Revision as of 08:08, 5 April 2010

Maehara Shinobu, Frying Pan-Wielding Cutie

Obligatory Introductory Fiction

“You are Maehara Shinobu. You do not belong to the world you currently live in. Your cuteness can crush walls and make Magical Girls rip their throats out in frustration. You shall soon be free, free to do whatever you want with your life……as long as you look cute while doing it, I couldn’t care less. The moment will come soon, but be patient. Wait for the one who loves you the most, the one you will love the most.”

‘………how will I know who he is?’

“………the next man you run away crying from……that’ll be him.”

That was how the little girl now known as Maehara Shinobu knew she had joined the ranks of the Exalted. A cute Spark of the Broodingly Handsome Sun. And, as she was told, she waited for the day she’d achieve the freedom she desired.

What little she knew was that she was in an underground refuge under the streets of Mauvewall. She had been taken from her home, a humble farm in the outskirts of Doom City (the closest a person can get from that place, as a matter of fact) and taken as a slave. She had overheard their destination was the Kawaii Isle, were she would be sold to the Houri Gang, an outcome that brought tears to her big eyes whenever she thought of it. Her fathers had educated her well, and she remembered that slavery was forbidden in Mauvewall, which explained why she and the other slaves-to-be were kept hidden underground.

She glanced at the other captives, composed of a vast majority of women. There were only women with her at the moment and, like her, they were all naked and soaking wet. Their captors, a group of nasty-looking stinky men who made their profits selling slaves to the Houris under the nose of the Empire’s strict regulation on slavery, at least had the decency to allow them to clean their bodies. She guessed it had something to do with making a better profit the better their captives looked.

Had she not been one of the captives, she would have acknowledged the audacity of the operation. The fact that those men managed to sneak almost thirty slaves in a city strongly opposed to slavery was a feat by itself. She could guess how they would sneak her and the others out. There were many underground currents near that city, and it was very likely some, if not all, of them lead to the larger rivers that lead to Hiveport and the Inner Sea. Yeah, that would work. Damn them for actually having some brains.

She sighed and waited for her turn. The room had a natural bathtub carved in the solid ground, which had been filled with cold water. They had to go in groups of five, and hers was next. It was her first time bathing in public, and she hoped it would be the last. Most of the women had resorted to women’s greatest weapon against boredom: female bonding. Shinobu had heard each and every single one of their stories as the women shared their anguish together and tried to keep themselves in good spirits despite their situation. Shinobu couldn’t be like those women. For starters, she was too shy, and being around so many people had been a torture to her. Despite, she knew there was no point in befriending them, as they would probably be separated as soon as they were sold.

Her hands moved by themselves, slowly rubbing against her fair, white skin. She couldn’t help but notice she was by far the youngest among them, which only added to her embarrassment. Her plain little body felt so bland in front of their developed, feminine curves………again, she cursed the slavers for having such good taste. But, if they had such good taste, why did they take her?

‘I guess they even want to please the Lolicons………’

The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

“Kyaahh!!!!” The glass-shattering shriek of a girl to her left startled the little Shinobu. She looked at the source of the voice and gasped.

A man!

A man she had never seen before stood in the middle of the tub. How had he made it there unnoticed? The women who had screamed sat on the floor of the tub to the right of the standing male figure. She was too terrified to even bother covering her privates. Shinobu, too, was starting to feel a bit scared. But that was because the man was practically devouring her with his eyes.

He looked rather young (twenty, maybe?), with short black hair and round brown eyes behind some rather fancy glasses. He looked like some sort of adventurer/explorer, with the boots and the outfit and the huge backpack he carried with him. There was a thing she had never seen before clasped to his belt, and he had the most impressive staff she had ever seen……which isn’t much, given that her definition of staff wasn’t more than a large wooden stick.

And he was still looking at her. Then, he moved. Step by step, he closed the distance between them. He clasped his right hand on her left shoulder and, displaying strength impossible to his muscle-lacking body, he lifted as if she were the lightest feather. She knew she was tiny and light and all, but that man was not normal!

With their faces a foot apart, the man continued studying her. It was as if he were trying to memorize every single one of her features. She was starting to blush when the young man finally spoke.

“………Shinobu-chan?”

Shinobu’s eyes widened. Nobody knew that name.

“Who’s there!?” Shouting and threatening, half a dozen men burst inside the room. The women soon replied with shrieks and screams, pointlessly trying to cover their naked bodies from their captors. It was then when Shinobu realized she was still naked.

“Nooooo!!!” Shinobu ran away from the man, pouring her eyes out, her face flushing red in utter embarrassment.

“Shinobu-chan, wait!”

“Stop right there!” The six men drew their long curved scimitars and approached the intruder, who was forced to cease his intention of trying calm Shinobu down.

The naked little girl was running to a corner of the room when she tripped and fell. She would have broken her nose had she not been a Bishoujo.

“………the next man you run away crying from……that’ll be him.”

As realization dawned upon her troubled mind, she turned to look at the man, who was slowly being circled by the six thugs. If he was troubled by the obvious disadvantage, he didn’t show it on his face.

Suddenly, he kicked the water that soaked his boots, distracting the six slavers long enough to duck and thrust his staff between the legs of one of them. With a quick twist, the man was tripped. He then performed an amazing jump over the offenders with the intention to land between the frightened women and the slavers. He had the back luck of landing on a bar of soap, which caused him to slip and slide until he landed on a corner of the room, his face buried on a particularly large bosom.

“KyaaaaaaHHHHH!!!!” More cries ensued, as the man that was to become their savior was beaten to a pulp by the offended female and those close to her. Shinobu merely blinked, astonished.

The five men waited for their fallen partner to stand up. The women ceased their assault towards the i<i>ntruder the moment they saw the men’s blades pointing at them. The women froze, allowing the intruder to stand up.

He looked as if he hadn’t been touched!

Shinobu couldn’t believe her eyes. He had just received the beating of a lifetime! What in the name of the Broodingly Handsome Sun was that man? She knew Exalted were powerful, but she was certain that beating would have hurt her. A lot. Was this man really an Exalt? Or was he among the ranks of the undead?

It seemed the six slavers had followed her same trail of thought, as they now looked at the man as if they were looking at one of the Abominable Snowmen.

“What are you?” One of them asked. Shinobu silently praised the thug’s inquiry.

The intruder merely chuckled. “Oh, pu-lease. I thought the big, shiny staff was enough of a clue. Seems like I was mistaken.”

The man made an arc backwards with his right hand, leveling the staff at waist-level behind his body. He was obviously preparing his attack, and Shinobu found herself eager to see what would happen next.

Someone suddenly grabbed her hair and pulled, and she cried in response. The man immediately turned, only to freeze at the sight of a seventh, an eighth and a ninth thug, the last one holding Shinobu in front of his body, a long dagger dangerously close to her white neck.

“Shinobu-chan!”

The man who held her smirked. “Oh……Shinobu-chan, is it? Seems like I hit the jackpot.”

The intruder’s eyes widened, as he became aware of the fact that he had just revealed he was there for her.

“Move and your girl dies.”

‘His girl!?’ Shinobu thought while blood rushed to her cheeks. If the man was troubled by the new, dangerous situation he was in, he didn’t show it at all. He lowered his guard and stood calmly, his staff firmly held by his right.

“You know, this isn’t the first time we’re in this kind of situation, Shinobu-chan.” The man said calmly. “The first time you were held hostage by a Second Cliqué Demon. That was pretty scary, but we got out just fine. The second time………”

His calm expression was covered by a mask of sadness for a split second. “…………I’d rather not remember the second one. In any case, do not worry. We’re getting out of here.”

While his voice seemed confident, the fact that he was surrounded by nine strong-looking thugs armed with sharp blades and he was just a scrawny four eyes with a fancy metal stick wasn’t very reassuring. But that man was sent to her by the Broodingly Handsome Sun, so she trusted.

“Kanako! Setup! Shinmeiryu Hunter Mode!”

The nine men were startled by the intruder’s words. The name ‘Kanako’ made them believe he had backup. The moment they wasted looking for a second intruder was all he needed.

“Ready, Set-up. Shinmeiryu Hunter Mode. Cartridge Reload.” An unemotional female voice announced. It seemed to come from nowhere at all, but Shinobu could tell: the staff was talking!

Suddenly, the man’s weapon underwent an amazing transformation. The golden ring on the top broke in two parts which fell to the sides like two wide U’s. The immense red sphere that had been surrounded by the golden ring glowed for a moment, and clouds of what Shinobu could only describe as diminutive stars and nebulae gathered around it as they took an elongated shape. A blade.

Shinobu was so amazed by the sight that she barely noticed that golden cylinder under the red orb move slightly down and then back up, while a tiny golden cylinder fell on the ground with an obvious metallic tinkling sound.

While the staff changed its shape, the man bent his knees and clutched his weapon with both hands, while his eyes focused not on Shinobu, but on the man behind her. The thug noticed the intruder’s movement and moved his left hand, ready to slash Shinobu’s throat open. The little girl saw her deceased family wave hello to her from a metaphysical distance, and she saw the God of Death slowly approach her.

“Zanmaken ni no tachi!” The man shouted as he made a mighty swipe with his energy blade-staff. Shinobu closed her eyes at the sight of an immense shockwave of energy that was sure to be her doom. However, she felt nothing but a powerful wind buffeting her. She heard the screams of men and women alike, as the little underground cave had become pandemonium.

She gasped and shrieked when she felt a hand on her left shoulder.

“You can open your eyes now, Shinobu-chan.”

She did as told and was welcomed by the man’s warm smile. She looked around to see the nine men utterly knocked out. The women were unharmed, and they were as shocked and surprised as her, if not more.

“Are they dead?” Shinobu asked, referring to the slavers. The man sweatdropped as he chuckled nervously. “Gee, I hope not!”

She then looked at the staff, which had returned to its original shape.

“How……how did you do that?”

“What?”

“That……thing……with the staff……and the staff spoke and……and you attacked me, but……”

The man slid his left hand down her hair and the girl immediately blushed in response.

“That’s a long story. Maybe after we get out of this place, ok?”

Shinobu smiled brightly. She was free! “Yes!”

The man walked past her, towards the entrance. She was about to follow him when she felt movement right out of her range of sight.

“Just you wait……” A male voice weakly muttered.

She didn’t know why she did. She just acted. She quickly turned to face the only conscious slaver remaining and slapped his left cheek as hard as she could……which happened to be pretty hard. She could actually feel his jaw breaking and his face being deformed by the sheer force of her slap.

The poor man landed a good five yards away, and Shinobu blinked. When she turned to face her savior, he was smiling, amused. The women were just freaked out.

“Yep, you’re definitely my Shinobu-chan.”

Shinobu blinked twice and walked next to the taller man. She guessed the women would follow them……eventually………from a safe distance.

“What’s your name, mister?”

“Urashima Keitaro. Keitaro will do.”

“Yes, Keitaro-sempai! I’m-“

“Maehara Shinobu. Believe me, I know who you are. I’ve known you longer than you could possibly imagine.”

The girl looked up at the cave’s ceiling. Maehara Shinobu………she had to admit she liked the name. Yeah, she’d get used to it.

“Maehara Shinobu……” she muttered. Keitaro stopped and looked at her.

“Naked Maehara Shinobu, to be precise.”

Only then did the little girl realize she was STILL naked.

“NOOOOOOO!!!!!!” She cried at the top of her lungs as she ran as fast as her thin legs allowed her to.

“Shinobu-chan!!!!” Keitaro groaned as he proceeded to follow the girl. He’d have to get used to scenes like these……again.

Attributes

• Physical: Secondary
  • Strength: 2
  • Dexterity: 5
  • Stamina: 2
• Mental: Primary
  • Perception: 4
  • Intelligence: 4
  • Wits: 3
• Social: Tertiary
  • Charisma: 2
  • Manipulation: 1
  • Appearance: 4

Abilities

(Bold are Favored)

Amazon:

• Archery:
• Brawl: 4 (Frying Pans +3)
• Martial Arts:
• Melee:
• Thrown:

Idol:

• Endurance: 1
• Performance:
• Presence:
• Resistance: 1
• Survival: 1

Spark: All are Caste Abilities

• Crafts: 3 (Housework +3)
• Investigation:
• Lore: 2
• Medicine: 4
• Occult:

Kunoichi:

• Athletics: 2
• Awareness: 1
• Dodge: 4
• Larceny:
• Stealth:

Miko:

• Bureaucracy: 1
• Linguistics:
• Ride:
• Sail: 1
• Socialize: 3

Backgrounds:

• Allies (Kaolla) 1
• Artifact 2 (check the Artifacts section)
• Contacts 1 (the girls who were freed with her have started new lives all over the world and aid her however they can)
• Mentor 3 (well, duh!)

Charms and other powers:

Anima Power: Glint In the Eye - Shinobu smiles and adjusts her glasses (which come out of nowhere –probably Mallet Space–, since actually doesn’t wear glasses), making light glint off them in an impressive manner. By spending five Moe she convinces everyone within eyeshot that she has a brilliant plan and knows exactly what's going on. Opponents will simply assume their plans have been discovered and act appropriately. This does not give Shinobu any actual insight into the plans that were being made. This effect may be resisted by those with Moe higher then Shinobu by spending a Willpower point.

Brawl

• Graceful Bishoujo Brawl
• Right Hook
• Haymaker
• Roshambo

Medicine

• Graceful Bishoujo Medicine
• Alleviation of Agony Method
• Bed Rest with Beautiful Chicken Soup Technique (which Shinobu has changed into ‘Bed Rest with Lovely Bedtime Stories Technique’)

Athletics

• Graceful Bishoujo Athletics
• Burst of Speed

Dodge

• Graceful Bishoujo Dodge
• Instinctual Avoidance

Combo: Dance of the Iron Chef (Right Hook, Haymaker, Roshambo, Instinctual Avoidance – 1 WP + 3 m + 2 m per counter + 2 m per dodge attempt): When Shinobu invokes this Combo, her frying pan glows with the righteous fury of the Broodingly Handsome Sun, wrapping her in a golden veil of Moe that follows her every movement and empowers her attack. Her following attack doubles her extra successes before adding them to her base damage, which is increased by her Brawl + Moe (currently 6). In addition, she may make a reflexive Dodge roll to evade any attack she is aware of for the remainder of the turn by expending 2 motes. If she spends 2 more motes, she may also make a counterattack with her full Brawl dice pool.

Nature, Moe, Willpower, and Virtues

Nature: Caregiver – Shinobu is naturally kind and caring. She lives to help others, as she has done so since she has conscience. Her rescue from a life of slavery by Keitaro only made her more aware of the need to be kind to others. She gains Willpower whenever she receives tangible proof that she has helped another.

• Permanent Moe: 2
  • Personal: 12
  • Peripheral: 30 (7 motes committed)

Willpower: 6

Virtues

• Compassion 4
• Temperance 2
• Conviction 2
• Valor 2

Virtue Flaw: Transparency of Futility: Shinobu aches and gains a point of limit when her lack of talent, beauty, cuteness or ability causes trouble to others. When she Limit Breaks, she runs away from everything to cry to her heart's content.

Possessions

Equipment:

• Cooking Utensils
• Diary and Pencils
• Glasses (used for the sole purpose of her Anima Power)
• Lots of cutesy underwear

Artifacts

• Orichalcum Frying Pan (Spd +4 Acc +2 Dmg +3L Def +2 – Commitment 5 motes)
• Orichalcum Breastplate (8L/6B soak, no mobility penalty or fatigue – Commitment 2 motes)

Miscellaneous

• Lethal Soak: 1 (9 with Orichalcum Breastplate)
• Bashing Soak: 2 (8 with Orichalcum Breastplate)
• Dodge: 9 dice
• Fatigue: 0
• Mobility Penalty: 0
• Attacks:
  • Orichalcum Frying Pan: Spd 12 Acc 14 Dmg +5L Def 14L
  • Punch: Spd 8 Acc 12 Dmg +2B Def 12
  • Kick: Spd 5 Acc 11 Dmg +4B Def 11

• Health:
  • 1 -0
  • 2 -1
  • 2 -2
  • 1 -4
  • Incap.

Appearance

Shinobu is a petite thirteen-year-old girl, barely 4’10’’ tall (147 cm), with short black hair and big, round, blue puppy dog eyes. Her tiny body does not seem fit for physical activity, as is the case with many Exalted females. She has thin, ever-smiling lips and clear, fair skin that, according to Keitaro, is “nice and soft to the touch”……we have to make sure she never reads this.

She favors loose one-piece knee-length dresses or t-shirts and tight pants when she’s outdoors.

For those who actually care, her body measures are 27-21-28 (68-52-72).

Fetishes

Her Moe 2 fetish is her Spark status.

Personality:

Shinobu is among the tiniest and cutest Exalts ever. She’s particularly unsure of herself, surprisingly submissive and stirringly loving and compassionate. She’s not a leader, she’s a natural follower. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: she greatly and thoroughly enjoys aiding others and making other people’s lives better. That’s what she has chosen to do with the powers given to her by the Broodingly Handsome Sun. And, yes, she looks really cute while doing it.

She was the first among the “current generation” to reunite with Keitaro. They spent quite a while just the two of them. As a result, she fell in love with him in record time, compared with her previous incarnations. She deeply admires and loves her mentor (no matter how many times and how strongly she tries to deny it), even if his beyond-Exalted-level resilience scares her a little. On the other side, Shinobu is quite impressionable; hence pretty much everything Keitaro does is incredibly cool in her eyes, even those things that aren’t really that cool.

As for her other partners, she greatly admires Naru, Motoko and Mutsumi (and secretly envies them, hoping she’ll grow as beautiful as them). She likes Kitsune a lot, even if she doesn’t agree with Kitsune’s philosophy of life. Kaolla is her best friend, given that they’re of similar age. Unfortunately, being Kaolla’s best friend means becoming the unwilling tester of Kaolla’s bizarre inventions (a fate she shares with Keitaro).

History:

Shinobu (more precisely, the girl that came to be known as Shinobu) was the only girl of an ordinary couple of farmers. A marriage born of convenience that eventually developed into true love, Shinobu’s parents, migrated to the far north, stopping when the wilderness became too dangerous for them. They took advantage of the cold mountainous terrain to grow diverse crops with which to make a decent living: strawberries, coffee and tomatoes, among others.

Shinobu was born and grew in a stable family, if rather lonely, being incredibly far from civilization and everything. Being an only child, she was pampered by her parents, who loved her as the greatest blessing of their lonely lives. They didn’t neglect her education, which was, of course, a good thing. Both were very cultured, and were capable of giving their daughter a decent education supported by love no school could have given her. As she learned about the distant world she only knew from what few books her parents had and their stories, she also grew quite fond of doing housework (there was little else to do, anyway).

Living so far from a human settlement has its risks, of course. In a day like any other, their farm was burned to cinders by a band of thugs. Shinobu’s parents were killed and she was taken to be sold as a slave. The only reason she wasn’t touched by the slavers was because the Houris pay more for virgins. She was resigned to a life of misery in the world outside the little piece of Heaven she called home, until she was rescued by Urashima Keitaro.

Thanks to Keitaro she has understood the meaning of Exaltation. The Anti-Bishonen has shared his history with her previous incarnations and has offered her his wisdom, company and affection, three gifts Shinobu has accepted more than gladly. He taught her how to wield her powers, as he has done many times before. He still keeps Shinobu’s signature weapon, the Solar Wok, as well as her original ancestor’s other artifacts, to himself. He’s waiting for Shinobu to gain more power before he gives her what is rightfully hers.

Storyteller's Notes:

Find Keitaro and you’ll find Shinobu. It’s almost impossible to keep her away from her sempai. The sheer thought of traveling by herself makes her shiver in nervousness. She has traveled in the company of some of her female companions, but the results haven’t been very encouraging, hence she prefers to stay very close to Keitaro.

Comments

Shinobu done! Next's Kitsune!! --Wings

Does the Orichalcum Frying Pan help cooking any or does it just beat people down? -- JohnBiles

Actually, she uses it more for cooking than to beat people down. Being made of Orichalcum, her food always tastes like glory. In fact, some say she can even cook up Hearthstones with that thing! -- Wings