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INFO.
STATISTICS
Fujiwara Hibiki
FULL NAME
23
AGE
July 25
BIRTHDAY
Half-Human/Siren
SPECIES
158cm / 5'1"
HEIGHT
Petite frame, dancer's build
BUILD
Blue-gray
EYE COLOR
Blonde
HAIR COLOR
Maaya Sakamoto / Erica Lindbeck
VOICE
PERSONALITY
Hibiki has no reason to be as upbeat (see: sometimes to an unhealthy degree) as she is. Despite having ample reason to curse the world, to close herself in, she makes it a point to approach life with a smile, and with seemingly boundless CURIOSITY and wonder. Her life has been difficult from the start, but she does everything that she can to greet every day that she can with POSITIVITY. On the outside, at any rate. But we'll get to that later.
Raised without a father (he was never a part of her life, and he will never be a part as far as she's concerned), it was always just Hibiki and her mom. Developing a deep-seeded PROTECTIVE streak, especially as Mayuri's mental health seemed to decline, she had to grow up quickly to make up for a fractured household. With her mother being very overbearing to the point of paranoia when it came to Hibiki, she had few friends growing up. She wears it well, but that LONELINESS never quite went away, even when she was able to take time out to see what few friends she had.
She is a performer in every sense of the world. Hibiki will always wear the biggest smile, go out of her way to crack a joke or clear the air in any difficult situation. And like a performer, she has learned how to DETACH herself from what she is feeling in the moment, driving any and all emotion into the ground until it stops being a problem. Even when she was bullied as a child for her unclear lineage ("A child of an affair;" "Daughter of some foreign diplomat;" "That's what happens when your mother does that kind of work"), she would GRIN AND BEAR IT. Yep, that's exactly what she was. A kid who would never know her father, who knew next to nothing about him--or about herself. If she can make jokes about it at her own expense, then all the better. At least then she can take that badge of shame back.
And here we have Hibiki's greatest strength, as well as her greatest weakness. She doesn't consider herself most times when other people are involved. Blowing past being a people-pleaser, she is SELF-SACRIFICING to an unhealthy degree. Insanely observant despite her bubbly and, at times, ditzy and naïve persona, she will take notice of things and has an impeccable memory. This doesn't just extend to her surroundings, but the people she surrounds herself with. She will NOTICE even the smallest things about a person, a place or a situation. Most of the time, this translates into ways that she shows she cares. Small favors, gifts and the like are her love language, and she will take every opportunity to show that love for those people in her life.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Hibiki embodies the small stature, big personality archetype to a tee. Standing at just a little over five feet, one of her most striking features are her EYES, a turbulent mix of stormy gray and sky blue that change slightly based on what she's wearing. She always looks her best, and is extremely meticulous when it comes to how people perceive her, especially for the first time. (LOOKS)
With flaxen locks that flow nearly to her hips and porcelain skin, she gets mistaken for a foreigner constantly. Most people assume that she is more weak in constitution, given her LITHE frame. But for the observant (or those who know what they are looking for), a few things stand out that may contradict that fact. Her POSTURE is impeccable, honed and practiced over the years. With slightly broader shoulders for her frame, usually the only thing that would hint that she isn't just a cute, frail woman is the musculature in her legs. She is small in stature, but two decades of aikido training (and an enjoyment for exercise in general) gives her some MUSCLE definition and keeps her trim. Having strong core muscles helps with singing, and Hibiki takes that advice to heart.
With few visible blemishes or marks save for the calluses on her left hand from playing stringed instruments her whole life, she has an almost OTHERWORLDLY beauty that can feel a bit unnatural to some. While it usually isn't visible, she has what looks like a spot of DISCOLORATION near her tailbone; or like someone has smudged a small amount of charcoal there.
Despite being a master of ignoring her emotions, Hibiki is very ANIMATED in her mannerisms. Prone to talking quickly at times, she can ramble a bit depending on the situation. In some ways, these are learned behaviors, because if she is larger than life, then she can redirect attention elsewhere. She is the type who likes a little bit of PERSONAL SPACE, and gets a bit cagey when someone pops that bubble. She can usually roll with the punches after the fact, but it might take her a moment to process and readjust.
For those who are attuned to the spiritual, or who are able to detect auras or sense magic will find a calming WARMTH radiating from her, like the sun on a warm spring day. This can rise in intensity if she becomes particularly heated, but given how controlled she is with her emotions, instances like that are rare unless she feels comfortable and safe to truly express herself fully. For those who can see or sense souls, they are met with something that feels... odd; it's as if there are TWO SOULS sharing one body. Intertwined with that light is an overwhelming dark energy, which seems like it might snuff its other half out at any time.
ABILITIES
In order to protect her from detection at a close range (< 1km), Hibiki was given a small, BLACK TOURMALINE ring that acts as both a limiter and seal on her and [ REDACTED ]'s power. Abilities that have been affected or are blocked completely will be marked with a symbol (❖) and additional notes.
Abilities with additional criteria for use will be marked with a symbol (✱) and additional notes.
EMPATHIC VOICE
Hibiki has the uncanny ability to manipulate the EMOTIONS of others through her voice. While still potent with spoken word, this is amplified when she sings; a gift from her Siren half (she hasn't taken anyone out with thisyet, and she's lived to tell the tale). This can be heavily influenced by HER OWN EMOTIONS, which is something that she is keenly aware of. Even before realizing the power she wields, she observed that could draw out certain reactions from others with little to no difficulty.
❖: At full strength, Hibiki's song will affect multiple senses, allowing her to weave together sight and sound to create complex ILLUSIONS for those without a strong mental fortitude. Whether this can be used in tandem with her precognitive talents has yet to be tested.
PRECOGNITION
Hibiki comes about this naturally from both sides of the family, although in its limited form this goes relatively unnoticed. Experiencing disjointed DREAMS or feelings of déjà vu (especially when it comes to anything related to sound), these events can be recounted with a bit of concentration, as long as it is within a short period of time from experiencing the premonition. She is also able to predict and anticipate MOVEMENT, allowing her to adjust accordingly. Even with her power limited, it is difficult to get the jump on her.
❖ With the ring removed, however, these become much stronger, allowing her to HEAR events that have taken place in a specific area. Coupled with her heightened spirit sight, she can use both in tandem to merge a specific sound (even the way that someone moves, if she can isolate it) to a magical signature.
✱ As a means of self-preservation, in instances where she might be put in danger, her body will MOVE ON ITS OWN, with the sole purpose of getting rid of a perceived threat. For Hibiki, it feels like she is having an out-of-body experience (or in the case of an extreme and/or unknown threat, will feel like she has blacked out). While she can usually pull herself back quickly, depending on the THREAT, she may struggle to shake this off.
SPIRIT SIGHT❖
Hibiki is able to see an entity's spirit and being, if she is in close proximity to them. Represented as an array of color and light, their AURA (or in some cases their soul) lights up like city lights at night. Each person's aura is different, and can be influenced by a number of factors, including the type of power they hold. This does not work as well on those able to fully mask their aura (other player's preference). In addition to this, each soul has a sound that she can HEAR, which acts as an identifier in the same way that a fingerprint would. Sound varies, and this could be something as simple as the sound of a river flowing in the distance, or, more commonly, a gentle melody.
With some concentration, Hibiki is able to briefly see through GLAMOURS that have been cast on a person. While she will not see their full form, she will see vague details painted the same color as the entity's aura. This can also be used to see through minor ILLUSIONS, but isn't always consistent. Attempting this on much stronger magic will blur both illusion and reality together, as if one is superimposed on the other. Using this causes a significant amount of concentration, and can be incredibly painful depending on how long she attempts to tap into this ability.
ANEMOMANCY
This boon comes from her father, and goes relatively unnoticed. At its base level, this ability manifests itself in heightened AGILITY, and is usually chalked up to being quick on her feet. Studying aikido since she could walk, she has always been graceful and light in her movements; it is reasonably easy for her to sneak up on someone, even if she doesn't always mean to. She can also use this to give her a small BOOST up when she jumps, or help break her fall.
❖: Without her limiter however, it's as if she has been blessed by the Anemoi themselves. Her body becomes much lighter and she becomes much more dexterous. She is able to create small gusts of WIND that she can masterfully manipulate. Able to summon a gale to protect her body, this can be used offensively as well, combined with her natural fighting prowess to devastating effects. While she cannot use this to fly, she can LEAP and dash forward over large distances, as if gravity has no hold on her.
✱: With her ring still in place, if put in danger or under duress, Hibiki can dig deep to pull this power out, although she runs risk of overloading the ring's seal. Able to draw from the air around her, she can encase any part of her body in a swirl of PROTECTIVE WIND, which is usually used defensively to block blows. She can however use it to give her limbs more FORCE and weight, which can be used to help her grapple or break holds, among other things. With her ring removed, she is able to use this ability at will, the power behind it increased exponentially.
FLORA MANIPULATION✱
A blessing related to her mother and strengthened as a means to combat the entropic being using her as a host, this particular talent of hers for the most part lies dormant and is easy to explain as having a natural gift with plants--especially flowers. Going far beyond possessing a green thumb, Hibiki is able to influence the way that plants in her care GROW, from accelerating the rate at which they do, to even rejuvenating those that are dying. This ability goes largely unnoticed given how inconspicuous it is, and is more of a byproduct of blessing itself. With focus and concentration, she can even influence the path at which certain crawling or climbing plants take as they develop, even causing them to grow around or BIND someone or something in place.
HISTORY
The daughter of two supernaturally-inclined individuals, her life was never going to be normal. Her destiny would be written well before she was born, in part due to her birthright from both her mother and father, as well as a third entity. Drawn to her due to her lineage, a force of pure entropy, thought to be merely a legend, affixed themselves to her, imprinting upon her soul and gifting the child with a beautiful Song. The Song that, when finally sung, would trigger a great cataclysm that would unwrite history and, with it, everything living or that had once lived on the Earth. The soul of this being wrapped around Hibiki's, it would wait until the preordained time to gift this destructive dirge upon the world. The only evidence for much of her life was the occasional presence of a melody in her mind, starting very simple and small that somehow felt wrong.
Even beyond this, Hibiki has had a rough life. Her father left before she was born, and for most of her life, it was just her and her mother, Mayuri. Her work as a hostess in Ikebukuro, and later taking "unsavory jobs" in their red-light district, a lot of that would come back to her daughter. As hard as it is raising a child on her own, the fact that the identity of her father was left unknown, rumors spread that Hibiki was born out of wedlock, a child of an affair, the daughter of a foreigner too ashamed to admit that the child was his. This hit her mother hard, and that in some ways was a blessing in disguise. While Hibiki would get into fights very early in life, seeing the toll that took on her mother caused her to take a complete 180. Even when being bullied or harassed by others, she would always take it with a grin. She isn't the only one hurting, and making her mother worry about her would only make things worse.
Her childhood was a lonely one. Her mother being extremely overbearing and cautious about everything for seemingly no reason, Hibiki had few friends outside of her cousin, Yui. A little over a year older than the blonde, they were inseparable until Hibiki was forced to move away suddenly. This hit her hard, even if she would never outwardly show it. They still stayed in touch, and Yui became someone who she would always confide in. If anyone knew what was going on in her mind, it was Yui.
At a very early age, she began her training in aikido. Very firm on making sure that Hibiki could get out of any situation, as well as giving this ball of energy something to direct itself toward, she took to it quickly. Nimble and quick on her feet, she ascended the ranks quickly. While her mother would not let her take part in any public competitions, it felt good to move like this. She continued to practice through high school, with the plan of helping teach some of the young yellow belts after graduation.
But what really made her heart sing was music. From the moment she was speaking, she was singing around the apartment. She easily took to any instrument she tried, her favorites being piano and cello. Where movement brought Hibiki joy, music gave her purpose. It always felt like it would use her as an instrument, a vessel to bring the songs in her head to light.
But there was one that felt... strange. Dark. A quiet melody that she would hear in the recesses of her mind. As she grew older, a phrase gave way to an idea, a movement; a symphony. She could never explain why, but something about it felt dangerous, so she would keep this deep within herself, where only she could ever hear it.
As Hibiki grew older, her mother seemed to change, receding back and avoiding others outside of the few odd jobs she could find. By the time she started high school, Hibiki was acting as a caregiver for Mayuri at times, which made being a normal teenager incredibly difficult. Testing into the same prestigious school as her cousin meant that she had a long commute, so that time not eaten up by schoolwork, looking after her family, and training was spent with music. That would become a problem for reasons Hibiki would not understand until much later in life.
December 7, 2016 would be the day that changed her life forever.
After spending a rare afternoon off with Yui and her friends, Hibiki came home to her apartment completely cordoned off, a crowd of onlookers and police crowded around. Feeling something intensely wrong, she pushed through the crowd only to find her mother dead, fallen from the balcony of their building. Her death was ruled a suicide, as there was no evidence of foul play, and their apartment showed no signs of a forced entry. Rumors swirled about her owing a large sum of money to one of the Yakuza families nearby, and that she killed herself to "get ahead of what was coming for her." Her case was quickly forgotten, brushed aside as an unfortunate turn of events.
Staying with her aunt, uncle and cousin, she was not able to go home for a few weeks--and by that time, it had been combed through completely. It didn't feel like a home anymore; it was a crime scene. Hibiki would finish the last year of high school while living with her family, before packing up all of her things and leaving Tokyo behind completely.
Making her way to Shizuoka to be closer to her grandparents, her independent streak only grew brighter, as she threw herself into work. But every time she seemed to get a job, something strange and unexplainable would happen. Items on store shelves would come up missing, or get launched (she saw it, others didn't) when she worked retail. Entire trays of food would tip over on guests while she was waiting tables. Hibiki was always moving to other jobs because she was viewed as "too much trouble," even if she was an incredibly hard worker besides. The only permanent work she could find was at Ginkoya, a ryokan in Yamanashi. The odd situations that seemed to follow her were chalked up as Just Ghost Things, as there was a firm belief that the ryokan was haunted (it was, very much so).
Hibiki likely would have settled in Shizuoka permanently if it weren't for a fateful package that made its way to her from an old, family friend. He had been instructed to send the contents to her on a specific date, which seemed odd to him (but that was always Mayuri's way). Within the package was a notebook, one that Hibiki recognized as belonging to her late mother, as well as a number of photos and pictures tucked within the pages. Most of it was filled with gibberish and nonsense, words written over others haphazardly. But one thing stuck out amidst the chaos.
A hastily-taken photo from her old balcony window of a blond-haired man in an oversized jacket; his silhouette glowing faintly in the dark of night. The photo was dated on the back--taken a little over a week before her mother's death.
With nothing else but a notebook of nonsense and a photo that made no sense, Hibiki packed up her things and made her way back to Tokyo, to chase her only lead into what happened to her mother. To find this man and make him talk.
Shortly after arriving in Tokyo, she is approached by an old friend of her mother's, Arthur Brooks. Receiving a letter from Mayuri posthumously with the request to take the young woman under his wing, Hibiki begins working as a contractor with his agency. Specializing in "spiritual social worker" jobs, focusing on preparing the deceased with moving on to the afterlife, as well as assisting other members of the supernatural world with transitioning from the mortal realm. Brook introduces her to a number of her "coworkers," and slowly she begins to get used to her new normal.
As she takes on more jobs through Brooks' agency and widens her network in the supernatural world, she begins to hear about a strange phenomenon that has begun to affect the souls of the deceased more frequently of late. Thought to be a byproduct of age, or of a changing of the times affecting certain ghosts' ties to the mortal realm, their means to communicate or their perception of the world around them begins to break down, making it much more difficult to help them move on to the afterlife and much easier for outside influences to affect them negatively. Chatter about the Lost, those souls who have lost all perception of self and become abominations, begins to circulate around the city, but is still largely thought of as an old wives tale.
Over the next few months, leads into what happened to Mayuri and who the man in the photo might be are sparse. But as she begins making more contacts around the city, Hibiki realizes that her mother lived a life that she was completely unaware of, with a strong connection to the city's supernatural community. She learns through one of her regular contacts, a woman calling herself Miwa, that Mayuri was a talented clairvoyant who volunteered her services to others in Ikebukuro's red-light district for a number of years, but could not remember much more about her. Following a list of potential contacts, few if any of the individuals Hibiki approaches for more information remember her mother either, leading Hibiki to her first of many frustrating dead ends.
With all potential lines she can draw back to her mother's death all but dried up, Hibiki decides to go through the journal one more time, finding it just as undecipherable as before. Attempting to draw some connection between her writings and the photos, she makes a strange discovery when linking the dates written on the back to the journal itself, pulling the seemingly out-of-place letters scribbled in the margin together, forming a simple word:
"LOST"
(frozen comment) CONTENT WARNINGS.
Additionally, part of Hibiki's power set, specifically centered around her voice, may involve mild mind control and can always be opted out of. This is something that I will always pose as an optional, but if you believe this will be an issue, please let me know!
Please comment below if you would like to opt out of any of the above, or from threading with this character in general. All comments will be screened!
(Will elaborate on the above points more in-depth later)