Personality[]
Lacking a mean bone in his body, Kashin is genuinely the kindest and purest intern working at Koukai. He is patient, nurturing, and somewhat secretly a hopeless romantic who uses all of his best qualities in order to survive his soul-sucking job as a telemarketer. A bit shy, Kashin also lacks the backbone to really stick up for himself, but when push comes to shove, he does everything he can to be supportive and protective of the people he loves most, especially his family.
Kashin works both as an intern at Koukai and with a construction company in the Outskirts to save money for his family. His work ethic is unmatched, balancing the two jobs without complaint, even though he desperately wishes he could make art his career. As an artist, he is extremely sensitive and emotionally receptive to others, too often being taken advantage of for his willingness to help people.
Appearance[]
With the almost double life he leads, Kashin has some of the most varied outfits of the main cast. When working the office at Koukai, he makes extra effort to appear as clean cut as possible, wearing a simple white, short-sleeved button-down with a black knit tie, high-water khaki pants with a black belt, and dark gray loafers. When working construction, he wears a baby blue coverall jumpsuit, usually tying the top half’s sleeves around his waist to prevent from overheating, along with a black tank top and brown steel-toe boots.
When traveling the Overgrowth, Kashin wears a loose-fitting blue samue with a black athletic under armour shirt, traditional tabi and geta, and a white fabric belt fashioned around his waist to keep the sheath to his ink-sword. Finally, the carryover between all his attire is his white bandana that hides his turquoise-dyed mohawk and his dark brown, half-rimmed glasses.
History[]
Kashin was born the youngest to a poor couple as the only spiritually gifted member in his family. He grew up in a small house within the Outskirts raised by his grandmother and his older sister while both his parents worked multiple full-time jobs to support them. Despite their low-class lifestyle, the tight-knit family dynamic was one filled with love and doting support, especially when it came to Kashin and his artistic pursuits.
Unfortunately, due to their poverty, they couldn’t afford to put Kashin in a Nursery, despite his Reflection, but when Kusari caught wind of a boy in the Outskirts with the rare gift of living calligraphy, he personally approached the Aramaki family and offered Kashin special scholarship into Hanasaka to hone his abilities. With their encouragement, Kashin enrolled with hopes of becoming a Warden to save his family from the dangers of the Outskirts.
As a student at Hanasaka Academy, Kashin applied himself to the best of his ability, working hard and showing a brave face despite the numerous bullies that targeted him for his meek personality and class status.
In his second year, the girl of his dreams caught his eye as she enrolled as a freshman, and enthralled by her looks, Kashin watched her from afar and drew endless inspiration from her as his muse. It wasn’t until he started to pay attention to her behavior that he realized that the girl he was attracted to was beautiful inside and out, and before he knew it, Kashin had fallen head over heels for Mayumi Katsuragi.
Mayumi quickly skipped grades and joined Kashin’s class where they had their first meeting and she saved him from an onslaught of dodgeballs during gym. However, their introduction was interrupted by the presence of Makoto, and she slipped right through his fingers before he had a chance to tell her his name. Still, Kashin couldn’t help but dream about his crush, and he continues to watch her from afar to this day.
When he began attending school, his sister started working at a construction company to help their parents, but just before Kashin could graduate, a work-related accident paralyzed her and confined her to a wheelchair, causing her to lose her job. Without even a second thought, Kashin took up her old job so that they didn’t lose her income, and he held off on his pursuit of becoming a Warden out of fear that his family would lose their home.
It wasn’t until his family intervened and coerced him to take an offer from Kusari at Koukai so that he could take up residence nearer to Central for his safety that he finally relented and took the internship. He moved into a small studio apartment that the Koukai Agency paid for for him and kept his construction job for his family.
Powers & Abilities[]
Kashin’s Reflection is named Kisoku Shodou (気息書道), and comes from his mastery of calligraphy. The spiritual resonance from his artistic skill controls the world around him, and by writing out commands with his brush, he is able to exert that control. For example, he can collapse podiums and walls by writing the corresponding kanji onto the objects he wishes to collapse. When sheathed, his brush sits in ink, ready for him to draw what his soul requests of the world.
His weapon, dubbed Sumiei (墨鋭), is his own invention. It is a large calligraphy brush made with a sword’s hilt to be utilized as such. Its scabbard houses ink while the hilt holds a stamp at the pommel with his signature. His commands can only be exacted with his stamp, completing his work.
Setsu 折 = This command causes the object to fold into itself and break.
Kiri 斬 = This command causes the ink to slice through the opponent like a blade.