"I was never a fan of standing around. Why waste the only life you're given by doing nothing you know? But this flu...And everyone just dropping dead...It makes me feel useless. I'm still gonna see what I can do. It might take a few holes in my gut, but hey, no pain no gain."

Appearance: Kaito has medium length, usually straight black hair that occasionally hangs over his face. His features, such as his darker brown eyes and short nose, are usually behind a pair of sleek glasses with a thin metal frame. His shorter stature of 5'6", and his usual attire of a thick blue hoodie with clear signs of age and stains, making him appear younger than he actually is.

Species: Ghoul

Mask: The mask that Kaito wears when going out 'shopping' is based off of the character Grey Fox from the video game Metal Gear Solid, a game that both he and his brother played quite a bit in their childhood. The mask itself was crafted by Junki after he picked up a bit of metal work skills from apprenticing with a family friend. The mask itself is made from durable steel, bent to shape fitted with soft foam on it's inside. A wire mesh covers the back of the 'T' shaped cut out in the mask's center, making visibility a bit of an issue at first, but the lax teen has since adjusted to the spotty vision.

Due to the mask's single switch activated orange LED 'eye' in the middle of the wire mesh, the CCG has labelled it's wearer 'Cyclops'. Though those who are a bit more keen on the mask's inspirations have simply took to calling it's wearer, 'Grey Fox'.

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Personality: Kaito is a rather lax, go-with-the-flow kind of teen. He tries to make light of most situations, and does his best to see the good side of things. Though he can be a bit stubborn or aloof when someone talks down on his beliefs, he mostly keeps his problems to himself, not wanting to drag anyone down with his issues.

The teen is also always striving to do things that no one has tried before. Risk taking being one of his defining points. This sort of rash mindset developing due to his distaste of inaction, and doubt of his parents teachings to avoid all confrontation even if it means letting someone else take the fall. That said, he doesn’t go out of his way to make enemies with groups such as the CCG, other Ghouls, or humans if he can avoid it. When he does don his mask to go out

Biography: Young Kaito was born to a loving mother, Anzu, and a good natured father, Bunta. He was the second child of the Mori family, being also the brother of the Mori’s first child, Junki. The family lived in relative peace in the city of Takayama, in a small townhouse on the edge of the city. Bunta made a living as a carpenter in the area, taking after his own father and up keeping the many historic buildings in the area. While Anzu, took her time in taking care of their two boys at home and putting them through a basic home school education.

The Moris were always extremely sensitive and paranoid about their Ghoul habits. Both mother and father drilling young Kaito and Junki since birth about why they were different from other kids in the neighbourhood, and to never speak a word about their family’s ‘different lifestyle’. At first, the brothers were confused as to what their parents were so worried about. Other kids ate meat, so what was so different about them other than the fact that was the only thing they ate? It wasn’t until they were told where their meals came from, and what they were capable of that they began to understand, and even become frightened by their parents lessons in Kaito’s case.

Both Anzu and Bunta felt guilty, but did what they could to make their children more comfortable with their nature. Teaching them how to control hunger, their physical strength and agility, and of course, in the event of an emergency, showing them how to weaponize their Kagune and their bodies to be able to defend themselves if escape from the scene was impossible.

In between their lessons and meals, Kaito and his older brother found leisure in the human aspects of life. The both of them getting hooked on media such as video games, anime, and even some aspects of western culture due to a local book store stocking translations of American comic books. The younger of the two especially enjoyed stories involving superheroes, relating their inhuman powers and noble feats to what he could be capable of. The dark haired boy’s hopes of the future began to be filled with dreams of being a superhero; using his great physical abilities and ‘red magic arms’ to protect his friends and family, as well as other Ghouls from the ‘bird guys’.

However, Kaito’s ambitions were quickly shattered once he excitedly revealed to his parents his plan despite Junki telling him to keep it to himself. Their father giving them an intense scolding about the dangers of getting involved in affairs they didn’t need to, and began to monitor what the children read and played to prevent any further ‘dangerous thinking’.

Though he did not dare show it in the eyes of his parents, Kaito began to feel a bit of resentment for the family’s morals. He was frustrated that instead of treating their Ghoul abilities like a gift that could be used for the greater good, that they were being treated like something to keep locked away, and that even if they were able to do something to protect a random stranger, attempting it would be foolish.

Years passed, the nerdy boy growing up into a nerdy young man alongside his brother, ahead of him in age by three years. Kaito began to forget about his hidden dreams of being a Ghoul superhero, but never let go of the fond memories he and Junki shared with the comics and media involving them. His personal interest in TV shows and movies leading to him becoming fascinated in the more real aspects behind their production. Thus he began to make amature props based off of fictional franchises in his free time, with Junki and his father’s occasional assistance. Kaito’s knack for building leading to his father to encouraging him to also join in his carpentry endeavours, but the teen turned him down, and revealed something that shocked the entire household.

Kaito wanted to move away. To Tokyo, specifically. While he was happy with his simple life living with his parents and his part-time job at a local grocery, he felt that he could do more with his life if he received a proper education. Thus, using money that the family had kept saved for the kids futures, and after a heartfelt goodbye and a gifted mask from his brother, Kaito moved to a small apartment building in Tokyo’s 20th ward, Nerima, to attend the Design course at Nihon University. While still keeping his hobbies on the side, scavenging popular suicide sites for food, and making a few friends both human and Ghoul, things seem to be going well for the aspiring prop maker.

That is, until the flu hit.

Rating: C

RC Type: Ukaku

Kagune: Kaito's Kagune usually manifests itself as two red, smooth, wide arms with rows of sharp 'fingers' at the end of them. Years of private practice at mastering the many tricks and abilities his Kagune has to offer, he's able to crystallize the two extra limbs and rapid fire projectiles from their endings. He’s also able to sharpen the right side ‘arm’ into a blade-like appendage to assist in close quarters.

---

"Japan...I've read a lot about it's culture and it's history while planning for this exchange program. In general, media is a big focus there, and it's history has mostly kept the people to themselves on that one land mass....But there's another fact that came up multiple times while I was researching the country. Specifically about it's capital city. Ghouls, a species extremely close to humans on a physical, but not a biological level, have a higher population density in Tokyo than the rest of the country. With their diet, it would make sense for why they thrive there, but there's still a few things I want to know. The articles can only tell me so much; if possible, I'd like to find out many things for myself in my time there, but that flu likely isn't going to make it easy.

Appearance: Delsin is a 5’ 4”, slightly pale skinned teen. He wears his semi long black hair parted to the left, has green colored eyes, and smaller features such as his ears that are usually hidden by straight hair clumps. The boy’s usual attire includes a grey turtle neck sweater, thick blue jeans, and a pair of worn black snow boots.

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Personality: Delsin is a bit of a quiet guy. He mostly keeps to himself unless someone actively engages him. Though a lot of people mistake this for shyness, it is more so that he doesn’t feel the need to talk with others if it has the chance to lead to him being distracted from a current goal. Delsin ‘overthinks’ many things in some regard, his family and friends have needed to tell him on multiple occasions to slow down or take a break, but to Delsin that would mean losing out on opportunities.

The way he thinks it, is that if he manages to set up and plan his life as soon as he can while still young, he can enjoy the rest of it with less stress and worry. Despite his rather distant view on most around him, Delsin still cares for the people close to him and will put them above his own goals without hesitation if there is a reason to. His friends have also been slowly making him a bit more lax, with Delsin being able to find time to do more leisurely activities.

Backstory: Being raised in the north western provinces of Canada, Delsin lives in a world of little to no change. The city he lives is a community of only a few thousand people, where excitement, public events, and even Ghouls are almost unheard of. He lived a rather simple life; being raised by middle aged mother and father along with his younger brother Trevor in a middle class neighbourhood. His determined and focused personality allowed him to excel in school and impress both his parents and teachers alike.

Though he mostly revolved his life around school work even in his early ages, he managed to make a few friends. One such friend was a boy named Carrick Giro, a care free humorous boy that had moved there from a province in the south eastern part of the country. Carrick was able to show the boring student how to entertain himself with things other than school and work such as social media, video games, and music, though he also unfortunately got Delsin involved in a few fights between other kids, forcing the two to learn how to throw a punch or two.

After graduating from High School with grades peaking in the low-to-mid 90s, the focused teen turned his attention to further education. Landing himself in a rather vast and active school in a much bigger city, Delsin went to school for half a year before his interests were peaked by an exchange student program offered by a visiting a Japanese school. Seeing the chance to study abroad as a new opportunity, Delsin decided to take the offer after two years of planning, and unfortunately had the timing to land in Tokyo during the Shi no te pandemic.

Full name:
Mizushima Natsuko - or, by her ghoul alias, the "Theater Fox"; "Phantom of the Opera" is a derogatory variant sometimes used.

Appearance:
Natsuko stands at a fair 5 feet and 6 inches with a build sitting somewhere between average and lean. She has plain brown eyes with natural black hair, which sits at about neck length and is normally worn in a small bun or ponytail with the fringe out or pinned back, which isn't long enough to fit into it. She normally dresses in an androgynous fashion, typically sporting clothing from the mens section.

Species:
Ghoul.

Ghoul mask:
Natsuko wears a [Kitsune mask] in situations where her genuine identity may be linked to that of her ghoul one. The mask itself bears intricate detail and matches the description of a mask reported stolen from the Moto Theater Group four years ago - thus, "Theater Fox". The bells on the mask were deliberately removed, leaving small holes in the ears.

Age:
Twenty-one (21).

Gender:
Female ♀.

Personality:
Natsuko is a person who's primarily characterized by her neutrality and her as-the-wind-blows, broadly accepting approach to life - not because she's open-minded, but rather because she's not particularly phased by a lot of things. On the other side of the same coin, when she is phased by something, she normally responds passionately if not even somewhat violently in support of her beliefs; in this regard, she's very black-and-white.

With ghouls dropping dead in the hundreds, no doubt including people she knew, Natsuko's currently a little dejected and lifeless - as much as she hates to admit it alongside the majority of her faults, she's afraid of death, and also afraid of her potential death from the mysterious circumstances linking her to being a ghoul, even post-mortem. She's most at home when she's in a workshop, particularly when it comes to sports cars, and is an active part of the illegal street racing scene which she both enjoys and does for stress relief; she also smokes for stress relief, having recently relapsed after her third unsuccessful attempt to quit.

Biography:
Natsuko was born in Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, as the oldest of two children - although her family moved to Tokyo shortly after her birth following concerns regarding food in the much smaller city, now with a child to feed on top of themselves. Her father, who's "human" alter ego was that of a sales analyst, insisted that Natsuko receive a proper education and as such, she attended school like humans her age where she, on top of the standard curriculum, learned what it was to act "human". She values the human lifestyle - one which she perceives as a lifestyle focused around interpersonal relations, personal achievement, and contribution to the community, as opposed to the much more primal lifestyle of hunting and survival for ghouls - and for most of her life, has aspired to blend in as seamlessly as possible.

Between ages 15 and 17, Natsuko struggled with her primal urges to hunt and feed; during this stage, she was incredibly active as a hunting ghoul and frequently tipped the radar of and even skirmished with CCG on occasion, which later led to her reclassification from B to A. She turned to smoking for some relief, but found it had little effect, although she continued to rely on it as a vice for stress relief; since picking it up, she's attempted three times to quit, with her most recent unsuccessful attempt only ending within the month. This caused her grades to begin to dip until eventually, shortly before her 17th birthday, she outright stopped going to school against her fathers wishes. This behavior was out-of-character for her which piqued the interest of her teachers and more notably, her best friend: Ikeda Yasu, a human. Natsuko's father eventually pulled her out of school and shortly after, Yasu - who always had an "active" approach to looking after her friends - discovered that Natsuko was a ghoul and as if it were the only choice there was, much to Natsuko's relief, made a pact to keep her secret. With her help, Natsuko later began an automechanics apprenticeship that same year.

Originally, Natsuko lived with her parents in the 12th Ward, but following the outbreak of Shi no te, she moved in with Yasu's family in the 20th ward - which ultimately worked out better for her, as she works at the family-owned Ryuu Motors in the very same ward - in order to better avoid the influenza. Her younger brother and her mother are among the scores of ghouls abruptly dead from the virus - fortunately, by a hairs width, neither corpses were found and in turn never identified as ghouls, although this is no doubt her fathers doing.

For now, Natsuko is an automechanic at a small-time, family-owned workshop by day, a rising star in the Tokyo street racing scene by night, and the A-rated ghoul "Theater Fox" as need be. She lives with her best friends, Yasu's, family as if she was one of their own, and in turn puts in great effort to take on her share and more of the household tasks to try and ease the guilt she feels for "imposing" on them, which they insist it's not. She has a particularly close relationship with the families youngest daughter, an 11-year-old human named Hotaru. She hunts normally every second night and when does, she normally tries to lure or catch people in secluded alleyways, where she favors a brief fast-and-hard approach as supported by her RC type; when three or more quinques are involved she almost always runs, hence the derogatory nickname "Phantom of the Opera" used by some CCG investigators. Much like her personality, she's black-and-white with CCG investigators - she either goes full frontal, or full retreat, which is something particularly noted on her CCG file. Her CCG file also suggests that she's a part of the illegal street racing scene and a focus on the investigation on her revolves around identifying her car and registration - which happens to be a [white 2014 Nissan Skyline GTR] with the registration 39-80, if they were to obtain such a lead.

Rating:
A.

Kagune:
Natsuko bears an Ukaku-type kagune with a mostly even spread between the two "wings", with the left side being a little larger. The wings are largely purple and black with splotches of white and light yellow, to the semblance of space or a galaxy.

RC type:
Ukaku.

---

Full Name:
Fukui Tsubame.

Appearance:
Tsubame stands at a meager 5 feet and 2 inches with a clear complexion and a build sitting somewhere between slim and average. Her hair has been bleached white and comes in a wide assortment of styles, varying every day in the week in no discernible pattern. She has vibrant, bright emerald green eyes and delicate facial features. More often than not she's wearing band-aids and gauze about her body, with her energetic and brimming personality often getting her into trouble.

Species:
Human.

Age:
19.

Gender:
Female ♀.

Personality:
Tsubame is most commonly described as either "bouncing off the walls" or as having "crashed", with an energetic, larger-than-life and over-the-top personality. She's easily distracted, a little aloof, and has a short attention span, but contrary to this she's extremely passionate with a full-frontal approach once she's committed to something, as long as she is committed to it - for example, she can play a total of 9 instruments at the beginner level.

Biography:
Tsubame was born as the youngest of three children, with an older brother and an older sister, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. As the youngest child, true to stereotypes, she was often spoilt and sometimes given a looser reign that her siblings before her, often to petty sibling debate. Economically, their family was significantly well-off with a firm position in the upper-middle class, with her father running a successful local butcher and her mother being a housewife.

Initially, Tsubame was enrolled into a private school like her siblings before her, although when her father's butchers started to go downhill and eventually go out of business two years later, the family could no longer afford it. Before long, her father found work at a corporation-chain butchers, although the money was never as great. In order to keep her in school, her family enrolled Tsubame into the significantly cheaper CCG Academy Junior School.

In the junior school, Tsubame sat comfortably in the middle-performance range. While she initially struggled, once her teachers figured out how short her attention span his and how she can easily be prompted back towards work with a gentle touch, her grades began to rise. In response to such a prompt, she took up martial arts as an extracurricular activity, which she remains in until she graduated - becoming quite talented, particularly in Naginatajutsu.

Following her graduation from the CCG Academy Junior School, Tsubame - to her parents objection, but she was stubbornly committed - went on to enroll at the CCG Ghoul Investigator Training Academy, to train to become a ghoul investigator. As before, she sat comfortably in the center range for grades, all but slipping under the radar - which she would have, if her personality wasn't so larger-than-life. Throughout the process of attending the academy, the worst of her low-attention, high-density personality was mitigated - and while it's still almost painfully present, it's subsided at least in the regard that she can focus on and is committed to the job, with her prior teachers hoping that her partner and teacher within CCG will continue to work on it.

Only recently, Tsubame graduated from the academy to move on to CCG headquarters. She's currently eager and excited to meet her partner.

Rank:
Rank 2 Investigator.

Quinque:
Tsubame's quinque is a Koukaku/Ukaku-type quinque fashioned into the shape of a naginata. The entire construction of the weapon - from the pommel of the shaft to the tip of the blade - is made from a koukaku kagune, coming together in a strong if not slightly unwieldy weapon, considering it stands well above Tsubame in height when stood next to her. The gimmick of the weapon is that an ukaku kagune is fashioned into the pommel, where it slides apart to fire crystallized shards as seen fired from its ghoul counterparts.

---

Full name:
Tsukada Daiki.

Appearance:
Daiki stands at an imposing 6 feet and 2 inches tall with broad shoulders accompanied by a muscular, chiseled build. His clear skin is clad in a bodysuit of traditional, colorful Japanese art, the sorts of which typically associated to the Yakuza: depicting works such as dragons, koi fish, oni, and nature, from the collarbones down to the toes - with the exception of a parting line down the center-front of the torso. His dark hair is worn styled back and his facial hair varies between a clean shave and a vague stubble. His dull, dark brown eyes depict a story in themselves, and he normally wears some assortment of suit - within which, he almost always carries a Model 1911 pistol.

Significantly, the pinkie finger of his left hand has been cut off just above the first knuckle connecting to the palm of the hand, not unlike yubitsume.

Species:
Human.

Age:
28.

Gender:
Male ♂.

Personality:
Daiki is a stern, no-nonsense man's man: educated, clothes that fit, button-up shirts, polite but the first to throw a punch, love your mother and protect your family, so on so forth. As an active gangster of the yakuza, he almost religiously follows the philosophy of ninkyo, even if begrudgingly at times - even between practicing crimes for the gain of himself or his yakuza family. He is to some extent stubborn, and while he's normally slow to commit to an issue, he's passionate and nigh-hellbound once he is. He smokes approximately half a pack of cigarettes a day as a vice.

Biography:
Daiki was born in the relatively distant city of Osaka, within the aptly named Osaka Prefecture, as the youngest of two children underneath an older brother. His father was a detective for the local police department and his mother worked at an accounting firm as an administration clerk, resulting in a collectively high household income. While naturally, responsibility for the household would fall onto the older brother once he was capable enough, it almost always fell on Daiki, as his oldest brother was something of a delinquent.

As the two grew up, Daiki's older brother came to often often "exerted his dominance" over him - denying him granted things in the house, roughing him up, and otherwise picking on him. This continued throughout school and ran through peer groups. Daiki's parents were either absent in physical presence or absent in authority, as his father was mentally deteriorating through overexertion and his mother was working hard to try and pick up the slack. It was through this means Daiki picked up his "brawler" fighting style, through constant practice and failure with the occasional victory, Pyrrhic or otherwise. The stack between Daiki and his older brother came to an abrupt turnabout not long after Daiki's 13th birthday - when his older brother was 15. Daiki's older brother, the delinquent he has, was shouting at and shoving about their mother for grounding him after he was caught smoking with his friends. When Daiki tried to interfere, his older brother shoved him aside and went to smack him over the head to dissuade him, where Daiki retaliated by abruptly slipping by and socking him square in the jaw - knocking him to the ground - before he then put his head in the doorframe of one of the lower cupboards and slammed the door over his head a total of sixteen times, incapacitating him and resulting in no less than five stitches. While the incident initially put a divide between Daiki and his mother, they later grew much closer as Daiki came to protect her from his older brother. Following the incident, Daiki started to begin training in martials arts - namely, boxing and muay thai - with the financial support of her mother. While confrontation between Daiki and his older brother initially peaked, they began to gradually drop off after Daiki's older brother tried to take to him with a baseball bat as revenge, where Daiki promptly gave him another six stitches using the very same bat - well beyond the level of violence his older brother had intended to go, mind you, making him secretly scared of his younger brother.

Shortly after Daiki's 17th birthday, the hidden issues between Daiki's parents abruptly burst out into public light. While it was no secret that Daiki's father was spending less time with his family and more time at local bars, it was revealed that his father had actually fallen into alcoholism so extensively that he was caught both under the influence and with vodka in his water bottle at work, where he was promptly fired. It was also revealed that his father was frequenting strip clubs and that in the time, his mother was having an affair with someone from her workplace - who, mind you, took much better care of her. When Daiki's parents were confronting one another in the kitchen, Daiki's father eventually boiled over to strike his mother, where Daiki - now well-built and chiseled as is - promptly struck him to the ground and put his head in the lower closets before his mother stopped him. Daiki and his mother moved in with the man she was having an affair with who, to this day, they all get along as if they were a family in themselves. Daiki's brother was left with his father.

Going forward another two and a half years, with Daiki now being 19 and his older brother being 21, Daiki learnt that his brother not only had become involved running narcotics for local gangsters, but he'd done so underneath the nose of the local Yakuza family. He learnt such when Yakuza gangsters intercepted him on his way back home from university one day, who were aware of the broken relation between the two and asked if he knew anywhere. While Daiki said he didn't, he took one of their mobile phone numbers and sought out his brother on his own. Since their parting, his father had found work at a local supermarket where he was now an assistant manager and while his recovery from alcoholism and sex addiction was slow, it was coming along; his brother, however, dropped out of school and got involved with local crime, which had landed him in his current position. Daiki tracked his brother to a local abandoned warehouse, where he found him and one of ihs accomplices surveying a trunk-load of narcotics. Daiki called the yakuza gangster's number to let him know, which later led to a major incident by local standards: a number of petty gangsters and dealers arrived to receive the narcotics where a number of yakuza gangsters pulled up shortly after, resulting in a major fight - strictly a brawl with some melee weapons, mind you, nothing too severe. When Daiki helped the Yakuza gangsters in the fight and outperformed even some of their own, he was later asked if he was looking for work. This is how Daiki became involved with the local Yakuza family - granted, once he proved himself.

In a particular incident when Daiki was 24, Daiki became romantically invested with one of the women being used to make pornographic media, who expressed her desire to him to escape the industry. Daiki organised her escape, although the escape was foiled by other members of the family who had caught wind. In response, Daiki was given two choices by the oyabun - the family head: either present to him one of his severed fingers by midnight, or be hunted by the family. Shortly before 11 PM that night, Daiki entered the oyabun's household and presented the severed pinkie finger of his left hand, where he was then dismissed to go to hospital.

Since then, Daiki has been serving the yakuza family faithfully, and remains doing so today. As of current, he's fairly influential within the family and informally fills the role of an enforcer, since having grown close to his lieutenant. He currently has his own apartment in the 20th ward where he lives with his faithful Staffordshire Bull Terrier, [Miu] - who, admittedly, is spoilt to almost no end, but she's so gentle and loving that he can't help himself.

Species: Human

Appearance: Standing at 6'1, Arashi is quite tall even for his age, and his body is well toned from years of intensive training, first as a high school Kenjutsu club member and later as a CCG Ghoul Investigator. His frame is littered with a few small scars here and there but he has no major scarring, with a single exception. 5 deep scars mark his forearm on his right arm, as if torn away by a clawed hand, which he covered with bandages at all times.

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Rank: Rank 1

Quinque: Raiden: A Katana made from the kakuhou of a high A-rank Ukaku ghoul formerly known as 'Thunderbird', the weapon is extremely sharp, able to easily cut through a ghoul's body and can pass an electrical current down the length of the blade to stun, wound or otherwise incapacitate a target. The gimmick of the weapon is its ability to split and retract the blade down its length and fire a volley of electrified projectiles from the space between the halves of the blade.

Personality: Arashi has a personality best described as composed but cold. He is able to adapt to most situations quickly and is highly analytical during combat, but he often isolates himself from his colleagues and tries to avoid social situations as best he can. He prefers to spend his time training or researching, all with the goal to better understand and eliminate the ghouls. He is slow to anger, but he doesn't tolerate stupid mistakes or time wasted during an operation. He is very clear-cut with his opinions and cares very little about if they may upset or offend someone, deeming emotional responses to be pointless if they don't achieve anything.

Under that shell, however, he is a broken man plagued with guilt. This guilt drives him to become the best investigator he can, as to prevent the tragedy that happened to him from reoccurring. He is prone to breaking down whenever he is alone, and was even borderline suicidal for a short time. The trauma of what happened spawned his compulsion to isolate himself, as to not lose anyone else close to him, as well as his desire to constantly become stronger.

Biography: Born as Arashi Kurosaki, he grew up in the 20th ward, Nerima, with his parents Kai and Hinata and his 4 year older sister Ai, Arashi had a happy home life, especially with the arrival of Naomi a year later. That changed, however, when he was 8. His family was killed and eaten by a starving, raving ghoul, and he very nearly killed himself until a Ghoul Investigator stepped in. This same investigator, a First Class Investigator named Inori Onohana, then adopted Arashi and began grooming him as an prospective investigator.

Despite this, He progressed well though his regular education and studied at Musashi Junior and Senior High. He achieved good grades and was a member of the school's Kenjutsu club, even serving as a mentor to one of his kouhai, Ryuu Ouma (mentioned below), as he was just starting out. The pair became close friends and they often kept in touch, even after he graduated at 18 and left to join the CCG's training academy.

Assisted by Inori's grooming, Arashi graduated from the normally two year academy in a single year, gaining the rank of Rank 2 Investigator at age 19. On his first assignment, however, his team was decimated in an unexpected attack by an SS-rank ghoul and he barely made it out alive, leaving him scarred in the process. Fuelled by the rage of losing his team and guilt of being the only survivor, he began to isolate himself and his fighting became more brutal and merciless. Because of his brutal effectiveness, he rose to Rank 1 Investigator about a month before his 23rd birthday. It has been 9 months since his promotion.

---

Species: Ghoul

Appearance: Ryuu stands at 6ft even when stood up, and has the body type of someone very active, but not having undergone any weight training, like a swimmer or archer. He typically wears a long, hooded red coat that falls just past his knees, with a dark grey t-shirt, black jeans and black laceless boots underneath.

Ghoul Mask: An angular carbon-black mask with armoured plates bolted to the lower face, temples and either side of the forehead with reflective red one-way lenses. Decorated with two deeply engraved claw marks diagonally crossing the left eye/lens, painted red to stand out. Mask worn under hood, the lower face can be opened to allow feeding without removing the mask.

Aliases: 'Ronin'

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Personality: Ryuu has a very calm personality, but still shows plenty of emotion. While not prone to outbursts, he is good at keeping his emotions in check, even under great stress, but his eyes are the most expressive part of his face and are a good indicator of how he's feeling for those attentive to detail. While not overly so, he is quite friendly with others, once you get past his light sarcasm and slightly dark humour. He is intelligent and likes things he can apply his mind to, such as playing chess in his spare time, but he tries to be humble about it. He also dislikes people that bully those weaker than them, as he believes everyone, ghoul or human, should be given a chance to make something with their lives rather than be downtrodden and held back because of something like privileges or disadvantages.

When undergoing ghoul activities, he is quite open with his intelligence as he spends a lot of time trying to outsmart and hide from the CCG, so he usually has a backup plan for anything that might go wrong. He is also quite honourable with his opponents, often refusing to fight an unarmed Investigator or much weaker ghoul. Despite this, if his life or someone close to him is threatened, he will fight to kill. This attitude, coupled with the stolen katana Quinque (details below), lead to the CCG assigning him the alias 'Ronin'. He has a respectful attitude towards the dead, and hates meaningless death, but will still eat the corpses of his enemies for sustenance.

Biography: Originally born in the 3rd ward, he and his parents, Kurosu (His father, a Bikaku) and Haruka (His mother, a Ukaku), moved to the 20th ward when he was 6, after the birth of his younger brother Shu (a rare Bikaku/Ukaku Chimera). In an attempt to seem more human, the Ouma family took up normal jobs as a chemist and a newspaper journalist respectively, while the two brothers enrolled at school. Taught by their parents to hide their ghoul nature, they survived on the corpses of suicide victims and leftovers from other ghouls.

Ryuu progressed smoothly through his education, eventually enrolling at Musashi Junior and Senior High. He took an interest in swords and swordplay and quickly signed up for the Kenjutsu club, where he was paired with his upperclassman Arashi Onohana (mentioned above). The two became close friends, but Ryuu was always extremely cautious in hiding his ghoul nature from the older boy. When he graduated from high school, he enrolled at Tokyo Institute of Technology in the 9th ward, on an advanced 6-year Engineering degree and is currently still studying there.

As he grew up, he was careful to avoid the eye of the CCG, like he was taught by his parents, primarily feeding from left over corpses and suicide victims. When he moved to the 9th ward, however, he began to hunt for his own food, mainly other predatory ghouls and undesirable humans like Yakuza or gangsters. Because of this, he has had more than a few run-ins with the CCG. In his first encounter, he was nearly killed by a young investigator as he was trapped in a series of narrow corridors, meaning he couldn't effectively use his Kagune. When he finally managed to defeat the investigator, he claimed the investigator's katana quinque as a trophy of his survival. He has since had a few more run-ins, each time resulting in either victory or a narrow escape, sometimes even collecting his defeated enemy's quinque as a token of victory.

He earns some money as a motorcycle mechanic in the 9th ward when not on campus or out hunting, and owns a 2015 Kawasaki Ninja H2R, modified to be road legal. He enjoys riding as a recreational activity and competitive (and illegal) street racing, as well as commuting between his apartment and the university or just getting around in general. He knows his way around a motorcycle like the back of his hand, having been riding and repairing since he was 17, so he can hot-wire one in an emergency, if need be.

Rating: A

Kagune: Ryuu's kagune is unusual for its type as it is an purple silver Bikaku taking the form a long blade connected to the base of his spine by a line of crystalline armoured plates covering his spine and travelling down his right arm. This blade encases his right arm and is extremely sharp able to cut though most other types of kagune with enough effort (barring Koukaku, of course). Although he can slightly change its length, the blade is usually about 6ft long and thusly unsuited to indoor fighting because of its large size.

To cover this, Ryuu collects quinques from fallen investigators. So far, he has collected two folding straight-bladed shortswords, a large dagger and a simple but very sharp katana, which is his first and primary weapon.

RC Type: Bikaku

Species: Half-Human
Age: 27
Gender: Female

Rank: Rank 1
Quinque: Rekka. A shuriken type weapon that can be used at range.

Personality: Noriko is strong of body and mind, and takes it upon herself to look after other CCG investigators, especially the junior members. She is perceived as quiet and motivated by her job, however she will open up to a choice few. The red-head is reserved and keeps her poise, thus keeping relations at a professional level. Raised with the pretense that everyone is dangerous, Noriko finds it difficult to truly trust another. Despite this upbringing, she does not live in constant paranoia, and understands that alliances are necessary.

This investigator's loyalties lie with the Commission of Counter Ghoul. Having been raised by them, she came to realize that while not all ghouls are dangerous, the CCG is designed to protect the greater good, saving countless people. As such, the CCG continues to have her support.

Biography: Being born and raised in the Sunlit Garden, Noriko was molded into a talented Ghoul Investigator.