Yōkitsune Higashi

## Personality

Flighty, abrupt, and snappy, Yōko can be easily considered a delinquent even among suna shinobi. Her natural talent for wind release surfaced at a young age, giving her something of an overconfidence in her own abilities that often found her in trouble. Bitter at her father for being absent from her life, Yōko was highly-dependent on the approval and affection of others throughout her youth, which quickly found her involved with the wrong crowd. As a result, Yōko has gone to jail several times for various minor crimes in a bid to catch the attention of her peers.

Following the death of her father, Yōko’s new found friendship with Kanko, her father’s Fox-yokai summon, lead her to noticeably mature, becoming a more courageous and confident individual. Her confrontational attitude and tendency to assert herself coupled with her fierce determination make her an aggressive and highly-persistent opponent. She stoically endures the hardships that she faces, and carries on toward her goal without regard for her own suffering and possible risks. Her interactions with enemies are often surly taunts or death threats, especially so when faced with despicable individuals. Yōko can be particularly violent in her fights; taking somewhat of a “no holds barred” approach that leaves her without remorse when maiming or gruesomely wounding enemies. Yōko is also incredibly vindictive, repaying tenfold any wrong committed against her, moreover, she often holds even small grudges for a considerably long time.

Despite her apparently coarse nature, Yōko can be described as a selfless individual with honorable morals and a strong love for her family and friends. Outside of combat, she behaves like an average young woman, if not a teenage girl. Fun-loving and sociable, she is able to converse with her fellow peers easily. Yōko is also notably open about things that would otherwise be considered too embarrassing or “taboo” to speak about - this often leaves her either comically humiliated, or those around her feeling extremely uncomfortable.

### Notable Characteristics

* *English Voice*
* *Theme Music*
* Yōko often forgoes her given birth name, Yōkitsune, for its alternative and much easier reading: Yōko (妖狐).
* Often dons a white ceremonial headband in self-proclaimed act of aesthetic intimidation when it's "go-time".
* Frequently uses the word "radical", and other outdated versions of it, such as "groovy", "nifty" and "neat-o".
* **Things she likes are:** Onigiri, artistic graffiti, underage drinking, shaking soda-cans in the grocery store, and sticking it to the man.
* **Things she dislikes are:** Betrayal, a condescending attitude, mosquitoes, being on the receiving end of a shaken soda-can, and small spaces.

## Background

From an early age, Yōko’s father, **Tenko Higashi**, was seldom present in her life, leaving her mother, **Myōbu** **Higashi**, to raise her alone - a feat for which she has the utmost respect today. This filled her with a bitterness for her father that drove her to delinquency in an effort to gain the attention of those around her. On several occasions, Yōko went to prison for committing minor crimes such as theft, vandalism and even assault. This spell of misbehavior lasted through the majority of her youth and up until her father’s death, though she states that she deeply regrets putting her mother through the trauma that she did.

At some point or another, as a young child, Yōko happened upon her curious young neighbor; a boy by the name of Shinzo Yuki. In passing, she noticed that Shinzo was attempting to play with an incredibly deadly species of scorpion, leading her to promptly kick the insect away and explain (see talk-at) the danger associated with a creature like that. Despite the somewhat awkward nature of their first meeting, the pair became close friends, and remained so for some time. Eventually, Yōko and her mother moved further across to the other side of the village, where her up and coming stretch of delinquency saw them fall out of touch with one another.

Despite her frequent and childish misconduct, Yōko was touted to be of natural talent from a very young age, learning to use her Wind Release chakra nature before the age of 5. Unfortunately for many, her promising abilities were put to poor use, often serving as a basis for further acts of aggression and lawbreaking, landing her in trouble as a result.

Following her father’s death, Yōko was introduced to **Kanko**; the fox-yokai summon of her father that was entrusted with the protection of Yōko in his stead. Through the bond they soon forged, Yōko learned that her father was part of an anti-kazekage group that sought to eliminate the Third Kazekage; Chihiro Hōki. At the time, anti-kazekage groups were more common than ever due to the lack of acceptance for a woman Kazekage; especially one whom was not a part of the historically well-known leaders that were the Higashi family. His involvement with the movement, though seemingly only a supporting role, made both himself and his family a target, given the heavy crackdown on treachery and treason lead by the Third Kazekage, which pushed him to distance himself from both Yōko and her mother for the sake of their safety. Ultimately, he was killed during a failed assassination attempt on the Kazekage that lead Kanko to erase any evidence of a connection to his family.

The next few years of Yōko’s life were spent happily with her mother, and under the mentorship of Kanko. Enrolling in the academy, the naturally talented Yōko entered with the hopes of becoming a Suna kunoichi. With Kanko by her side, she learned the swift and precise, yet graceful quick-draw sword technique called iaijutsu. Because the technique is highly aesthetic and requires great calm of the spirit, the learning process forced her to come to terms with her father’s absence and his death, ridding her of any bitterness and resentment that she held, and in-turn causing her to noticeably mature.

As a reformed delinquent, Yōko’s high-grades and exceptional skill lead her to stand out in the academy, even among her peers. During her time spent at the academy, she managed to rekindle her friendship with Shinzo, whom is now once again a close friend. Eventually, she passed her academy exams along with her Yuki friend, and graduated to become a fully-fledged Genin of Sunagakure.

## Combat Style

### Iaijutsu

Yōko fights primarily using a swift and precise, yet graceful quick-draw sword technique called iaijutsu. Iaijutsu is a combative, but not necessarily aggressive, sword-drawing art. Iaijutsu technique may be used aggressively to wage a premeditated surprise attack against an unsuspecting enemy, or a swift counterattack-oriented technique at the right moment. Because the kenjutsu style is focused on the quick-draw and simultaneous cutting of a target, both speed and accuracy play a key role in it's efficiency.

### Summoning Jutsu: Kanko

Yōko often summons a small, silvery-white colored Kitsune (fox-yokai) named Kanko to aid her in combat. It has sharp teeth and claws like a fox. Though it's abilities have not yet matured, fully-grown Kitsune saliva often possesses a high amount of incredibly concentrated silver that can enter one’s bloodstream via their skin, similar to the venom of a poison dart frog. The high concentrate of silver causes slow and painful organ failure, turning the localized skin a purple-grey in color (a condition known as Argyria, caused by excessive exposure to the element silver.)

### Wind Release

While not fully matured, Yōko’s use of Wind Release often involves simple attacks such as heavy gusts of wind and wily distractions.

## Items

**Kunai** (∞): A standard ninja throwing tool made from Iron.

**Shuriken** (∞): A standard ninja throwing tool made from Iron.

**Kitsunebi:** A katana with a glossy black scabbard and a black handle; the blade is made of iron. There's nothing special about the sword at first glance, other than the fact that it has a small guardian lion made of gold carved into the base of the handle.

## Trivia

* **Kitsune** (狐, キツネ) is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; in English, kitsune refers to them in this context.
* **Yōkitsune** (妖狐) refers to a mythological fox spirit.
* The alternative reading for the kanji "Kitsune" (狐) is "Ko", providing the namesake for Yōko, as opposed to her given name of Yōkitsune.
* Yōko is partially based, in general personality and loose backstory theme, on *Stone Ocean's* Jolyne Cujoh.
* Yōko's face-claim is that of *Kantai Collection's* Asashimo.
* **Kuda-gitsune** or **Kanko** (管狐, "pipe fox") is a type of spirit possession in Japanese legends.
* **Tenko** (天狐, "Heavenly Fox") are a type of nine-tailed kitsune in Japanese folklore.
* **Myōbu** (命婦) is the name given to the white foxes guarding the shrine of Inari God in Fushimi, Kyoto, which were viewed by devotees as a symbol of good luck.
* **Kitsunebi** (狐火, "Fox Fire") is an atmospheric ghost light told about in legends all across Japan. It is often said that foxes trick humans, so likewise, the kitsunebi would light up places where there are no roads and make the humans lose their way.