Kiku Honda

Name: Kiku Honda

Age: 20

Year: 3rd year, staying in the East Dorm

Appearance:


Classes/Major:
Kiku is a double major, though he also takes general classes. His goal is not necessarily to leave World Academy with only the classes for his majors under his belt. He wishes to be as well-rounded as possible, even if several of the courses are a strain on his GPA (which remains perfect).

Majors: Art and Digital Design

Classes:

• English Language, Literature, and Composition
• Advanced Digital Design
• Advanced Drawing
• World History
• Studio
• Honors 2D Design
• Advanced Digital Coding
• Calculus

Extracurricular Activities:

Kiku participates in several extracurricular activities:

• Student Council Treasurer
• Manga Club President [1]
• Tutor [2]
• Gamers' Guild (member)
• Book Club (member)
• Drama Club (member)
• Culture Club (member)
• Model for the Photography and Art classes
• BLA [3]

He will also, depending on the time of year, help with the preparation for school functions and events, such as festivals.

Sexuality:

Kiku hasn't given his sexuality much thought, since his primary goal is his studies. However, his art and interests seem to suggest that he is either gay or bisexual. If asked, he will simply say that he is simply an open-minded individual, but there's a fine line between acceptance and the very detailed drawings he provides for the BLA's secret publications (and those in his own sketchbooks). Still, he's more comfortable skirting around the personal matter, especially since he must often ask for others to model for him...or to model for others. He would rather there not be awkwardness between them due to something entirely unrelated to his passions and classwork.

Still, with an imagination like his, it's highly tempting to at least hazard a guess as to his orientation.

Personality:

Raised in an orphanage, Kiku's natural tendency in a given situation is to say or do the thing that will least likely start trouble. The bullying still shows itself as affecting him, despite being in his past and more words than anything else. If confronted with an overly loud or zealous personality, he will instinctively withdraw from that person, or make excuses to leave. He subconsciously associates those types of personalities with people that are braggarts, liars, or people that expect something from him. Though he has become significantly better at figuring out the difference, he will often revert to retreat, unconsciously trying not to be seen as someone that can be taken advantage of or used.

He refuses to allow anyone to pin the blame on him, but he is perfectly willing to take responsibility for his own actions. If he is wrong, he will apologize and try to amend what caused the situation to go wrong (if it can be amended). He will happily take on responsibility, and has taken on many of the positions that often are not wanted by others (because they don't give enough recognition or because they are boring), simply because the tasks need done and he is capable of doing them. Still, that does not mean he does join things for enjoyment. He finds himself more capable of enjoying something by being part of it, like he did with the owner of the orphanage and the paperwork.

He dislikes loud parties, preferring solitude on the weekends to focus on his studies. He will stay up and complete a project, even if he would do far better with sleep for his activities later on. He has become a perfectionist, which stems from his need to see whatever he is working on succeed. Generally, he keeps to himself, and tries to do whatever will cause the least amount of trouble to others...even if that is not necessarily what is best for him.

He is not interested in anyone, and he often must apologize to his friends for his actions. He is still rather 'new' to having true friends, and he senses that being held at arms' length hurts their feelings (He doesn't necessarily realize, though, that they are obviously willing to put up with him since they are still around), but he will admit often he is glad for their presence in his academic life. Their concern is something he is not familiar with, but his ability to better sense people's intentions touches him, even if he rarely admits it aloud.

He no longer tries to be manipulative, though occasionally his actions might be seen as attention-seeking or his connections a means to an end. If he is bothered enough he will not hesitate to come across as 'quirky' or 'strange', just to make the person leave. However, beneath it all he does care about people, especially his friends, even if he does not show affection the way they do. And though he might come across as uncaring to others who are not his friends, he does what he can to help, even if it as a cost to his own health or wellness. (However, he has yet to get truly sick...just to be fairly tired-looking).

Background:

When he was no older than five, Kiku Honda's parents both disappeared from his life. The young Japanese boy found himself in an orphanage for abandoned children, and found even more that he hated his life there. His relationship with the other children was...non-existent, or at the most, he tolerated their presence in his life with neither joy nor disdain. Preferring solitude to the raucous play of his peers, he also found himself the target of bullying. However, outright physical violence was not tolerated at the orphanage, and so his peers resorted to more...subtle forms of torment.

At the age of seven, Kiku learned to be manipulative. He learned how to threaten with his gaze and presence alone, as well as when to bow his head and comply while inwardly planning revenge. The other children ceased to bother him, moreso because they were terrified of him than because they wanted to give up having someone else to belittle. Kiku never carried through on any of his threats--most would have taken resources unavailable to a child--but he did begin to see himself as more of an imaginative intellectual than a timid loner child. He saw keeping or ridding himself of people as a means to an end rather than as the foundations for building healthy relationships.

When he turned nine years old, a boy came to stay at the orphanage. Kiku found he admired him, though expressing himself in an 'appropriate' manner was nearly impossible after so many years of being repressed and then manipulative. But in spite of Kiku's rough and sometimes silent nature, Kiku found that the boy seemed to like him back. The boy never spoke ill of him, often spending time--sometimes too much--with him, reading or drawing. He began to lose his edge, opening up to the boy and learning what having a true friend was like...though he did not know it at the time.

A year later, the orphanage changed ownership. The new owner was a man that loved all of his children, and spent as equal an amount of time with them as possible. However, he seemed to favor Kiku's presence, probably because he was more helpful than disruptive. Kiku found he enjoyed helping to organize paperwork, bookshelves...anything that needed to be analyzed, Kiku could do it easily and quickly. His childhood friend helped him, but found the tasks generally boring. Still, it surprised Kiku whenever his friend tagged along, just to help with 'boring paperwork'.

It took him a few months, but Kiku realized his friend held the new owner in high esteem. In return, the owner returned his friend's rather affectionate advances with pats on the head or various expressions he used only in his presence. Kiku began to feel jealousy towards his peer, especially when his work was more often praised, though poorly done. Still the manipulative child, Kiku began to plot how to make the owner see him as the better of the two. However, his slight maturity brought with it a new way of showing superiority--intellect.

Kiku studied hard, secluding himself from all of the children (who still left him alone). His marks in the few classes he was offered had always been top notch, but were even more noticeably phenomenal. After several years, Kiku applied to attend a government-funded school, and was accepted. He lived in the orphanage, but attended school during the week. His school days were uneventful; the children there were far kinder than the orphans, or else left him alone. His time away from school proved to be painful though. The owner was proud of him, but his absences allowed his peer to spend more time with the owner, taking on the tasks he left behind. Determined more than ever to prove himself, Kiku's scores (and studying) increased.

World Academy contacted the owner of the orphanage and invited Kiku to attend the school on full scholarship. Kiku, feeling tired of his jealousy and of his peers' immaturity, accepted the scholarship and left the orphanage behind. He vowed never to return to it, and to start a new life over at the Academy. He promised himself he would cease befriending people for purpose alone, and to try to build meaningful relationships. Unfortunately, schools are schools, and he found he could not so easily leave the problems of his rearing and of the orphanage behind.

His first two years marked him as a hard worker, and he quickly rose in rank to take the position of Treasurer in Student Council, president of a few clubs and activities, and to gain membership in a few other organizations. He still maintained top marks in his subjects, and even managed to make a few people he could call friends. He never contacted the orphanage, wanting to completely leave his past behind him. However, some of his classmates look strikingly similar to the children, and he often finds himself slipping into old habits if one of those look-alikes comes near him.

Currently, Kiku is a 3rd year. He is seen as a quiet loner, always immersed in his work and only social with the few people he trusts enough to keep at (several) arms length (since he's not willing to risk becoming jealous, or hurt). He often calls on his ability to simply speak when necessary, but prefers to keep to himself if it isn't strictly business. His course load gives him little time for anything else, and the rest of the time he spends reading or playing video games.

NOTES:

[1] (Since we don't necessarily have a Feli and a Ludwig, and since the players may not necessarily want to run the club too, I did not want to use the canon 'they are all in this club' thing. However, if they do join and wish to be founders/presidents of the club too, they can add it to their profiles and I'll edit this later)

[2] His list of classes follow:
- Chemistry
- Japanese (language, writing, etc.)
- Drawing and Art (not so much tutoring as helping, modeling when necessary)
- Eastern World History

He will always help those who ask him, though he will claim he is not qualified and try to suggest someone else that is (he does eventually relent though and will help with anything he can, especially if it is someone he knows).

[3] BLA, or Boys' Love Alliance, is an unofficial club on campus. They have no regular meeting times, but they do have a meeting place. Their objective is to document (read: record, photograph, write, etc.) and all around show appreciation for the art of boys and the way they can 'love' each other. It's not a club that Student Council approves of, and so they keep their activities as secret as possible.

They turn out an underground manga series each week, where Kiku is the main artist (under a pen name).

((Might alter the personality section a bit as I play with him more, but generally it's set this way ^^))