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[impheired]

PLAYER
YOUR NAME: Katar
18+?: yes
CONTACT: robokatar
CHARACTERS IN GAME: n/a
RESERVATION LINK: here

CHARACTER: CANON SECTION
NAME: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu
AGE: most likely somewhere between the age of 20 and 22, we just don't know for sure
CANON: Danganronpa (Super Danganronpa 2 and Danganronpa 3, specifically)

CANON HISTORY: Dingdongwrongpa 2, Dingdongwrongpa 3, Super High School Level Babyface
CANON PERSONALITY:

When first introduced to Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, it's kind of hard to believe that he has any redeeming qualities whatsoever. He's incredibly stand-offish, rude, foul-mouthed, and the only thing shorter than his stature is his temper. Attempts at conversation with him will only be met with attempts to shut it down as fast as possible and insults aplenty. It's almost like he never heard the saying "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." (spoilers: he probably hasn't) Treating him like a child is liable to get get you a death threat, as that is the one thing he hates more than anything else in the world. He is fiercely independent and self-reliant, to a point where it's actually kind of a bad thing. He refuses to rely on anyone for anything, no matter how much he likes the person or how insignificant the task. He does not trust others easily, or seemingly at all, and does nothing to make himself seem particularly trustworthy either. Put simply: his people skills leave much to be desired. From an emotional standpoint, he's really not much better. Unless the emotion in question is "anger", he's not one for telling people how he actually feels. Getting a heart-to-heart out of him is nigh impossible thanks to his penchant for keeping everyone at arm's length. All-in-all, he's really not the sort of person that anybody in their right mind would want to bother getting to know. Or at least, that's what he'd like you to think.

Even though he gives you exactly zero reasons to do so, Fuyuhiko is a prime example of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. In reality, he's actually a decent person in possession of some very admirable traits. He's surprisingly kind-hearted, very protective, and loyal to those who manage to earn his trust. If someone is having a problem, he can be a surprisingly good listener and occasionally offer some pretty solid advice. However, because of his inability to express his feelings, he isn't always the best at getting that advice across and sometimes assumes a little more about what others are feeling than he should. But if nothing else, he does at least try and surely that has to count for something. He's a very determined individual who does not back down from challenges or go back on his word. He possesses a laser-sharp focus that makes distracting him incredibly difficult, if not impossible. He's not afraid to speak his mind, something that makes itself abundantly clear when looking at Fuyuhiko in a negative light as well as a positive one. While not the smartest in their class, he has a good head on his shoulders and is perhaps more intelligent than one would expect.

All that said, it might just seem like he's little more than another Jerk With A Heart Of Gold trope character. But in reality, this is not exactly the case. Yes, he does have a heart of gold buried underneath layers and layers of jerky sludge, but there's a reason for it. He purposefully forces himself to be an asshole, even though his true nature is much the opposite. The reason for this is that what Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu is and what the world expects Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu to be are two very different things. As the heir to Japan's largest yakuza syndicate, there are a lot of things that are expected of Fuyuhiko. He should be a capable leader: intimating, strong, fearless, and never show his emotions or any sign of weakness. It would help to look the part as well. And yet...Fuyuhiko is a tiny, lactose intolerant, baby-faced boy with a huge sweet tooth (he gets even MORE irritable than usual if he goes too long without something sweet and compares himself to an addict going through withdrawal during these times) and an all-too-caring heart. As a result, he tries to hide his true nature by putting up a tough front. He acts like he doesn't care about anybody or anything, despite the fact that this is one of the biggest lies he could possibly tell. As a result of all this, Fuyuhiko is in a more or less constant state of conflict against himself, trying to find a way to reconcile his reality with the world's expectations.

His upbringing has done more than just give him image reconciliation issues, however. It's also shaped the way he interacts with others and given him somewhat of an abnormal set of values. As stated previously, Fuyuhiko puts up a front to make himself seem a lot tougher than he actually is. But even without that front, he would still have trouble interacting with others "normally" because of how others treat HIM. Because of what his family is, people look at Fuyuhiko and see nothing but trouble. As a result, Fuyuhiko had no friends growing up. When Hajime starts spending time with him on the island, he's oftentimes confused and weirded out about the fact that Hajime not only wants to spend time with him, but also seems to enjoy it. The assumption that he's is nothing but trouble isn't exactly unfounded, however, cruel though the outcomes on Fuyuhiko may be. The yakuza world is an incredibly brutal and violent one, especially in the case of the Kuzuryu clan. Fuyuhiko's hot-blooded nature didn't just come from nowhere, after all. His parents and sister have rather explosive tempers as well and even the smallest arguments almost always lead to violence. Fuyuhiko claims that he's come close to death several times in the aftermath of some of his parents' fights, as neither of them hold anything back and go at each other with the intent to kill. Fuyuhiko has grown up surrounded by violence and death and has long accepted the fact that, as long as he carries the Kuzuryu family name, that will never change. In spite of all this, however, Fuyuhiko embraces his yakuza roots. Even though he's not well-suited for it (and is painfully aware of this fact), he wants to eventually fill the role he was born into. However, he wants to actually deserve it first: he wants to be strong enough TO lead his clan, not strong BECAUSE he leads his clan. This desire to prove himself is what causes him to become so fiercely self-reliant. He believed that relying on others was weakness and he'd never be able to prove himself if he accepted help or handouts (even if they came from his own family).

So how is it that Fuyuhiko's true, not-actually-as-bad-as-he-could-be nature makes itself known? Because when he's first introduced, he does very little to give off the impression that there's more to him than meets the eye. Well the answer kind of depends. During his days at Hope's Peak Academy, he was eventually won over by The Power Of Friendship. Though he still remained fairly prickly, he grew to care for his classmates and even consider them friends. But once those memories were erased and he was thrown into the School Trip of Mutual Killing, he needed a much more drastic catalyst to get him to pull his head out of his ass. And that drastic catalyst was loss. By losing the people most precious to him, Fuyuhiko is able to realize just how badly he messed up and how wrong he was about a lot of things. In chapter 2 it's revealed that Fuyuhiko and Peko Pekoyama have not only known each other since the cradle, but that Peko is his bodyguard/hitman. It's also revealed that Fuyuhiko's little sister was murdered during their time at Hope's Peak Academy and that Mahiru Koizumi helped cover it up. This ended up being a lie on Monokuma's part, as the actual incident played out very different in reality and Mahiru did not help cover it up. But, without his memories, Fuyuhiko had no way of knowing this, and felt as though he has no choice but to retaliate. After all, he he was told from a very young age that when someone wrongs you, you wrong them right back: "An eye for an eye." So he plans to murder her, though he had intention of actually getting away with it and sacrificing the rest of his class. Not wanting him to be executed, Peko becomes a killer in his place, all but taking the bat out of his hand to murder Mahiru in his stead. She then tries to claim that she was nothing but a mere tool for her young master's use and that by voting for her, the class failed to catch the true culprit: Fuyuhiko himself. All this was an attempt to get Fuyuhiko safely off the island. However, it failed because Fuyuhiko was unable to 1) sacrifice everyone else for his own sake and 2) going along with Peko's plan would mean that he really DID see Peko as nothing more than a tool. Which he could not do because the only thing he ever wanted her to be was herself. Peko is executed as the true culprit, making Fuyuhiko technically responsible for both her and Mahiru's deaths. He tries to interfere in her execution, only to get a sword to the eye and nearly die for his trouble. Because of all this, Fuyuhiko turns over a new leaf and starts trying to make amends with the rest of his class and to stop being such a coward. He even goes as far as to slice open his own stomach to show just how serious he is about his apology. He begins to actively help in investigations and trials, and is even shown to try and help a few of his classmates (Akane and Hajime, specifically) with some of their own struggles.

When looking at his actions over the course of canon, there's one final trait of Fuyuhiko's that makes itself very clear: his cowardice. While he may be brave in the face of violence and danger (he will throw himself into the jaws of death without a second thought and has little issue with enduring pain), the same can not be said of more abstract areas. If given the chance, Fuyuhiko will run away from his problems instead of facing them. It's part of the reason he puts up such a front and tries to act the way people expect him to. He's too scared to try and go against expectations and try and make things work on his own terms. "Byakuya" even calls him out on his cowardice in chapter one, pointing out the possibility that his motivations for wanting to kill someone are little more than him looking for an excuse to get out of the game. If he dies, he doesn't have to play anymore. But he wouldn't kill himself, and his pride would never allow for him to meekly become a victim at the hands of another. When he runs into Peko's execution, it's clear that Fuyuhiko did not care whether he survived the attempt or not. Saving Peko and surviving would obviously be the ideal outcome, but the chances of that actually happening were slim to none. With Peko dead, Fuyuhiko would be all alone with his classmates who would surely not forgive him for Mahiru and Peko's deaths. And considering that the last thing he asked of Peko was not to leave him, it's obvious that he was terrified of what would happen without her around. To that end, dying at her side was just as acceptable as managing to save her. Even after her death, he's still incredibly reckless with his life. Initially, he does not value her sacrifice and sees his life as a meaningless spare. He's perfectly willing to die to help the others since he should, by all means, have been dead already. It's not until Nekomaru tells him that he needs to value the life that Peko gave him; that it's better to just be alive, that he really starts to get it and stops trying to throw his life away every time he gets the chance. Between the events that transpired during/after chapter 2, and his free time events with Hajime, Fuyuhiko starts making great strides in the bravery department and decides to start facing his problems instead of running away from them.

SKILLS/ABILITIES:

Fuyuhiko has absolutely no supernatural powers whatsoever. However, like all students accepted into Hope's Peak Academy, he is at the top of his talent field and therefore possesses a "Super High School Level" talent. Fuyuhiko is the heir to Japan's largest organized crime syndicate, the Kuzuryu clan, which makes him the Super High School Level Yakuza. However, just because this is more of a position than a skill, doesn't mean it's not a talent. It's just a little less obvious than something like mechanic or nurse. When he wants/needs to be, Fuyuhiko is actually a very capable leader. He's very good at organizing people and getting them to listen to him. In that same vein, he also displays an aptitude for business management. Additionally, he has a working knowledge (though not necessarily actual practice) of somewhat shady topics, including but not limited to: weaponry, interrogation, forgery, torture, the after effects of various poisons, and how to knock somebody unconscious with over the counter drugs.

Fuyuhiko also has surprisingly high endurance for someone of his size and also possesses a fairly high pain tolerance. Unfortunately, he does not seem to have inherited the ridiculous physical strength of the Kuzuryu family and falls more on the side of average in that area. However, he can hold his own in a fight and is very quick on his feet. Additionally, he has a highly accurate internal clock (Excluding Robo-Nekomaru, he was the only one to wake up in time for Monokuma Tai Chi in chapter 4.)

CHARACTER: AU SECTION
AU NAME: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu
AU AGE: 25, turns 26 on August 16th
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES: Has both eyes, which are amber instead of pale gold. His hair is black instead of blonde, still cropped short but without the shaved swoops. He's 5'4" instead of 5'2" and a little heavier owing to the fact that he actually has some muscle mass now. While he still looks a lot younger than he actually is, he's not quite as baby faced as he is canonically and he no longer has freckles. behold (thank you kinam for the lovely reference, as always)

AU HISTORY: I solemnly swear that this AU was a collaborative effort between myself, Jade, and Ki. They are fully in the loop and are okay with Peko and Natsumi's involvement. Here is a timeline spreadsheet with a year-by-year breakdown of events in case you want to get that specific.

• Fuyuhiko was born in Kyoto, Japan to low-ranking yakuza parents. His father was second-generation yakuza while his mother was a yakuza daughter to a family with a much longer history of membership. However, since she was a woman, it wasn't really a career for her like it was for her husband. By all appearances, she was simply a housewife.
• His younger sister, Natsumi, is a little over 6 years his junior. Despite the age gap, the two siblings have always been very close. Natsumi took a strong liking to him from a very early age, and looked up to him more than she did their parents.
• Despite his low rank, his father was a very ambitious man, and very devoted to his clan. As such, he began teaching his son about the yakuza lifestyle and values from a very young age. His mother only encouraged this, as she also came from a yakuza household in the same clan. His father had high hopes that his son would join the family business when he was old enough, and manage to move even higher in the clan than he did himself.
• His father enrolled Fuyuhiko in kendo classes when he was seven years old, hoping it would toughen him up a little. This is where he met Peko, whose parents owned the dojo. The two were enrolled in the same class, and became fast friends after Peko soundly kicked his butt in their first match.
• They only became closer friends as the years went by, attending the same junior high and high schools. They were in the kendo club together and Fuyuhiko (and often Natsumi) was still a fairly regular presence at the Pekoyama dojo, despite no longer being officially enrolled in classes there.
• After high school (at age 18), Fuyuhiko and Peko joined the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. For Fuyuhiko, this was his way out of the yakuza life, a fate which he'd grown to dislike more and more as he grew older. Natsumi was against this, as she was only 11 years old at the time and didn't want her brother to leave her behind. He promised her that he wasn't going away forever, and that if she worked hard in school, she could move in with him once he'd made enough money in the MSDF to support himself. The two stayed in regular contact while Fuyuhiko was away, exchanging e-mails and written letters at least once a month.
• He trained in judo while enlisted, since he had already achieved a shodan ranking in kendo (and only considered it a hobby anyway) and wanted to try something new for his martial arts training requirement.
• At age 21, Fuyuhiko left the SDF earlier than planned. His parents were killed as a result of their yakuza lifestyle, leaving Natsumi in need of a legal guardian. After a few months, Fuyuhiko decided to relocate to the United States, and began the visa application process. His reasons being that this was the one surefire way to escape the yakuza life for good, and that it would give both himself and his sister a fresh, better start. They moved to Recolle once Natsumi had finished junior high, along with Peko.
• This January marked the trio's fifth year in Recolle. They live in a small, three bedroom apartment over Peko's kendo dojo in the Tisse district. Fuyuhiko works as a police officer, teaches weekend children's kendo classes in Peko's dojo, and helps manage his sister's modeling career. (He basically just serves as her morality watchdog and makes sure she isn't taken advantage of in any way or forced into inappropriate shoots by her ACTUAL manager from the agency. It's basically volunteer work, as is his work in the kendo studio. Being a police officer is his only paying job.)
• At the moment, Fuyuhiko is basically a beat cop (and occasionally does after-school traffic control for the elementary/middle/high schools if that's a thing in Recolle??? Volunteers to be the police presence at high school dances??? He just kind of does whatever), though he'd like to eventually move to the K-9 unit or become a detective. Like his canon self, he's ambitious and wants to move up the ranks.

AU PERSONALITY:

Canonically, Fuyuhiko is the sort of idealized yakuza that doesn't really exist outside of fiction nowadays. He's moral and upright, rarely carries through on the violence he so often threatens, and has a hard time with the idea of killing people. So, despite being raised on yakuza values in this au, most of them didn't really stick since his father belonged to a yakuza family that is neither fictionalized nor idealized and more closely matches the more negative image one would see in the modern world. He still has a very strong sense of family bonds (both blood related and chosen family) and needs to keep a close eye on his temper so he doesn't lash out physically, but beyond that, his morals won out over his upbringing. So, despite absorbing his father's teachings, he ended up going into the similar-yet-completely-opposite fields of the military and law enforcement. Like the idealized yakuza, both of these organizations have strong found-family bonds and aim to serve the community and the greater good. However, unlike the yakuza (both idealized and non), they do not "protect and serve" at the cost of the law, making them a much better and more natural fit for the morally and lawfully-natured Fuyuhiko.

This change has also shifted the source of Fuyuhiko's inner conflict. In canon, he was always fighting against himself because his nature was too gentle to be a yakuza, yet he completely accepted his position as family heir. In his reborn life, he was fighting against what he wanted and what his father wanted. As a child, he was mostly happy to go along with what his father wanted, since he was young and wanted to make the man proud because what little kid doesn't want to make their parents proud? It also didn't help that his father's teachings glossed over certain aspects of what it means to be a yakuza, or that he was simply too young to fully understand the implications. As he grew older, however, the truth became more and more obvious, and Fuyuhiko's strong convictions and morals meant that he could not possibly go along with his father's wishes. Though he still loved his parents, he did not see a career in the yakuza as an honorable one, much less something he himself could ever actually commit to. He entered the MSDF after high school as a way to try and prevent his father's wishes without blatantly disrespecting him. He was still fairly young, after all, too young to be a proper yakuza and joining the MSDF meant that he would have the chance to expand his horizons a little, train himself physically, and protect his country. As far as his father was concerned, this would only help his son move up the ranks. In reality, however, Fuyuhiko's plan was to make enough money to escape the yakuza life and support himself somewhere else. Naturally, this made his parents' murders kind of convenient, though it was still quite a blow both of the Kuzuryu siblings.

Another slight shift that occurred thanks to Fuyuhiko's different upbringing involves his emotional expression. While Fuyuhiko can still be consider a tsundere in this AU and has the tendency to bottle his feelings rather than share them, his reasons for being this way are slightly different than they are canonically. This time around, it's due solely to a desire to be manly and has nothing to do with being a big tough yakuza who don't feel no feelings. And on the matters that are really important, he is capable of being more open than he initially was canonically. For example, at no point in this AU would Peko believe that Fuyuhiko hated her. Likewise, Natsumi would never believe that her big brother would leave her behind because of her lack of talent. He's still a little too closed off for his own good if you were to compare him to the average person, but when compared to his canon self, even a slight change for the better is remarkable. And unlike his canon self, he didn't have to lose someone he cared about to reach this point.

It goes without saying that his switch to the other side of the law means that Fuyuhiko's moral and law-abiding nature has intensified. He has no tolerance for illegal activity, especially when it comes to crimes perpetrated by minors. This sometimes leads him to be hard on underage criminals, but it's not out of dislike but rather wanting to be sure they're set straight and don't become repeat offenders. He actually cares a lot about kids and teens. Not that he lets things slide with adult offenders, of course. He's just as hard on them as well (good luck trying to talk him out writing you a speeding ticket, nobody's ever been able to accomplish it), he just seems comparatively harder on kids since most cops might be a little more lenient with them. He's also less concerned with hiding his intelligence or appearing studious in this AU. While he's hardly a genius, Fuyuhiko has always been a sharp and intelligent individual, at least "average" if not slightly above in certain subjects. In canon, however, he hides this fact and claims that he's not a good thinker and he'll have other people to do that for him when he's boss. Canon Fuyuhiko is places more importance on being tough than being smart. AU Fuyuhiko, however, doesn't see one or the other as more important. While he strives to appear manly, he's not quite as concerned with looking tough and intimidating. He studied hard while in school, and while he doesn't think of himself as particularly intellectual, he doesn't downplay his intelligence like he does canonically.

On the flip side, Fuyuhiko's altered upbringing has also made some of his canon characteristics less intense. While he still inherited the Kuzuryu family explosive temper, his fuse is much longer thanks to the discipline he gained in kendo and the MSDF. While he still occasionally threatens bodily harm (never while on the job, of course) under certain circumstances, he does not threaten death like he does so often in canon. Not only that, but his threats are more normal in the sense that they're over things normal people would be upset about, as opposed to him flying off the handle about milk or sweets. He's still lactose intolerant, but it's not something he gets defensive over anymore. And he certainly doesn't get angry if people say the word "milk", even if he'll always be a little booty-bothered that he can't drink it. His sweet tooth, however, is still something he hides and will get a little defensive over since it's "not manly" to like certain sweets. He also swears less, though he still uses the rougher kansai dialect when speaking in his native tongue since he was still raised in the same area.

And finally, Fuyuhiko's relationships with both Peko and his sister are drastically different than they were in canon. Since Peko was never Fuyuhiko's tool, the two were equals from the moment they met and were able to form a genuine friendship with one another that has endured for almost 20 years. Peko is his best friend and he basically considers her to be family. Peko is also part of the reason why Fuyuhiko's relationship with Natsumi is so strong. Peko and her older sister were ten years apart and never close, something which Fuyuhiko couldn't help but notice given how much time he spent with Peko. When Natsumi was born, he decided that he didn't want to be like the older Pekoyama sister, a cold and distant figure that Natsumi would see as a rival more than she would see him as family. So from the beginning, he tried to prevent that. He was friendly and encouraging with Natsumi even when she was still a baby. He played with her whenever she wanted, helped her get the hang of walking, read her stories, stuff like that. Once she was old enough to go to elementary school, he walked her there and dropped her off on his way to his junior high. They still get into the occasional argument and are prone to picking on one another (as siblings tend to do), but overall their relationship is a very positive one. And more importantly, it's more balanced than what we see in canon, where Natsumi openly adores her brother and Fuyuhiko never bothered to actually tell her how much he cared. Natsumi is the most important person in the world to him, and he lets her know that on a daily basis, even if he's not actually saying it with words.

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