Kaya Mitarai

Kaya Mitarai is a ghoul living in the 12th ward.

## Appearance

Were it not for her serious personality and overly practical dress code, Kaya might be considered quite beautiful. As a result of a fight with Minato, her nose is slightly crooked from having it broken at his hands. She is slender but by no means skinny. Her body shows the muscular definition of one who must constantly be ready to fight. Absorption into Aogiri, and the accompanying loss of leadership responsibility, have caused her physique to soften slightly, which she resents greatly. During ghoul activities (in other words, almost all the time), her attire once consisted of a dark-colored hoodie over a sleeveless top. Recently, she has taken to wearing fur-lined jackets instead of hoodies to make it easier to get into a combat-ready stance (similar to this but without the well-placed fan-service slits in the legs or sides). This is paired with usually black, opaque tights with shorts over them. Her skin is fairly pale, so a great deal of coverage is desirable to keep her hidden at night. She gloves her hands in tekkou (example) with a thin iron plate reinforcing them. While ineffective for dealing with kagune, they provide a nice edge to her fights with humans. In recent times, she has foregone the tekkou. Kaya has standard features for a Japanese woman and keeps her shoulder-length hair in a ponytail or bun high on her head. When interacting outside of a ghoul-related setting, she keeps her hair loose and covering much of her face in order to supplement her “timid” persona.

~~Her mask is dark-brown ceramic with two circular eye holes, similar to goggles, and a beak-like design etched where the mouth would be in off-white slip.~~ ~~The mask was destroyed in Monochrome, and she is looking for a replacement.~~ She has obtained a replacement mask that resembles a modified gas mask, covering the lower half of her face. It's built to be more durable than her last one, less prone to shattering from one ill-placed punch.

## Personality

A good adjective to use for Kaya would be “cold” or perhaps even “frigid.” She practices extremely tough love with her comrades and subordinates. It would be considered praise of the highest order for her to give an approving nod or a pat on the shoulder. While she lacks kindness, she possesses some raw leadership qualities and a gift for speaking (how else would she have ever lead a gang). She will protect her fellows in as much as they are “allies” of some degree of value. Very rarely does she allow for friendship and rarer still for more than this. Her countenance exudes confidence and competence, helped partially by the efficient bloodthirst that she displays in combat.

It would not be a stretch to conclude that Kaya feels most at home when in battle. She derives a great deal of joy and thrill from fighting others though is less interested in the act of killing as much as the adrenaline of matching herself against an equal or superior opponent. If a fight is good enough, one might even see (wonder of wonders) a smile on her otherwise stoic face. Kaya acts with clinical precision rather than cruelty or rage. It was revealed in Monochrome that prior to leading the Nighthawks, she was quick to anger and often lashed out in fury when opposed. This has been suppressed after years of leadership but still surfaces when she is under duress. Kaya is arrogantly confident in the intrinsic superiority of ghouls, but thanks to her fights during Monochrome has tempered these feelings with pragmatism.

As is customary for a ghoul of Aogiri, she has no qualms with killing humans indiscriminately, and her moral code, contrary to her demeanor, is arbitrary and difficult to comprehend. All of this aside, Kaya has a surprisingly normal set of hobbies and interests that she shows to those who are “close” to her (and will not be detailed here because where’s the fun in that?). When not actively engaged in ghoul activities, she avoids attention by acting shy and reserved. Timid, even. It has occasionally worked to her benefit when less savory types try to take advantage of this and end up as an easy meal.

In recent RP events, her icy exterior has begun to thaw little by little through interactions with Minato, Jun, and Futoshi. She is very slowly becoming more willing to converse and not react with immediate hostility toward others.

**Through interactions with Futoshi, it has come to light that Kaya's sense of modesty is, at the very least, not at all similar to that of other women her age. Being raised with a gang of primarily male ghouls that lived on the streets, ideas of privacy and shame are all but lost on her.**

## History

Kaya was originally the leader of a mildly notorious gang called the Nighthawks that were based in the 12th ward. She joined them at age 16 and assumed a position of leadership at age 19 after the previous leader was killed in a CCG operation. The Nighthawks' main competition for complete dominance was the Sworn Talons lead by Shun Haruka. The two ghouls have had many conflicts over the past 4 years.

With the rise of Aogiri came the subjugation of all remaining competition in wards under their control. Despite their seeming strength, neither the Nighthawks nor the Sworn Talons were of any threat to Aogiri and were thus not beaten and assimilated until relatively recently. Many of Kaya's comrades were killed brutally at the hands of a still unspecified female Aogiri ghoul. In order to preserve her own life and those of the remainder, Kaya was essentially forced to surrender. The image of the female ghoul tearing through her gang with ease, bare-handed, has become something of a permanent scar on Kaya's psyche, not that she would ever show it.

## Powers and Abilities

**Unrefined Charisma:** Kaya has honed some degree of leadership ability from years of being in, and eventually leading, her own gang. This has not blossomed into the quality of a true leader just yet.

**Combat:**

**Strengths:** Typical Ukaku speed. Years of gang warfare and other conflicts have given her superior combat intelligence and a cool head when fighting. She is reasonably proficient in hand-to-hand combat though does not have much in the way of formal martial arts training.
**Weaknesses:** She does not usually have to deal with close-range combat with enemies larger than herself, so she is uncomfortable in these situations and can be overpowered with relative ease. Most of her close quarters fighting relies on judo-like tactics of using the opponent’s weight and momentum against them. Due to her speed and ability to use long-distance with her kagune, Kaya is not particularly used to being injured and her rhythm can be subconsciously disrupted by moderate to severe damage. A second consequence of this is subpar regeneration.
**Thanks to Jun's self-defense training, her ability to engage in close combat has improved by a small amount.**
## Kagune

**Type:** Ukaku

**Appearance:** Kaya’s kagune is a pair of wings with about a 1 meter wingspan from joint to tip that seem slightly more insubstantial than the average Ukaku, more similar to two vaguely wing-shaped plumes of gray smoke. Traces of orange marble the surface transiently as if a soft flame were flickering through the smoke at times. The projectiles produced by this kagune are fine needle-like spikes, the length of half a forearm and about as thin as one too. She fires 6-8 total per “volley” with equal numbers from both wings.

**Strengths:** Her kagune allows a great deal of control, able to hit a target with high precision. Because their size is relatively small compared to most Ukaku, she has more total ammunition than the average.

**Weaknesses:** The small, thin projectiles are sharp and penetrate well but lack the raw power and knockback of standard projectiles. Thus, they can be deflected or tanked relatively easily. In exchange for precision and control, Kaya loses out on the “shotgun” like effects of an Ukaku kagune and cannot fire in a wide spread like many others can.

**Mechanics:** Pew pew. Ghoul gun.

## Quotes

"Trust gets people killed. That's the truth of this world"
-Said to Futoshi in Morning After