If words were capable of striking a blow and sending one off their feet, the young Takamori knew she'd be sitting stunned on the floor of the smithy by now. For the briefest of moments, as Keiko let loose her plan, Fumiko's expression shifted to one of utter shock and... hurt. She watched as Keiko slid her arm to interlock with Tsubasa's and as she leaned into him while she spoke in a cheery tone. Surely... surely she was showing off at this point, flaunting to Fumiko that the Takamori had lost in a race for a man's attention that she hadn't even fully known she was in. Sure, Fumiko knew she wanted to be closer to Tsubasa, but not a single part of her mind had even paused to truly think about what that meant. Nor that somebody else might beat her to him. That smug little grin on Keiko's features did not go unnoticed, hammering home that she was showing off and staking her claim. A move that earned Keiko a decidedly hostile look for the briefest of moments from Fumiko.
That stupid little...
Fumiko's darker turn seemed interrupted a split second later as she stunned herself with the beginning of such thoughts. What was wrong with her? Why did she care so much that Keiko was going with Tsubasa? That'd she'd get to spend the night hanging on his arm. Enjoying his comfort, his attention on her. That she'd get to learn more about the man, spend time growing closer and gazing upon his handsome features? All while Fumi would be forced to watch from the sidelines. Why did that bother her so? Why did it feel like she was a child again, watching one of her relatives getting to go play amongst the village? Why did it feel like she was being left behind, and that bothered her so? Like she was jealous over another winning something she wanted so dearly?
Jealous. Desire. Oh...
The realization hit Fumiko like a blow to the chest. She was jealous of Keiko. She was jealous because she desperately wanted to be the one hanging on Tsubasa's arm, the object of his affections. So this is what Sumi-chan noticed earlier... The Takamori thought to herself, before realizing she'd somewhat lost herself in her thoughts and missed the arrival of Haruhi entirely before the energetic girl had already moved on into the forge. A hint of color appeared on her cheeks from the embarrassment of such a slip. She needed to be better than that. To control her own emotions and feelings more, else how else could she properly serve her village if she got irate so easily? With a small note to later talk to her Uncle about such things, Fumiko set to work burying the emotions deep within so she could focus back on the task at hand.
Even if she was burying in a gaping pit in her stomach that'd formed after seeing Keiko's clear connection with Tsubasa.
Her features returning to that much-more serene and welcoming expression she usually wore, Fumiko offered a polite bow to both Tsubasa and Keiko. "Thank you, Senga-San, Seimei-San." Fumiko said with a warm smile on her features. "Hayashi-San and I will certainly appreciate the extra hands. Shall we head off?" Fumiko said softly, offering a forced-yet-warm smile.
This was torment, surely somehow she had angered a mischievous Yokai. That was the only explanation that the young Takamori could find for why she was stuck in this mortifying situation. As Sumi teased her about her rather obvious feelings for Tsubasa, Fumiko could feel her face burning hotter and hotter. Her cheeks were no doubt a borderline beacon, glowing to show off her embarrassment at being caught so obviously. As Sumiko went about her preparations, Fumiko could only watch in stunned silence as she tried to reign herself in and regain her typical composure. "I-In the way!?!" The girl demanded, sounding every bit as mortified as she looked at that moment. Deep breathes. Calm yourself. She chided herself, sucking down a series of deep breathes until the Takamori had seemed to find herself. Shaking her head with a little smile towards Sumiko, Fumi welcomed the change in subject. "I couldn't, Sumi-chan. 'Tis, not my place to show off, mine is to ensure the festival runs well, and our village enjoys itself. I have not the time to showing off..." She said, adding in a softer tone moments later. "Even if it seems fun..." Before letting out a soft sigh and a little shrug. "I'll run ahead and see if he is busy, don't you dare try to move this all on your own, Sumi-chan! I'll be back with help!" Fumiko said, a firm tone complimenting her hand with a lone finger held up to make her point known.
Moments later, after a polite farewell, Fumiko was back out of the house and heading towards the place she was certain to find Tsubasa, the forge. The young Takamori quickly made her way towards the little building, a sense of purpose on her features as she wasted not a moment making her way to her target. Unlike her path to the Hayashi estate, Fumiko did not stop to talk with various villagers, instead, she just gave a polite greeting as she passed. She had a mission! Go and visit Tsubasa, no... she was to recruit the man to help them. Not to indulge in any selfish desire to see the boy that might be on her mind. AS she made her path through their little village and drew nearer to the forge, Fumiko came to a halt. All she had was to round this corner and make her way a bit down the path to arrive. Despite the fact she was here to recruit him for work, Fumiko found herself pausing to straighten out her outfit. Another to run her fingers gently through her hair, ensuring all was in order and her appearance satisfactory. Gods. Was she really that infatuated with him? You have a job, Fumiko. Do it. Worry about your desires later. She chided herself, sucking in a soft sigh as she made her way around the corner.
Drawing near to the forge, Fumiko went over her mental list of tasks for the day. Recruit Tsubasa, help Sumi-chan set up for the day, report back to Uncle, change into an outfit appropriate for the festivities, and no doubt a few other tasks for the day. She had not a doubt in her mind that she would be busy that day, but frankly, Fumiko rather liked that idea. She'd much rather be helping the village prepare instead of sitting about bored. Once she finished all of her tasks and got to enjoy the festival, then she could relax a bit. Perhaps, if she was lucky, she could see if Tsubasa might indulge her with a da-
Fumiko came to a halt as she drew near to the forge and saw that Tsubasa was accompanied by another. Seimei Keiko. While Fumiko did not harbor any particular distrust for the girl for her heritage, the Takamori was not overly fond of how the girl interacted with most of the village. Yet, even that was not enough to justify the irrational annoyance that Fumiko found bubbling within herself at the sight of Tsubasa and her spending time together. How badly she wanted to demand why they were together, what the girl had wanted with Tsubasa. Yet, Fumiko bit back such comments and approached the duo with a pleasant expression on her features. A warm smile, even if her eyes were noticeably colder for even the slightest of moments as they fell over Keiko. Pausing her approaching the give a respectful bow towards each of the two, Fumiko stepped in during a lull in their conversation. "Pardon me Seimei-san, Senga-san. I'm sure you're both a bit busy." Fumiko started, a slight shift in tone to emphasize the 'both' part of her statement, but one subtle enough to slip past unless one was paying close attention. "But Hayashi-san and I were hoping we could get some help transporting her things in preparation for her performance." She explained, gaze shifting between the two, and lingering on the taller boy for a bit longer. "Admittedly, I had come for Senga-san's help, but I'm certain another pair of hands would speed things along even better, Semei-san!" Fumiko added, a bit of cheer finding its way into her voice as a small smile graced her lips.
Her attention then turned back on Tsubasa as she gave him a friendly, yet dazzling little grin. "If you're busy, Senga-san, I can simply steal another. You just happened to be the first person on my mind to help!" She added, before looking between the two once more. "So, can we borrow the two of you for a moment?"
Fumiko smiled sweetly towards Himiko, bowing her head lightly by way of a friendly, yet polite, greeting towards the other woman. Himiko had always been rather nice towards her, so the smile that Fumiko bore as Himiko let her in before shuffling out the door was rather genuine. "Have a good day as well, I hope to see you enjoying the festivities and not just working all day!" Fumiko called after the woman as she made her way off. Truly, she worried that some in the village would dedicate themselves so entirely to ensuring that the festivities went well, or to their everyday work, that they would forget to also enjoy themselves. It was a little strange how people did that to themselves, and she just hoped she'd be able to ensure they relaxed. Shaking her head from her thoughts, Fumiko turned on a heel and made her way towards Sumiko's room. She hummed softly to herself as she listened to the echo from every step that she took, wondering just what she might find when she reached her friend's room. Certainly, she knew well enough that whatever Sumi had planned was guaranteed to be a splendid event for later in the day.
As Sumiko appeared around the corner and greeted her, Fumiko quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped her friend in a tight hug before taking a step back with a warm smile adorning her features. "Goodmorning Sumi-chan~" She said with a hint of playfulness in her voice. "You better have gotten some sleep last night, I know how excitable you can get." Fumiko warned, just a hint of a stern tone in her voice as they walked towards Sumi's room. Though that tone was soon replaced with a light giggle from the Takamori. As expected, Sumiko's room was a bit of a mess. Not even half as much as Fumiko had been expecting, as Sumi had clearly organized things a bit, but Fumi could practically feel the inspiration Sumiko had been working with as she stepped into the room. Her gaze locked on the two kimonos she was being asked for an opinion regarding, and the girl took a long moment to consider her choices.
After about a minute of thought, interrupted only by the soft sounds of footsteps as Fumiko stepped forward to inspect the Kimono up close, she finally spoke up. Gesturing first to her own clothing, adorned with the typical flower petals she was rather known for at this point, the girl laughed lightly. "While we know I'm very biased towards anything involving flowers, I think this one..." She said, gesturing towards the green kimono with flowers adorning the fabric. Yet, after a moment she gestured towards the purple Kimono. "Though this would probably fit the whole purpose of the celebration better. That, and a girl can never go wrong with purple." She explained, the last comment added with a sly smile towards her friend. With that selection out of the way, Fumiko looked about the room to take in the various supplies scattered about from Sumiko's dutiful work in preparation.
This might take a while... She thought to herself, knowing that all they had remaining was to move everything over to the performance area. "Now we just need to get it all set up for you, correct? We could go ask Tsubasa-San for help..." Fumiko said, trailing off for a brief moment at the mention of the boy, moments before her features suddenly developed a deep blush as she realized she had trailed off like that. "B-because he's really strong and could help us carry everything! T-thats it!" She quickly protested, a desperate attempt to cover her tracks that likely only served to further give her thoughts away than before. "A-anyway that's even if moving everything and setting up is what we have to do next! S-sorry I was getting ahead of myself!" Fumiko added in quickly, her embarrassment causing her to stumble over her words as her frantic mind attempted to compensate for the blunder.
Breathe in. Hold. Out. The young Takamori knew these very steps quite well, meditation practices she had learned from her Uncle, and very quickly had taken to performing herself every day. A path to her inner peace, one which she found helpful in preparing herself for the day after the nightmares so fond of taking her while she slept. The cold air against her skin helped her with finding this peace, in an odd way, as she found the crisp feeling rather refreshing. Certainly, after she had joined her Uncle for his morning run, though she feared the exercise made keeping her breathes even rather difficult. Still, even that obstacle was not the one which rode heaviest upon the girl's back and kept her from truly finding that peace she sought. Instead, it was that horrid feeling of unease and worry in her gut. One caused by the obvious signs she had noticed from her Uncle. He was worried. Something that her Uncle rarely showed, no matter what might've been happening. Last she remembered him seeming even remotely close to this state... it had been as her mother laid ill and continued to worsen.
"How I wish I could remain in this moment forever."
The sudden sound of her Uncle's voice cut clear through the sea of thoughts Fumiko was drifting upon, startling her slightly as Fumi let out a soft yelp of surprise. Her eyes flashed open as her face colored deeply from embarrassment. Turning her head to look over at her uncle, she hoped the man didn't particularly notice her previous outburst. Unfortunately for her, her uncle chuckled lightly before seeming to decide it was time to get back to work. As he immediately continued to address her, and beckon for her to walk with him. The girl got to her feet, straightening out her simple tunic as she nodded. A soft patter accompanied the smaller girl's hurried steps to catch up to her uncle, only slowing when she drew up by his side. She listened closely to everything her uncle had to tell her, nodding along as he assigned her the first task of her day. A simple enough one, and a task which gave her the chance to visit with Sumi-chan.
"Will Kozo-San and Yoshie-San be helping as well? I think they'd love to be helpful as well!" Fumiko said in response, the tone of her voice and expression worn across her features plainly betraying that the girl was just about as innocent in her asking as her words suggested. Though moments later, she would quickly reach a hand out to grab her uncle's own. Stopping where she was, Fumiko used what leverage she could to make her Kenji stop and face in her. Her features now wearing a plain display of concern for the man opposite her. "Ojisan? You keep staring off towards the mountains, and you're clearly distracted. I know something worries you, is it something I can help with?" She asked, releasing her uncle's hand as she took a step back. Her brows furrowed as she heard his response, clearly brushing off her worries as nothing to worry about. "Ojisan! Please! The last time I saw you acting anything like this, mother was ill. Let me help, please." She tried to argue, but was met with the same response as earlier. Letting out a dejected sigh, and knowing she wouldn't get it out of him now, Fumiko finally gave up. "I'll go check in with Hayashi-San, but when we have time I want to talk to you. I'm worried about you when you act like this. I'm sure it will all be okay in the end but... I still worry." She said softly, giving a little smile towards her Uncle before bowing respectfully and heading off on her task.
Around ten minutes later, Fumiko re-emerged from her home. Having changed from the tunic and pants that had been good for her run earlier into her standard Yukata. As she strode out of the estate, she was hard at work braiding a pink flower into her brunette hair. Overall, she knew it was less formal than would be needed for the festivities, but figured this manner of dress just fine for helping prepare. Humming a little tune, the youth was off to make her way to the Hayashi Estate. Humming a little tune to herself as she walked, Fumiko spread more roasted soybeans, from a little pouch she carried, on the street to help with the task that had already been started by many other villagers. Here and there, she gave friendly waves and greetings towards those who she passed. Though they were not always returned, some villagers being quite grumpy or unalert so soon after rousing from their slumber.
Occasionally, the Takamori would stop her progress to help out or briefly chat with some of the villagers. Mostly to check in whenever she saw one of the elderly she cared for or the families of those children she watched. She helped some of the residents hang their unlit lanterns, delivered some paper dragons to the children, and helped one youth with braiding her hair for the festival. Overall, her occasional stops added a few minutes onto her journey though Fumiko much doubted that her Uncle would have any sort of issue with why she was delayed. Certainly, there was still plenty of work to do around the village, and no doubt Sumi-chan would have something with which Fumiko could assist.
Arriving after an easy trek through the village, Fumiko wore a pleasant smile on her features as she approached the entrance to the estate. Knocking gently on the doorframe, Fumiko ensured there was only enough pressure applied to make the sound easily heard. "Sumi-Chan~" She called out, her tone playful as it always was whenever she visited her friend. "Takamori-San sent me by, he wants me to see if you're ready for the performance at noon! Need a hand getting set up?" She said, before taking a respectful step back as she waited for somebody to answer the door. It would either be Sumiko, or her elder sister answering. Though she liked to think the elder liked her well enough, Fumiko found herself rather hopeful it would be her friend who came to answer instead. After all, seeing a friendly face in the morning always seemed to brighten people's days!
Full Name - Takamori Fumiko Age - 19 Gender - Female Occupation - Master’s Apprentice || Caretaker
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P E R S O N A L I T Y
Optimistic Fumiko is a girl who many would describe as naive, even among those who had spent their whole lives within the village. She sees everything through a hopeful lens, seeing the absolute best in every situation. In any situation, the girl will instantly find the best outcome and zero in. However, Fumiko is optimistic to a fault. Due to her focus on the positives of each situation, she can come across as careless when she doesn’t consider that things could go bad and has gotten hurt before as a result. Despite this, Fumiko always picks herself back up and is right back to searching for the positives in her life.
Intelligent Fumiko was always a sharp young girl, excelling in her classes at the academy and the lessons from her great uncle at home. Quick to pick up on things, and with an excellent memory, Fumi often would remember even the smallest of details of any situation. She’s always curious and eager to learn more about the world, naturally drawn towards mysteries that might reveal some new knowledge to girl. Her knowledge, however, is academic in nature as opposed to knowledge gained from experience.
Charismatic Ever a popular girl in the village, Fumiko has a bit of wholesome, compelling charm about herself that draws people to her. When she speaks, the optimism in her words and confidence with which she speaks them has a way of convincing others that she might just be right. She has a habit of being quite persuasive and empathetic, useful skills when it comes to mediating arguments between her fellows, and when corralling the village children to head back to their homes instead of staying out to play.
S K I L L S E T
Photographic Memory With what can only be described as a perfect recall, Fumiko can easily remember any details she’s learned prior. Be it the details of a particular scenery she saw, the names and faces of villagers, or even details of a story she was once told. Of course, this has helped the young girl in a multitude of situations throughout her life, but it has also become something that Fumiko is a bit too reliant upon.
Euphonious Voice Fumiko’s voice is very soothing to the ear, be it in speech or in song. A trait that has often come in handy when it came to avoiding trouble for certain situations by simply charming her way out. When she speaks, many tend to at least partially pay attention to her words, if nothing else then for the easy way her voice floats upon the air. Of course, this trait is useful in more situations than just avoiding trouble, as it has certainly helped the girl when attempting to calm upset villagers.
Diplomacy Being one of the few candidates being trained to replace her Great Uncle when he eventually passes, Fumiko has spent quite a bit of time learning how to handle situations with her words. Be it in settling disputes, or the rare times where she might be needed to deal with outsiders, Fumiko has continually demonstrated herself to be quite adept at handling diplomatic situations.
Physical Description
Standing at a height of 5’5, Fumiko is about average height for a girl of her age, but that is around where the scale of being ‘average’ ends for her. With rather striking facial features, Fumiko has always been a sight easy on the eyes. With her face typically being adorned with a dazzling smile that showed even in her eyes, Fumiko is like a ray of sunshine throughout the village. Those very brown eyes were like windows into her soul, as getting lost in them would easily betray all the hope, joy, and whatever other myriads of emotions she might be feeling. Her elegant facial features, mixed with her fair, flawless skin framed by long, curly, brunette hair that flows just past her shoulders all help to create quite the beauty. The kind that is rare in that her beauty is rather effortless to maintain.
With a lean form and sporting elegant curves, Fumiko’s face is not the only striking thing about her appearance. While she is not toned as other villagers might be, the young girl does keep herself in shape through various activities. Though her clothing choices are not ones chosen to showcase her body, the girl favors outfits that are more comfortable for whatever task is at hand that day than ones that are meant to be ‘pretty'. As such, Fumiko is often seen wearing her favorite yukata, one which is pink and embroidered with flowers along the outside edges. Outside of this, the girl tends to favor simplistic clothing choices, a pair of trousers or shorts accompanied by a simple tunic, if she is going to be spending the day doing labor. On the rare occasions where Fumiko is to dress up, the girl will typically wear a kimono of the same colorings and design as her Yukata, accompanied by matching flowers braided into her hair.
Character Conceptualization
Fumiko’s life is one without struggle, the girl having grown up in a loving home that was absent of strife. At least, strife that a young girl would recognize. A home life that she would later learn many would have done just about anything to have themselves.
Fumiko has enjoyed a close relationship with her Great Uncle, Takamori Kenji, or her “Uncle Kenji” as she often refers to him. As a result of their close relationship through the years, Fumiko has taken on quite a few of his own qualities and world views. These show in her unending optimism for their village and their people thriving together, and how eager she is to put every ounce of her being into working to ensure this comes true. Even if her actions are as small as simply going out to the fields to help the farmers with their harvest for that day, Fumiko does this action with pride.
For much of the years spent in schooling, Fumiko managed to stand out among her classmates. In part for the easy way she went about making friends, part for her excellence in her studies, and in part for just who she is related to. In addition to her studies, Fumiko also had a nasty habit of worming her way into arguments between students and trying to mediate to settle their differences. A task that has met with varying success, and certainly affected the opinion of at least some in her class. These years in her schooling are part of what helped build the girl’s reputation as one of the forefront options to take over after her uncle and helped draw his attention to consider her as one of the few serious candidates.
Around the village, Fumiko has taken on the role of a ‘caretaker’ as she describes it. That is, she watches over and cares for both the children and elderly during the days their families must tend to other responsibilities. As such, Fumiko has used her slight aptitude for signs to learn two very basic signs. The first being fire, which she uses to help light a flame when she is preparing meals for those she is caring for, and to help add a dramatic effect to legends or stories she might tell children for entertainment. The other, glow, is used much the same as the latter effect of fire, more entertainment for the children. Fumi spends much of her time not spent taking lessons and acting as her uncle’s assistant filling this role as a caretaker. As such, much of her time is spent with either the youth or elderly of their village. The elderly who she often spends time listening to their stories and eagerly absorbing their tales instead of telling her own.
In what little free time Fumiko can scrape together, she is doing one of a few different things. She likes to spend that free time either dancing, singing, or out exploring to find beautiful scenes to sketch in her sketchbook. Though her sketching skills are rather good, shes nowhere near the level of a professional. Although, exploring might not be the best term. Fumiko very rarely strays beyond the village borders, and even then she does not let her home out of her sight. Unlike her sketching, however, Fumiko is quite adept at both her song and dance. Though she very rarely performs either outside of the privacy of her own chambers, only the children she watches are able to convince her to perform for them.
Despite how pure her life may seem, that does not mean that the girl is without flaws or tragedy in her life. Fumiko lost her mother to illness when she was 14 years old, and despite her firm beliefs to the very end that her mother would recover… Fumi was in the room as she drew her last breath. The girl almost completely shut down and withdrew from the outside world for nearly two months in the wake of this tragedy. Very rarely was she seen outside of her room, and when she was… Fumiko was a skeleton of the girl she used to be. This tragedy haunts her until this very day, with the very concept of death causing Fumiko to quickly retreat back into herself just as she had in the wake of that horrific day. Outside of the tragedy, Fumiko has a few other flaws that mar the image of the perfect young girl she tries to present. She has become so reliant on her perfect memory, that she rarely will listen to the advice of others (save her Uncle) on things she believes to already have knowledge about. Her habit of forcing herself into disagreements between others to try to mediate still persists, and has earned her a few foul points on her reputation.
Though, perhaps her darkest secret is that despite the carefree persona she likes to portray to the world, inside her mind things can get much darker. She battles with a shocking lack of self-confidence, a scar left on her mind from her mother’s passing. Though not a constant companion, when that dark voice raises in the back of her mind, Fumiko has nothing she can do to quiet it. Despite her hopes and beliefs for everybody else in the village, Fumiko’s belief in herself is completely lacking. This shows through the cracks in her facade in the way that Fumiko so wholly dives headfirst into any situation she believes will help others. No matter the cost to herself, a way to subconsciously settle the debt she owes for failing to help her own mother. After all, surely there was something she could have done to save the woman. In addition to this, Fumiko often refrains from giving herself much praise, doubting that she is worth said praise.
Despite her inner demons, Fumiko’s strong desire to serve and help the people of her village still burns just as bright. The girl is vying hard to be chosen to fill her Uncle’s position so that she can play such a helpful role to her home as he had, and without even a second wasted on selfish thoughts of how the position might benefit her. Her innocence to the world also continues to strive onward, as she lacks enough experience to tell her anything outside of her personal tragedy could be remotely commonplace. After all, things had been so ideal and wonderful in their village till now… why would they ever change?
Full Name - Takamori Fumiko Age - 19 Gender - Female Occupation - Master’s Apprentice || Caretaker
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P E R S O N A L I T Y
Optimistic Fumiko is a girl who many would describe as naive, even among those who had spent their whole lives within the village. She sees everything through a hopeful lens, seeing the absolute best in every situation. In any situation, the girl will instantly find the best outcome and zero in. However, Fumiko is optimistic to a fault. Due to her focus on the positives of each situation, she can come across as careless when she doesn’t consider that things could go bad and has gotten hurt before as a result. Despite this, Fumiko always picks herself back up and is right back to searching for the positives in her life.
Intelligent Fumiko was always a sharp young girl, excelling in her classes at the academy and the lessons from her great uncle at home. Quick to pick up on things, and with an excellent memory, Fumi often would remember even the smallest of details of any situation. She’s always curious and eager to learn more about the world, naturally drawn towards mysteries that might reveal some new knowledge to girl. Her knowledge, however, is academic in nature as opposed to knowledge gained from experience.
Charismatic Ever a popular girl in the village, Fumiko has a bit of wholesome, compelling charm about herself that draws people to her. When she speaks, the optimism in her words and confidence with which she speaks them has a way of convincing others that she might just be right. She has a habit of being quite persuasive and empathetic, useful skills when it comes to mediating arguments between her fellows, and when corralling the village children to head back to their homes instead of staying out to play.
S K I L L S E T
Photographic Memory With what can only be described as a perfect recall, Fumiko can easily remember any details she’s learned prior. Be it the details of a particular scenery she saw, the names and faces of villagers, or even details of a story she was once told. Of course, this has helped the young girl in a multitude of situations throughout her life, but it has also become something that Fumiko is a bit too reliant upon.
Euphonious Voice Fumiko’s voice is very soothing to the ear, be it in speech or in song. A trait that has often come in handy when it came to avoiding trouble for certain situations by simply charming her way out. When she speaks, many tend to at least partially pay attention to her words, if nothing else then for the easy way her voice floats upon the air. Of course, this trait is useful in more situations than just avoiding trouble, as it has certainly helped the girl when attempting to calm upset villagers.
Diplomacy Being one of the few candidates being trained to replace her Great Uncle when he eventually passes, Fumiko has spent quite a bit of time learning how to handle situations with her words. Be it in settling disputes, or the rare times where she might be needed to deal with outsiders, Fumiko has continually demonstrated herself to be quite adept at handling diplomatic situations.
Physical Description
Standing at a height of 5’5, Fumiko is about average height for a girl of her age, but that is around where the scale of being ‘average’ ends for her. With rather striking facial features, Fumiko has always been a sight easy on the eyes. With her face typically being adorned with a dazzling smile that showed even in her eyes, Fumiko is like a ray of sunshine throughout the village. Those very brown eyes were like windows into her soul, as getting lost in them would easily betray all the hope, joy, and whatever other myriads of emotions she might be feeling. Her elegant facial features, mixed with her fair, flawless skin framed by long, curly, brunette hair that flows just past her shoulders all help to create quite the beauty. The kind that is rare in that her beauty is rather effortless to maintain.
With a lean form and sporting elegant curves, Fumiko’s face is not the only striking thing about her appearance. While she is not toned as other villagers might be, the young girl does keep herself in shape through various activities. Though her clothing choices are not ones chosen to showcase her body, the girl favors outfits that are more comfortable for whatever task is at hand that day than ones that are meant to be ‘pretty'. As such, Fumiko is often seen wearing her favorite yukata, one which is pink and embroidered with flowers along the outside edges. Outside of this, the girl tends to favor simplistic clothing choices, a pair of trousers or shorts accompanied by a simple tunic, if she is going to be spending the day doing labor. On the rare occasions where Fumiko is to dress up, the girl will typically wear a kimono of the same colorings and design as her Yukata, accompanied by matching flowers braided into her hair.
Character Conceptualization
Fumiko’s life is one without struggle, the girl having grown up in a loving home that was absent of strife. At least, strife that a young girl would recognize. A home life that she would later learn many would have done just about anything to have themselves.
Fumiko has enjoyed a close relationship with her Great Uncle, Takamori Kenji, or her “Uncle Kenji” as she often refers to him. As a result of their close relationship through the years, Fumiko has taken on quite a few of his own qualities and world views. These show in her unending optimism for their village and their people thriving together, and how eager she is to put every ounce of her being into working to ensure this comes true. Even if her actions are as small as simply going out to the fields to help the farmers with their harvest for that day, Fumiko does this action with pride.
For much of the years spent in schooling, Fumiko managed to stand out among her classmates. In part for the easy way she went about making friends, part for her excellence in her studies, and in part for just who she is related to. In addition to her studies, Fumiko also had a nasty habit of worming her way into arguments between students and trying to mediate to settle their differences. A task that has met with varying success, and certainly affected the opinion of at least some in her class. These years in her schooling are part of what helped build the girl’s reputation as one of the forefront options to take over after her uncle and helped draw his attention to consider her as one of the few serious candidates.
Around the village, Fumiko has taken on the role of a ‘caretaker’ as she describes it. That is, she watches over and cares for both the children and elderly during the days their families must tend to other responsibilities. As such, Fumiko has used her slight aptitude for signs to learn two very basic signs. The first being fire, which she uses to help light a flame when she is preparing meals for those she is caring for, and to help add a dramatic effect to legends or stories she might tell children for entertainment. The other, glow, is used much the same as the latter effect of fire, more entertainment for the children. Fumi spends much of her time not spent taking lessons and acting as her uncle’s assistant filling this role as a caretaker. As such, much of her time is spent with either the youth or elderly of their village. The elderly who she often spends time listening to their stories and eagerly absorbing their tales instead of telling her own.
In what little free time Fumiko can scrape together, she is doing one of a few different things. She likes to spend that free time either dancing, singing, or out exploring to find beautiful scenes to sketch in her sketchbook. Though her skills with the latter are described best as amateur. Although, exploring might not be the best term. Fumiko very rarely strays beyond the village borders, and even then she does not let her home out of her sight. Unlike her sketching, however, Fumiko is quite adept at both her song and dance. Though she very rarely performs either outside of the privacy of her own chambers, only the children she watches are able to convince her to perform for them.
Despite how pure her life may seem, that does not mean that the girl is without flaws or tragedy in her life. Fumiko lost her mother to illness when she was 14 years old, and despite her firm beliefs to the very end that her mother would recover… Fumi was in the room as she drew her last breath. The girl almost completely shut down and withdrew from the outside world for nearly two months in the wake of this tragedy. Very rarely was she seen outside of her room, and when she was… Fumiko was a skeleton of the girl she used to be. This tragedy haunts her until this very day, with the very concept of death causing Fumiko to quickly retreat back into herself just as she had in the wake of that horrific day. Outside of the tragedy, Fumiko has a few other flaws that mar the image of the perfect young girl she tries to present. She has become so reliant on her perfect memory, that she rarely will listen to the advice of others (save her Uncle) on things she believes to already have knowledge about. Her habit of forcing herself into disagreements between others to try to mediate still persists, and has earned her a few foul points on her reputation.
Though, perhaps her darkest secret is that despite the carefree persona she likes to portray to the world, inside her mind things can get much darker. She battles with a shocking lack of self-confidence, a scar left on her mind from her mother’s passing. Though not a constant companion, when that dark voice raises in the back of her mind, Fumiko has nothing she can do to quiet it. Despite her hopes and beliefs for everybody else in the village, Fumiko’s belief in herself is completely lacking. This shows through the cracks in her facade in the way that Fumiko so wholly dives headfirst into any situation she believes will help others. No matter the cost to herself, a way to subconsciously settle the debt she owes for failing to help her own mother. After all, surely there was something she could have done to save the woman. In addition to this, Fumiko often refrains from giving herself much praise, doubting that she is worth said praise.
Despite her inner demons, Fumiko’s strong desire to serve and help the people of her village still burns just as bright. The girl is vying hard to be chosen to fill her Uncle’s position so that she can play such a helpful role to her home as he had, and without even a second wasted on selfish thoughts of how the position might benefit her. Her innocence to the world also continues to strive onward, as she lacks enough experience to tell her anything outside of her personal tragedy could be remotely commonplace. After all, things had been so ideal and wonderful in their village till now… why would they ever change?
It was too damn cold on this planet. That was the main thought bouncing around the poor Togruta's mind as she followed along the masters and other apprentices on their trip to Illum. Most of her fellow apprentices would be building their lightsabers today, though Kada had a bit of a lead on the others in that department. The Togruta felt a moment of pride from that fact, then immediately felt that pride canceled out as she reminded herself that, once again, she was back to this horrid planet. The poor girl was bundled up quite well, including a thick wrapping around her montral, to try to keep warm. Having lived on planets like Shili most of her life... the horrid temperatures of Illum were not kind to Kada. Most certainly not to the hollow bone structures atop her head. Jedi do not feel the cold. She'd once been told by Master Skywalker himself on her first trip to this world, and a sentence that was brought back to the forefront of her mind once more. One that earned a harsh thought in return from the apprentice. You try having your most sensitive organ be hollow bone structures atop your kriffin' head, Master! Kada thought harshly, following everybody else inside the temple. On her back, Sparky hung on for dear life and beep-booped out various updates on the weather and structure stability on Illum.
As much as Kada wanted to slap the mute button every time he reminded her how cold it was outside... she didn't have the heart to shut him up.
The Togruta spent the time after they'd arrived at the temple to fuss over her companion, melting off some of the ice buildup in his little joints. Berating herself mentally for not applying enough protective coating to the droid before making the journey to Illum. Kada shook her head before finally deciding that Sparky was in good enough condition that she'd not need to worry about him for the rest of the trip. Turning back towards the group, and withdrawing from her unintentional tunnel vision, Kada racked her mind to find some advice she could offer her fellows from her own experiences with finding her crystal. "Okay, time to go see our friends off, Sparky!" She said softly to the droid, then the togruta approached the gathered masters and...
Where were her fellows? It took Kada a couple of seconds before her face colored deeply as she realized. "Oh. They've already gone off to gather the crystals, didn't they?" Kada asked nobody in particular, though her embarrassment no doubt lit her up like a beacon within the force. She then immediately turned towards the droid poking its head over her shoulder and jabbed a finger towards it. "If you tell Toryn about this I will convert you into a Gonk Droid, Mister!" She threatened, only to get a series of remarkably sassy beeps and boops in return from Sparky. Kada allowed herself a little smile and shake of her head as she shrugged off the droid's response, before turning her attention towards the assembled Jedi Masters.
Oh! Right! She'd offered to set up the worktables for once the apprentices returned with their crystals! "Ah! Masters, I'll get started setting up the worktables now!" She said softly, bowing her head lightly towards the group as she moved back towards the entrance of the temple, where the repulsorsled that had been slaved to Kada's wrist-comm to follow the group. "Okay Sparks, I want you to hop on and start up the heater so these things aren't so cold while we get setup." She instructed the BD-Unit, as it hopped off to start following her orders. Kada then guided the device back into the temple, where she went about setting up each of the little worktables, and the heaters next to them to allow a bit of comfort, for lightsaber construction. She only hoped she finished before every arrived, the last thing she needed was everybody just kind of staring at her while she finished up her work!
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