POWER DESCRIPTIONS

Shapeshifting came on slowly for Yuuki and it seemed like quite the miracle. With a fluid gender identity it was earth-shatteringly glorious to be able to make those little changes to their body to reflect their gender in the moment. And usually, that's all they use it for, though they have also occasionally made themself look older or younger depending on what they were trying to do. They have more potential than they actually use in respect to their shapeshifting, but they don't see much point in exerting themself. What they have is enough to make them happy.

As for the clairvoyance, Yuuki has come a long way since first hearing the whisperings of the dead. They can now completely block out all but the strongest spirits, earning them some much needed peace and quiet. More recently they've even been able to view things through the "eyes" of distant spirits with which they have built a rapport and learn all kinds of interesting things. When in a trance they can even mentally ride along and converse with more subtle or delicate entities.

APPEARANCE

With a long face, high cheek bones, and thin lips, Yuuki's face isn't especially striking, aside from their almost luminous grey eyes. However, their skill with makeup allows them to accent and downplay certain features to portray a more masculine or feminine look, as they prefer, even without making use of their shapeshifting abilities. Their hair is thick and jet black; usually kept around shoulder length, though they shift it longer when they feel like it. 

Built along lean lines, Yuu doesn't look as out of shape as they really are. Since they spend most of their time still they lack muscle tone, but even so they don't need to shift to appear rather svelte. Their wardrobe is an eclectic mix of all sorts of things: grungy jeans covered in paint stains to elegant dresses and everything in between. Much of their attire is in cool colors but they still have quite the varied sense of fashion.

PERSONALITY

Yuuki is a pretty good sort, but they aren't always easy to get along with. The last couple of years have shown them to be able to stand on their own, but they are still easily swayed by those they trust and admire. They are unstintingly loyal but it can take a little time to get used to their hypersensitivity and impulsively spontaneous ideas. 

They generally mean well, but don't aways think things through enough. It's lead to a number of foot-in-the-mouth incidents and well as quite a few "fun" anecdotal events. They tend to assume anything going wrong is their fault and, as such, apologize a bit too much. It's only because they earnestly want to make people happy and get along with them.

BIOGRAPHY

The middle of three children, Yuuki has never wanted for company. They and their older brother are so called Irish twins, born in the same year. Needless to say, they grew up incredibly close, almost like real twins despite their eventual differences. Their younger sister was born a scant year later and the three of them were thick as thieves. With a biologist mother and an illustrator father, the trio were often relegated to the care of their older cousin as their parents often worked long hours on their various projects.

As they grew up, the Zakharov children became more individualized; less of a three-bodied single creature and more of a diverse trio. Yuuki, for one seemed to follow in their father's artistic footsteps, although they were less interested in telling a story and more in simply making art. Ever since they were a youngster they were into paint and pretty things. As they grew their interest, and talent, only increased. Before long, Yuuki had graduated from crayons and had moved on to making surprisingly good watercolor paintings for their age. Proud of his child, Papa Zakharov took Yuu under his wing, teaching them all he could in stolen moments between illustration projects.

Still, the children were mostly left to their own devices to follow their own pursuits, and so they did. Yuu for one, took to raiding his siblings' wardrobes and toys with seeming equal abandon. "Borrowing" from an older brother was normal, but from a younger sister? Their parents were afraid that their second child was going to grow up to be a pervert or worse. Yuuki was greatly discouraged from such behavior but it only made them begin to hide it and become more withdrawn.

Yuu didn't have a word for how they felt, not really, but ever since the age of five they seemed to gravitate from being content as a boy to acting as girl. It was confusing, especially since they couldn't express theirself to their parents, but they muddled through as best they could and kept their blossoming self identity under wraps.

Yuuki's early teen years saw them withdrawn and sullen as the difficulties of adolescence only exasorbated their long-growing insecurities and gender identity difficulties. It didn't help that they had begun hearing and seeing things no one else could. At first they thought they were daydreams or something equally explainable. But then things they couldn't explain kept happening. A voice would tell them to go home from school a different route because something bad had happened only to find out later on the news that a student from their school had been murdered; abducted off the street Yuu usually walked home on. The voice that had whispered in their ear had sounded familiar. Was it really the ghost of the murdered girl? Why would she warn Yuuki of all people. 

Perhaps it was that they were the only one who could hear her. She didn't stick around long, but other spirits did. Yuu had half a mind to just block it all out and ignore it; it was making them feel like they were going to crawl out of their skin every time a disembodied voice spoke. But one night, when they were stargazing half asleep, they felt a small, cool hand on their shoulder. 

"Please don't turn around," whispered a soft voice; a little boy's voice. "My mamma is in trouble will you help her?" Not knowing what else to say, and honestly assuming it was a dream anyway, Yuuki agreed. They followed the soft voice's directions, seemingly wandering aimlessly through the city. It wasn't until the voice told them to go into an apartment building that Yuu thought twice about all this. But it was too late to back down now. A woman was screaming for help from the ground floor apartment. Even through the glass and curtains her fear and pain were clear. 

They were just a kid, themself, but they couldn't stand to hear someone so scared and not even try to help. So they called 9-1-1 on their cell and gave the dispatcher the address. But then he did exactly what the dispatcher had told him not to do: he went to try and help. By the time the police got there it might be too late!

And so it was. Yuuki was franticly pounding on, and kicking at, the door to the apartment, tears streaming down their thin cheeks when the apartment went deathly quiet. When the police did arrive Yuu refused to leave until they knew what happened but the authorities were not inclined to show a mere child such a crime scene. They didn't need to. The little boy's voice had been joined by another, this one a woman's. She told Yuuki not to feel bad that they didn't get there in time, that a child like them shouldn't bear the grief of another's sins. 

When they were escorted home by a concerned cop and the Zakharovs were told just where their precocious child had been, Yuuki found themself under what amounted to house arrest. Their parents were terrified at what might have happened to their middle child, wandering alone like that at night and bearing witness with ear if nothing else to a murder-suicide. 

Being confined to the house outside of school didn't do Yuu any favors. They were mostly left alone to stew in their own anxieties with both siblings engaged in after-school activities and both parents busy, even if they were sometimes home. But, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, at least in one respect. At the age of fifteen they discovered the idea of a gender spectrum, rather than the binary, and learned the concept of genderfluidity. It fit them to a tee and gave them a sense of self knowledge they simply didn't have before. This self awareness, not to mention a strong online support system, helped Yuuki come to terms with themself and damn the consequences.

Although they still suffered from insecurities and a certain amount of clinginess, they became much better adjusted. Considerably less caught up in self-doubt and -loathing, Yuuki was able to properly apply themself and began enjoying their time at Aurora Academy. Their skills with watercolor and inks only increased, and they began properly looking forward to the future. Even conversing with the dead didn't seem so strange to them anymore. After all, it was expected that artists should be a little eccentric, right?

> NO. 6; NEZUMI <