Rain | What the Water Gave Me.
Snow | Ice Symphony
Death and Rebirth | Heal My Wounds

BASICS
Name: Yamada Shirayuki
Age: 26. Presumably, her blood will keep her alive as long or longer than most youkai, but then she's never asked another half-blood to be sure. She hasn't aged much if at all since she hit about 23, though.
Race: Hanyou- her mother was a yuki-onna.
Faction: Her brother used to run with the Kyubei-kai. She’s had dealings with members of all three major players on Osaka, at varying levels of friendliness or hostility.
Role: As a medical student, she mostly serves as physician. Her own heritage has given her knowledge of both youkai and human anatomies, and she’s already performed more field surgeries than most military medics dream of. She’s the ideal yakuza doctor for several reasons: She’s efficient, adaptable, knowledgeable, and keeps quiet about her clientele. Living in the rather contentious eastern district means that she sees all kinds and doesn't currently have affiliation with any one group in particular.


APPEARANCE
Being a hanyou rather than a full-blooded youkai means that Shirayuki’s transformation capabilities are very limited, and her more supernatural characteristics only emerge in times of duress. Nonetheless, there are certain traits that match very well with her purported pedigree; her skin is alabaster-pale, unnaturally so even for a Japanese woman, and in places it seems near-translucent, the lilac and jade traceries of veins vaguely visible especially around her wrists and ankles. At times, she seems to fade at the edges, taking on a near-transparent aspect in the fingertips or the end of her nose, for instance. Her feet and legs are actually the first things to go, but given her wardrobe, it’s hard to notice.

Her most obvious feature is the fact that she is nearly always seen wearing a mask that fits over her neck and the lower half of her face, right up to the cheekbones. The fabric clings snugly to her profile, so those who look can tell that the face beneath is very delicately structured, almost doll-like. Large, glass-blue eyes are set under thin brows, though immediately after noticing them, it’s easy to forget that. The scars are just too obvious, too distracting in most cases. Four diagonal lines descend from her left temple, running across her forehead until they cross her eyes and disappear beneath the fabric of the mask.

The lower half of her face is a bit worse off still. Those gouges continue in whitish-pink, jagged lines until they exit at the right side of her jaw, but a few more slashes run across her lips and the lower end of her left cheek. They aren’t as disfiguring as burn scars might be, but there is no mistaking them for pretty. The rest of her was not spared what her face endured, and the damage indeed may be worse there. Her back, stomach, and throat seem to have suffered the brunt of it, but no continuous six inches of skin is unmarred. The wounds are all long healed over by now, but the marks remain permanently. She has to stretch regularly to keep them loose, else they impede her movement.

Yuki’s hair is a softly-curled blue-black. She’d truthfully keep it short if she could, but every time she accidentally manifests her powers, it grows a few feet, so she usually just trims it to a manageable length instead.

Complexion: Very pale, fades to translucent or ghostlike at times and places.

Body Type: Slender, almost to the point of being reedy. Not terribly well-endowed, but then it would look strange if she was, probably. Everything about her is long and thin: limbs, fingers, neck, strands of hair… you get the idea.

Height and Weight: She’s tallish for a woman at about 5’7”, but her willowy frame makes her seem smaller and more delicate than she actually is. She’d be lucky to weigh 115 pounds, and though that’s perhaps because she’s part ghost, virtually none of it is muscle.

Distinguishing marks: The scars are about as distinguishing as it gets, but few people have seen the entirety of them. Rather, she’s known for wearing the mask. Her only tattoo is a pink lotus blossom on her left wrist.

Apparent Temperament: Yuki’s demeanor should be tricky to pin down, but it isn’t. The woman is a functional mute, only able to speak in the softest of whispers, and not for very long at a time, due to extensive damage to her vocal cords. Despite that, and the fact that her face is half-covered at all times, it is not hard to tell that she’s a friendly, warm soul, with a generosity that probably would have gotten anyone else killed by now. It’s certainly rare in the yakuza world, and initially, she doesn’t seem to fit her surroundings. She almost appears to float rather than walk, and there’s an ethereal sort of fragility to her that better suits high society and tea ceremonies than back alleys and bloodied, brash men. It's not hard to discern that most of the time, she's smiling pleasantly beneath the cloth over her face. She moves deliberately, most often with unconscious elegance, though she can and does clip everything down to the barest of efficient motions when necessary.

Hair and eyes: Her hair is shoulderblade-length, unstyled and soft, the color of the sky just before true night hits. Her irises are bright blue, nearly teal, set relatively wide apart, and almost too large, framed by an absurdly-thick abundance of lashes.

Facial features: If not for the scars, her face would be what you expect of a spirit said to lure weary travelers to their deaths. As it is, the supernatural attractiveness is harshly mitigated, and thus she walks around with as little exposed as possible. She can't say whether she's ugly or simply unnerving, but either way, she can only take so much staring. At least now most simply assume she's eccentric or germaphobic or one of those weird kids that cosplays for no reason and has some kind of ninja fetish, whatever. Much easier to deal with.

Wardrobe: She likes girly things like dresses and kimonos, in the palettes of winter and spring, but most of the time, practicality wins out. Can’t kneel on the concrete and sew a man up in lace and frills, now can you? To this end, her usual attire is nothing more fancy than denims, tennis shoes, and turtlenecks. Also usually seen in a pair of thin gloves; which effectively means that there's not an inch of visible skin beneath her eyes most of the time. There are a large number of kimono, gothic-style dresses, and the like shoved into the back of her closet.


PERSONALITY

Credit
Her brother, perhaps the person who knows her best, refers to her in his more reflective moments as an iron lady swathed in velvet. Indeed, her general personality is one of sweet warmth and softness, like smooth honey in tea. She is not at all confrontational,though that's not to say she doesn't have opinions. Rather, Shirayuki is the perfect listener, an attentive ear to even the most inane ramblings, but also a knowledgeable one should the topic be something of a more intellectual or philosophical nature. She is tolerant of a wide range of personalities, and has enough familiarity dealing with yakuza and their ilk that she is not bothered by harsh words or vile curses, though they do cause her displeasure in the sense that she would really rather you wouldn't.

You would perhaps expect such a person to be a doormat in the extreme, but 'tis not so. Being a doctor has stiffened her spine, so to speak, and though she knows enough to be afraid when she rightfully should, she's all but slain her flight instinct when faced with someone in need of her assistance. She has always been the kind of person who seizes onto her professed goals with a stubborn tenacity that few can match, and of late that goal is to be the best doctor she can. To that end, she treats anyone and everyone, regardless of their affiliations, for no other reason than because she believes it right to do so. In such situations, she will ignore risk to herself or even the patient's willingness to be treated and go about her business with a steely resolve you'd scarcely believe came from the same quiet mouse of a woman that stood in her place but moments before.

She is despite this not often hostile at all, and her insistence is tender, if unerring all the same. The one thing she truly takes exception to is threats to the children in her home, or children in general really. She has a strong mother/big sister instinct, and is affectionately referred to as "nee-san" by most of the under-twenties in the neighborhood. Most of these are in and out of her residence as necessary to eat and sleep somewhere relatively safe, but more than one live there on a semi-permanent basis. Shirayuki insists that they got to school however, so a few of the others stay as scarcely as possible. It can be difficult to say no to her, between the persistence and the rather impressive set of doe-eyes she's capable of making if the situation really calls for it, but there's nothing insidious about her persuasion at all, and the worst damage she's likely to do is get you to put out the cigarette while inside.

She takes delight in small things, and though it isn't expressed verbally, there is rarely too much reservation in it. She's simply quieter about how she feels than most, and perhaps more thoughtful and reflective. It's not a trait she always had, but then she was always told that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Considering how close she's been to death, she must be quite strong indeed.

Speech: Most of the time, she doesn't speak at all, and only at great effort can she force a breathy whisper past her mangled larynx and into the air for others to hear. She prefers to use paper and pencil or gestures and smiles to communicate what she means to say, and has a large set of pre-made index cards at home for diagnostic purposes. Yuki's face is very expressive, especially the eyes. She's never been heard to swear, and indeed addresses everyone (even in writing) more formally than most would. Her preferred personal pronoun is 'sessha,' meaning 'this one.'

Pet Peeves: Like all good doctors, she much prefers the cooperative patients, though she's surprisingly strong-willed and will essentially get all hundred and fifteen pounds of herself up in your business if you're walking around with an untreated injury or refusing her assistance. Doesn't matter who you are or how scared she is of you, either: an injury's and injury, and she's a doctor. She also dislikes it when people don't take care of themselves generally. Her biggest pet peeve, however, is when the strong pick on the weak. She can't stand bullies, and will often recklessly assert herself into such situations to defend the attacked.

Favorite color: White probably suits her personality- clean, innocent, and without stain, but she professes to be very fond of purple and pink.


EQUIPMENT
Specialty: Her specialty as such is really repairing the damage that other people do to each other when exercising their own particular capabilities. She isn't picky about who she helps, either.

Fighting Style: Yuki's not what anyone would call violent by nature, but she does live in a violent area. Seeing as how it's really tricky to get a firearms permit in Japan, she's learned a few things about projectiles to keep herself safe whenever possible. The woman's accurate and quickish, but definitely not strong by any means.

Preferred Weaponry: Throwing knives, light and easy to place. Also concealable.

Weaknesses: Where do we start?
Frailty- She's no stronger than the average human female of the same proportions, which is to say, can carry maybe thirty pounds. Has almost no musculature to speak of, and will break just as easily as a mortal would.
Naivety- It's already bitten her once, and how. Problem is, she does not seem to have learned much from the experience, and continues to find herself in dangerous places, tense situations, and the proximity of people who could kill her without all that much effort.
Readability- Like a book. An open, honest face and the capacity to care about people that aren't herself without concealing it are kind of problematic. At the moment, she only has one enemy (whose identity she does not know), but should she ever acquire more, figuring out what matters to her won't be all that difficult.
Self-Esteem- She was once quite the proud, vain creature, but all that remains of those traits is a kind of stubbornness. These days, she loses quite a few battles from the start by simply dismissing things as impossible- not generally, just for herself.
Bleeding Heart- She doesn't know you, but she cares about you, at least a bit. Which is a serious problem sometimes, particularly when the other party will not return her consideration and does not consider her existence intrinsically valuable.
Silent- There are times when things would be much easier were she able to speak... or scream, for example. Unfortunately, her decibel level can't go above "I'm sorry, what was that?" so she's SOL if she needs to say something in a crowd.

Inventory: At any given time, there are about ten small throwing knives stored upon her person. Other than that, she usually has a small first-aid kit on hand, though the more heavy-duty supplies are far too cumbersome to lug everywhere with her. Also has a shoulder bag, containing said kit, a cell phone, public transport card, petty cash, an epipen and a photo ID, carefully buried beneath everything else.

Minor Ability:
Snowborn- Yuki can manipulate small amounts of ice and water, and these abilities are augmented should it be raining or snowing, or if she happens to be standing in water. Usually, the amount she can control at one time is no bigger than her combined hand-span, so she has to be creative if she's going to do anything useful with it.
Vanishing Act- Yuki-onna are supposedly capable of turning themselves into snow and escaping danger when threatened. Shirayuki herself has only ever done this once, and under extreme duress; most of the time, her tangibility decreases, so that most objects can pass through her without harm, as though she were a ghost. Oddly, whenever she does this, she appears to be more like the conventional yuki-onna: her hair lengthens by a few feet, and the scars fade considerably. This is not a change she can bring about willingly- it just happens when she gets frightened enough.
Internal Thermometer- Her body temperature is cool at best, and she can actually lower it consciously if she chooses, which is of limited use.

Additional Guise: None


LIFE
Hobbies: Being both a student and a doctor with more patients than she knows what to do with sometimes, Shirayuki doesn't have a lot of free time. What little she does have is spent with the small horde of children that live with her and her brother (mostly helping them study or talking in swift gestures-- something else is going here when I figure out how I want this sentence construction to go), or else out walking. She considers the latter to be the single most soothing activity there is, and will be out and about at all hours should she be stressed out about something, which is almost invariably the case. She used to be quite fond of music and dance, but gave both up after the incident, at least for the most part.

Likes:

• Voices- perhaps because she lost her own ability to do so, the sound of other people talking or singing is something she particularly enjoys.
• Children- her house is over-capacity because of her tendency to take in strays and feed them. Some of them come in and out as they need to, but a few are permanent residents by this point.
• Rain and Snow- There are the obvious reasons of course, but she actually just enjoys the sensation. Touch isn't something she experiences a lot, due to her self-imposed social pariah status. It's usually blood, guts, or the inside of her gloves. Rain on her face or snow on her tongue is enjoyable for this reason alone.
• Sleeping in the Sun- Oddly-specific, but there you go.
• Long Walks Anywhere- She requires no destination, only a place to put her feet.

Dislikes:

• Non-cooperative patients, though perhaps 'dislike' is too strong a word. She becomes frustrated by such tendencies, but it doesn't usually negatively affect her opinion of someone.
• Violence- The reasons are obvious, but extend beyond personal considerations. She understands that that's the kind of world she lives in, but that doesn't mean she has to like it.
• Pickles- A finicky eater in general, actually.

Fears: She is nearly-pathologically afraid of dogs, especially large ones. Also doesn't like places without light, and will avoid dark alleys when out to walk at night. Allergic to strawberries and tree nuts, though only if consumed. She still carries an epipen, just in case.

Agenda: Once, she was a stupid girl: vain and proud and brash and beautiful. Shirayuki no longer believes herself to be any of these things, and has chosen to take the lessons learned to heart, and apply herself for the good of other people. She's tired of seeing people suffer for the agendas of the powerful, but she realizes she is far too weak to fight this in the usual way, if doing so wouldn't be a contradiction in terms in the first place. Instead, she simply aims to heal as many hurts and save as many lives as she can. Not like she has much else to live for anymore, anyway.

Where they hail from: Originally, her family was from the Hokkaido region, but they moved to Osaka shortly after Shirayuki was born.

Relations:
Father and Mother: Nobuyoshi and Keiko, respectively. Her mother is a full-blooded yuki-onna who left the family when her father discovered this particular fact. The man raised both of his children from the time they were very young, though he made sure they were both aware of their heritage. These days, he lives by himself in the countryside, having returned to his native Hokkaido in hopes of locating his estranged wife. He was a corporate officer for a pharmaceutical company by trade, which basically means that he made his living being an asshole and rarely saw his children. It didn't really suit him actually, hence his early retirement.
Brother: Daichi wasn't what one would call a particularly mindful sort, and never really did well in school. He was quite good-looking, though, and skilled in sports, which led him to overconfidence and the thought that he could become embroiled in gang warfare without serious repercussions. He's considerably more cautious these days, and though he still occasionally has contact with his old comrades, it's generally accepted that he's out of the business. He dislikes Shirayuki's tendency to offer medical care to thugs. Despite his failures as a brother, he still cares greatly for his sister's welfare, and feels an immense amount of guilt for her condition.

Notable Experiences: Shirayuki and her brother grew up in a single-parent household of impressive wealth. Both children, by virtue of their mother's exotic and preternaturally beautiful visage (not that their father was too bad himself), were also quite something to look at, and this combined with their wealth nurtured exactly the kind of arrogance and self-righteousness you would expect. The fact that neither parent was ever around much meant that Nobuyoshi also overcompensated by throwing money at them instead of time, and like so many children of privilege, they were never really happy with any of it. Both dealt with this in very different ways; Daichi became a delinquent pretty early in his teenage years, and Shirayuki threw herself into both school and her true love: ballet.

Perhaps unfortunately, both were quite talented at what they chose to do. Shortly after their father up and left, Daichi converted their expansive home into a hideout for the Kyubei-kai, and yakuza were in and out of the place all the time. They were not terribly discreet about this, and somehow both the house and Daichi himself drew the attention of the Wild Dogs.

Shirayuki herself does not remember too much about the night of the raid. The sensations that are clearest all center around great pain, the tearing of flesh and the crunching of bone. She was viciously mauled by something she could not resist, though trauma has blocked the terrifying sight from her recollection. All she knows is what Daichi has told her since: that she was alone when the raiders attacked, and one of them ritually tore her apart. They probably would have killed her had she not disintegrated into a floating cloud of snow. She woke up in a hospital, covered in bandages from head to toe, and knew her dreams had been ripped to shreds along with her face. Nobody was going to hire a horribly-mangled ballerina, and she knew it well enough. She'd also lost most of the capacity to speak. Her brother was worse off still, paralyzed from the waist down and missing an arm, having apparently returned home during the confrontation and gone rather berserk upon seeing his sister's condition.

The next year was perhaps the worst of it: both of them had to learn to live and function again. She's not proud of how difficult it was to accept the fact that she'd lost everything she'd once been too fond of, but the entire experience lent her some much needed perspective, and that's how she chooses to view it. Her mourning and self-pity burnt themselves out in that year, and though she would never dream of thanking whomever attacked her for doing it, she is glad of the change it has wrought in both herself and Daichi. They moved out of their father's house, which now serves as a base of operations for some of the Wild Dogs, and into a more contested part of the city. Shirayuki applied to medical school, and Daichi found himself a job working as a coach for a high school baseball team, which had always been his favorite sport.

Make no mistake: she still struggles with the implications of what happened to her, but when her vanity rears its head and she thinks to despair over her losses, she swiftly quells the feeling. For now, she's quite content where she is, and that's something entirely worth the price.