[Mau] Shirai Kosuke - Seam

General Information
Name: Shirai "Ko" Kosuke
Identity: Seam, The Ripper
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Date of Birth: May 29th
Place of Origin: Nagano, Japan
Occupation: Idol (Secretly a villain)
Faction: None, yet.

Appearance
Visual Appearance:
Physical Appearance: As an everyday teen, Ko really just looks like some gloomy kid. He’s got a mop of black hair with a few small streaks of dark gray dyed in, often just barely staying out of his eyes. He’s fairly skinny, the boy not looking like much to worry about, what with being 5ft 7inches, and weighing only a little over 130 lbs with only a bit of definition or muscle tone at all, enough to say he works out some. His eyes are a flat yellow, generally with a sleepy or uninterested look to them, only accentuated by his pale skin, and dark hair, his eyes catching attention he often doesn't want. Ko of course has attracted a fair bit of attention in the past few years, the "Idol" scene picking up his slightly more effeminate looks and alternative style like a wildfire.

Civilian Clothes: With his lifestyle, and his power, comes a fairly wide variety of outfits. His most common outfit will usually consist of some loose fitting top made of his black cloth, some intricate pattern woven into the surface, usually something "on brand" for him. His pants are generally joggers, or some sort of black chinos, generally having less of an intricate mark to them. One outlier is his shoes, almost always a pair of tough leather boots he's had for years, icons of punk movements across the west. Occasionally he'll be seen in sneakers, once more matching the fairly dark motif, a pair of black nikes with a blue swoosh on the right foot, and a pink swoosh on the left. Finally, Ko is always wearing a necklace, the chain often visible around his neck, only rarely does the tear shaped opal pendant show from under his shirt. When he's out and about, on foot for long enough he'll carry a backpack on him with the essentials; charger, portable battery, water bottle, Switch, headphones, and tucked away in a secret pocket is the set of throwing spikes and other metal bits he uses in his Seam persona.

Villain Hero Outfit:
As Seam, he has a more gothic style to him, where his civilian attire is a lot is street fashion, this is a very European fairy tale inspired clothing, invoking imagery of dashing rogues, devilish jesters, and foxy thieves all done in a deep shadowy black that hides his features with the exception of the wide grin that appears from the darkness, the teeth sharp and jagged as the shape of the smile. The smile never appears to move but to widen, the mouth not matching the sounds coming from the dark figure, yet it doesn't sound like the voice is muffled by any cloth. Rarely, two white eyes will also appear, taking cartoonish shapes that often match with his tone or what he's saying. Besides the shadowy mass of cloth consealing his face, the outfit adds a few inches to his height, bringing him up to 6 ft flat, and giving a more bulked appearance to his slim figure. All of this to aid in hiding his true identity, it is a fair amount of cloth wrapping his body.

The rest of the outfit is often made up of bands of cloth that wrap around Ko entirely, taking various chaotic patterns and textures all across the fabric, and at all times it will be moving across him slightly, sometimes reacting to his mood as he goes about; sharpening and becoming jagged if he should become suddenly angry, moving at a rapid and in random motions when anxious, etc.

As a part of this, Ko will carry throwing spikes and other small sharp objects that will be woven into the outfit, some visible as buttons or accent pieces on the outfit, most hidden beneath. These are used as his ranged offense, either throwing them himself, or making small tendrils of cloth to throw them, or hold them at the end of a longer cloth tendril like a rope dart type weapon.

Other examples of Seam's outfits.


Personality
Bad Habits: Ko often looks like he's disinterested, and probably not listening, this is usually only true with an authority figure (especially one of his parents) but has been known to ignore people who bug him for long enough, it can be a struggle to get Ko to join a conversation on a bad day.
Goal: Ko wants to find a way out of the Idol life and be free to just live his own life. Alternatively, let's just…..break things till we break something important, yeah?
General Personality: As Ko he is a very quiet boy, speaking kinda softly when he does choose to speak. This is mostly because of his very private upbringing, his parents getting tutors and teachers brought in, he didn't have any peers he could call a friend. The personality that the fans see; the cute wallflower with a dark mystery vibe around him, showing his inner passion in the clothes he designs and makes with his quirk, an easy marketing technique for merchandise. Ko's Idol face isn't too far off from how he does behave really, having to put on a more charming air when "working" having a signature half smirk that is usually absent in his real life day to day. Some people have said Ko comes off as dismissive, a part of his persona that is played up more in his music, having a problem with authority figures. It is mostly evident with his parents, who he actively ignores and avoids, other people like teachers and managers he will barely respond to, and mostly give small sounds in the affirmative or negative unless really pressed.

Having grown up mostly empty of peers, it has only been the past few years that he's gotten much freedom to go out by himself, he's found himself quiet for a different reason when around people who would be his peers, he's not sure how to interact with them beyond his interactions with fans, but those cases are mostly skin deep and never go beyond the selfie and signature, all of them "knowing" Ko from the magazine bios and the interviews. He's not shy, just hesitant to initiate conversation with other people, usually they'll do it.

Seam, on the other hand, is a much more lively one. In this alter ego, he speaks with a loud and clear voice, if not a bit fast and simetimes dramatic. Seam often speaks in puns, taking visible pleasure in confounding people around him, he's impatient but not quick to temper, wanting to get things done on his time frame, but not one to harm someone for a mistake. All of Seam's outward emotions are very dramatic, at the high end of each; happy is ecstatic, mad is furious, sad is devestated, etc. Each in very stage drama ways, as if he's in a shakespeare play at all times.

Personal Life
Mother: Shirai Noriko, living. She has a quirk that allows her to choose from several masks which each gave the wearer different enhancements.
Father: Shirai Isao, living. He is able to create and manipulate white cloth from solar energy absorbed through the skin.
Siblings: None
Extended family: Various three aunts, his mother the youngest of four, and several cousins on his mother's side.
History:

Ko's parents both came from money. His mother's family running a cirque du soleil style show that draws a fair amount of audience and income. His father is the owner and CEO of the Sol Thread clothing company. The two met in some romantic story of the father designing costumes for the show, she adores his work, and so on. The two inherited a lot of money, and their combined experience in entertainment and fashion practically sealed Ko's fate. From a very young age they came up with the idea of grooming their precious son to become a pop culture figure, preparing him with the best tutors and teachers that money could buy, his alone time almost always truly alone as his parents were never around beyond checking in on his progress. Deals were made, hands shaken, and at every turn they guided Ko's life to what they believed was the best next step. To them, it was absolutely working; the Sol Thread, Ko Inspired line is always one of the top sellers of the season, his dark alternative style finding a vacant hole where there had been a vacancy for a while, there was plenty of profit to be made. He had an artistic heart as far as the designed persona would have you think, designing clothing lines, a lovely singing voice he paired with an acoustic guitar on stage, and he'd learned some acrobatics from his mother, he had talent in many places. As was the Idol life. This was the shallow and empty shell of a life he was made to live, no wonder he created Seam.

It started as a story he wrote, a gallant rogue called Seam. The man could speak to cloth, and it would speak back! As long as it was black. Seam lived a free life, there were few issues, and little strife. He took what he wanted, and went where he pleased. Seam was Ko's escape from everything, writing stories of slaying monsters, causing mischief, doing as he pleased. Ko kept these secret, his sketches and writings the most precious secret he ever had, Seam the imaginary friend that could do and be everything he wasn't, everything he couldn't be. Since Ko practiced with his quirk in private, having a few tutors that helped every week, it was perhaps the solitude that caused the next stage of Ko's life. He discovered the Cowl, wrapping himself in the heavy black cloth, deciding to create his image of Seam. As he did, something clicked and he felt his abilities enhance and change while also intensely drained of energy in a larger burst than he'd ever experienced. The rush was intense, and he had to see what he could do! Bounding off into the night, he realized no one knew who he was...that smile spread across the dark mask, and he began night by night causing small bits of chaos around wherever he happened to be at the time, all small things like slashing tires, cutting messages like "Seam, The Ripper was here" into walls with the sharpened nails of his Cowl's claw, and he began to get into fights, the dramatic shadowy figure appearing and challenging lowlifes in back alleys to duels of honor. The more he practiced, the more he found his quirk was amazing for stealing, sending his cloth as thin as possible, or even as split threads through the seams of doors to unlock or unhinge them. Soon he began to be an actual problem, stealing from jewelry stores just because he can, it became more likely for him to hire out as the burglar to gain favors and deals as opposed to money. He didn't really need money.

In the past year he has started to think... bigger. As Ko he has begun to go out in public by himself mlre often, seeing what his peers are like experiencing something of that teen life he's supposed to be an icon of. Similarly, as Seam he has started to move on to new things, becoming curious about the power structure in the underground of the world, using deals and favors he plans to make his way to the super powered underground heirarchy, what is a real villain like? He wonders this. He could certainly be one, he already looks the part. Maybe Seam was never meant to be a gallant rogue, just a rogue. Seam plans to rip into the villain underworld and make his mark. He's only done one serious job as a villain, being the lookout for a more top brass meeting. There was a hero about to capture them when he had the instinct to grab him and use Out of The Black to give the hero a Cowl, a new one that gave the reigns to Seam. He didn't have much time to practice, clunkily taking the hero elsewhere and incapacitating them. This was the first time he'd used this ability, and he uses every opportunity he can to practice more. Recently he has moved to the Mustafau area where the famed UA high school is, maybe he can find something entertaining to do here.

Quirk
Name: Out of The Black
Quirk Type: Emitter
Power: Ko is able to absorb solar energy and repurpose it into cloth much like his father, his own being a deep black as opposed to his father’s glimmering white, as well as manipulate properties of this cloth as long as it is in some way connected to his body. As soon as a portion of the cloth is severed, it dissolves into ultra fine carbon dust that will blow away in the gentlest breeze. The properties he is able to manipulate are wide, including; density, tensile strength, elasticity, rigidity, length, width, texture, etc. The main offensive measures he relies on is that he is able to greatly harden the cloth into either sharp claws, or create a small blade.

Ko was able to create three “Cowls” that are similar to his mother’s masks, greatly altering the properties of his cloth at the expense of far more energy. He has varying levels of proficiency with each of these “Cowls” allowing him to hold each for different amounts of time. The difference between his ability, and his mother’s, is that it is far more difficult for him to share the power, as he is required to be connected to the cloth in some way. This can be a singular thread, but once it is severed the no longer connected cloth would disappear instantly.

Supermoves:

Cowl of Tears: The Cowl that Ko is most proficient with by far, while wearing it the outfit looks almost like a liquid. The shadowy cloth becoming thick bands that are constantly moving across him like a flow of water, or perhaps a mass of snakes slithering. This cowl is for defense, the thicker cloth reacting to attacks by absorbing the blow and redirecting it along the flow of the surface. When done properly, Ko can use the redirected energy to strike back at his enemy. He can activate and maintain this cowl for about 2 hours each day, or twice for one hour.

Cowl of Smiles: A more offensive outfit in his closet, The Cowl of Smiles enhances the strength in the wearer’s arms and legs with a greater control of the tensile strength. With this he can fling small throwing spikes at his enemies with ease, and great strength. The throwing ability of the wearer is enhanced to the point of being able to throw a coin and embed it an inch or so into cement from about 50 feet. With the extra leg strength the wearer can jump vertically nearly 20 feet, or leap horizontally nearly 30, making this his preferred Cowl for a quick escape. He is able to keep this up for about half an hour total each day.

Cowl of Rage: While this may be his most powerful Cowl, it has little to no use for him. This Cowl is the one that is solely used on others. With this power he will send the cloth out in a large flowing stream till it envelops another of his choice, often an opponent, wherein it wrests control from the wearer and gives Ko the reigns. His control of them isn’t very fine tuned, he’s unable to use any of the abilities that he hasn’t seen of theirs, but an extra pawn is always useful. There is a big risk in the ability though, he needs to maintain a connection to the wearer via at least one thread of the cloth, and he can only maintain such a connection up to about 100 feet, needing to balance the visibility of the thread between him and the wearer with the strength of the thread in regards to being broken. His own combat ability falls greatly while the Cowl is active, only able to produce smaller effects to protect himself; blade, claws, etc. while keeping his identity hidden behind the bright grin that marks his disguises. Ko can only keep this up for at most 20 minutes once a day, at which point he can only use the Cowl of Tears for a half hour, or the Cowl of Smiles for five before his energy is depleted.

Drawbacks: As the cloth is created from his pool of solar energy, creating it and using the Cowl abilities both drain that energy, and the more he drains the more tired he'll be after. If he depletes his reserves entirely, he'll look exhausted and feel incredibly sleepy. If he attempts to pusb past this too much, he runs the risk of knocking himself out entirely. He needs a few hours of sunlight to recharge from zero. If he goes too many days without sun, his charge does begin to deplete very slowly even without use. Also, though he can lessen this a bit with the right modifications, most of his cloth is not fireproof.

Fighting Style: In a mix of the acrobatics learned from his mother, and the enhancements provided by his Cowl, he has a very unique and improvisational fighting style. Doing best at close and midrange with his barrage of limbs and cloth done into monkey fists, claws, and blades with various modifications done by Ko's quirk. At long range he is only able to use throwing weapons effectively, but his accuracy is limited to eyesight.