Akira Romanov

[Akira Romanov]

Reviewed by: BG, Rayne
Accepted by: BG
13 Aug. 2012

Akira Romanov

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Full Name- Akira Tamlin Romanov
Gender- Female
Age- 23
Date of Birth- April 17, 1989
Sexual Orientation- Heterosexual
Location- Los Angeles, California, USA
Celebrity Claim- Kwon, BoA
What should we call you?- Kai, Sky, or Aki
Play anyone else?- Nope, just Akira
Have You Read the Rules?- SPLARKIN

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Personality-

There are no dummies in the Romanov family. Though Akira appears to be less than spectacular, she is by far on par with intelligence as her own brother, Akito. However, because of the disregard her father (and mother, though unintentional) had given her, Akira has felt content to hold back her skills and smarts so that she can just accept that she just isn’t “good enough.” She’s come to terms with the fact that she will constantly be in her older brother’s shadow and that no matter what anyone else says, she will just be “Akito Romanov's younger sister.”

Because of this, Akira has built up a dangerous darkness within herself that she carries without any guilt whatsoever. It fazes her none that this could eventually tear her apart and lead her down a path of ruin. As far as she’s concerned, so long as she lives her life by her own terms and standards and upholds her own sense of right and wrong, then what anyone else says could matter even less in her eyes. She’s lived her life up until this point just fine without having to hold any kind of responsibilities; be damned if she start doing so now. A good book has always been a sound cure for any emotional "walls" she's had to encounter.

She generally won’t go out of her way to help someone, at least not at first. Generally if she accepts a task before her, it’s usually beneficial to herself immediately, if not soon after. Akira hates to get involved in other people’s affairs because it usually just drops unnecessary problems into her lap. However, she hates having to owe people anything, especially favors, so normally she will try her best to quickly and efficiently rid herself of such a ball and chain so she can continue living the way she wishes.

Not particularly the life of the party, Akira won’t turn down an offer to simply hang out with a group of “friends.” On the downside, she doesn’t interact with a group as actively as one would like and she usually just ends up leaving a group function before it’s actually over. Most of the time it’s to go to the gym and work out, read in her room, or to just walk aimlessly around the grounds. All-in-all, Akira truly is a loner through and through. She doesn’t need a social circle to keep herself occupied or happy. It’s just a means to keep herself from having to put on an act during the few times she is in contact with her family. At least she can be herself freely in front of strangers without being judged in a way that would make her upset.

Akira is a bibliophile. Probably because of the lack of care and attention given to her as a child, always being placed on the backburner by even her peers growing up, she had come to enjoy the company of books so much that she actually has developed strong feelings for works of literature and various other types of books. While she makes a point to carry around useless leaflets of paper with her, if push comes to shove and Akira is forced to tear to shreds an actual written work, it would upset her.

Akira’s actions speak far louder than her words, but when she does speak, it makes for quite a spectacle. Not one to mince words, Akira will tell it like it is and not care if she’s hurting someone’s feelings in the process. Honesty, to her, is the best policy. No sense in beating around the bush on an issue. This usually makes her both the desirable and undesirable – especially during heated debates. Though she tries to be conscious of others around her, she has a hard time expressing how she truly feels. This is due to many years of harboring her emotions around her family. You can’t read a mask and Akira liked to keep it that way.

Likes-

• Books (all kinds, even reference books)
  
• Smoking
  
• Writing
  
• Dancing
  
• Fighting/Practicing Martial Arts
  
• Naps
  

Dislikes-

• Fads
  
• Illiteracy (there's no excuse for it)
  
• Overly crowded places
  
• Liars
  
• Posers
  
• Melodrama
  

Strengths-

• Cool-headed, relatively patient
  
• Headstrong & outspoken
  
• Creative
  
• Good at thinking on her feet
  
• Works well, even under pressure
  

Weaknesses-

• Grudge holder
  
• Insubordinate
  
• Aggressive (when she cares long enough or about something)
  
• Devious
  
• Sarcastic (almost brutal with it)
  
• Proud
  

Skills-

• Phenomenal memory (clearly)
  
• Relatively agile
  
• Skilled fighter
  

Flaws-

• Addicted to sweets
  
• Competitive (somewhat, hates being challenged)
  
• Slightly sadistic
  
• Astraphobic
  

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Abilities/Powers/Skills-

Papermaster [Matter Manipulation: Paper] - a person with the ability to bend paper material to their will, making it bulletproof and durable enough to use as a weapon, among other, more creative applications. Akira has the ability to manipulate paper into bulletproof shields, swords, working giant paper airplanes, models of buildings, etc. and well-versed like others who can manipulate basic matter. The effects she can create are hindered only by her imagination. She is able to slow the burning rate of paper dramatically, and can work with paper that is slightly wet. She can command very large volumes of paper and change their shape, speed, and direction easily. The types of paper are also limitless for her, ranging from basic sheets of printing paper, to money, to paper decoration ribbons, parchment, etc. So long as it has the element of paper or even treated to be as paper, than even basic card stock can be utilized with the touch of her fingers.

Akira can also manipulate paper with her mouth, as well as any other part of her body. So long as she has touched it with some part of her body, the paper is now "tuned" or "imprinted" to her movements and thinking. An example of papermastery with the mouth would be the moment a piece of paper touches her lips, she can change its shape, density, etc. to what's reasonably possible with the slip of paper given. Another example would be if Akira was falling out of the sky, or off a cliff, she could use the paper on her person to create a safety net or bridge where she can actually walk across.

Akira can store impossibly large amounts of paper inside her clothes and even within her hair, making her difficult to "disarm." She has dabbled with chemistry here and there and has actually created a few special types of paper which is durable, waterproof,and can perform special functions. Example: the paper can be coated with explosive chemicals which she can detonate with her abilities at any given moment of her choosing so long as she has touched the paper at least once. By rearranging the elements inside of the paper, she can cause a chain reaction that will enable the paper to explode.

When not enough paper is on hand for her to create an actual "flight machine" or paper airplane, Akira can create wings for herself. They serve mostly for gliding purposes and are fashioned to look like bird wings with straps to her arms whenever she needs to flap them. She can also fashion a parachute from paper in case of an emergency and there aren't enough chutes for everyone to jump out of the aircraft and escape safely.

As for shields, stopping a basic bullet with a single sheet of paper is easy for her. However, because she is still in the training phase of her education, Akira can only block an actual bullet with a piece of harder paper: card stock, poster board, etc. When creating larger shields to save herself from explosions or a hailstorm of projectiles, Akira has to create several layers of paper to protect herself from a bombardment.

Photographic Memory - Part of Akira's "bibliophile" nature has been attributed to her photographic memory, a skill she was born with. Because she is normally seen with a book at all time, or even her computer, she is able to store information in her mind fairly easily and retain it for long periods of time. All it takes for her to memorize something and retain the information is to have seen it first-hand. However, this is not to be confused with the "copy-cat" ability in the fact that she reads or sees something being done and she can repeat the motions. Simply put, if it's texts or in textual format, she'll remember it. Even digital information. She's a pretty decent speed reader too, since it doesn't take much for her to retain information.

Agile & Quick Thinker - Akira doesn't have cat-like grace, but it's hard to knock her off her feet. However, she's not acrobatic by any means. It's just hard to trip her up. Coupled with her quick thinking, normally if someone is able to trip her up, Akira isn't prone to falling on her ass. If anything, it's amusing to watch her scramble around so that she doesn't fall on her ass.

Limits-

Paper Manipulation - She is a capable enough sword fighter to fend off a few "average" swordsmen but is useless with things such as firearms. She's pretty handy with a bow and arrow made out of paper, though. Complete and utter saturation will still disrupt her paper mastery, but only in that moment. Normally she doesn't bother waiting for the paper to get dry enough for her to use. She just carries an excess amount on her person to make up for the ones damaged in the fray. As a papermaster, if Akira doesn't have paper on hand at all times, she is basically useless in a group fight. At least one-on-one she can scramble away to find a basic melee weapon to defend herself.

If the paper is simply a single strip, then she can only utilize that said strip - not make it longer or shorter than what is given. Her papermastery also relies heavily on skin-to-paper contact. If she is either wearing gloves, or trapped in a plastic bubble and unable to actually touch the paper, or if she's in a cage and can only stick her leg out enough to touch a sheet of paper, then it needs to touch her skin first. Skin-to-paper contact is necessary for the "imprinting" to happen, a fact which she hates.

Despite being able to use a vast quantity of paper, Akira can not escape the fact that matter is what she manipulates and, therefore, will take up space. She is heavily dependent on hoping that there is paper nearby in her general vicinity to gain access to. With that in mind, while her usage of paper is seemingly limitless, the matter itself is a limitation to her abilities. Usually Akira is forced to carry a rolling briefcase stuffed full of paper to compensate for her environment if she can not gain access to paper readily. The paper on her actual person is for situations where she knows she will either need to be quick on her toes so carrying a briefcase would inadvertently slow her down, or when she is not able to gain access to her briefcase for whatever reason (ie, someone stole it, blew it up before she got a chance to even open it and use her paper, dropped out of the sky and sank at the bottom of the ocean, burned up in a building when she was forced to escape and leave it behind, etc.).

Mentally and physically, Akira can technically use the power whenever she wishes. When making small objects out of paper and manipulating them, (for example, creating a paper crane and making it fly around her room for fun) her energy is hardly spent at all. But when in actual combat situations, her physical and mental stress is equal to that of her own state of mind. Akira is usually a relaxed and focused individual when using her papermastery, but despite the "mind over matter" spiel, if Akira is physically tired then no matter how mentally awake she is, her ability to utilize her powers are cut in half almost immediately. Her papermastery is heavily dependent on her staying physically fit and fast on her feet. The greatest hindrance is no longer being able to use her arms. Though she can technically wield paper with any part of her body, she is more adept to creation with her hands than her mouth, feet, etc.

Against fire-based or water-based ranged/melee powers, Akira is only able to reduce the burning and saturation rate of the papers for a short amount of time before clearly the paper is either disentigrated or too wet to use. After that, it's a sort of "onion layer" effect when peeling away the layers of an onion for her shields. Eventually, unless she has more paper to raise to make up for the layers being torn down, the enemy and/or their attacks will finally reach her. When in her "flight-mode," Akira can only glide, picking up just a bit of air when she flaps her paper wings. However, she and her paper wings are vulnerable in the sky. It takes every bit of mental focus she has just to maintain flight, so if anyone were to shoot at her wings, throw fire on them, or soak them with rain, Akira would be useless against said maneuvers and most likely would crash to her death.

Her range with papermanipulation is, sadly, as far as she can see with the naked eye. When firing upon an enemy, even using a ranged paper weapon, she can only limit herself to those she can see. Close quarters combat are more of a specialty for her, or at least the enemy should be within twenty or thirty feet of her for Akira to do some serious damage or distraction techniques.

When using her powers over a certain length of time, Akira will get sleepy. Sometimes, if the action is too much for her and she's exerting far too much energy, she will pass out right in the middle of a huge group battle if her mind is too out of focus. This is why she sleeps regularly, taking naps througout the day to re-energize herself. When her mental state is far too groggy to keep up, then it doesn't matter how phsyically "awkae" she is, her mind will force her body to shut down for a recharge.

Photographic Memory - Akira's photographic memory while not very taxing on the body, is taxing on the mind. When trying to gather and retain too much information at one time, Akira sometimes gets intense migraines. Some are so bad that she's actually been known to pass out. Another side-effect of reading or retaining too much information is her vision gets skewed, blurring to where she can't focus. This, combined with the headaches, can sometimes get to be too much for her.

Agile & Quick Thinker

[/i] - While she may be a quick thinker and agile, it's not impossible for her to muck up a step and miss a cue sometimes. If a line of people try to trip her up, Akira is more likely to make herself even more vulnerable to other forms of attack when trying to keep herself balanced and from falling on her backside. Though she's good at thinking under pressure, this doesn't necessarily mean that the solutions she comes up with are practical. It's almost like impulsive thinking and while normally she's decent at strategizing, when being forced to think about too many things at once, her resolutions are sometimes a little ridiculous.

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Appearance-

HEIGHT: 5'7"
BUILD: Slim; fit
EYES: Cerulean
HAIR: Black with a brown tint; sometimes she highlights it with a different variety of colors
STYLE: Akira likes to accessorize, but again, nothing too gaudy. Necklaces, wristbands (cotton and leather alike), earrings, bangles, chains, chokers and lace are all favorites. She also likes to change out her belly ring with cute or hardcore rings whenever she decides to go out and show off her mid drift. There are 8 piercings on Akira's ears (four on each ear) and she generally wears simple studs and loops up both ears minus the first holes on both ears. She also has a kanji tattoo on her neck that means "Spring," signifying the season she was born in.

She can very easily make herself look dirt poor, torn up clothes and all. However, Akira prefers nicer clothing, or something a little revealing. Clothing wise, she prefers medium shades, such as red, with black trim, or blue, purple, et cetera. Nothing too dark, but nothing too overly light either, because she’s just odd like that. When it comes to makeup, she usually only wears a light dusting, such as a little blush, eye shadow, eye liner, and a light colored lipstick, but that’s the extent of that. Gaudiness or standing out because of unnatural enhancements annoys the hell out of Akira. If you aren't good looking naturally, then everything else is wishful thinking.

Faction- Neutral
Birthplace- Minsk, Belarus
Mother- Shion Romanov; 45; Alive; Housewife; Special: Healing factor - can take in other's ailments, making them her own before healing herself unless fatal
Father- Malcolm Romanov; 47; Alive; CEO of an Electronics company; Civilian
Siblings- Akito Romanov; 24; Alive; Assistant CEO of their father's Electronics company; Special: Photokinesis
Spouse / Partner- N/A
Children- N/A

History-

Born as the second child of Malcolm and Shion Romanov, Akira barely was able to see the sunset on her first birthday before her entire family packed and moved from Minsk, Belarus to Los Angeles, California. The details were never explained of why her family decided to move to America. She'd talk to her older brother about it from time to time, but apparently her father's company was undergoing some kind of merger and in order to maintain his somewhat comfortable lifestyle for both him and his family, Malcolm moved to the States to set up shop there. Once his business life settled into stability, he was able to reap in what his profits amassed because we all know that it's a digital age so what better avenue to flourish business-wise than electronics themselves.

She hasn't returned to her birthplace since and has no real desire to do so unless given the opportunity to gorge herself on what the libraries of the nation has to offer her.

Akira is a Romanov and that meant usually three things: she was rich, she had a damn good pedigree, and was relatively intelligent. However, to Akira, being a Romanov meant nothing other than the constant naggings of her father and comparisons to Akito, her mother doting on Akito and attempting to dote on her from time to time, or Akito getting in her face twenty-four seven in his lame attempts at being a concerned and caring older brother. Why her parents even bothered having Akira, the youngest Romanov couldn’t really tell you – nor would she want to. As far as she was concerned, she was the child who should have never been born in the first place. Social prejudices were one thing, but they were living in America now and "nobility" didn't mean a damn thing here unless you had money. Thank God her father could at least provide that much.

Perhaps a tiny part of Akira believed that her father made the move to the U.S. because of his children. Part of her wanted to believe in it. If it were true, then that meant there was something almost human about her father. When she tried asking her mother about how, exactly, she and her father ended up getting together, the Japanese woman would simply shake her head and sigh, saying that it was a different world then. From what Akira could understand, wasn't her father part of the distant branch family of the House of Romanov? If so, then why did it even matter? There were only a few "golden drops" of Romanov blood remaining, spread so thin amongst the descendants so why did anyone care? It wasn't like Russia was a monarch anymore, not like England where people gave a damn about royal households and the like. But her mother insisted that it was a different time, a different place, and that Malcolm was a very different man.

She didn't think having an older brother would be that big of a deal. After all, he was going to be the one studying the business and the like. They were close, having been homeschooled together until Akito was twelve and entering middle school. But when her brother's lesson plans started taking a dramatic shift from basic school learning to business-like ventures, the distance that formed between them was soon fated to show itself. Soon all of her parents' focus went into Akito and Akira was left to her own devices, doing her school work and reading whenever she found the time to enjoy it. Though Akira did not seemingly pick up things as fast as Akito did, that was all right. She would pace herself and study in secret, allowing her parents, and even her brother, to believe that she was just “average.” Being average had its advantages, after all. No responsibilities, no worries, no commitment ...

Though she never really expressed her hurt on the outside, Akira was always torn for her feelings for her father. Part of her hated him with the deepest seed that one could plant in a person’s heart. Another part of her wished to prove to Malcolm that she had what it took to be every bit as good as their "prodigy" son, Akito. But no matter what kind of accomplishments Akira achieved, they paled in comparison to anything that Akito did or had done. Cursed was Akira; forever being forced to be shadowed by Akito’s greatness.

Predictably, this caused Akito and Akira’s rift to further grow. Not only did Akira stray further away from her brother, despite Akito trying his best to be there for his younger sister, Akira cared for nothing or anyone. Akira did nothing to bridge this gap. She wouldn’t try.

Keeping with her "average" title, Akira transferred to two more schools and made slightly above average marks at the private schools she went to. Finally, when the private schools no longer wished to have their image tainted, Akira wound up in public school. It actually wasn't as bad as she had predicted it to be. At least the kids there didn't question her heritage, poke fun at her strange blue eyes and asked if she was a ninja. They would generally leave her alone, an almost silent understanding of staying out of each other's way.

With that in mind, middle school wasn't so bad. And it was almost laughable how easy the curriculum was that Akira didn't bother going above and beyond what was asked of her in class. What point was there to excel? No one would recognize her for her achievements – at least not anyone who would matter. Her parents didn’t care and Akito was too busy preparing to take over the family business. However, there were some perks to going to a school that she could enjoy. Being part of the martial arts club did wonders for Akira’s aggression issues. Instead of throwing desks (or hell, throwing desks at people), she learned to control her anger and resentment and bottled it inside of her. She took her fury out on various opponents or training devices – sometimes a cigarette could do wonders as well. She had been quietly practicing and learning about her photographic memory skills, discovering its weaknesses and strengths, but she knew that she wasn't anywhere near where she needed to be to control it, the headaches almost too much to bear. Plus there was that nagging feeling that somebody was poking around in her brain somewhere and it really annoyed her.

However, this was all short-lived. Akira's parents (namely her father) were "fed up" with her lackluster attitude. They worried that she, with all her uselessness, would be unable to find someone to help continue the noble Romanov bloodline (though when she mentioned that her father had been guilty of tainting the line already, she'd received a hard slap to the face). They presented the idea that she attend a boarding school in New York. Figured she'd be shipped all the way to the other side of the country so that her father wouldn't have to look at her except during the holidays. Akira had been hell-bent on not going. To be forced for the entirety of her high school years with people even more difficult to understand than herself, new faces, and to have to work together with them - learning in the same environment and so on and so forth? They couldn't be serious, could they? Her parents were just doing this because it was a stupid prank, right? She wouldn't have it. She would have rather been home-schooled again. But, of course, Akira had no say in the matter. So before the new school year began, specifically her freshman year of high school, Akira was shipped off to New York without a moment's hesitation.

What a freaking joke.

Surprisingly, the year that Akira was there went by faster than she could have imagined. She realized for the first time that not only was she considered to be different, but that it was a good thing. She was special, but she wasn't alone in her "specialness." Everyone had their own problems, their own personal battles with inadequacies. Hell, Akira was even starting to feel that the place was growing on her. But, of course, Murphy's Law just wouldn't let her, or anyone else who'd managed to find salvation in this place, stay content, now would it?

Everything was happening so fast. She didn't know whether everyone was coming or going. All she knew was that everyone was being told to pack what they could, and that they were getting the hell outta dodge! They had all felt like packed rats, assembling together with their few belongings. The place she had come to see as a true home, a home away from the proprieties and facades of the upper class lifestyle, was being ripped from her hands. Even sadder still, Akira had been told that out of her vast collection of books, a tenth of them would be allowed to come with her while the others would remain behind to await their fate of annhiliation. Everyone else was worried about what sort of hailstorm was about to rain down upon them. Akira mourned for her textbooks.

The morning of was the biggest blur of Akira's life. The upcoming days would be bleak for her, realizing that when the fire hit her boarding school, she was going to have to leave it and either return home to that life that was all show and no feelings or be transferred to yet another school. It was seemingly hopeless, but she had to continue forward. Was this a warning from God? From some higher being telling her that she needed to get off her sorry ass and get to work? To stop being lazy and freaking do something with herself? But what? What would be her purpose? What was she supposed to do?

Akira wanted her safe haven back. She needed to learn, to continue gaining knowledge to not only better herself, but those around her. She needed to learn to be a team player, because let's face it, even amidst all this chaos and confusion, she was still crying over the loss of her books.

Whoever said time healed all wounds was a liar and needed to be taken out back and beaten like the filthy throw-rug he was. After returning to Sacramento for three years of studying, martial arts training, exercising, and reallocating herself with the overall feel of accepting her new boarding school as "home," Akira realized that the old wounds from the fire in New York still held strong inside of her. During the time she and the others students continued their education, the bibliophilism would not sit still and behave. The urge to reclaim what she could of her expansive book collection was starting to become painstakingly clear that her efforts were fruitless. It didn't matter that she had a photographic memory and could remember every line of every page of every book she'd ever set her sights upon. It was the presence of the text, the feel and smell and even the taste of those aged pages that brought Akira's meaning to existence. The horror of out-of-print texts came crashing down around her head like a ton of solid gold ingots that she felt she would be buried under the reality of the aftermath of that day.

There was a time when Akira sank into a fit of depression. Her poor obsession with books would be the end of her, she knew it. She had to find a way out of this. But how could she?

A single letter had done it. From her brother, Akito. To think, the brother she'd unintentionally formed a rift with, would be the one to pull her out of this ridiculous pit of purposelessness.

[/b] him drag you back in it. You are you. You are my sister. You are a Romanov! Damn what Father or Mother or anyone says. Your differences, your thoughts and beliefs, the people you turn to in your time of need are beyond the pages of books. When you die, who will be left to tell the tales of all that you have done?

People.

Who will mourn your loss when you have passed?

People.

And who will be there to write your exploits and all that you have learned, to share with the rest of the world?

People.

The books that you treasure so much, dear sister, are the ones written by the hands of people. So stop isolating yourself from them. This crisis was meant to bring you closer to the truth. Not distance yourself from it. People will write of the past. People will write of the present. And people will write of the future. The books cannot write themselves. It is you, as well as others, who must write them. So go. Learn. Write. And discover what your true purpose is. I look forward to reading the tale that is weaved with you and those around you.

Your brother,
Akito

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[/ul]
As much as she didn't want to admit it, he was right. Everyone was safe, she was alive, and she had been doing nothing but mourning over the loss of books that could not rewrite themselves. She had them stored forever in her memories, to enjoy and "read" when she had the time. Now Akira needed to focus on the future. With her senior level and training drawing closer and closer to its completion, the final chapter of her life as a student would conclude, and the new chapter as a person with purpose would soon begin.

Well, after she finished her homework first.

After she completed her studies and graduated, she predictably went to college. Why not? She enjoyed reading and writing so much that Akira decided to make it a professional thing. After all, as a Romanov she didn't need to worry about money. Even with all the chaos and mayhem that had transpired. Her father's business was slowly starting to go down the tube with the crisis of 2011, but it was whatever to her. She could write in her leisure and not have to worry about dealing with the drama and proprieties that her father and the rest of his group thrust upon her. Akito would take the reins as head of the company after he acquired it from their father.

College was a breeze and she completed her work as necessary, graduating from school a full two years early and heading straight into grad school. Part of her wanted to beat herself over the head repeatedly for not having pushed herself harder in high school so she could graduate early, but that was neither here nor there. What mattered was that she was doing something about it now.

Perhaps it was the indifferent attitude festering inside of her that first brought her abilities into manifestation. Perhaps it was her bibliophilia that brought it into fruition. Perhaps it was just a lot of pent up stress with being ignored combined with having her menstrual cycle and her no one being being there to explain what was happening. Akira could never pin-point the moment of when she could feel a change happening inside of her. But she would never forget the day she actually used her ability for the first time.

Akira needed to be around people so she could start engaging and growing used to being in a social atmosphere again, and on a regular basis. One of the people gathered at a reading circle took her manuscript and started to rip the pages out in front of her. Enraged by the sight of her hardwork being destroyed, she picked up one of the shredded pages and threw it at the girl, cutting her across the side of her neck. The thin line of blood trickled down the girl's neck, but Akira wasn't finished. What pages remained immediately were under her control and began giving papercuts to the girl resembling hair-thin lacerations all over her body. Akira was asked to be withdrawn from the reading circle post-haste.

Her father refused to acknowledge what he'd heard about his daughter. Surely she wasn't one of those "things." But as she continued to get closer and closer to her own rebellious nature, it was becoming painfully clear that not even Malcolm could hide what his daughter was. Not only was she not good enough to even stand in his first born son's shadow, but he had given birth to a "special" without even realizing it. Of course, Akito showed no signs of being of a similar heritage or showing any of these genetically enhanced abilities so clearly it was something in Akira's own failed genetic make-up. She'd pretty much given up even trying at this point. Why give a damn anymore? It was clear her father wasn't giving one.

Upon getting her master's Akira set off and moved back to LA, regardless of the state that it was in. After all, it was home. Though she didn't move back into her parents' home - despite both her brother and mother repeatedly asking - Akira thought it was best to live on her own since she was already so used to it. Besides, at least this way she could continue to practice and hone her abilities without having to have her mother and brother constantly worrying over her.

Regardless of all that, her family was in the middle of packing and moving to another city further up toward northern California where another part of her father's company had been established. That and she had been hearing all kinds of rumors about more and more people with special abilities coming out into the open. Some didn't like it, others didn't know how they felt about it, and the rest were trying to fight against those who didn't like that they had abilities in the first place.

Well, they could just go jump off a building for all Akira cared. So long as they weren't telling her that she couldn't live her life like she pleased, then she couldn't care one way or the other. Her own personal dealings were few and far between, but her liberties she wouldn't forfeit for anyone or anything. Her stand, as far as she was concerned, was neutral. However, if those liberties were ever threatened, Akira wouldn't hesitate to join forces with a stronger group so that she could gain those freedoms back. The question was simply this: Who could convince her to join their side, and who could do it better than the others?

It really was, and is, a question of time and effort on both sides.

Anything else?- Akira has a severe case of Astraphobia. If a storm is bad enough, she will seek shelter under something and be crying her eyes out.
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Sample RP-

Akira stretched her arms high above her head as she bobbed hr head back and forth, ear buds in her ears as a song played randomly from her mp3 player. She had been in a very R&B mood as of late and it pleased her to no end to listen to the wonderful Aaliyah sing her soul out through the electronic device. God rest her soul. She always thought she was far too pretty to die.

Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans, her Nikes lightly scuffing the ground, she browsed with her eyes all the different venues that Chinatown had to offer. This afternoon was going to be great and she looked forward to it with all the anticipation a child had when entering a candy store. Sure, there'd been a Chinatown in LA back home, but not all Chinatowns were the same. Her goal was to one day make it to Hong Kong and see all that China had to offer - visit a few kung-fu film sites as well as pray in a variety of different temples.

Akira wanted to see the world.

Biting her lower lip a bit, she gently fingered at her nose ring as her eyes caught the sight of a few assorted silk fans that were on sale. Surely her friend from her literature class would have enjoyed one of those items thoroughly. Maria had always been a fan of Asian items such as fans, hair ornaments, and various different kinds of pendants. She leaned over curiously, wondering if her classmate already had a few of these kinds of items from the last time they went shopping in Chinatown together in Los Angeles.

The song on her music player changed to a slower one and she smiled, reaching her slender fingers out to pick up a hair ornament that resembled an ivory, half moon comb. There was a pale pink and cream lotus painted on one side and cherry blossoms adorned the other part. On the outer edges of the comb, it flared out like leaves and were also painted a pale green. The vendor looked at him curiously and Akira smiled, nodding her head as she held the item up in her hands.

The vendor nodded and gave a number with his fingers and Akira pulled out the necessary amount and paid the man. When he was about to give her change back, Akira smiled and took the complimentary decorative box that the comb came in and shook her head. She considered the change as her way of paying for the box. Placing the box into her messenger bag, she pulled out a few coins and immediately migrated her way toward the nearest siopao vending station where the mochi-like items were there, begging to be paid for and eaten.

Akira paid for the dessert, holding the thin wax paper in hr hands and keeping the delicious treasure toward her face. Inhaling, she smiled and bit into the sweet bun happily. Food never tasted so good. It, indeed, was a lovely afternoon. The perfect day to take a stroll down the streets of Chinatown in New York. Surely nothing could go wrong.