[CHAR] Shadow Contract: A Demon-Slaying Action RP

Characters:

[Raineh Daze]

• Name: Honda Akira
• Age: 29
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: Still dresses like a junior high student. Generally gets mistaken for one, too.
• Personality: "Quiet and keeps to herself" is often the description newer co-workers will come up with, something that's hard to dispute. Akira rarely starts conversations, and doesn't seem to have many friends outside of work (if any), hanging around the office at all times of day and often falling asleep on some out-of-the-way couch in the break room. If spoken to, she's polite--if notably gloomy--and less lazy than she generally seems, helping out without a complaint when asked about the boring parts of the job.
  Her opinions towards others can actually get pretty vitriolic, although the only one who could possibly repeat this is Andrea. If demons don't have emotions, who better to vent to? Not that she'd ever admit to summoning outside of combat, that would potentially cause a lot of problems...
• Skills: She's pretty good at baking, and Akira's main contribution around the office is bringing in cookies or other desserts for people to try. Aside from that... well, if you're into mobile games, she might be useful to talk to?
• Contracted Shadow: Andrea. Her shadow doesn't seem to quite agree with 'being cast by light', it seems to have quite the mind of its own.
• Contract Type: Summon (Demon)
• Contract Rank: A
• Contract Abilities: Obviously, as a summoning contract, the only thing Akira does directly is... well, summon the demon. Despite the slender appearance, Akira has seen Andrea use those nails to cut through metal, and with enough strength to throw things around that she doesn't even have any business lifting. She's strong, fast, and has the standard demonic ability to regenerate damage and return from certain death as long as her soul is intact.
  Mostly, though, she's more noticeable for the lasers. Watching incredibly complicated magic circles--why, Akira has no idea, it's not like a normal person copying them does anything (she thinks, she's tried a few times, but they're so hard to get right)--carve themselves in bright light into the air, or outright onto a solid surface, is entrancing, and the effect is even more so. Mostly, she just fires them off in immediate, sustained salvos. But if the circle is bigger, its construction visibly longer... well, there's more time to avoid it, but the resulting beam is even more devastating. If carved into a solid object, they make for excellent traps, firing only when the demon triggers them.
• Brief Backstory: Seventeen years ago, Akira was a just another schoolgirl--kind of low down the class ranking, but she had a few friends, even if she'd much rather be lazing around at home. Like everyone else, she knew the drill--if the alerts went off, find shelter immediately, there was nothing your ordinary civilian could do against demons except run, hide, and wait for the DDF to come to the rescue. What you never knew was how useless shelters would be if a demon was able to follow your class as it made its way to hide.
  She should have died there. The DDF weren't going to arrive for another five minutes, and everyone else was already gone. What hope did she have? Maybe if she'd been a bit older, or a bit braver, or had even a slight interest in the occult, she could have made a Shadow Contract in desperation, although if Akira had done that it wouldn't really be her that was making the choice. Instead, she was saved by that most unlikely of things: another demon, seemingly more interested in going for its own kin than the terrified schoolgirl.
  Akira was weak. Terrified. Maybe if she'd been less scared, she would have noticed the offer of a contract was an offer, the demon's proud attitude dismissing her as not worth eating compared to the real meal that had just finished. Instead, she agreed, binding to herself the very thing that had upended her life.
  Her transferral to a DDF academy was immediate, the girl an outlier in her new class: not eager to fight the demons, an entirely passive participant in a fight, and her own contract one under extremely strict supervision. Aside from the obligatory 'practical exams', Akira started missing more and more classes, to the point she'd barely scrape by in a normal school, and definitely never have gotten into a high school. But the inherent utility of her contract meant she passed, so far as the DDF cared, as long as she could memorise all their rules and showed no signs of wanting to use the contract to her own ends.
  Attached to Department 247 for the past decade, Akira's deployed far less than you'd expect any A-rank contract holder to be, especially one in such an overstretched department. The DDF is always apprehensive about strengthening any demon, after all, and her contribution tends to be under strict restriction as a result.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Femboy

Name:
Kaeru Nakanishi
Age:
17
Gender:
Male
Appearance:
You'd be forgiven for mistaking Kaeru as a woman. Not out of any attempts to deceive or other impishness mind you, he simply likes being as he says 'cute and the best looking person in the room...also that most masculine clothing looks absolutely fu-ahem, really boring.', which, should incidentally, give you a little glimpse into his personality. Standing a slightly shorter than average height for men, a slender, feminine form Kaeru takes great care in his appearance. Long blond hair with lively, amber colored eyes. He takes fairly good care of his appearance and tries to always keep up with the latest fashion trends. Surprisingly, while not bulky he's got pretty good muscles under the clothes.
Personality:
A cute appearance that belies an absolutely foul mouthed little gremlin. Kaeru is a lively, energetic sort that puts his 110% into basically everything with a smile. In fact, you could say he does everything almost with too much of a smile, whether it be fighting, working, or using an incredibly colorful vocabulary to express displeasure at something, chastising someone for making fun of his appearance, or when he's using his as he says 'extremely fine legs' to beat the ever loving doughnuts out of someone. (he does try to keep his mouth in check, though)

That is to say, you'd ever rarely find Kaeru not smiling about something or just enjoying life in general. Towards other people, he takes the same, casual approach. A overly friendly, pretty foulmouthed guy. Won't stop him from occasionally teasing people or behaving like a little imp, if he thinks he'll get a giggle or reaction out of someone, though.
Skills:
Is infectious positivity a skill? If so, Kaeru has that in droves. Aside from that, he's fairly skilled with sewing, cleaning, and typical household chores. As he's trained in martial arts most of his life and youth, he's fairly skilled even for being fairly young. Often practices gymnastics alongside his martial arts.
Contracted Shadow:
Nyoko the Raiju Often taking the form of a white animal that seems to be a mix of a feline or some canine and follows Kaeru around. Rarely takes any other form, pretending to laze about. Perhaps accrediting to the legend, she's mostly harmless unless someone pisses her off.
Contract Type:
Possession
Contract Rank:
C
Contract Abilities:
As his contract is a possession type, Kaeru often is fighting on the front lines himself. Sort of, himself anyways. As Nyoko is effectively taking control of his body a bit so he can use her powers and abilities, he himself changes his appearance to be better suited to using it. Typically, he rather teasingly refers to this as his magical girl transformation sometimes.

When being possessed by Nyoko, Kaeru decidedly takes an actual feminine form. He says he doesn't mind, mostly, though it was a little weird to get used to the bodies new weight during practice. Nyoko also takes a bit more of an influence on his personality the more power he's able to use. Sometimes it can get a little questionable whose in control when.

As far as abilities goes, Kaeru's strength and agility increases to superhuman levels, able to leap near instantaneously from place to place, leaving nothing more than a crackle of lightning in their wake. They've also managed to infuse their blows with lightning, as well as able to manipulate and project electricity in a short range around them. Aside from this, though, they don't have much in the way of versatility. The two of them simply do one thing, and one thing well. Hit extremely fast, and extremely hard.

Brief Backstory:
Kaeru has had a somewhat uninteresting background, by his count. A father that was incredibly strict growing up that was heavily into martial arts, and a workaholic mother. His father, desperately wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, and growing up it seemed, initially at least this might be something that Kaeru wasn't initially suited for. A somewhat skinny build that lacked muscles, and what could be considered an feminine appearance, it didn't seem like he would.

So it came as a surprise and relief when Kaeru ended up taking to Martial arts, and seemingly enjoying them as much as he did, taking to them quite quickly and much quicker than some of his fathers most skilled students when he actually put his mind to it.

So he'd grow up, eventually becoming a fairly skilled martial artist, and taking up helping his father out at the gym and dojo as a receptionist and also the guy who tests new members that wanted to be trained by his father. (Ignore the fact he's got something of a fanclub among the members). How he met Nyoko is something of a comedy routine more than anything serious.

It was a particularly stormy day, a demonic alert had just ended, dying down and the threat dealt with. Kaeru, having been unable to make it to the shelter in time as he had been rushing home in the pouring down rain and thunder. It was here, he noticed an odd animal, something he couldn't quite tell if it was a dog or cat just casually napping out in the rain, not a care in the world. A little curious and also thinking it might be a trap...but he took it home anyways. How could he leave a little thing like that out in the storm?

Well, next morning he woke up with a rather busty woman cuddling him. After some initial shock she introduced herself as a Raiju and as thanks for taking her in when she was lost, hungry, alone, and cold, she was giving him part of her power. She thus, proceeded to make herself at home and laze around and that they were now bound. Effectively, she was possessing him and there was nothing he could do about it. As long as she got food and shelter, she seemed reasonable enough. A slightly bemused Kaeru merely accepted this, and joined the DDF shortly after. why not fight demons if he could, right? Might as well challenge his fighting ability against bigger foes. Nyoko had to make it clear though, she wasn't going to be doing any of the fighting herself.

[RolePlayerRoxas]

Fox contained inside

• Name: Kubo Emi
• Age: 20
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: Fun time is literally never
• Personality:
  Strict, sharp and seemingly an ardent supporter of 'no fun allowed', Emi is the type that will not tolerate anything she deems as tomfoolery on the job; they have a serious role to play, and screwing around is nothing but a distraction, and a massive threat to everyone's safety. It may not make her the most popular coworker, but she can take a little animosity, if it means ensuring someone pays proper attention to their surroundings. During deployments, too, she'll often remind everyone to keep to formation, don't try any heroics, and never disobey a superior's command. Not that Emi's been in a position to really
  
  During her off-time, Emi claims to be a lot more relaxed, though it's still rare to see her crack a smile, and she'll certainly still lecture any coworker foolish enough to invite her to drink - what if they were called into an emergency during a bar crawl?! Basically she's tough to hang out with, even when Emi tries to be a little more lenient, she's just far too used to being a nag. At the very least, Emi has a deep love for all things adorable. In contrast to her bland, orderly work station, her room is almost impossible to navigate, thanks to all the plushies and pillows she's collected. She doesn't mean to keep her fondness of cuteness a secret, it's just highly unlikely to get brought up much, given Emi's probably reminding you once again to stop slacking off when you could be called into action immediately.

• Skills:
  As far as work is concerned, she's pretty good at the administrative tasks, organising data, timetables and the like for the branch... as well as tracking to the second how much one's went over their allotted break times.

• Contracted Shadow: Shirokami, the Nine-tailed fox
• Contract Type: Possession
• Contract Rank: C
• Contract Abilities:
  When possessed, Emi's dark hair becomes a brilliant white, forming a thick, fluffy, white fox tail as well, and sharpening her nails into claws. At present, Emi has been granted access to 'three tails worth' of power from her Contract (though Emi only has one tail, it gets much more volumous with more power earned from Shirokami's judgment). As such, she's quite lacking in raw power, though her techniques lend her some versatility in combat, allowing her to support a team in almost any capacity that isn't heavy-hitting.
  
  
  • Foxfire: The bread and butter of Emi's abilities, allowing her to throw fiery projectiles at opponents, or concentrate the mystical blue flames into the tips of her claws, enhancing her cutting power even further.
  • Shapeshifting: Not so much a transformation of Emi's appearance, but a way to weaponise her tail, allowing her to harden the fur at will, and manipulate her tail's shape and appearance, often in the form of a shield she can quickly produce before her, though if necessary it can make for a nice club, too. As Emi gains access to more tails, the scope of her 'shapeshifting' increases as well.
  • Fox Shadows: A technique that allows Emi to summon fleeting clones of herself to confuse enemies. At her current level, they are no more than mere appiritions, swept aside rather easily, but can hopefully serve their role of misdirection. She can utilise two clones at present, with the number increasing with each tail, as well as their strength.

• Brief Backstory:
  Hailing from the countryside, one could say her childhood was relatively uneventful. Demon attacks to their quiet part of the world seemed an impossibility, and even if there was danger... well, surely the DDF would arrive in time to save them, right? And on top of that, her older brother, Katsuro, was a member of them too, and he was super strong and awesome, so if he were visiting home, it was safer than safe! So until Emi's early teens, she was quite the cheerful, carefree kid with nary a worry to consider.
  
  In a stroke of bad luck, when Eri and her friends had been listlessly wandering the outskirts of their town to pass the time, disaster finally struck. A demon had arrived - a Devil class. From Emi's recollection, there was just a sudden, explosive force from within her town, and the rising crescendo of panicked yelling, soon followed by fleeing residents. Emi found herself running towards' the disturbance, her home was on the other side of the small town after all, and Katsuro was visiting home. He would definitely take care of whatever had happened.
  
  Indeed, he had immediately engaged the monster in battle, fiercely defending his home from the demon. Coming across their battle, Emi watched from what she believed to be a safe spot, witnessing just how powerful her brother was... and how utterly frightening a Devil-class demon could be, even for an A-rank like him. Transformed into a fox-like creature, he valiantly fought the demon, even when it became clear to Emi that he was losing ground with each passing moment. All she wanted to do was cheer Katsuro on, assure him that he would win, no matter what. Her cry, meant to rally him, only served to give the demon an easy target instead.
  
  In a flash, the devil had thrown something towards Emi's position, some sort of magic blast. Stricken with fear, all Emi could do was watch her impending death... until her view was blocked by her brother, taking the hit for her. And then, before he could recover from the hit... the devil's arm had pierced him. Emi's memories are a little hazy, given she passed out not long afterward, but was able to corroborate that, while the devil believed itself to be the victor, Katsuro had unleashed one final strike to the off-guard monster, injuring it enough to flee the scene. Reinforcements from the DDF arrived soon afterward, but it was too late to save him from his grevious injury.
  
  Ultimately, casualties were relatively low, given the small population, though plenty were injured and traumatised from the experience. Emi especially, having blamed herself for getting in the way, forcing her brother to sacrifice himself for an idiot like her. After his funeral, DDF personnel visited Emi and her parents to offer their condolences - accompanied by a mysterious, fox-eared woman. This youkai, a nine-tailed fox, had been the one her brother made a Contract with, and now she was offering the same contract to Emi.
  
  Emi had a lot of mixed feelings about it, and even in the present day, she doesn't really get along with Shirokami, but the young girl had coem to a decision: She wasn't going to be a bystander, leading brave fighters to their death. Her mistake robbed the world of a sorely-needed hero, it was her duty to replace him. It's been a struggle for Emi, who seemed totally incompatible with the contracted fox spirit, and possessing nowhere near the same level of power or finesse that Katsuro had, but Emi has stuck with the DDF, determined to do what she can.

[Quartz]

Natsumi Fujikawa

Age: 25

Gender: Female

Appearance
Natsumi is a young Japanese woman with long red hair (formerly black) and brown eyes. She stands at 160 cm and has a slender, feminine build. In everyday life, she wears fairly mundane clothing, though she likes to put in some effort to look nice. When on the job with the DDF, she wears a fire-resistant black bodysuit.
Image by Miura-n315

Personality
Natsumi is a kind, polite, and reserved girl. She is diligent and thoughtful, but nervous under pressure. She likes to be social and make friends with her co-workers, but she isn’t all that good at carrying a conversation. What she lacks in confidence, she does make up for in loyalty and supportiveness. In her free time, she likes to read a variety of books, from fantasy to educational. (She’s not above smutty romance novels, though she’ll try to deny it.) She also enjoys challenging video games, though she feels a bit shy about that supposedly unfeminine activity.

Skills
Natsumi is generally sharp and analytical, if given enough space to think things over. She has a degree in chemistry and possesses a bunch of other random knowledge from books she’s read. She’s also pretty good at action games, though that doesn’t tend to translate to real life fighting skill.

Contracted Shadow: Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird
Suzaku is a nature spirit native to the lands of East Asia, representing fire, summer, and the south. Being a primal spirit, it doesn’t speak but communicates directly into Natsumi’s mind with abstract emotions and intuitions. She doesn’t fully understand its thoughts and desires, but one thing it definitely wants is to burn away the unholy taint of the demons.
Image by Genzoman

Contract Type: Possession

Contract Rank: B

Contract Abilities
In her normal form, Natsumi has a minor resistance to heat, able to touch boiling water or a hot pan without pain or injury. When possessed by Suzaku, her eyes glow and her hair turns into semi-solid fire, retaining the same volume but dancing around like flames. Her fiery hair burns things on contact, but is fairly weak by default. While in this state, she becomes immune to mundane fire (up to ~1200 °C). This resistance doesn’t extend to her clothes, so she wears a special fire-resistant suit while on the job.

While possessed, she can generate fire from any part of her body. She primarily conjures it from her hands as a form of attack, creating large jets of red flame that can rapidly burn wood and flesh. By creating small but powerful jets of fire from her hands and feet, she can propel herself to fly at high speed. The boots of her battle outfit have many small holes in the soles to facilitate this. She can also empower her fiery hair, turning it hotter and elongating it up to a few meters in length, then controlling it like a burning whip for close-range combat.

The fire she creates is to some extent tied to her emotions. When overcome with powerful emotion, she can generate larger flames more quickly. She is aware of this effect, but because she is naturally quite reserved and timid, she hasn’t made much use of it and doesn’t know the full extent to which it could empower her.

Lastly, she can choose to concentrate her fire into smaller blue flames that burn at up to 2000 °C, capable of melting steel. However, her heat resistance doesn’t reach that high, so those flames will burn her at a similar rate that normal fire would burn a normal human. She has experimented with this ability in a controlled environment, but has never used it in battle.

Brief Backstory
Natsumi had a fairly normal childhood in Tokyo. She was a gifted child who did well at school and soon developed quite a high opinion of her academic talents. Like many, she was raised with the Shinto religion, but she wasn’t very devout, instead favouring the empirical. After high school, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. She intended to follow up with a master’s after that, but things panned out very differently.

One day, a demon appeared while Natsumi was out in the city. Although it was only a Beast-class, the DDF was not yet on the scene, leading to a panic. While others scattered and fled, Natsumi was paralyzed with indecision until it was too late. Once the demon was in view, running away would only alert it, so she hid instead, with little success. Feeling helpless and betrayed by her supposed intellect, she desperately prayed to any kami who might be listening to save her. For reasons she still doesn’t quite understand, Suzaku answered her call, initiating a shadow contract. In a blur of emotion, she incinerated the attacking demon. When the DDF arrived shortly after, they found her stunned and confused, with most of her clothes burned away.

Once brought to safety, she realised that her hair had been permanently turned red by the contract. The DDF explained what had happened to her and offered to enrol her in their academy. She was initially reluctant, arguing that she wasn’t a fighter and shouldn’t be trusted with superpowers. But she ultimately agreed for the greater good.

[Emeth]

• Name: Federica Simonova (Nickname: Rika)
• Age: 23
• Gender: Female
  
• Personality: Willfully accepting the "weird and loud" foreigner stereotype, she makes zero effort to hide her Russian accent, securing her role as the oddball of the group. She likes to think that binding herself to this role lets other, shier people feel more free to express themselves a little more. Breaking the ice with extreme prejudice, she wears a smile that could melt the ice caps, lives to spite the concept of personal space, and makes it her mission to make others smile, or even better, laugh. She can't resist the call to help others in need; she's the type to buy a sweater for a friend just because they said they were cold. Though she dislikes conflict, especially between friends, she is no pacifist; she has a strong sense of justice and difficulty holding her tongue about it. Firmly believes the old proverb that the fastest way to a person's heart is through the stomach. Loves giving food and receiving food—preferably sweets. A bit openly jaded about romance—and secretly a cynical person in general, though few would ever suspect it.
• Skills: A beautician by trade, occasionally dabbling in embroidery. Played basketball and did judo in high school, but can no longer do either. Loves cooking and running (and when no one is looking, DDR). Quick on her feet and has lots of stamina and endurance. Decidedly not muscular, but thanks to her Shadow Contract, she's far more durable than her frail-looking frame would suggest.
• Contracted Shadow: Azazel, the Scapegoat
• Contract Type: Possession
• Contract Rank: B
• Contract Ability - Chôshek Rethuqah (Chains of Darkness):

"Bind Azazel hand and foot and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert – which is in Dudael – and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there forever, and cover his face that he may not see light. The whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin."

The Book of Enoch

Me'od: By possession of Azazel, Rika's body gains a modest increase in her general combat capability, but the biggest change to highlight is her endurance. She can take a lot of punishment, and use her other skills to dish some of that right back. The state of mind brought upon her during it also dulls her emotions and facial expressions, making it easier to blend in with her summoned decoy dolls.

Semikhah: By laying her hand on an ally, Rika can heal their injures and remove maladies from them, turning them into a curse engraved on her hand. This curse can then be placed by her summoned spirit hand onto enemies, who will then suffer instead. If she does not do this quickly enough, Rika will instead suffer a lesser version of her ally's former injury or malady. She can also heal herself, but if she fails to pass the curse along, her condition will instead get worse every time.

Yad Châshab: Rika can summon a forearm-shaped protrusion of spiritual energy from her left arm. It can vary in size and length to grapple with enemies, place curses on them, and do anything else a giant fist should be able to do, like use an oil barrel as a stand-in for a roll of quarters, and pound cars into scrap. It also comes adorned with black chains, with jagged rocks stuck in its links. These can be used to whip, bind, or constrict enemies until death.

Azazel: Summons autonomous, sacrificial decoy dolls of Rika or any of her other allies that might be targeted. When the decoys are attacked, they explode, dealing heavy damage to their attacker, and negligible damage to Rika. Multiple dolls can be summoned, but as more of the same type are summoned, the less convincing they become. The tactic remains extremely effective against large crowds of unintelligent Beasts.

• Brief Backstory:
  Grew up in an under-served area of Tokyo, populated mostly by foreigners like her. This is the cause attributed to the tragedy that took place there. A Devil appeared at the same time that a Titan had appeared in Shibuya, headed towards Aoyama—in the opposite direction of her home. Both were accompanied by scores of Beasts for minions—the local DDF simply didn't have the resources to manage both disasters, and gave it their all to stop the one. Many of Rika's friends and neighbors would die in the ensuing chaos. Rika used everything she had available to defend herself and her mother: a crowbar, the fire extinguisher—and a desperate gambit with a propane tank—but it was all very nearly useless. Her mother would barely survive and spend the rest of her life bound to a wheelchair. Rika herself was hospitalized, losing an arm to the propane explosion, partial movement of her other hand to nerve damage, and spent four days in a coma.
  
  

  ---

  
  During her slumber, many beings would visit her in her dreams, drawn by the desperate fury that still lingered in her mind, knowing that help had never come, and that Devil that had destroyed her life had gotten away with it. Believing falsely that she was at death's door, she would refuse them all; she wouldn't make a deal with a Devil. However, one creature would catch her eye—one bound in chains of darkness—the fallen angel, Azazel. As Rika's life flashed before her eyes, the angel watched, and had pity. All the days of her life, she had been a scapegoat; the weird, shy girl everyone made jokes about, the punching bag of the school bullies, the token Russian girl at the workplace mixer—and now, on what could have been her deathbed, a sacrifice to save her mother.
  
  "Does your compassion for these undeserving creatures have no end?" Azazel would ask her. "Why have you done all of this?"
  
  Rika shrugged. She had no good answer to the angel's question. "The way I was raised, I suppose."
  
  "Ah. Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22 I believe."
  
  "I don't suppose demons quote scripture much, do they? Fine, I'll bite. What did you do to end up like this?"
  
  "I married a human woman," Azazel said simply.
  
  "Oh," Rika replied, nonplussed. "Kinda seems like disproportionate retribution."
  
  "On this, we can agree—and relate. Your fate, too, is undeserved. I shall preserve your life. You require a hand, and power to destroy your enemies. I will give you both. Only this will I require in return: you shall be my eyes, that I might see the world once more."
  
  

  ---

  
  When next she woke up, Rika learned the full extent of the damage to her body. She tried to move her hand, to reach for a nearby glass of water, but couldn't quite get it to work. The feeble grasping motion she was able to do wasn't enough to confidently hold it. Her other arm was gone from the elbow down. Her other arm, though, was able to lift the much-needed water to her lips.
  
  "Pffpptt!" Rika coughed, as the grogginess lifted and the whole "third arm" thing settled in her mind.
  
  Later that day, Rika would learn of the carnage left behind by the Devil—who died, and what happened to survivors like her—but she refused to be broken by the news. Unlike her mother, she could still walk—at least, that's how she thought at first. It would take months for her body to heal, and additional weeks of physical therapy before she could actually do it. She pushed through, with just one thing on her mind. "I'll kill them... I'll kill them all," she'd tell herself as she struggled, from hospital bed to shower and back again, relying on her phantom limb only to save herself from falling, in the hopes of regaining the use of her legs as soon as possible. She refused a prosthetic arm, for the simple practical reason of not really needing one, and not wanting to have to remove and clean it all the time just to look a bit more "normal." She was a foreigner living in Japan; how "normal" could she be?
  
  The local DDF had been informed of her new abilities, and almost as soon as she was discharged from the hospital, they offered Rika a job with them—but she refused. Unwilling to trust the DDF, believing that their negligence was responsible for what happened to her life and community, she hunted demons on her own for a few years, looking for the Devil that destroyed her home. The understaffed local branch was, approximately, happy to have her unofficial assistance in covering the area, but the locals who witnessed her work firsthand were a bit more notably unenthusiastic about the creepy girl with the bloody spirit-hand and exploding dolls. Some said her presence there was just one more reason why the DDF wouldn't come to help them, if such a thing ever happened again. A few encouraged her, but not enough to drown out the negative voices. Despite the lack of appreciation, she continued her hunt for the Devil. In the end, it hardly mattered. Her final solo mission was a botched job involving several Monsters that resulted in significant damage to the district's infrastructure, and would have cost her life if the DDF hadn't shown up to save her from succumbing to her injuries after the fact. The DDF then offered her a choice: join them, and be trained properly, or be forced to stop. She still hasn't found the Devil who killed her friends, so she chose to join.

[LuckyBlackCat]

Draconic Magical Girl

• Name: Hamasaki Kaida
• Age: 24
• Gender: Female
• Appearance:
  
• Personality: It's difficult to imagine that this brash and lively young woman was ever a shrine maiden. She often butts heads with the stricter members of the DDF, wanting to do things her own way. At times this can be useful, as it means she's good at thinking outside of the box, but at others it lands her in trouble. If someone's acting uptight, she'll try to break through their shell with jokes and a playful attitude, which more often than not has the opposite effect. Despite her seemingly childish tendencies, at heart she's an idealist who takes her role seriously, and just wants to bring as much positivity into a hellish world as possible.
  
  What she doesn't admit, even to herself, is that she's something of a perfectionist due to how she was raised. She hates the thought of letting anyone down in any major way. With lives on the line, this is understandable, but it extends to anything she perceives as failing others, right down to putting up a less-than-stellar ritual dance routine as she thinks it dishonours the gods, despite her contracted kami's reassurances to the contrary. She knows it's hypocritical because she doesn't like uptightness, but it's a tough habit to break.

• Skills: Kaida is skilled at dancing, having participated in several kagura dance rituals, which translates to a graceful fighting style. She's also a strong swimmer, even while not possessed. Good at playing the flute, specifically the kagura-bue (bamboo flute used in Shinto music) - while this may not help with DDF work, it helps her calm down after stressful missions, and she sees it as honouring the gods.
• Contracted Shadow: Kazemi the Dragon. Calm and level-headed in contrast to her host, she gives advice that Kaida doesn't always listen to. If you manage to piss her off, however, for example by harming her comrades... Well, let's just hope for your sake that you don't.
• Contract Type: Possession
• Contract Rank: B
• Contract Abilities: When in regular form, she has minor cold resistance, able to swim outside or wear summer clothes in midwinter without suffering. While fused with Kazemi, Kaida's appearance changes drastically, with silver-blue skin, a tail, fins, gills and horns. Whatever she's wearing turns into her battle outfit, for ease of movement. (Unlike in the picture, the bodice has a low back to it, the skirt is slightly longer, and she has shorts underneath with a hole for her tail - no pantyshots while flying, sorry pervs ;P) Her passive abilities consist of resistance to extreme cold, underwater breathing, and enhanced agility/flexibility.
  
  Her active abilities, since they come from a sea dragon, centre around water and wind. She can pull water from the air or other nearby non-living sources, and create powerful jets with it. Kazemi's blessing gives it a holy water effect - contact with it weakens demons, but slowly heals the wounds of other beings (the latter won't work on allies possessed by demons). As for wind manipulation, she can use it to knock back several enemies at once with fierce gusts, and fly short distances.
  
  Lastly, she can combine the two to put walls of fog in front of/around enemies to obscure their vision. The fog has a more "diluted" version of the blessing and acts as a mild demon repellent, but sufficiently strong enemies can brush it off as a mild inconvenience.

• Brief Backstory: Born into a traditionalist family living near Tokyo Bay, Kaida was expected to serve the local shrine as her parents did. "People need faith and hope," her mother would say as the news reported more and more demon attacks. The other reason was they wanted her to be the ideal daughter. Perfect grades, perfect graces, perfect representation of their values. And if she fell short, they'd let her know. As a teen, Kaida quickly gave up trying to fit such a narrow mold. If life was so short, shouldn't she make the best of it? She reluctantly did her miko duties whenever she had to, but the rest of the time, she'd goof off and hang out with friends.
  
  Until one day, when Kaida was 17, a demon attack broke out in her neighbourhood. All Kaida could think to do was run to the shrine and beg the kami to help her protect her friends and family. To her surprise, the kami responded in her head, offering to make a shadow contract. Desperate, Kaida accepted, and her body morphed into a new form as the dragon spirit fused with her. With the dragon's guidance in her mind, she was able to fend off beast-class demons long enough for the DDF to arrive.
  
  She joined the DDF shortly afterwards, training and battling her way up the ranks, although her issues with the organisation's military-like discipline became an obstacle, too uncomfortably close to her upbringing. Even so, she realised her parents were right about something - people did need hope. And she's dedicated to helping the DDF bring that hope about.

[Sanity43217]

Tommy Janjiro

Name: Tommy Janjiro
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Appearance:

Personality: Tommy Janjiro has been at this too long in his eyes. Having watched his friends die, Tommy has become jaded to the DDF. He’s at a weird point in his life where he doesn’t believe the DDF can actually achieve anything doing what they are doing, since there will always be demons unless something changes, yet he can’t just stand by and let people get hurt.

Despite being a grumpy individual who tells people he doesn’t care, he really does. There’s a part of him that remembers what it was like to be a little kid looking up to the DDF as the defenders of humanity. He remembers the hope those DDF members inspired in him, and if he can instil that hope into the next generation of DDF agents, he could die happy.

Behind closed doors, Tommy Janjiro had made it clear to his supervisors that he thinks the DDF is run incorrectly. While CADI may react quickly to demonic threats, and Tommy believes they are always one step behind. Tommy believes that the DDF needs to spend more resources on becoming more proactive instead of reactive.

While not at work, Tommy can be found either enjoying a nice red wine in his apartment. Often with a book on the Occult, studying theological texts and theories. Or found in his workshop. Tinkering with something.
Skills: Tommy has been in business a long time. As such he has the skills one would expect. A decent marksman and demon Hunter.
Tommy is also quite good at taking things apart and putting them back together. Constantly looking to keep his hands busy, Tommy has picked up odd craftsman skills like whittling and metal working. Most notably, he has learned how to create bullets, and has the necessary tools in his workshop to facilitate this hobby. Which has proven very useful since he modifies his own ammunition.
Contracted Shadow: Dracula, Lord of Vampires
Contract Type: Possession
Contract Rank: B
Contract Abilities:

• Prince of Darkness - Possessing this particular aspect of Dracula, Prince of Darkness has given Tommy the ability to manipulate a dark smoke like substance. These shadows can gain substance or remain fluid like smoke. This smoke like power is stronger in the dark, and weaker in sunlight.
• Vlad the Impaler - This particular ability doesn’t do much on its own. After his blood comes in contact with demonic energy, Tommy can cause the blood the blood to grow into a crimson crystalline spear. While slicing his hand open can equip Tommy with a makeshift spear, the real devastating application comes from Tommy putting his blood in bullets. Creating these impaling spears within demons. This particular ability is a form of blood alchemy and is one of the few abilities that doesn’t weaken during the day.
• Vampire King - As one would expect from making a contract with the Vampire King, Tommy has gained a form of Vampirism. While he does possess the enhanced strength, speed and other signature abilities, drawing his power from the greatest vampire has given him a few extra benefits. Unlike normal vampires, sunlight isn’t lethal, but it does weaken his abilities significantly. However, he still needs to be invited in to residential areas due to his contract. Another side effect of his contract is that he must consume human blood. A condition that the DDF helps him fulfil by supplying him with blood bags from the local hospital.

Brief Backstory: Tommy Janjiro was born to an American woman teaching English in Japan and a Japanese executive. His Father had hired his mother to teach him English so he could expand his business to the west.
His mother stopped working to raise Tommy, but his Father was making enough money that it wasn’t a problem.
When Tommy was eight, his family was attacked by a Nure-Onna while on a family trip to the coast. The Nure-Onna killed Tommy’s mother. During the incident Tommy was carried from the scene by his Father while he looked back at the DDF agents and couldn’t help but think how brave they were. Jumping into harm’s way to save others, and vowed one day to be like them.
After the incident where he lost his mother, Tommy was sent to boarding school by his father. Tommy kept trying to make sense of what happened that fateful day. His Father was of little help as he didn’t want to talk about it. Struggling with the concept of faith, he found himself walking the school grounds one day. He made a good friend. Leon.

One day Leon and Tommy ventured off the campus grounds, and went exploring the nearby forest. Before Tommy knew what was going on, Leon was attacked by a Jubokko. The vampiric tree spirit killed his best friend. Tommy ran back to the school to ask for help, but no one believed him for three days. After Leon wasn’t seen for three days, Tommy’s cries were finally given credit and a search party was sent out.

After losing two people who he was close to, before he reached the age of eighteen, to hematophagic demons made Tommy obsessed with finding a way to stop them. He spent years distancing himself from his father as he studied demonology, and found a way to forge a Shadow Contract with arguably the most powerful Hematophagic Demon, Dracula.
After forging the Shadow contract and joining the DDF, he came out of his shell. Achieving his childhood dream. He didn’t expect to lose many friends over his career. Moving branch every time his team suffered a large catastrophe and had to rebuild.

Prior to his Tokyo posting, he had a small rural job. He thought it would be the one where he could settle down. However a wolf demon tore through and killed two of the three DDF agents that were stationed there. As the only survivor, he stayed just long enough for replacements to be found before transferring to Tokyo.

The reason he wasn’t around during the start of the RP is that he was away at an international DDF conference.