Jirou Yukimura

Overview
Jirou Yukimura is the current Deputy of Warden Commander Kaki Yukimura, and former apprentice of Kaki Yukimura as well. He was born in Tokyo in 1999, and became Kaki's apprentice at the age of sixteen after winning her contest. He moved to Canada shortly afterwards to begin his apprenticeship, and began working for the Saskatoon Spook Squad

Character Aspects
High Concept Trouble Phase Name Meaning: Earth (or second) (地), son (郎)
 * Lawful Earthen Deputy
 * The Wrath of a Paranoid Man
 * Learning to Forgive
 * Listen and wait
 * We all have a little 'save the world' in us
 * In the box is hope
 * Forged in Fire

Early Life
Jirou was born the younger of two brothers to a rather comfortable family in Japan. He grew up with a sense of inferiority, and very easily and quickly developed an inferiority complex next to his brother. Jirou's brother, Shinichi Yukimura, was always treated as if he greatest thing walking, and Jirou was often treated as if he was less than Shinichi. Jirou quickly began to believe it, and this negativity affected most of his younger life. His grades always stayed at just passing, and he was never able to make many friends. Despite this, Jirou never blamed his brother, despite his arrogance, and the two became close friends almost immediately after Jirou's birth, and stayed close friends throughout their childhood. They were realistically each others only friends, until Jirou met Atsuko Himura.

When Jirou was fourteen, a student named Atsuko Himura was transferred into his class and ended up sitting beside Jirou. He was shy, at first, but his new deskmate was determined to become friends. Thus, Jirou began talking to her. He soon became friends with her, and she soon began spending time with both Jirou and his brother. Even so, Jirou and Shinichi remained the closest to one another above all others, and would realistically do nearly anything for each other.

Apprenticeship Under Kaki
When Jirou turned sixteen, his cousin Kaki Yukimura came to visit. His brother was adamant in becoming her apprentice, though Kaki seemed incredibly reluctant to accept him as her apprentice. She eventually established a competition, which, to everyone's surprise, Jirou won. He eventually becomes privy to the knowledge that Kaki had set up the contest with the purpose of Jirou winning - she had chosen him to be her apprentice.

His brother was crushed when Jirou won the contest and not him. Shinichi had never lost a contest before, especially not to his brother, and couldn't believe that he had lost something so important. Shinichi hid his dismay from his brother, though he did accidentally send Jirou some nasty quips, which Jirou almost didn't notice.

Jirou moved to Canada with his master roughly a month after winning her contest, to live there and train under her. He began a tough training regimanet with her, learning magic with Kaki and hand to hand with her boyfriend at the time, Ed. The first few months, Kaki spent a considerable amount of time with her apprentice, teaching him all she could in a very short time. After Kaki's final battle with the Saskatoon Spook Squad, she was able to dedicate even more time to her apprentice, and Jirou's skill grew exponentially.

Kaki left suddenly, without telling Jirou where she was going, and his training regiment slowed down. He started to take supernatural matters into his own hands, taking care of Lawbreakers while Kaki was away. She reappeared suddenly a week and a half later, stayed for a few days, and left again. This continued on for a while until Kaki left altogether, off to take care of some bigger problems out west. Jirou was left on his own in Saskatoon after that, and he started to explore this city, and eventually was introduced to what became the new Saskatoon Spook Squad.

Joining the Saskatoon Spook Squad
Jirou's introduction to the new Saskatoon Spook Squad through Felicks Selina Kyle and Kiya Gray. His connection to the old Squad introduced him to Felicks, and he ran into Kiya at the Murray library once, which Jirou tends to sneak into from time to time. Jirou was researching a certain lawbreaker when he ran into Kiya, and the two discovered mutual goals. They helped each other out, and when it came time for Jirou to ask for help, he asked Kiya. Eventually, he became close to the other members of the new Squad as well. They quickly and easily built up an almost familial relationship with one another, especially since Jirou's guardians were barely around. He grew especially close to Nika Alkaev, who he had nicknamed his grandfather rather quickly. Jirou and Nika spent an awful lot of time together, and Jirou was devastated when Nika died to save the group. That was what really drove Jirou to kill Rabbi Yafe when it came down to it. Though the guilt of what he had done wracked him for at least a month after, he eventually grew to the decision what he had done was for the best.

Jirou feels as if joining the Saskatoon Spook Squad was one of the greatest things he had done - he was able to make more friends and build himself as a person, although he does notice how it changed him. Jirou was never comfortable with death or killing until after he joined the Spook Squad, and has found himself slowly becoming desensitized to it, especially after his murder of Rabbi Yafe in a blood ritual.

As Deputy Warden
A few weeks after the Spook Squad's defeat of Rabbi Yafe and the death of one of Jirou's closest friends, Nika Alkaev, Jirou travelled back to his home with his mentor, Kaki Yukimura, and of course, Ed K. Danvers. He had proven to Kaki the ability to use multiple elements instead of his usual earth, and so, she felt it time to test his abilities. Kaki informed him shortly into their trip she was no longer to be his apprentice, and Jirou was devastated, wondering what he planned to do next. Kaki called him in later to inform him that he wasn't her apprentice anymore because he had been granted a seat on the White Council as a full wizard, and she had become a Warden Commander, and asked him to be her Deputy Warden. Jirou gleefully agreed, and his position as Deputy Warden began.

Jirou's elder brother was, of course, happy for his brother, however Jirou couldn't help but to notice a small bit of anger in Shinichi's actions after that. He seemed a little cold towards his brother, though Jirou wasn't sure what he could have done. Jirou travelled back to Canada around a month after he became a full Wizard of the Council, and his work with the Saskatoon Spook Squad continued, though it felt almost bittersweet without Nika around. Jirou began regular correspondence with his brother back home, as well as Atsuko Himura, and his brother seemed more or less back to normal over the mail. Until, of course, he showed up one day announcing he was running from the Wardens. He explained that he had attacked his master, the old Kaen Yukimura, and now the Wardens were chasing him. Shinichi was bitter upon his reuniting with his brother, and the two began to argue like they had never before. Of course, the usual devotion kicked in to Jirou, and he knew that he had to help Shinichi. So, against all of his wisdom and behind the backs of the White Council, Jirou managed to set up his brother with a position with the Jade Court of Vampires, and, of course, began regular correspondence with him once more.

Personality
Jirou began as rather soft spoken and shy, but his time with Squad quickly changed that. He is still what his brother liked to call a bit of a crybaby, and often easily breaks into tears, whether they be of joy or sadness or anger. Despite having a bit of a wiser mind than his brother, Jirou can still be rash and go in without thinking - trying to emulate and be more like his brother. Jirou suffers from a massive inferiority complex, and a rather harsh depression and anxiety problem because of it. He has a hard time believing he's good enough for anything, and often feels like he lives under his brothers shadow. It's one of the reasons he's so prone to tears - especially when he's complimented.

Jirou is strong and dedicated, and a rather loyal incredibly devoted person. He feels incredibly loyal and devoted to the members of the Spook Squad, and loves all of them very dearly. He would likely and very easily die for any one of them if necessary, and he speaks nothing but good about them to his Warden Commander.

Shinichi Yukimura
"'Do you want to tell it?'""'Yes, and I will tell it better, because I am the greatest of the Yukimura's.' -Jirou and Shinichi bickering" Jirou and his brother have a very odd type of relationship - Jirou is utterly devoted to him, and no one in the world could ever mean more to him, but at the heart of everything, they're still brothers, and tend to fight frequently. Jirou - perhaps foolishly - idolizes his brother, and considers Shinichi the standard to one day reach.

Shinichi and Jirou spent almost all their time together when they were younger, neither one really making any other friends. Shinich because he was too busy with other things to worry about socializing, and Jirou because he was too shy to talk to anyone. Not to mention, they shared a room, and took the same lessons in just about everything. Karate, kendo, and any other miscellaneous activity, they almost always did together. When Jirou turned twelve, he started to notice Shinichi's regular absence at night, and became curious. It was soon revealed that Shinichi was a mage, and could manipulate Spirit energy. He told Jirou that all the legends of the Samurai Warden they had been told while they were younger were true, and they were the magical generation of Yukimura's. Jirou was almost dismayed - he knew the legends, and what they said. A Yukimura usually discovered their magic at ten and under, and Jirou had just turned twelve. He couldn't be a magical Yukimura, and he figured once more his brother was simply more impressive than he was. However, during an argument, Jirou accidentally nearly threw a potted plant at Shinichi's face with Magic, and so Shinichi began to teach Jirou how to use magic.

Shinichi very obviously loves the power dynamic he shared with his brother, and was angry when Kaki Yukimura broke the dynamic and force Shinichi to lose his prized position on top of the pedestal. It took Jirou a very long time, however, to notice any of his brothers anger.

Kaki Yukimura and Ed Danvers
"'Kaki will certainly kill me for this one....' -Jirou, when he feels he has dishonoured his commander"Jirou's relationship with his mentors and guardians is an odd one. On one hand, he cares for Kaki and Ed very deeply, and strives to impress them and show him how great he can be. On the other hand, Kaki scares the shit out of him. After all, she came at him drawing her sword at one point when he informed her he had killed Rabbi Yafe. Jirou felt as if he had violated the laws, however - after probably the worst soulgaze he had ever experienced - Kaki deemed him innocent of any such crime, and apologized for pulling a sword on him. He is constantly afraid of disappointing her, or of ruining her reputation or something along those lines. He is always careful when it comes to the potential of disappointing or ruining her. He is vaguely disappointed in himself for aligning himself with the Winter Court of fae instead of his mentors Summer, but he decided easily to put off telling her that one...

Kaki also had a habit of saying just what Jirou needed to hear when he needed to hear it. he wasn't sure how, but much of the time her words made her feel better about a given situation.

Jirou's relationship to her mentors partner was an even odder one. Jirou started out with a deep hatred for Ed Danvers, much like his mentor before him. This all changed for Jirou when Kaki asked him to deliver something at Ed's place of work - a morgue. After seeing Ed in a professional environment, Jirou couldn't bring himself to hate Ed anymore, and from there their relationship began to grow.

Atsuko Himura
Atsuko was one of Jirou's closest and only friends back home in Japan. They began talking after Atsuko transferred to his school and was placed in the desk beside him, after Jirou had turned fourteen. Jirou, being his shy self, didn't want to talk much, but Atsuko was determined to be friends with her desk mate. After she convinced Jirou to open up, the two became friends almost instantly, finding they clicked incredibly quickly. Atsuko also got along fairly well with Jirou's brother, and the three began a tradition of eating lunch together.

It didn't take long for Atsuko to announce she liked Jirou as more than a friend. Jirou, who had no interest in romance whatsoever, had no idea what to do after that. Shinichi told him just to turn her down, and eventually Jirou took his advice. Atsuko was saddened, but understood, and resumed a friendship with Jirou.

After Jirou's return to Japan when he became a Wizard, he and Atsuko entered a quasi-platonic partnership with one another.

Nika Alkaev
Nika was Jirou's best friend among his early days in the Saskatoon Spook Squad. Nika took Jirou under his wing very quickly, considering Jirou's lack of parents and guardians, and helped take care of him. The two often went for ice cream, and covered each others back in battles frequently. Nika helped him out of a lot of bad situations, and Jirou was very thankful to have him as a companion. Jirou had a very hard time dealing with Nika's death. He felt as if he should have done more for Nika, and wonders constant if he could have done anything to stop it. He of course knows there wasn't much he could have done, but still feels a small amount of guilt over it. Jirou keeps a photo of Nika in his apartment, to remind him of his old friend.

Other Spook Squad Members
Kiya Gray

Jirou and Kiya have a very amicable relationship. She often likes to refer to herself as his 'crazy aunt' and is one of the many supports Jirou has in the city. He know he can count on her, and he knows she'll always keep him safe. Jirou likes her attitude, most of the time, considering how she can generally be very exciting and fun, not to mention incredibly possessive and protective of her friends. Jirou will often follow Kiya, though there have been cases where the two would occasionally disagree. Occasionally, their ideals and morals didn't exactly match up. Still, they remain close, and Jirou is thankful for her friendship.

Antares Fletcher

At first, Jirou was unsure what to make of Antares. Considering Kaki's Summer leaning, and Antares Winter leanings, Jirou wasn't sure if he could trust the archer of winter. It didn't take too long for Jirou to get over these reservations, despite Kaki's incredible dislike and distrust of Antares. Jirou knew he could trust Antares to have his back, even if he wasn't exactly the nicest person in the world and often looked out for himself. Antares still looked out for the good of the Squad, and Jirou always knew he would.

Felicks Selina Kyle

Despite their short friendship, Jirou did quite like Felicks. Considering his connection to the now Summer Knight Sirka, it was no surprise the two were able to easily become friends. Despite being human, Felicks was still rather strong in a fight, and Jirou was rather impressed by his abilities.

Lokir Windcaller

As far as Jirou was concerned, Lokir was like a brother to him. Lokir helped him with his swordsmanship in the absence of his guardians, and ended up giving Jirou one of his old swords, which he still uses now. Though it was a one handed sword of Lokir's, Lokir was considerable taller and heavier than Jirou, so he uses it two handed, and built a leather holder than goes over his shoulders to hold it in. It is a prized possession of Jirous. After Lokir became a dragon, Jirou asked if he could ride on his back, to which Lokir replied 'if you wish to die ten seconds afterwards.' It is now Jirou's goal to one day ride Lokir's back, and likely go out that way.

Lucas Vaako

Jirou wasn't exactly sure where Lucas came from, but he was happy for his companionship now. Jirou is a huge fan of Lucas' morals and ways of going about things, and considers him just an all around good guy. Jirou is glad to have someone around who's main goal was to just protect the people, considering he knew how easy it was to lose sight of that goal.

Bijoux Claramae

Jirou was unsure what to make of Bijoux for a very long time. She was quiet, yet could easily be snippy. It was easy to say that Jirou held a respect for her, though he does find himself watching her closely, considering her kind of magic. He would never reveal her existence to the White Council unless he absolutely had to, but still quietly takes it upon himself to be sure she stayed on the right path. He was incredibly grateful when Bijoux briefly housed his brother when he was running from the Wardens, since Jirou couldn't any longer.

Emma Ashford

Jirou respects Emma as both a person and a thaumaturgist, and finds her abilities with water rather impressive on top of it all. He enjoys her company, and she did, to some extend, fill a void left by Nika Alkaev by making sure Jirou didn't do anything too irrational. They often work together to put together complicated rituals, and are generally a pretty good team where that is concerned.

Gaspar Matys

Jirou's first impression of Gaspar was something along the lines of 'AWESOME'. He found Gaspars ability to change into a lizard to be very neat, and inspired a certain wonder in him (Jirou hadn't spent much time with shape shifters before). Jirou also likes Gaspars 'can-do' attitude, and how he isn't afraid to get whats needs to get done, done.

Alphonse Herrero-Schmied

Jirou, like many people, thinks Alphonse is a little... off. But he likes him for that reason, and definitely appreciates him as support in battle. Jirou and Alphonse have worked on art together at a few points, since Alphonse often used his magic to sculpt and figured he could try it with Jirou. The one thing Jirou's isn't sure about Alphonse is sometimes his attitude seemed like he didn't care enough, or rather, was a little... unsure when it came to Jirou's 'Lawbreaker, kill it,' philosophy.

Kemen Ekaitz

Jirou started a rocky relationship with Kemen when he came looking for Kaki but found Jirou instead, and was disappointed in finding the wrong Yukimura. Still, Kemen did prove himself useful to the group. Well, until he went running into a battle he couldn't possibly win and got himself paralyzed. Then, accidentally attacked the entire party and took two members out. And of course, the whole becoming a Black Court vampire thing. Realistically, Jirou feels slightly betrayed by Kemen's actions, and is working on dealing with them now. He is currently on a contract with Danica Wonder to take out Kemen.

Roderick Rowan

Jirou finds Roderick very endearing, and enjoys his company. Jirou enjoys how he is generally just as confused as Jirou with a lot of modern, Canadian references. Jirou respects his strive to be the best warrior he can be, and has high hopes for Roderick as a member of the Squad.

Trivia

 * Jirou loves all types of music, and is teaching himself the guitar
 * Jiron reads in English far better than he speaks it, and owns several English books
 * If Jirou hadn't been a wizard, he would be pursuing a career in robotics
 * Jirou speaks two languages (English and Japanese), is learning a third (Latin) and speaks smatterings of another (traditional Chinese)
 * Jirou's favourite film and novel genre is sci-fi
 * Jirou's favourite music genre is indie and soft rock
 * Jirou prefers English music over Japanese music, even though he doesn't understand it as well
 * Kaki thought that the finer teachings of the magic world were important, so she taught Jirou to ballroom dance. He's become very good at it.
 * Though Jirou's known Kaki his whole life, there's still a lot he doesn't know about her.
 * My personal fan-cast for him would be Mackenyu Arata