
āāEach of us has a choice: to do what is right, or to do what is easy. I have made mine, and though it be difficult, I shall not falter.āā

āAgeā
Visually in his mid to late twenties. How old he actually is is anybodyās guess. He certainly is not divulging.
āAppearanceā
Ryuunosuke is a man of two very distinct faces. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he is a youkai with a human face for particular occasions. The human guise is, in fact, the one he seems to prefer, or at least he chooses not to advertise the fact that he is a demon. In this form, Ryuunosuke is a tall man, particularly for the country and era, standing at a solid 6ā2ā, practically a skyscraper among those he most frequently interacts with. His build is solid, well-muscled, but due to his height he appears quite lean rather than bulky. His musculature is defined, covered in near-flawless skin of a pale, but sun exposed hue.
His facial features are strong and sharp, a defined nose and angular jaw accompanied by straight brows set over glittering, intelligent eyes, the amethyst color of them the only hint that something about his genetics isnāt quite human, though it is the faintest one. He most often wears an expression of solemnity and seriousness, but on the rare occasions that he smiles, there is mischief in it, and something a little dangerous. One might call it lupine, or perhaps even foxlike.
His clothing is simple, but immaculate: the dark grey gi and black hakama accompanied by a white kosode and dark blue warriorās obi, which contains the standard arrangement of weapons for a samurai: katana, wakizashi, and tanto, all on the right side, as he is in fact slightly left-hand dominant. Actually, he most frequently holds the katana in his left and the wakizashi in his right at the same time, though youād not know it to simply look at him, which is the goal.
Only very rarely is someone of Ryuunosukeās strength forced to revert to his more powerful youkai self, but when he does, the changes are obvious. Though his eyes and general facial structure remain the same, his features sharpen further, he gains another two inches of height, and his long black hair turns an exotic shade of silver-white. This is in addition to the white, furred ears of some kind of canine that replace the ordinary rounded flesh-ones. He also grows a tail, of the same color, and his complexion loses what scars it managed to acquire and any hint of tan as well, marking him as a nocturnal creature by choice. Iron-hard claws sprout from the ends of his fingers, their color almost pearlescent, and his canine teeth sharpen to wicked points.
āLikesā
+ Clear nights with a visible moon
+ Art and poetry
+ People with a sense of honor and justice
+ Intelligence
+ Sake
+ Sakura blossoms in spring
āDislikesā
- His more demonic instincts, as well as they serve him
- Being forced to transform
- His father
- The purely self-interested
- Chatter
- Needless or dishonorable killing

āPersonalityā
Ryuunosuke is a man who holds himself to immaculate standards of behavior, in both formal and informal settings. He is not one to relax his moral standards for any situation, and truly endeavors to do what he feels is right regardless of the cost. So he was taught by his mentor, and so he will always be, perhaps. At least he thinks he will; heās managed to survive this long without having to significantly compromise, so that might be a hint as to the truth of things. Unfailingly a good person, he endeavors always to aid those with justice on their side, regardless of how well they can pay or who they are. Oftentimes, this leads to him putting himself at considerable risk, when a more self-interested person would work for the highest bidder or one lord only or just avoid the situation altogether. He canāt bring himself to be like that, however.
Generally patient, tolerant, and even-tempered, Ryuunosuke is quite difficult to rile from his seemingly preternatural calm. At times, this can make him seem distant or cold, and many people have misinterpreted him as being uncaring, since he tends to display so little emotion. Most of the time, he seems to move with unconscious grace, and great control. This is actually a strictly-enforced trait, and if he ever forgot, he might accidentally move too quickly and break something. Over the years, he has found several things about adjusting to human society difficult, and curbing his abilities in this way has always been one such thing. He often seems to be looking into the middle distance or not paying attention, but he doesnāt particularly need to be looking at something to be observing it, as his senses of hearing and smell are both quite attuned, part of his youkai heritage.
Unfortunately, he is also a creature of brutal predatory instinct, and what is so carefully-contained in his human state is much harder to contend with in his natural form. His senses sharpen, his speed increases to superhuman levels, and he becomes a much more⦠free creature: more violent, more emotional, and even more sensual, though no less intelligent, which makes him quite dangerous indeed.
Among his youkai abilities are a level of chi/ki control, accelerated healing and durability, and increased strength and speed. He lacks the mind-magic that some of his kind have, but makes up for it with enhanced physical capabilities above the norm even for youkai. The downside is that he is far more indiscriminate in his killing, and cannot be trusted not to turn on his allies. He fights his own nature, preferring his human form immensely, weaker though it is. As such, he is fundamentally conflicted as a whole person, and difficult to predict, even for himself.
āRelationshipsā
At present, Ryuunosuke has only two living relatives with whom he is concernedāhis father and his sister. His father, he despises with a passion uncommon in him. His sister, he cares for deeply, though he is currently unsure of her location. He once had a human teacher, who taught him much of both human styles of combat and also morality. The man has long since passed away, but Ryuunosuke still carries his lessons and his unique two-blade sword style.

Katanaāslightly longer than standard length, perhaps approaching odachi-length, though not quite.
Wakizashiāan intermediate-length blade, often used as a samuraiās secondary weapon. Ryuu wields it in his off-hand quite frequently.
Tantoāa shorter, straight-bladed knife, with more durability than a standard dagger. Worn as the third part of the standard three-blade set and used as needed.
āStrengthsā
Put simply, Ryuunosuke is the quintessential combatant. Heās had centuries to refine his skills and his talent, and the natural boost from his demonic heritage is also a boon. Additionally, he is skilled in the areas of art and conversationāwhen he wants to be. He wouldnāt make a bad leader, but heās not inclined to take such roles for himself. He will act as such if it is requested of him, but he would not volunteer for command.
āWeaknessesā
As a being essentially at war with himself, Ryuunosuke can sometimes feel conflicted about what he does, and there are times when he entertains great doubt as to the validity of his methods. Additionally, he dreads being revealed, particularly to humans, who seem universally to fear him, something he hates about himself. He struggles to find his place in the world, and this is reflected in his interactions with othersāhis humility drives him to address nearly anyone else as though they were his superiors, and he uses quite debasing first-person pronouns as a rule of thumb. He is, as a kitsune, possessed of an external manifestation of his soul-- a "star ball," which, if possessed by another, would to a large degree put him under their control. His is well-hidden, but if one knows youkai lore, they know that kitsune must keep such things close by...
Also note that if his demon form is released against his will, his instincts may take hold of his body, and they rarely bother to distinguish friend from foe.
āHomeā
His home is where he lays his head; he has needed no other for a very long time.
āHistoryā

It was in fact a rather common blood sport centuries ago to take small groups of young youkai and teach them how to kill by practicing on the humans. It was an ugly, instinctive sport, and death was not the only horror they wrought. Half-demon children were common back then, and indeed, this was the reason for the Edict, imposed later upon all of demonkind, naming the hanyou as abominations that should be killed on sight. Like every young lord of that time, Takahiro participated in these hunts, though something always troubled him about them. He had been taught from birth that he was a superior being, that ningen were worth less than nothing, not even worthy of licking the dust from his feet, and yet⦠he could not help but feel something in his heart, when he watched them band together to defend one another against the scourge of the youkai.
In time, this led to a decision on his part: unauthorized and alone, Takahiro entered the human world, to see what he could without destroying it. For this, he asked his sisterās aid, and she helped him learn to fashion a human form, though he never did get the eyes quite right. Entering the other world, he came upon many people, young and old rich and poor, righteous and despicable, and he found that they were not so different from the youkai he knew. One among them recognized him for what he was, an older man, carrying three weapons at his waist. Curious about this human who had recognized him, Takahiro had a conversation with the man, which ended with his return to his own world.
He came back many times, though, and his sympathies for the ningen only grew with time. The old man taught him to fight not with tooth and claw and ki, but with steel and finesse and grace, and he took to the lessons well, helped along by his natural talents in such matters. More than this though, the old man taught him about honor and justice and what these things meant for humansāsomething quite different than they meant for youkai. He found that he preferred these ways to the ones heād always been taught, and in the end, they resulted in an even t most irregularāa son defied his lord father.
Indeed, Takahiro spoke out against his father in councils and refused to participate in further hunts, discouraging his allies from doing so as well. He was becoming a major nuisance and a shame upon the House of the Moon, so he was given a choice: repent his ningen sympathies and kill a thousand of them to prove it, or else face exile from the lands of his forefathers. He didnāt even need to think about it, and he has been a wandering exile since. His mentor renamed him Ryuunosuke, a name that he has used since. As he puts it, Takahiro is dead, and reemerges only when Ryuunosuke loses himself.
His sister was exiled also in a separate incident, and though the two do care for each other, they are presently somewhat estranged due to tension left over from the days of his initial exile. He does not know where she is, though he does keep an ear to the ground for news of her. Stil, he knows sheās more than capable of looking out for herself. He himself is ronin these days, and works largely as a mercenary, though occasionally heāll sell a piece of art as well. He has a reputation for being a man who will take on tasks without regard for their difficulty, as long as they are just. Ironically, despite his great skill and ferocity on the field of battle, he is never identified with a demon poetically, and instead those disposed to such flights of imagination fancy him a saint.
