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The Protective Little Sister
Looks:
Ayumi is 5’6”. She has light green eyes that tend toward the yellow side and olive colored skin. Her hair is smooth, straight, and triple toned (it‘s brown and blonde, but she streaks two sections of it black in mourning for her brother Chuei). She always wears a black ski cap, with a circular design, so she doesn’t have to do much with it. She doesn’t have much of a figure and doesn’t bother with skirts or dresses. Most of her outfits consist of shorts, jeans, long sleeves, t-shirts, and tank-tops with a pair of simple slip on shoes. The only jewelry she wears is a necklace. She despises it so she usualy hides it under her shirts. Abilities:
Ayumi is a very artistic person. Aside from her storytelling, she is also a painter, a whittler, an okay cook (she specializes in desserts), and an expert on a nearly infinite- or a very big- number of seals. She had strength training with her brother, and though she is strong for her race, size, and gender, she is only useful for distance targeting. Her weapons are senbon needles, shuriken, and kunai. Ayumi can occasionally see spirits (“Not ghosts- spirits. Trust me, there‘s a difference.”). Although, with her natural observation abilities, some might think she was psychic, as she makes it a point to do (or say) things for people out of the blue to make them feel better (or knock ‘em off their high horse) when they think no one can tell what’s going through their heads. Finally, she has an extensive knowledge of plants and stones and their spiritual uses. She makes the black dye for her hair, and she collects rosemary to help with her memory issues.
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Ayumi's Family History
Ayumi’s father was a Shinto temple priest. He showed the public a friendly face but was cruel to his family and treated them like pieces to a game board. She never officially met her mother, but she was a very submissive woman. Ayumi was the youngest and had two older sisters and one older brother named Chuei. Kumiko’s father was well respected in their village. So when he asked Ayumi’s father for a favor, he agreed for future business terms. Thus Kumiko was introduced to the family at the age of 8, making Ayumi 6. It was never officially announced, but Kumiko lived with them. Ayumi’s older sisters hated hKumiko for being 3/4 youkai. But when Chuei met Kumiko he immediately adored the big cherry eyes and fluffy red hair. He would spend as much time with her as he could; when he escaped from his father’s teachings. After a week however, their father found out and put a stop to it. Chuei never managed to see Kumiko again. Denied friends, Kumiko turned to Ayumi and the two grew up very close (Ayumi calls Kumiko Nee-chan (endearing term for ‘older sister’) and Kumiko refers to Ayumi with the nickname ‘Yumi’). While Ayumi was to attend school and learn traditional miko festival dances with her sisters, Kumiko was kept isolated. She learned from Ayumi’s books (with Ayumi’s help) and spent her time exploring her never changing surroundings (most of this time was spent staring out windows). However, Yumi got her hands on a set of mythology books around age 10 and entertained Kumiko with the stories daily. Yumi grew so attached to the stories that she studied mythology and legend from all over Shangri-La. (This came in handy for earning money on the streets later on: she‘s a living encyclopedia of myth).
By the time the youkai went crazy, Ayumi had just turned 18 and Kumiko was 20. Ayumi’s father went after every single youkai. He and Chuei sealed each one with a kind of paralysis. Then their father went and had every last one of them publicly hung. When he saw their father do that, Chuei ran off. Their father followed him and Ayumi followed them both. Their dad finally caught up to her brother who had collapsed in grief. His father walked up to him and told him it was what they deserved. Chuei didn’t answer, but looked up and saw Ayumi hiding behind a tree. He gave her a teary smile and tugged apart his life-line (an ability he has: he studied dark arts without his father’s knowledge). Her father spotted Ayumi and muttered “What a troublesome boy”. He pulled out a vile and jabbed her brother’s wrist, filling a third of the vile with his blood. He sprinkled some of the dirt from the death site into the vile. Then dragged Ayumi over by the arm. He directed her vision at him, “You’ll have to take his place, Ayumi.” It finally clicked with her that he was dead, and angry tears filled her eyes. “I have to REPLACE him?! Is THAT all you have to say?! He’s dead! How could you?! It’s all your fault!” she fell, weeping for her beloved Onii-chan. Emotionlessly, her father knelt down and caught her tears in the vile until it was full. He capped it and pulled out a chain with a cage like ornament that was empty inside. He placed the vile in, and muttered a chant. It’s chain was long enough for it to just fall over her head and onto her neck. Startled, Ayumi looked up at him as he finished the chant. “You will replace him.” Then she passed out.
While she slept, she experienced all of her brother’s memories. For the time, she was her brother. When she woke up, she was two people in one. She knew things she shouldn’t know and with sudden overwhelming grief, stumbled to Kumiko’s room and fell onto her adopted sister’s bed, waking her. Kumiko spent all morning comforting her sister without ever understanding the gibberish that Ayumi was spouting. By the time she was able to think coherently, Ayumi knew they had to leave. She would not be a slave to her father. And now a new danger filled her mind. An eminent presence that screamed they weren’t safe. Kumiko had to come with her. Ayumi looked Kumiko directly in the eye and said, “Chei disowned the family and left. We’re both in danger Nee-chan. That man wants you gone now that all the other youkai are dead.” Kumiko took this in with a serious expression and immediately got up and started packing for them. Without a word, the two left their home and started traveling east. When they finally came to a stop late that night, Kumiko noticed the necklace. When she asked about it, Ayumi smiled bitterly and fingered it, “It’s Chuei’s. I’m going to find him Nee-chan.”
That night, Ayumi delved into her brother’s memories and found what she needed. She performed a complicated seal to protect Kumiko. She knew that her sister was nearly 3/4’s youkai, and was at risk to catching whatever disease the rest of the youkai population had (She knew nothing about the minus-wave). This seal worked like a youryoko limiter. It prevented Kumiko from using any youkai strength, but it didn’t make her look human like normal limiters. However, Kumiko had no way of removing the seal on her own. She had never known she had unnatural abilities and without any physical change, Ayumi was sure it was safe to not mention any of it. (By the time they meet the Sanzo-ikkou, the seal has nearly worn completely off.)
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