Application: Recursion

[touketsu]

OOC Information
Name: Joey
Are you over 18?: Yes
Contact: Discord - JOJO#1374, Plurk - bizarretown

IC Information
Character: Shirou Fubuki
Age: 14
Canon: Inazuma Eleven
Canon Point: End of Episode 38 - After thwarting Kageyama's attempt to use Shin Teikoku to get revenge against the soccer world, Coach Hitomiko calls in a helicopter rescue to lift both teams off Kageyama's submarine before it sinks into the sea in a fiery blaze. Although Raimon's match vs Shin Teikoku ended in a tie, and despite some serious injuries that were incurred, friends were saved. It's a bittersweet victory, even for Shirou, whose newest and closest friend was one of those who suffered great damage during the soccer match...although it's important to note that he's not yet aware of how severe Someoka's injury is at this point.

History: The information the Inazuma Wiki provides isn't inaccurate, but it is sorely lacking in specific details. For that reason, I've provided a quick summary that better highlights some key events and important people to Shirou. Please let me know if this is insufficient and I'll be happy to provide more!

Shirou and his younger twin brother, Atsuya, were the perfect defender/forward combination for their junior league soccer team. Although they had different opinions about which element was more important to soccer, their parents supported them both equally and encourage the pair to work together as a team. Specifically to settle an argument between them, their father told the boys on the way home from a game that they were perfect together...moments before an avalanche claimed their lives.

Thrown from the vehicle at the last minute, Shirou was the sole survivor of the accident, which forced him to grow up alone.

Some time later, Shirou began to "hear" the voice of his deceased brother Atsuya from the scarf that he had taken to wearing around his neck. Having once belonged to Atsuya, it was as though the scarf was possessed by his spirit. His ever-growing desire to be perfect and to not be alone taking hold of him, Shirou responded to this "voice" by giving in, thus giving birth to a second personality within him, one that some years later the Inazuma Caravan came looking to recruit. When aliens descended upon them and threatened not only soccer, but the entire world, it wasn't the capabilities of a defender that coach Hitomiko wanted, but an ace striker with enough power to blow past the enemy goalkeeper's defenses.

After a demonstrative match at Hakuren Junior High, the members of Raimon's Inazuma Caravan excitedly welcome Shirou onto their team — all except Ryuugo Someoka, who is reluctant to accept Shirou as Shuuya Gouenji's replacement. It isn't until the following day, during a competitive shoot off between the two that results in Shirou's distraction and Someoka being established as the Caravan's primary striker, that Someoka finally starts to warm up to the idea of Shirou as a teammate.

And it's just in time, too. The team Gemini Storm of Aliea Gakuen (or Aliea Academy) announce their intent to challenge and defeat Hakuren shortly after, and they aren't given very much time to prepare. Using methods he trains with himself, such as snowboarding through a trap of giant snowballs to increase their control and allow them to better adjust to high speeds, Shirou helps everyone to prepare for the upcoming match. Even Someoka and he grow closer, a bond which pays off when Gemini Storm finally attacks and they're able to combine their skills to score the winning point against the aliens.

However, they learn afterwards that their fight with the aliens isn't over. Another team, Epsilon, appears from the wings and announces their intent to do what Gemini Storm could not. And in the days that follow, the Caravan is forced to contend with them in order to save another school from being destroyed. Only, during this match, Shirou meets his match in Desarm, Epsilon's goalkeeper, who effortlessly blocks his shoot. And before the match can even properly conclude, the whole of Epsilon vanishes on the promise to return in ten days to fight them again...

Unfortunately, aliens aren't the only danger that they have to contend with, and it is announced shortly afterwards that a man named Reiji Kageyama has escaped police custody. Kageyama plans to achieve revenge on the soccer world by manipulating the old teammates of Yuuto Kidou, one of Shirou's new teammates, and it is up to them to stop him.

It is a fight they win, in a manner of speaking. While technically the match ends in a draw and Someoka's leg is severely injured, they manage to save all of team Shin Teikoku, specifically Kidou's two closest friends, Koujirou Genda and Jirou Sakuma. Needless to say, it is a bittersweet victory...but one that nevertheless strengthens their bonds for the long road ahead.

Personality: As capricious as the weather, Shirou Fubuki is difficult to define in just a few words. At first glance, he appears to be as soft as fresh fallen snow and, on occasion, as playful as a gentle gust of wind. However, as someone who suffers from trauma-inflicted Dissociative Identity Disorder, there is more to him than meets the eye. Shirou's personality is something of a patchwork creation comprised of both his true self and the memory of his late twin brother and polar opposite, Atsuya. Where Shirou is amiable and level-headed, Atsuya is contentious and rowdy — and together, they are perfect.

Or, at least, Shirou believes they are. But that belief could not be further from the truth.

Much as Shirou thinks he knows what it means to be perfect, his idea is a fragmented concept borne from the event that cost him the lives of both his parents and his brother: the avalanche that occurred at the Northern Ridge in Hokkaido, Japan when he was still just a child. During the moments preceding that fateful accident, one of the last things his father said to him and his brother were the words, "Then with the two of you together, you're perfect."

And then, suddenly, the mountain had claimed his family. He was without his parents and his other half, robbed not only of what he thought he needed to be perfect, but the support he would have required to remain whole as well. Is it any wonder that, after he'd been thrust from the car by his brother, he had shattered like so much thin ice and clung desperately to any memories that would allow him to stay afloat?

Yet, despite the tragedy of his past, the person whom Shirou became afterwards wasn't bitter or cold by any stretch of the imagination. As he grew from an adolescent into a young teenager of fourteen, he retained many of the more distinguishing characteristics of his younger self: a strong sense of right and wrong, a kind heart, a playful and thrill-seeking enthusiasm, and an unfathomable love of soccer. But, broken as he was, Shirou was not all that survived. Buried deep within him, summoned from a scarf that he wears that once belonged to his brother, and borne of his deep-seated fear of being alone, was also Atsuya's personality: his competitive spirit, one-man-army play style, impetuous behavior, and tendency towards explosive emotional outbursts. In middle school, this discordant combination allowed Shirou to assume multiple functions for Hakuren Junior High's soccer team, operating as their primary defender, ace striker, and as their captain. While his teammates supported and cared for him, it seemed there was no one willing to actively nurture his damaged psyche, the result of which was a player who did pretty much...whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, without anyone to tell him otherwise. And this worked for a time, even if Shirou built up quite the reputation for himself in the process.

A reputation that brought the Inazuma Caravan to Hokkaido just to find him, in fact, and a reputation that made him virtually unrecognizable to their players when they first met. Outwardly unassuming, Shirou doesn't seem to match all the reports of his prowess on the soccer field or his exploits in Hokkaido's snowfields. He is generally soft-spoken and smiling, and he doesn't seem threatening in the least. It is because these things belie the presence of mischief that most people never suspect him of being a lady charmer or a prankster when, in fact, he is both in equal measure — and even seems to find some amusement in the misconceptions people have based on the gossip surrounding him, some of which is unfounded, and some of which happen to be rather aptly earned, as in the case of his nickname, "Bear Killer."

Though, of course, this nickname doesn't belong to him as much as it belongs to "Atsuya," who takes over whenever Shirou needs to go on the offensive, even manifesting physical changes such as glowing golden eyes and winged hair. Which isn't to suggest that Shirou avoids all confrontation, for he seems to be virtually fearless in all areas of his life, and even when things seem at their most grim, he is only ever visibly shaken when he hears a sound reminiscent of the loud roar of snow tearing down a mountainside, or his ability to conquer his adversaries is called into question. As such, it should come as no surprise that winning is everything to him.

Because if he can't win, then he's not perfect, and if that's true...then what use does he have, what function does he serve? Why is he even still alive?

These are questions he asks himself when he's not riding high on the adrenaline offered by success and the love of his friends and teammates in Hakuren and the Inazuma Caravan, the latter of which provides Shirou with so much purpose that, to take anyone away from him suddenly is to cause a very rapid, very violent backslide. The importance of the bonds he's forged (or wants to forge) with his teammates in the Caravan run incredibly deep, and the strongest of them are clutched so closely to his heart that to lose even one is to lose a part of himself and what he wants to be. And that's kind of a big deal for someone not equipped to deal with loss on any level, especially when those bonds are forged in blood, sweat, and tears and he has a tendency to shape who he is by whom he can most successfully combine forces with.

It isn't a healthy ambition, to be sure. But it's prominent in all aspects of his life. From the way that he obediently follows some orders despite his own preferences because he desires the acceptance of others, to the way that he'll also disobey an order to charge straight ahead and for a victory he knows his team wants with the same burning passion that exists in his heart.

He wants to be surrounded by the people he cares about, to be with them, to tease them, to play soccer with them, to have fun and be just like the wind, without a care and free, but he also wants desperately to be needed, to be useful, to keep Atsuya's memory and spirit alive, and above all else, to be perfect — and this division, as with any hole that ice has begun to form within, will continue to splinter and crack with time. Because Shirou just doesn't know yet how to let go of his past, and doesn't know what it truly means to be perfect.

Etc: Noting for later that the AU name I'll be using will be Kouyuki Jin. (Or, in the Japanese order, Jin Kouyuki, which is a play on the word "jinkouyuki" which translates into "artificial snow".)

Persona
Name: Marchosias
Branch: Combatant

Type(s): Ice, Wind

Style(s): Buffer

Passive: Dual

Writing Sample
I have a few threads on the Test Drive Meme which showcase Shirou's AU and also illustrate similarities between him and his OU, but to strictly demonstrate canon voice awareness, I've also written out an extra sample based on the final TDM prompt...

PROMPT 4 - A NEW, OLD LIFE

Kouyuki Jin had believed with certainty that he was going to die. He'd felt the weight of that truth down to his very bones and, standing across the pitch from the likes of a creature he'd never laid eyes on before, its body a twisting, writhing mass of darkness complete with rows of sharp white teeth and glowing eyes, he'd known there was no escape. Even if he'd wanted to run, he'd never find help or shelter in time.

Then, just when he'd thought all hope was lost, he'd heard a voice, something coming from deep within. It beckoned to him: Tear out your heart.

And because he had nothing left to lose, he had done just that.

He reached deep within and forcibly wrenched something free, the result of which had felt a lot like falling into arctic waters through a sheet of thin ice. His very breath was stolen from him, every last fiber of his being shocked awake with such a violent force that not even a scream could escape. It was like being set on fire and frozen all at once. There wasn't room to think. Wasn't room for fear. There wasn't room for anything but raw instinct, and such was his will to live that he had clawed his way back to the surface. Such was his will to not be forgotten that he remembered. And when the shadow had come for him, he wasn't alone. Atsuya had been there...

It had been like a dream, or maybe a nightmare. He had surrendered himself to his little brother, because surely that was the only way to win, but the fight that had ensued had been unlike any they'd ever encountered before. Their struggle had taken so much out of him that Shirou could scarcely even recall making it home afterwards.

But he must have, for how else could he be lying awake the next day with the ceiling as white as snow above him, the hand of fear choking his heart as the night before repeated in his mind like a broken record? It was real. That had happened. And together, with Atsuya, he had defeated a monster.

They'd won...but how could he be happy? That victory had meant letting Atsuya do something terrible. And that victory was only possible because he was someplace he shouldn't be, living a life that wasn't his own — a life he'd be expected to begin again in less than ten minutes when his alarm clock sounded and he would need to go downstairs and greet...

...a family he shouldn't even have.

"What should I..." What should he do? Did he have the strength to put on a smile and pretend for all the world like nothing was wrong? Like he wouldn't rather be playing soccer at school than practicing his sprint or high jump? And if he tried, was he strong enough to keep from cracking under pressure? Could he last the day, or at least until he could hide himself away in an empty classroom or a bathroom stall until he found himself again?

"Kouyuki! Breakfast is ready!" His mother's voice called softly up from the kitchen. Except she wasn't his mother. Not his real one. The last he'd heard of her was a scream in a world drowned out by white, a scream that had somehow echoed loud and clear over the roar of snow blasting down the ridge and towards his parents' car. She would never make him breakfast again. But someone had...someone who, as far as he could remember, had provided for and loved him like a real son. That made her a mother, didn't it? Or a mother of sorts. A mother to Kouyuki Jin — a boy as artificial as his name. A boy Shirou Fubuki had to pretend to be.

"Kouyuki?" she called again.

And this time, sitting up and pushing his covers off him, Shirou responded with practiced mirth. "Okay! I'll be down soon!"

He could do this...right? If it was to protect everyone, he could do this. He had to.

He just hoped there was room for one more life inside him, that the need Eddan had for Atsuya and even Kouyuki wouldn't mean Shirou would be buried and lost forever.

Comments

[touketsu]

WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
SHIROU FUBUKI | TOUKETSU

DO YOU THINK SOMETHING IS WRONG IN THIS WORLD?
I DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE SO, BUT... YEAH... THERE ISN'T ANY OTHER EXPLANATION FOR THE WAY THINGS ARE. IS THERE?

DO YOU WANT TO FIX IT?
YES

DO YOU HAVE A STRONG HEART?
MY HEART IS BROKEN

DO YOU LIKE UNSOLVED MYSTERIES?
YES

DO YOU VALUE THE LIFE OF OTHERS?
YES

WHAT IS YOUR WORST TRAIT FROM THE LIST BELOW?
FEARFUL

WHAT IS YOUR BEST TRAIT FROM THE LIST BELOW?
VERSATILE

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FAIRNESS?
WHATEVER I CAN DO, I'LL DO IT TO GET MY WAY

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING SHAPES YOUR FUTURE?
SURVIVAL: I WILL DO ALL TO BE ON TOP

IS YOUR LIFE HERE A LIE?
I WISH I COULD DENY IT AND LIVE HERE PEACEFULLY, BUT IT'S TRUE