Tsuzumaru, Masumi - Queen of Games

Standing at a solid 6'3", Masumi is immensely tall for a woman, which very much makes her stand out from the crowd. Normally this would make her rather imposing and yet somehow Masumi seems to project some sort of aura of calm and temperance that muddies people's first impressions based on looks. Perhaps it's her kind features and generally slight figure that give her a less intimidating first impression, however it's impossible to be sure.

In general she is fair-skinned, with dark hair usually kept quite long in various styles. Combine this with her dark eyes and Masumi doesn't look any different than any other Japanese woman besides her much larger than average height. Of course her figure is generally something that most are envious of, however it should be noted that she is quite thin for her size, most likely unhealthily so. Her eating habits are less than optimal and she often forgets to or can't sleep, resulting in quite an oddly thin body; though she obfuscates this well with her clothing choices. Her build does tend towards an hourglass shape, however, with a naturally large bust and long legs, giving it a bit of a mis-matched effect with her general thinness.

She mostly sticks to rather colorful attire, though does not necessarily adhere to any one theme, picking what she finds enjoyable on any given day. This is in addition to a great range of clothing she hides on her person with her Quirk, giving her free reign to quickly change whenever she needs to. While she does enjoy outfits that show off her legs, this is not an exclusive choice and she will try to emphasize certain parts of her body more depending on her mood.

Yet, the most curious thing of all is that she used to look quite different. Her skin was more tanned as a result of living close to the beach and leaving the house a lot, her body was more filled out and balanced, her outfits were a little more bold. When she cast aside her old name, so too did she cast aside her old appearance, only very few would honestly recognize her from her past self.

With that old appearance also came an outfit for the villain Purge. A mask shaped like a stretched cross, with a cross-shaped slit for sight and breathing. Masumi hasn't worn it since the death of her husband and yet she kept it, the last connection she had to her old life. She's not sure why she did but it's there alongside her old outfit. She hopes she'll never have to use it again.

✔ Caring
✔ Articulate
✔ Elegant
✔ Faithful
✔ Reliable

✖ Distant
✖ Quiet
✖ Self-critical
✖ Secretive
✖ Melancholic

✔ Fantasy novels
✔ Card games
✔ Red wine
✔ Roleplaying games
✔ Rain

✖ Heat
✖ Whiskey
✖ Uncooked tomatoes
✖ Loud noises
✖ Herself

An incredibly quiet, reserved woman, Masumi is somewhat of an introvert. She likes to keep to herself and doesn't enjoy getting involved in other's business unless she feels she very much has to. With that though comes the heavy price of being extremely secretive; quite literally living a lie. Only one person even knows her old name and the guilt of lying to people takes a heavy toll on her psyche. Yet that is obviously not the only thing she is guilty about.

Hell, if there was one word you had to use to describe Masumi, the most obvious one would be 'guilty'. Guilty for the death of her husband and daughter, guilty for taking all of the lives she took over the years, guilty for all of the things she's stolen and guilty for being so motivated by greed in the past. With all of that comes a need to 'set things right' by living a normal life, perhaps believing she can atone for all that she's done. Yet she has a strong sense of compassion as well, especially for those who have made mistakes like she has, even if they themselves might not be repentant.

There is of course a spark of that old personality left; she does enjoy expensive wines and dresses and although it is hard to make her angry, if you do her temper can flare out of control. In general though she is calm, collected, patient and tries to keep her less desirable traits bottled up. Whether or not this is healthy is... well, it's not. But she's still dealing with a lot of trauma, even after six years.

She is a lot more uncomfortable around men than she used to be, especially those who attempt any sort of romantic advance; every male face seems to remind her of her husband and that's been a very difficult thing to process. Therefore she has started drifting towards enjoying the company of women, even if it was not her highest preference in the past.

A lot of the pain she feels for her husband and daughter however is generally channeled into her store and the games she played within it. Even if she is only averagely skilled at most of them, at best, she enjoys card games, tabletop games, video games, old movies, etc. and tends to love immersing herself in fantasy worlds with books. One would not expect someone of her age or demeanor to enjoy such classically nerdy material and yet she is openly passionate about her love for them, trying to encourage others to try it themselves.

Growing up an orphan under the birth name Nazuko Kakure, Masumi obviously never knew her parents. She didn't know why she was given up, who it was who gave her up or if it was her fault but those questions tend to shape a young child's mind. They begin to wonder if there's something wrong with them specifically, if they were the reason they were put into care. Masumi has never found this answer; all she ever knew was the orphanage and the other kids who lived there.

It's not like it was a particularly bad place, at least not in her estimation. Life was hard but fair. You earned what you were given by performing chores and good behavior, the matriarch was nice enough. It wasn't the orphanage that wore her down over time, it was those same damned questions playing over and over in her head. She was a Quirker. She'd discovered that pretty early and apparently the Matriarch had always known. Was that why she'd been given up? This... curse?

Making objects bigger or smaller... it sounded like such a boring, lame power. But Masumi was a smart girl. But more than smart, she was ambitious and covetous. Enlarging stools to climb into and steal extra cookies, shrinking another kid's music player when they wouldn't switch to a song she liked. The other kids were Quirked too but she had one thing over them. One thing they could never hope to have. Her furious creative mind.

School life became much of the same. Attend school with minimal supplies, steal what she needed because the orphanage didn't have the money to support all of the kids. She'd steal for herself most of the time but occasionally her guilt would eat away at her and she'd be forced to share what she'd found. Especially food. It wasn't necessarily selfishness that drove her, more a fervent desire to live, to keep herself going against all odds. Her parents hadn't wanted her? Fine. That wasn't her fault!

As middle school progressed into high school, that's when things really began to get complicated. She fell in with what some might call 'the wrong crowd'. Pressured into attending parties while underage, neglecting her studies in the pursuit of romance and love under neon strobe lights in scanty clothing, Masumi soon found herself drinking heavily. Missing classes, not returning home for curfew, generally being a menace to everyone. Yet it was then she had a bit of a change of heart regarding her Quirk.

She saw how others were being treated for having them, like second-class citizens, like people who didn't belong. She couldn't do that again. Masumi didn't want to be kicked out of the 'popular club', so she began to conceal her Quirk, threatening any who knew into silence.

Unfortunately, Masumi was also a victim of the abhorrent practice of 'compensated dating'. Yet it was with those men that she discovered a love for money and material things that had previously been limited only to that which she needed to survive. Wine, expensive dresses, designer clothes, jewelry, she got it all. As soon as she was 18 however, the orphanage refused to board her any longer and the men she'd been dating all refused to take her in.

Spending the night at her friend's house, it was there she met the love of her life; said friend's brother Juroji. He showed genuine concern for her wellbeing and his kind nature even despite her distance intrigued her. They spent the night doing something that would start a lifelong hobby... playing cards. Such became a regular occurrence while she looked for a place to live, once again concealing her Quirk in case they tried to bump up the price. She had to go on so many dates to keep the money rolling in she began to have stress headaches, barely sleeping.

Some of the men were getting quite possessive, getting angry if she spent time with other men. She was getting so tired, it was getting far too hard to juggle. Instead, she began doing what she did best, stealing from them. Small things at first, like watches, rings, etc. but eventually progressing into wallets, phones, even a full car once or twice. Eventually she found a place to stay, after a full year of struggle... but something made her loathe to say goodbye to Juroji.

She was in love but... she'd never really felt that before. It was hard for her to process. Fortunately, he made the first move and proposed they move in together, to save on rent. Roommates was a good start, at least.

Her pattern of stealing and selling continued, until she was eventually caught by one of her 'partners'. In a panic, she choked him with his own neck tie, using her Quirk for the first time in self defense, squeezing it around his neck until he stopped moving. Her first kill. Somehow it just felt so... easy.

Having spent a long time in the underground market selling things, it wasn't hard to find someone to get rid of the body, for a price. And that price didn't come in the form of money, but favours.

Before long, she was Purge. Assassin for hire.

Her roommate, now finally boyfriend after two long years hadn't been idle, rising through the ranks of his job as a highly effective salesman in a competitive industry. While he was off on business trips, Masumi continued her work as Purge, raking in huge sums of cash and becoming a rising star in the underworld. People were starting to take notice.

It wasn't long after Juroji got his promotion that Masumi discovered she was pregnant. Nine months later, a baby girl was born, whom they named Himari after a rather complicated labour that required a C-section. The baby was a Quirker, one who could adjust her own size at will. Needless to say, the doctors were not willing to risk the stress of birth causing... issues for Masumi as a result.

Something about her changed after that. Now she had a true reason to continue doing what she was doing, to provide a better life for her child. For many years she busted her backside growing her fame and popularity in the underworld, using everything at her disposal to complete seemingly impossible tasks. Over the years, the name Purge began to be feared, especially by gang members who realized she was more or less being used as a revenge killer. She started to become jaded, cold and even more distant. Her once hot-headed nature started to quiet, either due to age or just melancholy.

She loved watching Himari grow up, loved watching her become the woman she never could. It gave her a sense of longing... for a life that wasn't killing, a life her daughter could be proud of. But in her mind it was far too late now to turn back. All of those kills were starting to earn her enemies. Enemies with eyes in many places.

A routine job gone horribly wrong.

Her favourite and most requested method of killing was shrinking large objects like cars or even small buildings or rooms to crush whoever was inside. This was to be a job like any other; watch the target get into the car, shrink it and kill them, leave no evidence. The car had darkened windows but she'd been assured no one else was inside. In hindsight she should have checked. She watched the target get into the car, then did what she did best.

The screams were... unpleasant.

As were the mangled, ruined corpses inside. Multiple corpses. Her target was there yes but so was a man in a very familiar grey suit... and a young girl in a dress she'd sworn she'd bought Hima-...

No...

[ -------- ]

She just... broke.

Something inside her just stopped working.

In some sort of fugue state, she had documents forged, a whole new identity, using her saved up assassination money. A new life. Everything just felt numb and cold, like she couldn't feel anything anymore. Nazuko Kakure was no more. Purge was no more. Only Masumi Tsuzumaru remained. She disappeared for a few years, apparently to France she never contacted anyone again; no friends, no-... well, she didn't have a family to contact. Before long people forgot Nazuko Kakure.

Her best friend was the only one she told; about not moving to France, about her new name. She never explained why of course, always with the secrets. But something inside her had just become hollow and wasn't healing. She lived off her collected money for a while, not needing a job, not needing or wanting for anything, just... wallowing in that guilt, in those nightmares, reliving those screams.

It's only recently that she has begun to open back up again. It took six long years but... maybe she was starting to recover. Maybe the future was looking-... well, not as bleak, at least. Following her friend's example, she used the last of her money to open a store... a Game Shop, like her husband had always talked about, their dream little business.

Here's to the future of The Wizard's Workshop. May it... provide some closure, at least.