Sakurano Yoruichi

• Japanese in ethnicity, with a bit of other undefinable ethnicity mixed (more seen in color scheme than facial structure)
• 5’6”
• Dark reddish-brown eyes; lingering from feline coloration
• Pale skin
• Brown hair - a bit coppery and red in tint, same color as his cat pelt
• Very attractive, more feminine than buff but still obviously male (and a nice one at that); he uses his face to get more things, half the time
• A-Actually kind of cute… but if you tell him, he will cut you. Seems more intimidating that he actually is though, due to his demeanor half the time.
• Once again, still very much male, but his hips have a gentle curve to him and his body was built for agility and speed
• Likes bows, buttons and other accessories, but tries not to wear them much
• Shh, don’t tell, but he might have an entire collection of cute plush sweaters and animal ear hats/hoodies. Maybe. You don’t know…
• Favors figure-hugging clothes that may give him an edge during jobs etc (and generally just make people want him). However, when relaxing, these shift to comfy clothes of basically any type, including soft pants and fuzzy sweaters
• Very near-sighted; when on jobs, he shifts to contacts, but they bother him a lot. Ends up switching to glasses when home.

• Possesses most attributes of regular human default
• Loses 4 inches on his height
• Slit-shaped pupils; irises take up more of his eyes
• Nails resemble claws much more closely
• Sharp canines become full fangs, top and bottom
• Tongue is raspy, but you won’t know it
• Cat ears atop his head, same color as his hair/those on his fully-cat form
• Large slit in right ear; obviously due to injury
• Hair conveniently falls so that the mystery of ‘human ears or no human ears?’ can never be answered
• Nose becomes More Catlike
• Long feather-duster like tail, same color as his hair/that on his cat body
• Often Wears a cat ear hoodie to cover his ears if he is unable to hide them (or simply doesn’t feel like it). Can wrap his tail around his waist to hide it as well, but only with baggier clothing.

• 6 lbs
• All general cat attributes
• Shorter fur aside from tail, which is long and feathery
• Somali breed

Yoruichi believes that morals are relative to the situation, in short. Certain situations require more compassion and delicacy than others, but generally speaking, Yoruichi is in no way above mercilessness when it suits him. A few things, he will never do, and these involve rape and harming small children. He will also generally not condone domestic abuse in any form, though he may utilize it neutrally if absolutely necessary. He would never spur, create, or worsen it.

Yoruichi doesn’t kill babies. Yoruichi doesn’t kick puppies. Honestly, he just thinks of it as wrong, even if babies are sticky and he really doesn’t like dogs.

When it comes to his affiliations with people and organizations, Yoruichi once again says that it depends. How well he sticks to those he is assumed to be loyalty depends on two key factors: 1) How much he wants to violate the rules, and 2) How bad the backlash would be. Though he is insatiably curious and independent, Yoruichi is even more apt to protect himself should he need to.

Greed makes itself most obvious in Yoruichi’s priorities. More than anything, he puts himself first. He looks out for his wants and needs before he even notices those of another, and by no means is he selfless. Yoruichi is honestly a very selfish person, seeking what he wants on a whim and often dumping it later, whether that be a half-eaten ice cream cone or a lover of ten straight years. Not only does Yoruichi want materialistic things, but a lot of the time, he wants people too. He may go out of his way to make people want him, even if he has no intention of wanting them back. He simply wants their attention for a while.

Yoruichi is definitely not above manipulation to get what he wants, even if that person is close to him. Few people are exempt from this, and even fewer are without clear and directly-beneficial reasons. Directly beneficial to Yoruichi, that is.

Another of Yoruichi’s lusts is for control and power. He is greedy for these and thrives off of them. Though he does have some limitation, Yoruichi would stop at almost nothing to gain the specific power or control he desires.

Above all, Yoruichi well never be truly satisfied. He may be temporarily content, as anyone is, and he may one day find certain needs of his fulfilled. However, in the end, he will simply never stop wanting for more, in one way, shape or form.

As far as romantic relationships go, Yoruichi doesn’t get serious. All of his romances are no longer than one night or one date, and most of those are the product of his profession or self-destruction+alcohol+the cute guy at the bar. If he doesn’t cut things off after one date, be rest assured it will only ever stay casual and non-exclusive, and it’ll most likely be ending soon as well. Yoruichi loses interest very quickly as far as romance goes.

As for platonic relationships, he doesn’t have many. Yoruichi is a master of making people love him, being a child of greed and a career blackmailer (he needs connections to get the required information), but he is also a master of making people hate him. His personality is horrible sometimes, and if he isn’t charming through his teeth, he’s probably saying something that it unsettling at least. It isn’t even always because he tries to push people away, even though he often does. Yoruichi is just a jerk every now and then..

On the subject of pushing people away, Yoruichi does a lot of it. He has few to no honest friendships and genuine platonic relationships with ANYONE, and is very alone in this respect. However, this is not something that Yoruichi is simply trying and failing to change. He actually tries to keep people away, preferring distance rather than close proximity. Even if Yoruichi trusts someone, he rarely if ever trusts someone completely, and would rather have no one at all than have a few people to lose.

This all is not to say that Yoruichi CAN’T and WON’T make friends. He will and does, as not only are ‘friendships’ entertaining, but they are beneficial to his business if need be. However, despite having acquaintances, and despite however these people may think of him, Yoruichi rarely will care for anybody above a slight fondness. Even if he does begin to, he will smother that affection until it can’t breathe and bury it beneath his many walls.

Yoruichi is fully capable of true friendships, committed relationships and genuine love - absolutely, 100% fully capable. He simply won’t let himself have these.

Due to his sensitive nose and generally finicky personality, Yoruichi has a major distaste for poor personal hygiene. Not only can he not stand being unhygienic himself, but he can hardly stand others who are as well.

One of Yoruichi’s biggest prejudices is towards a certain Jeriya Iago. In the simplest of terms… Everything Jeriya does is gay and stupid and gross and Yoruichi really, really, really hates him. He hates him more than anything in the world.

Despite popular belief (including his own), Yoruichi is very emotional. He likes to claim he uses logic and decision to make the majority of his decisions, but he rarely - if ever - actually does. Almost all of his decisions are motivated by his feelings and desires, in one way or another.

Another major weakness of Yoruichi’s is the fact that he lives in a state of constant and all-encompassing denial, applicable to a widely ranging list of his attributes.

Yoruichi has a fear of being alone forever and wants to be loved eventually. However, he also has a fear of abandonment and wants to keep himself safe and alone (or, even more deeply down, he wants to find someone who will really never leave). These two fears are immensely conflicting, and this has been done on purpose. They serve as major motives for his actions and demeanor despite his claim to have buried and erased them. These above weaknesses will play major roles throughout his time on Manta Carlos.

Yoruichi is very paranoid in general, to the point it keeps him up at night. Though he obviously has reasons, the paranoia still borders and surpasses irrationality at some times. It has gotten considerably worse since the gang attack.

He also suffers from insomnia and it can be absolutely debilitating at times. It is not made better by his feline-like need to nap; rather, the effects of the insomnia are made more obvious, especially when he does not get sleep. When Yoruichi is able to rest, this cycles between restless sleep, and heavy, motionless blank-minded rest. Neither of these are entirely refreshing, though the latter is more so.

Deep under layers of self-protective denial, Yoruichi still hates humanity and the world itself to a degree. He is also very angry at his past, though he generally chooses to completely ignore this, and his anger at/hatred of his parents is intense.

Junichi, Yoruichi’s late older brother, is one of Yoru’s biggest weaknesses. He often doesn’t even tell people Junichi ever existed, and if someone finds out, he negates conversation (usually). His resentment of his brother eventually dwindled and dissipated as he began to understand things more clearly, among them being mental diseases and generalized humans. However, should he choose to acknowledge it, there is still a little deep-set anger buried within him.

Yoruichi has a mild phobia of closets and small enclosed spaces. Due to his past, he has developed claustrophobia that makes significant appearance in these situations. He much prefers his space, even in open rooms.

Yoruichi is afraid of helplessness - his own, not that of others. He is a being who craves control over anything he is able to take control of, so the idea of helplessness is something that worries him immensely when he cares to acknowledge it. This has been made worse since his gang attack, which was the first time since his parents that he ever felt truly helpless.

Broken down as it’s a confusing and conflicting part of his character.

• Generally confident, not exactly arrogant/narcissistic but has his moments. These are generally in response to his looks, skills or powers, rather than his personality (or his actual self), which one will notice if they pay attention
• Still is very greedy, and the specific aspects are listed in the Greed section.
• HOWEVER, while selfish to a dire fault and arrogant in terms of his looks/abilities, this does NOT mean he views his actual character in a positive light
• Rather, Yoruichi is actually very negative about it
• He often makes comments such as, “I’m a terrible person, I know, but I embrace it!”
• This is a true statement. While he ‘embraces’ his faults, this is more because he can’t help but to act the way he does, and even if he tries to change, he knows he won’t be able to. Yoruichi embraces his faults, not because he likes them, but because he has at the very least accepted them
• This does not mean he likes his faults. On the contrary, he views them in a harshly negative light. “I’m a terrible person” is not nearly as haughty an admission as his tone suggests while speaking, but something he actually believes. He is a terrible person, and he knows it.
• Though his overall assessment of himself (hate, love, tolerate self, etc) is rather vague due to the way he often buries his emotions, he clearly enough believes that he is truly unlovable. Catch him in the right state and he may even say something akin to “I’m a true monster, you know” or “There really is no person worse than me”.
• Of course there are worse people out there, but Yoruichi sees himself as one of the worst of the worst around.
• Furthermore, alongside his flimsy self-worth is his lack of self-respect. One would assume upon meeting him that Yoruichi, valuing his own satisfaction more than anything else, often makes the best decisions for himself, relative to the situation. However, this is not the case.
• The fact is, Yoruichi is very prone to self-destructive behavior. It hasn’t moved towards actual acts of harming himself, but he actually has no sense of “I’m better than this” or “I deserve something more”.
• Ex.1 Should he be beaten into unconsciousness by a rival gang, Yoruichi most likely wouldn’t seek revenge. He would assume that, yeah, he probably deserved the broken wrist, and return to his games.
• Ex.2 Yoruichi makes common habit of barhopping, especially when experiencing emotional turmoil. The worst the turmoil is, the rasher and more self-destructive his decisions become. He may even find himself in a stranger’s bed at 3 in the morning, drunk like nothing else and on some kind of drug even he doesn’t know the name of. Though this self-destructive behavior is in part fueled by his lack of self-respect, it is also fueled by his deeply buried desire to be loved, which will be detailed later in the personality in order to prevent jumbled work.

ACTIVE, SEMI-MODERATE: Negotiator: As a son of Mammon, Yoruichi possesses an uncanny ability to negotiate his terms. By spreading his aura during a discussion, he can influence his opponent’s views, wants and opinions in order to achieve a preferably outcome. It is useful for getting his way, and he uses it often. However, Yoruichi must be careful. If he uses this power too often, people will start to pick up on it. He also can’t try to convince someone of something generally out of character, as it will have the opposite effect, alerting them that someone is trying to change their minds. The longer Yoruichi has to influence his counterpart and the weaker willed this counterpart is, the more effective the power.

ACTIVE/PASSIVE, MODERATE: Lie Detection: Because he is descended from Greed itself, Yoruichi is always wanting for something. He has, as such, developed a power to help him tell when someone is trying to trick him into losing his price; in other words, Yorichi has a built-in lie detector.

Yoruichi can tell instantly i something is a lie, even if it has been carefully crafted. It is harder if the lie has any elements of the truth within it and it becomes progressively harder the more truth is used. However, with his experience, his connections and his lingering abilities, Yoruichi can usually figure it out anyway. A setback is that, because his power is passive, he is constantly waiting for lies. Yoruichi has a hard time believing in anything, even if 100% true. It is like a game that never ends.

ACTIVE/PASSIVE, MODERATE: Silver Tongue: As Yoruichi can detect lies so easily, he knows all the little “I just lied” tells. This improves his accuracy with telling his own lies immensely. Yoruichi cannot be caught in a lie unless the person has a power or some other legitimate way of getting around this ability. Another exception is if the lie is not believable. The less truth Yoruichi weaves into his lies, the easier it becomes to mistrust him, and his 100% false, somewhat absurd lies are probably the easiest of all. However, in all scenarios (save for negation by opposing powers/other valid abilities) Yoruichi still maintains some degree of influence. This power stems from Yoruichi’s extensive (metaphorical) mask-making and thus, in turn, his ability to control his body language. His practice in detecting lies and his power around such also helps.

Interestingly enough, Yoruichi is not only a Mammon bab. His mother was a cat shifter, and as such, he inherited powers from her side as well. These include a few powers, a few weaknesses, and a list of more subtle species traits that may affect him both positively or negatively. The bulk of his abilities are attached to this shifting

SPECIES TRAIT, ACTIVE, MODERATE: Shifting: Another power granted through Yoruichi’s species is that of shifting. He is able to cycle between three forms: full human, full feline and the half-way shift. This halfway shift, commonly known as his ‘neko’ form, is what he exists in as a default. It takes energy to maintain his other two forms, though as he has been doing it since he was around 3, he is able to control his form almost perfectly, often even while sleeping. The exceptions to his control are when he is drugged, particularly fatigued or altered/drained in such a way as to limit his control. If he goes to bed exhausted, he also often will unshift during the night, making for awkward encounters if he should run into anyone before shifting back. If Yoruichi sustains any lasting injuries to specifically human areas of his body - generally applicable to bones - then he is limited to his half-shift and human forms until healed enough. If specifically feline attributes are significantly wounded, he is limited to feline and mid-shift forms (with paw bone injuries and things just barely transitioning to mid-shift). If attributes from both are injured, he is limited to only his mid-shift.

SPECIES TRAIT, PASSIVE, MODERATE: Speed and Agility: Yoruichi is able to move as swiftly as a cat and just as comfortably. He has the agility of a practiced gymnast by default and incredible reflexes to boot. In feline and halfway shift forms, he can also run up to 30 miles per hour in short sprints. In fully human form, this maximum speed is dropped to about 20 miles per hour. Yoruichi also inherited a cat’s ability to land on its feet, and thus has rather impressive balance. One drawback of Yoruichi’s lean build is that he is lacking in physical mass. He is light and lithe, built for speed, but not for sturdiness or strength. Yoruichi thus lacks in physical strength what he makes up for in speed, is easily able to be lifted and tossed about if he should be caught, and is more vulnerable to physical attack than average.

SPECIES TRAIT, PASSIVE, MODERATE: Heightened Senses: As a feline-type shifter, Yoruichi’s senses - primarily sight, smell and hearing - have been heightened to that of a domestic cat’s. He is also more alert and aware of his surroundings, even during rest, than an ordinary human, and is also able to see in the dark as a cat can. However, having his senses linked to a feline’s also has its setbacks. For one, much like a cat, Yoruichi is unable to taste sweet things. In human form, this is lifted a bit, but most sweet tastes are still very, very dull and somewhat unattractive. Loud noises, especially poignant smells and bright light are unpleasant and even painful at times, and his whiskers when applicable are very sensitive.

Alongside these powers, Yoruichi’s identity as a cat shifter make itself known in other ways as well. These are shown in several passive, constant species attributes that, while generally not labeled as specific powers or weaknesses, can help or hinder him depending on the situation. Others are simply neutral and exist only as side effects of his species. Green plusses or red minuses have been placed by the attributes that are particularly positive or negative respectively.

• + Yoruichi’s teeth are naturally sharper even in full feline form, this change being most obvious in his canines on both jaws. His nails, even in human form, also grow quickly and taper into sharp points if left untrimmed. Finally, Yoruichi’s hair gets thicker in the winter, but thinner in the summer… and with the thinning comes shedding. Nice.
• + Yoruichi has an instinctual knack for sharp things, especially smaller ones, as they are somewhat similar to his claws in feline form. This skill is most applicable with knives, specifically smaller one-handed ones.
• When in the sun, Yoruichi gets especially lethargic and sleepy. He relaxes easily and may even fall asleep, his fatigue growing worse if the sun is very bright and warm.
• Related to this, as he is a cat, Yoruichi simply gets tired more easily than many normal humans. This does not mean he has less stamina than others - quiet the contrary, he has actually build up quite the reserve - but instead that he is prone to several short catnaps and becomes moodier than usual if proper sleep is not obtained. His condition of insomnia does not help this whatsoever.
• Even when well rested, Yoruichi is prone to moodiness, just as the feline species is known for. He also experiences random bouts of hyperactive mania, especially in the worst possible times ever.
• Small, quick-moving things, especially strings, shinies or things that resemble prey, are nearly irresistible at all times
• Yoruichi has a hunting instinct. If he can’t catch things periodically, he will hide behind corners and catch your ankles instead.
• - Scruff Instinct: Just like with all cats, Yoruichi was born with the scruff instinct. In any form, if one pinches the back of his neck where his scruff would be, he will immediately fall into a peaceful, limp state — kinda like a ‘lil noodle.
• - As a cat, Yoruichi has an instinctual fear of dogs - especially if they are in an aggressive state. Dog-based attackers/attacks ignite a fight-or-flight response within him and damage from attacks are doubled if dealt by dogs/dog-related attacks. Yoruichi himself usually ends up in a hasty, flailing flight or a wild, desperate fight.
• - Squirt bottles are actually satan, as are vacuums. Their sheer demonic essence becomes less tangible to Yoruichi as his form becomes more human, but he knows instinctively that they are bad news, man.
• +/- As a cat, Yoruichi is very sensitive to physical hygiene.
• Finally, Yoruichi may or may not be prone to accidental feline vocabulary in any form if he isn’t careful. These include purring, hissing and chirping (at times), though others may happen as well.

Warnings: Child Abuse, Mental Illness, School Stabbing, Violence, Slight Homophobia, Non-Con

Sakurano Yoruichi was born to two wealthy business people known as Hanako and Daisuke. He also had a brother, Junichi, who was older than him by six years. Due to their jobs, their parents were often required to travel and thus were not home often. As such, Hanako and Daisuke made frequent usage of nannies and sitters in their children’s younger years, while Yoruichi and Junichi had to fend for themselves more often than not as they aged. While they never had to want for anything materialistic and were physically taken care of, both boys were often deprived of the nurturing required for good parenting.

In turn, Junichi and Yoruichi began to rely on each other. They grew very close, despite Junichi’s early anger problems and general distance from people. His older brother was a problem child, but Yoruichi admired him nevertheless. He was also quite protective of his older brother, even from a young age, and often found himself at a particularly troubling crossroads: to love his parents as they were… themselves, or to hate them for their treatment of he and Junichi? The specific wrongs they committed have been detailed later in the biography.

You see, Junichi was always a more mischievous child, and was also prone to anger. Yoruichi himself was the quieter one, always observing and absorbing information. Junichi wasn’t all that smart, while Yoruichi was gifted from his first word - macaroni (“That wasn’t even Japanese, Daisuke--...?! H-How…” “...I don’t know, Hanako…… I don’t know…”). Yoruichi had inherited the neko shifting abilities from his mother’s side and showed it soon after birth, while Junichi had no powers to speak of. Hanako and Daisuke ended up obviously and heavily favoring Yoruichi over their elder son.

[Though it was unknown to Yoruichi at the time, another reason for Daisuke and Hanako’s favoritism was his true heritage. They had always known that Yoruichi’s father was Mammon, the incarnation of Greed itself. It was something they orchestrated themselves, too greedy for an edge up in their bloodline and too desperate for another child to say no when Mammon propositioned Hanako. Mammon never came back to teach their child, and Hanako and Daisuke felt it just as well.]

It also became apparent early on that Junichi was not stable and probably was developing personality disorders due to his treatment and home; Hanako and Daisuke ignored the fact that they were causing the issues. With his bouts of anger only worsening as time went on, growing more violent, the parents had no choice but to enroll Junichi in therapy and counselling sessions. Junichi was terribly resistant and little was ever accomplished, however, and what was, he often disregarded upon returning home. As he grew in age and his outbursts became more uncontrollable, Hanako’s responses grew more frightened, and Daisuke’s more bitter and outright violent - which did nothing to help things at all.

As Junichi slowly spiraled out and was looked down upon by parents, Yoruichi became the family hope. It was implied that he would marry and have children, blood children; the fact that he could not be homosexual didn’t even have to be said. It was unquestionable, and Kami knew what they would do if Yoruichi thought girls and boys were cute. Just as Daisuke and Hanako paid too little attention to Junichi, they paid too much to Yoruichi. He was constantly subjected to pressure by his parents, and should he slip up even once - well, that was intolerable, and he was punished ‘accordingly’.

These punishments ended up being those that a normal parent might implement, but to an uncomfortable extreme. Yoruichi was not sent to his room, he was locked there with only his homework. He was not yelled at for oversleeping, he was yanked out of bed and shoved into the shower. Should he gain too much weight, he would have to fast and exercise so as to maintain his ‘truly perfect proportions’. Corporal punishment ended with age 12, but he can still remember it vividly - and with an uncontrollable flinch. There was nothing in between the complete absence of his parents and their overbearing ‘protection’ of his ‘gifts’. It was constant and absolutely suffocating.

Junichi’s violent outbursts were often directed at Yoruichi due to the time they spent together, Yoruichi’s small size and the fact that there was buried bitterness on Junichi’s part that he did his best to destroy. However, he always apologized and tried to fix what he had done, and Yoruichi tried his best to understand.

When Yoruichi was in 6th grade and Junichi was in 12th, the latter finally just… snapped.

Junichi got ahold of a knife and absolutely let loose at a school assembly. No one was killed but were wounded, and Junichi stabbed himself as well just as the police arrived on scene. It was over before it began, and left only devastation in its wake.

The family tried to keep things on the low down, as private as possible, so the identity of the attacker and hopefully the story itself didn’t make it much outside the city limits. They ended up moving not long after, enrolling Yoruichi in a new school where no one knew his name and, to Yoruichi’s rage, abandoning Junichi’s grave. He later made visits to it once a year on his birthday, once he was able.

The parents acted absolutely devastated and shocked to the public, yet to their most private of friends, they expressed their relief and shame - not shame that they had pushed their son to attempted homicide and suicide, but shame that he committed the acts themselves. They were ashamed of their child, rather than themselves, and this disgusted Yoruichi in a way no 6th grader should ever have felt disgusted.

However, their reactions also intrigued Yoruichi. What was it in humans that could bring them down to this level? To be so selfish and immoral as to feel pity for themselves after pushing their own offspring to heinous acts and, in the end, death? How could people be so morbidly horrific? It absolutely baffled his young mind, and yet he expected it, and all of this was deathly fascinating to Yoruichi.

Yoruichi fell into a pattern of hatred, after the events. He tried to hate his brother, but couldn’t, and instead settled on a deep resentment for leaving him alone with two monsters. He already disliked his parents, but after the shooting, he hated them too. Hate, hate, hate. Before long, he hated it all - all of it, everyone and everything. It made him bitter.

In the late 7th grade, after a few actual confrontations towards his slowly worsening attitude, Yoruichi decided he was tired of hating and hurting all the time. He decided that he would no longer let his grievances hinder him - or rather, he tried to. The truth of the matter is that Yoruichi never stopped hurting and never stopped hating, but only succeeded in creating another little mask for himself to hide the darkness within.

Yoruichi first met Jeriya in 8th grade directly, though he had vaguely known of him before - didn’t Jeriya try to talk to him once, perhaps in the 6th grade? It was when he first arrived to the school and was very off in general, so he wasn’t quite sure. Either way, Yoruichi didn’t know much about him, despite his petulant little scowl making an appearance in most of his classes, but with only one true meeting, he instantly felt a similarity of some kind between Jeriya and and Junichi. This was not a good thing. Yorichi decided it would be alright to show his feelings for his new rival, despite the fact that he usually liked to hide his inner motivations. It was hate at first sight!

Yoruichi decided it would be really fun to annoy Jeriya, and thus started the legendary rivalry.

Though Jeriya and Yoruichi rarely saw each other off campus, when they did, it was a trainwreck. Books were buried in the courtyard, PDA announcers were bribed into lewd revelations (Yoruichi reads hentai in chemistry — Jeriya has fantasies of the lunch lady), and, on one of their most memorable occasions, they turned the entire cafeteria into a warzone of flying foods. See, Yoruichi might have flipped a spoon of soy sauce onto Jeriya’s uniform blazer, to which Jeriya responded by dunking Yoruichi in the pudding pot, if anyone was wondering.

Surprisingly enough, even with a number of thrown projectiles and interesting shenanigans, they never moved into a true fist-fight even once during their years of rivalry.

Yoruichi and Jeriya were forced into doing a project together once. Once. It ended with Yoruichi cutting off Jeriya’s precious bangs with a pocket knife and Jeriya having to completely change his hair style — all the better, in Yoru’s opinion, but who was asking? The teachers never tried to pair them again, and Jeriya definitely started hating him then if he didn’t before. The rivalry would continue in this way all throughout their high school years.

Early his 15th year, after slowly worsening home conditions and a recent spike in harsh punishment, Yoruichi finally decided he’d had enough of his parents. He hated them, anyway, the only exceptions to his code of pleasantry other than Jeriya. Yoruichi moved out then, renting a small apartment and keeping quiet, as he didn’t want anyone to know about his move - unnecessary drama, really, all things considered. His parents wouldn’t sign his documents, so Yoruichi brought a fake ID and forged their signatures for the rest. No one ever caught wind of it.

During this period, in a desperate attempt to make their golden child stay home, Hanako and Daisuke told Yoruichi of his true father. While intrigued by this revelation immensely, the situation itself only served to further enrage him, spurring him to leave even more quickly than before.

While on his own, Yoruichi did have the problem of money. For a while, he hacked into his parents’ accounts and siphoned money into his own, but after several attempts at stopping him, they opened new accounts and kept the information a secret.

Still needing money and being completely uninterested in normal work, Yoruichi began to gamble instead. Quick as he was, he picked it up quickly, but the Yakuza caught wind of his activities soon enough. Oops - he forgot to be subtle.

Rather than putting an end to it straight up, the Yakuza instead propositioned Yoruichi with a debt - a hefty one, yes, but the only other option was death. He was also given the option of working this debt off, as he had no other efficient means of money-making. Self-preservation and honest interest playing their parts, Yoruichi chose the lesser of the two expenses.

Yoruichi started at what he was before - a gambler, but this time with a twist. Aside from winning money/running games, he watched for cheaters and came fixers etc, people like himself. He used his gambling circles for yakuza transactions, literal under the table deals, and a number of other shady things. Eventually, at age 16, the yakuza realized Yoruichi’s full potential, as he seemed to enjoy doing the dirty work. Slowly, they helped Yoruichi build a network of contacts and employed him as a blackmailer when his first test exceeded expectations.

Yoruichi found he liked his new line of business, and not just for the money. Human moralities already intrigued him, and now it was his job to learn and exploit their biggest secrets. His once-dormant manipulative side really began to bloom and Yoruichi gained skill quickly.

He was king of the world and nothing could bring him down. Yoruichi began skipping school, tired of being the golden child and not particularly caring about college anyhow; university was expensive, and he already had a career, so why go? Yoruichi began to play with people more and more. He experimented with his newfound powers to see just how far a man could be pushed before he broke, and just how much money he was willing to spend to fix himself. As Yoruichi’s reputation grew, his understanding of the darker side of humans did as well… and as these abilities progressed, so did Yoruichi’s cockiness, and thus his readiness for more jobs. It was a vicious cycle and it was set to destroy him eventually.

*****It was during one of Yoruichi's earliest jobs that he found himself touching into the black market. After completely cleaning out his target, some poor sap who didn't realize he had ventured into the wrong territory, Yoruichi discovered a cage in the back. Within the cage was a young peregrine falcon, one that seemed to be on the brink of death and desperate for rescue. The utterly pathetic sight of the bird awakened some deeply hidden pity within Yoruichi, and he felt somewhat compelled to at least keep the creature alive. After all, Yoruichi was a jerk, but he wasn't unnecessarily cruel. Upon touching the bird for the first time... Well, the young blackmailer didn't know it, but the Bond of the Familiar had taken place - it was the falcon's tendency to create these bonds that placed her and her nestmates on the market in the first place. All Yoruichi did know was that he felt as though he might like to keep his new pet around for longer than he originally planned. So, he named her Mouse, and proceeded to spoil her rotten for the next two straight years.

Though he claimed to disregard school, Yoruichi did become rather embarrassed when he began flunking several classes - namely math, science and woodshop - due to his lack of attendance. English, Japanese and History always were his strengths. Coincidentally, these very strengths were Jeriya’s academic weaknesses… and vice versa. In a bold move by the school that neither boy ever really understood, the two were thus paired together for mandatory co-study peer tutoring sessions. Ordinarily, Yoruichi would have just disregarded this, but two things stopped him from doing so.

One was that they threatened to fail them both if the tutoring was not met, as they would probably fail without it anyway. For all his disregard, the need to be perfect was still deeply ingrained into Yoruichi from bis parents. He was too ashamed of his grades to leave them, too behind to catch up alone, and too annoyed by the possible hindrance of being held back.

The other was that the school mentioned how they’d been paying for the damages their rivalry caused, but had been keeping track… in case the boys wanted to pay?

A little fed up that these situations kept happening, and a little terrified of the school administration, Yoruichi agreed to the co-tutoring.

For what it was worth, the sessions weren’t as bad as Yoruichi imagined. They both ended up passing their midterms, a B- as the very lowest, and getting their grades out of the gutter. The rivalry, while still fiery and spotted with bouts of sabotage and violence, had calmed to something kind of semi-civil. Though only a few conversations could be considered somewhat pleasant, Yoruichi found himself hating Jeriya a little less. Only a little.

What a shame it all had to go away?

During the same time the tutoring had gone on - his senior year - Yoruichi began delving relentlessly into his heritage. He spent countless hours researching and researching, hoping for a lead of some kind. Eventually, his wish was granted.

After a long while of searching, Yoruichi was able to track down a perfect contact. Though he went by alias, his knowledge was extensive, and he had memorized much information about the hellions and their most prominent members - namely the sons of Mammon, of which Yoruichi was one. The man eventually supplied that he was a greed son as well, which the teen took well to despite not considering his supplier anything close to family.

Yoruichi inquired as much as he could think to, the contact all too happy to be sharing with one of his relatives. Of their brothers that Yoru learned of, one specifically stood out - a certain Klaus Rosales, who lead a large gang on the island of Manta Carlos. Intrigued by this island that didn’t show up in the maps, Yoruichi expanded his search towards it as well. He soon had a vast amount of information on both Manta Carlos and Starlight Academy, and he had established neutral contact with Klaus Rosales himself.

However, Yoruichi was not yet considering actually moving to Manta Carlos. A visit, perhaps, but not a transfer.

The final straw on that camel’s back came one day at a library. He and Jeriya had been tutoring, as usual, and they began to bicker, as usual. Something… changed, though. Yoruichi can barely remember what happened in that sudden escalation, but he does remember raising voices, pushed chairs and an onslaught of violence. He remembers getting in a few good cuts across Jeriya’s skin before he was suddenly disarmed, facing the full brunt of Jeriya’s fists with nothing but his agility to defend himself with. One hit nearly knocked him in the temple, and though he dodged it easily, he still… It one of the first times in a long time that Yoruichi ever felt a spark of fear, as those knuckles whizzed by his head in what could have been a killing blow. He never mentioned it to Jeriya, and he probably never would. Probably.

In the end, they stopped their indoor brawl when a shrill woman confronted them. She said she had called the cops, and in the heat of the moment, Yoruichi slipped away from the scene. He would later learn that the teen had to spend an entire night in jail, and Yoruichi was almost glad he missed out.

Almost, because what he got instead was far worse.

He had known, that day, that a group of his newest enemies were planning to ambush him on his way home from the library. He had seen them watching and had hacked their phones more than once. At first, Yoruichi was almost looking forward to the brawl! He was sure that, should he stay in good physical condition, he could take them easily.

Unfortunately, the fight with Jeriya had left him bruised, sore and limping on his left. It was all the gang members needed.

Yoruichi remembers even less of what happened that night than he does of the library fight, as far as details go. However, that’s due to repression rather than adrenalin. He knows they hurt him. Three fractured ribs, a busted nose and a broken forearm. He knows they drugged him. Things were vague and it was terrifying. He knows that, due to the drugs, he shifted to his default form. Two tail breaks and a large nick carved out of his right ear (feline). He knows they liked his feline form, because there were five, and he knows this number because he knows. Yoruichi was hurt, badly, and the worst injuries of them all he will never speak of to anyone. Ever.

Rather than being changed and scarred by the trauma, Yoruichi forced it from his mind completely, burying the damage under layers and layers of indifference. He made himself believe that it was nothing, no different from any fight he had ever got into except for his opponents being a little more creative. He made himself forget, even though he never really forgot deep down.

Yoruichi has no idea what happened after the attack, because he blacked out towards the end. He remembers waking up in a hospital - a special wing, kept for those with more supernatural builds - and he remembers giving the nurses and police the information of one of the emergency aliases he had created beforehand. Yoruichi did not press charges against any of his assaulters, not supplying even the simplest of information to aid the officials in their investigation. After a few days of supervision, Yoruichi was released to his home, though he had a long way to go before he was healed of his injuries.

For a month following the attack, Yoruichi stayed in his apartment. No one, even the school, knew his home address and so he was safe from random knockers. In fact, Yoruichi’s only company during this time was Mouse and food delivery drivers. He did not contact anyone about his disappearance. Yoruichi wanted nothing less than the trouble that would come with an appearance, and because he was stuck in his mid-shift anyhow, he simply stayed inside. Even Jeriya was not contacted - though he hated Jeriya, so why should he bother letting him know?

Honestly, after that night, Yoruichi was too mortified to show his face around Tokyo. It was as though everyone knew - and honestly, those men had phones, he was positive. Some people really could know about it. And - what if the men found him again? What if… No.

Yoruichi just told himself that his following decisions were made out of his own curiosity and sense of self-preservation.

During the month he was away, Yoruichi devoted himself to paying off his bills and debts, transferring his information and enrolling himself in Starlight Academy. He packed his things as well as he could with his casts and set himself up a boat to the island. Yoruichi also increased contact with Klaus Rosales. The two set up a meeting together for soon after Yoruichi was set to arrive, one based around general greeting and actual business. Hopefully, should everything work out, Yoru would be employed as an blackmailer in the Rosales Gang.

Yeah. He was planning to stay.

And he didn’t give a single nod of it to Jeriya.

Moving day came quickly and Yoruichi moved his things as hastily as possible. All his ends had been tied off and his information transferred… All except Jeriya, but the man kept him out of mind. Jeriya didn’t matter. He never had, he didn’t then, and he never would. Yoruichi hated Jeriya with a fiery, smoldering passion, and of this, he was positive.

His arm still in a cast but his ears and tail firmly hidden, Sakurano Yoruichi traveled to Manta Carlos with his head held high and his eyes open wide. He was ready.