Kurobara

Kurobara

Street Samurai
"She's a vicious, ruthless bitch from whom there is no escape."
Discord	ladyreginajane
Reddit	[1]
Metatype	Human
Street Cred	0
Notoriety	0
Public Awareness	0
CDP	2
D.O.B.	14th October, 2058
Age	28
Folder	[2]
Priority	Metatype - E Attributes - B Magic/Resonance - E Skills - B Resources - A

Character Information

Summary

Kurobara (meaning Black Rose) is a 27-year-old Japanese human street samurai and enforcer for the Shotozumi-gumi Yakuza in Seattle. Born in Neo-Tokyo, she spent four years in prison after maiming a rival in a sword fight, a disgrace that led her father to send her abroad under clan protection. In Seattle she reinvented herself by doubling down on her goth aesthetic. Kabuki-inspired makeup and full-body irezumi tattoos enhanced with glowing subdermal LEDs that flare in combat as her signature “Black Rose Bloom” characterized this outward reinvention, but her violent tendencies remained.

Heavily chromed but disguised under synthetic limbs, she is a lethal iaido-trained swordswoman who also carries a machine pistol. Known for her cold, detached nature and unshakable loyalty to the Yakuza, Kurobara now works shadowruns as a deniable asset of the Shotozumi. Her presence is feared and admired alike, for when the Black Rose blooms, someone is certain to die.

Goals

Become at least an underboss in defiance of Yakuza tradition regarding women as unfit for such a position.

Survive

Background

Kotono Takeuchi was born in Neo-Tokyo to a family with Wanibuchi-gumi ties. From a young age she trained in martial arts and developed a particular talent for iaido and the katana. While many of her peers pursued corporate careers, she embraced the clan lifestyle, reckless and proud of her skill with a blade. That pride caught up with her at eighteen, when a street dispute escalated into a katana duel. She maimed a rival in full public view, an act so brazen that the Neo-Tokyo Metropolitan Police were forced to intervene. The incident was humiliating for her family and for the Yakuza, and Kotono was sentenced to four years in a women’s prison.

Prison life shaped her into something harder, especially as she stuck as closely as she could to other Yakuza women. Kotono learned patience, cruelty, and the discipline to hide weakness. When she was released at twenty-two, the damage to her reputation in Neo-Tokyo was already done. Her Wanibuchi underboss father, Shigeru Takeuchi, arranged for her to be sent abroad through an old contact in the Shotozumi-gumi, moving her to Seattle to start over. For the Takeuchi family this was partly exile stopping just short of disownment and partly opportunity to foster better relations between the Neo-Tokyo clan and the Seattle clan. For Kotono it became transformation, despite feeling disposable.

In Seattle she reinvented herself as Kurobara, the Black Rose. She had always had a goth aesthetic, but began wearing kabuki-inspired makeup styles as Kurobara. She electively got violet-iris cybernetic eyes, in addition to full-limb replacement and wired reflexes, and expanded her traditional irezumi tattoos accented by glowing subdermal LEDs. Her combat ability made her a valuable enforcer for the Shotozumi, and her reputation grew quickly in Downtown’s Yakuza neighborhoods. What others saw as sociopathy, the gumi recognized as loyalty and efficiency with a professional detachment from the damage she could do to her targets. Her superiors soon placed her into deniable operations, using her to run jobs that required skill and plausible distance from the clan.

By twenty-seven, Kurobara had become a figure spoken of in both syndicate and shadowrunner circles. To the Yakuza, she was a trusted blade. To the shadows she was a dangerous ally whose loyalty would always remain with the gumi. Her glowing tattoos earned their own reputation, because when the "Black Rose began to bloom in violet light", it meant that someone was about to die. In reality, this simply meant that her distinctive aesthetic style tied the intensity of her subdermal LED tattoo enhancements to the activation of her wired reflexes, flaring brighter when the cyberware was activated. As it happens, she has an inherited affinity for cyberware from her mother, "Mamasan" Reiko Takeuchi.

Narrative Significant Qualities

Positive

Biocompatibility (Cyberware)

Made Man

Shoot First, Don't Ask

Common Sense

Tough as Nails 1 (Physical)

Tough as Nails 1 (Stun)

Negative

Code of Honour (Omerta, Giri variant)

Distinctive Style

SINner (National: JIS)

Run History

Name	GM	Metaplot	Threat	Date of Run
To Catch A Cobra By The Tooth	Sleevey		High	26 September 2086

Affiliations

[Shotozumi-Gumi]

Contacts

Contact	Connection	Loyalty	Archetype	Profession	Aspects	Chips
Kakei Steve	6	1	Fixer	Fixer	Lawyer, Legal Connections, I Know Many Things, Weeb Swordsfan, Yakuza Networker, Deltaware Dealer, I Know The Best Cyberware	Even
Dr. Morimoto Yorinobu	5	2	Service	Physician	Service: Doctor, Cyberware, Bioware, Drugs	Even

Organizations

[Shotozumi-Gumi]

Allies

Shotozumi-Rengo Yakuza clans

Enemies

Enemies of the Shotozumi-Rengo broadly and the Shotozumi-gumi more particularly;

Watada-Rengo

In Character Information

Habits:
Notoriously clean person
Never wears shoes in a space regarded as "indoors", especially anywhere tatatmi flooring is used.
Holds her katana (named Ryu-Oh, meaning Dragon King) by the saya within thumb's reach of the tsuba habitually when walking around.
Never leaves her apartment bare-faced; will always wear a sepulchral 'gothic-kabuki' makeup look.
Religiously practices martial arts
Goes to Shinto shrines every so often, but quietly venerates Izanami.
Listens to Gothic rock, death metal, synthwave, darkwave, and has a soft-spot for punk-rock revival; enjoys music in both Japanese and English about equally.
Smokes Seven-Star Menthol 100mm cigarettes. It's a Japanese brand and she is very particular about it. However, she drinks in moderation, preferring high-end plum-flavoured sake and amber lagers.

Temperament: Glorifies Samurai philosophy and Yakuza tradition. Mildly sociopathic tendencies, but cares about neighbourhood security (albeit Yakuza style). Ruthless and pragmatic, but loyal to her people. Will virtually never kill someone who isn't 'awake, facing her, and armed', mainly due to concerns of honour. She has a sarcastic, grimdark, and dry sense of humour. She shows little overt emotion, deliberately keeping herself as unexpressive as possible, regardless of how she actually feels. Anger is perhaps the most common emotion seen publicly, although it often takes surprisingly quite a bit to vex her enough to outwardly show it, including raising her voice.

Family:
Father: Shigeru Takeuchi
Mother: Reiko Takeuchi
Younger Brother: Daisuke Takeuchi

Image theme (click me!): Neo-Tokyo (Dance With The Dead Remix) by Scandroid

Symbols and Signatures

Neon blacklight-purple glow to her Yak tattoos and a number of other things, like her motorcycle.

Matrix Search Table

Threshold	Result
1	Kurobara is the streetname used by a rare female Yakuza enforcer for the Shotozumi-gumi, although it appears that she may have had ties to the Wanibuchi-gumi in Neo-Tokyo historically.
3	Facial search yields news articles which indicate Kurobara served 4 years in a Neo-Tokyo prison for a brutal turf scuffle between herself representing the Wanibuchi-gumi and a rival from the Watada-Rengo. The Watada was horribly maimed, but survived... barely. More obscure accounts in forum ports on Japanese underworld message boards mentioning her suggest that when she was released and completed her post-release supervision, she was sent to Seattle in what appears to be a clan exile coinciding with her resurfacing in Seattle under the Shotozumi-gumi. Her real name, however, has been replaced by her streetname on what appears to be official news media from the time of the incident, which is unusual. This is probably the work of a decker hiding her true identity from the public, likely on her or the Yakuza's payroll.
6	Scant evidence from a deep search turns up possible ties to the Takeuchi family in Neo-Tokyo, particularly one Shigeru Takeuchi. Shigeru Takeuchi is an underboss controlling a fair portion of the Wanibuchi's territory in the Minato ward and a smaller part of the neighbouring Shibuya ward of Neo-Tokyo. You aren't sure how they are connected, though.

Shadow Community Table

Threshold	Result
1	A Yakuza affiliated street-samurai (she prefers the term 'onna-musha') specializing in swords. A funereal-looking Goth, she accents her mostly black clothing with accents of royal purple, especially with a blacklight glow sometimes. Too, her iaido-heavy kenjutsu is distinctive in style compared to most other disciplines seen in underworld swordsmen.
3	She doesn't seem to hide her Yakuza affiliation, more or less wearing it on her sleeve as many kobun are prone to doing. She doesn't deal with cops beyond the bare minimum necessary, telling them nothing of value and simply answering any questions she has to answer in the most clipped, belligerently short-spoken manner possible. She will never kill a cop willingly, either. Despite her reputation as a violent, lethal sociopath, she's surprisingly controlled, emotionally, and seems to have what appears to be samurai-like honour in combat. She will not kill someone who isn't 'awake, facing her, and armed' as she's been known to say when asked why she announces herself before she attacks.
6	Kurobara is actually a made-woman with the Shotozumi, a full member of the clan. She works as an enforcer who, until recently, shook down places owing fealty to the Shotozumi, collecting 'taxes', and investigating 'insurrection' (and participating in putting them down when necessary). She has also fought against enemies of the clan during turf clashes and even against uppity street gangers who fail to show respect for 'their betters' (i.e. the Yakuza). As a woman in a man's underworld, She has had to cultivate an image of graceful efficiency with just the right amount of brutality and viciousness. She doesn't care if she makes friends and while she frequently has her moments of reason, all bets are off if her clan loyalty demands action or if someone threats her or someone she's associated with.

SINs

Kotono Takeuchi - JIS (Real, National)

Hanako Kushinada - JIS (R4 Fake)

Appearance

Ethnicity: Yamato Japanese
Racial Metatype: Human
Eyes: Blacklight-purple (originally dark brown)
Hair: Black with purple highlights
Skin: Pasty
Height: 163 centimetres
Weight: 59 kilograms

Identifying features:
- Datajack located behind the right ear at the base of the skull and smooth metal vertebrae along her middle spine where her Wired Reflexes are implanted.
- Yakuza tattoos done in the traditional Tebori method all over her body which stop only at the wrists, ankles, and neck. These tattoos have motifs of dragons, the sea, wind-bars, tigers, and cherry blossoms. Subdermal implanted LEDS outline most of the figures which are otherwise rendered in a traditional ukiyo-e art-style. The full-bodysuit tattooing is still very much incomplete.
- Cybereyes have faintly-glowing irises in blacklight-purple.

Clothing

Tends to wear gothic-style clothing, either in western or Japanese style (depending on mood and occasion). In general, her clothing choices are usually black, often with purple accents.

Casual: Kurobara is known to wear black or purple shitagi or furosode tops with black hakama casually, complete with black jika-tabi boots. She often also rears an armoured jacket which is styled like a neo-samurai kataginu crossed with a haori since it has sleeves but is capped at the shoulders with distinctive pauldron-like embellishments. Other casual looks use the same jacket, but may involve tigher pants, lacey gothic tops, Neo-Tokyo cybergoth outfits, or women's biker suits. She usually styles her hair down and long, but has been known to do messy-buns and high ponytails, too.

Formal: On formal occasions, she wears a furosode kimono in black with a deep purple floral motifs and a starry-night, almost galaxy backdrop. Her obi is black with a brocade of purple-filled gold hexagons overlapping like dragonscales. A purple obi-age and obi-jime accessorize this. The shitagi worn underneath is white. She wears black tabi-socks worn with padded zori which match the kimono. Her hair would then be styled in an updo most of the time, but has been known to occasionally wear her hair down in this outfit.

Matrix Persona

Kurobara's Matrix persona appears on the grid out of the blooming of a blacklight-glowing black rose. She looks like an unarmoured onna-bugeisha, dressed like a male samurai in the style common in the late Feudal Era of Japanese history. Her persona wears two swords and has a gothic version of the facial makeup worn by noblewomen of the Feudal Era.