Seikyo

"Yes... we must-- no, we will."
Seikyo is a player from Week 14 of The Reaper's Game. A soft-spoken, worrywart poet, he learned the importance of initiative during his Game.
==Appearance==
A tall, bespectacled young man with dark reddish hair tied up in a low ponytail. He has pale magenta eyes and he has a frown on his face. His outfit of choice is rather traditional; he wears a black haori with a red vine design, coupled with a gray hakama and a red kimono underneath, and his shoes are geta sandals.
During the Game, Seikyo eventually swapped his geta sandals out for the Young American, a pair of sneakers that served him well as he walked and ran restlessly about. At the very end, he also obtained the Lace-up Dress from Sol, donning a thoroughly silly outfit for the final battle against the Game Master.
==Personality==
Seikyo was one of those extreme doormats, usually willing to prioritize others' needs over his own. His mind was often tormented by anxiety and depression, which he was trying to overcome for some months before his death. He's soft spoken, hesitating between his words often, and only stops when he's giving his all with performances or some other speech he deems important.
During the game, the anxiety was spiked up to 11 after he lost his patience. But after his victory, Seikyo has grown a bit more of a spine. He still tends to be anxious when things are out of his control, but with his entry fee back in place he can put up with the antics he observes in his day to day life - not to mention actually do things about them. He's settled on taking up a supportive role for his friends in the UG, whether it's through emotional support or actually helping them out with shop-related chores.
(Occasionally he feels a pang of guilt for not joining the rest of his friends as a Reaper, but he's gotten better at hiding this. Especially when one of his friends insists that he made the right choice...)
==History==
===Pre-Game===
(Trigger warning: Suicide, implications of self-harm, and suicide ideation)
Seikyo was born in Kyoto to a fairly affluent family - although he was never to be raised by two parents, as shortly after his birth, his parents underwent a messy divorce. His mother obtained custody of the boy, and cared for him for a time. She was afflicted with depression, however, and the divorce had only worsened her condition. When Seikyo turned five, his mother transferred custody to her parents, telling her son that she would be going on a very long journey, and that his grandparents would take care of him from then on.
He was a quiet and naive child, so he took this explanation and said goodbye to her, awaiting her return. She was never to come back; that night she'd taken a train to Aokigahara and disappeared into the forest to end her own life. But his grandparents remained hushed on the matter, telling him she'd gone away for good opportunities and would come back once she found success. Seikyo never really grew close to his grandparents at all, as they were strict and expected success out of him. He tended to overwork himself just to meet their expectations, fearing their lectures if they found he hadn't done well enough.
School was no haven either, as he was far too quiet and shy to make new friends. Though they tried, he eventually ended up scaring them away with how sad or worried he was all the time. Of course, this only strengthened such feelings in him and he isolated himself from his classmates, instead trying to vent his feelings in the form of heartful poetry. He'd save most of it in notebooks he kept on his person at all times, just in case he was feeling particularly inspired.
But the poetry wasn't exactly enough; though he remained quiet and tried to wait everything out, the stress of most of his other classmates shunning him and his grandparents expecting more and more was threatening to crush him. Even though one of them tried to reach out to him, a girl named Yuriko, he was too afraid to take her help. His worries and sadness escalated and he tried to destress himself in more destructive ways with one of the knives in his grandparents' kitchen. It worked for a time, until it didn't, and he found himself just desperately wishing for an end. 
Unwittingly following in his mother's footsteps, he skipped school one day and hopped aboard a train bound for Aokigahara. Yuriko, walking to school, fortunately caught him leaving toward the train station. She decided to ditch class as well, concerned about where he would possibly be going on a train alone. Yuriko ended up following Seikyo all the way into the forest, crying out to stop him when she saw him pull out a knife to finish himself off. Startled by her presence, Seikyo dropped the knife - and would never pick it back up. Instead Yuriko convinced him to sit with her and talk about what was wrong. They stayed there till sunset, and Seikyo was a crying mess by the end of it, but Yuriko was there comforting him every step of the way. She led him home and began to further convince him that he wasn't alone - that he really did have something to live for.
 
After all of that, he began to make small efforts to pick his life back up, holding onto the hope that Yuriko had given him. If someone like her had cut class just to try to save his life, surely there were still good things in the world. The topics of his poems became just a bit less depressing by the day and he always had good company in his friend, even if he only really had one good one. But he wasn't meant to get better for long. While taking Yuriko shopping for kimonos in Shibuya, they got separated in the hustle and bustle. This was unfortunate in particular because Seikyo had left his phone at home that day. He panicked and ran frantically around the area, searching for Yuriko and fearing the worst. Because he was just a little later than the traffic lights when he sprinted across the road at Scramble Crossing, a speeding car hit him in a terrible accident. In the midst of the pain he felt outrage - at himself for being so foolish, and at the world. After all, why was the world taking this chance from him now? He tried to get better, hadn't he?! 
He couldn't ponder such a thing for long before he breathed his last breath. 
---
Seikyo spent a while in the static until showing up in Shibuya once more. He wandered about, still just as lost and slightly bothered about being ignored, until a little girl named Uso appeared to help him. After explaining the various ways of the UG and the reason he was likely there, she quickly decided to "adopt" him and allowed him to stay at her apartment before and during the week. He was treated to snacks like cookies and melon soda, as well as the presences of various UG residents. In fact, right off the bat, he'd ended up reading some poems from his notebook to Uso and Amaryllis. He also grew acquainted with the other three Players staying at the apartment - Sol, Yuji, and Yumeno, all of which admittedly scared him to an extent when he first met them. 
However, days before the Game was to start, he began to grow unsettled with the fact that Uso was a harrier reaper - the type that he'd heard would primarily target the Players. This, plus his anxiety over finding a partner, caused him to run away from her in an effort to make her stop caring about him - he'd probably have to get erased by her anyway, right? Luckily, after a talk with Nora, Shinken, and Mika, he was able to apologize, and he remained one of Uso's favorites after patching things up. He also got to know one of the other harriers, Sunao, and even went for a quiet stroll with her minutes before Day 0 began. 
===Week 14===
==== Day 0 ====
Seikyo spent this day basically paying close attention to Naruaki's tutorial. Fortunately, though he continued worrying about being the odd person out, Sol later approached him and asked Seikyo to pact with him. He quickly agreed and spent the rest of the day chilling out with his future partner.
==== Day 1 ====
The clock struck midnight, and Seikyo immediately began feeling restless. He urged Sol to get up quickly so they could pact, and indeed did so in a flash. Prodding Uso also allowed him to get to work quickly, fighting her Noise and emerging victorious even when neither partner was too good at using their pins at first. Afterward, they were warped back to the apartment in order to get some rest for the coming day.
He woke early and quickly got to work buying and browsing food, as well as taking advantage of the gimmicks available. Dreamscape in particular was somewhere he began to stop by, where he spent a while sweeping the floor for one of the shopkeepers, Cheer - although he wasn't to stay there long, as he remained intimidated. After more milling about, he met up with Sol again and made small talk with other Player pairs before the next mission began. 
The mission began and the two partners grew increasingly affectionate with each other, walking together in the rain under an umbrella Uso lent them. A blunt observation on Shinken's part embarrassed Sol enough to run into the wall and harm himself greatly; had he been any more unfortunate, the two would have been erased off the bat, and such a thing was enough to get Seikyo to panic for a good long while. They went through the day without further complications, and eventually Seikyo got a basic phone for himself. Hopefully that'd get him to stop getting lost.
Day 2-6
Things happened.
Day 7
At last, the GM fight was upon them. Seikyo talked for a bit with Sunao and Uso and was given a chrysanthemum for good luck. (... Along with so much of Uso's and Sunao's goods.) Though he could no longer experience capitalism with Shinken, he still bought a lot in a frenzy to gear up. He and Sol gave their all in the fight, unleashing multiple fusion attacks on Clair's noise form, Sirena Pathetica.
The fight ultimately ended in victory, despite Sai's 'erasure' dampening the mood for a time. Then Seikyo was around to be relieved about how he and Mikoto were actually not about to die after all! With his spirits lifted, he could make his decision in peace: to live. He returned to the RG, but was still able to see everyone else as they chose to become Reapers (with the exception of Chiyo). It was, all in all, a happy enough ending to the whirlwind week.
=== Post-Week 14 ===
Seikyo milled about in Shibuya for a while, saying his final goodbyes to his friends that decided to stay. Then he returned to Kyoto, but promised he would come back to Shibuya someday. Despite his home being the same old house he had for years, it felt too foreign. The whole town felt so foreign and unwelcoming compared to Shibuya, even if his friend Yuriko was by his side. He resolved to go back to the city, acquiring a small apartment for himself to live in while he attended college.
As Week 15 rolled around, Seikyo finally obtained the job at Dreamscape that Cheer offered him so long ago, and in fact took his place. Though he wouldn't be taking an active role, nearly all his friends would - Uso, Sol, and even Cheer, this time.
He'll be watching them all, ready to check in on them if the Game gets tough. 
==Relationships==
===Yuurei Usotoku===
Uso was the very first person Seikyo encountered upon entering the Underground. Because she also cared quite a lot for her 'brother' Sol, who happened to be his partner, she ended up aiding the two during the Game in many different ways. Seikyo has quite the soft spot for her and considers himself indebted to her, as she's talked him through so many of his anxious and depressing thoughts.
===Sol Quinn===
Sol was Seikyo's partner during the Game. They met at Uso's apartment and began to bond over cookies and baked goods. Thanks to efforts from Uso and Corona, Sol gathered the courage to ask Seikyo to pact. Relieved that he would not be the odd Player out, he immediately took the chance and pacted with him - and throughout the week they were one of the more well-adjusted and affectionate Player pairs out there. Their synchronization manifested itself through their fusion pins and devastating fusion attacks. 
Although Sol developed romantic feelings for him which Seikyo wasn't completely ready to accept, he still holds Sol in very high regard and would protect him in any way he could. 
(It may just be his anxiety, but he's starting to think Sol might be holding some grudge for turning him down...) 
=== Sunao Inokoshi ===
One of the other harrier reapers for the week. Despite Sunao's frightening actions, Seikyo was determined to befriend her like he was able to befriend Uso, and continuously tried to make sense of what she was doing. He regards her as a good friend and bears no ill will for the erasures she caused, acknowledging that she was only doing her job. 
=== Cheer Tsubasa ===
While they only ever spoke within or outside of Dreamscape, Seikyo considers Cheer a friend despite their rocky start. He feels a sort of connection over their understanding that Kyoto is a cold place, in the RG and the UG alike. Knowing this sort of thing allowed Seikyo to understand the grim tales told to him and spurred him on to help with lifting his boyfriend's spirits. He thinks the knowledge (and the ramen) Cheer gave him were integral in understanding the harriers' decisions and moving on to win the Game, and has intentions to take his offer to work at Dreamscape once he officially moves to Shibuya.
=== Shinken Yugi ===
One of the Players present during Seikyo's week. The two quickly bonded over poems before the start of the week, and had it not been for his and Nora's advice, Seikyo may not have returned to being friends with Uso. The loss of their Entry Fees proved to make relations more frigid, but they continued to speak to each other. They'd usually contemplate the Game in the morning beside Hachiko - that, or "experience capitalism" together. 
Despite being warned about Shinken's possible erasure early on, Seikyo still wished for the best, and even promised he'd read a better poem to him once the game was over. The promise was never to be fulfilled. 
==Trivia==
*He is particularly skilled at making sushi - more precisely, maguro nigiri - because he wanted to get the skill to make his favorite food whenever he craved it.
*When panicked or nervous, he tends to start wheezing.
*He detests his first name and will only ever introduce himself by his surname. This is likely because Shijin, when translated, means "poet" and he'd really rather not have people point it out.
*He has the uncanny ability to repeatedly find cats named Rin.
*He sounds the most sure of himself when reciting poems.
==Gallery==
Category:Reapers
Category:Players
Category:Week 14