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[color=#DC143C][B]|  NAME  |[/B][/color]
[color=darkgray][INDENT]Maya Kobayashi[/INDENT][/color]

[color=#DC143C][B]|  AGE  |[/B][/color]
[color=darkgray][INDENT]17[/INDENT][/color]

[color=#DC143C][B]|  MENTOR  |[/B][/color]
[color=darkgray][INDENT]Katana[/INDENT][/color]

[color=#DC143C][B]|  APPEARANCE  |[/B][/color]
[color=darkgray][INDENT]Maya has what has often been described as 'good genes' by those close to her. Maya has flawless rose beige skin and long, wavy locks of glistening chocolate brown hair. She stands slightly above the average female height at five foot six inches, with a muscular, wide-shouldered build. Her facial features are distinctly oriental, with thin, dark brown eyes complemented with a buttony nose and red lips often curled into a sly simper. Maya has an impressive build befitting an athlete, but much to her dismay, her more feminine characteristics never really developed to the extent that she'd have liked. Ah, well. You can't have it all.

Maya was never really a fashion queen. T-shirts, jeans, sweatpants, shorts, and anything else that screams 'casual' pretty much make up her wardrobe. She's not a big fan of skirts or dresses, preferring something she can move in freely over more traditionally feminine clothes. 

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[img]https://i.ibb.co/nmzxg4C/SAMURAI.png[/img]

[color=darkgray]Maya's armor prototype design, though the actual design ended up being slightly less bulky, and the primary color being more of a crimson color instead of fuchsia. The idea still stands, though. The armor is thick enough to withstand modest punishment, but is also lightweight enough to allow Maya to maneuver pretty easily. [/color]
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[color=#DC143C][B]|  BIO  |[/B][/color]
[color=darkgray][INDENT]To speak about the story of Maya Kobayashi, one has to address the legacy of her family. Maya’s father, Tom Kobayashi, comes from a fairly humble background- his family were Japanese immigrants that arrived in San Francisco just prior to World War 2 and, despite being interned during the war, were able to find business success and rose to the middle class. One of their grandchildren and Maya’s father, Tom Kobayashi, ended up entering the film industry and has worked as an agent for several big-name stars. He lives a comfortable life, one where he gets the chance to travel a lot and make good money. Still, nothing too far out of the ordinary. 

The truly legendary tale comes from Maya’s mother- Kanako Akuma, the eldest daughter of Ichiro Akuma, the heir to the Akuma clan. The Akuma clan is an immensely wealthy Japanese family of old money, their legacy dating back to feudal times, where the family served as a powerful [i]daimyo,[/i] or feudal warlord, of a decent plot of Honshu. The Akuma clan was notoriously brutal, not hesitating to use torture and lethal force to achieve their goals. The slaughter of the Oshiro clan in the 16th century was especially disturbing, with the 7 men of the Akuma family sneaking onto their estate in the dead of night and murdering every single man, woman, and child on the premises. It was a horrific slaughter of an entire family, and these sins would come with a hefty price. A curse. 

All 7 blades used in the Oshiro Massacre were possessed by oni spirits and cursed. Though the weapons were strengthened by magic beyond the comprehension of any blacksmith or weapon expert, if the owner ever committed an act of evil, with or without the blade, the demons that it held would be released and claim the wielder's life as well. 6 of the 7 men in the clan would soon meet that horrible fate. One fell on his sword, one drowned, one tortured by a rival warlord, one eaten by a pack of wolves, and the last two slain by each others' hands in a duel. The remaining patriarch of the family resolved to not fall victim to the curse, and so his blade was sealed in a crypt deep within the Akuma palace.  

It laid there for centuries, as the Akuma family entered the banking industry, becoming a modestly powerful [i]zaibatsu[/i] (a family-owned conglomerate) in the process. Still, the looming threat of the last cursed sword, named ブラッド・ムーン (Buraddo mūn), or "Blood Moon," lingered over the family. One wrong mistake, one irredeemable sin, and the demons held for centuries inside the blade could come for blood. As Ichiro Akuma, the modernt patriarch of the family, focused on running the family business, his daughter, Kanako, fell in love with an American man, Tom Kobayashi, and made plans to elope and move to America to start a family there. Ichiro would never have approved this marriage, but unfortunately, he had other more pressing concerns to worry about. It was discovered, only a day after Kanako announced her intentions to leave Tokyo, that the Akuma Banking Corporation had committed major fraud and had stolen millions of dollars from its customers, and just a week later, Ichiro Akuma was crushed in a brutal car accident. Kanako mourned the loss of her father, but this news meant that she could finally be with the one she loved.

The two lovebirds departed for New York, New York only a half a year after meeting, and Kanako quickly became pregnant with Maya. Maya immediately took after her father in many ways. She was lively, spunky, energetic, and bold. She did well in school, but her strong suit was athletics. She was the type of girl to play every sport in school, and excelled at them all. She ran in track, played volleyball, played softball, and dabbled in cross-country, but her passion was in martial arts. Maya was incredibly well-versed in aikido and also practiced other sports. 

Simply put, Maya was really, really good at almost everything, and it never got to her head. Hah, just kidding, it [b][i]definitely[/i][/b] got to her head. Maya had, and still has, a very high opinion of herself. But Maya was never a bad person; on the contrary, Maya has always been incredibly genuine and protective. [i]Very[/i] protective. She picked fights with bullies, drug dealers, criminals, anybody. Maya had a hot head and the skills to back it up. She got into trouble, enough trouble to get her yelled at and even suspended, but never enough trouble to stop her from her action. 

By the time she was a junior in high school, Maya had it all; championships in martial arts, lots of friends, good enough grades; she was practically an all-American dream. Things changed when the strange, dapper Japanese man arrived at the door with a suitcase. As it had happened, Ichiro Akuma had left a will. THe piece of paper had remained hidden in his study for decades, sandwiched between a number of other legal documents, and stowed away in a cardboard box after his passing, only recently re-opened. In this will, he did something no Akuma had done for hundreds of years. In his spite for the daughter that ran away with the American, he had requested the cursed sword be moved from its resting place into the hands of his heiress, Kanako. 

Kanako tried to get rid of the sword, but ancient curses don’t go away that easily. Every time she threw it in the trash or over a bridge or into a fire, the blade always returned, in perfect condition, to her mantelpiece. Eventually, Kanako accepted the burden of the cursed blade. She considered herself an upstanding citizen, after all. If her predecessors could stave off the curse for so long, surely she would have no problems. 

What bothered Kanako was how interested her daughter was in the sword. Maya asked far too many questions about the funny blade on the mantelpiece. She even asked to take it to school one day, an offer that was firmly rejected, for good reason. What was far more disturbing than Maya’s interest in the sword, though, was the [i]sword’s[/i] interest in [i]her.[/i] Maya would sometimes find the sword in her backpack, or under her bed, or in her closet. It was almost like the sword was flirting with her. Getting into her mind. Soon, the sword did begin to speak with her, and Maya began to speak back. No, she isn't crazy (though she certainly thought herself to be at first). The demon within the sword, after being held in the vault for centuries, finally had the chance to hunt once again, and the demon saw something in Maya that it had never seen in generations of the Akuma family. A desire to be an avenger, an agent of peace. It was a perfect partnership, almost symbiotic. The demon held within the blade craved the blood of the guilty, and Maya desired to protect the innocent.

Maya's first foray into vigilantism was accidental. There was a robbery going on at a community bank that Maya had spotted walking home from school one day. The girl immediately ran over, drawing the sword that had conveniently manifested itself inside her backpack, and stepped into the building. Several armed career criminals versus one girl with a sword. Shouldn't have ended poorly for the crooks. but it did. They were cut down like trees, Blood Moon doing what it did best- spilling blood. It was a rush of adrenaline for Maya. She knew she was destined for bigger and better things. This was the start of something bigger and better. 

She was taken to jail, of course, but she was hardly in the cell for an hour before she was picked up by Katana, a vigilante hero that Maya idolized. Maya adopted a suit of armor and a new persona as "Demonslayer." For a few months, she preyed on common criminals. Robbers, murderers, your usual street scum. Maya knew she was ready for more, though, and Katana agreed. Maya, or Demonslayer, had more than enough talent to be working on more than just street vigilantism, and some exposure to a team would likely work wonders for a girl that was definitely developing a bit of an ego.

No matter how powerful and scary the demons are, rest assured, Demonslayer will be there to cut them to ribbons.[/INDENT][/color]

[color=#DC143C][B]|  ABILITIES / SKILLS / EQUIPMENT  |[/B][/color]
[color=darkgray][INDENT]Maya does not have any superpowers. However, that does not make Maya not super in many ways.
[list][*][color=#DC143C][B]Master of the Sword.[/B][/color] Maya trained in swordsmanship in her aikido training, and since obtaining Blood Moon has had many lessons in bladed combat, under master duelists such as Katana and others. Maya is extremely proficient with a blade, and while her preferred weapon is Blood Moon, she is flexible as a duelist and can use other swords without any major drop-off in skill.
[*][color=#DC143C][B]Expert Martial Artist.[/B][/color] If you asked Maya, she would tell you she could "kick Batman's ass." This is not true. However, it [i]is[/i] fair to say that Maya is a very gifted hand-to-hand combatant. She has trained in martial arts for a long time and has a deep theoretical and practical understanding of combat. She can certainly hold her own in a fistfight, but her preference is to be armed. 
[*][color=#DC143C][B]Expert Acrobat.[/B][/color] Maya isn’t a trained acrobat and only briefly did gymnastics, but some training from Katana and a healthy dose of good instincts has made her very agile and comfortable in the air. Maya can twist, flip, and move about gracefully. She’s not superhuman in this respect, nor some sort of circus trapeze artist, but she’s definitely nimble enough to make the most use out of her swordsmanship, able to dash about and find exposed openings to strike at.
[*][color=#DC143C][B]First=Aid Knowledge[/B][/color] Maya is by no means a nurse, but even before the whole vigilante phase set in, she was a certified lifeguard and familiar with CPR. She has since made sure to be versed in various methods of first aid, and while she is far from a healer, she can still help stem any sort of wounds and, at the very least, stave off any major consequences as a result. 
[*][color=#DC143C][B]First-Aid Knowledge.[/B][/color] Aside from English, Maya is fluent in Japanese, having been taught by her mom as an infant. She is also proficient in Spanish, though she is not a fluent speaker at all.
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When it comes to strengths, though, Maya’s greatest strength easily lies in the ancestral blade she has forged a connection with: Blood Moon. 

[hider=Blood Moon]
[center][img]https://i.etsystatic.com/19199040/r/il/ab38c4/1767691824/il_570xN.1767691824_lcdi.jpg[/img][/center][center][color=#DC143C][h2][b]B L O O D   M O O N[/b][/h2][/color][/center]
Blood Moon is a katana and relic of the Akuma clan. It was forged by the legendary Japanese swordsmith Matsushita Sharaku specifically for the eldest Akuma leader, using only the finest metal and materials. While it is certainly a nice blade, the curse that it has been imbued with is what separates this from other regular swords.[list]
[*][color=#DC143C][B]The Demon Within.[/B][/color] Inside the blade of the sword is a demon that goes by the name Senshi. An oni that passed to the spirit realm, Senshi was given a new directive: curse the guilty and make them suffer. Senshi, while a less wicked demon, is still a demon, and has been more than happy to fulfill that purpose. While he has been forced to wait a while to get to taste the blood of the damned, his new wielder has given him more opportunities to do so than he has ever imagined. Senshi is capable of speaking from within the sword, and is also capable of teleporting the blade from place to place, though he can only do this once every hour or two. Senshi can also prevent others from wielding the blade, able to ignite the handle to be burning hot to the touch. He cannot stop the blade from being confiscated, however, at least until he can teleport away again. 
[*][color=#DC143C][B]A Thousand Curses.[/B][/color] Demons love their curses, and Senshi is no exception. Being cut by the blade of Blood Moon results in agonizing pain. Most people cannot withstand even the tiniest cut from Blood Moon and will immediately yield from the pain, though for many hardened villains, the curse of Blood Moon pales in comparison to what they've experienced in the past. The cuts from Blood Moon will also heal slower and get infected easier, and the scars that it leaves will never fade. Fabric or armor that is torn by the blade will strangely never be able to be stitched together, and any damage that is done can never be repaired. In short, Blood Moon has a creed of permanence, one that it enforces with every swing of the sword. 
[*][color=#DC143C][B]Stronger, Faster, Better.[/B][/color] The demonic presence of Senshi simply makes Blood Moon better than the rest. It is far more durable than other swords, slices easier, and feels lighter than other blades, meaning that Maya can use it more effectively than other swords and with less fatigue. Theoretically, according to Senshi, the blade is light enough that if swung fast enough can block bullets, though Maya, despite her skill in swordsmanship, is far from that feat as of yet. 
[*][color=#DC143C][B]Trump Card.[/B][/color] Blood Moon does hold one final secret, one Maya was told upon first inheriting the blade and one that she has held onto in the back of her mind just in case. If some calamity occurs and the situation seems dire, Maya can break the blade of Blood Moon and release Senshi from his centuries-old home. Senshi, being a powerful oni, is a capable fighter that could likely go toe-to-toe with even the most capable and famous heroes. The cost, however, is that for every second that Senshi is released onto the Earth, Maya will suffer the pain of all of the curses within the blade. The pain is likely to be unbearable and possibly even fatal, so Maya has been strongly against using Blood Moon in this way. 
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[color=#DC143C][B]|  LIMITATIONS AND WEAKNESSES  |[/B][/color]
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[*][color=#DC143C][B]Only Human.[/B][/color] Though at peak physical condition for her size and age, Maya is still only human, with no superhuman powers. She can't do anything beyond the grasps of her humanity.
[*][color=#DC143C][B]Pride Goeth Before A Fall.[/B][/color] Maya has a bit of an ego. While not selfish, per se, Maya is definitely high-handed and has a lot of pride. Hitting at her pride is an easy way to draw Maya into an easy trap. She will blindly move to defend her own reputation (and the reputation of her friends, but most importantly her own) without thinking of the consequences.
[*][color=#DC143C][B]One Blade, One Creed.[/B][/color] Maya is somewhat reliant on the use of Blood Moon. She [i]can[/i] use other swords, but the difference in weight and practicality would require some time to get used to. Maya also can't shoot a gun to save her life and isn't much good with most other weapons. As such, if one can separate Maya from Blood Moon, she becomes a much easier target than if she is armed. 
[*][color=#DC143C][B]Curse Of The Akuma Clan.[/B][/color] While Senshi and Maya have a "good" relationship, so to speak, the curse that has always applied to the Akuma clan still applies to Maya. Committing any bad act- or framing Maya into committing a bad act- is a surefire way of turning the demon in the sword against her.[/list]
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[color=#DC143C][b]|  NOTES  |[/b][/color]
[color=darkgray][indent][list][*]Maya's favorite animal is the horse. While never an equestrian person herself, she has always loved horses. Then again, it's not like there are people out there that [i]don't[/i] like horses, right? Horses are awesome. If she was pressed to choose a second-favorite animal, it would be the dog. After that, it's a bit of a jumbled list. Truth be told, Maya loves all animals. 
[*]Maya is an incredibly bad chef. The last time Maya tried to cook, it resulted in a fire that was thankfully put out with a fire extinguisher. Worst of all, she was just making eggs. 
[*]Maya has crippling astraphobia, or a fear of thunder and lightning. Of course, nobody except her parents know that she curls up in bed sobbing during thunderstorms. Nor would she ever, ever tell anybody. This is an exceptional piece of blackmail.
[*]Maya is openly bisexual, having gone out in high school with both guys and girls. Maya has never been an extremely affectionate or romantic type, though, and relationships with her haven't always lasted long.
[*]Maya is notoriously a very sore loser, and has thrown temper tantrums over defeats. Fortunately, Maya doesn't lose too often at most athletic endeavors, but she has normally been competing against average shmucks and not a conglomeration of aliens, robots, metahumans, and Batfamily members. She might be in for a rude awakening upon joining Young Justice. [/list][/indent][/color]
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