[hider=HI*KA*RI]
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[h2]Hikari || HI*KA*RI[/h2]
[h3]光 || 日*火*利[/h3]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/kNzoMAnm.png[/img]
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[center][sup]____________________________________________________[/sup][/center]

[b][u]H i s t o r y[/u][/b]
[hider=Yes, it's long]


[b]Artificial Insemination and Traumatic Childhood[/b]
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Out of jealousy against the man she unrequitedly loved, a bio-scientist inseminated herself with the genetically modified sperm she had a privilege to use from The Institute. The child that was born would eventually grow to what Hikari becomes right now. However, the miracles shown by the condition of Hikari's birth attracted the interest of some less ethical members of The Institute. They wanted to take both the mother and her daughter to become the subjects of the research surrounding the Yokai Shogun genes. At one time, Hikari found her mother coming home late and could not be contacted. After several hours trying to contact her, Hikari got a call from a member of a cult. He said that they found her mother was already dead with her abdomen cut open and some organs had already been harvested.

After dealing with the numbing shock the news had on Hikari, the cult member also told the girl that her late mother was a part of them. They were more than willing to honor the will of Hikari's late mother in raising her daughter after she left. After giving her mother the proper burial, Hikari moved to live with the cultist monks. Hikari gradually adopted the cultists way of life and their heterodox teaching of syncretic union coming from the ancient thoughts of Taoism and Buddhism. This particularly included their view on traditional medicine and martial arts, also how they viewed the greed exhibited by the big corpos and how to take them down.
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[b]Cultivation, Growing Up, and Pursuit of Happiness[/b]
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The cult that took Hikari's custody was known, by few people, as Tenchikai. They adopted the idea and belief of "Immortal Soul" one could cultivate during their lives through practices of meditation, alchemy, calisthenics, and martial art. They also believed in "Karmic Consequence" in which someone's actions would influence the universe in deciding their future. Through this practice, one would see the life and death as the phases which the soul would simply tread and could no longer be worried of the nihilistic pursuit of material happiness. Of course, more than the cosmological view they offered, the cult's teaching and practice could result more practically in the form better health, physical performance, mental stability, critical reasoning, and disciplined behavior. The potentiality of such practice made this society very secretive, choosing only people they could trust in their inner circle to teach. Hikari's mother was among them, and so was Hikari when she lived under their care in the "monastery", which was actually a humble compound dwelling with a courtyard in an uptown neighborhood. Though being orphaned by circumstances, Hikari could still get the necessary sustenance and education under the custody of these cultists.

Exposed to the way of Tenchikai since the early age made Hikari rather unaware of her Yokai Shogun potency. The warmth she felt when her Ki reservoir formed was thought to be the result of Tanden Breathing she practiced. That was not entirely wrong because such practice triggered the forming of Pearly Core that would serve as her life force reservoir later. Also, the physical feats Hikari was able to perform were thought to be the result of her training, deluded by the initially similar capability which her fellow practitioners were also able to do. Eventually, the realization of Hikari being different than the other practitioners came when they noticed the accelerated rate in the growth of her ability. The Grandmaster once tested Hikari when she reached adulthood, and after exchanging several strikes and still being able to stand, he proclaimed that there was nothing more that the Society could teach her. Although, Hikari chose to stay and help the initiates in their training.

Even so, the universe seemed to have a different course for Hikari. The Grandmaster who had been nurturing her for long eventually passed away. A schism began to form between his disciples who came from varying social class; some wanted to stay exclusive in their membership while the other group wanted to recruit their followers as many as possible. Seeing the internal politics slowly corrupted her fellow practitioners, Hikari eventually left the Society. It was common for the people during that time to have two sides of life, one being the normal hustles of day-to-day jobs one might find insufficient and the other being the night-life which one might need their street-skills to survive. Hikari's life among the cultists served as her former night-life, in which she had to shift when she left the Society. From time-to-time, Hikari pivoted between competing in cage-fighting tournaments and netrunning. 

Out of her street-life, Hikari assumed the life of a digital tinkerer. She managed to familiarize herself with the necessary hardware and software of both computing and networking platforms in developing an alternate life-like environment known as the metaverse. Preferring to see herself as a versatile expert and consultant, Hikari rarely stayed in a single company for more than two years. Even so, her project portfolio had given a significant influence in further progressing the metaverse, as the digital environment gradually integrating into a single gigantic interconnected entity. Of course, this aspiration came from the influence of Pure Land concept in a syncretic philosophical idea that Hikari adopted from the Society. She hoped that through the metaverse she had been creating, people could live their life away from the nihilistic materialism of the real world and take their time to contemplate the meaning of their lives.
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[b]Joining the Kurosagi[/b]
[indent]
All seemed to go well in Hikari's life when she reached her late twenties, she was sure her future was already secured with her assets, home, and partner. She even began to see her Yokai Shogun potency as mere cantrips for show, in which she occasionally played jokingly when she was around any bright light-fest, creating a local blackout with her glowing core being the remaining light around. However, all that changed when she faced the returning demon of her past. It began with a series of e-mail she repeatedly received from an entity known as The Institute, inviting Hikari to join them. Hikari remembered them being the organization her late mother worked for, the bad memory she retained made her ignore the incoming invitations. However, the cordial wordings in those e-mails became threats which Hikari eventually blocked. Moreover, there had been an increase in the assault attempt made against Hikari. Of course, such thing was rather common for those who took part in the night-life of Neo-Tokyo. Hikari expected some assaults were either coming from those who had lost their cage-fighting bet or those whose system was cracked by her netrunning. Even so, it never came to her mind that The Institute would go that low. 

Then in a fateful night, Hikari's life made a steep descent. She was in a private pool-date with her partner when a group of armed people invaded the penthouse they rented. These people immediately killed Hikari's partner in their attempt to capture the young woman. Vulnerably exposed and outfitted unfittingly for combat in her pool-wear, Hikari's attempt to escape was futile. These armed people eventually took her down and brought her into an undisclosed safehouse. They kept Hikari strapped on an operation bed with mechanical tools commonly used for cybernetics surgery.

Hikari eventually had her moment to look into the eyes of the cyber-surgeon who would conduct his operation toward her. His attire clearly stated that he was a member of The Institute. That man said that The Institute gave their regards and gratitude for Hikari's unwilling cooperation in their research about the Yokai Shogun Genes. Hikari immediately remembered the scene when she was showed her mother's dead body, having the gaping hole in her abdomen with some of her organs harvested. The expression clearly had shown that no anaesthetics being involved in the process.

The same cross-shaped cut was made on Hikari's abdomen and an apparatus spread the cut open. Hikari was able to see the Yokai organ that manifested as a pearl-shaped orb with vascular channels connected to her body right behind her navel. This was her Ki reservoir, one that gave the wide smile in the surgeon's face as he saw it. However, during Hikari's desperate moment as she saw the hand-like apparatus coming down to grab her Pearly Core, someone suddenly barged into the operation room where the harvesting process almost began. The moment was quick, Hikari could never see what happened as the people around her, both the medical personnel and the armed guardsmen had their heads suddenly gone as if they just got decapitated through teleportation. Hikari then saw a woman approached her and loosened her straps. The woman then carried Hikari in her arms and they both teleported away. Hikari could never remember what happened immediately afterward, only about her waking up under an unfamiliar ceiling and her belly healed with no visible scar.

That was when Hikari met Tsuki for the first time. The life debt Hikari owed toward this fellow YSG holder drove herself to pledge a loyalty to that woman. Hikari then became a part of the gang known as Kurosagi, offering her skill in combat and netrunning to serve them. Indeed this incident became the turning point of her supposedly normal previous life. Hikari's YSG potency became actualized and grew as she lived her new life.
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[sub][b][u]C H A R A C T E R   I N F O R M A T I O N[/u][/b][/sub]

[indent][b]Name:[/b]
Hikari

[b]Nicknames/Aliases:[/b]
Light Hermit

[b]Birth City/District:[/b]
Neo-Tokyo/Maebaru

[b]Age:[/b]
29

[b]Height:[/b]
167 cm (5'6")

[b]Racial Background:[/b]
Half-Japanese, Half-Unidentified 

[b]Race:[/b]
YSG Natural Born

[b]Hair Color:[/b]
Bluish-Silver

[b]Eye Color:[/b]
Red

[b]Appearance:[/b]
Hikari appears so much like a normal human, except being "normal" was quite rare in her era. One way to notice her peculiarity is to stare at her eyes in which one could see the pair of red glow in her iris. Also, her skin might shift into paler tone from time to time, based on whenever Hikari having her session of light-eating, a habit she has been doing since her realization and acceptance of having the Yokai part in her. Being able to absorb light through her skin as her alternative sustenance, Hikari's choice of clothing would always have some parts of her skin revealed. She likes to expose some larger portions of her shoulders, midriff, or legs.

Having the gene of a Yokai Shogun inside her gives Hikari a particular strangeness, which is the Ki reservoir where she can keep the gathered nature energy. This reservoir is located in her stomach, right behind her navel where it can be clearly visible when Hikari has just gathered enough Ki converted from the absorbed light or consumed directly from a slaughtered Yokai. The reservoir shines with bluish light and also makes the marking around Hikari's abdomen glow like neon tattoos.

[b]Mutation Marker(s):[/b]
Hikari's mutation can be seen in her pair of red colored eyes and unnatural bluish-silver hair. Also, falsely thought to be some kind of neon tattoo, the marking around her navel is actually a natural phenomenon which became prominent as Hikari grew into her adolescent. The marking has been growing more complex since then, starting from merely simple curves into an intricate mandala-shaped form, along with Hikari's affinity with her Yokai power.

[b]Personality:[/b]
One can say that the degree of being an introvert is quite high in Hikari; she prefers to do a lot of things alone, seeing the company of others to be rather tiring than refreshing. She keeps the number of her friends small, choosing only from the ones she could fully trust. This is likely because Hikari trusts her own judgement more than her friends, seeing her critical opinion matters more than the necessity friendliness to keep them close. Even so, Hikari is eager to experiment with new experiences, especially about philosophical thoughts, visual arts, literatures, and musical genres. This is quite contrasted with the choice of her fashion and gadget design which are quite conservative and tend to follow the classics.

Hikari is quite scrutinizing when she does her things, preferring to keep everything in order and under control without provoking anything out of expectation to happen. She loves to plan things, but as she grows more mature, she begins to accept some factors of probabilistic randomness in the way things work. The high level of Hikari's confidence comes from this mindset of getting as many things ordered as possible and deciding things based on certain knowledge rather than chanceful hunches.

[b]Aspirations:[/b]
-Spiritual enlightenment
-Physical health by natural means
-Non-cybernetics purity
-Freedom to pursue own happiness
-Keeping Yokai under control

[b]Fears:[/b]
-Betrayal
-Injection
-Surgery
-Body modification

[b]Vehicle:[/b]
Hikari's preference of her vehicle is quite conservative, focusing on engineering performance rather than the kitsch style commonly adopted by her contemporary. One might say the motorcycle she choose to ride bears the style of a bygone era when wheeled sports-bike racing was common. At the time when fossil fuel-based engines came to its end and the manufacturing industries producing such vehicles bankrupted. Some big companies merged into a single consortium to gain advantage for research in the new form of energy. Trusting the product quality of this Consortium, or Konsoushiamu as they were better known as, Hikari puts her favoritism in a certain line they are manufacturing.

Konsoushiamu Zero has a matching capability like the high-performance superbikes during fossil fuel era. Hikari is able to fully control the vehicle into its peak performance without any cybernetics augmentations thanks to her Yokai reflex. It should be noted also that almost every part of this bike has been customized into Hikari's personal preference, from its body parts, engine, transmission, suspension, wheels, braking system, boosters, even its hover-switch that enables the bike to glide on hover zone or even off-road. The design bears a striking resemblance with the ancient [url=https://www.globalsuzuki.com/motorcycle/products/boulevard_m109r/]Suzuki Boulevard[/url], except for the wheels that also serve as the hover pads, flipped sideways by the suspension rods when the hover-mode is turned on.

Strangely, while most motorists would customize the visual aspects of their rides to become strikingly visible among the mass, Hikari wants her bike to stay modest. Also, compared to others who would augment their rides with cybernetic controls and AIs, Hikari chooses to keep it as electro-mechanical as possible with an ancient style of key-based lock, kick-starter, and manual transmission. In this kind of world brimming with kitsch, one could never determine that Hikari is the one being conservative or rather radically liberal in her choice of style. Moreover, Hikari  believes the bond she makes with her motorcycle has manifested into a kami residing inside it, giving that motorcycle a "soul" she calls Kuro.
[hider=Model: Konsoushiamu Zero, Name: Kuro][img]https://i.imgur.com/TmM7Euul.jpg[/img][/hider]

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[sub][b][u]P O W E R / C Y B E R N E T I C S  I N F O R M A T I O N[/u][/b][/sub]

[indent][b]Strengths/Natural Abilities:[/b]
[u]Butouken (Wudangquan) Proficient - YSG Augmented[/u]
Living among the cult members adopting their ideas from an ancient sect of warrior-monks had familiarized Hikari with the practice of martial arts. This enabled Hikari to stand her ground when fighting becomes necessary. Also, cage fighting had been a hobby she routinely did when the work hours conclude. Beyond the routine forms, scripted mock-fights, and theoretical explanations of the martial art techniques she learned, Hikari was also familiar with the practical functionality of the contemporary MMA. Carrying the Yokai Shogun Gene inside her, Hikari's close combat capability increased to a degree that she can easily beat several fighters of the topmost weight class at once in a hand-to-hand fighting. She's quite capable going against ten opponents at once, with decreasing confidence as the number goes up. Of course, the rule inside the cage is contrastingly different with the rule of the street; that came into the equation.

[u]Regenerative Factor - YSG Augmented[/u]
The internal alchemy and traditional medicine techniques Hikari learned during her life around the cultists also helped her maintain her health. Augmented with her Yokai gene, Hikari's immune system was quite formidable against many types of poison and she could passively regenerate her cells and prevent organ failure or even aging to some extent. With her Yokai ability, Hikari could also accelerate her regeneration further and in a very rare case, she could even grow back her amputated limbs. Hikari's survival chance was top-notch.

[u]Zen-Induced Mental Performance[/u]
The Zen meditation she routinely practiced also helped Hikari in focusing her mind and increasing the acuity of her senses. This also helped Hikari in dealing with the mathematical intricacies surrounding the metaverse programming she had been doing as her alternative hustles. Hikari's stable and calm mental state, along with her sense of spiritual purpose built her confidence in her skills and her capability to finish the gang jobs when the necessity arrives. Not only she was able to compute complex mathematical operations in her mind, Hikari was also quite an accurate and precise gunslinger. Of course, the chaotic gunfighting on the street would be different than the controlled environment inside the practice range; that also came into the equation.

[u]Good Looking[/u]
The dietary discipline and routine exercise Hikari practiced, along with the traditional alchemy she consumed had formed her into an anatomical excellence both in performance and look. At many times, this kind of feat proved to be distracting for unfocused minds, taken away by the physical attraction Hikari could trigger. A simple walk with subtle sways or turns at the precise moments could spark the desire and lock the sights of the beholders of potential orientation toward Hikari. Sometimes, she even got her way into what she wanted from this seductive way of persuasion.

[b]Weaknesses/Flaws:[/b]
[u]Tender Pearly Core[/u]
The ability Hikari obtained for having the gene of Yokai Shogun also came with a price. When Hikari had her energy reservoir entirely filled with Ki, a powerful attack right toward her abdominal area would certainly destabilize her Ki flow. She learned this the hard way when at one day, Hikari challenged her opponent for a cage fight with her Ki reservoir being full. Hikari received a direct knee strike on her belly that resulted in a debilitating pain, followed by an internal explosion of her reserved energy. Hikari's Ki "bled" out of her and immediately deprived her totally out of her energy, rendering her unconscious and having some terrible abdominal pain and muscular soreness for several days. A fine-tuned Ki-flow management had to be performed, especially with Hikari's light-eating habit, for her to keep the Ki reservoir stable while also enabling her to utilize the gathered Ki for the Overdrive skill.

[u]Abhors Cybernetics[/u]
In the world where cybernetic gears were the norm, Hikari had a tendency to avoid it at all costs. Hikari adhered to a philosophical belief of Organic Puritanism, like modern day Vegan but instead of being concerned with eating meat, she was concerned with using implants as a necessity. She had no utilization of the cyberwares even when they had been proven in increasing particular performances in the users. Even with a knack of programming capability, Hikari had no interest at all in the design of any cybernetics middleware. Adding her ignorance to cybernetics, Hikari loathed any person who proudly flaunted their physical modification, especially those who went to the extent of being proud in removing their anatomical resemblance of a natural human.

[b]Y.S.G Ability(ies):[/b]

[u]Base Ability: Light Overdrive[/u]
Like a photosynthesizing plant, Hikari was able to directly process any forms of light for her sustenance or converting it into a form of energy that she could gather inside her Ki reservoir. The rate of her energy reserve to get filled was slow, but she could quickly absorb the light around her to immediately fill a certain amount of energy, resulting in a local blackout. When the amount was right, Hikari could utilize the Ki reserve to unleash her Overdrive. When in this state, Hikari had her strength, speed, acuity, and endurance increased into several degrees higher, raising her combat and survival capability. The amount of time Hikari could have for her Overdrive was limited by the energy she kept inside her Ki reservoir. An instant minor wounds heal could also be performed quickly using the same Ki, but this would render her Overdrive disabled.

[u]First Evolution: Yokai Vampirism[/u]
Awakened when she had to deal with Yokai in a night with no moon, Hikari's desperation for energy manifested in her being capable to extract raw Ki from severed Yokai parts. In a non-critical circumstance, this type of absorption allowed Hikari to access a different kind of energy that could augment her Overdrive to have the output performance multiplied in several order of degrees. Sometimes, Hikari temporarily brought along some features from the Yokai she absorbed, as if she gained a new ability copying the Yokai. Hikari's major regenerative ability could be enabled when she gained possession of this energy type, to the extent she could restore herself from grave wound or damaged internal organs as long as she was able to keep the kernel of her Pearly Core intact.

[u]Second Evolution: Nigh-Immortal[/u]
As long as Hikari's Pearly Core stayed intact, she could always regenerate her organs back to normal. However, Hikari would need to turn herself into a vegetative state within indeterminate time if the damage was too grave, like getting her limbs amputated, vital organ destroyed, or anything that should be fatal to normal human. Moreover, Hikari would still need to be exposed to light, however dim it could be, to perform this kind of feat. Among the vital organs Hikari could regenerate, her Pearly Core was the hardest one to restore, being the most important part she had. Any attacks that managed to give major damage to the Core would immediately put Hikari into comatose until it got restored in the meantime. The Core was strong enough though, the only thing that could damage it so much that it ceased to function would be the Shogun Rounds, hitting precisely right on the Core's kernel.

Hikari found out about this ability in a smaller extent when she got herself healed after being cut open in the gut by the organ harvesters of The Institute. However, she did not notice how it worked as she was unconscious during the healing process. The potency of this evolved ability could still grow, but Hikari would likely have to face another life-death situation for this evolution to properly flourish.

[b]Soul Binder/Weapon(s):[/b]
[u]Gin'iro Yama-to (Katana)[/u] - Hikari's soul binder was a humble katana, a single-edged curved longsword commonly used by the ancient Samurai. This Soul Binder came with the necessary skill to fight using such form of weapon. One might notice how Hikari would have her stance and form shifted when she fought using her Soul Binder as if she had learned or accustomed for long in an entirely different martial art. This weapon had another feature in which it could be controlled telepathically and even unravel itself into tiny metal spikes, also controlled telepathically. The Ki that Hikari kept in her Pearly Core would deplete gradually during her time using the telepathic control for her katana.

Even with such ability, Hikari would prefer to stay with her hand-to-hand fighting as long as possible. The summoning process for her Soul Binder was quite painful for her. It would always begin with the handle materializing itself in front of Hikari's abdominal Ki reservoir. As she then would grab and pull the handle outward, the blade part would gradually form into its entirety, starting from the part being close to the handle and moving toward its tip. One would see as if Hikari pulled her Soul Binder from her navel, which was not entirely wrong because the summoning process gave Hikari a stinging sensation as if she had just been stabbed there and got the blade pulled away.

This Katana had its name, of course, Gin'iro Yama-to for its silvery blade manifestation.

[b]Cybernetics/Gadgets/Accessories:[/b]

[u]Cybernetics: N/A[/u] - Hikari was proud to have her body unmodified and still able to survive in this kind of world.

[u]Smartphone[/u] - to make and receive calls; also installed with some fundamental software for Netrunning.

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[sub][b][u]E X T R A[/u][/b][/sub]

[indent]
- No surname: Being born as a result of artificial insemination, having her mother taken away from her, and once living among the member of a secret society made Hikari recognize no particular bond where she should attach, whether it was family or clan.

- Credit to Miura Naoko (miura-n315) for the images used as the faceclaims
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