[center] [color=#ffc800][h1][u]A T S U K O[/u][/h1][/color] [img]https://i.ibb.co/7CJZhBx/acchan.jpg[/img] [color=#ffc800][b]“I'm bleeding, I guess. Shut up. Hurry and get outta here 'fore you get hurt.”[/b][/color][/CENTER][h3]Overview[/h3][hr][color=878787][sub][color=#ffc800][b]Name[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]小林熱子 Kobayashi Atsuko[/indent] [sub][color=#ffc800][b]Age[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]20[/indent] [sub][color=#ffc800][b]Gender[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]Female[/indent] [sub][color=#ffc800][b]Occupation[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]Hiki-NEET[/indent] [/color][h3]Characterization & Conceptualization[/h3][hr][color=878787][sub][color=#ffc800][b]What Do They Look Like?[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]Atsuko is a scruffy young adult a little on the shorter side, measuring in at just over 5'1," with tangled, unkempt blonde hair that goes for far too long between washes and brushes, and hasn't been properly cut in much, much longer. Because of that, it's longer than it used to be, going down to a few inches above the small of her back. Her skin is as pale as it can realistically ever become—after all, she hasn't seen the sun in years—and her eyes are fixed in a constant tired squint from not sleeping enough, with nigh-permanent shadows undercutting them from the same. Her frame is thin from not eating much or working out, and unless she needs to, she moves at a slow, languid pace, almost like she doesn't have the energy to spend. She has a long scar down the inside of her left calf from a childhood accident.[/indent] [sub][color=#ffc800][b]What Are They Like?[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]In a word? Tired. Not only is Atsuko [i]physically[/i] tired much of the time, from the aforementioned lack of much food or exercise, but she's [i]mentally[/i] tired as well. Consequently, she tends to speak in a bit of a bit of a monotone, quite lacking in inflection. Her voice is usually quiet and somewhat raspy, and she doesn't really show a whole lot of emotion—especially positive emotion—in large part because she sits in the bottleneck of a vast ocean of self-recrimination. She refuses to let herself be happy, because in her mind, she doesn't [i]deserve[/i] to be happy. Because she needs to be [i]punished[/i] for her crimes. Because [i]she is a terrible person.[/i][/indent] [sub][color=#ffc800][b]What's Their Story?[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]Atsuko grew up with her small but wealthy family—her father Akito, her mother Sakaki, and her younger sister Hana—in a small town some twenty miles north of the Sapporo city boundary in Hokkaido. They were all of them close, but especially the sisters. They adored each other, and as they aged, Atsuko began to feel a fierce older-sister protectiveness. For most of her life, she was altogether typical; healthy home life, healthy school life, and a future ahead of her. But then she entered high school and everything started going wrong. Some students got it into their heads somehow that she'd cheated on her entrance exams. The bullying was [i]merciless[/i]. She'd done something [i]wrong[/i]. She'd [i]hurt [/i]people. She was [i]disgusting[/i]. But she could handle it, she thought. Better to not provoke even [i]more[/i] bullying by going to a teacher who wouldn't believe her anyway. And though it certainly took a toll on her, she—self-confident, self-assured—made it through. But then, as she went into her third year and Hana went into her first at the same school, she realized with horror: if it was affecting her like this, then Hana would be [i]destroyed,[/i] just by being her sister. And she refused to let that happen. So she struck back. A whisper here, a cruel note there. Unkind words etched into lockers and desks. [i]Anything[/i] to keep them from targeting her baby sister. To keep her safe. She did her job too well. Hana started crying. Wouldn't say why. Atsuko was [i]furious[/i]. Obviously, somebody was still bullying her, and she needed to stop them. She became crueler. Never openly, of course. Quietly, subtly. More etched words. Worse words. Vases of flowers on desks. Then, a bit later, she overheard Hana crying hysterically to their mother, because all of her new friends had left her alone. Looked at her like they were [i]deathly[/i] afraid of being near her, like they panicked if she even walked by, like they'd be punished for even talking to her. And Atsuko realized what she'd done. She dropped out of school [i]immediately[/i]. And she made it public. She was the queen bitch bully now, after all. [i]She[/i] was the reason her sister was crying. Best to stay away from her. She hasn't left her house in two and a half years now, not even to go to Hana's graduation. After all, better to just stay out of her hair, right? Just keep on staying up late on the computer. Keep lying to people on the internet about a job so she wouldn't sound too much like a loser. Stay out of sight, out of mind, so nobody would ever need to connect Hana with her in their little town. Kobayashi was a common enough last name, right? All she wanted to do was protect her.[/indent] [sub][color=#ffc800][b]Why Did The Wish Choose Them?[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]Before she messed everything up, Atsuko thought about being a hero. Not like an Eferion hero, nothing like that, but a kind of hero to Hana. Someone for her to look up to, at least. But that wish vanished years ago, replaced with a crushing sense of emptiness and stagnation. After what she did to her beloved baby sister, she hasn't wanted to be looked up to in a long, [i]long[/i] time.[/indent] [sub][color=#ffc800][b]What "Hero" Will They Embody? Why?[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]All she ever wanted to do was protect Hana. She sacrificed her morals. She sacrificed her self-worth. She sacrificed her future. She will sacrifice [i]anything[/i], throwing herself under the bus in a heartbeat, to protect the people that she cares about. Who else could she be but the Hero of Defense?[/indent] [sub][color=#ffc800][b]What Belongings Will They Take With Them?[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]Atsuko doesn't keep much on her, day-to-day. Other than a pair of battered gray sweatpants and a rumpled black tanktop, she has her smartphone with around a quarter charge, and a comb stuck in her tangled hair.[/indent][/color][h3]Talents & Abilities[/h3][hr][color=878787][sub][color=#ffc800][b]Mundane Talents[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]Given how much time she's spent on the computer in recent years, she's become half-decent at video games, which helps her hand-eye coordination. Additionally, she's exceptionally skilled at mathematics, her favorite subject when she was back in school. She's out of practice, but she could pick it back up again pretty easily. Finally, given how much time she's spent in her room, she is very, very good at being alone. [/indent] [sub][color=#ffc800][b]Achieved Abilities & Knowledges[/b][/color][/sub] [indent]This section should be empty at start.[/indent][/color]