A pair of hazel eyes snaps open. For a brief moment, she isn't sure exactly where she is. Then, as her sleep-addled brain slowly gets caught up to speed, she remembers. The aches of sleeping on a rock hard bed, the smell of the cramped living quarters, and the lack of any direct sunlight all come back to her.
Shizu Saneyoshi is in prison.
Now that she's woken up, her sleeping position no longer feels comfortable. She shifts around, tossing and turning for a moment until she accidentally gets some of her hair in her mouth. Disgusted, she spits out the offending brown lock. She hasn't been able to comb it in ages, and the ends are starting to get tangled in a greasy mess. Thinking about it now, it's also getting a little long for her liking.
Shizu gives up, having realized that her cell will never help her relax, stretches a little, and sits up on her bed. She reaches over to the table on the other side of her room to pick up her glasses. They somehow got smudged overnight, much to her displeasure. With a quick wipe, she puts them on. She winces when the long sleeve of her striped prison garment comes into focus. Even if she can't see outside, she's confident in her ability to wake up at the same time each morning. Staying idle in jail for so long hasn't dulled her senses.
For the umpteenth time, she contemplates her surroundings. All things considered, Shizu supposes that she could have worse lodgings. The lack of any nearby cellmates is both a blessing and a curse. It isn't solitary confinement by any means, but she could do with someone to talk to. The bed isn't long enough, either. She has to curl her feet up at night to prevent her legs from dangling over the edge. They have to know how tall she is, so why give her such a small bed? It's already uncomfortable enough wearing these itchy prison clothes without having to contort her body. And it takes ages for her sink to get any hot water. Couldn't they spare some kind of expense for-?
Shizu shakes her head abruptly, as if to stop herself. No, they don't owe her anything, and she's already made her choice. Even if she is the Ultimate Strategist, that shouldn't get her any bonuses in her lodgings. If anything, given how they reacted when she confronted them, she should be lucky that they gave her the basics.
Bile rises up in her throat. Suddenly, she doesn't want to think about the past any more.
As if to answer her prayers, she hears footsteps coming towards her cell. She runs a hand through her tangled, wavy hair, wondering who it could be. A pair of guards, as it turns out. It should have been obvious, in retrospect. However, given her position, she wouldn't be surprised to see someone else.
"Saneyoshi," he speaks with a clear voice. "Follow me." He unlocks her cell and pulls her out harshly. His partner steps behind her, handcuffs at the ready. Not like she's going to run away, not at this point, so she inwardly laughs at the security.
At least they aren't pushing her, Shizu thinks as she walks between the two guards. The march through the facility is slow and melancholy. Once they walk past the usual interrogation room, she understands what this is all about. Today was probably the day that she gets moved to another, higher security prison. What fun.
A few people mutter as they watch the entourage pass by them. It's probably not every day that they see an Ultimate in such a position, doubly so for one that some of them have actually worked with. Shizu instinctively picks up on some of their conversations but quickly attempts to distract her brain by adjusting her glasses.
They lead her out through the back door. The sunlight catches her off guard. Was it always so bright, even so early in the day? Still, she slowly walks forwards, seeing her destination in front of her. A large van is waiting to take her away.
The minute she gets situated in the back, the doors slam shut. She closes her eyes and leans back but jolts back to attention when she hears a banging sound, like someone is knocking on the door.
"Shizu! Shizu!"
It's the voice of her old boss. She slowly angles her head towards the noise. Sure enough, she sees him through the window in the back. He's panting fairly hard, meaning that he probably ran as fast as he could to see her off. Despite his obvious exhaustion, his fists aren't letting up.
He finally speaks up after panting for a few moments. His voice is pleading. "Shizu, there's still time to change your mind! You've been a great help to everyone so far. We've made so much progress on stopping the riots. You know that the rioters might have gotten more advanced weaponry. Think about how much danger they are to the public. Just a little more and everything will be back to normal again!"
She suppresses a shudder when she imagines the gunshots and screams. Yeah, she's been really helpful to everyone. A true hero of the people. The protest runners might hate her, but they don't deserve to die.
Seeing her lack of a reaction, he changes tactics quickly. "Come on, Shizu. Think about everything we've done for you! The Ultimate Initiative completely changed your life, right? You're basically set for life now. Do you really want to throw that all away?"
Shizu admits that it was nice to not have to worry about money at all. Plus, those years she spent plotting out campaign strategies were some of the most fun she's ever had. But even so…
She tears her eyes away from his, choosing to stare at the floor of the vehicle instead. A large part of her desperately wants to defend her actions again, yet she forces herself to stay silent. At least she can't dig herself any deeper.
As the van's engine starts, Shizu hears a muffled sigh and some footsteps slowly trudging out of earshot. That… was probably her last chance to change her mind. She won't let herself regret this choice, though.
Not for the first time, she wishes that she had one of her notebooks.
Mercifully, the engine's hum keeps the trip from being completely silent. Shizu doesn't know what she would do if she had to be alone with her thoughts in this situation. She isn't sure how much time had passed or how long the trip would be. The rhythmic humming soothes her a little, and she closes her eyes.
BOOM!
The van goes flying. Shizu hits the side as it rolls over and over. The entire world is spinning, and she feels like she's going to throw up. Just when she thinks it might have stopped, another explosion rings out, followed by several more. The van sent into a seemingly endless spiral. The back doors come clean off of their hinges.
The last thing that Shizu thinks, as her vision fades to black, is that she definitely won't be able to regret anything soon.
Shizu's Notes (confiscated upon arrest)
The Ultimate Initiative
- Put in place by Japanese government to support the best of the best
- Given almost unlimited funds to practice talent, national spotlight, and access to opportunities of all kinds
- No applications, need to be scouted
- Worldwide search, will cover all expenses for those outside of Japan to immigrate
- Currently on its fifth year
Ultimate Protests(?) (Riots?) (Protests)
- Money for Ultimate Initiative comes directly from public
- People upset that funding to other programs got cut
- Started about three years after Initiative put in place
- Recently got more violent
- Contacted by government to put a stop to them
- How did they get weapons?
- Lives in danger, there isn't any other choice
- Have to stop them
- Didn't have a choice
- Should I have even called them riots?
A/N: Yep, it's another one of these things. I've been planning on writing this for a while, but there have been so many good ones recently that I got discouraged. After all, I'm fairly new to writing like this. If you couldn't tell from what I've written, this is an AU. There's no huge Tragedy or anything, although there certainly are quite a few riots going on. I've tried to get most of the relevant details into Shizu's notes, but, if I didn't explain well enough or you have more questions, please feel free to PM me and ask. Thank you for your time, and I hope I don't disappoint anyone.
Rules:
1. Character forms should be sent via PM, titled "Society of Talent: [Character Name], [Talent]. I will ignore any forms that posted in the review section.
2. Talents can be ones from canon, but please keep in mind that Ultimates are being scouted by the government. Stuff like "Lucky Student", "Slacker", or "Mafia Member" wouldn't make much sense.
3. Delete the parentheses on the form. Please. I beg of you. Just… just delete them. It makes it so much easier to read.
4. Each person can submit a maximum of three characters.
5. If your character is already in another story, I will not accept them. The same goes for OCs that are currently waiting to be accepted or rejected. Rejected OCs are completely fine, however.
6. There are 14 character slots open. I'm not going to necessarily balance genders either, so feel free to also submit non-binary characters or other genders.
7. This is not first-come first-served. Feel free to take as long as you want on the form, so long as you submit it before the deadline.
8. The deadline is July 27th. If you need a little more time, please PM me and ask for an extension. If you do require an extension, please do not PM me the day before.
OC FORM
-Basic-
(anything with * next to it is optional)
Name: (First name, then last name)
Age: (17-24 is around the range I'm looking for, so you'll have to really justify any other ages)
Gender and Pronouns: (No restrictions on gender)
Height and Weight: (In U.S. units, please)
Sexuality: (No restrictions on sexuality)
Talent: (Try to make this something that would actually get them scouted)
Nationality: (No restrictions, except please don't make up a country)
Race:
-Appearance-
Physical Appearance: (Stuff like build, hair style, eye color etc.)
Regular Outfit:
Sleepwear:
Physical Disorders*:
Voice and Speech Patterns: (What does their voice sound like? Do they talk a certain way?)
-Personality-
Personality: (This is literally the most important section, so please give me some detail.)
Mannerisms/Habits:
Mental Disorders*:
Food Preferences*: (Are they a vegetarian? Do they have favorite foods? Are they allergic to anything?)
Fears:
People They'd Like:
People They'd Dislike:
Romance*: (Is there a type of person they would fall in love with? Both looks and personality-wise)
-Backstory-
History: (This is probably the second most important section, so this section should also go in depth.)
Thoughts on Ultimate Initiative: (The Ultimate Initiative provides funding, opportunity, and (possibly) fame. However, this doesn't mean that they have to have a positive view of it.)
Thoughts on the Ultimate Protests/Riots: (While the Protests/Riots are angry at the Ultimate Initiative, not all participating members hate the Ultimates themselves. It's possible that your character may be more sympathetic or an active participant instead of fearing or hating them.)
Important People in Their Life: (Friends, family, enemies, pets, etc.)
Secrets: (Both major and minor things that they wouldn't want anyone to find out.)
-Killing Game-
Victim Justification: (What would make them a good potential victim?)
Murderer Justification: (What would make them a good potential killer?)
Mastermind*: (Would you be OK with your character being the mastermind? No justification needed but feel free if you want to.)
Possible Motives: (Try to give at least two.)
Investigation: (Innocent and Guilty)
Participating during a Trial: (Innocent and Guilty)
Execution: (This doesn't need to be a complete execution, just some an idea or two to springboard off of.)
-Dialogue-
(Answer any two of these as your character would answer them. This is so I can get a sense for how they might talk. You don't need to fill out all of them, but feel free it you want to. Also, you can have your character lie, but, if you do, please state that they're lying.)
You've won the lottery. What do you do with all of the money?
Would you kill someone if it meant saving another's life?
What's your ideal vacation?
What is the best animal to have as a pet?
Other Quotes: (if this is one of the two you chose, please give at least 3 quotes)
-Other-
Preferred Banlist: (Is there anything that you would feel uncomfortable seeing your character do or participate in? Don't say kill someone or be killed, because I will just ignore it.)
Other: (If there's anything not covered in the rest of the form that you think is important, you can put that here.)
Current Submitted Talents:
Strategist
Video Blogger
?
Coroner
Protester
Riot Police Officer
Winemaker
Drag Racer
Explorer
Historian
Violinist
Epidemiologist
Kamishibaiya
Chemist
Parkourist
Beekeeper
Dating Simulator Programmer
Weapons Engineer
Horse Rider
Sports Photographer
Mixologist
Fortune Teller
Baker
Marine Biologist
Conservationist
Cover Artist
Butler
Zoologist
Breakdancer
Oceanographer
Current Genders:
Male: 14
Female: 13
Demimale: 1
Agender: 1
Genderfluid: 1
(Again, I'm not necessarily going to balance out genders. This count is simply for everyone else's sake.)