Name: Reien Misuzaki
Species: Harionago (Barbed Woman)
Gender: Female
Abilities: In accordance with the urban legend, Reien can use the barbed tips of her hair to attack unsuspecting victims. Being a sort of ghoul, she is slightly stronger than a regular human physically, and a higher pain tolerance.
Weaknesses: Despite the stronger physical body and higher pain tolerance, Reien can be killed the same as how one would kill a normal human. Also, cutting off the sharp tips of her hair (a difficult feat to accomplish under normal circumstances) will cause her intense pain comparable to a limb getting mutilated.
Background: Various explanations have popped up concerning the origins of so-called "monsters" or "serial killers". Some say that God sometimes screws up and a person is born lacking a functioning moral compass. Others think that certain circumstances had forced them into this way of life. The monster that was soon to be known as Reien Misuzaki is an example of both the former and the latter.
The string of murders that happened with bizarre circumstances in her city can attest to it, giving rise to panic over a so-called "serial killer". The victims appear to have no relation to each other but all cases share distinct characteristics: All the victims were male, all of them were bled dry, though not much blood was found on the scene of the crime, they had various lacerations and puncture wounds around the neck area and the bodies all appear to have been cannibalized to some degree. Authorities are still baffled as to who might be behind all this while the locals have spoken of it as a "terrifying monster in which killing had become its primary way of life."
Unknown to them, this wasn't always the case for the perpetrator. Reien actually had a shot at normal life but, things all went crashing down at some point. She was raised as an only child in a fairly normal household, went to a normal school as anybody else and behaved pretty much like everyone else. However, she was always aware that she wasn't normal like everybody else.
It all started with a trivial thing: During her elementary days, they were taking up Home Economics where the class was being taught the cooking basics. Most of the students were misbehaving and the teacher was having trouble keeping them in line. At that time, Reien was busy cutting pieces of food when some students accidentally bumped her, knocking her down while her hand was pierced by the fallen kitchen knife. The blade went all the way through, grabbing the attention of the teachers who immediately took her to the Infirmary. They all appeared to be in panic as they worked on her wound, asking her things like "Does it hurt?" and "Are you okay?". This baffled her as she didn't really feel pain though she does feel a bit hungry and dizzy from the blood loss.
From then on, Reien soon started observing the other children. They would cry if they fall while playing. They treat wounds and scars like it was a big deal. Seeing as she was the only one who didn't feel these things, she realized that something was different. She consulted her parents about this where they got her checked medically. All they told her was that she just has a higher pain tolerance than most. This was only beginning though.
Reaching her teenage years, social pressure intensified though, Reien didn't even make an effort to act normal though. She maintained her blank, expressionless persona and had become more engrossed in reading and researching in order to know more on what she really is rather than mingle with others. This earned her a reputation for being nerdy and anti-social, grabbing the attention of bullies as well as becoming a "dare" of sorts among the boys. Like with physical pain, she didn't feel anything about it even when all the other bullied kids were making a big deal and getting all depressed about the fact. She even found a revenge website where the bullied post about their frustrations and has even expressed desires to kill those people.
She finally became aware of her own power when some bullies tried locking her up in a supply closet. As they were about to lock the door, Reien reached out and suddenly, she accidentally stabbed one of them with a strand of her hair. It wasn't a fatal one but, it was enough to scare both the other students and herself. She ran home and checked herself out and saw that most of her hair ended in hard, sharp and barbed points. She recalled what one of the students said at the scene: "Monster..."
She tried to lie low after the incident. A year passed and almost everyone had forgotten about it, even Reien herself. She went on normally and somebody even called her out for a confession. However, this had become the final breaking point. As the boy poured out his feelings for her, Reien simply stood emotionless, still analyzing the current situation, unaware that her lack of response and emotion was shattering the boyâs spirits. Still unable to respond, the boy suddenly kissed her, prompting her to bite back in self-defense. As he apologized, Reien tasted blood for the first time and found itâĻquite appealing. She killed him with her power because of it. As they were in a private and secluded area, she managed to get away with it without leaving a trail. Soon, the news was all about a boy who was found murdered in a secluded area in the park. Since he kept his confession plans a secret, no leads can be traced back to Reien but, Reien was baffled as to why theyâre now treating it as a big deal when some ânormalâ people were just discussing on ways that they can kill the people they hate. So she conducted an experiment: She offered to kill the people on the websiteâs hit list and observed the reaction of the people on the site versus the general populace. Results are as expected. Some rejoiced over the deaths while most were horrified at it, adding more to Reienâs confusion.
She stopped the experiment after five victims. By then she had become adept at her craft that she leaves little to no traces back to her and her infamy had already cast a large stain on the cityâs image. Her string of terror ended when a group of men attempted to gang up on her and possibly rape her as she walked alone in the night. She managed to fight back but as the last of them lay dying, he managed to shoot Reien in the stomach before getting impaled by her hair. Even if she wasnât feeling the pain, her vision started to blur and she soon passed out.
It wasnât the end of her however, and she soon woke up in an unfamiliar place, having no recollection on how she got there, her sense of time a little hazy. She didnât bother exploring and just spent her time all locked up and quiet. However, after some time, her intuition told her that something has changed somewhat. Despite not having any real desires, or a future to look forward to, she somehow felt a need to go outside of this place. She took her first few steps towards the steel doorâĻand saw that for the first time for who knows how longâthe door was unlocked.
Appearance:She wears a brown skirt, a beige and brown blazer and white collar shirt with a black plain tie. She also has red square framed glasses and has light brown hair which she keeps in two braided pigtails for better manipulation and reduced effort.
