⚚ ooc; re-application, zodion.

[meddlesomely]

✖ PLAYER:
Name & LJ: COCO; tokitatsu
Birthdate & Age: 19; September 2, 1992
Characters played in Zodion: N/A

✖ CHARACTER:
Name: Hirato
Canon: Karneval
PB/Image: such a dandy guy.
Info links: wikipedia
Canon Point: Chapter 30

Gender: Male
Age: 27
Birthdate/Sign: October 22 || Libra (CANON)
Tattoo: image; three inches in diameter, between his shoulder blades.
Suitability: N/A

Power:

Last time Hirato was in Zodion, he kept Vakuum, that power that lets him cut through a lot of things (LIKE TRAIN CARS) with ease. I'd like for him to keep it this time around too. He did stick to a regular worship schedule, but he never did it more often than he actually had to (two or three times a month at most, when events were involved). He also fulfilled the requirements for his birthday card with Grell (though this was handwaved).

So what I'm wondering is, will these boosts be intact upon his return or not? I'm fine with any outcome, honestly. I just didn't want to jump ahead and assume things.

If, for some reason, keeping Vakuum is not okay, I can just have him keep something else, like his super strength/speed or ability to fly.

Personality:

They say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, and Hirato is a walking example of why this clichéd statement still holds so very true. On the surface, he’s a very polite, suave and worldly gentleman; well-spoken, intelligent and sharply dressed with an ever-present smile on his face and an air of intriguing mystery to him. In actuality, he hides his true colors behind this act and beneath all the insufferable politeness and smiling lies something far darker, someone far more twisted and sadistic than anyone could ever guess at first glance.

It’s easy to get the feeling that he knows a million things you don’t when speaking to him. He flaunts this too, but still remains incredibly polite, reserved, even, while he cheerfully drops casual hints that he knows all about you and your little schemes. A good example is shown early in the manga when he first introduces himself to the main characters; Hirato will slowly hand you the pieces of the puzzle, then watch with no small amount of amusement as you put everything together.

Hirato is a very controlling and meddlesome person. He constantly sticks his nose in other people’s business because he likes being in control and one might even come to the conclusion that he has a need for control, a need to understand his surroundings, to possess information about the people around him and the situation at hand. To him, it's important to have control over other people, to have control over their emotions and their lives, as his subordinates in particular get to experience firsthand. He likes to know exactly what step to take after the first one; to always have what he needs to be at least one step ahead of everyone else.

While he shamelessly sticks his nose where it quite frankly doesn’t belong, for the sake of gathering information about others, he is ridiculously careful with revealing any personal information about himself and cleverly (or less cleverly at times) avoids directly answering any questions about his inner thoughts and feelings. In fact, it seems like he even goes out of his way at times to knowingly contradict himself just so he can be sure nobody actually has him figured out.

When even the slightest bit of control is taken away from him, he reacts with apathy and curtness. Perhaps this is just his personal odd brand of defensiveness. The best example of this part of him that comes to mind would the various meetings with his superiors at The Round Table of Z.

Early in the manga, he quite cheerfully presents the boys with the illusion of a choice regarding whether they want to agree "helping" Circus by agreeing to stay on the ship. Certainly, Hirato presents it as a choice, however, he takes care to make it clear that he's helped the two out (by successfully proving their innocence concerning either the murder of Lady Mine in chapter one or the murder of the security force officer in chapter two thanks to an investigation he requested, but it's somewhat unclear which murder he is referring to in this particular instance even if the following dialogue suggests that it is Lady Mine's) before he bothers to tell them that they're free to disagree to his terms if they wish. He then mentions that agreeing to help will apparently "surely lead them to find a clue to what they seek"; presumably to tempt them and sway them to agree out of their own free will...

He then proceeds to tell them that they don't actually have any choice and that he's going to have them stay on the ship for the time being anyway. While he does claim that it's for their safety, and odds are that it actually is, it quickly becomes clear as the story progresses that he has an taken an interest in them both because of the skills and abilities they displayed during the train hijacking where he first met them.

So what was the point of making it seem like they had a choice?

For all we know, it was all just for his amusement.

Hirato is also incredibly self-centered and indifferent to the plight of others at times; he makes no real attempts to hide any of that around his coworkers and those who stay on his ship. In fact, they’re most often the ones who get a taste of it firsthand. As such, they see him as a very cruel, tactical per son and they often get suspicious whenever he does something generous, assuming he’s up to no good. While he does seem to care for them at least a little, he has no problems whatsoever with putting them in danger, making them go through painful experiences and just plain using them as marionettes via clever manipulation to get exactly what he wants.

Even if he does care about them, he certainly makes no big attempts to show it, often treating his crew with indifference. That said, it might just be that he has his own odd little way of caring, and that he shows it in his own way. Little things like checking up on them under the guise of making sure a mission is going as planned, making sure they get an opportunity to have fun while working, and taking on the more difficult missions on his own. The dirty tasks and such.

In conclusion, Hirato is a very complex character - he's complicated, mysterious and seems to have a million things going on in his head all at once. His goals and ambitions aren't clear and he's far from easy to understand.

Contradictions upon contradictions – that’s him in a nutshell.

✖ SAMPLES:
"Zodion" First-Person Network Entry:

[ the video feed comes to focus on a hand writing down something on a paper with admirable swiftness. it almost seems like an accidental broadcast at first, but the hand suddenly stops, dropping the pen and picking up the device.

a familiar face appears on the screen. messy dark hair, equally dark eyes with the slightest twinkle of otherworldly amusement within them, and a superficially fond smile. almost like something one would greet an old friend with, if it seemed just a tad more genuine.

when did he return? who knows. perhaps it was a week ago, perhaps he’s only been here for a couple of hours. either way, it seems he’s already buried himself in paperwork that likely only he understands.

with stacks of papers everywhere, his living room barely even resembles a living room anymore. It might not be how most people would like it, but he’s always been the type to place himself right in the middle of some peculiar sort of ordered chaos when he works. the second ship was testament to that back home, and in zodion, its role has been claimed by his apartment, it seems.

Finally, he speaks. ] It seems that we meet again, Zodion.

[ and suddenly he sets the device down on a nearby paper stack, once more focusing on his paper and its secrets. maybe, just maybe, his smile seems to become a little brighter. ] I trust you’ve all been well? After all, now is a time for cheer, with the holidays just around the corner… A joyous time of year.

[ not that he intends to take active part in the celebrations, mind you. ]

If it’s not too forward a thing to ask, I would very much like to hear how you intend to celebrate.

"Zodionlogs" Third-Person Prose Entry:

The same place as last time.

Hirato had no memento of his previous unwilling visit, other than what suddenly lay in his catalogue of memories and what had engraved itself into the nerves, the tissues of his body. Though all that had been… Somewhat hazy up until now. No. Very hazy. Nonexistent, one might say. Or had it? Had it remained with him, just outside his reach? Or had it never left this place at all, waiting for his return like a hungry beast eager for a meal?

Time works differently in this place.

But why now, of all times. Why right now that their search for Karoku had finally gotten somewhere?

Thinly pressed lips turned down in something like a scowl, brows pressing together over sharpened, coldly angry eyes, behind which his mind already worked at a breakneck pace. There were so many unanswered questions. Why had he been sent home in the first place? Why was he back here? Likely, however, his captors would remain every bit as silent as last time. Perhaps even more so now.

He knew what awaited him, and he swiftly made his way over to the familiar pool of water. Just as he remembered, the watery, reflective prison rose to encase him, and the stinging sensation between his shoulder blades was exactly the same. Bizarrely enough, locating his tattoo once more (how had it vanished when he was sent home) almost felt like going through some kind of routine.

His prison fell, and he turned his attention to the altar.

But this time, Hirato already knew what waited for him on that altar. A communication device. A letter, perhaps. Would it be identical, or would it actually say something new this time?

Only one way to find out.

No time to waste. What if the others were here again as well?

He certainly hoped they weren’t, though judging by how his luck had taken a turn for the worse in this place, it would be unlikely that they had been left alone.