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The Kagetai Home

Name: Kanamo Yuriko (a.k.a. Yuri)
Date of Birth: February 10, 1853
Weight: 98 lbs
Height: 5'2"


Appearance:

Slender and delicate, Yuriko's deer-like frame is the perfect image of how a geisha's body should be structured. Her hair is as blacker than night yet shines like polished obsidian. She usually wears it up, with pins, combs, and/or flowers (usually wisteria) decorating and styling her hair into the traditional fashion. Her eyes match her hair's color and hold a deep warmth… unless someone pisses her off. Then those normally warm eyes turn to black ice able to cut and puncture with a single glance. Her lips are usually brushed with a hint of pink (or red, depending on the color of her kimono) and she has high cheekbones and a soft heart shaped face. For the most part, she wears elaborate kimonos of blue or purple with gold and silver embroidery. (She does like other colored kimonos as well but these are her favorites.)

Background Information:

Kanamo Yuriko was born on February 10th, 1853 to a poor family. When she was three years old and her father decided she would grow up to be pretty, he sold her to a miako house in the Owari province. She never saw her family again and was forced to train extraordinarily hard to become a geisha.

In June of 1865, when she was a mere twelve years old, the date was set up for her mizuage. However, she found out about this and ran away two days before the deal with the old man was to transpire. (See: Tales of a Geisha: Chapter 1 Slavery) In early August of the same year, Yuriko stumbled across a middle-aged ninja. Both were lonely and as she had no place to spend the night and no food to eat, he let her stay in his camp. As they talked that night, he explained that the majority of the ninja he was formerly affiliated with had joined sides with the Ishinshishi. He disagreed with the Ishin's views, and was thus forced to leave, or be killed for siding with the conservatives. After his story, she told him of why she had left her maiko house and how she had been forced to survive anyway she possibly could. Many times, just when she would find some food or money, a punk would come up to her and bully it away. From this she formed a great desire to be able to at least defend herself. Later that night, before they laid down to sleep, Yuriko asked the ninja to teach her to fight. He did not give her an answer that night but the next morning agreed to it. (See: Tales of a Geisha: Chapter 2 The Ninja)

Yuriko proved to be a natural at many of the ninja skills and learned everything as fast a she possible could simply so that she could learn more. In late December of 1867, her sensei was found by members of his former organization and killed. Yuriko, who had been out collecting berries for their breakfast, came back to the camp to find him lying in a pool of his own blood, his throat slit. Silently she stared in horror but realizing that the murderers could easily still be lurking around, she put on an indifferent face, one she'd learned for all the scolding in the maiko house, picked up his tanto, ninjatet, blowgun/darts and her bundles of clothing and left.

In early January of 1868, still feeling a great deal of pain from her sensei's death, Yuriko spent all of the money she had gathered to buy one new outfit. With this, she went to Kyoto and found a geisha-run teahouse that would accept her. She quickly became friends with the other women and found great comfort in them. She did not, however, tell them that she had been a runaway maiko or that she had trained in the arts of the ninja (for obvious reasons).

That February, the Shinsengumi began to use the teahouse as a meeting place with the consent of all the geisha there. Through this, Yuriko met Saitou who, once not around so many people, commented in a low voice that she was not who she pretended to be. Yuriko was slightly alarmed by this comment but soon realized he'd meant her personality and intelligence in political matters and did not know of her ninja skills. This brought a relief and soon she found herself showing her true personality when talking to him. Often, she would hear plans of attack discussed between the members of the Shinsengumi and later tell Saitou any ideas she had that might be able to help the plan be more efficient. Saitou was the first to meet her as a geisha and do this. For that, she held him in the highest of respect. (See: Tales of a Geisha: Chapter 3 Death and Renewal)

One evening, in March of that same year, disaster struck. While the geisha were serving the Shinsengumi during one of their meetings, a large group of Ishinshishi came to the teahouse looking for a place to relax. When the geisha turned them away (due to the fact that the house was already full), the men forced their way in. Upon finding the Shinsengumi, a battle immediately occurred and while many of the geisha fled to their personal quarters, Yuriko pulled her ninjatet from the place she'd found to hide it outside and her tanto from her obi and began to lay into the other samurai (much to everyone's surprise) along side the Shinsengumi. The battle ended with the house being burned and the living Ishinshishi fleeing. Many giesha died in the fire and the ones who managed to escape, were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. A good number of the geisha houses in that area took the survivors in and helped them get back on their feet. Yuriko, on the other hand, quickly vanished after the fight. Saitou tried to find her to offer admittance to the Kagetai but with the Ishin giving trouble, he did not have much time to devote to this, nor could he spare any of his Kagetai to find her. (See: Tales of a Geisha: Chapter 4 The Phoenix) Upon her fleeing from the burnt down geisha tea-house, Yuriko was followed by another young ninja. The girl, Kuroki Kiri, helped Yuriko bandage her wounds and they kept each other company until dawn. From there, they parted, expecting to never see each other again but hoping that one day they would. (Shimai no Buki Chapter 1)

Yuriko went to Urawa to continue her ninjitsu training under her sensei's long time friend and alli, Watanabe Toshio. In 1873, she lost yet another sensei, the first sensei's ninjato was broken, and she was forced to flee Urawa. (She has never told anyone the circumstances surrounding this line of events.) About an hour out of Kyoto, she had an unfortunate run in with a perverted hitokiri. Having sprained her ankle a week before, she had no way to escape and was forced to try to defend herself against his attacks. She sustained numerous cuts and bruises as the man with her, cutting her kimono whenever he got the chance. Near the end of their "fight," she was having to hold the top of her kimono up to keep from revealing herself. Finally, as she tried her best to lunge at him with her tanto in a desperate final attack, he knocked her on the back of her head, sending her to the ground unconscious. Takashi, who had been passing near by, heard the sound of battle and went over to investigate. Upon seeing the final blow the hitokiri gave Yuriko, Takashi became infuriated. He warded the hitokiri off and took Yuriko back to Saitou's house for Tokio to dress her wounds. Thus, she met Saitou again, who offered her a position in the Kagetai. (See: Tales of a Geisha: Chapter 5 Destiny) Aproximately a year later, Yuriko and Kiri met up once again, unaware that they were each a member of the Kagetai. From that point on, the two were inseprable, sisters in arms.

Personality:

Having been raised as a geisha, Yuriko has the ability to portray any personality she needs to. However, through almost all of her personalities, she follows the five hearts of the geisha house: a gentle heart- to have the heart to say "yes", an apologetic heart- to say "I'm sorry" and admit and reflect on mistakes, a modest heart- to give credit to others for any accomplishments, a volunteer heart- to say "I will do it" without thought of benefit, and an appreciative heart- to say "Thank you." Even though she is nearly always showing these teachings, she has learned how to put them aside (much to her displeasure) in order to fill any role given to her.

She has been taught to have an ease about her so that people will feel free to tell her anything and everything, thus her most common "disguise" is going around as a geisha. Even when she is in "geisha mode", she is still following her true self and the teachings of Aku Soku Zan inside her head. Also, no one ever suspects her as being the information leak due to the fact that the geisha's lips are "permanently sealed."

Her "true personality" is not all that different from the kindness of her geisha personality. One of the biggest differences is that rather than being calm and serene all of the time as a geisha should be, she has her moments where she can be as giddy as a toddler on a sugar high and she has an always ready, lively smile. Having been raised by geisha, many of the aspects of her training have very simply seeped into her the depths of her being. This does not stop her from speaking her mind, though. She uses a great deal of tact but always makes sure that everyone knows just where she stands on issues.

Her biggest problem is that it takes time for her to trust most people enough to show her true personality. The Kagetei is the only exception. She shows her true personality to them no matter how well or how little she knows the member.

Likes:

People: Yuriko holds a deep respect for all the members of the Kagetai, even so far as to refer to all of them as "sama." The only thing she tries to hide from the members is that one of the guys in the Kagetai holds an… extra special place in her heart. She has hinted at this by accident, though. ("Wouldn't it be nice to have a relationship with one of the men in the Kagetai, Jinko-sama? I mean, uh, since we already know them so well and we could, um, not have to worry about them trying to make us stop working for Saitou-sama.) However, she has yet to confess who "he" is to anyone. ^_~

Things: tempura, green tea, sushi, udon, ornate kimonos, beautiful hair pins, "feeling pretty", reading (poetry and novels), lightening storms, clear night skys, sunsets and sunrises, flowers (especially wisteria), puppies and kittens, children, music, singing, dancing, writing, cooking, sewing, performing tea ceremonies, eyes, long hair on guys, people treating her as an equal, people with "dual personalities" (she can very much so relate to them), playing with peoples hair, her poison collection, sneaking around, and her sensei's blowgun/darts and tanto.

Dislikes:

Pickled ginger, wasabi, the smell of smoke, staining her kimonos with blood, wearing red, baneful people, drunks, senseless murder, those who pick on anyone who is obviously weaker than they, when people put down others, the Ishinshishi (especially their hitokiri), and her ochaya.

Rivals:

(You'll find out soon enough… Have you been reading KCSK?)

Current Sketch:

After the beginning of the Meiji era, Yuriko went to work at a small restaurant in Kyoto as a waitress. Due to her geisha skills (some of which she passed on to the other waitresses) and her cooking skills, the restraunt's business quickly advanced. Soon she came to be the equivalent of the assistant manager. A year later, when the owner passed away with no heir, Yuriko inherited the business. The business is doing very well today and a few more geisha have caught onto the idea and have joined her as assistant managers (who she leaves in charge when she goes to do work for Saitou or "visit some friends"). When she is not doing something for Saitou, she will often invite her friends from the Kagetai over to do something, be it shopping with Tokio, Mariko, or Shinobu; soba with Saitou (all the members get free food anytime they stop by!); tea with Takashi; sparring with Soushi and Kiri, or some other random act of socializing with another member. ^_^