"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, and have many regrets. There's so much that I wish I could take back..."
Personal Information
Identity:Significantly smaller than the average Japanese woman, Tsurushi only stands at 152cm (5' 0"), and weighs in 52kg (114lbs). Tsurushi has a surprisingly attractive figure, sporting a BWH of 26-20-22 if measured in inches and 66-51-56 if measured in centimeters. She can be easily identified by her sun yellow dress, which has black hems, her thigh-high boots, her short green hair and green eyes, and her steel grey under-rim glasses. She used to have freckles during her earlier years, but they're no longer visible. Tsuruchi is a 32-year-old grade school teacher who lives in a cheap, but decently tendered hotel, sharing a room with her 19-year-old girlfriend, Morino Zaketa.
Psyche:On the very surface, Tsurushi seems to live a happy life that she is content with. She always had a fondness with children, so one would think that she'd have landed the dream job in being grade school teacher. The job has its ups and downs, as with the vast majority of tasks in the workforce, but she seems to be coping with the necessary demands relatively well, officially speaking. And she's actually proven quite competent as a teacher as of late, with no unusual issues.
It's quite the potent facade that Tsurushi is putting on to make everyone believe she's OK, but it's a facade nonetheless. Truth be told, Tsurushi is suffering from clinical depression. Very few people knew about this because she tends to keep much of her private life to herself, and she doesn't like other people to worry about her. More often than not, such an aspect normally leads her into believing that she had done something wrong... which in turn triggers her depression. Tsurushi's depression is very temperamental. It can trigger at the weirdest of times, even during the more celebratory moments in life.
The lapses in Tsurushi's memory certainly don't help her cause. While she doesn't have full-blown amnesia, the memories that she can recollect are hazy at best, most likely as a side effect from the power she received from her encounter with The Lostman. Tsurushi dislikes thinking too much into her past, and would rather just move on with her life and make new memories for herself; preferably happy ones. After all, it's the happy memories that make Tsurushi look forward to living in this depressing world.
Background:Ishiyama Tsurushi was not a woman that had a bright future ahead of her. Her grades in high school were mediocre, and she got into trouble more times than she could count. Her parents were none happy about this, and if either one had a particularly bad day, they'd take it out on her, beating her every time she disobeyed or made a mistake. Tsurushi dropped out of high school on her second year, and was consequentially kicked out of her parents' home, left to fend for herself as best as she was able with the little knowledge she had. She'd lived out on the streets for the past couple of months until the owner of the Love S Us night club took her in and gave her a job as one of the many call girls under its employ. It was a deplorable job, but it paid well and it was within Tsurushi's capabilities; as far as she was concerned at the time, that was all that mattered to her. Little did she know that she was destined for greater...
One night, Tsurushi was on her way to meet one of the more regular clients that she was assigned to when, as she took an alleyway that was supposed to be a shortcut to the place of rendezvous, she saw a shadowy figure that was in the way. It was The Lostman. Tsuruchi was never able to see any distinguishable features, but when The Lostman had asked the all-important of what she would change, her first thought was to ask who this figure even was. There was no answer. She considered taking another route entirely, but then all of a sudden, she found herself questioning why she even took this life upon herself, her mind riddled with regret. Eventually, Tsurushi answered The Lostman's question, saying that she wanted to change herself, and try and fix everything that she had ever done wrong. With that, The Lostman vanished without a trace, seemingly satisfied with Tsurushi's answer. That's when it all changed.
Suddenly, Tsurushi saw a vision of her old classroom in high school. Everyone around her was busy sitting an exam, while one of the teachers supervised from the front desk. She remembered this place. Tsurushi knew that this was the last exam that she was ever expected to sit, and the end of her second year. Her true memory of that day was that she got up and left after an hour without so much as a glance at the paper, but this time Tsurushi decided to look through the questions and sit the exam properly. She turned the page, only to find herself forcefully jumped back to the present time. The paper that Tsurushi was scanning through now looked to be a resume of sorts, which took her by surprise. She looked over herself, only to find that she was more professionally dressed than she remembered to be. She remembered writing down an address on her hand before leaving, but that writing had changed too. Unsure what to make of all these changes to herself, Tsurushi continued heading down the way she was originally going, stopping at a nearby school. This was Suihei Elementary School, a school where Tsurushi had fond memories growing up. She went inside, where she was greeted by the new principal and headed inside. This was the start of a new life for Tsurushi, and one step closer to a brighter future.
Quirks:- Tsurushi's glasses tend to slip forward and slightly askew when she's taken aback by a shocking discovery, and the irises and pupils look to shrink as the eyes open wide. It might take her a few seconds to get over the shock, at which point she'll fix her glasses again.
- It should be noted that Tsurushi cannot handle spicy foods, and also dislikes foods that have large amounts of sugar or salt in them. Zaketa sees this as a shame since she absolutely loves all things spicy and sugary, and Tsurushi's cooking comes off as too bland to Zaketa's liking. Zaketa doesn't like to cook herself, so the two often wind up having separate lunches and dinners.
Miscellaneous Information
Main Theme Song:Encounter Theme Song:Ideal Voice Actresses:Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (En)/Junko Minagawa (Jp)
Relationships:- Suzukaze Tamiko: A trouble student from the class of 5th graders that Tsurushi teaches. Tamiko almost never turns up in time for class, often showing up up to 20 minutes late, and on occasion not even deciding to attend at all. None of the other grade schoolers even want to go near Tamiko, so it's usually Tsurushi that has to invest some of her own time conversing with her and trying and cheer her up. Tamiko's negative outlook on life reminds Tsurushi her of her own hardships that she had to endure with her previous job, among other things, but that's all the more reason why she has to guide her down the right path in life.
- Morino Zaketa: Lives in the same room at the same apartment complex as Tsurushi, and also serves as her current girlfriend. Zaketa is a young woman of both African American and Japanese descent, who is only 19 years old as opposed to Tsurushi's 32. Like Tsurushi, Zaketa originally worked under the very same employ, and like Tsurushi, Zaketa dreaded everything about that job; especially the men that served as her customers. Unlike Tsurushi though, who was only able to get out through a chance supernatural encounter, Zaketa got out of her own accord, and quit after deciding enough was enough. Zaketa remains as lazy as ever, leaving a mess wherever she goes and refusing to clean up after herself, much to Tsurushi's dismay. But at least she's working on a better career for herself as a YouTuber who relies an upbeat personality and the streaming of popular, relatively easy-to-play games to draw in subscribers. Her online handle is "Carnelian-Z", a somewhat peculiar handle that stands out among the crowd.
- Anenokoji Hitsu: The therapist that Tsurushi sees regularly on Sunday afternoons. Hitsu may seem to be cold and aloof, but she is considered a true professional, renowned for her ability to read the emotions of others like an open book. Hitsu was recommended to Tsurushi by the principal of the grade school she teaches in, after she'd noticed something odd about her demeanor. Tsurushi had confided a few things to Hitsu here and there, including the fact that she'd originally gotten poor grades which lead to her taking a highly degrading job, as well as her encounter with The Lostman... that part specifically of which Hitsu doubted was real. While Hitsu can't deny having heard of similar instances before, she's not entirely sold on the prospect of their existence outside of fiction either.
Locations:- Suihei Elementary School: The grade school where Tsurushi currently teaches. It's one of the many grade schools that can be found in the metropolis that is Tenoroshi, and while it's not the best one around, it has a nostalgic feel to it since it was where Tsurushi first attended school back in the day. It has a total of 7 classrooms, one for each grade, and comes with a playground where children can play during recess. The playground is small however, with several swings, a couple slides and a sandbox.
- Kokina Obu Resort: Zaketa and Tsurushi live in this hotel, which takes pride in its cleanliness and affordability. They also offer free breakfasts to anyone who's hungry, which both girls take on every opportunity they can get. About the messiest part of the entire hotel is the room where Zaketa and Tsurushi stay, and that's only because of the former's lifestyle. Between Tsurushi's salary and the donations Zaketa receives from her subscribers (among other payments she gets from her job), the two girls seem to be quite capable of paying for their room with money to spare for shopping. The only real complaint is that the rooms aren't big enough.
- Love S Us: A night club at the bottom end of town, deep into the red light district. It is also the headquarters of a company that uses what is referred to as "high-price call girls", sending them towards male clients who usually pay anywhere from ¥15000-30000 per hour for them, all for some quality time. Zaketa and Tsurushi both worked under the employ of the night club's owner (at exactly the same time, ironically enough), and both had to endure their fair share of hardships, but had different reasons for accepting the job, with Tsurushi not being capable of doing anything else at the time and Zaketa having the perfect dream in her head of being paid to be treated like a princess... which of course was far from what happened. Outside the entrance to the Love S Us building itself is a single bouncer who is there to restrict access to the club, particularly from high schoolers.
