---

NAME
Totsuka Ryusei

AGE
16 // August 16th

APPEARANCE
Height: 190.5 cm
Weight: 96 kg
Hair: Black
Eyes: Pale Blue
Genitalia: Stallion-like
PERSONALITY
⯈Aggressive
⯈Defiant
⯈Independent
⯈Melancholy
⯈Sentimental
⯈Stubborn
⯈Self-Conscious
⯈Tempestuous

LIKES
⯈Autumn
⯈Red
⯈Unagi
⯈Loyalty
⯈Sports

DISLIKES
⯈Authority
⯈Cowards
⯈Pickled Vegetables
⯈Abandonment
⯈Gossip

HISTORY
It's difficult to glean Ryusei's background by simply looking at him—indeed, few who know him today would realize he is a child of privilege. Born into a well-off family of investors from Kobe, the young man wanted for little growing up. At least, materially. The cost of the family's wealth was, as so often the case, time, something which his parents could spare precious little towards their growing child at home. Often looked after by hired help or extended family, Ryusei spent much of his young childhood seeking ways to garner his parent's valuable attention.

As is so often is the case in those scenarios, this led to him acting out. At school, or home, he would purposefully put himself at odds with the rules simply to force their hands—any attention, he came to believe, was good attention. But these fleeting moments of scorn scarcely satisfied his need for acceptance. As he grew, he came to seek his validation outside the home. Unfortunately, the world of academia was scarcely accepting of a known troublemaker, and between his tendency to lash out and the way he seemed to tower over his contemporaries after grade school, he found little in the way of companionship.

Rejected by his peers and parents alike, he quickly fell into a life of delinquency, responding in kind to the ostracism he felt. He shirked his classes, smoked and loitered, spent whole nights out with hangers-on and shady characters, and bloodied his knuckles more than once on classmates and strangers alike. His middle school career was marred by his flippant disregard for authority, and he scarcely made it into a reasonable high school in Kobe thanks to his family's influence.

It was only after another year of carelessness that his parents, finally assuming a vague form of parental responsibility, decided to intervene. They insisted that he would be turning over a new leaf, whether he wanted to or not. Instead of remaining in Kobe with his "bad influences", he would move out into the countryside, down in Kyushu, to live with his grandfather in the sleepy hamlet of Utsubyo. He would straighten Ryusei out, they claimed, and the country living would help him learn to respect himself and others.

It all fell on deaf ears. The teen saw through their fast-talking—he was making too much trouble for them, so they wanted to toss him out like trash. Put him somewhere far away, where he could be someone else's problem. But he had little choice in the matter. His transfer had already been put through, and he couldn't exactly walk out and become a bum at sixteen. So he boarded a train to Kagoshima, and began the first reluctant steps towards his new life.

ＮＡＭＥ
Sakaguchi Akari

ＡＧＥ
16 | November 2nd

ＡＰＰＥＡＲＡＮＣＥ
Akari is on the taller end of girls her own age, it’s something that’s just kind of been the reccurring trend since the latter half of elementary school.

Standing at 175 centimeters (around 5’9”) at sixteen years old makes her taller than some of the boys at Utsubyo High School, not that she particularly cares. If someone comes up to her and says “wow you’re so tall!” she’s going to deck them right in the mouth. Beyond her height the old thing that’s really distinct is her scarlet irises. Her hair is black, like so many other people. Her skin is light, but not pale; she’s played sports before, she knows how to go outside. Who in their right mind would want to lock themselves up in their house in this town? The outdoors are depressing, sure, but inside is way way worse.

ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ
Angry
Anxious
Blunt
Cynical
Distant
Impulsive
Perceptive

ＬＩＫＥＳ

• Ariyoshi Café Tea Lattes
• Being left alone
• Competitive Sports, to get the anger out
• The Great Outdoors
• Singing, to the amusement of those who find out
• Solitary Places, to get some peace and quiet

ＤＩＳＬＩＫＥＳ

• Addicts
• Annoyances
• Dishonesty
• Excuses
• Her Height, and comments on it
• Whining

ＨＩＳＴＯＲＹ
Sakaguchi Akari used to have a pretty tolerable life. Some might say it was pretty good for someone born without much money or convenience in a town like Utsubyo.

Katsurō was the definition of a laid back factory worker, and when his wife, Komako, bore twins it pretty much changed everything in their lives. They barely had prepared for one child in their two bedroom home in the cheapest part of town to live in. But the two had stuck with each other since high school and nothing would change that going forward, or at least, that’s how they felt at the time. Nonetheless, for about seven years Akari and her twin brother grew up in a stable, happy home.

When Katsurō lost his father, things began to crumble the façade the Sakaguchi’s had created. Money had gotten tighter and tighter, as the family’s patriarch it was Katsurō’s responsibility to make it work. He couldn’t. The night before he left town Akari was the last person to see him. He promised her not to worry, that everything was going to be alright. It was a lie. A terrible fiction that dug into Akari’s heart. Everything seemed to fall apart in the subsequent months, as expected from a mother who now had the shame of a coward husband and was now forced to hold two jobs. It drove her straight into a bottle of saki nearly every night. Even with help from Komako’s young brother things never seemed to adjust correctly. Akari supposes that’s why the town is said to be cursed. The perception going forward for years was Akari dipped into her hobbies. It was more than that. She started hating everyone she saw, her bright disposition turning dour and pessimistic. She grew distant from her childhood friends and found herself doing whatever she could to not be at home.

Going into high school she contemplates often and has had another growth spurt, she knows it’s the time to start preparing for the future but why should she care what the future could bring? She doesn’t have any.

---

ＮＡＭＥ
Nakano Kanna

ＡＧＥ
17

ＡＰＰＥＡＲＡＮＣＥ
158cm
45kg
Hair: Black
Eyes: Dark Blue

ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ
Inquisitive
Cheerful
Persistent
Snarky
Observant
Like really persistent
Passionate
Reckless

ＬＩＫＥＳ

• Journalism

• Hiking

• Mysteries

• Photography

• Meeting people

ＤＩＳＬＩＫＥＳ

• Dishonesty

• Slackers

• The cold and deafening enmity of an empty room please do not leave me alone

• Nattō

• Wasting time

ＨＩＳＴＯＲＹ
Born in Sendai, Kanna’s life changed at the age of ten, when her father was arrested for fraud and their family’s reputation took a nosedive into pariah status. Partly to spare them the shame, and partly because her mother could not afford their house alone, they moved back to her hometown of Utsubyo, into much more modest living conditions.

Naturally outgoing and always interested in meeting new people, Kanna wasn’t bothered by the move. She spent her first months out exploring the locales that, even to a child, were somewhat scant and lacking in mystical allure; her mother, meanwhile, took up work as a maid for homeowners in the Sakuraba Community.

It took Kanna a few years to realize people here didn’t respond so well to the sort of energy she exuded. Friends were few, but there was no shortage of people who came to know her as “meddlesome” and “nosy.” Undeterred, she dug in her heels and embraced it; Utsubyo became like a puzzle, or an archeological dig site. The people kept their secrets close to their chests, their stories were jumbled and cryptic but they were there and Kanna had the wit and persistence to uncover them.

A tampered machine at Mr. Pumpkin Panchinko. Receipts for apple seeds from Aomori prefecture in the Pic-Land dumpsters. One of the employees at Kagoshima Karaoke smelled like skunks. A disgruntled employee at the train station would occasionally mistime arrivals, and then change them later. Mr. Tatsumoto in the Sakuraba Community was having an affair with his maid. The memorial park—

Oh.

Come high school, Kanna found herself naturally drawn to the school newspaper, thrilled that her investigative nature now had academic justification behind it—even if the stories she got to work on were usually really boring, and the ones she pitched were often rejected for being invasive or “insalubrious for the school’s image.” It wasn’t just something to do, it was something she liked doing. Something that felt important. Something that made the future not seem so close and so scary.

ＮＡＭＥ
Sakaguchi "Ken" Kenzo
ＡＧＥ
16, November 2nd
ＡＰＰＥＡＲＡＮＣＥ

• 157 centimeters, about 5'2
• 46 kilograms, about 101 pounds
• Black hair
• Brown eyes
• Headband permanently fused to forehead

ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ

• Tranquil
• Sociable
• Self-confident
• Lackadaisical
• Unreliable
• Pessimistic

ＬＩＫＥＳ

• Skatboarding
• Cannibis, Methamphetamine, MDMA, LSD...
• “Working” at Kagoshima Karaoke
• Vlogging
• Partying

ＤＩＳＬＩＫＥＳ

• Being told to do things
• Confrontation
• Commitment
• Sobriety
• School

ＨＩＳＴＯＲＹ
The Sakaguchi family was never particularly wealthy. Their two-bedroom home would've been cozy with just the one child they planned on; it was positively crowded when Komako had twins. Akari and Kenzo shared everything as children: a room, a bicycle, and the memory of their father leaving shortly after their grandfather passed away. To this day they aren't sure why exactly Katsurō walked out on them. He was a fine dad, if distant and plagued by stress. Utsubyo's rumor mill had settled on him abandoning Komako for a younger woman in Kagoshima, but the truth is unlikely to ever surface.

Losing Katsurō nearly ruined the Sakaguchis. Komako was forced to pick up a second job. They had to sell a number of their possessions over the years just to make ends meet, from dad's old car to Kenzo's Pokémon card collection. Everyone in the family had their method of coping with the situation. Mom would buy a box of sake every few days. Akari threw herself into her hobbies. And Kenzo? Kenzo decided nothing really mattered to him anymore. He shirked his responsibilities at home and at school, skipped class to skateboard with the local troublemakers, and found the love of his life: psychoactive drugs.

He'll never tell you where he comes by them, but if somebody in Utsubyo needs hooked up, Ken's their boy. Friend to many and owed favors by many more, he's a well-known face around town and especially at the high school. Experience taught him how to avoid being caught. He learned how to lie, how to fail a drug test, where it was and wasn't safe to use. For all his tactics, the possibility of being caught in the act always hung over head, and the consequences would've been dire. Ken was well aware that Japan's drug laws were some of the strictest in the world.

The boy simply didn't care. The idea of being caught never bothered him. If he was caught, he'd deal with it. If they arrested him, he'd deal with it. And he'd deal with whatever happened after that, too. Problems were to be handled as they arose, big and small ones alike. No use worrying about the future when he could be enjoying the hell out of his present.

ＮＡＭＥ
Himawari Shiori
ＡＧＥ
16 | November 14th
ＡＰＰＥＡＲＡＮＣＥ

• Height: 5"4
• Weight: 120lbs
• Hair Color: Red
• Eye Color: Blue

ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ
✧ Hot headed
✧ Reclusive
✧ Thoughtful
✧ Sardonic
✧ Pensive
ＬＩＫＥＳ
✓ Having a smoke
✓ Getting into fights
✓ Cleaning
✓ Helping people
✓ Stuffed animals
ＤＩＳＬＩＫＥＳ
✕ School
✕ Exams
✕ People who don't stand up for themselves
✕ Being seen as a charity case
✕ People who try to tell her what to do
ＨＩＳＴＯＲＹ
Shiori's family has a lot of tension, coming mostly from her high-class mother marrying a low-class man and never getting used to the life. The passive-aggressiveness between the pair ended up getting directed at the kid keeping them together, resulting in a somewhat bitter upbringing. Shiori took out her frustration on her classmates, complicating the family life somewhat.

ＮＡＭＥ
Machida Yun
ＡＧＥ
16, March 3rd
ＡＰＰＥＡＲＡＮＣＥ
♆ Height: 165 cm
♆ Weight: 61 kg
♆ Hair Color: Brown
♆ Eye Color: Pale Azure

ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ
♆ Sociable
♆ Easygoing
♆ Amicable
♆ Indecisive
♆ Soft Spoken
♆ Fun-loving

ＬＩＫＥＳ
♆ Surfing & Skimboarding
♆ Tsukemen
♆ Sunsets
♆ Mobile Games
♆ Karaoke

ＤＩＳＬＩＫＥＳ
♆ Responsibility
♆ Formal wear
♆ Bugs
♆ Cold Weather
♆ Silence

ＨＩＳＴＯＲＹ
As far as he can remember, Yun's parents had always praised him for his sharp intellect as a child - apparently he even learned to talk before taking his first steps. These days though, he'd be lucky to pass the classes he deemed boring without cramming the night before an exam.

He certainly seems to still be smart as Yun still gets the occasional 優 test mark with the more common 良's and 可's on his report card. While those high marks among the mediocre scores might be a good sign for most, this is interpreted by Yun's parents as a sign that he's simply not trying enough. The frustration often expresses itself in the form of verbal tirades from his father but the laid back lad simply takes it with a stone-faced expression - or even with a slight smirk, evoking even more ire.

In a way, mister and missus Machida are correct. It all seems pointless to Yun. Not just the grades but the whole idea of putting effort into doing things. He couldn't quite place the exact moment as to when he had this revelation but it certainly was a turning point in his life. Regardless, there is just one thing he knows for certain: he's here for a good time.

"So grab your boards and let's ride those waves!"

ＮＡＭＥ
服部 紐織り
ＡＧＥ
16 | January 13th
ＡＰＰＥＡＲＡＮＣＥ

• Height: 5'2"
• Weight: 175 lbs
• Hair: Accessorized
• Clothes: Oversized

ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ
Hardworking

Trustworthy

Passionate

Impulsive

ＬＩＫＥＳ

• Sweets
• Fashion
• Housekeeping
• Sukiyaki, and hotpots in general
• Sewing
• Exercise

ＤＩＳＬＩＫＥＳ

• Ruining Clothes
• Dieting
• Fire
• Instant Food
• Lies
• Exercise

ＨＩＳＴＯＲＹ
mom works as a tailor in the city who get most of her revenue from the local school that commissions uniforms
dad is a shitter who gambles money he doesnt have and made the parents lose their house and forced to live in the tailor shop
mom keeps him in check while nuturing Himori to be better and choose better than she did
Himori grows up malnourished yet still overweight due to bad food habits and stress
goes into high school out of obligation but hopes for a big break as a fashion designer in the future