Player Name: Maggie
Player LJ: sykkea
E-mail and/or AIM: AIM = TharianDream
Timezone: CST
Current Characters: Croix Bartel - grandbellknight
Character: Sagan Natsuo
Fandom/Series: Loveless
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Used: Manga only
Age: 12
Gender: Male
Species: Human. Yes, he has cat ears and a tail, and yes, they're real. In Loveless canon, everyone has them until they lose their virginity.
Appearance:
A little boy with cat ears and a tail, who always wears an
eyepatch and a somewhat creepy little smile.
Personality: Natsuo is a little brat. He loves being a troublemaker, gets a kick out of making people angry and considers it an accomplishment if the conversation ends with the other person storming off. He loves to play games with people, and has known to go so far as to take control of someone using his magic just for kicks.
This even goes a few steps too far in many cases - Natsuo is quite the little sadist. He can feel no pain, but he seems to enjoy inflicting it on others whenever he gets the chance to do so. Suffering, pain, humiliation... in canon, he often watches Soubi and Ritsuka fight with a smile on his face.
In keeping with the brat theme, Natsuo is also incredibly unruly. He wants to do whatever he wants to do, when he wants to do it, and will not stand for someone getting in his way. He does not take direction well (unless you're Youji or Nagisa-sensei) and will fight authority if that's what it takes. If he ever follows orders, it's because he thinks the outcome will be interesting, or it will somehow benefit him. He does not do things for others unless something is in it for him. He doesn't even try to hide this, either.
As unruly, rude and jerk-like as Natsuo is, it's therefore a good thing that he's somewhat soft-spoken. Sure, he'll talk at you and annoy the crap out of you, but at least he won't be shouting at you unless you give him an excuse to do so. He also can be nice on the night of a blue moon, in the fourth month of every other leap year if he genuinely gets to like someone. That takes a lot of doing, though. He "likes" plenty of people, meaning he finds them interesting and sticks around so he can play with them at some point. He only genuinely likes very few people. You could probably count that number on one hand. Arguably, you probably only need one finger...
The one important, end-all-be-all person in his life is Youji, his best friend and sacrifice. He waited a long for Youji to come into his life, and he will go out of his way to make sure he stays there. As a fighter unit, its his job to obey Youji, and he will do so without question. With Youji (likely) not around in Luministi, I expect that he'll be even more difficult to deal with, constantly whining about how Youji isn't here, about how he wants to leave, etc etc...
Their superior, Nagisa-sensei, adores Youji but ignores Natsuo. This makes Natsuo jealous from time to time, as he really does wish he could be acknowledged for all that he does. While it's definitely a sore spot with him, the anger is definitely directed at Nagisa instead of Youji. He does not fault Youji for anything. Still, he has this need to prove himself and be noticed, moreso than Youji. This can sometimes make him worse than his counterpart about acting out (even though 99.9% of the time, Youji's the more bratty of the two).
With all of this negative, there is something important to point out: he is learning that some of what he does is Wrong(tm). In getting to know Ritsuka and Soubi, and genuinely learning to like them, he is beginning to see that maybe people aren't just things to be played with. He is MUCH, MUCH better than he was at the start of canon, but even so, the idea isn't a fully-formed one. He's still very much a child and needs to be treated as such, even if he'll protest it with every ounce of his being.
Strengths/Abilities: Natsuo is a fighter unit, capable of a type of magic directly based on words. The stronger the words are, and the faster they're said, the more powerful the spell will be. It's a system that opens up a lot of opportunities for very, incredibly destructive spells. So, if you ever see him sitting down with a dictionary, be wary.
Some examples:
* He can take control of someone simply by knowing their name.
* He can summon winds that will cut, as though carrying thousands of tiny blades.
Also of note - as one of the Zero pair, Natsuo feels no pain. You can hit him, but it won't phase him in the least. He also can't sense changes in temperature, and it is likely that he can't feel the pains of hunger as well.
Weaknesses: He's a squishy human, even if he feels no pain - just because he can't feel it doesn't mean he's not bleeding profusely. In fact, his lack of pain that can be a weakness in that he sometimes can't tell when to quit. He's also, you know, 12 years old. Inexperience is strong with this kid. Also, headcanon says he's probably not as used to taking hits as he pretends, since canonically, Youji would be the one taking hits (as the Sacrifice unit).
History: Natsuo is a member of Zero, the fighter unit of the pair. He and his sacrifice, Youji, are actually artificial creations. Nagisa Sagan, their sensei, set out to make the ultimate fighting pair, and believed that to do so, they would have to feel no pain. They would be perfect. In a lot of ways, she was right. In other ways, it ended up costing them dearly.
Natsuo and Youji are first seen in the manga accosting Ritsuka's (the main protagonist) teacher. They tease her for being an adult who still has her ears, then take control of her name with a spell, intending to play some (probably twisted and sadistic) games with her. They're stopped by another fighter unit: Soubi, of Loveless. Much to Natsuo and Youji's annoyance, Soubi frees the teacher from their spell and puts her to sleep. They challenge him to a battle, which he accepts.
Without his sacrifice, Soubi should have been at a strong disadvantage. However, when he realized the two were Zero, he cast a spell that brought the temperature of the area down to "nearly absolute zero" which pisses off my inner scientist, but we'll overlook that. They could not feel the drop in the temperature and tried to push through, but their bodies quickly began to shut down. They even suffered from severe frostbite and collapsed to the ground. They were forced to forefit.
Having lost, they now had nowhere to go - to return to Nagisa-sensei having lost meant that they would be severely punished and then kicked out and left to die - she had said so herself. Surprisingly, Soubi offered to let them stay with him (and his roommate, Kio). They were incredibly wary, but they accepted. Time passed, and the boys actually grew close to Soubi, Ritsuka and even Kio. Youji often denied this closeness. Natsuo was a little more grateful than his counterpart, but still teased the hell out of everyone and generally caused trouble, like his bratty little self.
There was another set of Zero units - a pair of females, older than the boys. The "original" Zeros. Until they were face-to-face with each other, the boys had no idea of the originals' existence. The girls wanted to call out Soubi and Ritsuka. Natsuo and Youji insisted on fighting instead. They were quickly overwhelmed, when the girls fucking cheated hardcore!! used a spell that only works on Zeros - a spell that severs the tie between them. Doing so caused all of Natsuo's spells to hurt Youji, and both of them were severely crippled by no longer sharing their name of Zero. Youji spent a great deal of time recovering at Soubi's place, with Natsuo not far away, anxious. (It's not quite made clear that the connection came back, but it must have since they are later seen fighting together again. Also of interest is that after the female pair cast the spell, the female Zero fighter slowly began to feel pain again. It's possible their connection was severed, too. Or, perhaps, it backfired, or it could have even been a flaw in the original Zero design. ... Basically, canon is inconsistent and it makes me twitch.)
Eventually, Nagisa got a hold of the boys and told them they could come home. Both of them were absolutely overjoyed to hear this, for about ten seconds. Then, each realized that they did not want to have to leave their friends. So instead of saying goodbye to their faces, they slipped off in the middle of the night, leaving behind only a note. When they arrived, Nagisa wasn't even happy to see them. In fact, she clearly didn't care, and just sent them off to be retrained.
At the facility, they happened to run into Ritsuka and Soubi again - Ritsuka's older, malevolent and traitorous brother, Seimei, was back and causing a lot of trouble. A bit of background: Seimei has the name Beloved, which he originally shared with Soubi (meaning Soubi isn't really supposed to be the fighter unit for Loveless). He faked his own death and ran away, though his motives for this are unknown. Though Ritsuka says that Seimei used to be kind, protective and loving, EVERYONE ELSE in the series says the guy is an abusive, psychotic, twisted, sadistic, self-possessed bastard. .... ... Either way, back to the story: Seimei found Ritsu, one of the higher-ups of the facility. After a very heated argument concerning Soubi and his fate, Seimei angrily stabbed out Ritsu's eyes. He used the blood to leave a little note for his little brother, scrawled on the wall: "Ritsuka, I'm back." ... ... So, who do you think is right, hmm?
Against Nagisa's wishes, Natsuo and Youji set off to help fight Seimei, but he was much too powerful for them. Even though they tried to take his name and control him, he single-handedly broke that control and twisted any words they used to his advantage. He very, very quickly took the upper hand, literally paralyzing the Zero boys with fear, as such is completely possible with these kinds of wordgame spells. Soubi and Ritsuka were able to fend Seimei off, and Seimei escaped before anything could properly be done about it.
The whole ordeal left Soubi broken, Ritsuka unsure of where his loyalties should lie, and the Zero boys confused but supportive. They quickly started acting like caretakers for Ritsuka, since Nagisa was too busy sulking and Soubi was apparently incapable of saying anything other than "I don't want to...!" They would make fun of everyone again later. For the moment, they needed to make sure their friend was okay.
Canon Point: Near the end of Volume 8. Seimei has escaped, Soubi is broken, and Ritsuka has just thanked Natsuo and Youji for their help. ♥
Third Person Sample:
"Would you like some coffee?"
"No thanks."
Natsuo watched as Nagisa-sensei poured herself a mug of the foul black liquid. Really, who could drink something like that? He wasn't surprised that Youji had turned her down. He was rather glad, too. It meant he didn't have to deal with the coffee, either.
Nagisa-sensei reached over to pet Youji on the head. "Welcome home," she said gently, like a mother greeting her child after school.
Natsuo had to keep his face from falling, but he'd had practice with that much, especially around Nagisa-sensei. "Sensei," he asked, "what about me?"
She'd already turned around. "Ah. Welcome to you too, Natsuo."
"I'm home now, too!" Natsuo said with a happy, happy grin that wasn't even an ounce real. Not that it mattered, because she wasn't looking at him. Damn it, he was determined to make his presence known. You're not going to pet me..?
"I have work to do now. If you annoy me, I'll kill you."
Natsuo sighed. Nagisa-sensei was already talking about other things now, but Natsuo's thoughts were elsewhere. He just couldn't understand why Nagisa-sensei didn't like him. He'd heard rumors that she didn't like fighters -- only sacrifices -- but he couldn't believe that. He didn't want to believe that. He supposed that he could have done something wrong, but no sooner had that idea crossed his mind than he immediately dismissed it again. What could he have done, and why would she treat him this way since the very beginning if it was just a mistake on his part?
Later, in their room, Natsuo sat in the bed with his knees drawn up to his chest. He was a little angry, mostly sad, and unsure how to channel that feeling. He wanted attention, too. He wanted to be told he was doing a good job. He wanted to be welcomed home and congratulated on a job well done. Why couldn't he have that, too?
Even so, he never faulted Youji for it. He may have been a little jealous, but it never turned into anger at his other half. This was Nagisa-sensei's fault, with her neglectful ways, and her favoritism, and the stupid way she wouldn't even look at him sometimes, how she acted like he was terrible and... and...
Natsuo didn't cry. He wanted to, a little. Just a little. But he didn't.
He felt movement on the bed and looked up to see Youji crawling over to sit beside him. "You look weird."
"Did I make Nagisa-sensei mad again?" Natsuo's eyes narrowed. He couldn't decide if he honestly cared or not, though he supposed on some level, asking meant he cared. Or something like that.
"Does it matter?" Youji leaned back against the wall, arms resting behind his head. "I'm not mad at you. You're not mad at me. So does it matter?"
Natsuo thought about it... then smiled a little. In truth, no. It really didn't matter. As long as Youji needed him, as long as he needed Youji in return, and as long as they stood together... it didn't matter. Nothing really did. So what if Nagisa-sensei favored Youji? Natsuo favored Youji, too.
Did you read the rules? Yep!