Hunter
Name: Chiba Kasumi
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Regular Appearance:Kasumi is a petite girl at 5'2", with unassuming features. Her hair is messy and black, with a bluish tint, and she ties it back while helping in her parents' cafe, but at other times leaves it loose. Her clothes tend towards the casual and comfortable. A few faded scars pepper her skin from a car accident, and she has a burn scar from a later incident with boiling water on the back of her left hand.
Transformed Appearance:Abilities: When Kasumi transforms, Bunbuku the kettle tsukumogami becomes surrounded by three floating cups, like a tea set. Combining their magic, the two can brew three kinds of tea, all with different effects.
- Green tea: This tea is imbued with healing magic, helping those who drink it recover from wounds faster.
- Ginger tea: Gives the drinker a brief boost to magical and physical strength, lasting around a minute.
- Cherry blossom tea: Fitting the renewal symbolism of spring, this tea soothes exhaustion and replenishes stamina.
In terms of offense, Kasumi and Bunbuku can create bursts of steam that cleanse corrupt energy, weakening onryo and helping to exorcise them. This also works on residual curses left behind in an area after an onryo is sent to the afterlife.
Personality: A timid and reserved girl, Kasumi nonetheless tries to be helpful. Tries a little too hard, in fact, to the point that she can go about it the wrong way. She attempts to put up an air of calm composure, but most often ends up a flustered mess.
When around those she knows well, she opens up a little, showing a more cheerful side. She has a tendency to look up to others, and view them as role models. For all her admiration, however, deep down she has envy issues. She negatively compares herself to others, imagining what they'd do in certain situations and aiming to be more like them.
History: Some people are born blessed, others not so much. Kasumi wasn't, at least not in the way she saw as a blessing. As the second child to the owners of Chiba Cafe, she watched her older sister Kaori train to be the heiress. She tried to help out in any way she could, but Kaori outshone her in her confidence and skill with the public. Kasumi had always been timid, prone to frequent nightmares, and odd moments of panic when out and about as if a threat were nearby. This got her bullied, which didn't help her self-esteem any, making her even less able to measure up to her sister.
Even so, she admired her. And was distraught when, during what was supposed to be a family outing, tragedy struck. The massive storm whipped up without warning, despite the forecast having predicted clear weather. As heavy rain and wind swept through the area, a fallen tree smashed into the car. The girls' parents only received cuts and bruises. Kasumi fared worse with a concussion and a broken arm, albeit nothing she couldn't recover from. Kaori, however, was severely wounded, later passing away in the hospital.
Kasumi had always longed for the role of heiress, but now it was hers, she no longer wanted it. It should have been Kaori's. She tried nonetheless to fill her sister's shoes. Which was far from easy with the strange sense of dread constantly hanging over her, and the random misfortunes that happened every time she helped out in the cafe. One time, she spilled scalding water all over her hand. Another time, the oven malfunctioned, causing a fire that was thankfully put out quickly, but the repairs incurred massive costs. Shortly after the cafe opened up again, a customer took a bad fall, needing to be rushed to hospital.
Feeling as if the accidents were somehow linked to her, Kasumi expressed this to her grandmother, the original owner of the cafe who had long since retired. It was survivor's guilt and self-doubt, not her fault, her grandmother reassured her. To bolster her mood, she gave Kasumi an heirloom, as a symbol that she was fit to someday run the business. Her favourite tea kettle, its spout shaped like a tanuki head. A good luck charm, she explained, representing prosperity. She didn't believe in superstition, but if nothing else, its symbolism would make it a reassuring sight.
Every time she worked, Kasumi kept the kettle with her. Drawn to it in a way she couldn't explain, she'd talk to it, voicing her frustrations. And one day, while she was preparing food alone, it spoke back. Kasumi thought she was dreaming, or losing her mind. Even more bewildering was the tanuki-kettle's claim that a spirit haunted the building. Trapped, corrupted, lashing out, causing the bad luck. And Kasumi could fight back.
It was all a great deal to take in, but with the help of the kettle-spirit, who called himself Bunbuku, she was able to slip into a parallel dimension. There, her appearance changed, her old clothes and apron becoming a green kimono adorned with metallic patches and a leaf motif. That sense of someone else's presence, rife with hate and malice, became far stronger. Swallowing down her fear, Kasumi followed it until she came face to face with the spirit. Kaori.
This wasn't the Kaori she'd known. Cracks lined her skin all over, like damaged porcelain. Seething that Kasumi had never realised how much pressure she'd been under to be the perfect heiress, how it had been slowly destroying her and in the end it had all been for nothing, she flung forth several of the shards that made up her form. A desperate Kasumi shielded herself with her arms, steam pouring from her hands and from Bunbuku's mouth, dissolving the fragments and enveloping the screaming ghost.
Horrified at what she'd done, Kasumi at first couldn't bring herself to further harm her sister. It was Bunbuku who reminded her that this was the only way to protect her family, and to bring Kaori peace. Desperately apologising that she'd been too envious to notice her plight, telling her she'd always had faith in her, Kasumi sent forth a second attack. The onryo's form crumbled and evaporated, revealing Kaori underneath, as she'd always been. Free from the corruption, she admitted she was the one who owed an apology. They shared one last hug, Kaori's arms passing right through as she faded into flickering blue wisps, which rose and flew away before vanishing from view.
Since this first battle, Kasumi has since learned from research and experience that it's likely another onryo caused the freak accident that killed Kaori. She's only been a hunter for two months, but embraces her duty, for the sake of preventing other tragedies.
Likes:- Tea
- Sweets
- Animals, especially dogs
- Relaxing music
Dislikes:- Storms
- Public speaking
- Large crowds
- Bullies
Fears:- Being separated from Bunbuku
- More misfortunes happening to loved ones
- Letting her family down
- The possibility that she may not be a good person, that her kindness may stem from a selfish desire for approval or to feel useful
Other: She likes to make her own tea blends, experimenting with flavours. Sometimes they work great, other times they turn out just plain bizarre.
Tsukumogami
Name: Bunbuku
Item: Tea kettle (morinji-no-okama)
Appearance: Bunbuku is a small cast-iron kettle, with a design based on a racoon dog. His spout is an elaborate tanuki head, much like
this. When not pretending to be inanimate, his head and tail move as if they were hinged.
Personality: A mischievous being who tries to boost people's morale with his playfulness, although is just as likely to simply annoy them. He knows when to be serious, it's just in between those moments that he acts like a puppy. Kasumi, thankfully, finds it endearing.
Other: Has a habit of floating around chasing his own tail.
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