Noriko Yukimura

Noriko, suited up for Hush Corps work.

**Noriko Yukimura**, formally addressed as **Yukimura Noriko** per the traditional Japanese practice of putting family name first, is a character in *Magical Girl Policy*. She also appears in the "Holiday Memories" vignette. She is a ninja hired by Kunapipi onto the Hush Corps, an obfuscating group that works to protect the secrets of the Spirit Guard. Her cover is that of a foreign student at SAU. As she shares a dorm with some of the Spirit Guard, she is the Hush Corps member most directly involved with the team.

## Appearance

Noriko has a short, slim build likened to a gymnast's. She stands at 5'3'' and weighs nearly the same as Robynne. She has short black hair and almond-shaped eyes. Her expression is typically understated. She speaks with a distinct Japanese accent. Noriko often dresses in a very simple manner, letting her blend into crowds. Artwork commonly depicts her as wearing gray. When out in the field on Hush Corps duty, she wears a tight, black, full-body suit and carries a satchel bag and sword.

## Personality

Noriko is serious, quiet, and analytical. Between her subdued body language and dry tone, her emotions are often not readily apparent. Not wanting to miss any information, she often explains herself in painstaking detail and asks for clarification from others. Noriko is a private person that only pries when required by her work. She often comes off as cold and indifferent, but is actually a bit of a showoff that likes to display the skills she honed with her clan, though she doesn't like when this is pointed out. She is extremely thorough in her work and has a reputation for being paranoid as a result. Per her clan's teachings, she is willing to kill perceived threats to her clients without hesitation, but she has been ordered by the Spirit Guard to not do this, and according to Kunapipi, Noriko has yet to take a life.

As she had spent most of her life in a secluded ninja clan, Noriko has trouble fitting in with others after moving to Kessia City. She is a relatively new English speaker, sometimes encountering difficulty with jokes and sarcasm. She retains much of her Japanese upbringing, bowing to others and often writing her notes in Japanese. She has a particular unfamiliarity with internet culture. She has a hard time separating herself from her job, often entering her dorm room through the window, barely interacting with those not relevant to the Spirit Guard, and finding herself needing a work-related excuse to do anything. She is almost never seen doing anything separated from her job, spending much of her spare time doing things like maintaining her tools, but she does have a low-key reading hobby, including fantasy novels borrowed from Nick.

## Abilities

Noriko is a ninja that has spent years perfecting her agility and stealth. Even in casual situations, she moves about in near silence, which can startle others. She displays incredible jumping ability and parkour skills, able to easily reach high places. She has been trained to be ambidextrous. She is proficient in swordplay, knife combat, and the use of tools such as shuriken and smoke bombs. She knows assassination techniques, but has yet to kill a person. She is also knowledgeable in chemistry, employing special toxins and drugs in her work. Noriko appears to not have a large Investiture as she doesn't give off a notable signal to empathokinetic perception, which combined with her very tight control over her emotions leads to occasions of even Spirit Guard Serenity's EKP overlooking her presence.

## Biography

### Background

Noriko Yukimura grew up in a secluded ninja clan in Japan. Soon after receiving a signal that Angela Warrant will become Spirit Guard Valor in the near future, Kunapipi calls upon a centuries-old favor from the clan, so Noriko is sent to Kessia City. There, she becomes part of the newly formed Hush Corps and is shortly joined by Nick and Will Siekert, working together to protect the identities of the Spirit Guard. When not working in the field, Noriko appears as a foreign student at Schuyler Adamson University, sharing a dorm with Vivian Feliz and Kara Balmer.

In "Holiday Memories", early December before the start of the series, Noriko arrives at K.D. Schilling's Department Store shortly after the Spirit Guard, which at the time consisted of Valor and Tenacity, defeat Winter's Wrap. She has the duo leave so she may dispose of evidence at the scene before the police show up. She had also noticed Donovan, a civilian who hid from the monster instead of running and ended up overhearing the Spirit Guards discuss their private lives. Noriko orders him to ingest a liquid that knocks him out and scrambles his memory of recent events, and he complies. She also bruises the back of the head, making it appear as if he suffered a concussion during the monster attack. This was Noriko's first time using this drug since coming to the United States.

### Week 1

After the Spirit Guard see Robert Dreese glow when he is attacked by Polygal, they contact Kunapipi and the Hush Corps for more information. It's determined that he is to be the final Spirit Guard, so Noriko runs a background check on him, concluding that he can be trusted with the group's secrets. While the team discusses their findings on Rob, they are visited by Eli Drake, brother of Mallory. Later that day, the Spirit Guard sends Rob a text to meet them at the Standridge Hill Stone Circle so they can explain why he glowed and attempt to recruit him.

During the Spirit Guard's meeting with Robert, Noriko patrols the surrounding park. She finds Eli and Cory remotely recording the meeting at the groundskeeper's shack, confiscating Cory's laptop and threatening the two into showing themselves to the Spirit Guard. She warns Rob that the Hush Corps will be watching him and his friends from now on, and picks his phone to have possible evidence of the meeting erased. Rob stops her and has Angela convince her to give his phone back and return Cory's laptop as soon as possible. The Hush Corps remove the footage from the laptop and have Kara return it the next afternoon.

When the Spirit Guard battle Day LaMode at Rale Valley Mall, the Hush Corps quickly arrive at the scene. Noriko directs the fleeing Cory and Eli to an exit the police are not watching, telling them to enter the HushMobile and cooperate with Nick and Will. Noriko briefly meets with the Spirit Guard, including the newly transformed Serenity, and informs them of the incoming police. The Hush Corps along with Cory and Eli work to remove traces of everyone being at the mall. Afterwards, Noriko allows herself to be interviewed by the police and drives Cory's car back to his dorm in order to alleviate suspicion. She also takes the time to bandage Mallory, who had been carried to her apartment by Serenity after Charity operated on her.

The transformed Robynne decides to be moved into Noriko's room rather than Angela's due to it having more desk space and Noriko sharing a desire for privacy. Noriko enters the room to find Robynne and Vivian having a "choco-phagial therapy session" where they eat ice cream and vent over Rob's situation, with Vivian having made a mess of Noriko's bed once again. Noriko commends Robynne for selflessly sacrificing her identity to become Spirit Guard Serenity, and apologizes for misjudging Rob, Cory, and Eli for their actions at the Standridge Circle. She returns the comic book Rob had dropped during the battle, having found it during her evidence removal, and Robynne is touched that Noriko bothered to bring it back. Noriko locks Vivian out of the room so she and Robynne can get some needed rest.

### Weeks 2-4

The next day, Noriko, Vivian, and Kara accompany Robynne to shop for a new wardrobe, with Noriko's addition being a last minute decision. Noriko and Kara tell Robynne that if her goal is to avoid unwanted attention, she should blend into the crowd by dressing like other girls on campus but in a more modest style that obscures her figure.

At some point following the Day LaMode battle, it is determined that Lihua Lo's blog dedicated to the Spirit Guard's endeavors, which Angela had been following for several months, is too big of a security risk to be left alone. Relevant photos from the blog and Lihua's other libraries are deleted, including those on her backup hard drive, and a letter from Valor is left with the drive to explain the situation. It is assumed that Noriko is the one who broke into Lihua's house to find the hard drive and that Will deleted the pictures by hacking. In the "Image Problems" vignette, Lihua returns from school to discover what has transpired. After reading Valor's letter, Lihua follows the request to discontinue the blog and focus on her education so she might find a career that'd make use of her investigative skills.

That Monday, Noriko finds that Robynne went back on her plans to return to class and is playing video games instead. Robynne explains she was so uncomfortable alone in the shower that she decided she wasn't ready to meet people outside just yet. Noriko shows a binder of Robynne's new documentation she and her uncle will need in the future, courtesy of Nick and Will. Unfamiliar with internet culture, Noriko expresses interest in Robynne's online handle of Bluster, and helps her think of a new name that can't be so easily twisted into sexist insults like "Busty". Noriko suggests something related to Serenity's water element and Robynne's scientific interests, with the two deciding on Waveform.

The next day, Robynne tells Noriko, Cory, Eli, Vivian, and Kara how her first day back at classes went, saying it could've gone worse but making a special note SFEERS president Fretribution's textured aura. Noriko is curious about the latter point herself and directs Angela and Robynne's conversation toward it.

The team discusses how to deal with the dangerous Cammy DeCroix, who might be the Empress reincarnated. Noriko suggests simply assassinating her, but the idea is rejected unless Cammy shows proof of being the Empress and doing something particularly drastic. Angela suggests Noriko spy on Cammy, but Noriko says she won't be able to tail her while blending in for long. The suggestion to have the Hush Corps monitor the cheerleaders' phones is also shot down due to the massive amount of texts to sift through. They agree on Noriko's idea that Robynne join the team to spy on Cammy, returning the dress bribe and demanding things such as Vivian joining as well.

Before Robynne and Vivian find Cammy to get on the cheer team, the Hush Corps wipe traces of their friendship with Angela from social media so Cammy doesn't suspect them of knowing her nemesis. Robynne is also given an alternative email address for cheer matters that the Hush Corps can monitor. After Robynne joins, Noriko helps her set up her bio for the team's website in a way that won't stick out too much.

After the SFEERS social, Robynne returns to her dorm and tells Noriko about what happened that night. Noriko suggests she tell Angela about it in person, who is currently alone at her apartment due not having the budget to go out all the time or the pride to always accept Mallory's treat.

Upon hearing the delivery of the computer parts Robynne had extorted from Cammy were monitored by a cheerleader, Noriko insists on helping Eli and Mallory bring them over, even using the Standridge Stone warps and a false license plate on Mallory's car to ward off any association to Angela a spy might glean. The components turn out to be in the exact opposite style that Robynne asked for, but Noriko suggests keeping them as a way to spite Cammy and trick those who would judge Robynne's gaming skills by her colorful case, offering the name CandyStrike for the computer. Noriko calls Nick and Will over so the latter can inspect the components for bugs, though the others realize this is actually an excuse to spend time with her hidden crush Nick.

### Week 5

When Robynne senses a Buy Bright employee draining Investiture via phones, she has Cory and Eli contact the whole team and gives them her own affected phone for Will to inspect. After the fight, Serenity leads the police on a chase long enough for the Hush Corps to hack into the store's network and dispose of evidence. During the debriefing, Robynne is told the Hush Corps are ready to contact her Uncle Taylor so he can come to Kessia City with the plane and Homecoming game tickets they had rigged for him, as the plan was for Robynne to explain her situation in person where the Standridge Stones' perception filter can help.

The next morning, the team discusses Robynne's vision, which notably featured the Princess utilizing her religion's forbidden emotions to lie her way past the corrupt Vice-Archon Liff. The others are concerned as none of their visions had any signs of this, which leads them to wonder if the Shrine Maiden, like Robynne, had the keenest empathokinetic perception among the team. While Tanya visits to give Robynne and Vivian a surprise promotion assignment for SFEERS's *Mega Mash Family Battle* tournament, Mallory, Angela, and Noriko hide in the latter's room. After Tanya leaves, Noriko tails her to see if she'll report back to Cammy.

Later, another team meeting is held, where Robynne tells the others how during the promotion she ran into NightKnight, who has a different appearance from their previous encounter, sports a new textured aura, and is a member of the ConSpiriters. The plan for Taylor's arrival is also laid out: Angela and Mallory will pose as representatives of the contest he won and lead him to his hotel room where Rob will be waiting, with Noriko on standby and the surrounding rooms rented out for their privacy. The team wonders if there is significance in Rob happening upon the textured auras of NightKnight, Dale, and Fretribution in such short time, as before this Cammy's was the only one they knew of. Hearing from Eli that Dale intends to go to the *Mega Mash Family* tournament tonight, the team figures it would be an ideal opportunity for Rob, Vivian, and Kara to study his textured aura side by side with Fretribution's, with Rob intending to convince NightKnight to come as well. Angela also wants to attend the tournament, but Noriko fears Cammy might learn of Angela's appearance at SFEERS, so it's decided that she could go in a goth disguise, with Noriko suggesting "Alison Ward" be a pseudonym. Mallory and Vivian accompany Angela to prepare the disguise, while Noriko goes to meet Nick and Will to create ID for this "Alison Ward" alter ego and see whether Cammy will have a spy at the tournament.

## Relationships

### Kunapipi

Noriko is hired by Kunapipi to return a centuries-old favor with her clan. Noriko reports to Kunapipi and relays intel to her, such as giving her notes on each of the Spirit Guard's visions so they can be digitally recorded and referenced in the future. Under Kunapipi's orders, Noriko is not to use lethal force unless specifically authorized.

### Nick and Will Siekert

Noriko is joined by Nick and Will shortly after being hired by Kunapipi, forming the Hush Corps to protect the Spirit Guard's identities. Noriko develops a crush on Nick but finds herself unable to say so, often creating menial work for the Hush Corps as an excuse to see him. Will is annoyed at Nick's ignorance and Noriko's work-related excuses often dragging him along as well.

### Angela Warrant

Noriko has known Angela since the very beginning of the latter's Spirit Guard career. Because of this, Angela has a better understanding of her than most and is used to her methods and showmanship. As the Spirit Guard are technically Noriko's clients, she usually defers to their orders.

### Mallory Drake

The analytical Noriko complements the headstrong and straightforward Mallory when problem solving. Mallory likes Noriko but has no problem doing things she'd disapprove of, which is demonstrated when she tells her parents about her Spirit Guard business behind the back of the others.

### Vivian Feliz

Noriko is roommates with Vivian, who has a completely opposite personality to her. Vivian gives Noriko the nickname Spooky for her tendency to startle others by unintentionally sneaking around. Vivian likes to tease Noriko and annoy her by making a mess of her bed and desk. Noriko can sometimes get fatigued having to live with Vivian antics, and is glad when Robynne secures a spot for Vivian on the cheer team as it'll get her out of the dorm more often.

### Kara Balmer

Noriko is roommates with Kara, who displays an understanding of Noriko's upbringing and is quick to defuse tensions between the ninja and the others. Kara is glad whenever she sees Noriko and Nick together. Noriko greatly enjoys Kara's cooking.

### Robert Dreese/Robynne Darling

Noriko deems Robert trustworthy after running a background check on him, but goes back on this after he had Cory and Eli record his meeting with the Spirit Guard. Rob, in turn, dislikes Noriko for threatening Cory and Eli. Noriko realizes she misjudged Rob after he gives up his way of life to transform into Spirit Guard Serenity and save Mallory. The transformed Robynne decides to move into Noriko's room when told they share a desire for privacy. Noriko and Robynne make up after Noriko sincerely apologizes as well as returns the comic book Rob had lost during the Day LaMode battle. Noriko uses her analytical nature to help Robynne understand and deal with her new life, assuring her that stressing over seemingly minor things is perfectly understandable as no one can fully comprehend Robynne's unique burdens. Noriko takes to teaching Robynne parkour moves for use in monster fights.

### Cory Frost and Eli Drake

Noriko initially distrusts Cory and Eli after she catches them spying on Robert's meeting with the Spirit Guard. Her opinion changes, however, after Rob transforms into Serenity and the two friends are quick to cooperate with the Hush Corps. The pair remain uneasy around her as she carries weapons and has displayed a willingness to kill.

## In *MGP Alpha*

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In *MGP Alpha*, Noriko had largely the same role as her *Magical Girl Policy* counterpart. Unlike in MPG, where Noriko's strict upbringing in a secluded society gives her difficulty separating herself from work and relating to others, in *Alpha* it instead gives her trouble knowing how to properly express herself while also living up to the standards set by her father. Noriko's father is the head of the clan, which is named the Yukimura clan here. Noriko often spends her time honing her skills in her dorm, such through target practice for her shuriken. She also has a habit of using a smoke bomb to cover her leave even in private or social situations. She has a crush on Raymond Gwynn, Nick's *Alpha* equivalent.

## Gallery

Noriko in her ninja attire.Noriko startles Robynne with her quiet entrance.Noriko's appearance in a comic where Robynne is forced into cosplay.Noriko in a Christmas-themed costume.Noriko presenting a bento lunch.
## Trivia

* Noriko was referenced in a banner on the original Taralynn's Desk: "Don't turn around! Noriko is right behind you!"
* In Chapter 26's author commentary, Taralynn Andrews says she enjoys writing conversations between Noriko and Robynne as they are both "observant outsiders". Noriko had spent most of her life in a clan with a completely different culture, while Robynne had spent most of her life as a male.
* Prior to the August-September 2021 revisions, Chapters 4 and 9 depicted Noriko with an appearance different than what she does now: with hair held in a bun and a height of less than five feet, respectively.