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The Kagetai Home

Name: Kenzo Mitsumune
Birthdate: 6th September, 1860
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 73 Kg

Appearance:

Kenzo has short black hair and brown eyes. He usually wears a dark blue kimono and blue hakama, and he hids two sai in his clothes. When he's on mission, he wears a tighter outfit, and has his katana strapped on the back and two sai on his belt (occasionally a set of throwing knives).

Background:

Kenzo was born on 6th September, in the Kyoto area. His father was a minor feudal lord, but with a very nationalistic strain. He thought that Perry's arrival was a symbol of the "total collapse of Japan", and he deeply hated the Gaijin. Kenzo's life was a quiet one until 1867, when his mother died. He reacted very badly to her death, but eventually he learned to live with it, even though he was still young. But destiny had chosen another path for him... After Meiji's restoration in 1868, his father joined anti-governative secret societies to "make Meiji pay for what he had done". But he was involved in a revolt in 1869 and killed there. So, Kenzo was all alone, but not for much time. While he was mourning over his father, a man approached him.

"Are you Mitsumune Kenzo?" he asked.

"Yes" the boy replied, trying to hide his tears.

"Your rank is useless now. Come with me, and you shall do a great favor to the entire Japan!" continued the man.

"Who are you? Why are you talking like this?"

"I'm a distant relative of your mother. Then, have you decided? Will you stay here and die, or come with me, and live? You haven't got much time, and you're too young to survive."

Kenzo accepted, since there was no way out and he didn't know what to do. So his "relative" brought him to a sort of "dojo" in Kyoto. In the following years, Kenzo trained hard with other students. Since he was the best among the students, he began to be overconfident (but in later years he would say he was a fool to think that) about his abilities. He learned to be stealthy, and to use effectively the sai and the katana. His relative always said that his abilities would be used to save Japan from the current situation. Kenzo believed it, and he trained even harder, to be up to his "task". He thought, in an idealistic manner, that his skills would be used to save people instead of killing. During his training, he met a girl, Fuuko, older than him, who brought food to the students when they weren't training. Since she was nice and protective, Kenzo liked her, seeing her as a mother, and become her friend. Then he thought to use his abilities to protect people like her. But in 1873, his relative was arrested by the police. He was charged of anti-government operations, and it was discovered that he planned to create a group of assassins to use for his own ambitions. Even the students were arrested, but they were set free soon after, since they didn't do anything: they were just used by that man. Kenzo was shocked by the true goals of his "relative": he thought that he would do something useful to Japan... but actually he had been used by that man, to satisfy his own selfish desires. The group of students split up, and Kenzo began wandering around, searching for something he didn't know, using his skills to steal for living. Many times he escaped by chance by the clutches of the police. Then, one day, he tried stealing into a house, at night. While he was searching for something to eat, he heard a surprised woman's voice. He had been discovered! Out of fear he turned quickly, throwing one of his sai.

"No!" he thought just after the weapon left his hand, but he couldn't do anything but watch. The blade hit the woman straight into the heart, and she fell to the floor, lifeless. For a moment, Kenzo stared at her in disbelief. "This can't be happening! Is this a nightmare?" he thought... because the woman that was on the floor was Fuuko. Kenzo then ran away, trying to get as much distance as possible between him and that house. He thought that his skills would be used to protect people... he was a fool! He killed one of his closest friends only out of fear! This marked deeply Kenzo. Somehow he managed to live with it, but he changed. His behavior became weird, ever-changing, and he used it to prevent everyone from knowing what he was thinking. He hated killing... but he couldn't do anything about it. Now his path was chosen, he was condemned. A year later, Saito was walking around and he noticed a fight starting in one of the streets. He then saw Kenzo knocking down very quickly two men before being caught by the others. The police arrived and stopped the fight, but Kenzo was not there. Saito noticed him sneaking away unseen from the scene. He thought that a similar person would be useful, so he grabbed him. Kenzo was shocked that a person actually noticed him, and tried to set free, but Saito's grasp was too strong. Saito said that he had talent... and he offered him an opportunity to join the Kagetai. Kenzo accepted immediately, even though he didn't know really why. Then he decided to follow EVERY order that Saito commanded. He didn't want to decide himself. Better leave the decision to others. He found a work as a bodyguard to gain some money, and he began living outside Kyoto. Saito's decision was not totally wise, however. Kenzo's weird behavior made most of the Kagetai members - especially Aoi - he was untrustworthy, also because he seemed not to like teamwork. But he was always nice with the women members, even though he didn't talk much. He swore that he'd never let a woman to be harmed... he wanted to avoid other deaths like Fuuko's. So Saito sent him mostly on reconnaissance missions, to avoid failures (also because Kenzo didn't seem to take orders seriously, even though all the missions were succesful). Then he met Mitsuki, he challenged her, but he was beaten. Far from being angry at him, he introduced himself. Mitsuki, being the nice type she was, decided to befriend him. In little time they became really close friends, much to the surprise of other Kagetai members... since they thought that Kenzo wasn't really a social type. When Mitsuki disappeared for four years, he kept asking Saito to go search for her, but he refused, knowing that they knew too little to find her. So, Kenzo's weird behavior worsened, and he tended to isolate himself from the others. When Mitsuki returned, deeply changed, he immediately found that there was something wrong with her. He avoided her, but he kept an eye on her... as if sensing something.

Weapon of Choice:

Katana (skill: Good), Twin Sai (skill: Average)

Personality:

In short, Kenzo acts really weird. No one really knows who he's thinking because his mood and expressions change in a matter of seconds. Sometimes, he behaves like a complete fool, but this is all a front to throw people off. After the incident with Fuuko, Kenzo behaves always nicely with women, in a sort of chivalric way. He also swore to himself never to kill a woman again, and if he's forced to fight one, he tries to disable her rather than kill her. Kenzo also sometimes is overconfident with his ability, and underestimates the possible difficulties. Although he acts this way, he's pretty efficient in missions, even if he doesn't seem to take them seriously. He's sort of a disillusioned idealist: he doesn't like killing, but he knows that he can't change things... so he's condemned to kill again. Among Kenzo's other features the most notable is his sense of duty, which is very strong. He will accomplish a task, no matter what it takes. Kenzo sometimes happens to be the "target" of Aoi's sarcastic comments, but he doesn't react in any way to them, pretending he's ignoring him, but he secretly wants to challenge him someday. He respects Saito, and will obey every order he gives, even if he doesn't like it.

Techniques / Skills:

Kenzo hasn't developed a personal style. His fighting style is a mixture of what he learned in his past. But his masters taught him to quickly end a fight, if he got involved in one. So, Kenzo is able to find out his opponent's weak points, throw he/she off balance with a series of quick and furious attacks, then aim for the kill. He usually refers to this technique as "Divine speed technique", but he's not serious about it, he's only mocking his style of fighting. Kenzo's specialty is stealth action. Since he was trained to be an assassin, he learned to hide in shadows, to sharpen his eyes and ears to find possible dangers. As a result, he can sneak even in crowded places. That's why Saito mostly sends him into reconnaissance missions for the rest of the Kagetai.

Likes:

Bad puns, staring at the sky making patterns out of stars, showing off his skills (sometimes), being nice with women

Dislikes:

Hypocrites, being deceived, killing (but if he is ordered, he will kill).

Rivals:

None. He actually doesn't care about being rival of someone. But sometimes he thinks that the whole world is his rival.

Current Sketch:

Lives in small house on the outskirts of Kyoto, but actually only sleeps there (i.e. he's out all day).