Kourin Shimizu

OOC INFORMATION
Player: Kira
Age: old. Okay not but way over the age limit.
Personal Journal: narva
Contact Info: narwa
Other Characters: Denmark

IC INFORMATION
Characters Name: Kourin Shimizu
Age: early 40ies (?)
Canon: Nabari no Ou
Canon Point: about six years before the main events of the series start
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Orientation: Most likely heterosexual as she is married happily to a man, but since your question here is "Would your character be more comfortable with a wife, husband, or either?": She would be much more comfortable with a wife, considering that she is married happily and from a society where polyandry and cheating are big no-nos and homosexual marriages are basically unheard of - and she has a reputation to uphold that the stability of a whole clan depends upon. She would consider a wife a platonic house partner and not have any issues with it, while she would very strictly resent being given a husband.
On a mun-level, I would be okay with either as long as she isn't placed with a husband upon arrival.


History: Born from the Fuuma ninja village, Kourin became head of the samurai Shimizu family through beating her brother-in-law in the final fight of a tournament over the leadership, as it was costum with the Shimizu clan (I use the past tense here because, while in Kourin's time the clan still exists, it has been reduced to only one member at the time of the main story) who believed in "strength to rule". Her husband, Soumei, was also the heir of the family, and it seems that the circumstances under which they came together could have been right out of a teenage romance novel. Despite Soumei falling ill and his health slowly deteriorating over the years, they seem to enjoy a very happy married life.

Four years prior to the point that I will pull her from, she went to see her cousin Asahi Rokujo, who had tried to drop out of Nabari but failed as she was the host of the Shinranbanshou at that time. Kourin had asked her to keep updated on news from Nabari and seems to still keep an eye on her as well as worry about her wellbeing, and while they seem to not have seen each other for a while (she remarks on "Asahi having gotten a child in the meantime" and Miharu is 4, and it could be that they haven't met for even longer as Asahi replies "the same to you" which would make it 10 years (Raikou is 20 in the main story) - the easiness with which they interact kind of speaks against that, though) they clearly stayed in touch and are very dear to each other - she's the only one seen to use pet-names with Kourin. Now Kourin is among the extremely limited number of people who learns about Asahi's plans to seal and erase the Shinranbanshou, and the only one to not have a place in the actual act: Asahi decided that she didn't want to involve Kourin's children.

Upon hearing that Asahi only wanted her to discuss with them without requesting any actual help from either the Shimizu clan or the Fuuma village that they technically are affiliated with (history has changed originally simple relationships), Kourin takes her leave. Later, her brother-in-law and some other members of her family will complain to her and also behind her back that the Shimizu clan was so fiercely neutral about the Shinranbanshou at that time - though it's likely that nobody knew of her visit with Asahi nor had any reason to suspect, since Kourin is generally very firm on upholding neutrality inside the world of Nabari and not interfering at all with the world outside.

Over the coming years, the opposition to her leadership of neutrality grows stronger as more members of the clan wish to break the neutrality either to interfere in the surface world or take a side, or even their own side, in the world of Nabari. This fraction is lead and edged on by the aforementioned brother-in-law, Iroku; his motives aren't quite clear, as we only have Raikou's retelling of the following events and he was only fifteen and also heavily involved at that time, but events heavily suggest that Kourin's assessment of Iroku mostly opposing her because he wants to be the leader instead of her is correct. The issue seems to be a long-standing one, reaching back further than four years, and it will take another year to culminate in the events that lead to the end of the Shimizu clan.

A synopsis of those events can be found in Raikou's background. Note that it seems that Kourin seems to have expected the development of Iroku coming to her like this, but seems to have thought that Iroku wouldn't go as far as turning on his sickly brother or his nephew.


Appearance: Very tall (she's shown to be a head taller than all Japanese people that we see standing next to her, males included, and not much shorter than Thobari's mountain of a grandfather), with long, blond hair and a slender but muscular build. Her clothing style can be described as feminized versions of originally male clothes - formfitting pants when she tries to not draw attention in the surface world (though the success of her inconspicuous clothing can be debated - she dresses like a stereotypical film star), hakama and similar items of clothing at all other times.


Personality:

Kourin has two modes of operation.
✦ One she displays when being in bussiness-like situations: When she acts as a leader, when she is on a mission, when serious matters are discussed, when she needs to get a point across. This way of acting is more prominent in the manga, but only because it simply isn't a slice-of-life series so we see little day-to-day Kourin. From what is shown of her everyday life, she probably spends more time out of bussiness-mode than in it. This way of acting is characterized by her appearing collected and almost cold, to the point of being dismissive of opinions that she considers dumb, unsmiling (unless she feels that a grin will get her message across better) and moving measuredly - though not slowly - in actions and words.
✦ The other mode comes out when she interacts with her family (unless, of course, she needs to have a serious word with one of them or the situation calls for more gravity etc), friends or really, anyone in private or at least relaxed situations. It shows her as a woman who is quite open about her happiness and sadness, fears and delights, happiness and excitements. She isn't bubbly though, it could better be described as rambunctious. In this mode her caring and gentle side will show, which tends to be hidden under a layer of professionalism in the other mode.
She can switch between the two modes within moments.

Kourin is very much a family person. She seems to spend as much time with her husband and children as possible, despite her demanding job and position. To put it in a very modern way that she would probably not use, she has found a good work-life balance and manages to be a working mom who nevertheless is there for her children, even if only in the evenings. She does seem to have problems dealing with Raikou when he hits puberty, first attempting to deal with it like she would with a dissenting adult or with a troublesome student, and then starting to experiment, but that doesn't make her a bad mother - interestingly enough, Raikou seems to be acutely aware of her positive traits and of how much she cares about her family even in the middle of rebelling against her. Her trouble with Raikou mostly stem from her being a very big, strong personality with some strong principles that she will not deviate from for anyone, and while she will explain to him why she does things her way, and state that he should do them that way too, she won't meet him halfway. She cannot. If it was about more mundane topics, she would probably make amends easily - had he decided to dye his hair pink while she was still alive, there would have been discussions, but eventually she would even have supported him if the school demanded that he change it back. But those principles, she is hard as a wall about, and when Raikou reached an age where he wouldn't simply accept what she told him to believe any more, they started to have an issue there. It doesn't help that she isn't the most emphatic person and will sometimes snark at the wrong moment, employing strong and brash, even dismissive words, where a gentle talk with depth would have been more likely to achieve something.

An issue that doesn't look all that big to her: She's sure that he will come around eventually. He's being idealistic because he is young, right? With experience will come understanding. If he doesn't believe her yet that swords will only bring death and not save anyone, he'll learn over time. It's the equivalent of telling your child that it is dangerous to climb up that tree, but they need to slip and fall before they'll understand why you said it.

To put it short, Kourin loves her children, she loves her husband, she loves her friends, and spending time with them seems to be her greatest happiness. She cares and worries about them and will try to push them into the direction that she deems best for them, but ultimately will support them in their decisions as long as they don't go against her principles (f.ex.: She seems to not have agreed with Asahi's decision to leave the world of Nabari, but in the end supported it fully as long as they kept themselves updated enough to ensure their safety). She will protect them with all that she has if it is in her hands, even with her life.

Most of Kourin's emotions, when she shows them, are big: She will grin widely and laugh loudly, attend her children's open class hours with great concentration, scream when she sees bugs and so on; she can however be calm and gentle as well when the situation calls for at, and since her husband's health is bad (to the point where he uses a wheelchair because he is too weak to walk on his own), she's had to at the same time care for him and make sure that the sickness doesn't make the children feel down too much at the same time. On the other hand she also won't tone it down when snark or dismissive elements enter her behaviour.

Now to the principles that I mentioned before. There are two that are basically two sides of the same coin, and it are these principles that her and Raikou as well as her and Iroku clash about the most. To quote:

We stand between the surface world and the world of Nabari. All we have to do is maintain the balance. Now that the Shinrabanshou has awakened, it doesn't matter to us whose hands it ends up in. There is no reason for us to interfere.

While we cannot know that she would have said the same had she not known the host of the Shinrabanshou, it is likely, as she considers the keeping of the balance the primary goal of the Shimizu clan that all other ideals and goals need to be secondary to; and to remain in a position where none of the villages will interfere with this goal, they need to keep a perfect neutrality: Whatever the rest of the world does, it cannot matter to the Shimizu cla and its members. That is the traditional approach of the family, by the way, and it is mentioned that the leader before her (Soumei's and Iroku's father) followed the same guideline. This on the one hand means that they cannot get dragged into the power struggles of the ninja villages, neither to aid a village nor to gain power themselves. On the other hand it means that they under no circumstances can interfere in the other, that is, the surface world. She sees no reason to do either, too: They are well off and nt contested by any of the villages, and there are already forces in the surface world that do the job that the Shimizu clan does in the world of Nabari: Police and other organs of the government with similar functions.

That is only one reason why she opposes the idea of interfering in the surface world or trying to get more power in the world of Nabari. The other is that she cannot subscribe to the aim that those advocating those things cite: To help, to protect, to make things better for everyone. Experience as well as simple conviction make it impossible for her to believe that the force of a blade could achieve any of that. A sword to her means death, even if it is rightful and just. Never life.

A sword is an object meant to kill. Never think that it can save people.

In the end, while different and much more mature, Kourin and her daughter Raimei resemble each other on quite a few accounts. They can both show great determination once they set their eyes upon a goal (and that most likely includes fights) and are very straight-forward about their ideals and opinions.

One last thing about Kourin: She can also be very patient and can wait for months and years for certain fruits to grow ripe. She doesn't necessarily spring to action the moment she hears about something if she thinks that it would be better to let it develop for a bit longer and come to a natural peak or conclusion. But at the same time she can think on her feet and make decisions in split seconds, both of which is crucial for a fighter and politician such as herself.


Abilities:

Primarely a samurai, and likely the strongest practiser of kenjutsu of her time in the whole world of Nabari, it is not known if Kourin also has ninja skills. She is never seen using any, but since she's from Fuuma village and her children both possess some ninjutsu skills, it is likely that she can at least do basic things on an average level, if not more.

Other: As a side note about her pull point, she is taken from before Raimei and Raikou received Shirogamon and Kurogamon.


SAMPLES
First Person:

So.

[The woman on the screen seems collected and very on top of things, though there is an annoyed tinge to her voice.]

This place seems to be inescapable, from the looks of it. [She's done some extensive research as well as undertaken some physical attempts, hoping to get out without anyone quite taking notice of her so she couldn't get tangled up in anything, but it didn't work out. So this is the obvious next step.

She will not ask for information contradicting this statement; maybe someone will throw information at her on their own, but considering that she doesn't quite understand the person who put all of this up yet, she would rather not risk being watched more closely by them if she can avoid it easily. She will, however, leave hint that she is up for whatever ways there are out of here. Things aren't exactly stable in her clan right now, and she doesn't want to know what she will find upon her return if she's gone more than a couple of days.]

While I do need to go home urgently, it seems that while being here adults need to take on a job. Which brings me to my question.

Is there a type of law enforcement in this place? A kind of police, so to speak. I have experience in the field [If you define it broadly; and aside from that line of work being what will most likely come to hear the easiest, it should also be a good first step to get some insight into this place, should the law enforcement be run by whoever runs this place.] Alternatively, I would be qualified to teach kendo classes, should there be interest.

[Her serious expression softens into a curt smile.] Thank you for listening, and I would appreciate any kind of information regarding this.

[And with that, she ends the record.]


Third Person:

"The Shimizu clan exists because the world of Nabari does."

Staring across the table, Kouring fixates Raikou with her eyes. It had started as a normal family breakfast, and really, she would have liked to keep it a calm morning affair on one of the recently rare occasions when the whole family manages to be together - the children not in school, herself not working, and Soumei not too ill to join them. But then this topic had come up again, and as little as she likes discussing it - it seems to never lead anywhere, and she is slowly coming to the conclusion that her son simply needs to butt his head with reality eventually to figure things out, as much as she would like to protect him from a rude awakening like that by preparing him properly. Much too much of an idealist, really, and she lately cannot find enough access to him to shake him out of it.

Puberty really is a complicated thing. At least her children are far enough apart in age so they will go through it at different times, or that is at least what she hopes. Raimei is the younger one and girls are supposed to get there earlier, but she shows no signs yet, neither physically nor in her behaviour. It should all work out, as long as Raikou stops in time.

She could probably put a stop to it; could move along internal issues quicker, or take him on missions. But both of those are not right; the former, because it might screw with the results if she doesn't let it develop as it does, and trying to mess with it without ever knowing the whole story - she couldn't safely plant bugs without risking that they'd notice that she guesses - could result in a disaster. The latter, because it would be cruel and dangerous and just not right. No matter what he thinks himself, Raikou is still a child. His training isn't completed, and he just is so... sensitive, much more than his sister (not that Raimei should enter the adult world like that. She's still a child). She wants him to mature just a bit more before taking the next step.

Maybe a year... Kurogamon and Shirogamon are currently without a wielder, and she would like them to go to her children. Because she trusts them to take good care of them: They are both very capable fighters and she is sure that they will only grow in that regard, and they also have solid moral compasses, even though they are still developing - another reason to wait still, but not as troublesome because she will remain there for them even after handing the swords over. And they love each other, for all that she can tell, which should ensure that neither will stray from the path because it would force the sibling to rain down judgement on them.

With time and experience, they surely will become wonderful backbones of the clan once their time comes. For now though, discussions like this need to be had - she really wishes they were about what some of the other parents complain about, sometimes. It would be easier to fight about rebellious outfits or staying out too late. It would be easier to deal with loud disagreement and blown-out-of-proportion petty annoyances, too. But that just doesn't seem to be their battlefield.

"And as long as that world exists, it will be what the Shimizu clan exists for."


OTHER
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