Kuyo

* Civilian
* Vigilante

**Kuyo** is a former student at Wellston Private High School who was Rei's roommate. He is currently a student at the University of Wellston who moonlights as a masked vigilante informally known as **Ponytail**.

## Appearance

Kuyo is a tall young adult. He has bright green eyes and long blue hair he keeps tied in a ponytail. His vigilante nickname was inspired by this hairstyle. Even when masked, the glow that his green eyes give off when he activates his ability is still visible.

He also wears a black long-sleeve shirt, grey pants, and black shoes. He also wears a brown belt with hip pouches on either side.

As a high school freshman he wore a blue hoodie and dark blue jeans while he wore the Wellston boy's uniform at school, choosing to eschew the vest.

## Personality

Being from a family of high-tiers, in addition to being very powerful for his age, Kuyo was confident in his abilities and future growth. Unfortunately, he also displayed the more unsavory aspects of being a high-tier, such as looking down on low-tiers. His statement to Rei about how he will get stronger if he "sticks by [him]" also implies that he enjoyed asserting dominance over others.

Kuyo did seem to have a humble side, looking up to the Royals and quickly becoming embarrassed in their presence. However, over time, this positive trait turned into a negative one, as he became arrogant after the Royals recognized him. This resulted in him becoming a bully who believed the only way to gain respect is through intimidation. He would even turn on his "friends" should they defy him.

After a few life experiences, Kuyo became lot more calm and mature after enrolling in his university, offering to help Kayden catch up in his exam prep.

As a vigilante, Kuyo is a professional, who deals with murderous criminals as casually as most bullies at Wellston High deal with their victims. His expertise is such that he seems to actually hold back at the start of his fights before swiftly finishing off his targets. He seems to enjoy letting his opponents think they're winning before getting serious.

He seems to take his life as a vigilante quite seriously, despite his tendency to toy with criminals. He is driven to find EMBER despite their reputation to kill vigilantes without ever being caught by the Authorities. He can also be very blunt, but showed professional courtesy to Blyke. He chose to give Blyke a chance to win the fight on his own, only stepping in when it was absolutely necessary.

## History

Kuyo grew up in a family of high-tiers. It is likely that his ideology and worldviews stem from this.

### Side Story - Rei

Kuyo was accepted into Wellston Private High School. While he was moving into his dorm, his roommate offered to assist him. Kuyo was puzzled by this offer, as it looked like the guy still needed to finish moving in himself. He insisted he was fine, and introduced himself as Rei. After they finished, they went to hang out and explore Wellston Town together. They discussed their power levels, and Kuyo impressed Rei with the fact that he was already Lower-Elite Tier freshman with a level of 3.5. Rei hoped to at least grow as strong as his Elite-tier parents. Kuyo was encouraging in Rei's pursuit of strength, and offered to let him stick by his side in order to achieve that goal.

On his first day, the Headmistress called Kuyo to her office. She felt his current power level warranted a meeting with the school's Royals. He was in the midst of discussing it with Rei near the end of the day when a low-tier student bumped into the mid-tier. No sooner had Rei begun to ask if the girl was alright did Kuyo insist they leave her to clean up the mess she made. Kuyo griped about how troublesome low-tiers were always dragging their superiors down, and looked quite disturbed when Rei tried to defend their actions as accidents. Back to the topic of the day, Kuyo offered to bring Rei along to his meeting with the Royals. They headed off to the scheduled meeting place. Kuyo was introduced to Kassandra, the school's strongest student. Kuyo became slightly flushed with embarrassment when she told him of the praise he got from the headmistress. It was then that Kassandra noticed Rei keeping his distance. Kuyo identified them as his roommate, and silently (yet sternly) bid him to quit lurking and say something. Rei awkwardly introduced himself to the Royals, and the two roommates were told that they both had the potential to become high-rankers.

Kuyo hung out with the Royals several more times after their first meeting. Their influence turned the elitist into an outright jerk. He gained like-minded followers, and the group began abusing weaker students. Rei was often present for these incidents, usually advocating a less severe responses for perceived slights. Kuyo eventually snapped at Rei for being soft all the time. He warned his roommate that nobody was going to respect someone who didn't assert himself.

Rei eventually did become more assertive; he forcibly put an end to the cruel actions of Kuyo's lackeys one day. When Kuyo heard of this, he and his goons cornered Rei in the cafeteria one day and knocked his lunch tray out of his hands in retaliation. Kuyo denounced Rei as a traitor, and that he would pay for siding with low-tiers. Rei was unfazed, and called Kuyo out on his nasty attitude. Rei swore never to follow in Kuyo's footsteps, and planned to make a name for himself as he saw fit. Rei eventually made good on this declaration, and surpassed Kuyo in strength to become King of Wellston right up until graduation.

### Interim

Kuyo remained a heel pretty much for the rest of high school. During his last year, he picked on the freshmen, and nicknamed one particular hardcase "*Ass-lo*"

Later on, Kuyo read Unordinary after Rei recommended it to him. The book gave Kuyo a new perspective, which led to the duo becoming a vigilante team.

Unfortunately EMBER killed his buddy in action. Kuyo chose to focus on the criminal organization from then on, and learned of the Ability-Enhancing Drug they were distributing. Over the course of several months following his friend's death, Kuyo gathered intel regarding the operation. The drug had yet to be perfected, since users suffered from terrible withdrawal at minimum. Moreover, the amplifiers were being sold exclusively to mid-tiers. This would ensure that both the criminal activity would be more easily overlooked and that the enhancer could be properly tested and refined. Kuyo once tried turning in some of his findings to the Authorities, but their delayed response and public disparaging of vigilantes discouraged him from trusting them any further.

## Season 2

### Responsibility

In Kuyo's first present-day appearance, he was standing on a rooftop in Newside watching Blyke getting ready to leave after a night of fighting Lance and his goons. After changing his clothes, Blyke left town completely unaware of Kuyo's presence.

### Evolution

The two would cross paths again a few nights later in Grasshill. Both were pursuing the criminal Lennon, who Kuyo knew was in possession of ability-enhancers. The older vigilante stood by while Blyke came to the rescue of the Grasshill Protectors when Lennon had them beat. It wasn't until Blyke was overwhelmed by the combined forces of Lennon and his sniper ally Raddix that Kuyo intervened. While Blyke only managed to crack the disks Lennon summoned with his ability, Kuyo was able to easily shatter them with a blade he summoned with his own ability. The older vigilante's grand entrance stunned both Blyke and Lennon. He made sure that the former was okay while the latter was demanding to know who he was. Kuyo simply introduced himself as the backup for the younger vigilante he gestured towards. Now that his plans were suffering terrible delays due to two meddlers, Lennon was going out of his mind. Conjuring more disks, he swore to kill both vigilantes. Kuyo would have been glad to take him on, but there was still the matter of dealing with Raddix's potshots from afar. He turned to Blyke and asked if he could find the source of the shots and cover him. Blyke obliged, and headed off to deal with Raddix. Lennon tried to prevent Blyke from getting away, though he failed thanks to Kuyo's reminder of who he was dealing with.

Lennon's new disks held up against Kuyo's blade. Lennon snidely remarked that he expected the flashy vigilante to be much stronger. As if to keep Lennon from being disappointed, Kuyo summoned a second blade of energy. The now dual-wielding swordsman was able to easily slice through Lennon's defensive disk. With wounded pride, Lennon launched two of his disks to strike down his opponent. Kuyo easily shattered one and vaulted off the other to initiate an attack from above. After Lennon was down another asset, he used his last free disk for a diversionary attack while using his hover disk to rise high into the air. He felt content to boast about how out of reach he was. Kuyo then manifested four shorter energy blades and rained throwing knives on Lennon's parade. As the attack caused his disk to deteriorate even further, Lennon sensed imminent defeat. He decided to beat a hasty retreat, with Kuyo looking on from below.

Lennon went to collect Raddix, who was already dispatched by Blyke. Lennon started to attack him once more, and seized the upper hand against the weaker student. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Kuyo appeared and slashed the very surprised Lennon from behind and knocked him unconscious. The victorious Kuyo apologized to Blyke for letting Lennon slip away before conducting a search on Lennon's body, finding two vials. Upon seeing them, Blyke asked what they were. Kuyo answered that they were ability amplifiers.

He then went on to search Raddix. He found nothing and, without asking Blyke if he'd searched Raddix beforehand, assumed Lennon was the one carrying their whole stash. He took the vials Lennon had and flung them into the ground, preventing the enhancers from being used by anyone else. The shocked Blyke asked whether they could have at least turned in the drugs to someone. Kuyo remarked that if he was talking about The Authorities, he should recall that they weren't exactly making things easy on vigilantes. When Blyke asked if he at least tried, Kuyo said yes, but got no response. Thanks to his experience, he knew the score. He explained how he had been trying to trace the enhancers to their source. Blyke asked if he realized just how dangerous it was to meddle in EMBER'S business. Kuyo caught on that the youth had encountered the organization in the past, and revealed some more details about the drugs, including who they were being sold to. He mentioned that it's a surprise that an Elite-tier like Lennon managed to acquire some. Blyke understood that it was easier to keep crimes discreet if only weak people were involved, but Kuyo added that they also made ideal test subjects. While the amps succeeded in boosting someone's level by 50%, they still caused severe after effects on anybody who used them. Kuyo ominously remarked that if the drug were perfected, there would be no limit as to what people would be capable of.

Kuyo decided that they change the subject from business to small-talk. He asked Blyke why he became a vigilante, but Blyke insisted that he go first. Kuyo obliged, and shared the story of his late friend and Unordinary. The story made Blyke ashamed to admit that he only set out to fight criminals in order to become strong enough to protect his friends. Kuyo couldn't help but point out there were easier ways to accomplish that, but that Blyke's intentions were noble all the same. He extended an offer to take Blyke under his wing so they could accomplish their goals as a team. While grateful, Blyke turned him down. The near-fatal ordeal they had undergone had opened his eyes to the fact that he just wasn't cut out to be a vigilante. Blyke thanked Kuyo for coming to his rescue, and wished him luck on nailing EMBER. With that, Kuyo watched as Blyke left Grasshill.

## Relationships

### Rei

During his first year at Wellston Private High School, Rei shared a dorm with **Kuyo**. Unfortunately, after Kuyo began hanging out with the Royals, Rei would see his friend become more of a bully, and the relationship between Rei and Kuyo would sour over time. While initially unsure about what to think, after some advice form his mother, Rei had made up his mind. No longer able to stand by Kuyo's side, Rei had chosen to do things his way and would eventually become the King of Wellston. Evidently, however, after recommending the book *Unordinary* to Kuyo, their relationship changed, as in Chapter 279 it was stated that they were very good friends. In Chapter 199 Kuyo tod Blyke that his friend recommended the book to him. The two were partners in their vigilante work, and Kuyo was there when Rei was killed.

## Powers & Abilities

***Conjure: Blades***: Kuyo is able to conjure multiple energy blades of varying lengths. He uses longer ones as melee weapons and shorter ones as throwing knives. As these blades were strong enough to shatter the boosted Lennon's Disks, it's safe to say that Kuyo is currently a high-tier.

### Intelligence

Kuyo displays keen powers of observation when he works. He has managed to determine EMBER's method of operation and identities of the agents, over the course of several months by studying their movements. He is also an honors student as shown by how Kayden seeks his help in chemistry.

## Quotes

* (To Lennon, about Blyke) "*I'm his backup*"

## References

1. ↑ Side Story - Rei (1)
2. ↑ Side Story - Rei (2)
3. ↑ Chapter 308
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chapter 199
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 280
6. ↑ Chapter 170
7. ↑ Chapter 197
8. ↑ Chapter 198
9. ↑ Chapter 266
10. ↑ Chapter 272
11. ↑ Chapter 273
12. ↑ Chapter 274
13. ↑ Chapter 278
14. ↑ Chapter 279
15. ↑ Chapter 281
16. ↑ Chapter 292
17. ↑ Chapter 294
18. ↑ Chapter 300
19. ↑ Chapter 301
20. ↑ Chapter 302
21. ↑ Chapter 303
22. ↑ Chapter 304
23. ↑ Chapter 309
24. ↑ Chapter 318