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[inner_fires]

|| Player Information ||
Name: Irrisia
Personal Journal: n/a
Time zone: GMT
Contact: elenatakami@yahoo.co.uk
Current Characters: Evan and Loki


|| Character Information ||
Fandom: Black Cat (manga, specifically)
Name: Kyoko Kirisaki
Canon Point: Post-ending
History: The only wiki for this really only deals with the anime, which is different in places.

So, first the world. Kyoko's world is remarkably similiar to Earth, with approximately 1990s technology available to most people including guns, televisions, cars, and mobile phones; cloning and nanotechnology are however a scientific reality, albeit available only to the rich. Apart from that, there are a number of other clear and noticeable differences: countries are named differently, although there are clear analogues. Among them the obvious ones include an organised system in place for bounty hunters, known as the Sweeper system, with licenses and tests to pass to become one. About a third of the world's economy is under the direct control of an organisation called Chronos, which claims to be an organisation for world peace. Chronos works mainly in the public eye, but has a shadowy arm of enforcers known as the Erasers, a group of fighters and assassins who do behind the scenes work, intimidating and removing opponents of Chronos. For extremely difficult cases, Chronos also controls the Numbers, a group of 13 select fighters gifted with special weaponry. Also, form of magic based on taoism and the channeling of life energy exists, although believed to have been wiped out along with most of its practitioners approximately 25 years prior to the events of the manga in a major war between the clan of Taoists and Chronos. It's said the war started because the Taoists wanted to overthrow Chronos, although the truth of that is unknown.

On to Kyoko, all that's really known of her early life is that she grew up on the island of Jipangu, roughly equivalent to Japan. Both of her parents are alive, although frequently absent and I have assumed they were only distantly affectionate. At some point during her early high school years, her parents left for work overseas; shortly after this, she was approached by a terrorist group known as the Apostles of the Stars, as they believed she had potential tao abilities waiting to be unlocked. The Apostles' stated goal is the destruction of Chronos and anyone who does not have Tao abilities; they are led by Creed Diskenth (a former Chronos eraser) and his second in command, Shiki, a mysterious survivor of the previously mentioned war who still had knowledge from his homeland. In particular, Shiki has the ability to create a drink that causes people to enter a coma, from which either the drinker wakes up having unlocked their tao abilities, or dies. Seemingly from boredom, and certainly posessing no great loyalty to either Creed nor his ideals, Kyoko drank Shiki's brew and survived, gaining the Tao of Fire in the process.

Once a member of the Apostles, she was partnered with Charden Flamberg, a former assassin with the Tao ability to create and control his own blood. Their role within the Apostles was to approach other potential converts, and offer them the tao-releasing drink, demonstrating their own abilities if need be. One of the people they approached was an escaped murderer called Gyanza Lejicke, who survived the drink and gained the power of tao, then started a killing spree in a small city called Rubeck. Kyoko and Charden are sent to retrieve him, but he tells them he doesn't want to return as he is having too much fun. During the conversation, Gyanza attempts to intimidate Kyoko, but instead annoys her and her body temperature begins to rise. She is prevented from killing him only by Charden, who tells he they should instead retreat and contact Shiki for further orders, observing Gyanza until then. At this point, the mayor of Lubeck, secretly a member of Chronos, contacts Train Heartnet, an old friend of his who happens to be a sweeper and also a former Chronos Number, and asks him to end the murders. Train's partner, Sven Vollfied, had formerly been an agent for the International Bureau of Investigation, and had been the person to originally arrest Gyanza, and so Train, Sven and Eve, an experimental nanomachine cyborg, hunt down Gyanza. Using Eve as bait, the group of sweepers manage to trap Gyanza and defeat him, thanks to Sven's ability to see the future. At this point, Kyoko approaches Train and offers him a thank-you kiss, but is turned down. Charden informs Train about the Apostles of the Stars, and offhandedly mentions that Creed is looking forward to meeting Train, due to a shared history with Chronos. Gyanza suddenly starts to shrivel in on himself, and it is revealed that Tao is powered by a person's inner life force; overusing it will drain your life away. Gyanza dies, and Kyoko and Charden leave, saying they have no further business in Lubeck. Kyoko gives Train the nickname Mr Black, after his title of Black Cat, and appears to have the beginnings of a crush on Train.

Later that night, the pair wait for their lift in Lubeck's graveyard, and are approached by Belze Rochefort, second in command of the Chronos Numbers. Kyoko offers to fight him, and for the first time appears to get serious; she backs him into a corner, but he throws a grenade at her. Kyoko walks unharmed out of the flames, and Charden joins the fight; although they seem to have the upper hand, Shiki arrives and puts an end to it.

The next time Kyoko is seen, she is at her school, where she is scolded by a teacher for letting her grades and attendance drop and she reveals her parents are currently overseas. During the conversation, her phone rings and she leaves; the Apostles are shown gathering together and Creed tells them it is time to start. They attack the World Summit, where the heads of state are gathered. Creed tells the Apostles to use whatever means they see fit to get past the security surrounding the conference, and Kyoko is seen blowing up a police car by causing the engine to overheat, apparently having no problems with Creed's orders. Between them, the Apostles seriously disrupt the conference, and Creed kills the gathered heads of state. Shortly after this, one of the Apostles challenges Train, without Creed's permission; as both Train and the Apostle, Durham, are gunmen, Durham wishes to see who is the best between them. He loses to Train, but is left alive. Kyoko is out shopping with another of the Apostles, a young boy named Leon, when Durham returns; Creed calls all the Apostles together and kills Durham in front of them for daring to try and kill Train. Later, Charden and Kyoko discuss Durham's fate, and are shown to be unhappy with the way they see Durham as having been discarded as little more than trash.

Somewhat later, a thief named Rinslet Walker who is in the employ of Chronos finds Creed's base. Kyoko attacks Rinslet, and explains that the Apostles are playing a game called "Hunt the Sweeper", with each dead Sweeper being worth a point. They are interrupted by the Doctor, another Apostle, and Rinslet is taken to see Creed with Kyoko in attendence. However, this is part of Chronos's plan to find Creed's base, and shortly after this the castle they are in is attacked by some of the Numbers. During the fight, Creed reveals that his plans do not rely on the Tao powers of the Apostles as he claimed, but instead on using nanomachines to create an army of mindlessly obedient monsters, and the castle is destroyed. Afterwards, Leon informs the rest of the Apostles that Charden and Kyoko have left the castle and also the Apostles. Charden and Kyoko talk, and Kyoko reveals she followed Charden in quitting only because she thought it would be sad if he were alone.

Train, Rinslet, Charden, Eve and Kyoko cross paths again when Eve tries to help a girl being harassed by another man, only for the girl to set the man on fire. Shortly after this, Sven chases a pursesnatcher into the group, who tries to threaten Kyoko; before she can respond, Train intervenes, knocking the man unconscious. Kyoko is delighted, believing Train did it to save her. Charden and Kyoko tell the group of Sweepers why they have left the Apostles, and more about Creed's plans, with Charden expressing his belief that Creed's stated plan to wipe out Chronos is just a front for something even more sinister. They separate, and Train, Sven and Eve are attacked by Creed and Echidna. Train takes a nanomachine bullet, and regresses back to being a child, and in that state bumps into Kyoko, who is being chased by a group of Chronos Erasers and has become separated from Charden. Kyoko ends up dragging Train off, swearing to protect him even though he is actually in no danger as long as he is not with Kyoko. When they are shot at, Kyoko retaliates, but misses. When she charges up again, planning to kill them, Train gets angry with her for the first time, telling her that he has a policy of not killing people. He then intimidates the rest of the attackers into running away, and Kyoko, saved again, decides to take up Train's philosophy. She then contacts Charden, who asks to speak to Train; between them, Charden and Train make an agreement that Kyoko should be returned to her everyday life, and as she no longer has any intention of attacking Chronos, Charden asks Train to make sure Chronos stops attacking Kyoko. Kyoko and Train return to Train's hotel room, and along with Sven and Eve are attacked by two of the Numbers, Baldorias and Kranz. Sven attempts to explain the situation, but the Numbers do not care and attack anyway. Train asks Kyoko if she truly intends to keep her promise about no longer killing anyone, and promises her that if she will keep that vow he will protect her. Train and Sven team up to take out the Numbers as Kyoko watches, but the Numbers appear to have the upper hand. Kyoko is about to break her promise and join the fight, but realises that Train believes in her, and stops her attack.

The fight is brought to an end by the arrival of a third Number, Janus, who tells Baldorias and Kranz that their attack is unauthorised and they have been given orders to stop. More resonable than the other two, when Kyoko's situation is explained to him he contacts the leader of the Number, Sephiria Arks, who asks to meet Kyoko. Kyoko agrees to the meeting; Train tells her that as she kept her promise, even if barely, if she gets into trouble she can ring him and he will come help her out. Kyoko tells him that she doesn't want him to get hurt for her again, and reaffirms her promise to him to no longer kill anyone. On her way to meet Sephiria, Kyoko meets a stray black cat and attempts to befriend it, only to be bitten. For a moment, it looks like Kyoko will lose her temper and break the promise, but instead she smiles, and tells the cat it can't be like Kyoko and bite anyone who comes near. When she walks away, the cat leaves with her, and she names it Blackie, after Train.

The meeting with Sephiria starts as the leader of the Numbers creates a gravestone inscribed with Kyoko's name. Sephiria tells Kyoko that she does not like leaving enemies of Chronos alive, but does not want to kill an innocent person if she can help it. Kyoko is offered a job as an Eraser for Chronos, with Sephiria saying she will guarantee Kyoko's safety if she joins Chronos. Kyoko refuses, vehemently, telling Sephiria that she will not betray Train and his ideals. Sephiria reveals that she was testing Kyoko's resolve, and that if she had agreed to become an Eraser she would be dead. As she did not, Sephiria agrees to allow Kyoko to return to her life, and the only time Kyoko is seen again is at the end of the manga, happily returned to her school life.

Personality:

Kyoko has a very low boredom threshold, which can be a bit of a problem as she tends to be motivated only by things that interest her. She is impatient, finding it difficult to stick to one task, and getting her to wait can be difficult. She also has the energy levels to stay on the move, looking for fun, which can make her an exhausting companion. She tends to lack focus, unless irritated or entertained by whatever holds her attention, in which case she becomes rather single-minded. Otherwise, she is somewhat capricious and prone to acting on whims.

She frequently comes across as being very shallow; she is prone to snap judgements, and initially seems to base decisions about which people might be interesting by their physical description, although given time she can warm up to other people. Her hobbies don't really help, either; she likes shopping, sweets, cute things, and video games. For her, the world is somewhat black and white, divided between the things she likes and the things she doesn't. As such, she can appear rather self-centred and empty-headed sometimes, although it would be a mistake to assume she is stupid. She is actually quite smart, at least academically; she just finds that being serious all the time is boring, and would rather spend her time having fun. She doesn't really seem to think about the future much, either, instead mostly going with the flow.

She appears to find it difficult to grow close to people. On the surface, she is friendly, outgoing and even generous most of the time, but although she was fairly close to Charden and trusted him, Train seems to be the first person she thinks of as believing in her. Because of this, she also seems to get very attached to some people and can come across as clingy sometimes. On the flip side, she can also be somewhat disrespectful to those she doesn't know or care about. She is not easily intimidated and has been known to respond violently with disregard to her own safety even when talking to those far more powerful than herself.

Kyoko is usually cheerful, but is somewhat easily irritated and finds it hard to control her temper. Creed once told her that it was fine to destroy things that annoy her, and although she is slowly learning that this is not really the best way to go about things, she is prone to backsliding. Although she will no longer kill, thanks only to a promise she made to Train, sometimes can get a little destructive with objects.

Finally, it should be pointed out that Kyoko can be rather callous, and lacks much in the way of empathy or ethics. She had no real problems with killing people, in a relatively painful way, until told it was wrong. This may be due to her parents being absent for a lot of the time, as it could be assumed she doesn't have much in the way of guidance. She can be sympathetic, but struggles to understand other people's problems. Her conscience is basically asking herself What Would Mr Black Do? and also Blackie, who is a rather literal morality pet who reminds her constantly of the promise she made.

Blackie the cat is a perfectly ordinary (but rather odd-looking) black cat, who mostly sits on Kyoko's shoulder. If he jumps off, well, that might be a bad sign.

Skills | Powers:

Tao of Fire

Kyoko has the Tao ability of Fire; she raises her internal body temperature to over 1000 degrees centigrade, and then uses that heat to affect her surroundings. She has been shown to breath fire, presumably by heating the air in her lungs to combustion point, in both continuous streams and fireball modes; melt objects with a touch, including a gravestone; surround her hands with fire, to aid with physical fighting. She can also use them defensively, heating the air around herself to to deflect explosions and walk through fire without injury. It is somewhat difficult for Kyoko to fall ill, and probably very dangerous when she does.

She does seem to have problems aiming her attacks, and relies more on area of effect attacks than precision most of the time. She's also, these days at least, reluctant to kill people with them.

Athletic Abilities

Whilst nowhere near an expert level, Kyoko can usually handle herself reasonably well in a one-on-one physical fight against a normally athletic person. She is more nimble than powerful, and mostly relies on her speed to get close. She does not do much damage per punch, but instead relies on getting in a lot of hits. On top of being a naturally agile fighter, she has extremely good reflexes and can move at a pace possible but difficult for an athletic person to keep up with, in short bursts. This is mentioned in the source canon as being a side effect of her Tao, somehow.

Possessions

Kyoko is in possession of one perfectly ordinary pet cat called Blackie, with all the abilities of an ex-stray and a tendency to ride on Kyoko's shoulder when she is not in school. He seems to act as something of a morality chain to Kyoko, but otherwise has no real powers. Can sometimes act as a warning mechanism for when Kyoko's really about to lose her temper, as he will jump off.

First Person Sample:

[The video mode switches on to show a dark-haired girl in her mid to late teens, although she has a slightly strange accent, hard to place, and she sounds slightly muffled somehow. There are hints she might be a little irritated, mostly in the slightly narrowed eyes, but she's trying her hardest to keep it in check. A small black cat peers curiously from her shoulder. There's also a tiny smear of blood from her mouth.]

This is so lame! I'm gonna get into so much trouble with school again for vanishing. I've only just managed to get my teacher to stop going on about how well I'm doing now I've settled down, you know? Besides, Mr Black could totally get in a lot of trouble if I just vanish, and that's like the last thing I want, okay?

Hello~? Anyone?

Ugh, whatever.

[The video clicks off, and Kyoko starts walking up the hill, although she does leave a short text on the network.]

If anyone sees this, I could do with knowing where I'm going~! Let me know, okay? o/

Third Person Sample: [Recycled from Cape and Cowl app!]

Kyoko tapped her pencil on the table and considered the problems laid out on the worksheet in front of her. She was already starting to get frustrated with it, not because it was difficult but because it was so tedious. She glanced at the television set in the corner and thought about turning it on to a music channel, but even she knew she would only get caught up in watching something and then her homework would never get done. She really needed to start making an effort if she was going to pass her application exams.

She realised her thoughts had managed to wander off, partly from the smell of slightly scorched pencil, and reeled them back in, trying once more to concentrate. This time, she managed to get through one question, but was interrupted from getting any further by Blackie. The cat had somehow snuck up on her, and had leapt onto her shoulder, slightly unbalancing her. For a moment, she thought that he'd somehow jumped with enough force to tip the chair she was sat on, and reached up instinctively to stop him from getting hurt when they hit the floor.

Then the simple pull of gravity turned into something far more unpleasant; a pulse of brilliant light, forces that tugged on her from every direction, and she fell.

When she regained the abilities to stand up straight and see without coloured spots blocking her vision, and after she had checked to make sure Blackie was fine, she finally spared a thought for the room she was in. Her living room was sparse, all right, but not this sparse. This was sterile, grey and cold, and her initial bewilderment gave way to annoyance. She'd said she was going back to a normal life; why would anyone drag her away from that? She was going to have words...

Oh, damn. Someone had been talking. She caught the words "... city, hero,", but the rest of the sentence was lost.

"Hey, who's there? What's going on? What city?" she asked, but the mocking laughter she got in response wasn't much of an answer. Neither was the small mechanical sound that alerted her to the new presence of a communicator and what looked like dog tags. Furiously, she grabbed them and marched for the open door, Blackie still perched precariously on her shoulder.

Marks: A large T for terrorist, right thigh, for her time with the Apostles. An M for murder on her tongue, a reminder of the many times she killed someone in her uniquely horrific way. A C for callousness over her heart, for her lack of empathy. A D for destruction, palm of her right hand, as she's frequently destroyed anything that gets in her way. And a W for wrath, left shoulder; Kyoko is easily irritated and doesn't care who she hurts when she is.

FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:

Kyoko's inability to use proper punctuation during text mode is deliberate, as a teenage girl with a tendency to be hasty. Her hearts and musical notes are taken from her manga speech bubbles, where they tend to be somewhat liberally scattered throughout her actual speech; as that doesn't really work for when she is talking, I've shifted them all into her texting ability.

ALSO some old threads from LJ: http://capeandcowl.dreamwidth.org/3075851.html, http://capeandcowl.dreamwidth.org/3086216.html, http://capeandcowl.dreamwidth.org/3083174.html#comments, http://capeandcowl.dreamwidth.org/3093504.html?thread=286757376#cmt286757376