[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]
Name: Kiriha
Age: Actual age unknown; at least 20+ years old (sentient), implied at least 100 (though not necessarily sentient that whole time). Apparent age variable, though usually appears to be 14 years old.
Gender: Female
Canon: Tsugumomo
Timeline: Post Volume 9
Background:
Kiriha is a tsukumogami in modern-day Japan, in a world mostly indistinguishable from our own. Tsukumogami are spirits of inanimate objects that have come to life. In Tsugumomo, they make a distinction between two specific types of tsukumogami: tsugumomo are object that through long years of care and connection and use with human owners, gained sentience of their own, become powerful spirits that have similar intellect to humans and can take on human form (hearkening to the base tsukumogami legend of an item of over 100 years coming to life), while amasogi are objects that are imbued with strong, often negative, human emotions and come to life in a short period of time, and have much lower intelligence and act more like animals or monsters. Both of these are created through a force known as the curse, which pervades all the world as an unseen power, the very energy of creation, like mana in a fantasy series. The curse is thicker or thinner in certain places and changes from day to day, like the air or weather. Places with more curse are more likely to give rise to tsukumogami or other supernatural effects. People who deal with the curse, usually putting down dangerous amasogi, are called exorcists, often with the help of local deities and tsugumomo. All of this is usually done in secret and not known by the general public except as the usual legends and myths.
Kiriha is an obi (sash) tsugumomo of Kagami Kanaka in Kamiokahigashi city, who served as exorcist in the area. Kanaka passed away under circumstances still partly shrouded by the plot, but implied to have been caused by or in relation to her son, Kagami Kazuya. Kiriha had the deity they worked under, Kukuri, seal Kazuya’s memories to save him from his guilt, as well as his nature as the cursed child, one who draws the curse to him and strengthens it. However, because his memories were sealed, he forgot Kiriha, and because she was a tsugumomo forgotten, she gradually lost her power and returned to being a normal obi. It was not until the seal on Kazuya began to weaken when he was in 8th grade and he was attacked by an amasogi that she resumed her form as a fully realized tsugumomo and saved his life. She then helped to protect him and his friends against a couple other amasogi, but they were eventually brought to Hakusan Temple to be faced with Kukuri, who charged Kazuya with exorcising the curse from the city in light of the weakening seal on him, being the source of it. Kiriha, wanting to protect him and keep him from remembering his sealed past, vehemently opposed, but was beaten by Kukuri’s powers until finally she and Kazuya were forced into a position where he had to use her to fight, instead of just being protected by her. This was Kukuri’s plan all along, to both gain an exorcist and to turn Kazuya into a tsugumomo user.
After that, the two of them worked together to exorcise the curse and fight various amasogi that popped up around the city. They ended up attracting the attention of the exorcist from the next city over, who had a history with Kanaka, and ended up dueling her. It was during this time that Kazuya found he needed to get much stronger, and came to the point where he made the declaration that he would protect Kiriha. This had a large impact on the tsugumomo since she had been working to protect him all this time, mentoring and guiding him, so it was very touching to be told that for once. Their bond grew and in their training before the duel they unlocked the ability of kamigakari, wherein tsugumomo and user become one, greatly enhancing the user’s power and reflexes and senses. An unforeseen side-effect of using it to win the duel though was that it unlocked some of Kazuya’s hidden memories, something Kiriha wanted to avoid at all costs. Part of that was her own guilt in the matter: it is revealed later that she was the one who had been forced to kill Kanaka, though this fact is still kept from Kazuya. After that, they worked together to form a club in school for dealing with the strange curse-related incidents with some of Kazuya’s friends who had previously helped deal with or been involved with amasogi. As well, they helped reform the exorcist they fought, who had treated her tsugumomo as merely a tool, helping to show her the true relationship of partners between tsugumomo and user. Plot is still currently on-going.
Personality:
Kiriha is a complex and not always straightforward person. On the surface, she tends to appear extremely arrogant, pushy and capricious. She tends to act very selfishly and push others around, giving orders or demanding things and generally acting like she owns the place. The most glaring respect is her relationship with Kazuya, which she is the first to quickly categorize as that of master and servant, despite technically being Kazuya’s possession. Through use of force and intimidation, she practically bullies him into doing things like buying snacks for her and washing her back and so on. She can be equally rude and ruthless regarding others, having little respect for her semi-rival semi-friend Kukuri, who should be regarded with awe and respect as their local deity, but instead she regularly teases, gets into fights with and picks on, or blackmailing Kazuya’s father with past memories from years ago. She speaks with a very antiquated noble-style dialect that also adds to her imperious nature. Still, she is not foolish and she can read for when politeness is called for, if she deems the other person worthy. And while she can be quite petty and capricious about the little things, she can handle real situations very seriously, with a quick analytical mind that can grasp the situation and assess an enemy’s strength and weakness quickly. Having as much experience as she does, she’s actually quite knowledgeable, and often assumes a mentor-like role with Kazuya and his friends, though she can often be quite harsh, bordering on abusive, in her teaching methods. Though she might yell a lot and seem impatient, she does at least explain things thoroughly and make sure people understand, so end results at least seem to turn out well.
That said, she genuinely likes Kazuya, Kukuri and the others, and it’s more out of ridiculous, overbearing teasing than any real malice that she tends to treat them like that. In serious situations, she’s actually extremely protective of Kazuya, especially earlier on when he’s unable to fight for himself, as seen by how enraged she gets when he is injured during their first fight, or her determination to protect him from Kukuri trying to force him to become an exorcist. As such, while she’s willing to risk her own safety quite a bit, she’s very protective of Kazuya’s, often suggesting retreat or for him to stand back instead of asking for his help. Over time though, their relationship grows more understanding and equal in that they work together and rely on one another, starting from when they properly become tsugumomo and user and start doing exorcisms together. She still tends to urge more caution and worry about the logistics of the battle than Kazuya, her experience also playing into her planning nature. She tends to act a lot more rashly and boldly when fighting by herself, as seen when Sunao first appears.
Very confident and bold, Kiriha rarely doubts herself, and those she holds close she puts great trust in; as she grows more comfortable working with Kazuya, she often leaves it to him if he says he has a plan, trusting implicitly in her partner. A large part of their relationship is the distinction of treating tsugumomo as partners, not tools. A lot of the teasing, harassment and back and forth between them is part of that. Though imperious, arrogant, selfish and demanding, it cannot be said that she is cold, unsympathetic or callous. Even if they’re bordering on antagonistic, her relations with other people are always warm and lively, very close up and in your face.
In some ways, Kiriha comes off as shameless, partly due to her confidence and ego, but also partly because she simply doesn’t think the same way people do, since she spent much of her life as an object. Though she recognizes and falls along usual gender boundaries, she doesn’t seem to think much of the usual taboos associated with them, regularly bathing and sleeping together with Kazuya, partly because he always used to do so when she was a normal obi. She also has no qualms about punishing Kazuya or fighting with Kukuri in rather obscene and ridiculous ways, as evidenced by her “dick squeeze” attack or “extreme splits” punishment. To that end, her lack of any shame towards sexual acts leads to a somewhat hedonistically perverted regard for such things, without feeling the burden of social constraints. Likewise, in a less extreme example, she doesn’t tend to worry about how public she is with her actions or affections, and combined with her self-centeredness, tends to blatantly disregard or delight in the embarrassment or reaction of others. And partly, she’s just kind of a dirty old pervert.
Capricious, arrogant, imperious and commanding, Kiriha can be hard to initially get along with but she’s very steadfast in her loyalties and care of those she takes responsibility for, devout in her duties, and though calculating, still caring. A lot of her ridiculous antics covers up how old and mature she actually is and a lot of the hard decisions she has to face, about taking care of Kazuya, concealing his past, what’s best for him and those around him. Still, her determination and confidence can make her narrow-minded at times, as well as stubborn. Argumentative, she can be hard to convince unless one has her trust. And as described by Kanaka, she is in some ways bound by a cage of her own making, her duty and devotion, which often prevents her from relying on others, taking burdens wholly on herself. Because of this, she’s impressed by those who would stand by her and lend her strength, and not leave her alone despite her nature.
Why is your character a good fit for the setting of Soul Campaign, and what will they do once they are in the game?
Kiriha will see a lot of similarities to the war and her own situation back home exorcising the curse. Combined with her own desire to return home quickly, she’ll be likely to help out with the war effort as she can. Give she’s used to fighting in life-or-death battles alongside a master, it’ll be a pretty similar fit to her.
List the abilities your character will still have in Soul Campaign:
Given that tsugumomo function almost identically to the way demon weapons do in Soul Eater, Kiriha would retain pretty much exactly the same abilities – ability to change between human and obi form, limited use of her obi while in human form like a partial transformation, far greater strength and speed than her petite form would suggest but most powerful when wielded by another person, provided they have a good bond and that person has power of their own to draw out hers; in example, Kanaka was able to draw out Kiriha’s full potential of 8 obi arms, but even as of volume 9, both because of Kazuya’s inexperience and the dormancy Kiriha went through, they can only use 3 currently. So pretty much stay exactly the same.
List the weaknesses your character will gain (or lose) in Soul Campaign:
None, given she already functions almost identically to a Soul Eater weapon.
[ WEAPON ] or [ MEISTER ]
Weapon
Soul Description:
Light blue, bordering on white, with her cocky, pointed tooth grin and long hair. Personality can be described as boastful, cocky, arrogant, strong-willed and capricious but protective and determined.
(Weapon Form) / Ability:
Kiriha’s weapon form is a sakura-pattern obi (sash). It can be manipulated freely and extend up to a radius of 1 jou 1 shaku (4.17 meters). Depending on Kiriha’s strength and the power of the user, multiple branches of obi can be created up to a maximum of 8 (from Kiriha’s canon point, she and Kazuya can only use up to 3), though with only one true branch which is stronger than the others but if damaged, causes actual damage to Kiriha and can severely lower her power. Besides being much stronger than ordinary cloth – the obi can cut softer objects like hair, rope, cloth, and can block things like ordinary swords (tsugumomo and amasogi can pierce/destroy the obi depending on their strength and of course what they are – the same would likely apply to other soul eater weapons and wavelength-infused objects/strikes) – its main strength lies in being able to be woven into a variety of shapes, such as a shield or a hammer or a spear, giving the user a wide variety of effects. Of course, learning the different weaves and being able to do them quick enough to be at all useful in battle takes a lot of practice and familiarity with Kiriha. Given the versatility of weaving, a general magical ability isn’t really necessary, so she’ll just be retaining her canon powers without much change.
[ SAMPLES ]
First-Person
[The video turns on to a view of a pale, pointed-eared girl with long, light blue hair wearing an intricate white kimono. She has red eyes and a rather smug grin on her face as she addresses the camera, surveying her surroundings with a regal gaze, bordering on condescending.]
So, I see this situation seemeth rather strange to some who arrive here. But now thine “BREW” artifact hath finally deemed it wise to contract the services of one who actually is a tsugumomo to play a tsugumomo, rather than hapless humans. Very well then! Though I do not appreciate being so suddenly brought here, I shalt regard thy plight with mercy.
[A hint of irritation passes over her features]
Of course, foolishly, thou seemeth to have forgotten to bring my dear partner. An oversight I hope shalt be corrected soon. I shalt not serve just any fool who doth think he can wield me, thou must surely realize. If there be those among thee that think thou art worthy to serve me, I am eager to be amused by thy claims.
Third-Person
Peaceful slumber was less peacefully awakened. Kiriha squawked as she was rather gracelessly deposited on the cold floor of the chamber, flailing in the darkness and unfamiliarity.
“Kazuya-!?” Kiriha’s first words were cut off as she realized both that the boy was not there and that she was not alone. While others were still looking about in confusion, her first reaction was to back away from the group and hide behind one of the many pillars. Reaching into her robes, she pulled out one of her hazakura netsuke, holding it out. If this realm was the creation of an amasogi, like the dream world had been…
The cherry blossom-shaped charm lay still in her hand. So then, this was an actual physical location…?
Time for further thought was cut off as the TV screens flickered to life in the air, a slight look of wonder at their sudden appearance crossing over Kiriha’s face before she resumed her cautious expression, coming out from behind the pillar to regard the lecture. Nevada? She’d never heard of such a country. Moreover, she knew of no “Shinigami” in particular, at least not one a human might regard specifically, nor of witches. Just what sort of mess was she in here?
The idea of weapons and meisters sounded much more familiar though. So, they required exorcists and tsugumomo, did they? It was rude and unorthodox to kidnap her as they had, but she could see why now at least. Still, that left the most important question even more glaring.
“Where art thou, Kazuyaaaaaa!” she yelled, so as to be sure everyone in the chamber could hear. To be sure, that fool was in for quite the beating if he’d taken this long to come to his senses and find her. Of course, that was being too optimistic…
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