Mika Kurosawa

**Mika Kurosawa** (ミカ黒澤, *Mika kurosawa*) is a nearly five hundred-year-old Vampire and Branch Leader of the legal Branch known as Shrine Maiden. As head of the Kurosawa family, she is tasked with upholding the Covanent, an age-old agreement to protect the balance between humans and vampires. She is highly skilled in the use of bladed weapons such as knives and swords. Having earned her spot among the four beast saints, she is a powerful opponent to be sure but her pacifist nature sees to it that few witness her full power. As a Vampire, she is a skilled practitioner of both Sleep and Paralysis magic but has also decided to fully embrace the night in learning the art of Darkness magic.

## Equipment

**Akuma** (ついほうのあくま, *tsuihou no akuma*): Akuma is a blade that has been passed down through the Kurosawa family for generations as a tool in which they can uphold the covenant, cutting down their foes to serve out justice for their crimes committed. The blade is comprised of an unknown, lightweight, non-magnetic metal, measuring in at around seventy-three cm from the tip of the blade to the bottom and weighing a little less than four pounds. Despite its age, the blade has remained well kept, sharp enough to cut through bone and flesh like butter. The blade is a fine silver color, shining in the light. The guard is shaped like the teeth of a beast, sporting a more bronze color and the hilt is black wrapped in a cloth of the same color. The sheath of the sword is a blood red, a red colored gemstone is encrusted into both sides of the sheath, most likely for decorative purposes.

## Magic & Abilities

### Vampire Physiology

While vampires look nearly indistinguishable from their human cousins it can be noted that the two are quite different despite their close relationship to one another. A vampire's digestive system cannot pull nutrients from human foods such as meats or plants. Vampires can only derive nutrients from the blood ingested from a human host. It is currently unknown why vampires can only derive the nutrients they need to survive from human blood as several have tried to derive those same nutrients through the consumption of animal blood only to end up sick. It can be noted that the blood a vampire can consume must be from that of a living human. As such, drinking the blood from a corpse that has been dead for longer than ten minutes. The tools vampires use to retrieve this blood from their human hosts are retractable fangs that are found to be located just behind their canines. These fangs can extend and retract in less than a second, allowing quick access to their feeding tool. While a vampire can bite anywhere so long as they can draw blood from that area, many aim for major veins or arteries which allow them to receive as much blood as they can in one feeding. Those who have lived through the experience of being bitten by a vampire have said that it is by no means a painful experience. This is due to the fact that a vampire's saliva contains a numbing agent which suppresses the feeling of pain in the area of contact until several hours after the initial bite has occurred. After which the wound will begin to flare up and swell for a short time before ultimately going away leading most people who were bitten while unconscious or under a sleep spell to believe they were bitten by a spider or mosquito as the wounds left behind after a vampire bite are actually quite small and would most likely go unnoticed at all if not for the pain and swelling. Among the tools vampires have to capture and feed on their prey are retractable claws on their fingers. These claws normally measure in at about one to two inches at the most and are believed to exist to allow vampires to easily grasp and hold down prey while they feed to keep them from fleeing. These claws actually tear their way outward through the skin above the fingernail, healing almost instantly. Vampires are also known to be biologically immortal, no matter how old they become they will never age biologically past the age of thirty years old. The only two ways to kill a vampire is to decapitate them or pierce them through the heart. The object that is used to achieve this can be nearly anything so long as it gets the job done.

Vampires, being the predatory creatures that they are, also possess enhanced senses. As a result of them having once been creatures only of the night possess a form of night vision which allows them to see in areas with very little light. This is due to the fact that, like many other nocturnal animals, they possess a mirror-like layer within their eyes known as a tapetum which is located behind the retina. This allows light that passes through to reflect off of this mirror-like layer and have a second chance to sense and process it. This night vision can be turned on and off at will. The tapetum move out of place when not in use. When a vampire activates their night vision their eyes will begin to glow a pinkish red, similar in color to their Elder blood ancestors. It can be noted that their eyes may also change color even when night vision is not in use. This normally occurs during times in which the vampire is under high levels of stress. A vampire's sense of hearing and smell are also several times higher than a human. A vampire possessing several times more scent receptors than their human cousins, allowing them to sense pheromones in the air. It is because of this that they can also estimate a human's emotional state based on the pheromones that human releases into the air. A vampire's hearing is acute, being able to detect sounds at much higher and lower frequencies than humans. vampire is able to hear the very blood running through a humans veins from two feet away. This distance is increased when the human's heart rate rises.

Not only do Vampires possess far better senses than humans but they are also much stronger, faster, and more durable than them as well. A vampire's skin, muscles, and bones are able to both take and dish out far more damage than a human could. Their bodies have often been described as living shock absorbers, allowing them to run fast, jump higher, take hits and keep fighting. This also allows them to push their bodies to the absolute limit, meaning that they can run at speeds of up to one hundred miles an hour for short periods of time before their muscles begin to tear themselves apart and need to regenerate. This skin is thicker than that of a human's though if felt directly one would have a hard time telling the difference by feeling alone. That being said there are several noticeable differences that can be spotted if one is looking. Vampires tend to have paler skin than humans and cold to the touch, within their veins were blood should be is a black ooze similar in texture and viscosity to tar. Vampires also have no need to breathe, the air that fills their lungs is expelled outward again. Despite these, what one might call horrifying, differences between the two, vampires are considered to be very much alive. Their heart still beats in their chest, moving the black liquid through their bodies though at a much slower rate than that of human blood. It is because of the thickness of the black substance that it is unlikely for a vampire to bleed out, a wound healing long before enough of the liquid is expelled from the body.

There are very few ways in which a vampire can truly die. In their younger years, they are incredibly vulnerable to sunlight which can weaken and kill them if they exposed to it for too long. However, once a Vampire reaches the age of fifty the will have built up an immunity to the harmful rays of the sun and be able to walk in the daylight with little to no ill effects. The second way in which a vampire can be guaranteed death is through complete decapitation. If even a single flap of skin remains attached a vampire can regenerate. Parts of their head can also be completely taken off with no ill effects besides the temporary loss of whatever sense was granted by the objects taken off. The second way is to impale them to through the heart. The object used to do this can be made of any material so long as it is capable of completely piercing through the heart. Just stabbing into or cutting it will not lead to the death of the Vampire. The object must enter the heart and exit from the other side. Regardless of how a vampire dies their deaths will be the same, their flesh and bones will completely disintegrate into a pile of gray dust, leaving nothing behind as their remains are carried off into the wind.

A vampire has the ability to transform humans into one of their own. This has lead many to believe that vampirism is actually a curse that was placed on the offspring of the Coven of the night children by the Gods because of the abominable way in which they were conceived. This is simply a rumor that eventually became a scary story in which people would tell around the campfire. A vampire can transform a human into a vampire by biting them, but instead of drinking the victim's blood they will instead inject their own blood into the person in question. The effects will not be immediate and instead will take up to forty-eight hours to complete. The symptoms begin with a slight chill and a fever followed by shakes. At the ten hour mark, the victim will begin to feel excruciating pain all over their bodies. Their muscles and bones will feel as though they are being torn apart and their head will feel as though it could split open at any moment. This is due to the changes their body is undergoing, their nails will begin to extend and their newly formed fangs will rip through their gums.

The next part has been described as the most horrific to witness. At the twenty-four hour mark, the blood of the victim will begin to thicken, losing it's red color and becoming sludge-like. The victim's heart will stop several times during this process. In between those times, the victim will suffer from several strokes as the thicker blood begins to block veins and arteries. At the thirty hour mark, the victim will have stopped breathing and their heart will also have stopped pumping completely. Their fangs and claws will have fully formed and their blood will have turned to a black sludge that now set in their veins. The victim will appear completely dead for the next several hours. At the thirty-seven hour mark, the heart will begin beating again but the victim will remain in a comatose state. The victim will wake up again sometime between the forty and forty-eight-hour mark, they will be hungry and confused. Weak at first but their strength will return to them once they have fed. Newly formed vampires are highly sensitive to sunlight and may die if it is directly shone down onto them. This sensitivity will fade with age but until the vampire will be forced to hide under the cover of night.