Hoshizora Yuri [Ascended Superhuman]

Name: Hoshizora Yuri

Age: 20

Gender: Female

Appearance: Yuri is fair skinned with chocolate-brown eyes and shoulder length, light pink hair the she has a tendency to tie up in a sort of half ponytail. She stands at around 5'8", has a rather small chest, and is rather thin and lanky, though not so much as to look unhealthy. She is usually seen wearing either miko[shrine maiden] clothing in a light red colour or her samurai fuku, consisting of a white, high collared, sleeveless double zip shirt [one zipper down the center, and one holding a flap closed, crossing over the right if her chest, which she leaves partially undone at the top. The collar is buttoned closed, but she leaves it undone], black hakama pants, a shirt tied around her waist covering her sword belt [which is able to hold both Sakura-no-Ame and a wakizashi], and a variety of bracelets and fabric bands on her wrists and forearms. More rare is finding her in her work uniform, which consists of a white blouse covered by a black vest, and a black, pleated, knee-length skirt.

Personality: Calm, dedicated, and extremely loyal. As a samurai, Yuri views disloyalty to be a crime punishable by death. However, she also has a strict moral code that she swore over her father's blade never to break. Her first loyalty will always be to her family, and she would never, ever break that trust, nor would she ever use her blade to harm an innocent. Beyond her cool samurai personality is a quiet, but happy young woman. She dearly loves the world she lives in, despite it's flaws. Her kindness and sense of loyalty and self has always amazed her family. She is a girl who would never stray from the path of justice and righteousness, even if it meant her own death in the end.

History: Yuri was born and raised in a temple in Old Karakura. Her parents were modern Samurai and instructed the eager child in the ways of the Samurai as soon as she was old enough to properly absorb the information.

On her eighth birthday, she was given a gift which would remain precious to her for the rest of her life. Her katana, specially hand made for her by her father, a talented sword smith who's talent was squandered on cheap 'show' blades. The sword remained unnamed for the longest time, though she trained with it the moment her parents would allow her to handle the blade, her father's most prized sword.

On her 14th birthday, she was meditating with the blade resting across her lap, as usual, when a name finally came to her. Startled at the sudden revelation, she opened her eyes and stared down at the blade in awe, speaking it's name with a soft reverence in her tone. Sakura-no-Ame[Rain of Cherry Blossoms].

After that, the katana seemed to fit much more comfortably in her hand. It was said that each katana had a soul, and that a piece of it's partner became entwined with the blade. After giving the sword its name, Yuri found herself believing those legends.

It wasn't long after that that she came to discover an interesting ability she had. All her life, she'd been able to see the spirits of the dead. Up until she was 6, they'd scared her. That was when one of them protected her from a real monster by distracting it and leading it away. She never saw that spirit again, and she'd been saddened by the loss. After she named her katana, she discovered that she had the ability to manipulate her own energies. The first thing she learned was how to wrap her spirit energy around things. After playing with it for a few months, she discovered it was easiest and the least draining to use Sakura-no-Ame for this.

Next, after some experimenting, she was able to create a pair of wings using her energy. This was an unstable process, though, and it expended a lot of energy whenever she tried it. Not to mention that they were useless. Still, she kept trying until she was able to flawlessly control the flow, and then was able to "harden" the energy that created her wings. This took three years to master, but the end result was a magnificent pair of ethereal wings that were beautiful as well as extremely functional. The next task the 16-year-old had to master was actual flight and landings.

The next year for the young Samurai girl was spent on trail and error for flight, and her parents worried that their serious daughter was getting into fights due to her returning home late and injured every few days. She was sure to reassure her parents, claiming that she was just training extra hard, but still, they worried right up to the point where she stopped coming home with injuries, having mastered flying and landing. Rightfully, she was pleased with her accomplishments, and proceeded to properly return to training, both in her sword skills and energy manipulation, as she'd slipped in both due to her focus on her wings.

Her 18th birthday came, and it wasn't long after that her life was flipped upside down by the presence of Hollows arriving at her school one day. She'd just landed on the roof, having flown to the high school, as was usual for her, when several Hollows appeared on the grounds. Two students, who she knew were spiritually aware, like herself, but without power, were killed before she managed to unwrap Sakura-no-Ame from it's cloth protection. Horror filled her at this. She'd seen the beasts before, but normally there were taken out by a brunette girl in a black kimono, and she'd never seen them mass together like this, either.

Horrified and furious, Yuri discarded Sakura-no-Ame's sheath on the roof and flew up into the air before diving down at the beast that had killed two of the people she considered friends. Remembering what the girl in the black kimono had done to kill the monsters, she sliced the beast's white mask in half, her attack digging deep into the creature's skull as well as she sliced through it as if it were warm butter. It wasn't long before she was joined by a pair of people in black kimono. Together, they exterminated the Hollow, and everyone but Yuri had their memory wiped of the incident.

Still Yuri was upset at herself for the longest time for the lives she was too slow to save. Shortly after her nineteenth birthday, she lost her best friend, Mizumi to a Hollow attack, right along with her mother, who had tried to protect the girl.

A year later, Yuri still hasn't forgiven herself for those lost lives, but is unsure what to do as penance.

RP Sample: [Set during Yuri's nineteenth year. A more detailed show of what happened with Yuri, her parents, and Mizumi.]

Yuri sighed softly as she stared out over the grounds of the temple. Her chores for the day were finished, and she'd done her daily meditation and training early that morning, before the temple even saw it's first, early morning visitors. She turned and put her broom away, picking up her cloth-wrapped katana with a small smile on her face. She hated having to leave the blade anywhere, as it was one of the most precious things to her. Her treasured blade. She removed the katana from its wrapping and grabbed her supplies for cleaning, polishing, and performing maintenance on the blade before returning to the front of the temple, where she was supposed to take over for the girl they hired to sell charms and fortunes.

"Mizumi-chan. Konnichiwa," Yuri said softly, smiling at the girl, who was working on her homework.

"Ah, Yuri-chan! Konnichiwa!" the girl, Mizumi replied, beginning to pack up her work. "It's been slow today, so you know. Only the regulars really stopped by," she added, smiling.

"Mm. I noticed the lack of people," she said, nodding a little. It was fine, in her opinion. Her father's display swords and her own side job brought in more than enough money to make up for the lack of sales at the temple.

"Ne, Yuri-chan... do you actually, y'know, know how to use that katana?" Mizumi asked suddenly. "I mean, I've only ever seen you carry it around and tend to the blade."

"I do know how. I'm a samurai, after all," Yuri replied with a quite laugh.

Mizumi, thinking she was joking, laughed along with her. "A samurai, huh? I didn't know any existed in this day and age," she said with a giggle.

"Oh, you think I'm joking, huh?" Yuri replied, looking amused. She then set down her kit and stepped away from the booth, sliding the sheath into her belt before drawing the blade. She fell into her starting stance, closing her eyes in order to focus herself, then started to slide through her stances, movements like liquid silk as she eased through her warm-up exercises.

Mizumi watched in awe, realizing that Yuri hadn't been joking at all. The way the pink-haired girl moved suggested years of training, much like a martial artist. "Wow... you were serious..." she said, slipping out of the booth to get a closer look.

"Finally showed her, huh, Yuri-chan?" The speaker stepped out from the shadows of the house, a sword in her own hands.

"Okaasama," Yuri said, turning to look at her mother. The elder woman was tall, like her daughter, with matching brown eyes and fair skin, but her hair was pitch black with a blue sheen to it where the light hit. Yuri got her pink hair from her father, oddly enough. the brown-eyed girl watched her mother's movements carefully. The sword in her hand suggested that the elder samurai wished to spar. And who was Yuri to deny one of the people who taught her?

Hoshizora Kazuko watched as her daughter fell into a guarded stance and smiled. Both of them were already warmed up and grounded, she knew. She'd watched her daughter go through the movements, after all. She was proud of her daughter, to tell the truth. The girl... no, young woman was well mannered, disciplined, loyal, and above all, she was kind-hearted. The younger Hoshizora knew the purpose of her blade was not to cut, but to protect. That was the path the pink-haired woman walked, and she hoped that Yuri never strayed from her path. "Prepare yourself!" At those words, Kazuko attacked.

Yuri's expression set as her mother shouted at her, but easily parried the attack. She then shifted, flipping the blade as she struck, the unedged side striking her mother's back. And just as suddenly, both woman were sheathing their blades.

Mizumi blinked, totally unsure of what just happened. "Etto... nan da...?" she uttered, confused. She'd almost been expecting to see a really awesome, anime-like sparing session.

"Don't worry so much about it, Mizumi-chan." Mizumi jumped and spun, turning to face the man of the house, Yuri's father. "That's just how they are. Their sessions are until first "blood". Whoever hits first is the winner. Though I've never seen it end so fast. My daughter has become stronger."

"Otousama..." Yuri said softly, turning as her mother walked to her father's side.

"We're proud of you, Yuri," Hoshizora Soji said, smiling.

"Y'know... I think maybe-..." Mizumi started to say, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"You are Yuri's closest friend... Stay and watch," Kazuho said, smiling, then returned to her husband's side. "Anata," she murmured, nudging her husband.

Soji cleared his thoat, lifting a cloth wrapped weapon for Yuri to see. "This was created at the same time as Sakura-no-Ame. The matching Wakizashi. Come and claim it, Hoshizora Yuri," he stated, his tone serious.

Soji wasn't speaking as her father at that moment, but as a teacher who was granting his student a final gift, and Yuri was very much aware of that. She stepped forward, closing her hands around the blade and taking it before stepping back and bowing. "Arigatou gozaimashita, Sensei," she said before straightening up, smiling. "Otousama, Okaasama... Arigatou," she uttered.

"Stay strong and true to your path, Yuri. That's all that we can ask of you," Kazuho said, smiling at her beloved daughter.

"Hai, Okaasama. Yakusoku," Yuri replied, then unwrapped the blade. Once the cloth was pulled away, she slipped the wakizashi in with the katana.

"Wow... Congrats, Yuri-chan!" Mizumi chimed, pouncing on and hugging her tall friend tightly.

Yuri laughed quietly, hugging Mizumi back. "Arigatou," she murmured, resting her chin on Mizumi's head and closing her eyes. At that moment, the peaceful atmosphere was rather rudely interupted with the appearance of a number of Hollows, who'd been attracted by the ammount of reiatsu in the area. Instantly, Soji, Kazuho and Yuri had their blades drawn. They lept at the Hollows, Yuri shouting over her shoulder for Mizumi to run and hide. However, the other teen was paralized with fright. She'd never [that she could remember] seen anything like the monsters that had appeared there.

One of the Hollows slipped past the trio of Samurai to attack the defenceless girl, and Kazuho turned to attempt to protect her, foolishly turning away from her current opponent, thinking it dead. The Hollow's claws tore through the elder Hoshizora woman, killing her, while the Hollow that had attacked Mizumi managed to kill her as well.

Yuri let out an enraged scream, her calm, cool attitude slipping as she let loose with the power she'd kept secret from her parents for so long. Her wings spread from her back, and Sakura-no-Ame glowed with her power as she channeled it through the blade, letting it loose in an arc that slashed through several Hollows at once, including the two that were about to eat her mother's and Mizumi's souls.

Soon enough, it was over, and Yuri sunk to her knees, sobbing. Once again, she hadn't been fast enough. "I'm no good... I'm never... I'm never fast enough to save anyone...!" she cried, slamming the ground with her fists until her father caught her.

"You saved me. And you at least managed to save their spirits," Soji said. "It's impossible to save everyone, Yuri. You do your best and hope that it all works out in the end, but things happen. We aren't gods. We are simply samurai. Though I suppose you are a little bit closer to a god than the rest of us," he said with a weak laugh. He'd grieve for his wife later. At that moment, his daughter was his focus.

"Yuri-chan..." Yuri looked up to see the spirits of her mother and Mizumi standing in front of her. "If you blame yourself for this, I'll hate you," Mizumi stated, grinning, though it looked forced. Who could be happy when they had their life ripped so violently from them. "It's my fault for not running when you told me to. I just wanted to watch you fight." A lie, obviously. Still, Yuri managed a shaky smile for the two spirits.

"That's my girl. Stay strong, Yuri-chan. You can get by this," Kazuho said, reaching out and placing a hand on her daughter's head, though there was no contact actually made.

"Mhm! You can be sure that we'll be watching over you, so don't be sad for too long, okay?" Mizumi chirped.

"That goes for you, too, Anata," Kazuho added, smiling slightly at her husband. "Look after each other."

"Ah, I hate to break the moment..." Four heads turned to look over at a brunette girl in a black kimono. Her violet eyes were trained on the two spirits.

"Ah... I've seen you before...!" Yuri said, looking startled. "Fighting those creatures..."

"Hollows. And yeah, I've noticed you before, Samurai-girl. I'm a Shinigami, and I've come to send these two on," the shinigami stated. "Please don't fight it. It's a pain when you guys don't want to go," she stated, then suddenly spun, pulling a large shuriken out of nowhere before throwing it. "Ya missed one," she stated in explination.

"Ah, yes... I suppose we should go then," Kazuho said, placing a hand on Mizumi's shoulder.

"Ne, Yuri-chan! I better not see you on the other side any time soon!" Mizumi barked, eying her best friend.

"Don't worry... you won't. I'll live on for the both of us..." Yuri said softly. "Sayonara... Mizumi-chan... Okaasama..."

"The same goes for me, Kazuho," Soji added. "Sayonara."

"Sayonara," Kazuho and Mizumi said at the same time, then turned and followed the Shinigami.

Skill Ranks:

1. Weapon Proficiency lvl 3
2. Endurance lvl 3
3. Super Speed lvl 3
4. Hand to Hand lvl 2

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