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Yukinoshita Yuuka. Her surname means "Beneath the snow," while her given name means "Gentle Blossom." Ironically, this combined meaning summarizes her distant yet kind character rather aptly.
Nickname(s)
Yuu-chan, although that's something only her mother and her single close friend, one Watanabe Chiyoko, call her.
Age
17
Gender
Female
Sexuality
Heterosexual/Semi-Asexual
Nationality
50% Japanese, 50% American.
Role
The Gloomy Outsider.
Face Claim
Takanashi Yomi from Black★Rock Shooter.
Opinion About Love
"Love is... a wonderful thing. To know that somebody cares about you, that they've invested their happiness solely in you, that they're willing to rely on you and trust you no matter what... It's wrong of me to do so, but I envy those who are needed in such a deep and meaningful way. I only wish... I wish I could be important to someone, too. Selfish, isn't it? Pathetic... isn't it? To imagine somebody like me being needed... it's laughable...! So long as I'm useful to others, that's all that matters. Desiring anything more than that is just... it's just my ego talking."
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Bright emerald green.
Hair Color
Jet black.
Height
Five feet, three inches.
Skin Complexion
Pale.
Build
Very thin and rather small, with weak, albeit limber limbs and a generally slender figure.
Distinguishing Marks
No major markings or scars to speak of.
Further Description
Short, thin, and generally rather unassuming, Yuuka isn't the sort of person to be noticed in a crowd. Or, in fact, in any locale where there are more people than just herself and the observer in question. Her dark hair does little to stand out compared to rarer, brighter colors, and although her bright, distinctively emerald-hued eyes are quite remarkable and tend to capture the attention of those whose gaze lingers over them, they are somewhat masked by the small, square-lensed glasses she wears. In any case, pale, diminutive, and distant, Yuuka seldom leaves any lasting impression, even on those who actually notice her. Her taste in clothing is rather conservative, favoring long dresses and skirts, usually with tights underneath them for modesty's sake, and demure blouses and cardigans to keep her warm, as she is rather sensitive to the cold. Ironically, the most showy outfit she ever wears with any frequency at all is her school uniform.
Nevertheless, although not exactly unusual in her appearance, she isn't exactly unappealing. Although she lacks an impressive figure or any other such eye-catching traits, she does possess more simple charms. Her long hair, soft and smooth, shifts back and forth between being straight and abruptly curling slightly, giving it a somewhat princess-like image. Her face is rounded and somewhat deceptively childish, with high cheekbones, a small forehead, nose, and ears, and a narrow jawline with a rounded chin that leaves her eyes foremost amidst her face. Her twin emerald orbs, framed by curtains of silken hair and rounded, comparatively rosy cheeks, are thus the most iconic feature of her visage, and could certainly be said to draw in the gaze of those who care to notice them, even through the spectacles that dull and thwart their remarkable color.
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Management || Having served as class representative ever since she arrived at her current school, she's gotten quite good at micromanaging various different aspects of important events in order to properly prepare for them, and smoothly carry them out.
Diligence || She's something of a work-a-holic, feeling obligated to complete her assigned duties, no matter what they may be. She doesn't just do her job - she excels at it, organizing everything down to the smallest detail and fulfilling her obligations as perfectly as she is able.
Weaknesses
Self-Worth Issues || Yuuka views herself as a burden on those around her, and always second guesses herself when it comes to predicting how others think. Consequently, she's terrible when it comes to social interaction, and even normal conversations can swiftly reduce her to a nervous wreck. She hates approaching others, fearing she's bothering them, and always worries that she's being too rude, or selfish. Overall, she's terribly shy, and lacks confidence in almost any form.
Doormat || Yuuka's foremost goal in life is to be of use to other people, and to feel needed by them. If she can help, she will, no matter what that entails, and finds it impossible to say no even to near-impossible requests. Consequently, runs herself ragged trying to please others, and seldom actually tends to her own needs.
Habits
• Organizing anything and everything. She's a bit obsessive-compulsive, and always tries to put everything into a neat, proper order, even when not strictly necessary.
• When uneasy - which is often - she has a few rather distinctive tells, largely consisting of adjusting or polishing her glasses or fidgeting with her hands or hair. Consequently, she's a horrible liar, as it becomes immediately obvious when she's hiding something.
Likes
♥ Reading books. It helps her indulge in escapist fantasies, amuse herself, and avoid others. She also enjoys writing stories of her own, although she hides these from others for fear of being mocked.
♥ Singing - although she would never tell ANYONE this. She's actually fairly good, but only when she's by herself, since her lack of confidence undermines her efforts otherwise.
♥ Eating sweets. She loves sweet foods, although this is another embarrassing taste she tries to hide from others.
♥ Drawing pictures. A hobby she picked up in her spare time, she's actually become surprisingly good at it - so long as the pictures in question are in anime style.
♥ Anime, video games, and the internet. Well, it's not like she has very many friends in the real world. Consequently, she's retreated into fiction more than a little bit, becoming a closet otaku.
Dislikes
x Sour and spicy foods. She sort of likes the taste of the latter group, but she can't handle the aftertaste of either.
x Being alone. Ironic, considering her complete inability to approach others.
x Being insulted. When people mock her, even in jest, it's impossible for her not to take it personally - or to fully dismiss whatever claims are made about her, given her lack of self-esteem.
x Physical activities. She's not horribly out of shape per-say - in fact, she's remarkably agile - but she tires easily.
x Working for extended periods of time. Diligent though she may be, she is easily overwhelmed by uncertainly when left with large tasks and little to no support, and can break under the stress.
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The foremost aspect of Yuuka's character is her desire to be needed. This is born not from egotism, or a selfish desire to be respected and adored. Rather, it is drawn simply from her one wish: to be useful to those around her, and to make them happy. If she can perform whatever duties are expected of her and help others, then her life has a purpose. But if she's not contributing to the common good of her peers, or carrying out an action which has some value, then in her own opinion, she's just dead weight. Unused to conversing with others, perpetually fearing her own inability to understand other people and her own unworthiness to stand on their level, she feels that to simply do well at whatever goals she's assigned is the only way she can make her existence worthwhile.
Consequently, she views any praise or blame she receives as just and true, thus becoming overjoyed even by the simplest of compliments, and grief-stricken by insults or any kind. This reliance on the opinions of others to determine her performance thus completely bypasses her sense of self, in which she has no confidence or faith to speak of. And, furthermore, if somebody asks her to do something, she views it as something she should be able to do, and thus something she should do, no matter how difficult the task or meaningless the incentive. She wants to help, which is all well and good, but she takes things far too seriously, almost completely disregarding her own health and responsibilities to herself in the process.
Due to her problems conversing with others, she always fears that she's just bothering people, should she talk to them. Consequently, she has a crippling fear of asking others for anything, even help when she honestly needs it. This is probably a major part of why, despite her inferiority complex, obsessive compulsive behavior, depression, and textbook case of Dependent Personality Disorder, she has yet to confess any of her many problems to anyone, or to seek therapy for them. In any case, though, she also finds it difficult to make decisions on her own, usually waiting for somebody to tell her what to do and then just doing that. So long as she has a set goal and somebody to make herself useful to, she can function - and therein lies the problem.
As someone with perhaps only one real friend and a part time job (she works, rather fittingly, at a bookstore) and duties as class representative to manage, she finds herself in many situations where there isn't anyone to tell her what to do, forcing her to improvise. While she's become a capable administrator, she's nevertheless wracked by uncertainty in such situations, and oftentimes feels a hyperinflated sense of guilt when it comes to even the smallest of failures that might even be tangentially related to her. For this and the previously mentioned reasons, Yuuka isn't a person who copes well with stress. At all.
Highly disappointed in herself for the position she finds herself in, Yuuka hates her lot in life as a loner, outcast, and pariah amongst her classmates, none of whom can ever really tell what the quiet girl is thinking. Little does she know that her lack of social contact might be the only thing saving her from having her soul destroyed by one of the many ghosts preying upon students at the academy. Of course, in her desperation, it might also serve exactly the opposite purpose, and lure her into a snare of her own creation...
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