Historian of the Opal Lead
Kitsune Kin of the Court of Bamboo Talons
Description
~Good-looking and impeccably dressed, Toshi soars through pride and gentility. The manner of his sharp grooming and the expensive but tasteful suit suggests a wealthy upbringing. Toshi maintains his black hair short and conservative. His Japanese features leave him a touch shorter than most Western men. But the bright glimmer in his brown eyes and the ever-present, faint smile implies his intellect and ego tower higher. The young man appears fresh out of college with a Bachelor's or better. Everything about Toshi declares smartness. From the way he tucks his hands into his pocket and leans forward, to the habit of just smiling down on people, Toshi comes off more like the proverbial smart-ass.~
OOC: Appearance 3; Pure Breed 3
"Manifest Destiny? That sounds like what we Japanese were given for the world...and what we Kitsune were given for heaven."
History
Youth
Bearing the mantle of divinity in his blood was never easy for Kagaya Toshi. Not only did familial obligation bind him, but he felt it appropiate to take pride in his luminous lineage. Toshi's mother, Takanashi Mutsumi, was a fox-woman -- Kitsune -- who followed the Kataribe Path. She met his father, Kagaya Gobu, through dinner parties in Kyoto. She discovered Gobu was Kin to the Kitsune. The pair's fiery relationship eventually matured into a marriage. Toshi was their first child -- Kin like his father.
And Toshi was fortunate enough to have parents who genuinely loved each other and their child. Toshi was raised well in a spacious Kyoto home. Both parents combined their wealth for a prosperous family indeed. The house was large enough for more children. And that proved to be fatal. After Toshi's sister, Tomoko, was born, Gobu suddenly died as if he suffered heart failure. Sadly, this was the curse of the Kitsune. Tomoko was destined to become a Trueborn fox-woman like her mother. Mother Nature demanded compensation for the addition of a Trueborn Fox to the world -- one of the parents, and almost always the human one.
Though Toshi lost his father at a young age, he remembered much of the man. Toshi recalled the tales his father would tell at bedtime and the lessons he taught. Toshi learned to believe that the Japanese were the best at everything. He learned that the Japanese excelled at taking a pre-existing fabrication and improving it. More so, the kami (gods) favored Japan as their homeland. The Japanese were the "chosen people". While Toshi's mother was never quite this ethnocentric, she was a busy little Fox. She had duties at a local urban Beast-Court, the Court of Blue Waters. And when Tomoko was only a few years old, she accompanied her mother to Court.
So Toshi spent a lot of time home alone as a boy. However, he did go to school. His parents sent him to an expensive private school with the best professors around. When Toshi did have his mother around, she schooled him in the ways of the Kitsune. Oh, she didn't tell him everything. But he got the basic gist of it all. She also showed Toshi her various fox-forms, and her vulpine beauty awed the youth. From his mother, he also learned of the hengeyokai -- other shapeshifters. He never met any, for he never visited the Court. But he enjoyed the books and scrolls his mother sometimes brought home from Court. He learned so much from those ancient Kitsune histories. Though he could not pronounce Kitsune-go, he learned how to read and write the language of the Foxes.
Education
As Toshi grew older, he proved a studious youth with a keen mind for history. Of course, his main issue continued to be his prejudices against all those not Japanese. Enlightenment came from unexpected angles, however. When Toshi was twelve, a Chinese Kitsune, with his wife and son, moved to Kyoto. The Kitsune joined the Court and moved into a home in the Kagaya's very neighborhood. At first, Toshi was incensed. But he eventually made friends with Nu Li Tsing, the only boy in the neighborhood close to his age. Their friendship grew over the next few years. Toshi played video games and more intellectual games with Tsing all the time. The friends became almost inseperable. Toshi's opinions didn't alter, except in regards to Tsing. He considered the other boy a very rare and exceptional example of a foreigner.
Then the two boys parted ways after five years. With plenty of pre-college credits under his belt already, thanks to his private school's honor program, Toshi was ready for university. He attended the University of Kyoto. For several years, he pursued a doctorate. The young man majored in Japanese history with a specialty in family heraldry. Toshi lost contact with Tsing, who went elsewhere for college. Meanwhile, Toshi focused on his academics. He never even bothered with a girlfriend, remaining aloof and perceived as arrogant. He refused to tarry with those lacking Kitsune blood.
After graduation at age twenty-three, Toshi boasted his doctorate. His only real option of a career was to teach history. However, his mother presented an alternative. He could work for the hengeyokai as a historian, scholar, and academic advisor. So he could fulfill such a role, his mother supplied him with a copy of the Emerald Records. Toshi learned even more about the hengeyokai, especially Kitsune. He was completely familiarized with the history of the Foxes after that! And from what he learned, Toshi began to form theories. He decided that Japanese Kitsune were a superior breed, a cut above the rest. Yes, the first Fox was Chinese. But the greatest proliferation of the Kitsune race as a whole coincided with the birth of Japan. Was that a coincidence? Kitsune history suggested otherwise! Most of the Foxes' greatest heroes were Japanese, after all. Surely they were the chosen of the gods.
Barbarian Lands
Whether his speculations were true or not, Toshi's love of Kitsune heroes sparked his mother's interest. Through the Lore of the Kataribe, Mutsumi hinted to Toshi that a certain Fox was nearing a major breakthrough in mystical lore. Located in America, the Doshi (sorcerer) named Hotaru membered an immigrant Beast-Court in Kansas City's Little Asia district. She suggested that Toshi move to America, track down this Doshi, and record whatever breakthrough he achieved. Though Toshi didn't realize it, his mother hoped immersion in the West would shatter his bigoted views once and for all.
Once Toshi reached this Little Asia and joined the Beast-Court (as a Kinfolk adviser), Hotaru was easy to find. He was the Court Seer! Toshi was glad that the gai'nan agreed to have him recording his progress. Toshi observed the Doshi often. The sagely man wondered if the Ju-fu magic could be employed by Kinfolk, too. He knew the lingo (Kitsune-go) being used as magical glyphs, after all. He began to teach himself some origami to find out. Toshi also rooted for Hotaru's success in his experiments with True Jade. After all, that would provide more supporting proof to his theories that Japanese Kitsune were superior. However, what Toshi really needed to learn was how to be as flexible as his origami papers.
Significant Other
Toshi came to the Court of Bamboo Talons in 2004 to record Hotaru's discoveries. The last thing he expected was to meet a lovely and irresistible Shinju Kitsune who could become his dearest mate. Especially a Shinju of Chinese descent like Chu Hua Quan! Poor Toshi's world views are all a'flutter as Chu Hua seduced the handsome young academic into abandoning some of his racist views. Or rather, set them aside while indulging in primal passions with the lovely Eji. For Toshi's part, he's as confused as can be. Will he stay with Chu Hua like an intelligent man or "snap back to his senses"?
Chu Hua
Weakness Nipponism
Toshi is pretty racist. He believes the Japanese are superior to all other ethnicities, that Kitsune are superior to all other Changing Breeds, and that Japanese Kitsune are the most superior of all. Of course, this is just plain prejudice.
Likelihood of Corruption
Average.
Despite his bigotry, Toshi is not an evil man. He is reasonable and thoughtful. Of course, a clever demon could try and expand that prejudice until he becomes as vicious as the Rapists of Nanking.
