Yurie “Mitsu No Hana” Mitsurugi

### Likes

Spectre-senpai, fighting, poking people in the face thrice with her three-segment-staff

### Dislikes

Disrespecting her status as a warrior, talking bad about Spectre and Aprósopi in general

## Magic

### Principle

"Three Movements", "Strengthening", "Changing"

**Yurie Mitsurugi** (**三剣 百合枝**) is a member of the Snake Tong's Unit 11. As a member of the Mitsurugi, a family of samurai who specialized in staff combat, she upholds her ancestors' martial traditions. She is a prodigy in the art of the Three-Section-Staff, the highly unpredictable weapon adopted by Mitsurugi from Chinese martial arts. Her alias of "Triple Blossom" fits as she creates a lotus of steel whenever she spins and maneuvers with her iconic weapon. An avid upholder of warrior culture, she's an admirer of Aprósopi and their practices, with Spectre being a target of her affection ever since they started working together under Unit 11.

## Background

The Mitsurugi were an old samurai family that had modest influence during the Samurai era, choosing to live modestly and isntead honing their Mitsurugi-Ryu, their own staff martial art. As such, they were mostly seen as ronin who did not serve any lord. When most Samurai lost their influence on the waning days of the Shogunate, the Mitsurugi left Japan instead of fighting a civil war during the restoration and started working as mercenaries in China instead, as it was also a tumultuous time for the Qing. Their sansetsukon staves earned them the attention of the Snake Tong's agents who frequented China, and they were recruited to the organization due to the Mitsurugi's coveted skills. The family remains a part of the Snakes to this day.

Born as the second child to the current Mitsurugi family, Yurie was raised to follow the lineage's mystical staff martial arts, but when her elder brother had his arm eaten off by a Sabragash demon during a Border Realm mission, the position was granted to her as her brother refuses to get prosthetics, seeing it as a disgrace to replace what he lost from clumsiness. Her brother became a trainer for the Snakes instead while she began to take her duties much more seriously as the Mitsurugi heir. She became an active agent in her teens and into early adulthood, and has always made sure to be the ideal face of the family, serious, loyal, and dutiful, an image she maintains perfectly. Almost perfectly whenever she is in the presence of Spectre, the Aprósopi member of Unit 11. In her youth, she was fascinated by the Faceless and their Warrior culture that she considers himself an "Aprósopi Geek", studying their history and culture, so when she learned she was working with one after being assigned to Unit 11, for the first time in her active duty, other members saw her act strangely. Excited and downright "fangirl" reactions started showing from her expressions after fighting side by side with Spectre and the times he saved her life. Many see this as her having a crush on their Unit's resident Aprósopi but she always denies this and just says she's a super fan. Jaimi and Caius on the other hand see it differently.

Despite her obsession with her "Senpai", she nevertheless continues to fit the expectations of a Mitsurugi heir, even mastering their Transcendent Technique trough dedicated training and intense combat experiences after years of being an active agent for the Tong.

## Appearance

Mitsurugi SiblingsAnother for her collection
## Personality

In order to uphold the family's honor and status, Yurie presents herself as an ever-serious warrior, a woman who is bound by honor, loyalty, and duty to her family and the Snake Tong. She speaks with eloquence and professionalism and makes sure her family martial art is respected by boldly showing it during sparring or tournaments during special occasions in the organization. She is also well versed in the traditional arts of the Mitsurugi, tea ceremonies, calligraphy, staffmaking (Their version of flower arrangement) and dance. She has made sure to be the ideal heir.

This, however, is the personality she shows in public, the face that maintains the reputation of her family. Only when it's with trusted friends and colleagues, such as Unit 11, does she show her natural side. She has a fondness for warrior cultures, and while normally that wouldn't be seen as weird by people in the organization, she has reached a "fangirl" level according to herself when it comes to the Faceless. As a child, the stories she has heard of them and their culture and history she would later read and learn about would leave her with what might be called as an obsession. She makes sure not to disrespect Faceless culture, however, and refrains from doing anything that goes against their Creed. Although she did admit she once wanted to get a genuine Aprósopi helm as a child, she wouldn't now as an adult. This side of her usually results in members like Caius teasing her, or Jaimi scolding her that obsession can lead her "away from her Dharma".

She has a massive crush on Spectre. Although instead of her wanting to be in a romantic relationship with him, Yurie is more so in love with the idea that he is unattainable, this stoic warrior on a quest for redemption, and thus she has no place in his life. This does not stop her from admiring him from afar, complementing his fighting style during training, and even taking pictures of him whenver he spars, "does something badass on a mission", or simply does something she finds "worthy of her Spectre-senpai album. She makes sure this fangirl crush on him doesn't get in the way of missions or any Snake Tong business, however, and generally wants to be in friendly terms with him after all the times he has sparred and taught her new things in combat, and saved her close calls on duty.

Other than Aprósopi, she is of course interested in other warrior cultures. The Chakrajan also fascinate her to an extent, mostly thanks to her sharing a unit with two from different sects. She specifically admires the fighting styles they use and even adapts certain techniques she learned from training and sparring into her own personal combat style. She is quite the martial arts connoisseur and has greatly admired the "Forest Fist" philosophy of having a dynamic and personal fighting style that continues to be improved by each individual practitioner. Her love for different warrior cultures also meant that she enjoys learning about different martial arts since she knows they all possess aspects and specific techniques that she can potentially use herself.

## Abilities

### Magic

The Mitsurugi initially used Alteration Magic to change the properties of their staves, but after exposure to other magi and fighting them, they realized that it was also optimal to strengthen their own bodies' melee prowess without using too much mana, since their lineage has never been had a history in advanced sorcery. Yurie is very proficient in using ki/mana to temporarily increase the length, strength, and durability of her staff, making it a very deadly weapon in combat. She was also educated in the fundamentals of different types magic by the Shiai-shi, compulsory education since she was expected to deal with magi in her line of work.

### Mitsurugi-ryu Bojutsu

Also known as the "Mitsurugi Style" is a staff-based martial art, focusing on both regular staves as well as their iconic Three-Section-Staff or "Sansetsukon". She is both and expert in using a bo staff and the rather difficult to master sansetsukon, or the As such, she always carries the heirloom Mitsurugi-ryu Sansetsukon, which is made to be incredibly sturdy to survive the high impact and unpredictable techniques of Mitsurugi-ryu. The hard to control and sometimes unpredictable weapon uses techniques similar to that of the staff, combining the seemingly wild yet calculated movements of nunchaku with the range of a staff. The design of the sanketsukon allows it to use techniques similar to arnis sticks, a chain or whip, and even a two-section staff. At her level of skill, Yurie can nearly simultaneously block an opponent's strike, trap his or her weapon, and disarm them while executing their own strike with the free end of the staff. She also has access to the three special techniques of the Mitsurugi.

### Three Point Thrust

The Mitsurugi's main philosophy in combat is mastery of the three main pillars in their school of martial arts. These pillars are the mastery of unarmed, armed, and ki combat. The three point thrust embodies this philosophy as a technique. It is performed with three consecutive strikes targeted at one part of the opponent's body. This technique is not limited to the bo staff or the three stage staff, and can be used by Yurie even without a weapon, and just using punches or finger thrusts. The first strike is a normal attack (either with a weapon or her fist) , the second strike is a pulse of offensive ki, and the third is a combination of a physical attack infused with ki for more damage. These three strikes happen extremely fast, and is typically used in consecutively withering down an opponent's body in a fight.

### Lily Counter-Helix

A nearly Transcendent-level used mainly for defense and immediate counter-attacking. It combines mastery of ki and staff, that requires Yurie to be completely focused on the opponents about to strike. This technique requires a staff to utilize, be it bo or sansetsukon, since the technique involves Yurie spinning her weapon in a small radius around her the moment her enemy throws an attack. In the instance that the attack reaches the range of a small radius around Yurie, she spins creates ki-infused helix around her with her staff , which creates an illusionary image of a white lily, which deflects projectiles, and even projectile based spells. Yurie normally utilizes the technique for crowd-control against multiple opponents. Constant use does make her dizzy thanks to the spinning, though.

### Thunder Cross Split Attack

**稲妻十字空烈刃**

*"You fell for it, you fool!"*

The ultimate technique of the Mitsurugi passed down for generations after they fully established Mitsurugi-ryu. perfected by several generations of Mitsurugi and can only be used with a sansetsukon. Utilizing the technique requires the user to fully hone their accuracy, speed, and controllability of their body and their sansetsukon. The technique begins either with a strike, thrust, or parry, in which the sansetsukon becomes a literal part of Yurie's body and she gains total control of her weapon as if it's a limb. Her sansetsukon detaches its segments, with the two outer segments used by Yurie to strike a target simultaneously, opening them up for the third segment moving on its own, automatically flying towards the target's heart and unleashing a Three Point Thrust. This all happens at such high speed that it results in the sound similar to thunder being produced from the attack. It is the strongest offense and defense in Mitsurugi-ryu. The impact of the attack can severely damage and even break sansetsukon that are not properly reinforced or made with weak materials, hence Yurie using the technique only with the Dragon of Dire Straits, the family heirloom.

Yurie boasts that no one has ever escaped the Thunder Cross Attack, although other veteran members claim that the old guard has, and especially Fenghuang, has faced and escaped it.

### Equipment

#### "Dragon of Dire Straits"

**悲惨な海峡の竜**

The staff passed down from each Mitsurugi warrior to another. A weapon that is highly attuned to Alteration, allowing for mana-efficient changes when Yurie alters the physical form of the staff, extend its chains for longer range attacks, or even disengage the chains and let Yurie use the detached portions as arnis sticks. Yurie can also use it as a projector for her magical energy, allowing for small, short range 'ki blast' - like attacks, which is useful for highly armored opponents.

#### Snake Key

Yurie's Snake Key is made to be a tanto, an homage to her samurai ancestry. The blade itself was made with special materials that are not necessarily strong enough for heavy combat. The pride of the Pranaja Empu smiths, the steel during forging blessed the property to disperse mana. Since it disperses magical energy, the blade of the knife can't be reinforced with magic. However, the reason why it's named a key is because users can create holes within certain points of a Bounded Field. Since the blade merely disperses mana and not outright destroys it, it creates thinned and weakened areas in a Bound Field that is more susceptible of being bypassed physically without triggering an alarm for the owner.

It can also be used against an enemy using Reinforcement on his body. If the Key is stabbed onto the target's arm, for example, the magical energy of the reinforcement spell disperses to other parts of his body and his arm is now more weakened thanks to the lower amount of mana for reinforcement.

#### S11 'BB' Bulletproof Body Suit

Standard issue magic armor that Snake Tong provides its members. It is a black suit which was made to be bulletproof (tested with 9mm, 7.62, NATO/.308) and provides magic resistance, dispelling low level spells. It is considered to be one of the iconic uniforms of the Shiai-shi.

#### "Shroud Ties"

Shroud Ties are standard issue magic armor and head protection, cleverly disguised as neckties that allow them to blend in with the Bulletproof Snake suit style. By pulling down the tie and channeling mana through them, the ties transform into balaclava masks that provide full coverage of the head and neck. The material is made to be as bulletproof as the suits and also provide the same magical protection. The Shroud Tie can be deactivated by the user removing the mask, and it will turn back into their necktie forms.

Yurie's mask is decorated with a menpo, the samurai faceguard, pattern.