Izumi Okazaki

**Izumi Okazaki** is a Special Class Ghoul Investigator of the CCG and the leader of Okazaki Squad. He is also a practitioner of the Niten Ichi Ryu style of kenjutsu (japanese swordsmanship).

## Appearance

Izumi looks like a pretty average person in appearance. He stands at 1,78 m of height and has 75kg of weight, with a lean and slightly muscular body.

His hair is medium-sized and black, with a messy look to it. Izumi's face also looks pretty normal, with the exception of his black eyes, which have a sharp look to it, making it seems like he's always staring something down in concentration.

At home, he always wears a kimono, and in the streets, he wears normal looking clothes and pants, with long sleeves and legs, covering all of his body.

## Personality

Izumi has a strange personality that most people might find odd at first. Whether it's in his job or a normal situation of his life, he always has a serious expression and talking tone. However, to the surprise of most, he is usually a kind and sociable person, who enjoys talking to other people. Izumi appears to never lose his calm and composure, and one can never see a trace of emotion in his speech or actions, with the exception of his eyes, that in combat have a murderous and sharp look to them.

Later on, it is revealed through other interactions that his way of acting has partly root on Taoism thinking, which also has inspired many Japanese famous personalities in earlier centuries, including Miyamoto Musashi, who put many of the concepts of the philosophy into his book. This was one of the reasons as to why Izumi was first introduced to Taoism, and also why he holds a very aloof attitude towards such concepts of good and evil.

Other than that, the investigator is a very polite person, who places great importance in tradition, duty, and dedication to his practice in kenjutsu, always trying to perfect the art that his master taught him.

## History

Not much is revealed about Izumi's past before his 10 years of age. He witnessed an accident that resulted in mental trauma, making him unable to sleep well and to show any sign of emotions. Izumi already lived in an orphanage at that point.

This health problem kept on going for weeks, making him suffer hallucinations and a weak body from sleep deprivation without any apparent cure, until Makoto Okazaki, an old man who came to the orphanage to teach kenjutsu to the kids sometimes, found him in that situation and decided to help the boy. He taught Izumi a meditation method which helped him in a big way. It started to take off all the weight and tension off his back, as if in a miracle, gradually helping in his recuperation. After some time guiding the boy, Makoto decided to take Izumi as his son to further assist in his recovery.

Izumi then started life under his guardian, taking his surname and moving to an old traditional japanese house that he owned. Makoto started teaching him the art and philosophies of the Niten Ichi Ryu, a style of kenjutsu created by the greatest swordsman Musashi. As the years went on, Izumi began to recover his mental health and master the way of the sword that his master taught him. However, after seven years Makoto died of old age, leaving the house and all his possessions to Izumi.

Though it is only known to Izumi, but the reason as to why Makoto trained him was so that the investigator could carry on his legacy after he died. The man was actually a retired assassin that worked in another country. Later on, it is revealed by Izumi himself to Kayami that Makoto put him under a very dangerous training regiment. The man always taught kenjutsu to him with real steel swords, even when sparring. This resulted in him having to suffer a great amount of wounds during his seven years under his master. He also mentioned that he had never managed to hit the man even one time when they were sparring.

Izumi never thought about what he would do after the death of his master, so in the year after he aimlessly tried to search for a path that he would like to follow. Not much is know about what happened in between that space of time and his joining to the CCG, but Izumi himself doesn't like to remember certain things he has done during that period.

## Powers and Abilities

**Niten Ichi Ryu:** Consists on a kenjutsu style created by Miyamoto Musashi, which main traits are the use of strategy against the opponent and of two swords, a katana (long sword) and a wakizashi (short sword), in each hand, making it suitable for fighting against many opponents at the same time.

**Strategic Mind:** As by the teachings of his master, Izumi has learned how to use strategies in both his personal battles and on the wider battlefield. That being so, he likes to make plans against each of his enemies and to exploit and discover their weaknesses and abilities.

**Decisive and Fast Kenjutsu:** Izumi's main trait in a fight is fast and decisive strikes against his enemy with the sword. He counts on that ability to be able to end the fight with the least possible amount of moves, surprising and overwhelming his opponent with his sword blows. However, due to Izumi's own health and the taxing amount of energy required of this style, he is not suited to fight drawn out battles.

**Strengths:** With all his training and quick reflexes, Izumi makes for a very fast and expert sword user, being able to deal deadly and precise strikes against his enemies, and managing to dodge and keep up against faster opponents. His martial training also made him a good strategist, which helps him in planning against others and exploiting their weaknesses.
**Weaknesses:** Due to health problems, Izumi's stamina is not able to keep up in long fights, which makes durable opponents that might drag out the battle not the best match for him.
## Quinque

-Rather than carrying his weapons around in briefcases, Izumi instead chooses to use the equivalent traditional japanese sword scabbard to store his quinque. They take a plain and unassuming black appearance, and other than its different casing, it functions like a normal metal briefcase, also utilizing biometric identification. The investigator at the moment carries one for each of his two main quinque, both strapped on opposite sides of his waist, and they can be seen on his person at all times during work, even at the office or during meetings. Although the smell of the quinque can still be felt by perceptive ghouls, with appropriate covering this casing also allows for Izumi to be more discreet when carrying his weapons around while not in service.

### **Paiko & Peiko**

**Name:** Paiko & Peiko

**Rating:** B+

**Type:** Rinkaku

**Appearance**: Paiko remembers a katana, though a little bit bigger than normal, with a blade of 90cm, and a slightly larger width. The weapon is segmented, divided in 8 parts with a light violet color to it. The handle is simply black with some materials that facilitate the grip, and it doesn't have a guard. Along the cutting edge, there are spikes which point downwards on an angle with the blade, one for each part. It's counterpart, Peiko, is modeled after a wakizashi but also a bit bigger than normal, though smaller than Paiko, with a blade length of 70cm. Other than that the second blade is also identical to Paiko, though it is divided in 7 parts rather than 8.

**Strengths:** Suited for close combat and quick strikes, the swords' spikes allow the user to rip apart a ghoul's kagune and body more easily, making for an effective offensive quinque.

**Weaknesses:** Though it can be used to parry strikes, the swords are not really useful in blocking direct hits, as the blade structure is segmented and may break apart against a strong attack, making it not the most durable quinque.

**Mechanics:** As it resides on a case, the swords are folded in its parts, resting side to side. However, as the case opens and the pressure is released it quickly hardens the material that connects these parts, straightening the swords, and transforming them into a whole blade. Other than that, the use for the swords is pretty straight forward.

OBS - Currently, due to finding a suitable substitute, Izumi only makes use of the katana of his twin-swords.

### **Nephilim**

*Designed by KakujaKun*

*Quinque made out of Queen's kakuhou.*

**Name:** Nephilim

**Rating:** A+

**Type:** Bikaku/Ukaku

**Appearance:** A black sword katana, with a whitened blade along it's cutting edge, having a length of 75cm. The handle itself is designed in a very traditional way, resembling most traditional japanese swords and being fashioned by a silver colored metal and black wrapping with no special carvings. The guard itself is also very standard, being a simple plain silver circular-shape. When the Ukaku chimera part is activated, the sword becomes covered by a radiant yellow-orange gel-like substance.

**Strengths:** The Bikaku blade has higher than average durability and sharpness. The Ukaku component of the chimera quinque consists in a thick, gel like substance that covers the blade once activated. It increases the capabilities of the sword and provides it with versatility - when attacking the gel can amplify the sharpness of the sword, when blocking it can soften the impact of an opponent's weapon and finally - the gel can find several other uses such as being swung as a whip-like structure or leaving a gelatinous "afterimage", being useful in its own right - for instance if the sword is spun in a full circle, the afterimage would create a shield that would protect the user from attacks coming from that area for up to 2-3 seconds.

**Weaknesses:** When impacting with high-velocity hits, especially so if their mass is high, like those of a powerful rinkaku, there's a chance that the parts of the gel might get blown off of the sword and reduce the volume of the available gel, until it is restored at a CCG Quinque lab.

**Mechanics:** When only the Bikaku form is active, the quinque functions very much like a normal weapon. The Ukaku aspect can introduce intense versatility to the weapon, as explained in the strength section. Additionally it can have other uses as well - for instance if one has already impaled their target with Nephilim, having the Ukaku gel start spinning is an easy way to temporarily give the sword drill-like properties or when one is blocking using the gel to make the opponent's weapon slip along the blade can also be convenient. With Izumi's own art of applying a "sticky" feeling to the blade when crossing swords, this also proves extremely useful. The quinque functions much like a normal katana once first taken out of its case, until a button at the handle is pressed and the Ukaku part manifests and starts covering the blade from the hilt up.

## Threads

OBS: They are organized by the order they were posted.

## Trivia

* Izumi always has his steel wakizashi with him anywhere he goes. Anywhere, at all times.

* He rarely sleeps. Instead, he meditates to get rid of the fatigue.

* Izumi is not only an expert in swordsmanship, but he also is well practiced in traditional penmanship. He likes to write with an old style in scrolls about many subjects or quotes that he finds interesting.

* Izumi enjoys talking about philosophical subjects.

* Izumi was the first character in the RP to reach the rank of Associate Special Class.