The strength of someone who has nothing

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Alisa
Contact: Alisa_makora AIM: AlisaMakora
Age: 25
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Ayumu Narumi
Age: 16
Canon: Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning/Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna
Canon Point: after Chapter 58

Background: Animanga wikia link, A very lengthy summary of the manga up until Ayumu's canonpoint, and a friend's summary of the backstory of the Blade Children used with permission. Also, warning for both the write ups above and the rest of the app for potentially triggering content involving child neglect of the emotional variety (Which was a significant formative influence of Ayumu's) and brief mentions of other key character's suicide attempts in the ability section.

Personality:
A large key portion of Ayumu’s personality can honestly be attributed to his brother’s effect on his existence: Mainly, that Ayumu has had no real place in the world or claim to anything to call his own that his brother has not already monopolized, and this has been his state of existence since long before he can remember. He is ‘someone who has nothing, someone who believes in nothing’ and the Ayumu the manga presents us with in the beginning is likewise introverted, dispassionate, cheeky and self-deprecating. He is resentful of his brother’s abandonment of his former life and confused as to why, desiring to bring him back for Madoka’s sake. “Kiyotaka could have done it better” is how he answers almost any praise directed towards himself in most of the early volumes, and his brother’s existence in his life for quite a while could be summed up into that akin to a personal, untouchable god, one that he dislikes the absoluteness of but honestly believes he can never truly surpass in terms of skill, intellect, or anything at all. This isn't helped by the fact that to many, Kiyotaka is like a god-- his skill is undeniable, awe inspiring and masterful. Many who meet him believe Kiyotaka capable of anything he puts his mind to, and often it seems he is. It is said that if anyone was capable of miracles, it would be Kiyotaka Narumi, and that is a harsh scale to live up to for a younger brother who is already alarmingly similar in many ways to the man.

From their parent's unwavering focus and affection or marrying Ayumu's first love, to having similar talents and greater but similar skill in music, Kiyotaka was the person who had taken hold of or proven himself in everything Ayumu finds value or has passion in first, and Ayumu could only follow in his footsteps, never quite reaching his brother and eventually giving up attempts at trying to pursue any of his dreams and desires. As an example, it's remarked several times that he had given up publicly following his passion for music due to Kiyotaka's sheer talent looming over his head, even though he still privately practiced because he couldn't ever bring himself to give up the music he loved in spite of never truly finding his own 'sound'. Ultimately, many aspects of Ayumu's way of viewing himself and way of interacting with the world around him are formed by this deep seated inferiority complex and lack of belief in himself, this concrete belief he cannot succeed or hold onto a sense of individuality when his brother is both disturbingly similar to him yet flawlessly better in every aspect.

While Ayumu doesn't think much of himself, Ayumu’s greatest skill, above all he is capable of, would have to be his logical mind and capabilities. He’s capable of solving murders, sizing people up and reading situations with such ability that it almost seems unnatural, and indeed, it somewhat is. He’s inherited Kiyotaka’s brilliant talent and unnatural skill, he simply lacks the confidence to back it up and make it a true, undeniable reality. Because of this, he self-limits his capabilities and prevents himself from reaching his true potential, but he is still capable of of great feats of logical reasoning.

Ayumu keeps others at a casual distance, and it’s easy enough to tell he has had no real close, personal friends at school, nor has he truly sought them out, before Hiyono arrives on the scene and proceeds to make herself an unwavering presence in his life as the events of the manga unfold and get deeper and more dangerous. Hiyono is a good example of how Ayumu handles people who don’t accept a casual acquaintanceship as enough and plough full speed ahead in trying to get to know him: He is sarcastic and more than little teasing, sometimes even outright mean, but oddly caring even if he refuses to refer to her by name. As bratty as he is to her, he honestly does come to depend on her for a lot both emotionally and information wise, as their friendship forms and they become a team. She throws him for a loop, drives him up the wall…. But he comes to care for her a great deal, and is concerned for her safety as she gets involved in the situation with the Blade Children. He’s just horrible at showing it, and in some ways it could be said that teasing and biting sarcasm are how he shows he cares, as that side of him shows most often with people he is close to. He's kind of a jerk in that manner.

In some ways he doesn't quite know what to do with people wanting to be friends as well as a normal kid his age would, let alone with someone as forceful as Hiyono, after a lifetime of having what should have been his closest familial and personal relationships ruined by Kiyotaka’s presence in his life. He is perfectly capable of forming casual acquaintanceships like any other person, but closer friendships are somewhat different and truly not sought out. Hizumi is a later, but similar case, though more complicated by the fact their friendship is one built on the idea they are biding their time before they have to face off against each other. The friendships and close relationships he does build he clearly cherishes, however, as seen most often in the later parts of the manga with Hiyono and Hizumi, and throughout the entire manga with Madoka, but also in some ways with the blade children, whom he comes to gain strength from and ultimately will try to offer some strength to.

In the long run, no matter what changes might unfold in his relationship with any person, one truth can be held absolute: If a person becomes important to him in some manner, no matter distance or differences they will find placed between them, they will always be important to him. Ayumu even outright tells Kanone that while he gives up easily on his own, personal happiness, he cannot bring himself to give up on the happiness of those he cares for. This can be seen most keenly with Madoka, his first love, as even when his brother abandons her and she falls into depression, he doesn't let her go it alone. Far from it, in fact, Kiyotaka's plan counted on Ayumu being just the type of person to want to help her, and he ended up moving back out from his parent's house all so he can go support her during his brother's two year absence, placing himself unknowingly in place for Kiyotaka's eventual plans at Tsukiomi. Never once did he admit his feelings for her in those two years, nor was there ever a hint of jealousy. All he really wanted was to support her in her time of need in any way he can and be by her side. It can also be seen in how he handles Hizumi in later volumes, though this also shows a fault in his way of thinking: He obviously cares, and it's emotionally painful for him to have to cut ties with Hizumi knowing what it will do to the fellow teen, but he cannot give up on the Blade Children to do something so selfish for himself as ally himself with the only other person who would understand him fully. Even if it would provide with Hizumi with happiness, it is not enough to outweigh the Blade Children's need and Kanone Hilbert's death. The same can be seen with Hiyono in the epilogue, as distance and time still did not mellow their friendship, and he welcomes her with the same sarcasm but a warm smile and an offer to play for her, something he'd refused to do years prior, but he still is content with their separation and even encourages it because her being by his side would make it easier for others to think his fight with his health easier for her presence.

There’s a kind of great, simple but brutal emotional strength to Ayumu, one we see in greatest detail in the end of the manga. Aware he is dying and with the blade children wondering what is to become of them if the person who was supposed to give them ‘hope’ was gone, Ayumu provides them with a simple, but brutally honest answer: The dead do not destroy hope, it is the living that do, and their ‘hope’ would not die with him if he died. It was the blade children themselves who would become their own hope. Simply believing that another would save them would not find the Blade Children anything like salvation and that is why they had failed in the past. They had to build that hope with their own hands, they had to become their own hope with their own belief for it to have true power to save them.

Ayumu would put his brother in a place where he would have to call off the hunters and provide the blade children support, and after that he would fight his own death with everything he had, fighting to stay alive and stay himself, never giving into despair even if he lived with the fear of death for as long as his life lasted. And that, he says, is also what they should do; fighting their fate to lose themselves by living and believing in a future of their own making, and surely, it must be possible that that will to survive can save them. This is the route the Blade Children should take, and he would prove it to them by example, standing strong in the face of everything fate had placed upon him. His life would be his defiance, and even if he did die, he would die fighting for every moment he drew breathe.

Abilities: Ayumu is a primarily very average person from a very average world. He has amazing mental acuity, which is his primary skill and strength in situations, but little in the way of physical strength or stamina to back that up beyond that of an average healthy 16 year old, and thus must use strategy over physical strength almost every time he finds himself in a dangerous situation. He picks up skills quickly, provided he has the drive to do so (which isn't often), but otherwise he has no magic, no real combat skills and is a very squishy high school student who still has a bunch of bullet holes in him from the last time he got dragged into a combat situation. Needless to say, he's not exactly adept on that front.

The only true thing that could be considered a 'power' is a bizarre sort of luck he was born with. As a clone of Kiyotaka Narumi, he's blessed with supernatural luck as detailed here by a castmate who also shares the same power. In short, they are so lucky that circumstances bend to prevent them from dying in any way that isn't a natural or illness induced death (in Hizumi's case the only way to override this is if Ayumu chose to kill him, in both their cases they're destined to sicken and die young in canon, and barring that sickness, receive an oracle at 20 that would utterly change them) and I'd be very happy to go with the proposed idea that the mods offered of it being very difficult but still possible for him to be killed. (Ayumu is skeptical about it even being true anyway, even if Kiyotaka and Hizumi have both canonically proven it's fact in various suicide attempts.)


Alignment:
Ayumu could fit a few alignments, as at his canon point, he's trying to become stronger for the sake of those who believe in him and himself. Piphron, Thras, and Peromei all would suit Ayumu at his canon point, some more than others in the future, but at the chapter he's taken from, Piphron suits him best. He's re-learning to trust and believe in others and more importantly in himself, and a key matter of his canonpoint (meeting with Hizumi) is the question of trust and where it will fall. I'd also like to work on developing further his sense of trusting in others and himself in Empatheias, both emotionally and mentally.

Other:  See the abilities section, but his genetic issues will also be resolved, allowing him to live beyond 18-19 should it come to that.


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
Sample: Test Drive thread


Questions:

OOC Information;
Name; Alisa
Personal Journal; Melodyoflogic @ dreamwidth
Contact; Alisa_makora

IC Information;
Character Name; Ayumu Narumi
Canon; Wikias: Animanga wikia article for the manga
A very lengthy summary of the manga up till Ayumu's canonpoint and Alse's summary of plot's background

Canon Point; after Chapter 58
Age; 16

( Read more... )

CHARACTER NAME: Ayumu Narumi
CHARACTER SERIES: Spiral: Bonds of Reasoning

[OOC]

Backtagging: Yes.
Threadhopping: Sure, as long as all players are in agreement.
Fourthwalling: Simply because that battle of wits might be hilariously broken and bend even my brain, I'm going to go with no.
Offensive subjects (elaborate): None. Ayumu is fairly chill.

[IC]

Hugging this character: Why? Sure, expect a linefacey reaction and a possible shove, though.
Kissing this character: Go for it, might end hilariously, but expect a great deal of resistance.
Flirting with this character: Sure. Just be aware that while he can tease he's also a bit of a jerk and far from likely to honestly return any feelings or intentions.
Fighting with this character: Sure. He is a near complete non-combatant even if he's semi-able to use a gun when given one, and outright refuses to kill. Please make note of this as any fight he is forced into will be either a battle of wits or a battle to disable if absolutely necessary on his part. Almost wholly defensive, really, and if force is used he's not going to be capable of physically fighting back well. Beat the crud out of him, but see below.
Injuring this character (include limits and severity): Go for it, just discuss beforehand. Again, he is as squishy as most 16 year old teens without combat training are. The hard limit here is death, for reasons I will elaborate properly below in the warnings section.
Killing this character: Only in games where his special 'godlike luck' is nulled. See below for explanations, but yes it is possible to kill him in his current game of Asgard.
Using telepathy/mind reading abilities on this character: Warn first, but if it works? Go for it. It's probably a logical trainwreck in there, on the level of a genius.

( Warnings and spoilers )

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