Kenshin Uesugi

**Kenshin Uesugi** (**上杉 謙信**) is a Lieutenant of the Inyōuroushi-gumi's Tiger Unit, and currently the eldest living child in the Uesugi family. A skilled practitioner of Kotodama and swordsmanship, she is the second of command of Unit 11, where it's said she eliminates both enemies and paperwork with lethal efficiency. A tragedy in her childhood has driven her to the life of dedication and honor she strives to maintain, as the shadows of that memory still stalks her mind.

## Background

Kenshin was born into the main line of the Uesugi family as the second eldest. She was named after the great ancestor of the Uesugi as her day of birth happened to be the exact same. Her parents felt it was an auspicious sign for their daughter to come into the world on such an important day, believing their daughter will be just as great as her ancestor.

Growing up, Kenshin proved herself to indeed be similar to her namesake. At first thought it wasn't exactly in an ideal way. Just like her namesake she proved to be an energetic and free spirit who found it tough to focus all the way through her lessons. She wanted to go out and do things, she wanted to play with her siblings. Sometimes she would even sneak out to avoid boring lessons. In particular she liked to spend time with her elder brother and the two were very close.

Her behavior was mostly tolerated since she was the second born. As a result her early childhood was very carefree. She was a bright child and still learned from her lessons but she was mostly just concerned with having fun. This was something her brother even encouraged, content to take on the responsibility so that she could just live her life.

Kenshin's life would end up changing when she was almost ten. She was on an outing with her brother. At her insistence they stayed out longer than they had originally intended and she would occasionally run off to look at something that caught her interest. Unknown to her though, the family had some enemies in the underground because of their connection to the magical law enforcement in Japan. Enemies who couldn't assault the Uesugi estate but could easily target a distractible, largely untrained little girl.

Some opportunistic individuals saw her after one of the times she had run off. They attempted to capture her but she was rescued by her brother. Unfortunately her brother was still fairly young himself and had not reached his full potential. Combined with the surprise of the situation, having to protect another, and some unexpectedly powerful opponents, he was mortally wounded. Thankfully he did manage to defend her long enough for the police to notice the commotion and help Kenshin but it was too late for him.

The family was distraught when they learned what had happened, mourning the loss of their oldest son. Although her parents tried to tell her otherwise, Kenshin still blamed herself for the death of her sibling. Maybe if she had listened to her lessons then maybe she could have helped in some way. Maybe if she had agreed to return home when they were supposed to then they wouldn't have ended up in that situation in the first place. Maybe if she had just stuck with him then those people wouldn't have been confident enough to attack.

This event drastically changed Kenshin. Feeling responsible for the death of a loved one and suddenly being the heir to the family, her carefree attitude disappeared. She studied very hard to progress quickly in all her lessons, especially the ones related to self defense, so that she wouldn't burden anyone else. She barely ever went out anymore, spending just under the next decade or so almost completely confined to the estate by her own will. She pushed herself to be better, only stopping at temporarily at the request of family or to visit her brother's grave.

As she came closer to adulthood she did slow down a little, but even then she never felt she was good enough. Once she was old enough, Kenshin declared her intention to join the Inyōuroushi-gumi. She had become determined to help enforce order within the country and the Inyōuroushi-gumi in particular appealed to her with their samurai-like attitude and fighting style.

So once she graduated from her classes with the bureau, Kenshin went through the trials to be tested as a recruit of the Inyōuroushi-gumi. She was a quick learner and easily passed the tests of strength, skill, magic, and intelligence. Combined with her prestigious lineage, her results got her much interest and offers from most of the units. At first Kenshin was uncertain of what unit she would want to join if she passed, they all had their own virtues and she would be honored to join any of them, even the so-called weakest unit. Eventually she joined unit 11 because the recruiter reminded her of her late brother in a way.

After that, Kenshin began to quickly rise through the ranks. Her skill with the sword was truly something to behold which gained her much respect from other members of unit 11. Additionally Kenshin would prove to be a skillful diplomat and a natural tactician, quickly granting her a spot amongst the ranked officers. She would rise through these ranks quickly as well and eventually became the lieutenant of unit 11. A position she has continued to hold and serve well in since.

## Personality

In the years since the death of her brother, Kenshin has regained some of the energy and cheer that once defined her. She is a very outgoing individual who enjoys making friends with anyone so long as they're not some evil individual. She's often sporting a friendly smile and has a fairly approachable demeanor.

Underneath her regained cheerfulness though lies the same doubt and low self-worth that she's had since that day. She still holds herself responsible for the death of the original Uesugi heir and feels as though she has unrightfully stolen the position. Even her position as lieutenant she felt she was not worthy of, only accepting because to reject such an honor would be rude and imply that she does not agree with her captain. After seeing how happy her family was when she recovered some of her old self, Kenshin has resolved herself to never show this side of herself around others.

Kenshin is a very compassionate individual who believes in righteousness and justice. She is always willing to help others who need the help and considers punishing the wicked to be her job. This attitude does make her a little easy to take advantage of but she doesn't mind, so long as she made someone's day better. Unlike even most progressive elite mages, she has absolutely no discrimination towards sleepers or mages of lower standing than her. In the end everyone is a living breathing person and having a special organ does not inherently make you a better person.

She also holds a lot of belief in properly conducting oneself. She always conducts herself with politeness, observing the proper etiquette of whoever she interacts with. She's also a big believer in honor in all the ways it may be applied to life. Aside from her childhood, she has never lied to anyone. She always abides by any rules she is expected to follow and in missions she prefers to be more open. This doesn't mean she is entirely lacking in guile though, and she is willing to bend her code if it means serving a greater good.

When it comes to matters of romance or sex, Kenshin can be almost entirely oblivious. Having spent a significant amount of her life so far only surrounded by family has not given her much opportunity to witness or engage in new relationships. As such her knowledge and demeanor are that of a naive and innocent maiden. Already she has unknowingly turned down multiple attempts at flirting over the years since she left the family home.

The biggest headache in Kenshin's job is probably just having to deal with unit 11's shenanigans. For one thing, her captain can't be bothered to do the more tedious work, preferring to focus on missions. As a result many of unit 11's documents were late until Kenshin became lieutenant and began completing all the paperwork that's usually split between captain, lieutenant, and maybe a few ranked officers. The rank-and-file have their own issues too as unit 11 has some of the more troublesome members thanks to their belief in strength and obsession with proving it. If the other person accepts a sparring match then that's great, but some members don't know how to take no for an answer which is when Kenshin gets involved. Those who've seen even the rowdiest members of unit 11 meekly being scolded by their lieutenant have taken to calling her the "mom" of unit 11 despite her young age.

Despite all that, she does still love being part of unit 11 and cares for the well-being of all her comrades. She enjoys the passion that many members of unit 11 apply to their training and their missions, their dedication to truly being the strongest. So long as she doesn't have any paperwork that needs to be turned in ASAP, she's always willing to spar with or give some tips to her comrades. In missions, even if they're all ok with dying gloriously, she always does her best to watch out for them. She tries to remind them that the better part of valor is discretion and that throwing one's life away isn't the same as an honorable death. In what free time she manages to get, she can often be found drinking with her comrades.

## Abilities

### Clerical and logistical work

Kenshin has a lot of intuition and experience with paper work, logistics, protocol, etc. With Kenshin often having to make up for her captain slacking off on this side of the job, she has had much opportunity to show it. She probably could have had a high ranking desk job by now if she wanted and some people joke that she "eliminates" paperwork twice as fast as any captain eliminates an enemy.

### Yagyu Shinkage-ryu

When Kenshin began to seriously learn the way of the sword, Yagyu Shinkage-ryu was the style that stuck out to her the most. The simple yet refined movements drew her eye but the 'life-giving sword', conceptualized by Munenori, is what truly fascinated her. Amongst the many sword schools meant only to kill, Shinkage-ryu took the stance that the way of sword was more than just death. Shinkage-ryu's offensive techniques are largely non-lethal though a fair amount still injure, even the peaceful sword can not be soft after all. It is mostly focused on defending oneself long enough to defuse a situation. Failing that it is mostly focused on disarming or otherwise disabling an opponent without killing them. Should all that fail or be unfeasible from the start, it does also possess techniques for the more typical 'killing sword'. In accordance with the belief that the way of the sword is more than just death and violence, Yagyu Shinkage-ryu also teaches self reflection, meditation, situational awareness, and strategy. Kenshin has mastered many facets of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, being a skilled warrior and a keen tactician. Combined with her kotodama, the meditative practices of Shinkage-ryu help her resist spells, techniques, and other measures meant to affect her mind.

### Physical Capabilities

Kenshin has obtained a level of physical power far above that of a sleeper through intense training, as is fitting of the lieutenant of unit 11. On her own she is fast enough to deflect bullets. When combined with her haori and her own reinforcement, she can go even further beyond.

### Magic

Kenshin, like most Uesugi and Inyōuroushi-gumi, practices the magic school of Kotodama. Although unit 11 doesn't often make usage of magic, Kenshin still keeps up her skills. She's skilled enough that she would have also qualified for unit 1 and 12 if she had so wanted. Her particular variation has two sets of spells with different foundations. One of them involves Kotodama as energy and the other as sound.

In order to use her spells related to energy she synchronizes her vibrations of life with that of her surroundings. In doing so she can connect herself to her surroundings and either project her own energy or affect the energy around her. This takes the form of spells such as reinforcement, magic bullets, barriers, and telekinesis.

Using spells related to the foundation of sound involves making sounds herself. With a fearsome kiai she can send enemies flying, with a chant she can inspire and strengthen allies, with a soothing song she can mend wounds, with charming words she can make herself more convincing. This foundation also includes more general incantations common to all sorts of magic types.

### Equipment

#### Tsuruhime

A blade originally known as the Himezuri-Ichimonji, it has since come to be known by the name of the spirit within the blade. Picked up by the Inyōuroushi-gumi during the sengoku age, when the first Uesugi joined the Inyōuroushi-gumi they returned the ancestral blade to them. The spirit within is even older than the family’s entire history as mages and personally knew Kenshin, getting along best with those who remind her of Kenshin. Tsuruhime greatly appreciated the compassion Kenshin showed in halting her shortening of the blade as soon as she realized a spirit lived within it. As such Tsuruhime tries to engage in such compassion with others and likes when her wielder does the same.

As for what the blade can actually do however, it has been found that Tsuruhime is very effective at storing, converting, and expelling energy. Using this blade, one can cut through spells or even rituals by absorbing the energy. It can also build up energy naturally over time whether from solar energy or through the kinetic energy of battle. This stored energy can be used as a battery for one's own spells or it can be released in bursts or shapes. For example the energy can be released in a simple sword beam, it can be released as a blinding flash of light, it can coat the sword as electricity, or it can be used to create a dragon of fire.

#### Inyōuroushi-gumi Haori

The uniform of the Inyōuroushi-gumi, meant to bring their dress close to the samurai of old. It is a very recognizable uniform to anyone in the know, being a pure white piece of overwear. More practically it applies a reinforcement spell to the user, assisting the Inyōuroushi-gumi in their duties.