Kousuke Nanohara

[Kousuke Nanohara]

The Basics

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Name: Kousuke Nanohara

Nicknames: Kou, K, Panic_K, nanobytezz

Age: 17

Orientation: Irrelevant, as far as he's concerned.

Desired Rank/Job: Student.

Powers: Technopathy. Kousuke can understand the capabilities and manipulate any device with a computer chip by interpreting its raw data and coding. There are some requirements for this to work: Firstly, the device must be powered. He also must be in contact with a physical interface like a keypad or a joystick. This can work by proxy if the target device is over some kind of network he can access.

His meta-ability is only a medium he uses. He still must have the knowledge of whatever coding language is at work; if he doesn't already, he must decipher it. Depending on the complexity, that takes time and maybe some trial and error. In addition to his experience and natural "knack" for coding, he often reads up on the latest in programming, networking, electronic security and even general Internet culture to keep in the best shape he can.

A hacking job can take a great deal of mental focus and energy. Kousuke usually powers himself on ridiculous amounts of caffeine (or other, more dubious methods) and sleeps up when he prepares to do something "big". Long jobs often trigger headaches, disorientation, and extreme mental fatigue. In extreme cases, he needs to sleep for a day to recover completely.

Play By: Shunsuke Daito

The Details

Hair Color: Dark brown or black, depending on how much sun he's getting.

Eye Color: Dark brown.

Any Piercings? No.

Any Tattoos? No.

Any Scars? Some scars on his hands and arms from mechanical work.

General Appearance: Between his terrible diet and genetic makeup, it's a bit hard to believe that Kousuke stands at six feet tall. Moreover, for a complete geek, he's also surprisingly toned and rather fit... though you couldn't tell, as he hides it under all that clothing. He tends to exercise as it's a hobby that involves little mental effort. When not hounded on, he tends not to style his hair and neglects cutting it.

Kousuke is not the most expressive person. He usually looks pensive, eyes intense, thinking about something. He does sport a repertoire of smirks and sneers; a genuine smile from the guy is rare indeed. He also tends to twitch, due to constantly being on some stimulant. Once every few months he goes through a detox period to "reset" his caffeine tolerance, during which is practically a zombie. He doesn't know if it's related to his ability or a completely different thing, but he's subject to sensory overload -- busy, loud environments overwhelm him, especially when he's preparing to use his ability.

His fashion sense is a mix of that offbeat Japanese flare and dork sensibilities: hoodies, flannels, snarky t-shirts, jeans and khakis, and a surprisingly nice pair of sneakers... usually layered, with a colorful quirkiness that's not common in the States. On special occasions, he can pull it together to look presentable and/or less "fobby". He wears glasses when he's reading or working.

Just as much as his clothes are his devices. You might joke that Kousuke's "plugged in", as he's constantly got so many things hanging off of him. A smartphone, a PDA, an mp3 player, and a netbook are usually found on his person at all times. When not used they're in a backpack, but they might also be found in a pocket, on a belt clip, or hanging from a holster on his neck. He often wears a pair of headphones on his head to deter people from bothering him, even if he's not listening to music at the moment.

Personality: Kousuke's not a "people-person", at least not in the normal sense. He won't talk to you if you don't talk to him, and is usually content without being noticed at all. He's somewhat awkward, but not really shy... he's just not interested in dealing with people all that much unless it's a means to an end. It's something you reason through, like everything else in life. Dealing with things on an emotional level is silly to him. Typically quiet and (visibly) level-headed, being continuously wound up on some stimulant or another means that he can be very excitable. He's smart, knows it, and acts like it he knows it, too.

'Cause he's just also a big kid. He comes from a privileged background which has him spoiled... and knows that too while he acts like a brat. He'll also do petty things like be that guy who'll IM you from the next room, or text you if he spots you across the street! Part of that is comfort level with technology and his asocial nature... but in the end he just doesn't like talking. He is proficient in both English and Japanese (and picked up a bit of a few languages along the way). But no matter the language, speaks with a bit of an accent, which he's self-conscious of. When he does talk, it's usually efficient responses or snappy, sarcastic quips. Codeswitching, needlessly big words and nerd and pop-culture references are a mainstay of his speech. He knows this makes him sound like a jerk, but he doesn't care.

But see, when you interact with Kousuke through a medium that's not face-to-face, he's a different person. He's talkative, funny, and even a nice guy. Kind of. His online personal is constructed around a "him" that's he's scared disinclined to share in real life -- a sensitive, painfully idealistic, very insecure guy. He wants people to like and respect him. The guy okay not being noticed in his corner of the room craves being the coolest guy in the chatroom. He can still be condescending and judgmental, but in the end he just wants to world to make sense, things to be right, and people to be happy. Those whole get close to him IRL might get a peak at this side every now and then, though knowing his depth is nigh impossible without reading his online journal and SNS accounts.

Kousuke's proud. The things he's good at, he's great at. Someone besting him at one of this things pisses him off like no other, and it'll drive him crazy if there's something he feels like he should be able to do and can't master it. And don't bug Kousuke while he's working. Don't bug Kousuke while he's working! There is no easier way to set off his temper, as focus is a very precious thing to him. He's always working on something, preparing himself to work on something, or recovering from the working. Even his hobbies are seen as tasks to accomplish.

The keeping himself busy is a coping mechanism, he knows. Caught between cultures, figuring out his identity, and constantly struggling with his ideals, he's always got a million things weighing on his mind. He can slip in to a dark place where a nihilist streak takes over. He'll get stuck on "reasoning" why nothing matters... out loud, even! Beware if you start to hear him talk like this, as it's not a pretty sight.

Your Vices

Likes:
• electronic devices
• video games
• books
• soda / coffee / energy drinks
• junk food
• fast food and sit-down joints
• codes and languages
• blogging
• jogging
• all kinds of music
• postmodernism

Dislikes:
• fruits and vegetables
• personal space violations
• being lied to
• emotive people
• loud noises, bright lights, etc.
• his concentration being broken
• when people that don't get his references
• being away from power sources and wireless bubbles
• conservatives
• "the system"

Strengths: Objectivity -- he'd like to think. Attention to detail. Reasoning and deciphering puzzles. Expressing himself through writing. Reading super-fast, even when not on a device. Fine motor skills. Table tennis.

Weaknesses: Talking, full-stop. Missing the forest for the trees. Being a stubborn little bugger. Dealing with "irrational" people and situations. Not being able to care about things he's not personally invested in. The "snooze" button. Spelling.

Fears: The mere thought of public speaking will make Kousuke break out in a cold sweat. For as much traveling as he's done, he still has huge issues with turbulance on plane flights. Because he knows how hard it is to really connect with people for any length of time -- even though it's probably the one thing he wants most -- he's scared of emotionally availability and people starting to like him.

Secret: There are some kids' and romance media that will get him misty-eyed every single time.

Family Ties

Father: Seiichi Nanohara, 47
Mother: Mayumi Nanohara, 43
Siblings: None.
Any Other Important People: Paternal grandparents Sugeo and Yukie Nanohara

History

Kousuke's parents were a young but very educated Japanese couple: a marketing agent and an independent journalist. Appropriately enough, Kousuke ended up being born in the outskirts of Silicon Valley, resulting in dual citizenship. Because of his father's work, he's moved a lot throughout the years, though mostly between his "home countries" of the US and Japan.

Besides that moving thing, Kousuke's early years weren't too eventful. His workaholic parents didn't really have the time or the understanding to connect with him. Circumstances made it hard to make and keep friends, so the kid spent most of his time with solitary hobbies like reading and building things with block sets. Though Kousuke knew his parents loved him, he slowly and surely grew bitter that they seemed to chose their work over him. Visits to his grandparents' house were a godsend, even if his granddad always told those twisted stories about his time in the war. The boy gained a love a puzzles and mechanics through the man. This also came with a mixed-up view of the government and authority figures in general.

Some time during all this, his fifth birthday rolled around and his parents thought it would be a good idea to give him a portable game system. The kid was instantly hooked. By the time he was ten he was a full-fledged gamer and nerd. Though he liked comics and things was like, he was always drawn to technological devices. They were portable, like everything in his life had to be... but also had this allure he never could place his finger on.

The Internet in particular opened up a whole new world to him. He learned a lot about everything, and only ever became hungry for more knowledge. His browsing, which even included his parents' work, revealed how shady the world of business, politics... grownups can be. As the years passed he gained an online persona, learning basic webdesign and coding and building a corner of the 'net for himself. Without a steady set of friends "IRL", he poured out all his hopes and frustrations into blogs and forum posts. Some people reached out to him, but the ones that got through were no good. They introduced Kousuke to the world of hacking, convincing him it was a way of changing the world positively. A few took him under their wings, teaching him not only computer infiltration but an anarchist philosophy he ate up like dime store candy.

And one day, when he was thirteen, it happened. He ventured to meet with those shady people offline and ended up bringing down a government website. Although Kousuke's involvement was minimal compared to the others, the authorities still hunted him down and nearly took him in. The very next day, his mother confiscated every piece of electrical equipment the boy owned, using special software to lock down what she couldn't hide in storage. That... would not do.

That afternoon walked up to his freshly locked PC. Too frustrated to try to circumvent the login screen like he probably could, he just pounded away at the keyboard, a mixture of anger and registry keys flooding his mind and...

It worked. He was signed on. There was typing going on but... for some reason, it felt like he coaxed the computer by thinking. Not fully convinced he was really doing what he was doing, he went on a spree over the next few days, tripling the money in his dad's bank account, changing the social security numbers of random people, and breaking a delivery website to score free pizza. With his head.

Sure enough, someone came to get him in the next days... but it wasn't the feds! Before he knew it, he was debriefed about those "meta-humans" he'd heard of, told that he was one, and whisked off to boarding school called Eisai. Overwhelmed with all that had happened, Kousuke mostly complied with the demands of his new environment. While improving his abilities was... interesting to say the least, the confusion of all that happened in addition to such a demanding started to wear on him. He'd been cut off from his friends and mentors, with only a half-formed philosophy in his head and all that new stuff on his plate... He got noticeably depressed, something that even his busy parents could see.

One day, Kousuke came home to a proposition -- transfer to Eisai's American counterpart. His dad figured that school would be easier for him, and he'd have more freedom at a school with security that could keep him out of trouble. The more Kousuke thought about it, the more he came to like the idea. Excited to turn over a new leaf in some ways, reluctant to change in others, he anticipates his return to America and his new school.

Roleplay Example

He'd found love in the corner of that tiny little restaurant.

Usually left to his own devices in the evenings, whenever the group didn't decide that they'd take over Kamone Restaurant, Kiyama opted to grab a few things from a convenience store or one of the street vendors and throw together dinner for himself. He didn't know what drew him into the ramen shop that night not too long ago, but he'd somehow been hooked and he suddenly found himself frequenting the place for the Ton-Ton Special more often than he'd like to admit.

Breathing in the hearty aroma, a cornucopia of smells... a rich, warm scent that made his heart beat faster and reached touched his very soul for reasons he couldn't being to decipher... Without delaying another second, he clasped his hands together, his chopsticks balanced between his thumbs.

"Itadakimasu," he whispered.

He eagerly broke apart the chopsticks and reached for his bowl. They wavered above it, as Kiyama found himself indecisive again... what should he taste first? The noodles? The vegetables? The soup? Wait, floating near the top was a particularly attractive looking piece of meat...

Before Kiyama got a chance to procure the simmering slice, it happened. All of a sudden came something like a blow to his head, shoving him forward -- what, or who it was, Kiyama couldn't be sure. It's not like he really had the time to wonder about it, anyway. The next thing he knew, his nostrils were burning two kinds of ways from breathing the searing hot, stingy-salty tonkotsu broth. What the...?

This was not what he wanted when he said he wanted to drown in deliciousness that evening.

What About You?

Name: kinolee, but just "lee" is fine.
Age: Mid-twenties.
Experience: I RPed almost a decade ago, stopped for a long time, but started back up last summer. I still feel like I'm getting back into it and learning a lot.
How Did You Find Us? One of those advertising communities? Forgot which ones.
Ready To Play? lolz, after being so wordy here, I don't know! @_@ I hope so! XD

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