Age: 17
Appearance:
Personality:
Kei is a restless young man. Always ever so calm in mannerism and expression, he emits a presence of warm self-esteem and compassionate reliance. On the inside however, Kei is anything but calm. While he does have a well-established feeling of self-worth and a sense of caring for others, he feels a never ending restlessness in his heart. No matter where he is, how far he has traveled or how many places he has been to, every fiber of his being seems to tell him he hast to be somewhere else. To the outside observer it would seem he was a little distant from time to time, distracted even, gazing off into the sky or the sunset. In truth it is his silent longing for something he can't discern himself. There is no question and no answer, only the search for both, the never ending search that seems to have no purpose and no goal.
On a more daily basis, Kei is what seems to be a nice, if slightly odd guy. Absent minded and a little dorky in social situations, he is the kind of guy who looks reliable and who you’d like to spend some calm quality time with. His tendency to hang around without saying or doing much most of the time makes him an ideal companion for both very talkative people who like to fill someone with their words they need to get out, or very quiet, introvert or shy people who need someone to spend time with in relaxed silence. Either way, Kei seems like the kind of guy most people will like to hang around with, even if he has certain tendencies towards… weirdness. Paradoxically, he has very few close friends, as his fading presence usually leaves little more than a warm impression and a feeling of "he's a nice guy... but I can't quite grasp him". Giving off little facial expression, his visage is usually inhabited by a calm look and the most prominent visitor on his face is a lax smile sometimes accompanied by a slightly raised or furrowed brow. It is not, however, that Kei is without expression. It’s just that his face is not the one doing the expressing. If he is feeling talkative for instances, Kei has a very distinct tendency to babble. This does not mean that he’ll be any less deadpan, just that words are going to surge out of his mouth non-stop. On other occasions he might express what he is thinking or feeling in different, unique and mostly quite curious ways.
With a distinctively geeky streak, Kei is a fan of anything nerdy from computer games over cartoons and movies to obscure music bands. As such references to the things he likes will oftentimes escape his lips, to either the amusement or bemusement of his peers. Kei has been playing the drums since he was twelve years old and was part of the band club during high school. This, together with his sporadic visits of a drawing class, lead to him having a solid social circle he’d surround himself with. Yet Kei always felt out of place, like he couldn’t really grasp the people he’d gotten close to. Being a bit of a drifting soul, Kei would often hang around by himself in all kinds of places in and out of town. On his favorite spots he’d often sit down comfortably, put on his headphones and begin drawing sketches of whatever caught his interest in his surroundings. The fact that his drawing skills are nil does by no means keep him from doing so.
Kei is a child of chance. With a firm belief in the fact that “everything will work out somehow”, Kei will seldom take action to stir things his way, yet everything always somehow seems to fall in place in his favor.* He does not believe that there is anything supernatural such as ghosts, demons or a god, but he has a notion that something like fate has to exist.
Kei's headphones are his constant companions. Wearing them around his neck at any time, be it casual or business, they never seem to leave his side, though it remains a constant mystery if he ever actually listens to music on them, as no eye witness accounts can be made of him putting them over his ears. In truth, Kei simply doesn't listen to music whenever people are around, as he believes it to be rude. What he actually listens to with his earphones on the occasions he uses them is not music, but calm, relaxing sounds such as the splashing of waves on the beach with seagulls in the background, or the rippling noise of rain on different surfaces underplayed by distant thunder. Noises like these are the only things that seem to calm his inner restlessness a little, if only for a very short time.
Back story:
Kei, as his name already implies, is a child of Japan. His family owns a little house in the vast sea of urban Tokyo and Kei has spent his childhood years there. Growing up in a calm neighborhood, Kei’s life has been anything but exciting so far. The neighborhood he lives in is decent, if a little on the low income side, but his parents always made do. His father has a middle management desk job and his mother is a housewife. During his high school years Kei found one or two friends, whom he grew close with, but even they failed to truly grasp the otherworldly presence that is Kei. Kei used to be bullied when he was younger - mostly by people he talked to about his inner restlessness and his search for something he couldn't name. As children are when they can't understand another child, they picked on him for saying weird things and ostracized him. This is probably the reason for Kei’s slightly distant attitude. Some particularly hurtful events left him with a few emotional scars that add to his tendency of not making close friends and creates a reflexive barrier between him and other people that is difficult to breach.
Knowing about their sons indiscernible yet very real constant drive to be somewhere else, Kei’s parents always found the money to travel far and wide across the country, though they could never afford going abroad. No matter how much of Japan he saw however, the discontent in Kei’s heart never vanished, and so he hoped he would find what he was looking for if he set foot in that mysterious train.
What did you wish for?:
“I’d wish I had a wish”
All his life Kei has been looking for something, but he could never put his finger on what it was. He would always be searching, never finding. The train showed Kei a glimpse of what it was he was looking for in the form of a golden feathered bird.
Extra:
Might as well give ya all the list I jotted down when the image of Kei started forming in my mind
- Restless. Searching for something he can’t name
- Child of chance. Always relies on his luck. Mostly successfully
- Heads in the clouds
- Calm. Prone to sudden bursts of emotions
- Nice and smiles. Watch out for his frown
- Just a bit odd at times
- Sociable. Likes people, even if they don’t like him
- Tends to babble. Mostly to himself. Refer to: Just a bit odd at times
- Loading screen. Sluggish by choice. Not slow witted though
- Geeky. Frequent cultural references. Refer to: Just a bit odd at times
- Inner World. Lots going on in there, little is reflected
- Did I mention he might act a little… curious from time to time?
*[Note about the chance part: I’m not planning on godmoding him through “luck” or having him be a motionless jerk who waits for things to fall in place for him. I just thought it might make for some fun opportunities of him being a lucky bastard sometimes/somewhere in the RP =3]