Post by cmd1095 on Feb 17, 2023 9:23:00 GMT
General Information
Name: Hiromi Ushio
Identity: Poltergeist
Gender: Female
Age: 32
Date of Birth: August 1st
Place of Origin: Japan
Occupation: UA 1B Homeroom teacher
Faction: UA
Appearance
Visual Appearance:
Physical Appearance: Hiromi is around 5'4", with short silvery hair and matching eyes. She is skinny but fit, with modest proportions. Her right arm is a high-tech prosthetic that is stylized to look normal unless closely inspected, or when reconfigured to access some of the gadgets built into it. Between the synthetic skin and the fact it's manipulated through use of Hiromi's quirk it's very difficult to tell the arm is fake without actually looking for the signs or being told about it. Hiromi also sports a small scar over her left eye, and star tattoos on her hips.
Civilian Clothes: Hiromi's style changes, but she is fond of vests, crop tops, and things resembling cloaks.
Hero Outfit: Hiromi's hero outfit consists of a suit of metallic body armor designed for maximum durability, as well as for providing a host of utility gadgets. Since her quirk doesn't enhance her body much or provide many defensive options, she needed armor to ensure she was protected from gunfire and other direct attacks.
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Features of the suit include
Bullet resistant metals - the materials the armor are made of are highly durable and capable of withstanding most small to mid-size bullets, though as with all armor the joints are weak points. And with all bullet-resistant materials, repeated hits can wear down the resistance.
Shock absorption padding - beneath the armor plates is specialized padding absorb physical impacts, as well as counteracting the electrical conductivity of the metal armor plates. While certainly more effective than the body armor worn by civilians or police, it does have limits to how much it can do to protect Hiromi from the kinds of hits many villains are capable of. The design is meant to mitigate and reduce damage as much as possible to keep her in the fight, even if it means broken bones and nasty bruises later.
Deployable gas mask - as the name describes, the suit contains a built in gas-mask that can be put on and lasts for several hours, though not nearly as long as a proper one not built into a suit might last. A small air supply allows it to double as a rebreather for about 30 minutes in emergencies.
Utility belt - contains various minor tools such as first aid supplies, handcuffs, cables to use as rope, etc...
Extra RAM/CPU - the suit links up with Hiromi's prosthetic arm computer (see below) to give it more processing power and speed that just doesn't fit in the device normally, making it faster and more reliable in the field when speed is absolutely necessary
Prosthetic arm - not part of the hero outfit, but notable regardless. The prosthetic is camouflaged to appear normal in daily life, but has some useful features as it can be manipulated by Hiromi's quirk, and saves space on mechanical parts
- built in computer - the forearm has a touchpad screen and computer, while stronger than your average smartphone or tablet, it's too small to pack any serious processing power or RAM without the suit. It does have programs for codebreaking/hacking, though without the suit they're not very effective. It also has criminal databases and built-in internet, but is mostly just a convenience tool for daily life.
-finger tools - built into the fingers are the following tools, usb port and stub for use with the computer, a lockpick, a screwdriver, and a flashlight, the thumb has no tools inside it. but can be detached and used as a tracking beacon
- hidden compartments - the upper arm has two concealable chambers that can be used to hide objects
- joint locks - in the event Hiromi is forced to stop using her quirk to control the arm, locks can be engaged to keep the arm from hanging limp and becoming a hinderance
Personality
Bad Habits:
Severe caffeine addiction - Hiromi bleeds coffee, other caffeinated drinks will suffice, but coffee is by far her favorite. When deprived of caffeine she becomes extremely irritable and nasty to be around. Caffeine pills can satiate her in the short term, but rarely are they strong enough to do much more than stave off the withdrawal symptoms. She's tried to break her addiction before... the result was subsequently stricken from all records and all involved swore to never speak of the incident again. She has not tried again since.
Bad at "masking" - Hiromi is neurodivergent. While not inherrently a bad thing she never quite got the hang of acting 'normal' and many of her habits that are perfectly normal for her can be seen as unusual by others. With her ADHD and other assorted "conditions" she can be perceived to be lazy or disorganized, self-centered, naïve, and any number of other unflattering adjectives, depending on just how her brand of blunt honesty, executive dysfunction, hyperfocusing, etc... manifest outwardly. Hiromi is aware of all of this, and does do her best to tone down some of her more "extreme" traits for others... but she also firmly believes that she shouldn't be ashamed of who she is, and refuses to change herself to make others like her.
Goal: To be the best teacher she can be, and to a lesser extent to prove that just because neurodivergent people are different, that doesn't make them lesser.
General Personality: Hiromi is a bit of an enigma, even to herself sometimes. Being autistic and having ADHD, she's very different from a lot of people. She can be seemingly disorganized and forgetful, bad at reading social cues, way too knowledgeable about random things, and simultaneously extremely empathetic and completely tactless.
However while her many "odd" traits can put people off, Hiromi is extraordinarily kind and supportive. And while she appears to be scatterbrained and disorganized, she's extremely intelligent and meticulous. The piles of disorganized papers in her office are actually all there by design, and she can find any obscure document in the chaos within seconds. She's bad at reading social cues, but makes up for that with incredible empathy and understanding. Those who can get past the ways Hiromi is different can get to know someone really special and make one of the best friends they'll ever have... so long as she remains caffeinated.
Personal Life
Mother: Chiromi Ushio, alive, quirk - telekinesis, Chiromi could move things using invisible 'hands' weighing roughly around her body weight, though it was speculated her weight limit could've been improved had she trained her quirk as a hero
Father: Hanzai Ushio, deceased, quirk - ki, Hanzai had the ability to manifest a sort of spiritual energy in his body. While he lacked the ability to project it outwards it could be used internally for things like accelerated healing, strengthening his body, and even delivering minor electric shocks on touch. His sickly body was unable to fully utilize his quirk however, as other members of his family could do much more with it.
Siblings: Tadashi Ushio, presumed dead, quirk - ki blasts, taking after his father and grandfather's quirk, Tadashi could do everything his father could with ki internally, but could also project it outwards as a projectile that delivered concussive force and heat on contact. While training to become a hero the blasts were trained to the point of becoming like minor explosions, with the potential to become stronger before his untimely demise cut his potential short
Extended family:
Masano Ushio- Grandfather, alive, quirk - Ki, like Hanzai's quirk above, Masano could bolster his body, heal wounds quickly, and additionally could coat his arms in the energy to explosively increase striking force and defend himself from attacks. He was never able to master projecting his ki out at range however, unlike his grandson Tadashi.
History:
Hiromi and her twin brother Tadashi were born to an upper-middle class family in Japan. Her Grandfather had been a respected hero, and while neither of her parents were cut out for hero-work, they held comfy positions at hero agencies. Her father was a technician who worked on maintaining and improving support gear, and her mother was a secretary. Between those jobs and the money her grandfather had made before retirement, they lived a rather comfortable lifestyle without many issues... at least at first.
It was pretty clear from a very young age that Hiromi was different from most kids. She almost never cried as a baby, and she was a fast learner and very observant. In her baby and toddler years this seemed like the promising signs of a genius in the making... but they were offset by worrying deficiencies in crucial areas. She didn't start speaking for well over a year longer than most children, and even when she did begin speaking she spoke unusually concisely and pragmatically, only using words as a means to an end rather than engaging in conversation of any kind. Still she could do math and read at a level several years beyond her age, and she always had her nose in a book learning something or another, so her parents didn't worry much at first.
Her brother was no slouch in these years either, but while he was much more sociable than his sister, Tadashi could never quite match her in performance outside of that and physical activities. He didn't seem to mind however, and the siblings were actually extremely close. Tadashi often acted as a sort of buffer between the world and Hiromi, understanding her quirks and mannerisms better than anyone and communicating with others on her behalf. The two were a dynamic duo, Tadashi bringing the social skills and physical prowess, and Hiromi bringing the book smarts. And that was even more true when they developed their quirks and started school.
Hiromi was a bit of a social outcast from the outset at school. Bookish, a bit antisocial, and just all around "weird" other kids made fun of her and bullied her a lot. And this intensified when her quirk manifested, the other kids thinking the floating hands and arms she could make were "creepy." Tadashi always stood up for his sister though, and he was quite popular, his quirk making him a star athlete and his naturally more sociable demeanor making him many friends. So while Hiromi was picked on occasionally and was always an outcast, things never really got bad for the twins in the early years of school.
Things gradually changed over the years though. The twins were still close, but their interests diverged greatly, as did their performances in various areas. Tadashi was an athlete and social butterfly, Hiromi was a star student and walking encyclopedia. Tadashi would flourish in some situations that Hiromi found deeply and inexplicably uncomfortable, and Tadashi could never match his sister's academics no matter how hard he tried. They drifted apart gradually, and as they did, the bullying of Hiromi intensified.
Life got increasingly difficult for Hiromi as they reached middle school age. By this point she and Tadashi had very little in common, and while they loved each other as siblings, they rarely spoke. Tadashi never took part in bullying her directly, but his defense of her was almost gone now. And now the bullying was so intense it took a serious toll on her mental health, and even her grades began to dip. As a result her parents and teachers began to dote on her more and more, trying to support her enough to outweigh the torment of her peers. Tadashi never complained about his parents playing favorites, but somewhere deep down he resented Hiromi for getting all the attention, and always being better than him at the things the adults seemed to care about.
Then the twins lost their father to cancer. Hanzai Ushio had always been a bit frail and came down with colds often, but his quirk accelerated his healing enough that no injury or cold kept him down long. It worked against him this time though. It turned out long-term exposure to certain chemicals when he was working on support gear had caused him to develop cancer, and the accelerated healing that normally helped him bounce back from diseases made this one progress far faster. By the time it was discovered at all, his fate was all but sealed. He fought valiantly for over a year, but ultimately Hiromi and Tadashi watched their father waste away. It was tragic, as so many deaths by illness often are, and it amplified the developing familial issues greatly. Hanzai and Tadashi had always been close, sharing a father-son bond that mitigated the resentment for the favoritism shown to Hiromi. With him gone, the rift between the siblings became much more severe.
Both Hiromi and Tadashi got into UA together, but Hiromi's seemingly weaker quirk landed her in class B, and her ever-popular brother ended up in class A. And now with the resentment from Tadashi boiling over, and the ego boost of being in the "better" class getting to his head... the bullying got much worse. Tadashi joined in on it himself now, and combined with the stigma of being class B and her severely lacking social skills, the first two years at UA were hellish for Hiromi. Even so, she pressed on, and her quirk grew in potency through training, making her strong enough to defend herself from her tormentors. The constant social pressure and the training in being a marketable hero helped her social skills too. She was still the "weird girl" a lot of the time, but she managed to improve her image over time and actually begin making friends.
In her third year at UA, Hiromi and Tadashi's relationship also began to improve. The grief of losing their father faded over time, Hiromi became more independent, and Tadashi began getting acknowledged for his own merits without being overshadowed. With the source of the resentment diminishing, the two began to get along again. The two years of bullying had definitely damaged their relationship, but when they graduated they actually became pro-heroes at the same hero agency. They still understood each other better than anyone else, and their teamwork made them quite the power-team as heroes. Given a few more years to sort out their issues, and their relationship might've had a happy ending.
It wasn't to be however, during a particularly rough battle with a villain the twins' issues flared up again. Nobody knows exactly what caused it other than Hiromi, who has never talked about the details. But the results were clear. Something was said, and the two began to argue. Tadashi's lingering resentment came to the surface, Hiromi's resentment of the bullying came out in kind, and their argument left them wide open to the villain's next attack. Both twins were caught in a massive explosion that completely destroyed Hiromi's right arm, and when she regained consciousness later Tadashi was nowhere to be found, presumed dead in the explosion.
Hiromi was devastated, blaming herself for her brother's death. She refused to get a prosthetic arm for many years after the incident, and left the agency she was working with to go solo instead, derailing her career. Her time as a solo pro-hero wasn't without successes, she apprehended many villains and made a decent living. However her somewhat inadequate social skills and difficulty marketing herself kept her from truly climbing the popularity rankings. Had she stuck with an agency that could've helped her along she might've become much more successful, but she didn't want that. She couldn't bear to be in the spotlight like her brother had, it made her uncomfortable and reminded her of him too much.
After years working solo and receiving therapy for her loss, Hiromi decided to hang up her cape, so to speak. Rather than continuing to vie for rank and working primarily as a pro-hero, Hiromi instead took a position as a teacher at her old school UA. Now older and wiser for her losses and experiences, she hopes to raise future generations of heroes to avoid her mistakes. In her mind helping other teenagers past their issues and preventing further tragedies is the best way to honor her brother's memory, while still doing her part as a hero for Japan.
Quirk
Name: Spectral Hands
Quirk Type: Emitter
Power: Hiromi is able to project a special kind of energy out from her body that forms limbs that she can control floating in midair. Technically she can form legs or arms, but she pretty much exclusively creates arms and hands with this energy. These limbs are fully functional, and are much stronger and more durable than human limbs. They boast strength on par with lower to mid-level super-strength quirks, capable of lifting huge amounts of weight and punching through even tough walls with ease, though true superstrength quirks can typically outperform them. Hiromi can control these limbs at short to medium range, though their power does diminish gradually as distance increases as well, so they're pretty ineffective at long range.
Hiromi can create up to 6 arms at once, any more and they become too unstable to be useful. The arms are durable, but can be destroyed by incoming attacks, being about as durable as solid stone. Minor damage to the arms can be regenerated relatively quickly so long as the damage isn't structural, much like a real arm could heal from cuts and bruises, but would be rendered inoperable by a broken bone or deep gash.
As with all quirks, creating and using these limbs is a drain on her stamina, the more she manifests the more difficult it is on her physically and mentally. As a seasoned pro-hero this doesn't usually cause her trouble, but when she's badly injured or is crashing from her stimulants wearing off this can reduce her capabilities dramatically, sometimes rendering her unable to use her quirk at all if her condition is bad enough.
Supermoves:
Spectral Avatar - When feeling overwhelmed or forced into close combat, Hiromi focuses her quirk around her own limbs, creating larger limbs around her own to bolster her physical prowess. This is one of the few times she actually will choose to form legs with her quirk. While doing this her spectral limbs are close to full power, but doing so forces her to abandon using any of her limbs at range unless she sacrifices either the arms or the legs. Additionally her head and torso are still left unempowered. This state is thankfully less mentally taxing as the spectral limbs are tied to her natural ones, making it a lot easier to process, so Hiromi will also use this move as an energy saving ploy in a pinch.
Shooting stars - Hiromi goes all out for a brief moment, creating numerous spectral hands and throwing a rapid barrage of punches. Since she's forming and releasing the hands at high speeds she can have 8 or more punches going out at once with the full power as if she were only using 2-4, but this move is extremely physically taxing and can only be done in short bursts. Additionally the complexity of the punches is limited to straight jabs and some hook punches, as opposed to the more fine-tuned control Hiromi normally has. The supermove was named due to the streaks of blue energy looking a bit like a meteor shower raining down onto the target.
Binding Bloom - Hiromi strategically forms spectral arms around a target's body to place them in various holds as they seem to "bloom" out from thin air to grab them, usually going for a chokehold. This requires precise planning and calculation, so Hiromi can typically only do this to stationary targets, unaware targets, or sometimes at close range if she can read her opponent well enough, but she almost never risks it as the slightest miscalculation could ruin the move and leave her wide open. Typically she uses this to resolve hostage situations or take down weaker minions quietly by choking them out in surprise attacks.
Drawbacks:
Mentally taxing - the human brain is only evolved to keep track of two arms firmly attached to one's body, Hiromi is keeping track of many more than that flying all over the place in high-pressure scenarios. Her quirk does not innately prepare her mind for this. Hiromi has trained extensively to handle this, but it's still an extremely difficult task and requires a lot of mental energy, often more than the physical energy. It also becomes more difficult to keep up with the demands of her quirk when fighting multiple targets.
Stamina - as with all quirks, stamina drain is a big concern. This can be exacerbated by her spectral hands being frequently destroyed and reformed, as each time she has to make a new one it drains her more.
Limited defense - Hiromi's body is in no way bolstered by her quirk. Her hero outfit can protect her from many things, but underneath it she's just as fragile as any human. If she's not careful or her power is spread too thin protecting others, a villain could potentially take her down in a single blow, or at least dramatically reduce her ability to fight.
Pain - since the spectral limbs are fully functional and linked to Hiromi's mind, they cause her pain if damaged or destroyed.
One arm - not a weakness of the quirk itself, but Hiromi only has one flesh and blood arm, her prosthetic arm is controlled by manifesting one of her spectral arms within it using it as a frame, without her quirk the arm doesn't have mechanical parts to help it move, and must instead be locked down to keep it out of the way. Since Hiromi can only form up to 6 arms at a time, dedicating one to just having her regular arm be functional can pose a problem
Fighting Style: Hiromi is primarily a skill-based fighter. While her spectral hands can pack quite a punch, her own physical fragility makes relying on raw power a risky plan. She prefers to fight defensively, always keeping some of her hands on defense while the others try to outmaneuver and out-finesse her opponents. She's very fond of grappling moves and targeted strikes to subdue targets without needing too much force, but when facing a multitude of targets she shifts tactics. Since she can't control enough hands to keep many opponents locked down she will instead shift to aggressive punches to bring down targets quickly and keep the number of opponents manageable. When overwhelmed or tired enough, Hiromi will shift into using Spectral Avatar and using her enhanced limbs in close combat, keeping her arms in close like a boxer and fighting extra defensively, as fighting up close is when she's the most at risk of her fragility being exploited
Name: Hiromi Ushio
Identity: Poltergeist
Gender: Female
Age: 32
Date of Birth: August 1st
Place of Origin: Japan
Occupation: UA 1B Homeroom teacher
Faction: UA
Appearance
Visual Appearance:
Physical Appearance: Hiromi is around 5'4", with short silvery hair and matching eyes. She is skinny but fit, with modest proportions. Her right arm is a high-tech prosthetic that is stylized to look normal unless closely inspected, or when reconfigured to access some of the gadgets built into it. Between the synthetic skin and the fact it's manipulated through use of Hiromi's quirk it's very difficult to tell the arm is fake without actually looking for the signs or being told about it. Hiromi also sports a small scar over her left eye, and star tattoos on her hips.
Civilian Clothes: Hiromi's style changes, but she is fond of vests, crop tops, and things resembling cloaks.
Hero Outfit: Hiromi's hero outfit consists of a suit of metallic body armor designed for maximum durability, as well as for providing a host of utility gadgets. Since her quirk doesn't enhance her body much or provide many defensive options, she needed armor to ensure she was protected from gunfire and other direct attacks.
[spoil]
[/spoil]Features of the suit include
Bullet resistant metals - the materials the armor are made of are highly durable and capable of withstanding most small to mid-size bullets, though as with all armor the joints are weak points. And with all bullet-resistant materials, repeated hits can wear down the resistance.
Shock absorption padding - beneath the armor plates is specialized padding absorb physical impacts, as well as counteracting the electrical conductivity of the metal armor plates. While certainly more effective than the body armor worn by civilians or police, it does have limits to how much it can do to protect Hiromi from the kinds of hits many villains are capable of. The design is meant to mitigate and reduce damage as much as possible to keep her in the fight, even if it means broken bones and nasty bruises later.
Deployable gas mask - as the name describes, the suit contains a built in gas-mask that can be put on and lasts for several hours, though not nearly as long as a proper one not built into a suit might last. A small air supply allows it to double as a rebreather for about 30 minutes in emergencies.
Utility belt - contains various minor tools such as first aid supplies, handcuffs, cables to use as rope, etc...
Extra RAM/CPU - the suit links up with Hiromi's prosthetic arm computer (see below) to give it more processing power and speed that just doesn't fit in the device normally, making it faster and more reliable in the field when speed is absolutely necessary
Prosthetic arm - not part of the hero outfit, but notable regardless. The prosthetic is camouflaged to appear normal in daily life, but has some useful features as it can be manipulated by Hiromi's quirk, and saves space on mechanical parts
- built in computer - the forearm has a touchpad screen and computer, while stronger than your average smartphone or tablet, it's too small to pack any serious processing power or RAM without the suit. It does have programs for codebreaking/hacking, though without the suit they're not very effective. It also has criminal databases and built-in internet, but is mostly just a convenience tool for daily life.
-finger tools - built into the fingers are the following tools, usb port and stub for use with the computer, a lockpick, a screwdriver, and a flashlight, the thumb has no tools inside it. but can be detached and used as a tracking beacon
- hidden compartments - the upper arm has two concealable chambers that can be used to hide objects
- joint locks - in the event Hiromi is forced to stop using her quirk to control the arm, locks can be engaged to keep the arm from hanging limp and becoming a hinderance
Personality
Bad Habits:
Severe caffeine addiction - Hiromi bleeds coffee, other caffeinated drinks will suffice, but coffee is by far her favorite. When deprived of caffeine she becomes extremely irritable and nasty to be around. Caffeine pills can satiate her in the short term, but rarely are they strong enough to do much more than stave off the withdrawal symptoms. She's tried to break her addiction before... the result was subsequently stricken from all records and all involved swore to never speak of the incident again. She has not tried again since.
Bad at "masking" - Hiromi is neurodivergent. While not inherrently a bad thing she never quite got the hang of acting 'normal' and many of her habits that are perfectly normal for her can be seen as unusual by others. With her ADHD and other assorted "conditions" she can be perceived to be lazy or disorganized, self-centered, naïve, and any number of other unflattering adjectives, depending on just how her brand of blunt honesty, executive dysfunction, hyperfocusing, etc... manifest outwardly. Hiromi is aware of all of this, and does do her best to tone down some of her more "extreme" traits for others... but she also firmly believes that she shouldn't be ashamed of who she is, and refuses to change herself to make others like her.
Goal: To be the best teacher she can be, and to a lesser extent to prove that just because neurodivergent people are different, that doesn't make them lesser.
General Personality: Hiromi is a bit of an enigma, even to herself sometimes. Being autistic and having ADHD, she's very different from a lot of people. She can be seemingly disorganized and forgetful, bad at reading social cues, way too knowledgeable about random things, and simultaneously extremely empathetic and completely tactless.
However while her many "odd" traits can put people off, Hiromi is extraordinarily kind and supportive. And while she appears to be scatterbrained and disorganized, she's extremely intelligent and meticulous. The piles of disorganized papers in her office are actually all there by design, and she can find any obscure document in the chaos within seconds. She's bad at reading social cues, but makes up for that with incredible empathy and understanding. Those who can get past the ways Hiromi is different can get to know someone really special and make one of the best friends they'll ever have... so long as she remains caffeinated.
Personal Life
Mother: Chiromi Ushio, alive, quirk - telekinesis, Chiromi could move things using invisible 'hands' weighing roughly around her body weight, though it was speculated her weight limit could've been improved had she trained her quirk as a hero
Father: Hanzai Ushio, deceased, quirk - ki, Hanzai had the ability to manifest a sort of spiritual energy in his body. While he lacked the ability to project it outwards it could be used internally for things like accelerated healing, strengthening his body, and even delivering minor electric shocks on touch. His sickly body was unable to fully utilize his quirk however, as other members of his family could do much more with it.
Siblings: Tadashi Ushio, presumed dead, quirk - ki blasts, taking after his father and grandfather's quirk, Tadashi could do everything his father could with ki internally, but could also project it outwards as a projectile that delivered concussive force and heat on contact. While training to become a hero the blasts were trained to the point of becoming like minor explosions, with the potential to become stronger before his untimely demise cut his potential short
Extended family:
Masano Ushio- Grandfather, alive, quirk - Ki, like Hanzai's quirk above, Masano could bolster his body, heal wounds quickly, and additionally could coat his arms in the energy to explosively increase striking force and defend himself from attacks. He was never able to master projecting his ki out at range however, unlike his grandson Tadashi.
History:
Hiromi and her twin brother Tadashi were born to an upper-middle class family in Japan. Her Grandfather had been a respected hero, and while neither of her parents were cut out for hero-work, they held comfy positions at hero agencies. Her father was a technician who worked on maintaining and improving support gear, and her mother was a secretary. Between those jobs and the money her grandfather had made before retirement, they lived a rather comfortable lifestyle without many issues... at least at first.
It was pretty clear from a very young age that Hiromi was different from most kids. She almost never cried as a baby, and she was a fast learner and very observant. In her baby and toddler years this seemed like the promising signs of a genius in the making... but they were offset by worrying deficiencies in crucial areas. She didn't start speaking for well over a year longer than most children, and even when she did begin speaking she spoke unusually concisely and pragmatically, only using words as a means to an end rather than engaging in conversation of any kind. Still she could do math and read at a level several years beyond her age, and she always had her nose in a book learning something or another, so her parents didn't worry much at first.
Her brother was no slouch in these years either, but while he was much more sociable than his sister, Tadashi could never quite match her in performance outside of that and physical activities. He didn't seem to mind however, and the siblings were actually extremely close. Tadashi often acted as a sort of buffer between the world and Hiromi, understanding her quirks and mannerisms better than anyone and communicating with others on her behalf. The two were a dynamic duo, Tadashi bringing the social skills and physical prowess, and Hiromi bringing the book smarts. And that was even more true when they developed their quirks and started school.
Hiromi was a bit of a social outcast from the outset at school. Bookish, a bit antisocial, and just all around "weird" other kids made fun of her and bullied her a lot. And this intensified when her quirk manifested, the other kids thinking the floating hands and arms she could make were "creepy." Tadashi always stood up for his sister though, and he was quite popular, his quirk making him a star athlete and his naturally more sociable demeanor making him many friends. So while Hiromi was picked on occasionally and was always an outcast, things never really got bad for the twins in the early years of school.
Things gradually changed over the years though. The twins were still close, but their interests diverged greatly, as did their performances in various areas. Tadashi was an athlete and social butterfly, Hiromi was a star student and walking encyclopedia. Tadashi would flourish in some situations that Hiromi found deeply and inexplicably uncomfortable, and Tadashi could never match his sister's academics no matter how hard he tried. They drifted apart gradually, and as they did, the bullying of Hiromi intensified.
Life got increasingly difficult for Hiromi as they reached middle school age. By this point she and Tadashi had very little in common, and while they loved each other as siblings, they rarely spoke. Tadashi never took part in bullying her directly, but his defense of her was almost gone now. And now the bullying was so intense it took a serious toll on her mental health, and even her grades began to dip. As a result her parents and teachers began to dote on her more and more, trying to support her enough to outweigh the torment of her peers. Tadashi never complained about his parents playing favorites, but somewhere deep down he resented Hiromi for getting all the attention, and always being better than him at the things the adults seemed to care about.
Then the twins lost their father to cancer. Hanzai Ushio had always been a bit frail and came down with colds often, but his quirk accelerated his healing enough that no injury or cold kept him down long. It worked against him this time though. It turned out long-term exposure to certain chemicals when he was working on support gear had caused him to develop cancer, and the accelerated healing that normally helped him bounce back from diseases made this one progress far faster. By the time it was discovered at all, his fate was all but sealed. He fought valiantly for over a year, but ultimately Hiromi and Tadashi watched their father waste away. It was tragic, as so many deaths by illness often are, and it amplified the developing familial issues greatly. Hanzai and Tadashi had always been close, sharing a father-son bond that mitigated the resentment for the favoritism shown to Hiromi. With him gone, the rift between the siblings became much more severe.
Both Hiromi and Tadashi got into UA together, but Hiromi's seemingly weaker quirk landed her in class B, and her ever-popular brother ended up in class A. And now with the resentment from Tadashi boiling over, and the ego boost of being in the "better" class getting to his head... the bullying got much worse. Tadashi joined in on it himself now, and combined with the stigma of being class B and her severely lacking social skills, the first two years at UA were hellish for Hiromi. Even so, she pressed on, and her quirk grew in potency through training, making her strong enough to defend herself from her tormentors. The constant social pressure and the training in being a marketable hero helped her social skills too. She was still the "weird girl" a lot of the time, but she managed to improve her image over time and actually begin making friends.
In her third year at UA, Hiromi and Tadashi's relationship also began to improve. The grief of losing their father faded over time, Hiromi became more independent, and Tadashi began getting acknowledged for his own merits without being overshadowed. With the source of the resentment diminishing, the two began to get along again. The two years of bullying had definitely damaged their relationship, but when they graduated they actually became pro-heroes at the same hero agency. They still understood each other better than anyone else, and their teamwork made them quite the power-team as heroes. Given a few more years to sort out their issues, and their relationship might've had a happy ending.
It wasn't to be however, during a particularly rough battle with a villain the twins' issues flared up again. Nobody knows exactly what caused it other than Hiromi, who has never talked about the details. But the results were clear. Something was said, and the two began to argue. Tadashi's lingering resentment came to the surface, Hiromi's resentment of the bullying came out in kind, and their argument left them wide open to the villain's next attack. Both twins were caught in a massive explosion that completely destroyed Hiromi's right arm, and when she regained consciousness later Tadashi was nowhere to be found, presumed dead in the explosion.
Hiromi was devastated, blaming herself for her brother's death. She refused to get a prosthetic arm for many years after the incident, and left the agency she was working with to go solo instead, derailing her career. Her time as a solo pro-hero wasn't without successes, she apprehended many villains and made a decent living. However her somewhat inadequate social skills and difficulty marketing herself kept her from truly climbing the popularity rankings. Had she stuck with an agency that could've helped her along she might've become much more successful, but she didn't want that. She couldn't bear to be in the spotlight like her brother had, it made her uncomfortable and reminded her of him too much.
After years working solo and receiving therapy for her loss, Hiromi decided to hang up her cape, so to speak. Rather than continuing to vie for rank and working primarily as a pro-hero, Hiromi instead took a position as a teacher at her old school UA. Now older and wiser for her losses and experiences, she hopes to raise future generations of heroes to avoid her mistakes. In her mind helping other teenagers past their issues and preventing further tragedies is the best way to honor her brother's memory, while still doing her part as a hero for Japan.
Quirk
Name: Spectral Hands
Quirk Type: Emitter
Power: Hiromi is able to project a special kind of energy out from her body that forms limbs that she can control floating in midair. Technically she can form legs or arms, but she pretty much exclusively creates arms and hands with this energy. These limbs are fully functional, and are much stronger and more durable than human limbs. They boast strength on par with lower to mid-level super-strength quirks, capable of lifting huge amounts of weight and punching through even tough walls with ease, though true superstrength quirks can typically outperform them. Hiromi can control these limbs at short to medium range, though their power does diminish gradually as distance increases as well, so they're pretty ineffective at long range.
Hiromi can create up to 6 arms at once, any more and they become too unstable to be useful. The arms are durable, but can be destroyed by incoming attacks, being about as durable as solid stone. Minor damage to the arms can be regenerated relatively quickly so long as the damage isn't structural, much like a real arm could heal from cuts and bruises, but would be rendered inoperable by a broken bone or deep gash.
As with all quirks, creating and using these limbs is a drain on her stamina, the more she manifests the more difficult it is on her physically and mentally. As a seasoned pro-hero this doesn't usually cause her trouble, but when she's badly injured or is crashing from her stimulants wearing off this can reduce her capabilities dramatically, sometimes rendering her unable to use her quirk at all if her condition is bad enough.
Supermoves:
Spectral Avatar - When feeling overwhelmed or forced into close combat, Hiromi focuses her quirk around her own limbs, creating larger limbs around her own to bolster her physical prowess. This is one of the few times she actually will choose to form legs with her quirk. While doing this her spectral limbs are close to full power, but doing so forces her to abandon using any of her limbs at range unless she sacrifices either the arms or the legs. Additionally her head and torso are still left unempowered. This state is thankfully less mentally taxing as the spectral limbs are tied to her natural ones, making it a lot easier to process, so Hiromi will also use this move as an energy saving ploy in a pinch.
Shooting stars - Hiromi goes all out for a brief moment, creating numerous spectral hands and throwing a rapid barrage of punches. Since she's forming and releasing the hands at high speeds she can have 8 or more punches going out at once with the full power as if she were only using 2-4, but this move is extremely physically taxing and can only be done in short bursts. Additionally the complexity of the punches is limited to straight jabs and some hook punches, as opposed to the more fine-tuned control Hiromi normally has. The supermove was named due to the streaks of blue energy looking a bit like a meteor shower raining down onto the target.
Binding Bloom - Hiromi strategically forms spectral arms around a target's body to place them in various holds as they seem to "bloom" out from thin air to grab them, usually going for a chokehold. This requires precise planning and calculation, so Hiromi can typically only do this to stationary targets, unaware targets, or sometimes at close range if she can read her opponent well enough, but she almost never risks it as the slightest miscalculation could ruin the move and leave her wide open. Typically she uses this to resolve hostage situations or take down weaker minions quietly by choking them out in surprise attacks.
Drawbacks:
Mentally taxing - the human brain is only evolved to keep track of two arms firmly attached to one's body, Hiromi is keeping track of many more than that flying all over the place in high-pressure scenarios. Her quirk does not innately prepare her mind for this. Hiromi has trained extensively to handle this, but it's still an extremely difficult task and requires a lot of mental energy, often more than the physical energy. It also becomes more difficult to keep up with the demands of her quirk when fighting multiple targets.
Stamina - as with all quirks, stamina drain is a big concern. This can be exacerbated by her spectral hands being frequently destroyed and reformed, as each time she has to make a new one it drains her more.
Limited defense - Hiromi's body is in no way bolstered by her quirk. Her hero outfit can protect her from many things, but underneath it she's just as fragile as any human. If she's not careful or her power is spread too thin protecting others, a villain could potentially take her down in a single blow, or at least dramatically reduce her ability to fight.
Pain - since the spectral limbs are fully functional and linked to Hiromi's mind, they cause her pain if damaged or destroyed.
One arm - not a weakness of the quirk itself, but Hiromi only has one flesh and blood arm, her prosthetic arm is controlled by manifesting one of her spectral arms within it using it as a frame, without her quirk the arm doesn't have mechanical parts to help it move, and must instead be locked down to keep it out of the way. Since Hiromi can only form up to 6 arms at a time, dedicating one to just having her regular arm be functional can pose a problem
Fighting Style: Hiromi is primarily a skill-based fighter. While her spectral hands can pack quite a punch, her own physical fragility makes relying on raw power a risky plan. She prefers to fight defensively, always keeping some of her hands on defense while the others try to outmaneuver and out-finesse her opponents. She's very fond of grappling moves and targeted strikes to subdue targets without needing too much force, but when facing a multitude of targets she shifts tactics. Since she can't control enough hands to keep many opponents locked down she will instead shift to aggressive punches to bring down targets quickly and keep the number of opponents manageable. When overwhelmed or tired enough, Hiromi will shift into using Spectral Avatar and using her enhanced limbs in close combat, keeping her arms in close like a boxer and fighting extra defensively, as fighting up close is when she's the most at risk of her fragility being exploited
