◎ Personality:

At first glance Souji is very well-mannered especially in the way he speaks. He refers to himself as “boku” which is the masculine polite form of “I”.He uses the “polite form” of japanese speech using his “desus” and “masu-forms” compared to the casual form of speech most men his age use. It’s wise not to be fooled by his polite demeanor as his tongue is very sharp. His words cut into people as bad as his sword can and will. He is very condescending and it can be hard to tell he’s talking down to you if you get caught up in how polite he acts. He sometimes takes back what was said and waves it off as a joke but then takes a jab at you for not being able to understand what he actually meant. He has a lot of sass and he’ll use it.

“So it’d be strange for me to feel hurt when trying to kill someone else. That’s because everything I did today was for the sake of the Shinsengumi, Kondo-san and Hijikata-san. Isn’t that right?”

Souji is first and foremost, a “sword” for Kondo and Hijikata to wield.A sword does not feel anything towards the men it cuts down. If it’s for the Shinsengumi then Souji will do anything. All personal biases are cast aside, what those two, what the Shinsengumi wants and needs comes first. He’s hardened himself to take on all the tasks the Shinsengumi requires of him. During Yamanami’s execution Souji felt himself hesitate when swinging down the sword that would end the older man’s life. He felt that he had failed both the Shinsengumi and Yamanami with his hesitance. As a result he hardened his resolve to stick to these principles he had as a “sword”. He does not fail to uphold this. He will cut down those against the Shinsengumi no matter who they are.

“When I’m wielding my sword like this, I become sure that killing for the sake of Kondo-san and Hijikata-san suits me. I want to do this forever, if I can. Fighting with a sword and breathing are the same to me. This is everything to me.

I’m going to be of use to Kondo-san and the others.”

Souji is incredibly loyal towards Kondo and Hijikata to the point that the aforementioned two are the only ones he’ll actually listen to. The two had gained his respect, admiration and acknowledgement a long time ago as his older brother figures. What actually keeps him from killing his new unwanted assistant is the fact it would upset Hijikata a great deal and he doesn’t want to deal with the aftermath.(most likely a scolding) Souji dedicates everything of his to these two and by extension, the Shinsengumi. It’s his place to be and he’ll protect it. He wishes to stay by their side and wants nothing more than to die fighting for its cause if he must.

Souji prides himself in maintaining a cold, composed and detached image. He brags about how cold he treats his assistant to the other officers that have also grown fond of her. He cares little to none for the lives he takes under the Shinsengumi. He won’t bother to remember them except as what they were. His enemies. He even goes as far to say that he doesn’t really care that much for the kids he takes time to go play with but he should try to like them because they’re the ones that will be nurturing the future the Shinsengumi aims for. He also states that he would have no place in a peaceful and happy era when it comes. Someone as cold-hearted as him wouldn’t survive it.

Underneath his cold exterior Souji is a child. Kondo and Hijikata doesn’t refer to him as their bratty younger brother just for show. Outside of his duties he can be very petty and entitled. This one incident where the heroine was folding laundry had Souji pass by and get offended that she didn’t look his way. So he tried to get her attention again but he wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking and walked straight into a pole and fell right off the veranda. He hoped that she didn’t see it at all and wished for the ability to manipulate memories even if he had to give up his talent with the sword.

Empathy is not something he possesses. Souji is very narcissistic when it comes to his skills he can’t hold sympathy for his students when they struggle under his lessons. He’s built up a reputation as an ill-tempered and scary instructor among the students from the dojos he’s taught at. As a child Souji had to prove himself with his strong will and tenacity. He suffered bullying among his peers for being the youngest student enrolled. As a prodigy with natural talent he can’t understand the others that have to work much more harder at it than he had to. That isn’t to say Souji isn’t a hard worker but his struggles do not reflect what others feel. Therefore he can’t understand them and he likes to think the same of others when it comes to himself.

While Souji does present himself as a cold-hearted narcissist he’s actually very insecure. All his self worth is piled up onto how useful he is to Hijikata and Kondo. The moment those two show genuine compassion and concern for him he gets frustrated with himself for troubling those two. He needs to believe he’s strong. He is strong. If he accepts pity and compassion it feels like he’d be betraying his convictions. Someone like him doesn’t need and shouldn’t need it. Yet when he feels like dead weight (or soon to be) he beats himself up for it. His standards are so high for others and himself he’ll never feel like he’s “enough”.

That isn’t to say that Souji is incapable of being more than just a sword like he wants to think of himself as. In the event that he starts to enjoy himself he’ll bring the walls down and open up. One such event was when he helped the heroine make mochis for New years. Afterwards he tells her about his past with Yamanami Keisuke who he’s also fond of . When the heroine and him go out to the festival held in the area Souji once he starts to enjoy himself comments on a delicious snack he bought and how it was a good idea he bought two so he can share it with Heisuke when they return home. In both cases he remembers to reel himself back into the “Shinsengumi first before myself” mentality he maintains but it’s not impossible for him to temporarily break it.

He has a great fear of being abandoned. His illness has been wearing down on both his spirit and body. Once he’s no longer needed or useful he’s afraid he’ll be sent away. Afterall a broken sword that can’t be used should just be discarded right? He’ll go through great lengths to keep his illness a secret. Usually claiming “It’s not my blood! The enemies’ blood got in my mouth” and if he collapsed at headquarters? “It’s just a cold” It gets to be so bad the two people he wanted to hide it from the most got involved due to some meddling.In his eyes, the heroine was at fault for telling Kondo about his weakening condition, he has her swore to secrecy and hide the medicine in his room so he can take it in secret. He’s set on keeping it a secret and continuing his service to the Shinsengumi where he’s needed.

“Aren’t you actually really scared of what I’m going to do next? All you have to do is stop being stubborn and run away. I’m sure that things will be easier for the both of us if you do.”

His illness is not kind at all.He’s aware of his numbered days and in response he starts to push away people he cares for. He shuts himself in his room all day disconnecting himself from the other officers. He restrains himself from sending letters toHijikata and Kondo when he’s away because he knows they’d just be troubled by him.In the case of the heroine he goes to extreme measures to scare her and hopes she grows to hate him. He does have feelings for her but realistically he knows he can’t make her happy and shoves those feelings aside for her sake. Every horrible act he inflicts on her he apologizes for in a roundabout and insincere way claiming that someone with no future like him had no right to do things like that to her. He feels that she doesn’t deserve to suffer all because he can’t stick around for her. She insists on sticking by his side despite all this. He doesn’t take this very well and continues to lash out at her with a mindset of “If I don’t change then she’ll just give up on me!! It’s better this way.”

“Cherry blossoms stay beautiful until the time they fall. I suppose it’ll soon be my turn to fall too. Even if my life is shorter than that of others, if I fall beautifully, then that might be a good thing. Everyone falls like this eventually.”

While it is true Souji is frustrated by his illness he is not afraid of death. He’s more concerned about whether his existence is one that will be remembered or will he just wither away like cherry blossoms do after they fall down? He even worries about if Hijikata,Kondo and his fellow officers in the Shinsengumi will forget him after he left for recovery. He wishes he could stay with them but death will be the final separation from them.He’s more or less upset he won’t get to stick on the same path but he hopes that by smiling till the end he can convey how happy he is to those he’ll leave behind.

◎ Powers/Abilities: Skilled with the sword. Specifically a master of Tennen Rishin-ryu. Other than that none of his abilities are beyond normal human limitations.

◎ Weapons & Other Special Inventory: sword origami paper haori

CEREALIA-Specific

◎ Element: Fire

◎ Sense: Touch, Being able to hold his sword is important to him and a lot of his more intimate tracks involve talking about warmth and touching.

◎ Seven Character Traits:

+ Loyal Polite Altruistic(to loved ones)

- Narcissistic Harsh Insecure