Name: Youko Wakahisa (若久 陽子 Wakahisa Youko)

Nickname/Alias: N/A

Age: 16 (b. August 17)

Gender: Female

Appearance:


Her height is 1.60m and she weighs around 50kg.

Biography: A scion of the Wakahisa Conglomerate, the young girl given the name of "Youko" was born on the 17th of August in the city of Kyoto, where her family had run its businesses for several decades. As the heiress to the family fortune, her early upbringing was one of sophistication, instilling in her a foundation of propriety that would influence her massively over the following years, particularly after her parents chose to relocate to Tokyo when she was merely nine years of age. It was the wish of the Wakahisa clan that she participate in Academy City’s Power Curriculum Programme, viewing esper abilities as a great boon for their child.

Thus, it was with little fanfare that Youko prepared herself for the experiments that would transform her from just another simple little Japanese girl into a superpowered being, enrolling in a school within the walls of Academy City. It should have, in ideal circumstances, been a particularly simple state of affairs, but to much misfortune, a group of unscrupulous bad dudes, intent on grabbing cash from her family, kidnapped her not long after her tenth birthday when she was trying to buy a cheap boxset of her favourite superhero television show. However, another young girl had been in the store at the same time as her, and due to the inability of her kidnappers to differentiate between them, that girl was too held captive.

And so she found herself in shock and full of tears, trapped in a dark room with a remarkably unphased hat-garbed girl (whose hair had yet to turn blonde) as her only company.

However, it was truly the presence of that other girl that brought Youko salvation during those two weeks of captivity. The two found themselves bonding, discussing all sorts of random bits of kids' TV shows and arguing who was the cooler Disney princess. For the first time in her life, the Wakahisa scion had met somebody who resonated with her emotionally, and who she could talk to so easily. She soon grew to appreciate the hat-garbed girl as a great friend, relishing in the comfort her companion so readily provided. So it was unsurprising that they parted with great sadness upon Anti-Skill’s discovery of their location, but Youko vowed to someday return the kindness her new friend had shown her.

Indeed, by the time of her twelfth birthday, the Wakahisas had contacted the hat-garbed girl once more, setting her up as a ward of one of the family butlers to repay her for the company she had provided to Youko. The two would begin attending the same middle school together, deepening their relationship over the next few years until graduation, when they were forced to split ways. Youko had been accepted into the posh, all-girls Shidarezakura Academy in District 7's School Garden, while her friend instead left for the more mundane Noriaki North.

Though they remain in contact, Youko still misses her friend's presence in her life. With the everyday stress of schoolwork and her own relationship issues, it's no wonder that she wants a shoulder to lean on.

Personality: As the characters in her name would suggest, Wakahisa Youko is for the most part a warm and kind hearted girl, waking up every morning to face the rising sun with a smile and good cheer. She’s polite and friendly, doing her best to try and get along with most people she meets, whether it be cracking jokes or making casual gossip. It’s a generally amicable demeanour, as expected of a Wakahisa heiress, but sometimes one can notice that there isn’t really a deep amount of substance to her relationships, or what she says about herself.

Indeed, despite her friendliness to all, it can be hard for her to really connect properly with others, and that has become a growing source of dissatisfaction and pain to her. Youko doesn’t trust herself to be really open to anyone, nor does she trust her ability to be a true friend. She doesn’t know if she’s good enough, a problem that also intersects with her questions of who she really is. Although her relationship with her rather hands off parents is perfectly fine, sometimes she feels constrained by the identity of the Wakahisa heiress, but also tries her best to repay them for all the care and affection they’ve showered on her. She doesn’t want to be a burden, but her growing identity crisis makes her think that she’s already become one.

Youko is a nice girl who hates having to trouble others.

Thus it isn’t particularly rare for her to grow quiet and introspective even if she had been laughing and cheerful mere moments before. Her struggle to find herself and gather her feelings, whether they be about love or the future, have become a defining aspect of her interactions with others, and the substance of them suffer as a result.

While it may not be as obvious to some, it’s also pretty clear that she’s a massive geek, particularly towards sentai shows. There’s a childish enthusiasm to her love for the small things, but even despite her adoration she tends to refrain from showing it off to too many people. She doesn’t want to overwhelm others with her enthusiasm, and she tries her best to be interested in what her classmates like instead.

The sun is supposed to shine for everyone.

Esper Power: Level 3 - Seamstress
Wakahisa Youko is capable of producing ‘threads’ made up of whatever substance she has on hand, as well as manipulating them to carry out her will in a myriad of ways. Her production cares little for what the threads are made of, but her power works with greater ease the more flexible the substance is. The amount she can produce every day is limited to a tenth of her mass, and doing so is also particularly energy intensive, necessitating her to eat large portions. The maximum range for her control over the threads is a half-kilometre radius.

Skills: Well-educated and well-informed, Youko is a particularly knowledgeable individual (although you’re more likely to hear her spout trivia on kids’ tokusatsu shows), and also a very sharp student. She is proficient in cooking and sewing due to the lessons of her traditionalist mother, and is also quite familiar with first aid (having actually attended some classes on a whim with Hat-chan during middle school). She’s also decently athletic.

Ambition: Wakahisa Youko does not know who she is. She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, how she should act around others. But she does know that she doesn't want to be the person she is right now; she wants to find a way to get past her complicated, adolescent emotions and to find herself. And so, she's following in the example of her friend, throwing herself into any activity that might give her some purpose.

Right now, that's helping out with costumes in some student theatrical production, because that's a way for her powers to be of some use, right?

Extra: She carries around a sewing kit everywhere she goes, as well as small camping medical kit in case of any issues. Youko’s fondness for reading also means that she can be found time to time with her nose in a book outdoors (such as when waiting for her tutor at cafes).