KHoS:Takeru

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Profile

Name: Nagasumi Takeru Gender: Male Age: 18 Height: 5'11" Weight: 176 lbs. Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown

Statistics

Physical Stress: 4 Mental Stress: 4 Refresh: 3

Background

From a young age, Takeru was told that he would be the successor to his family's style of swordsmanship. There was little doubt about that, really; he was the eldest child, a male besides, and by far the best fighter of any student in his generation. On the other hand, his little sister Takemi was a shy, quiet girl who loved folding paper animals and constantly clung to her bigger brother in between training sessions. Takeru didn't much mind (he loved his little sister), and that only spurred him to improve his skills further so he could defend Takemi and his colleagues.

So it came as quite the surprise when one day, it was announced that the heir to the Nagasumi dojo would not be Takeru, but Takemi. She was just as shocked as he was, and begged Takeru to speak to their father with her. The old man bluntly said that Takeru did not have the heart of a true warrior and that the dojo would be wasted on him. Outraged, Takeru challenged his father to a duel for the inheritance of the style; the loser would have to retire from the family business forthwith. However, Takeru's father pointed out that since Takemi was now the master of the Nagasumi dojo, she was the one he would have to challenge; and when Takeru looked at his frightened little sister, he knew that he could never subject his sister to the misery of exile.

And of course, since he could not win, that meant that he had lost by default.

Furious, frustrated and bitter, Takeru renounced his claim to the Nagasumi name and stormed out of the dojo, never to return. His "friends" abandoned him once they learned that not only was he no longer a potential successor to his family's dojo (and thus an asset they could use), but that he had been defeated by his little sister (out of respect for Takemi, he never bothered to shed light on the matter; not that he felt anyone would believe him anyway). He moved far away from his home in Okinawa, making a living on his own using the strength and speed the Nagasumi-ryuu had developed in him. He exchanged letters with Takemi, who was somehow bearing up with the burdens of leadership and battling monsters, but he burned unopened any letters he received from the rest of his family. It seemed as though he would go through life without further complication or excitement, until one day he received a letter from the Monster Hunters; Nagasumi Takemi (IRON LOTUS) had been felled in combat against the kaiju Outrunner. Included was her will to him; in it, she named Takeru as the next successor to the Nagasumi dojo and begged him to protect humanity in her place.

Whether she knew it or not, Takemi had done the one thing which could make Takeru go back to his family, which he did; but only to recover the Zankantou sword forged for him and Takemi. He was only doing this for her memory; the rest of the Nagasumis could wither into oblivion for all he cared. If he'd been keeping up with his training, he might well have been posted to active duty immediately; as it was, Takeru was posted to the Academy to be refamiliarized with the ways of combat and with the foe he would now be fighting for the rest of his life.

And that's where the story begins...

Aspects

High Concept: Heir to the Nagasumi Dojo

The Nagasumi sword school derives its core principle from the ancient Jigen-ryu in the land of Okinawa: "Kill In One Strike". Everything else it teaches is an accessory to applying that fundamental knowledge. It emphasises the clever use of physics, momentum conservation and gravity to deal decisive blows to Kaiju, severing limbs and heads with mighty swings of adamant blades. Besides swords, the Nagasumi style also covers the use of grappling hooks and improvised weapons, the former being used to get around and hurl the latter at enemies to distract them before going for the kill.

Takeru is by far the most skilled practitioner of the style, which makes the reason why Takemi was chosen over him a mystery...

Trouble: The Unchosen One

Takeru had always assumed that he would be the one to receive the Zankantou and succeed the family. There was no logical reason for him not to be! However, his father declared him unworthy, and Takemi of all people to be the rightfull successor in his place. Takeru was too proud to ask why his father had come to that decision, but even on his long sojourn into the world, the question still burned in his mind - why not me? His father died before he could ask him, and he kept his reasons to himself. Takemi never mentioned it; either she didn't know, or more likely, she was too polite to mention it to him. And despite years of travelling and soul-searching, Takeru still doesn't know the answer.

How do you perfect yourself when you don't know what is wrong with you?

First Adventure: Holding Out For A Hero

Before receiving the news that Takemi had passed on, Takeru spent some time wandering the world living as a freelance worker. During his travels, he and a bus full of people were assaulted by the kaiju Intruder, who caved in the tunnel they were driving through. Takeru found himself near the surface, but just as he was about to free himself, he thought about all the others who must still be inside the wreckage. That was enough to make him turn around and dig through the debris, until he managed to reach the bus and helped rescue everyone trapped inside. After emergency services arrived to tend to the wounded, he left the people he'd saved behind; he hadn't done it for glory or acclamation, and he wasn't interested in accumulating it now.

Crossing Paths: Training Days

During basic training, Takeru was partnered with Sarah Madison. While he initially saw her as just another trainee, he was struck by how much her shy and quiet personality (as well as her fierce determination to protect mankind) reminded him of Takemi. In one incident where she sprained her ankle badly on a cross-country hike, he put her on his back and carried her the full ten miles back to base, along with both their (heavy) packs. He's wondered if he thinks of her as more than a friend, and the answer disturbs him. She is not Takemi and she will never be, and it is wrong for him to use her as a substitute.

Even so, he can't help but keep an eye out for her. It's the most natural thing in the world for him.

Crossing Paths Again: The Girl Who Came In From The Cold

After enlisting with the Academy, one of the exercises involved a hike through the Himalayan foothills. Takeru was the leader of their platoon and accidentally led them off course, where they were snowed into a cave by a sudden blizzard. As they were taking shelter from the storm, they encountered Iris Bojka, who seemed entirely at a loss as to what to do. Thinking fast, Takeru pulled Iris into the cave with the rest of his squad before she froze in the snowstorm. They ended up bringing her back to base with them, and Takeru got some ribbing for bringing back a snow-girl on a navigation exercise. The ribbing only got worse when Iris ended up beign posted to the same squad as Takeru and the others...

Skills

Great (+4)	Physique
Good (+3)	Athletics	Will
Fair (+2)	FIght	Shoot	Provoke
Average (+1)	Notice	Drive	Stealth	Survival

Stunts

Victory of The Flea: Kaiju are vast mountains of meat and sinew, but even a mountain is powerless to prevent the people on it from treading upon its slopes. Takeru gains a +2 on Athletics rolls to evade the attacks of kaiju
Momentum Master: The Nagasumi style uses conservation of momentum to rapidly change the speeds and directions of objects at the end of a rope or cable. Takeru gains a +2 bonus on attack rolls which involve the use of weighty objects at the end of a flexible cable. Grappling up to a kaiju and delivering a deadly slash using the momentum of the movement should count for this, as would using the grapple cable to throw a rock into their faces.
The Harder They Fall: Takeru's training specializes in bringing down foes bigger than he is with a monstrous strength to match that of his foes. As such, he can use Physique to make attack rolls against such targets (usually kaiju).

Zankantou

Aspect: The Sword That Cleaves Evil

The name Zankantou literally means "ship-cutting sword", and it derives from the fact that the first Zankantou was used to cleave a cargo ship used by a kaiju as a makeshift weapon, along with the kaiju's hand and the kaiju itself. Every Zankantou since then has been proven by cutting a (mothballed) battleship hull in two. These weapons are extraordinarily heavy and it is a testament to the Nagasumi style that their practitioners are able to wield them at all, let alone with the speed and power needed to dismember skycraper-sized entities in a single blow.

Stunt: Wired Harpoons

Zankantou are also loaded with multiple grappling blades that can pierce through flesh and latch onto almost any solid surface, a property that has many uses in the hands of a trained practitioner. For instance Takeru frequently uses the handguard grapples to grapple onto buildings and kaiju, swinging up into a position where he can deliver a guillotine-like blow with the Zankantou's heavy edge, and he uses the pommel-mounted grapples to extend his reach by about fifty meters; the right length to chain-scythe a kaiju extremity from the ground. The tip mounted grapple is probably the most useful, being able to latch onto kaiju bodies or heavy objects so he can grapple up to them immediately or throw them like a slingshot, as needed.

Fluff

Go Big Or Go Extinct - Ramin Djawadi
DOA - Aimee Blackschleger
立Body機Motion - Hiroyuki Sawano