink and popcorn, and sit your asses down as I take you through the wild shit storm that has been Reese's life. By the end of this video you will know who Reese was and how things escalated to were we are now."]
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June/19th/20XX - 9:15 AM
Mashiba Middle School - Staff Lounge

The day, a Tuesday, had started as normally as any other Tuesday for Reese. A single Physical Education teacher at Mashiba Middle school in Karakura Japan. He woke up early, showered, ate a filling breakfast with a glass of water and a second glass of juice. He then left his small studio apartment, always locked the door after himself, and took the 15 minute jog to school. "Morning Celestin-sensai!" students greeted when they saw him. Reese smiled and waved. He knew the students adored him, and admittedly, he liked it --a lot. The feeling of being looked up to as a role-model, he held that feeling to the highest regard and he was really a great teacher. Students loved him, other teachers loved him, even the custodian staff liked him. He had the qualities of a lovable person; charismatic,trust-worthy, helpful; an overall pleasant guy to be around. The kind of person who seemed like he had his life completely figured out and was always content with it. Even teachers many years his seniors came to him for advise. Maybe that was the problem all along, being trusted by everyone probably meant he knew not to trust anyone.

In the teachers' lounge he sat at the computer desk, reviewing a lesson plan. To his right was Shimada-sensei, a Math teacher. Beside Shimada-sensei was Minayoshi-sensei, he taught Social Studies. They were making casual small-talk like best buddies. Now, someone like the Science teacher, Inami-sensei, could see the two chatting and think nothing odd of it, but Reese knew better. Shimada-sensei, for example, has been screwing Minayoshi's wife when she brings her kid in on Saturdays for Baseball practice. They do it in this very lounge. Oh, and it gets better, Minayoshi is 100% aware of it, but he doesn't have the balls to address Shimada or his wife. Pretty messed up, but not even the worst of it. The celebrity teacher, Inami-sensei, is in witness protection and still has nightmares from the night her landlord was robbed and murdered right in front of her. She feels guilty because she hid away while it happened and didn't try to help. How does she deal with it? She's found an escape from her problems through drug abuse.

But, no one is perfect. People have problems and secrets, even Reese. For one, it was his heartfelt opinion that the government did a shit job and that his taxes were not being used efficiently. He felt young people spent too much time whining about things that offended them, and that older people spent too much time reminding them of that fact. He thought the school had a whole lot of unnecessary policies and that many schools had started to resemble corporations rather than institutes of learning. Sure, he wasn't a fornicator (yet?), but there was one thing that he, Shimada, Minayoshi, Inami, and basically everyone had in common; the fake masks. The masks they all wore to hide themselves; their feelings, their believes and opinions. The stuff that defined a person.
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[Recording Excerpt #2: *Recording plays a clip of Reese instructing some students during a P.E lesson. He first demonstrates a skill: the High Jump. Students clap and cheer. Reese appears flushed and happy. He spots another teacher watching from one of the classrooms. Reese seems to have a thought and then turns away. The clip becomes gray scale, zooms in on Reese's face and pauses. Audio plays again.

"Get a load of this jackass. He just caught a hot female colleague giving him the sweet eyes. And he liked it, but what does he do? Pretends it never happened because he doesn't have the purest intentions. This fine specimen is what you would call a bitch to social standards and rules. People aren't meant to live that way. That's how you have shitters who spend their entire lives doing what others have decided they have to, passing that same bullshit on to their children and the generations go by with no one ever truly living. It took me long-fucking-enough to realize it, and when I did, when I finally started to live my life the way I wanted --by my rules-- I was labeled 'improper', an 'outcast'. I'm here to say fuck society and your rules. But more on that later."]
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As required of him by school policy, Reese checked his work email. To his shock there was an email in his inbox from the HR Director, requesting an urgent meeting in 15 minutes. Reese's first instinct was to think he was being called in about a raise or promotion --one was certainly due. He'd performed outstandingly this academic year, and those were not his own words. In no way was he prepared for what he would be told in that fateful meeting.

Reese knocked on Futaba's office door and was welcomed in. Futaba, had been the HR Director for the school for just a year. Reese had yet to meet him and had only heard of him in passing. What had he heard? Basically that Futaba wasn't great at his job because he took too long to get stuff done and wasn't familiar with a lot of the standard procedures  --like giving someone a notice before termination. Not surprising. The HR department at the school didn't exactly have a "sparkling" reputation for being the best in the field. Granted, M.M.S didn't have a 'sparkling" reputation of being the best middle school, either. Regardless, as far as Reese was concerned it couldn't be that difficult to give a raise or promotion.

"Good morning, Celestin-sensei." Futaba greeted, ushering Reese to the seat across from his desk.

"Good morning, Mr.Futaba. Thank you." Reese as he sat down on the cheap leather chair offered to him. "How are you today?" he asked with a smile.

"I am great, thanks." Futaba smiled back.

"Glad to hear it." At this moment, Reese was thinking about how this meeting was surely about some good news. Little did he know.

"Reese, you look pretty young, how old are you?"

"Oh, yeah. I hear that a lot around the school. I'm 23."

"Wow, that is pretty young, and you live alone? You've been with us for 5 years now, as well."

"That is correct. I have some distant relatives in Kyoto, but by parents live in America. I moved to Karakura City alone 6 years ago." Reese answered. The story of how he ended up in Karakura was one he'd told many times before.
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[Recording Excerpt #3: *The "new" Reese appears on the screen for the first time. He's wearing a black hooded sweater and his hair is now styled in a quite messy spiked quiff. He is sitting in a swivel chair with his hands interlocked in front of him. His has a smug expression and tone as he faces the camera and speaks.

"No Criminal Profile is complete without a background check. So, for all you prospective viewers, here's mine. I was legally born Reese 'Gabriel' Celestin. My parents are Musashi and Klaudia "Myers" Celestin. For those who don't know, my family is filthy-stinkin'-rich. And let's get one thing out of the way while we're ahead. Contrary to what some bullshit personality analyst may try to tell you about me, I had a very normal and fulfilling childhood.

I wasn't spoiled rotten, but neither was I deprived or denied any material or emotional happiness. When I was seventeen I sat my parents down after dinner and told them I would be leaving to live in Japan alone. I told them I wanted to be alone and discover what it meant to be self-dependent and find my own path. It disappointed them that I would be leaving and abandoning the path they wished for me. That I wouldn't stay to take over the family business and all that great stuff. But they understood me and they accepted that that life was one I could never live. This is me, this is my path. And, to you any of you shithead government officials who may get the bright idea to go nag my parents in America -just fucking don't. They haven't heard from me in years and they don't know where I am.

I came to Japan and stayed in Kyoto with my stoner second-cousin for a few months until I got a job offer from Mushiba Middle School. I worked at M.M.S for 5 years. Looking back now, it was a waste of fucking time. I taught P.E for a salary close to pennies, and I tolerated it because I convinced myself I was making a 'positive impact' whatever the fuck that means. What was I actually doing? Most of the time I was a glorified babysitter for a bunch of entitled little shits who couldn't tell their heads from their asses. And, I was pretty damn good at it. So, imagine my horror when this Futaba dickhead calls me into his office and proceeds to smile in my face and ask me personal questions before he tells me that I am being let go."]
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"Reese, do you know why I have called you here today?", Futaba.

"No, actually.", Reese.

"Well, unfortunately, I am here to give you your termination letter." Futaba pulls a single paper from the drawer titled in bold "Employee Termination Letter". "The P.E department needed to make some cuts and your name came up given your unique situation. That is to say you don't have a family to support. Honestly, we did a background check and, Reese, you don't need this job. The other teachers, they have responsibilities that just don't apply to you." he explains. Later Reese would not recall the whole explanation, he would clearly remember, however, Futaba's voice cracking several times during the delivery.
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[Recording Excerpt #4: *Reese silently stares deep into the camera. "I have robbed a bank. I have hospitalized eleven police officers. I am wanted by law enforcement and underground criminal organizations. I am the most interesting thing to happen to this City since people started seeing monsters and the Kimono-clad, katakana-weilding cosplayers who fight them jumping around the sky. I have upset a lot of people. I regret none of that. What I do fucking regret, is the moment I subserviently signed that termination contract without so much as an argument. I was being fired, and I couldn't stand up for myself. I pretended to feel it was the right thing to do. But what I really felt inside was anger. I was losing my job, because my parents had money, because someone who knew nothing about me decided I didn't actually need my job. And I didn't fight that shit! Instead, I calmly signed the paper, stood up, wished Futaba a good day, and took my leave. I regret that, but at the same time, if that hadn't happened-"

*Reese pauses mid-sentence and looks beyond the camera. A female voice is suddenly heard.
"Reese, what are you doing? Are you talking to that damn camera again? You should be training!"

*Reese jumps out of his chair, clearly annoyed.
"Cassandra, Jesus-Sumo Wrestling-Christ! What the Hell, how many times have I told you not to barge in here?!"

"Whaat?! what's the problem?!"

*Reese rushes off-screen and knocks over the camera by accident as he moves to push away whoever Cassandra is.
"We have rules, Cassandra. Twelve-to-Twelve was our agreement, get the fuck out!"

"Alright, alright, I get it!"

"No, you clearly don't 'get it', what if I was jerking off or something?!"

"Eww, you do that?!"

"OUT!"

*Door is slammed. Reese picks up the camera and points it at his face, he is clearly angered and annoyed. He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"The nerve on some people, I swear. Next time, we uncover how I met bitch-ass Cassandra! Until then, stay salty, pigs!"
*recording ends.]
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WC| 2,390
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001: Pointless Exposition #2: The Freed Man

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OOC| POST RATING [M 17+] Frequent Strong Language|Violence|Suggestive Themes|
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[ARTIFACT]
CCTV Camera footage of wanted suspect Reese Celestin 3 months before the Karakura General Bank Robbery.

22:23:15 Footage shows suspect climbing over the hand rails of the Onose River bridge and removing his top. Some pedestrians attempt to talk him out of jumping. A few teenagers begin filming Reese on their mobiles.

22:23:20 He proceeds to raise both middle fingers to oncoming traffic and the pedestrians before dropping himself backwards off the ledge and into the river. People rush to look over the ledge.

22:23:36 Camera no longer has a view of the suspect but there is a strange bright flash of green light that rises from the river and suddenly disappears.
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[Recording Excerpt #5: *Recording begins with a slideshow of images. The first is the familiar teachers' lounge at Mashiba Middle School. The second is Futaba's office, the third is Classroom 3-B, the forth is Reese's apartment, and the fifth and final image is Onose River Bridge. The slideshow pauses at the image of the bridge and audio of Reese's voice plays.
"Hello again, officers, and welcome to part two of our series. You're probably wondering what the slideshow was. Well, basic police practice in an investigation is to canvas the crime scenes. You guys, in all your brilliance, have only canvased two 'crime scenes'; the bank and my apartment. Is it clicking yet..? That's right, those pictures are all individual crime scenes and they are the focus of today's video. If Mr.Jenkins and friends want to have any hope of catching me they're going to need to check all those places for clues first.

After I was fired, I went back to the lounge and sat at the computer. I didn't mention the news to anyone. Honestly I wasn't sure I had fully processed it myself at that point. The only thing going through my mind was how Futaba had smiled at me as he ruined my livelihood. How he faked interest in my personal life in order to break the news of terminating my services. On top of that, I now had about a dozen arguments and legal inquiries for him that might have been of some use to me before I accepted and signed the termination letter. I was furious. Enter Crime Scene #1: The Lounge. Charges: Verbal abuse and disruption of peace.

Reese sat at the computer staring at the desktop screen, he wondered if he should still do any work despite no longer having a job. Then he wondered if he should even be in the teachers' lounge, seeing as he was technically no longer a "teacher". But if he wasn't a teacher and didn't belong in the lounge, then where did he belong? And did he have to work the whole day? The letter said today was his last working day but the termination was effective immediately, what did that mean exactly? Why hadn't he tried to argue his case. Why did he just give up?  

Reese was usually a pleasant person; one could say "happiness" was his default setting; but Reese, like everyone, had experienced anger before. He didn't like it, but this was it, anger. In the moments that followed Reese would be unable to recall exactly what set him off. However, later --much later-- the answer would be as clear as day to him.

He could overhear Shimada and Minayoshi having a louder-than-necessary conversation about fishing. It took but a sudden joint laughter between the two to bring all of Reese's internalized rage bursting to the surface and he exploded.

And it was glorious.

Reese sprung from his chair grabbed both Shimada and Minayoshi by their respective collars and forcibly shoved them apart with enough force to send them both sprawled on their educated asses. The lounged fell dead-silent as Shimada and Minayoshi stared Reese on in horror. It was Minayoshi who broke the silence as he mumbled a shock-filled "Celestin-sensei?"

"I am sick and tired of everyone's bullshit in this place. You people live your lives like nothing you or anyone else does holds any semblance of meaning and it's because you spend you're entire lives doing and feeling what other people dictate you should do and feel. It disgusts me. You all disgust me!" Reese declared proudly, it was only the beginning.

Poor, kind-natured Minayoshi must have imagined he could calm Reese, he elected to stand up and placed a hand on Reese's shoulder and pleaded. "Celestin-sensei calm dow-"

"Don't fucking touch me!" Reese interrupted with another well-placed shove that landed Minayoshi on his rear again. "You're fucking pathetic, man. He-" ,Reese points to Shimada. "fucks your wife in this very lounge-" Reese then directs his index finger to a table across the room. "they do it on that table! And you know it! And I have to sit in this office five days of the week and pretend I don't hear you two practically jerking each other off. I have to pretend you have some sort of plan and aren't just accepting it. When I really know you haven't done anything about it because you're little bitch!"

"That's enough, Celestin-sensai!" Inami's interruption.

"Shut the fuck up, you miserable junkie!" Reese's counter interruption. "You blame yourself for something completely out of your control because you feel like you had some moral obligation that you failed to uphold by not intervening in a robbery and homicide. Tell me, exactly what do you think you could have accomplished that night besides, I don't know, maybe getting yourself killed as well?! Inami, you're nothing but a sad woman, with a vagina drier than the Empty Quarter who uses an unfortunate tragedy as an excuse abuse medication because you are at your rotten core a fucking junkie." Reese paused for a moment to catch his breath of observe the dumbfounded expressions on all the faces of his former colleagues. He looked shocked himself, and as the weight of his words began to register in his mind he suddenly felt a bit nauseous. But, then it hit him, like a cool breeze, it rushed through his being and he'd swear til this day he shivered a bit; a sudden feeling of relief. In just a few harsh words Reese felt he'd shed so much baggage. So much bullshit. And in that moment he felt as light as a feather.

"You're all sheep." he chuckled. "We're all sheep as long as we allow ourselves to be herded through our lives by people who hold no real power over us. I'm not doing it anymore. Fuck rules. Fuck social standards. Fuck all of you. I am Reese -fucking- Celestin, and I am no one's goddamn sheep anymore." With that, Reese grabbed his backpack, hurled it over his shoulder and ran out of the lounge.

[Recording Excerpt #6: *Recording plays audio of Reese speaking.
"I won't deny that there was some coincidence that I would have a complete mental breakdown on this day in particular. Reflecting on it now, I am still not 100% sure of what all played into me having my episode. I just know what was the breaking point. I recall that I was pretty collected for someone who'd just gone over the rail (the metaphorical one this time). For all their imperfections, Shimada, Minayoshi, and Inami were not entirely to blame and since I was leaving anyway I figured there were some things that needed reconciling. Enter Crime Scene #2: Futaba's Office. Charges: Assault and battery." ]

It took but a single kick and the door was torn from it's hinges and launched 3 yards into the office. It seemed as if Futaba had managed to cower into the far right corner of the office behind his desk before the door had even hit the floor. Reese strode in with confident heavy steps. He walked over the fallen barrier, the wood creaked under his feet, and he scanned the office for Futaba. Once he found him, curled up and shuddering in the corner, Reese pointed at him and glared.

"You, get off your ass!" Futaba, puzzled and practically pissing himself, began to react but Reese found it too slow for his liking. "NOW!" he demanded, and the HR manager sprang up quicker than a compressed metal coil. Reese was already rolling back his sleeves when he began to talk. "I am going to hit you, really fucking hard." he assured calmly.

"Oh god, no! Please don't!"

"And, you're going to fight back!" Reese explained as he steps closer to Futaba.

"I can't-" the HR manager cried, he'd gotten weak at the knees again and looked as if he regress back into the fetal position. Reese wasn't having it.

"You're going to fight back because I will not stop until you hit me!" he declared, as he grabbed Futaba by the shoulders and straightened him up. "Now square up!"

"But I-" Wham! And just that quick Futaba ate a left hook to the jaw and lost all of two teeth. "Oh fuck!" he hollered, bleeding at the mouth.

"You know how to end this, Futaba! Now grow a pair and hit me back!" Reese could tell by the look in Futaba's eyes that he wouldn't have to tell him again. The HR manager had entered survival mode, but the best the entirety of his conviction could muster was an ill-fated arm swing towards Reese's face. Reese dipped backwards, the swing barely missing the tip of his nose, then another wham! A right hook into Futaba's gut and the HR manager dropped like a sack of potatoes. Completely winded, he started to wheeze in panic. He frantically started to feel his hands about the floor around him as if he'd somehow find his breath laid out by his side.

Reese looked down at Futaba, disappointed, and simply shook his head. "You didn't fucking fire me... I quit."

[Recording Excerpt #7:
"Before I went into Futaba's office, I was sure I would be done with the school afterwards. But the confrontation had stirred a beast inside. It left me feeling like a big man. As far as I was concerned I was invincible and extremely... excited. And there was one person on campus I felt I needed to share my new found freedom with. Remember the fine piece of work who was giving me the sugar eyes before... yeah. Enter Crime Scene #3: Classroom 3-B. Charges: Sexual harassment (kinda?). Public Indecency (non-debatable)"

By the time Reese reached classroom 3-B, news of his outlash had already been circulating the corridors. Most tried to stay out of his way others, mainly students and custodian staff, cheered him on. He barged into the classroom without knocking and 25 pairs of young 3rd grader eyes were on him. He didn't care. Asuka, the homeroom teacher was all that mattered at that moment. She, for future reference, embodied everything Reese desired in a woman.

Without any hesitation, Reese walked right up to Asuka. She'd taken a few cautious steps backwards and had only stopped once her behind met her desk. And in that Reese saw his opportunity. In a single adept motion, as if rehearsed for a live stage performance, he laid Asuka down across the desk and firmed planted his lips on hers with a kiss that would suffice to wake a dozen sleeping beauties. Asuka, was surely shocked, but she came to accept her prince and pulled him in closer and they made out --hard. They heard not the wailing of horrified third graders who thought them to be violently devouring each others faces. Finally Reese withdrew and held Asuka's face in his hands. "I have done terrible things to you in my mind. I've always had this awkward feeling that there are some feelings between us, but I am not ready for a committed relationship. Honestly, I'm scared I won't be able to be the man you deserve. But god, I really really want to have se-" Asuka had put her finger to Reese's lip in a silencing motion. She then leaned in and whispered softly in his ear.

"Call me."

[Recording Excerpt #8:
"I never got to call Asuka. She was fired the next day. Rumor is that she moved to the country with her grandparents and works at a nursery there. After I left her classroom security had received orders to remove me from the school premises. However, that wasn't needed, I'd gladly taken my leave. I now had no job, and an entire day to kill, but I was feeling emotionally and physically exhausted. So, I went home to my apartment and fell asleep. I dreamed I was living on an island in the middle of the ocean, I was standing on the beach watching the tides at a warm sunrise of hues red and orange. Asuka approaches me from our cabin, she's in a flower-designed bikini and the sunlight is highlighting strands of her beautiful brunette hair. She kisses me and we make love right there on the beach. When I wake up I am suddenly disappointed to find that my dream was in fact only that. What is real however, is my new-found urge for change. Any change! Enter Crime Scene #4: My Apartment. Charges: Vandalism." ]

Reese stood in front of the bathroom mirror staring at himself with his hands firmly planted on the edge of the sink. He wondered how he could see the face of a person he hated so passionately every day without ever doing anything about it. He wasn't by any stretch a bad-looking guy, so what did he now hate some much about his image? His hair was certainly one thing. The slicked back haircut made him look too... uniformed. It had to go. Reese armed himself with scissors and clipper and viciously attacked his crown. He was, by no admission, a veteran barber, but he'd dabbled enough in the artisanship to confidently pull off a somewhat decent quiff. The cut worked, and with the new look Reese was inspired with a new idea.

He collected everything that reminded him of the old Reese, track suits, trophies and all, tossed them in the bathtub and set them ablaze. This of course triggered the smoke alarm, and something about all the sprinkling water convinced Reese that literally everything about his apartment needed to be purged and washed away. For this mission he recruited the aid of a metal baseball bat and got to work on "renovating" his apartment.

Two hours later Reese sat soaking covered in powdery grime and surrounded by shattered glass, splintered wood, and chunks of dry wall. "What the fuck?" Reese called out to no one in particular. He was questioning not his sanity, but his next course of action. He determined that he was hungry and walked over to the knocked over and horribly dented refrigerator, pulled out a leaking tub of ice cream that he proceeded to eat with a the broken head of a wooden serving spoon. It was but a temporary solution, but the ice cream served a higher purpose than simple nourishment for the freed young man. As he ate the ice cream Reese had a divine epiphany. He was no longer bound by the rules and standards of society. If he could eat ice cream as a meal, he could do whatever the Hell else he wanted. And right now, he wanted to go for a swim. His mind was set, the freed man marched out of his apartment, flipped off a distraught and shouting landlord and was on his merry way!

[Recording Excerpt #9: "If you'd told me a year ago that losing my job and eating a tub of Pralines n' Cream would set in motion the events that lead me to discovering my destiny, I would have laughed in your face. It is peculiar how the smallest and strangest of things can make all the difference. And that is why we should waste not a single moment being untrue to ourselves. Enter our 5th and final crime scene: Onose River Bridge. Charges: Saving A Witch." ]
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WC| 2,685
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002: Pointless Exposition #3: The Drowning Woman

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OOC| POST RATING [M 17+] Some Strong Language|Violence|Suggestive Themes|
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[ARTIFACT]
Segment from a Karakura City News broadcast.
Anchorwoman: "In other news, Karakura City Police are investigating a series of recent missing person cases. There has been a total of 374 missing person cases opened since January of this year, more than double the number of last year. Almost 60% of these cases involve friends and relatives of the victims claiming to see bright flashes of colored light before their loved one disappeared. Some fear this may be the doing of a new powerful Hollow on the loose. However, several Shinigami have publicly stated that these incidents are in no way Hollow-related. The investigations are ongoing and local police urge anyone with valuable information to come forth." ]
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Freedom was an intoxicating feeling and it had guided Reese this Tuesday. He'd abandoned the shackles that held him down from so long. He'd been reborn tonight, he'd become a new man. A free man; unbound by the laws of others and servant only to his own wishes and desires. Right now, what he wished for and desired was a swim in the Onose River. However, before that he would attempt to liberate a few others. It seemed the world was filled with sheep going about their day-to-day lives with the majority of their decisions and choices made for them. Now, it sad to imagine he ever lived in a world where he was told how he should behave, how he should talk, and think. What kind of people he should befriend, and what places he should and shouldn't go. He was done living that way. He'd tasted freedom and he could never go back to being the way he was before; and he firmly believed that no human deserved to be condemned to such a horrid way of life. Not when freedom was so close and so easily attained.

The Onose River bridge was as busy on this Tuesday night as any other. Vehicles and pedestrians alike commuted across the bridge, some coming and others going. Reese walked about halfway across the bridge before deciding he'd found the perfect sport. He leaned over the handrails and observed the dark water below. He calculated that a solid 10 meter drop was all that stood between him and a good soak.

The young adult casually climbed over the handrail and turned to face the passing pedestrians before taking off his shirt, inhaling a deep breath and shouting. "LISTEN UP! Your government is a lie and your tax money is not used efficiently! Also, most laws are stupid and social standards are an illusion made by people with sticks up their asses who feel the need to be in control of everyone else!" By this time, people had taken notice of him, a few rushed to the scene and reached out to him. Others began to lecture him about how life wasn't all that bad and there was no problem he couldn't make it through with hard work. One guy kept promising Reese that he had an entire life ahead of him. It seemed that the general consensus was that Reese was suicidal.

"No... no! I am not trying to kill myself!" Reese attempted to assure, but seemingly to no avail. "I'm just gonna take a swim, you morons! Listen, you're all wasting your lives away doing bullshit you really don't want to do or care about!" Reese raised both his middle fingers high into the sky. "I am Reese Celestin and I say to Hell with society! Do whatever the fuck you want!"

"Get down you idiot!" one onlooker.

Reese calmly closed his eyes with middle fingers still raised and allowed himself to fall backwards off the ledge. The last words he heard was a woman screech "Oh my god, he jumped!" and then there was silence. Reese's body fell through the air for what felt like an entire minute before the sensation of being completely engulfed in a freezing substance converged upon his being. He let himself go, and felt the river pull him closer to its depths with every passing moment. It was quiet in the water, he opened his eyes and saw nothing but an infinite stretch dark blue in from of him. Some air left his body in the form of bubbles as he peacefully waited... ten seconds... twenty seconds... forty seconds... and then he moved.

He shifted his legs downwards and began to motion his arms in wide strokes in order to ascend. But, as he was getting closer to the surface there was a sudden flash of green light that by some phenomenon completely stunned his body and blinded him. He couldn't move and what's more, the river began to pull him downwards again. Reese attempted to flail about his body simply would not respond to his commands. He felt tingly, a sensation he could best describe as prickling static coursed through him. He was running out of oxygen and even though he knew through his training that panicking was the worst possible thing to do in his situation, panic is exactly what he did. However, panic as he may, his body still did not flinch and now the water seemed to amplified the heavy pounding of his heart. His vision, but a bright blur of burning green light, was of no assistance. Even if he could move, he'd have no way of knowing in which direction he should swim. Once he realized his cause was a lost one, Reese felt as if the water had suddenly gotten colder. Perhaps he was going to die here after living only one day as a free man. He'd never fulfill his dreams, he'd never see Asuka again. He'd die a lonely free man in the abyss.

Just as his body began to convulse in response to the loss of oxygen a strong force within the water hit hitm from the side and whatever air he still had in his body escaped him. Then, his head hit something really hard (a boulder?) and the blow seemed to restore his capacity for motion. He began to frantically claw at the intangible force that was surging him onwards. A current? Then, hit felt it, a warmth flushed over his face and a yellow light pierced the green tint that had blinded him. "Sunlight?" he wondered as he opened his eyes and was amazed to see he was indeed peering into a brand new day. And there was air! He'd vomited river water and was finally breathing oxygen again. After gathering what little orientation he had left, he was able to conclude that the river was carrying him downstream. To his right and left were wide open plains that did not at all look familiar to him, but he was still too exhausted to question anything yet. He had only the energy to reach for a stray piece of driftwood to stay afloat. He rested his head on the wood and closed his eyes.

He'd barely begun to fade out of consciousness when he heard the voices of angered crowd. Reese lifted his head and looked up towards the bank, there was an old wooden peer and on it a group of close to fifteen people that looked like farmers from a bygone era, armed with pitchforks and all.

"What the Hell?" Reese wondered.

"Kill the fucking witch!" the crowd chanted passionately amidst other profanities. At the forefront of their congregation was a petite young woman clad in a purple hooded robe. She too was very vocal in her objection as she thrashed about while two men who appeared to be priests tied her arms and legs together with rope.

"Whoa, HEY!" Reese called out as he realized what was about to happen right before his eyes. "HEEEEY!!! STOP!!"

"KILL THE WITCH!" an over-weight and particularly irritated woman in the mass hollered before she kicked the rope-bound woman into the river.

Splash!

Reese was already swimming as fast as he could. He'd seen the woman's body disappear under the waves but he was certain he'd make it in time. "Are you people fucking serious?!" He shouted as he passed the peer and dove under. His voice cracked and the words came out with a high pitch. It took a moment, but he spotted the woman sinking as she wiggled about like a hopeless worm, letting all the air escape her body in a surface-bound trail of bubbles. Reese swam downwards and tried to grab the rope and untied the woman. But she had her eyes closed shut and was moving too much for Reese to get a decent hold. He was reaching his limit as well, but he knew if he surfaced now the current would carry him away from the woman and she'd surely die.

In a final effort Reese tried to pull the ropes apart. He struggled until he too was exhausted and his body was forcing him to surface. He looked at the panicking woman and motioned his lips in the words "I'm sorry". He reached out to her a final time. To his horror a green light had engulfed his palm, the same green light that had blinded and stunned him moments ago.

The light then appeared to take solid form as it expanded outwards in a paper-thin layer of translucent matter that formed a complete sphere and surrounded the woman. Like a bubble, the sphere began it ascension to the surface. Reese, panicking, swam after the contraption and surfaced just moments after it did. The woman was unconscious inside the sphere and laid motionlessly as the current carried the orb downstream. "Hey, let her out!" Reese demanded as he swam after it and pounded it with his first whenever he had that chance. It would be the collision with a rock that finally shattered the orb. Reese grabbed the woman before the deep could claim her again, and he struggled to put himself and her to the river bank.

He laid the woman on her back and called out to her while tapping her shoulder. "Hey, wake up! Can you hear me?!" She was irresponsible so he checked her pulse. It was faint, but it was something and Reese knew what he had to do. Mashiba school policy dictated that all P.E teachers be certified First-aiders. In the 5 years that he taught there he'd never had to utilize the skills, but he was fortunate enough to have kept up with the practice himself in case of an emergency. He started cardiopulmonary resuscitation; began with chest compressions and stopped only to check if the woman for responsiveness. It took a while, and he'd almost given up when the woman finally vomited. Reese quickly turned her on her side and patted her back.
"Oh, thank goodness. I was starting to think you were a goner for sure." Reese exclaimed. The woman only coughed for a while and then she was silent.

"So, you must have really pissed that crowd off, huh?" Reese said, trying to lighten the mood, but was also curious to know why a mob just tried to murder this woman. The reply he received was not one he expected.

"You dare use your filthy hands to defile a follower of the Witch's Cult!" the woman declared angrily.

Reese was lost of words. As he struggled to find an adequate response, the woman wobbled to her feet and turned to face him, at which point Reese noticed her complexion had become a flustered red. She pointed her right hand at Reese and covered her chest with the left "You-" she panted, "You disgusting pervert!"

Reese's mind with completely blank. And the words left his mouth instinctively "Uh, say what, bitch?"

"Indeed, I am a follower of the Witch's Cult, and you shall pay the ultimate price!" the stated proudly with a flick of her hair.

"That's not what I said --bitch." Reese, annoyed and with emphasis on the "b" word.

"WITCH!" the woman affirmed.

"PSYCHO BITCH!" Reese counter-affirmed.

"You dare-?!"

"Listen lady, you have clearly failed to realize that I just saved your life!" Reese explained.

"What part of saving me involved breaching my honor!"

"'Breaching your honor'? That was CPR! What are you from, the tenth century?!"

"I will not deny that you pulled me from water, that was your only honorable deed. However, had I known you'd done it only to defile me, I would have preferred to die at the bottom of the river. At least I would have died with my pride intact!"

Reese's brow twitched  in agitation. Who the Hell did this chick think she was, accusing him of molesting her? "Alright, that's enough of this bullshit!" he declared as he stood up, swooped the woman from the ground, and slung her over his shoulder as if she were sack of rice, although he noted she didn't weigh that much at all.

"Unhand me at once, you peasant!" the woman demanded as she hopelessly kicked and thrashed about trying to free herself.

Reese walked towards the river "I try to do one good deed. Save some strange girl from drowning and what do I get for it? I get called a molester!" he complained to himself mostly.

The woman, noticing that Reese had carried her back towards the water, stopped her resistance and becomes suddenly open to conversation. "Wait, what do you intend to do with me?!"

"You'd rather drown with your pride, right?" Reese then changed his voice the imitate an English accent "Allow me to be a proper gentleman and assist you in your quest to find the afterlife. I do sincerely hope you and your pride have a splendid journey!"

"No, wait!" the witch objected.

Reese nonchalantly tossed the little female back into the river. She screamed of course, and then she splashed. Reese waited for her to resurface, she did for a moment, and he waved sarcastically bidding her farewell. "Lata bitch!"

The woman's arms flailed about as the current carried her away. "HELP PLEASE! I CAN'T SWIM!" she pleaded.

"But miss, what about your pride?! I'd hate for you to be --what was it? -- oh yeah, 'defiled by my filthy perverted peasant hands'!"

"HEL-" her mouth disappeared under the water and the rest of her words were gurgled...
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WC| 2,375
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CONTINUED IN: [Reese In The Dragon Kingdom Lugnica]