Setsuka

Setsuka's Official Portrait

### Intro

Setsuka is a woman of Japanese and German descent who currently serves as Empress Momo Kawashima's bodyguard & the Head of the Imperial Royal Security Forces. She is the 2nd Councilor of the High Charity High Council. She is known as "The Silent Snow Blossom" because of her incredible beauty & her preference of taking out her targets: a sword hidden in the handle of her wagasa, that she is seldom without.

### Appearance

Setsuka is a girl of incredible and undeniable beauty. With golden blonde hair and sky blue eyes, it is incredibly hard to tell her Japanese. Setsuka wears a variety of outfits, all Japanese. Commonly, she is seen with a lavish white, pink, and red kimono. With is she wears a pair of purple banded 2'' high geta, sometimes called zouri.

Alternatively, Setsuka is seen wearing a sleeveless kimono of pink and white with a red trim. It is fastened at the hip with a black corset. She wears black fingerless arm gloves with gold trim and a black mantle gifted to her by Empress Kawashima. She wears black heeled geta with red strappy styling. Notably, Setsuka's hair, tied into a roll ponytail adorned with a floral kanzashi, has several streaks of black hair in it (all real strands of hair) from dying it in an attempt to better fit in with the more ethnic Japanese.

### Personality

Setsuka is at heart a sweet and kind girl, albeit mostly silent and emotionless. Setsuka to others is seen as cold and at times completely devoid of emotion. To the point that even Hiei questions Setsuka's humanity. Momo is extremely fond of and looks up to Momo, who she loves as a friend and even to a point a mother figure, despite being of similar age. Though Setsuka considers Momo more of an older sister with mother-like qualities. Setsuka sees Momo like a mother figure due to her own biological parents abandoning her and the poor treatment she received from her aunt and uncle as a child. Setsuka is incredibly calm and hardly, if ever, raises her voice. She is also incredibly talented, and said to be a master of words and a gifted orator. Despite being the 2nd highest councilor on the High Council, she is regarded as the most powerful councilor currently sitting on the High Council. Setsuka controls herself very well. her training with her wagasa sword, as well as the lessons she learned from it, help her to control her anger and hatred towards her parents and relatives. Setsuka is master of her craft, and when she has downtime, or needs to vent anger or frustrations, she often is found on the Imperial Palace training grounds practicing and further perfecting her fighting style. Setsuka also finds solace in her faith. A devoted follower of Shinto, Momo had a private and personalized piece of land developed for Setsuka to go and properly worship the kami. These are known as the Murakumo Shrine Grounds and are considered off limits to everyone except Setsuka herself.

### Life

Setsuka was born to a German father and Japanese mother in Kagoshima Japan. Her early years were far from glamourous and at times borderline traumatic. When Setsuka was born, and throughout her early childhood, her father described Setsuka as 'not quite right' and her mother was constantly ill. This caused a strain in the relationship between her parents and at times led to verbal shouting matches between the two. Setsuka was never told her birthdate, nor her real name.

Setsuka's parents decided that, due to their constant bickering, her father's disapproval of the child, and her mother's inability to take care of her, that Setsuka was to be given to her aunt and uncle. This turned out to be an even worse experience for the young Setsuka, with her aunt and uncle referring to her as "demon child" and "demon spawn"

After years of verbal and physical abuse and trauma, Setsuka ran away from home, aged about 12 years old. After running away for some time, she became lost and ended up stranded in the snow for 1 day. She was discovered by a recreational hunting party, out hunting wild boar, and took her to an orphanage where her life was somewhat better. Until she was 15, Setsuka learned and educated all the way up to current grade levels.

At age 15, Crown Princess Momo had stopped by, looking for a friend or even sister, and her parents wanted to give a disadvantaged child a second chance at life. Setsuka made no attempts to interact with the Crown Princess, believing that she was not Japanese enough to have a chance.

Momo approached Setsuka and began to speak with her. The girl didnt know her name or her birthday and told the future Empress her long and tragic story. Overcome with sympathy, Momo demanded that her parents adopt Setsuka claiming that if they dont that she would shatter Japan into so many pieces that the time it would take to pick them up would kill them anyways.

Momo named the girl 'Setsuka' which means 'snow flower' in Japanese, and gave her a birthday of February 14th, which was the day in 1927 that Mt. Nigita saw its heaviest snowfall.

Overtime, growing up in the Imperial Palace with Momo, Setsuka began to adopt some mannerisms and traditions that made her at least seem more Japanese, the way she wanted since she was a little girl. She wore lavish kimono & beautiful geta shoes on her otherwise barefeet. She continued to take her education very seriously. She did multiple Japanese ceremonies and traditions and rituals. She became very protective of Momo and learned a unique sword art to protect her. When she became a master of the hidden blade, Momo gifted to Setsuka a wagasa with a sword in the base, tailored to Setsuka's custom specifications.

After graduating from High School, Setsuka entered at the University of Tokyo to study and become a writer. She wanted to write about her experiences on paper and tell the world her story. During this time, she spoke to Hiei Kawamura about possibly becoming a legislator and even future councilor. Inspired by her selection by Hiei herself, Setsuka spent her free time being taught by Hiei and trained to become a future councilor.

Setsuka graduated from University with a Masters Degree in writing and literature, but wrote her book on the side, focusing her time into completing work and studying for exams for councillorship. It took her until she was 20 to study and pass the exams, becoming the 2 highest ranking councilor on the High Charity High Council. She has been a part of important policy for the planetoid construct and is the author of 3 passed policy resolutions.

In late 2148, Setsuka published "A Blossom in the Snow" a book detailing her life from her childhood all the way up until now. The book has received overwhelmingly positive reviews and has sold over 525,000 copies nationwide.

### Trivia

* Setsuka is the only girl in the entire Royal Family who's name is not her real name, and who's name was given to her by Momo
* Setsuka is known as a "hafu" which means a person who is only half Japanese, and/or has only one Japanese parent.
* Setsuka is the only Royal Family member that exclusively wears kimonos
* Setsuka loves wagasas. She admits that even without the hidden blade, she would still carry one wherever she went.