Akane Satsuki, The Crimson Hare

❛❛ Crimson Hare ❜❜

Akane ‘Usagi’ Satsuki

17 || Bi-Curious || Female || Student

PERSONALITY

POSITIVE
✔ Loyal, Considerate, Responsible, Protective, Polite

NEGATIVE
✖ Lonely, Nervous, Guarded, Awkward, Reckless

LIKES
✔ Heroic Stories, Persistence, Comfortable Clothing, Rabbits, Carrots, Veggie Burgers, Salads, Pom-Poms, Knitted Items

DISLIKES
✖ Crude Language, Liars, Pushy Parents, Dogs, Loud Noises

PERSONALITY

A girl whose personality has, for a large part, been influenced heavily by her domineering mother, Akane presents a seemingly modest, quiet and pleasant initial impression but is also quiet, guarded and insecure. Perhaps deep down the type of person who has a sweet personality that wants to keep everyone happy, though in some regards Miss Satsuki can be quite friendly and outgoing she is rather taciturn as to her feelings and opinions, having been somewhat brow beaten into going along with what her parent wanted for her.

Some seeming to take her aloofness and social awkwardness as a sign of arrogance, especially given she is a former pageant winner and model, people might miss the fact that her lifestyle has largely led to a rather stunted development in terms of friends. A lonely thing who is a little on the shy side and isn’t sure of how to interact with people honestly, she tends to try and project a calm and pleasant front even though she can get rather uncomfortable when matters become personal. Thoughtful and insecure in of herself, she often tends to overanalyse situations and is rather less confident than one might expect from someone who has done modelling for a living.

Entering the hero program partly at the urging of her mother, while the ‘goal’ she has been given is to become the top hero, Akane has a strong sense of right and wrong deep down and is rather a protective and loyal person. Perhaps lacking the confidence to really head for such a lofty goal but certainly possessing a few traits that one might deem heroic, there are times when her concern for others and empathy can make Miss Satsuki rather courageous when she needs to be. Perhaps her protective quirk guiding her thoughts and actions, this redhead tends to throw herself in the path of danger rather recklessly and on occasion can show quite the mettle.

A few incidents in her childhood concerning accidental transformations giving Akane Cynophobia, or a fear of dogs, having found her fluffy tail being snapped at by enthusiastic canines as a little girl they remain something that make her very apprehensive. Unable to relax if there is a dog nearby and panicking if one draws close to her, whether it is friendly or not, Miss Satsuki is incredibly uncomfortable around pooches and is reluctant to deal with them.

Possessing a second persona, of sorts at least, that has been ingrained into her since childhood, when she needs to Akane can ‘transform herself’ into the perky and lively Usagi-chan, a kind of upbeat and occasionally hyperactive sort of version of herself that really hammers home the fact that yeah she can make herself look like a rabbit. While Miss Satsuki is good at pulling this particular character off due to years of practice, deep down she still feels uncomfortable using this fake façade has developed something of an inferiority complex toward this persona, as if her own true self isn’t good enough for people to be interested in. Highly embarrassed when she has to play the role outside her work, Akane becomes annoyed by those who see her as only ‘Usagi’ and would rather be loved for being Akane than her.

APPEARANCE

HEIGHT: 168cm (normally), 178cm (Transformed, without ears)
WEIGHT: 58KG
HAIR/STYLE: With slightly messy locks of ruby red than when loose reaches her rear, usually Akane keeps her long scarlet hair tied up in a ponytail and tends to only let it down at bedtimes or when she’s feeling relaxed and casual. However, since she still takes on the occasional modelling job, there are times when she may appear with her hair in a stylish studio fashion not entirely of her own choosing, and highlighting this might make her blush.
SKIN/SCARS: Having had a good skincare routine drilled into her from a young age, Akane’s skin is blemish free, smooth and soft as one might expect from a model, fair in complexion but often carrying a tan because of outdoor training and/or moisturizers with fake tan in.
EYES: Eyes like emeralds, Akane possesses lovely green eyes and long lashes that she has been given the habit of embellishing with curlers and the like practically every morning.
NOTABLES: Long red hair, her rabbit-like appearance when transformed

Normal Appearance
A tall and well-endowed young woman, Akane possesses red hair and green eyes as well as a face with a pleasing mix of sharp and round features one might associate with a girl on the cusp of adulthood. Slim, perhaps a little underweight for her height due to pressures to keep up her model like build, Miss Satsuki has a well-established routine of exercise that keeps her body toned and flexible, but also possesses some curves she’s a little shy about in truth. Often wearing a tight bra or some other means to bind and flatten off her chest a little, one may well overlook her large bust because casually she tends to not flaunt her figure too much.

Preferring to wear a comfortable baggy turtleneck sweater or hooded shirt that highlights little of her physique along with jeans or even some loose fitting track pants, Miss Satsuki has a large wardrobe of items for when she feels the need to ‘dress to impress’ that she will probably spend more time than she really needs swapping through until she finally settles on something. Myopic, while the redhead usually wears contact lenses, some days if she’s in a rush or just in no mood for poking herself in the eye she will sport a set of spectacles though her mother hates her doing that. Her modest sense of style seemingly reversed when she is modelling or doing almost anything for her mother who seems to have more a ‘if you have it, flaunt it’ approach, there are times that Akane can look rather showy and boastful but is rather embarrassed wearing these sorts of things around people with whom she is friendly.

Transformed Appearance

Upon activating her quirk, Akane’s appearance morphs to become more rabbit-like, with the biggest changes perhaps being the fact that her ears shift to becoming much longer and standing on end at the top corners of her head like those of a lagomorph, their backs covered in downy white fur and fully mobile as she can perk them up, turn them or flatten them out. A fluffy white tail sprouting at the base of her spine, she has enough mobility in this to flick it lightly from side to side and it can be a little uncomfortable when stuffed away inside a tight pair of pants, meaning Miss Satsuki often sports clothing with a hardly noticeable slit in the back of to poke her tail out of when she transforms.

Face changing a little with her nose becoming a little flatter, Akane’s eyes seem to become a little larger and more doe-like, whilst her incisor teeth grow a little longer to give her a buck-toothed appearance. The hands and feet of Miss Satsuki sprouting silky soft white fur, her digits become a little thicker and nails become sturdier and claw like, not sharp like a cats but more like a dogs that can scratch and dig into things. The feet of the redhead growing longer while her lower legs become a little shorter, this shift seems to make her about four inches taller because of this and the fact that she now walk comfortably on her toes alone, becoming a digitigrade walker.

Hero Costume

The mother of Miss Satsuki naturally seeming to have had more influence over her prospective hero costume than it’s wearer would really like, the style would best be described as a mix between ‘Amazon battle armour’ and ‘magical girl anime’, being functional but also a little over the top. Sporting a swimsuit-like one piece made of slightly stiff but durable, combat-ready fabric in a white colour with a strapless design and ruffled burgandy skirt that reaches her mid thighs in length and its pleats mean it doesn’t restrict her movements. Visually similar to a seifuku style uniform worn in some schools, it features a burgundy collar that is bound in a large emerald bow over her bust and then trails over her shoulders into a square cape or mantle down to her mid back.
With this Akane wearing a sort of mix between a circlet and a tiara that looks a little like a wavy golden headband, she sports a white set of gloves that have openings at the fingertips for her transformed ‘claws’ to poke through which reach her elbows, as well as white boots with burgundy soles that are made of a rubbery, elastic material to accommodate the changes her lower legs undergo when she uses her quirk.

HISTORY

Perhaps to fully understand Akane Satsuki, one needs to first understand the thing that has been the greatest influence in her life; her mother. Kiku Koizumi was a self-made woman who came from a modest family and with her talents as an voice actress and idol made herself into one of the most recognisable figures in the Tokyo entertainment industry in her day, and like many young women found her heart being stolen away by a handsome but humble soul by the name of Kato Satsuki. Not involved in the industry of show business but perhaps Kiku’s attraction toward the man coming from this refreshing fact, it is possible that his meeker lifestyle reminded the woman of the place she had come from and made him seem more genuine than those whom she had grown used to.

An easy-going fellow by all accounts, his more taciturn and thoughtful behaviour seemed to complement Kiku’s hectic and attention seeking manner, always having time for her it seemed and yet never holding it against her when she had to break an appointment. The two married quickly, as it was perhaps considered a bit unseemly at the times for a young woman to grow too old without a ring on her finger, and soon after they had a child; Akane. As sad as it is to admit, this seemed to be the start of the end for their relationship.

Kiku giving up much of her workload while pregnant and post birth finding that her appeal as a young and vibrant, perky style idol had diminished when she returned, the work offered to her seemed to ease off and led to some unhappiness for the woman. Perhaps other, more successful figures using this opportunity to transition away from the realms of a girlish star and into something more mature and befitting a mother, whether it was the now Mrs Satsuki’s stubbornness or a failure to adapt on behalf of her management is a topic open to debate but it certainly brought about more than a few changes in the woman.

Luckily little Akane largely spared the emotional fallout of these early years of change due to her age and the fact that her dad tended to stay at home and look after her way more often than the somewhat embittered family matriarch, eventually Kiku found a way to stark bringing in the bucks again by returning to her voice acting routes while establishing her own talent agency. A young woman who had seemed to have been steered the wrong way by the industry and feeling that the new generation could benefit from her experience, the guest roles and things she received in anime and the occasional live action drama afforded her the chance to get her claws into some young stars which she could manage, seeming to satisfy her for a while.

However, there always seemed to be a hint of resentment in the woman. Kiku seemed like she was jealous of the attention she had lost and these younger girls had gained, and that tended to make her a harsh mistress toward her talent, often bullying and using passive aggressive methods to take big bucks roles they weren’t always comfortable with. Initially thinking she might protect the youngsters from the harshness of the show business world but actually seeming to turn into something of a shark herself, it seemed almost inevitable that her callous habits and ruthless nature would eventually be turned against her daughter and eventually that did happen.

Perhaps the first stinging memory of her mother’s burned out empathy being when Akane first manifested her quirk fully, Kiku discovered her girl’s weird ability to transform into a ‘beast’ and rebuked her for it. Telling her little girl that she will never fit in if she shows off such ‘bizarre’ abilities, Mother Satsuki urged her not to use the ability ever and certainly not in public lest her daughter be branded in the same category as other ‘freaks’ of nature. Culture at the time still somewhat mixed in its reception to those who possessed Quirks, with the oddness of those who possessed strange mutations in her memory and also those who had by now grown old enough to abuse their abilities for criminal purpose coming to the forefront, perhaps Kiku felt that she was sparing this treatment from her daughter?

Unfortunately, for Akane she just felt like she had been given a gift that seemed special at first but now seemed a curse her mother might hate her for. Worse it sometimes seeming to come to the forefront in odd situations, thought the wider world was becoming more accepting of quirks, Miss Satsuki was chided in situations where she accidentally activated her power in the playground or in school sports competitions when her adrenaline was high and was left feeling even worse about her ability because of this. There was little comfort for her really, apart from her father’s doting on his ‘lil bunny’ but time would even strip this away.

The relationship between Kiku and Kato also seeming to have unravelled by this point, the new line of work seemed to create even more friction between them. Kato feeling Kiku should spend more time with her daughter but she saying she needed to work hard in order to provide for them, Akane’s father couldn’t understand why his wife couldn’t give up their lifestyle and move to a simpler, easier and more stress free life. Added to this the nasty rumours some rivals had spread about what Kiku was capable of in order to get the contracts, it seemed an incredible amount of pressure was put on their relationship and as things looked like they were about to break, the callous and often ruthless Kiku decided she would seize the initiative.

A wealthy woman in her own right, whether it was because she didn’t want to lose her daughter or simply because custody of the girl would leave her assets largely her own is unclear, but Kiku hired a top divorce lawyer and easily managed to trounce her husband in court. Citing facts like she was far more able to provide for her daughter than a jobless bum who had in her words ‘sponged off me for years”, she was granted full custody and the loving, doting Kato got limited visitation rights. Yet this didn’t seem enough for Kiku.

Taking more of a ‘hands on approach’ with her daughter now that it was the two of them, all too soon she wanted the sensitive and somewhat shy Akane to be following in her footsteps, feeling that it would help to get her to outgrow the latter trait in particular. Drilling her daughter in matters of performance such as presentation and showmanship and paying for her to take lessons in dance and singing, while the latter seemed a bit of a bust due to Akane’s inherent tone deafness, she was being trained into a mini-idol ripe to take the pageantry scene by storm.

Using the presence of pageants and Akane’s forced enthusiasm for them to rob her daughter of many opportunities to meet her dad, while the little girl craved contact with the man who raised her she was denied it and became rather lonely and insular. Miss Satsuki really didn’t enjoy them at all, especially since she felt so much more pressured to keep her quirk under control, being completely unable to relax and be herself in these situations.

This period seeming to establish the dynamic between the duo, it quickly became apparent to Akane that if she didn’t like something, it didn’t really matter. Protesting that taking off her glasses for her appeals made it hard to see? Well no one wants to vote for a little nerd girl. Mommy it hurts too much pinching my cheeks for extra blush? No problem, mommy will pinch them for you. I don’t like the way that judge was looking at me? That just means he’s going to give you a good score honey. What if I accidentally turn into a rabbit on stage? I’ll just disown you and find a ‘normal’ daughter. An answer to everything and further protest meeting with physical or emotional hurt, eventually Akane learned to do as she was told, like a puppet of a mother who wished to live vicariously through her.

This lifestyle seeming to continue for several years, past the milestone that is double figures and into her early teens, it took an averted disaster for things to change really. Four years before she enrolled in Yuuei the young Akane was competing in a Little Miss Teen Tokyo shebang when a rather unhinged fellow decided to make an example of the vanity culture as he saw it. A mutant quirk user armed who felt she had been mistreated because her appearance throughout her whole life entering the scene, she decided to take out her wrath on the young idol by the name of Yui-Nyan whom she had been stalking that happened to be there as an MC.

Akane seeming to almost reflexively use her long hidden quirk as she spotted someone rushing the stage armed with nasty claws, instinctively she used her powerful legs to throw herself at Yui and knock her out of the way of the attack, even if she did bruise and wind the idol quite badly. Certainly sparing her some hurt and perhaps her life, security guards and staff wrestled the attacker to the ground and held her there to be arrested, Miss Satsuki was hailed as a hero for what she had done and this was the first time in years she had felt good about having her quirk.

Kiku never one to let a boom in popularity go to waste, the woman took her daughter on as a client in a more official capacity and quickly began to exploit this minor fame that Akane had achieved. The manager organizing several ‘on air get togethers’ with Yui-Nyan, while the first meeting between the two was a rather genuine chance for the idol to publicly thank her ‘hero’ for saving her life, several more PR opportunities were arranged between them of a slightly less serious nature. Playing up the incident with silly re-enactments, with ‘Usagi-chan’ using her powers in a very public way to protect Yui-Nyan from jokey threats, Miss Satsuki had really never been happier? Well, that was perhaps an overstatement but this the most she seemed to enjoy her ‘work’, it was so freeing for her to be able to show off something she’d kept hidden for so long so proudly was amazing for her.

Perhaps the reception that Akane received something that prompted the most positive change in her career thus far, with her mother wanting her daughter to step out from the shadows as Yui-Nyan’s sidekick and establish herself in her own right, she thought of a rather fresh means of doing so. ‘Rebranding’ Usagi as the would be Idol-Heroine, Miss Satsuki was fourteen when society began to adapt to a more heroic society and her mother decided to put her at the forefront of this. Taking advantage of the government’s changing stance in making an official Hero System, Kiku began to especially play up the angle for the profit of her company. Quickly becoming a model both with and without her quirk active, the latter proved rather popular as several fashion labels were eager to show off their ‘quirk minded’ lines suitable for people with unconventional anatomies and other requirements.

By this time Akane having established herself thanks to the fame she achieved with Yui-Nyan, rather than taking lessons in dance and hiding her powers her lone parent seemed to encourage her to take more combat-related endeavours and giving her the chance to explore and develop her quirk a little in private. Seeming to want to tie a nice tight bow around the concept of her idol daughter and heroics, Kiku organized events where Akane would dress in the fashion of comic book heroes and give speeches to elementary kids about virtue and order, as well as showing off her quirk in more positive ways. These the kinds of events that Akane actually quite liked, she was less keen when she was expected to attend the functions of police organizations and the odd politician to perform some staged acts of heroism as she battled stunt men and women dressed as criminals in heavily choreographed fights. It seemed pretty tacky, even more so than those days deterring comic characters when she ‘teamed up’ with Yui-Nyan, thought the training did help her a bit in her confidence with her fighting skills.

This behaviour however seeming to at least garner Akane with the favour and renown needed to receive an offer from the newly established Yuuei academy, the young woman found she was excited at the prospect of learning what she called ‘proper heroics’ and find a way to establish herself in her own right away from the ‘Usagi’ name. Her mother wanting to further the brand by redubbing her in her future hero form as “Heroic Usagi”, Akane found the name rather a dorky moniker and instead submitted her registration with something she felt that she and the world could take a little more seriously. Also thinking she might have a chance to finally get a little ways out from under Kiku’s thumb if she moved into the on campus dorms, Miss Satsuki is excited and rather anxious to see how she mixes with other students as well as how her course might go, hoping she can make the grade and garner a few friends in the process…