Joshu Hoshiguma

**Joshu Hoshiguma** (**星熊 助手**) is the Captain of the Inyōuroushi-gumi's Unit 11, also known as the Tiger Unit. Born with Oni blood in his veins, he originally grew up in Chikabori with the Hoshiguma clan. Despite his human appearance, he was raised by the Hoshiguma Oni and upholds its martial clan-based culture. His hybrid nature caused the other Oni of the clan to view him as lower than them, and he has since carved his way to a respectable position through battle, even earning an enchanted blade that would further lead him to success. As a political move with the Hoshiguma and the Humans of Japan and their Bureau, he volunteered to be the one to serve the Inyōuroushi-gumi, and similar to his rise to power in his clan, he climbed to the position of Captain through skill and ferocity in battle.

## Background

He was born to an Oni mother and a human father, a result of a tourist and an Oni coupling after a rowdy night of drinking and fighting. Unfortunately, his father was killed by another Oni in a drunken brawl, and his mother avenged him by ripping the killer's head and spine out. Joshu was born a hybrid, with his appearance resembling his human father. His mother nevertheless raised him as her own within the Hoshiguma clan and named him Joshu which meant "Assistant" just so her son could have a motivation at a young age and change it to meaning "A strong warrior" through his actions. She made sure he grew up strong as he would certainly be looked down upon by the other clan members for appearing to be more human than Oni. Joshu grew up with the culture and values of an Oni as he regularly got into fights whenever he was made fun of for being "hornless" or "fang-less". At first he lost most of the brawls he found himself in, but his mother who once said "do you want to grow stronger or do you want to crawl back into my womb and be a quitter?" taught him that battle is not just about raw strength but also the strength of battle prowess. She told him that many Oni rely on strength alone and lack technique, so she trained Joshu how to be tactical, use feints, trick opponents into thinking they are winning, and all sorts of dirty moves such as unleashing a blast of pocket sand or kicking someone in the nuts. She also encouraged him to work jobs around Chikabori and fight in the arena for further experience and get enough money to pay for swordsmanship lessons. She noticed that her son excelled when using bladed weapons, and made sure he further hone this skill.

By age 23, Joshu challenged one of the higher ranking Clan members for a sword he saw decorating the walls of the Hoshiguma castle/clan hall. After a grueling battle that took two hours, he defeated his opponent by forcing him to charge into a wall and getting his horns stuck, allowing Joshu to knock him out when he was in vulnerable. He was victorious and claimed his prize, the Hisui-Tou Kyoumaru. The Jade blade caught his eye previously and found that the sword was more than just a wall decoration. His hunch was correct and the sword manifested a Tsukomogami, which he promptly wrestled in a spirit-duel set up by Chikabori mystics, making it submit to him and acknowledge Joshu as its master. Further examination led to Joshu discovering its illusory capabilities, which he made sure to keep as a secret weapon. With a sword in his possession, he would spend the next few years training under Tengu sword masters, specifically Niten Ichi-ryu, and Joshu went from a brawler who relies on unarmed combat and the occasional kanabō to an elegant but also ruthless bladesman.

While his mother was perfectly content running a bar and the brawling in the arena, Joshu wanted something more in life, and began planning to rise through the clan ranks, but he had to stop mid-way when the Hoshiguma were approached by the Bureau of Mystics who were looking for youkai to join their ranks. Seeing this as a chance to increase his reputation not just as a warrior but also a cunning leader, he was the first to volunteer and showed interest in the Bureau's Inyōuroushi-gumi. His plan was to show that he can rise to power in the human world, further increase his skills in fighting and leadership with the opportunity to fight different opponents and deal with different people, not just youkai. His mother threw one hell of a goodbye party and Joshu was off to the human world, where he would spend the next decades fighting for the Inyōuroushi-gumi and rising through its ranks, earning the title of Captain of the 11th Unit currently. He has since continued serving the Inyōuroushi-gumi and occasionally visiting Chikabori on vacations. Like his mother, who was willing to train and allow him grow as a warrior, he has donned the role of a mentor and is especially interested in his Unit's training in battle, from his Lieutenant Kenshin Uesugi, which he considers the one with the most potential, to even the fresh recruits of the Tiger Unit.

## Personality

Joshu is a polite, kindhearted man, often addressing his subordinates by their given names. A loyal member of the Inyōuroushi-gumi, and a paragon of the dutiful soldier for his fellow members. He rarely shows any sign of alarm or distress, and often has entire situations planned out well in advance. He seems to respond politely when he is being flirted with, but has no true interest when women approach him with intentions. Joshu has a rather soothing singing voice and is a big fan of Josh Groban's songs after he heard them during his early years in Japan. He is unofficially regarded as Japan's Josh Groban, due to them having almost similar names and because how good he is at imitating his vocalization. He happily shares copies of his Japanese cover album to his fellow Inyōuroushi-gumi. This is what he considers his "human" side, a facet of his self that he believes is acceptable in human society. He mostly hides his "oni" side from other humans and only reveals it to people in Chikabori.

Raised as a Hoshiguma by a strict mother who did not want a weak child, Joshu upholds the virtue of strength above all things. He would never back down from a duel, and never let his true weaknesses show. He has feigned weakness throughout his life, luring enemies into a false sense of security, it even bled into his life in Japan when he adapted to wearing glasses and appear disadvantaged with sight, but deception is something he is not adverse to. While Oni dislike large-scale deception, deception such as fighting dirty in a brawl is acceptable. The weaknesses he refuses to show is that feeling that he does not truly belong to either the human or the oni world due to his nature. As a kid, he'd never let the insults of being a half-blood go unpunished and always get into fights. As an adult in the human world, he always reassures others with a smile to keep up the face of an unbothered man. The hierarchical society of Oni is something he still follows even as a member of the Inyōuroushi-gumi. As such, he respects his superiors but still has the motives of someday challenging them and usurping their position, as is the way of the Hoshiguma. This also meant that as a Captain, he is does not expect to do duties for lower ranks, such as Unit 11's paperwork and reports, a job he relegates to his Lieutenant, much to her chagrin at times. He identifies more as an Oni than a human, but makes sure to play the part of a totally not suspicious human while in Japan.

He has proven to be a rather flexible tactician in battle, adjusting seamlessly to any given combat situation, if not planning out events well in advance. He understands the strengths, weaknesses and mannerisms of his enemies, and creates strategies to achieve victory The inhuman feats and skills he shows in battle earned him the title of 'The Jade Oni', due to his jade weapon and his oni physical might.

## Abilities

### Physical Abilities

Due to his Oni blood, Joshu possesses superhuman physical strength, speed, and endurance that his body was described multiple times by those who sparred or fought him as hard as steel. He can further increase this potency with Reinforcement. His hybrid-blood only makes him half as physically potent as full-blooded Oni, but he nevertheless has an edge over an average human with just his physique alone.

### Martial Arts

Joshu first started fighting with the reckless but brutal brawling styles of the Oni as a child, but due to his hybrid nature, he was always weaker in terms of raw strength, speed, and endurance. As a result, he trained with his mother for more refined and skilled techniques on fighting. Through various odd jobs and fighting for money in the arena, he also bought lessons from Tengu swordsmen, specifically from a master of Niten Ichi-ryu. His supernatural agility and strength, combined with the dual-sword style of Niten Ichi-ryu turned him into a whirling dervish of blades during duels, combining the refined style of Tengu swordmanship and the ferocity of Oni brawling. This allowed him to become quite the skilled fighter when he joined the Inyōuroushi-gumi and fast-tracked his rise in its ranks.

### Magic

Joshu has initially learned Reinforcement from the magi in Chikabori as an equalizer in the brawls and duels he fought with fellow Oni in the Hoshiguma clan. After acquiring his signature Jade sword, he also started learning Kotodama. He has since expanded his knowledge on the general types of magic after joining the Inyōuroushi-gumi in order to regulate and fight magi.

### Hisui-Tou Kyoumaru (翡翠刀 虚丸)

A sword made with arcane-infused jade, crafted by a now-forgotten clan of stone workers and blacksmiths. Only this blade remains as a reminder of the clan's legacy, even their name was lost. The technique used to create such a blade was lost to the modern era, but according to the Hoshiguma, who took the weapon from that clan as a trophy during the Mythic Age, that clan was highly resourceful with the materials they had access to. The blade was a mere decoration in the Yoshigumi clan hall before Joshu won it in a duel with a high-ranking clan member. Years of it being unused but kept in good condition resulted in a Tsukomogami manifesting in the sword, which Joshu would assert his willpower on and control with mastery.

The sword is about 20 inches in length, and is more of a wakizashi, which Joshu uses as an offhand weapon, along with a standard issue Inyōuroushi-gumi katana. The Tsukomogami possessing the blade has the capabilities of disrupting a person's five senses. Joshu has produced kotodama techniques connected to the Tsukomogami's powers, allowing him to induce complete hallucinations, and activated by the word 'Shinkirō' (蜃気楼). It controls the five senses to the point where it can make the target misinterpret another person's form, shape, mass, feel, and smell to be an enemy's. The initiation conditions for the hypnosis is for the enemy to see Hisui-tou unsheathed and activated or be hit by its blade. After seeing it just once or their skin slightly grazed by the blade, the target will start to succumb to the hypnosis every time it is released, regardless of how long ago they saw it. When the effects of the hypnosis are deactivated, the image shown melts away or shatters. The complete hypnosis of Hisui-tou is said to be absolutely flawless; even if the target is aware of being under the hypnosis, they cannot resist its influence. These hypnotic abilities make the blade a highly useful tool in combat, for Joshu could create simple or complex illusions to deceive his opponents. For example, by creating a decoy of himself, or other illusions to distract his opponents, he can hide his own movements and attack with impunity.

Dispelling the Illusions of the blade requires strong willpower that allows someone to resist the effects, advanced anti-Illusion spells, or anything that disrupts spiritual influence such as banishment techniques since the Illusion ability of the sword is the result of the Tsukomogami invading the mind of a target.

### 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.