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The Kagetai Home

Name:Rouga Yûshirô
Birthdate: 30/06/1854
Height: height 5 shaku, 8 sun and 2bu
Weight: 54kg.
Blood type: O

Appearance:

19 years old at his entry in Kagetai (1873), Yûshirô is young, tall and slim, but his frame shows a calm and controlled strength, despite his thin shoulders and arms. His skin is very pale and he has hands that even a tayu (geisha) could envy, if there wasn't the sword calluses and some scars. He has a childish face with a small mouth and thin lips, and deep cold brown eyes (almost black) where we can see none of his emotions. Those eyes turn to a burning yellow during a fight if Yûshirô snaps. He is usually as strong as a (normal) very good skilled bushi, but when he snaps during a fight, his "strength"(I mean his skills with the sword, his reflexes, ki & etc) overpasses even his own physical capacities, and he can then use a partial Shukuchi (useful, specially combined with the reflexes!)
Other distinguishing features: The look of an wolf who watches you from the depth of shadows... He has black hair (with brown reddish light reflections) and wears it in a mage (usual samurai topknot, but without the "bald" part), with bangs falling on the two sides of his face, shadowing it. He also always has some strands of hair in front of his forehead. He has a lot of scars, the main are: a very long one in the left leg, some medium ones in the both thighs, a small one under the chin, and a "X" one in the left arm (we usually don't see it because of the sleeves. The second "/" of this scar was made by Okita-sama!)

He usually wears an old black hakama, a brown gi (with some small white and dark brown stuff pattern) and a black (very cool) silk haori (which contrasts with the rest, but he likes a lot this haori). or the black hakama (seems that he owns only one...), a white gi and the brown one as a haori. He likes a lot going to furugiya to spend some money (used clothes shop)...

Background:

Born from an important aristocratic family (his mother is Japanese and his father is a French aristocrat, but Yûshirô has none of occidental features) in a small island near to the coast of Chôshû, it may be surprising to see him on Bakufu side...however, as he LOVES the swords and the kenjutsu since he was born, he went for learning it in the Kondou-sama's Shieikan dôjô (When he was 8, he and his parents were in their Edo house and Yûshirô, playing in the street, ran into a Medicine-peddler, who in reply swore at him. Furious, Yûshirô tried to "challenge" him for a fight! The man (After rolling on the ground with laughter) said him that he liked his courage, brought Yûshirô to the dôjô that he frequented, and eventually became his master (and the person whom Yûshirô most respect and like, having for him a boundless admiration. He was Hijikata Toshizou, if there is someone who didn't notice it)

Yûshirô's parents used to indulge all his whims, (so he's sometimes very "bôttchama", and a few selfish too...but he changed with time), so they stayed in Edo for a while. Shinsengumi started in 1863, and the Shieikan guys leave Edo. Yûshirô went for Kyoto once in 64, then again in 66, and stayed there 'till end 67. He also went to meet again Hijikata-sama in Edo in 68. But his parents (who had enough of searching for their kid in battlefields), found him and took him back to Chôshû, so he could not go to Hokkaido (however, Hijikata-sama did tell him not to come). Yûshirô wanted to do seppuku after Meiji Ishin, but a letter from Hijikata-sama before the end forebade him from doing that and also gave him the force to stay alive and fight for the things in which he believes. His parents were not on Ishinshishi side, they just didn't want Yû-kun being involved in war and in any danger.

However, Yûshirô eventually got much more trouble and having a big bunch of bloodthirsty enemies after him, he finally left the family's home, half to protect them and half to search for something. His parents, after having searched for him after a long time, went for France. Yûshirô actually acted as a hitman for a while (he was mistaken, started killing people that he thought were bad, but then noticed that most weren't, and that no one could judge people like that), and now, because of this kind of stuff, he says that there's nothing that he can do to repair some things he did.

He believes in Aku Soku Zan, but says that we may be prepared to judge correctly what or who is evil or good. So he just relies on his instincts all the time, to decide 'what to slash'... (Some say that he's not human but an oni, but that's no true, he's really not that cool!!) He says, (and Saito confirms it...), that a pure "Aku Soku Zan" should kill him too... He would like to be able to kill all this world evil and then to get out (seppuku...), but as he can’t, he’s still living, and starts truly liking it! Also says that if you stop and think, you'll not be able to move again...but he can't prevent himself, and often "stops to think"! A lot of people have problems and complain because of what the other people did to them....Yûshirô's problems come from what he did himself, so he could not complain....(and doesn't intend doing that)

Personality:

When he thinks, he can become REALLY very dark, but if his best friend Soushi is around, he turns back to brightness, and even shows his kitty-side!!!! He likes to be alone (except for Soushi-chan), but really likes sparring with his close friends, Soushi (best one, they met long time ago, in 66), Ukyo, and also Takashi-san and Ginny-san. he loves to spend time with them all, or training with Soushi, and always team with the four to play tricks on the other Kagetai members, or on anyone! He met Takashi and Ginny briefly in training times(during Bakumatsu), but they really become friends only after he entered Kagetai.

Also after his entry, he met Ukyo-chan (very close too), Kazuo-san and Sasayaki-san. He's very quiet, and really shy with non-close people, but polite (well, if you don't bother him) and have an awesome self-control (though he's impulsive if there's something with his friends). If someone annoy him, he can become very cynical, and always gets the last word of the discussion. Tough Takashi and him came from the same social background, the Kitsune is often surprised by Yû-kun's brutal manners, but they are good friends. No one can beat him in a coldness contest. But he can look like a child when talking to real close people, and even can look very baka...(>^_^<;;) He seems to be brightening more and more, actually... (Saito: "pff...Amaku natte shimatta n janai ka?..." Yûshirô: "NA...Nani??!!")

Despite being very asocial, he likes his friends' related people. And keeps watching all around himself, ready to help if someone needs.
If someone angers him, he'll never avoid the fight. If someone insult or hurt one of his friends, he'll be very vengeful too. He tend to forget his own grudges, always remembering his friends' ones, and makes his their enemies and grudges. He truly thinks that a woman acting as a warrior is the equal of a man, but if she wears make-up, she's "a woman", and he may have some problems to fight her!

Yûshirô has a younger sister called "Meiki", who's a warrior too and really looks a lot like him. She's often hovering round the group, saying' that she's looking for Yûshirô or anyone else. Saito often calls her to a lot of missions, and seems to know her well, and so does Tokio. She's always near to Yû's friends or clinging to Soushi-chan & Ukyo-chan. Meiki-chan can be very silent and seems to be as stubborn and shy as her brother.(when she's not being baka like him..) The two were raised with a LOT of cats all around, so it explains the 'kitty-side' of them. (Meiki even mews and purrs...)

Techniques:

Yûshirô's (beloved) sword is called Hou'ouken (his father gave it to him when he passed his genpuku). It has the same length of Okita-sama's Kikuichimonji no Norimune. It's a (Japanese) katana, but made in China, with a metal saya covered at full length by the same twisted (braid?) leather stuff then the one in (all) the swords handle. Except for the saya, the only other difference is that his sword has not a habaki, so it's much faster when used in Battôjutsu. He also has a (beloved too) kodachi that he uses as a wakizashi, called Seiranken, (but he almost only uses the katana). His sword style is the "Onmyou Hi Ken Ryuu"(the Secret Sword of the Shadows&Light (yin&yang, in fact) never should translate those kind of name!) It relies much more on his speed and reflexes than in physical strength.
-"Hirazuki": the attack with the blade in horizontal position, and then three thrusts, more or less well done by Yûshirô but actually one of his favorites.
-"Kesagiri" : a transversal slash cutting a man in 2, from the right (or left)shoulder to the left (or right) hip. This cut "follows" the kimono's collar (well, it's not a collar, the...anou..."opening"?) Those two were both Shinsengumi techniques.
-Ichi no Hiken/ "Hi Ryuu Ken": a Battoujutsu technique, starting with a full speed attack, then he turns in the air around the opponent, and slashes his back (strange technique, indeed).
-Ni no Hiken/"Chousen Awayuki": uses his sword to, dodging a vertical slash from the enemy, twist his arm and disarm him (after that, he can kill him or not). And "Chousen Awazuki", another version, starting with a fake thrust, then the rest of the "Chousen Awayuki".

+ a lot of minor techniques, katas and stuff. Yûshirô sometimes create new techniques in the middle of a fight. He's very agile, and jumps a lot during the fights. Can dodge almost all, even when he can't use Shukuchi. (He's actually very good at doing "marugoshi" and all dodging stuff. ) He can stay fighting for an surprising bunch of time, if he don't stops to rest ('cause if he stops, he gets cold, but in the 'fire of the action', even bleeding liters won't stop him. It often happens, he don't even notice the cut before the end of the fight) He can fight using both sword and saya, but seldom does that because he's afraid of damaging his beautiful (&beloved)saya....heheh He also learned Battoujutsu, (but that's not his specialty, so he don't uses it as often as the other techniques). He fights with an absolute lack of fear of the death, (grinning of satisfaction with mad eyes when he snaps (oni... or having a very serious expression when he's "normal").

Yûshirô is an excellent spy and killer (tough he thinks too much), really good with stealth and even better at acting as an infiltrated agent he started doing that in fact in order to try to impress Hijikata-sama etc....Saito was then Hijikata-sama's best infiltrated agent and didn't forget the kid's skills.

Yûshirô is also very good at tracking people, more or less not so bad with medicinal plants (guess who taught him it...)and some basic medical stuff. He's also a (bad!) poet sometimes...(Hijikata-sama was a GREAT one!!)

Likes:

Hijikata-sama, Okita-sama, Kondô-sama, Shinsengumi, kenjutsu, Soushi-chan, friends, being petted like a kitty by Soushi & Ukyo (*purrs!!* >^_^<),his swords (he ALWAYS sleeps hugging them!),to protect the people whom he loves, the easy stuff (hates the big difficulties like "should I kill this guy?", really prefers "what about cleaning the dôjô today?". Loves when people answer the questions and he only has to act. However, he would hate to be controlled and would refuse (only obey the people that he loves or admires a lot)), fight for fun (without having to kill someone), sparring with friends, playing tricks on the Kagetai members (and on almost everyone!), doing katas (doing them well), the rain seen from a peaceful old engawa (verandah), the rain everywhere except on his sword (he's more afraid of rust than of death..), cleaning his sword (AAALLLL the time!! Tough rain is cool when there's a lot of blood in the sword), giggling and walking/jumping in puddles of rain, fighting, Ume flowers, Sakura flowers (Kiku flowers too), cold White Sake (LOOOOOVE it!!), "umeshû" sake (LOOOOVE MORE!!!), ohagi, dorayaki, youkan (yeeeesssss), to eat (almost all...If there's food that he likes out of an horrible maze and he's in, he will easily find the exit... This guy's sense of smell (specially for food) is really awesome!!!), relieve the stress in a calm Buddhist ceremony (of Jôdô Shinshû, but Yûshirô is a very "large horizoned guy and don't follows an unique religion), Cha no Yu, poetry (but he HATES people peering at him when he's writing etc), to draw nishiki-e (he would be a nishiki-e-shi, if he wasn't a swordman! He knows Tsunan-san, they became friends), doing shôdô (he spends a lot of time, but is worse at doing that than at doing poetry (in fact he's not a so bad poet), also likes staring at things while thinking too, to stare at the burning 'akane iro' no sunset in the horizon from the top of a roof or a tree, or the fresh snow from an engawa, or at the light reflections in his swords or a lot of stuff like that.

Dislikes:

Traitors, all the people with corrupted feelings (if they are just stealing money, he don't really minds!), when he is not in frequent contact with his friends, when he can't do well a technique, when he bleeds so much that it attracts flies, natto and some other food, the stuff that his mind just can explain (and then he looks for odd explanations to that), being in a maze, the boring people, the mocking people, a lot of people, cooking (you'd better NEVER eat something made by him!Worse than anything! One really can die!), non-close people who tries to look close suddenly, etc.

Rivals:

Possibly certain Kagetai members. His elder half-brother (stupid ahou), his(real)younger brother (ahou), his elder half-sister (tough he used to idealize her, before they met again last time)they are rivals at drawing nishiki-e....), and all the people who angers his friends.

Current sketch:

Rents a room in a Nagaya (those complexes like Sano and Tsunan's) in Kyoto, but spend a lot of his time in Tokyo, or stays at Soushi's and at Saito's!! Saito often kicks him out, but he always came back by the window when you turn him out by the door, just like the cats... He usually works as a free-lancer nishiki-e-shi. When he's not drawing nishiki-e, he often works as bodyguard (and uses those jobs to keep watching people for Saito) but the most of his time, Yûshirô is just out of work... Sometimes he writes articles to Tsunan's anti-government newspaper, under a false name (to Saito's annoyance, 'cause he says it could bring trouble to them). He's also drawing a manga collection (stamps!) the second of the two only things (the first one is Kenjutsu) for what he's not the 'human form of The Lazyness', as some say....)

Rôuga Yûshirô's big secret:

Well....I wrote this all saying 'he', 'him' and 'his', but in fact Yû-kun is a girl disguised!! Not only sometimes but really almost all the time no one knows that, even in Kagetai, except Soushi-chan, Saito (he knows her since the start of the Shinsengumi) and Tokio (Saito told her) All the others think that Meiki is really Yûshirô's younger sister, but in fact they are the same person. Saito agreed that everyone has secrets (Yûshirô/Meiki like that is much more useful to spy etc...) and when he needs the "other" version, he only says Yûshirô to 'bring his little sister'.
Yûshirô usually hates to dress as a girl... (she has disguised for so long time that she really feels like being a boy, and she often forgets completely that she's a girl, except sometimes when she's with Soushi-chan or with people who knew her when she was a kid) Yûshirô met Soushi-chan when she mistaken him with Okita Souji, long time ago, but at the start, Soushi-chan thought that Yûshirô was a boy too, he knew that when she was already in Kagetai, I'll tell it all in a further fic.

Takashi doesn't know that Yuushirou is a girl, but sometimes, he senses something strange with this guy and starts blushing and apologizing for blushing (Yûshirô sometimes beats the poor kitsune when this happens!) Out of Kagetai, only Hiko Seijûrô, Himura Kenshin and a few people (the most are Shinsengumi related ones) would be able to recognize Yûshirô seeing Meiki and vice versa.