PREFACE

(A/N: I'm doing this because Eriko Tamae is very complicated and if I give you this you'll be able to understand better )

Build; Slender, hourglass shape but also somewhat lanky. Her clothes never seem to fit her just quite right, a shoulder hanging slant-wise, a sleeve rolled the wrong way, she most often times just wears her school uniform, which is basically the only thing that fits her properly. She has to sew everything else and she's not good at it, her fingers always have little pricks in them, slowly healing. She's only 110 pounds and just barely 5 feet tall, though she can eat more than anyone else. People hate this about her. She's small but very strong for her size; she can lift twice her weight. She could pass for a model if she emitted any self-confidence at all, seeing as she has the build and the walk. Eriko appears graceful but is quite the opposite. She's has enough talent to be able to trip on her shadow, falling more often than she would like. She's very thin, somewhat of a tennis build, very proportioned. Her eyes are nearly blocked by her bangs, which she likes so no one can see her eyes. Her bangs also cross slightly over her cheeks, like a veil, which is how she combs them; she likes the separation they provide her. It's like her security blanket, her safety net, all she has to do is put her head down and they outside world does not exist for her, only her mind.

It's sometimes hard to tell what she really looks like. She always tends to wear layered clothes, hiding herself in them whenever she goes out in public. She hides her thin wrists with either thick bangles or wristbands, where she tucks small pieces of paper so they fit. She doesn't want to sew them for fear of doing a horrid job. She wears a jade ring that was her sister, but her fingers are so small she had to wrap string around it to make it fit and she always has a brown glove over that hand, so she doesn't lose it.

Facial Features; Heart-shaped fair/pale peach toned face, framed by black/purple hair with dark violet/gray eyes. Though it seems paler when she's standing in the sun or under a bright light, she looks almost see through. Eriko has slightly pronounced sharp cheeks. More often her expression is completely blank, since she's always lost in thought, eyes not seeing anything, movements are slow and almost unresponsive, almost like a zombie, the gears in her head taking full concentration to work properly, every move somewhat calculated.

Other times, it's angry, which happens when people yank her from her contemplating, especially when she's on the verge of another 'breakthrough' for her philosophy book or inventing, also two books she never goes anywhere without. Smiling is rare for her, so much so it might even hurt if she tried. Her appearance makes her look younger than she is. Her eyes are always dark and far off and she looks like she never gets enough sleep, which she doesn't, there are almost always dark circles under her eyes. She has constant nightmares and pretty much sleeps during her classes, which is odd since she always passes them. Her lips are near always pursed into a think line and her stares are hard and far-off, she bites her lips a lot when she can't figure something out or when she's nervous, so they are always tinted blood red.

Tattoos; A female gender sign with a green and red dragon wrapped around it on her right wrist. She has a small Celtic cross on her shoulder.

Scars; A small one behind her left ear, from a katana accident. (caused by her sister when they took a class together and she wasn't supposed to move) She had another but the Celtic cross tattoo covers it.

Flaws; She's very introverted and a bit of an outcast, which she appears to others to like. She doesn't do it purposely, she simply tends to yell at those who disturb her thinking, or things, which is quite often. She tends not to let anyone in, thinking they will hurt her but she does occasionally slip, or give in to the person who keeps on trying. She falls a lot and panics without reason. Crowds sometimes make her extremely nervous and she'll either scream and run or faint.

She's terrible at sports, Eriko is hardly coordinated and she hates that about herself. But she refuses to tie her hair, which contributes to the problem of seeing when playing sports. She pops a balloon every time she sees one, she hates them.

Piercings; She has two holes in each ear and is thinking about getting a third.
Personality; Eriko is quite reserved and shy. She tends to zone out and thinks deeply about things no one's ever touched upon. She likes to try things, but only when no one's looking. She has a bit of a shell. She wasn't always like this. The death of her sister caused her to radically change how she looks at things. She was bubbly and hyperactive and carefree. That part of her is now dormant and waiting to resurface again. She's a dreamer and a bit on the inventive side but she lacks the materials she needs. She's a vegetarian. She's pretty much passive but will surprise people by speaking up about things she's passionate about. She's a bit more than a little clumsy. She's not really all that vain, caring more for what's in her head than on it and a bit hard on herself, always pushing it until she's exhausted and sarcastically beating herself up, thinking she can further herself.

She's vague and a very jealous person with quite the temper. Eriko may look like the silent type, but now and again her old self will resurface and she'll tell a person off, day or night class, which can easily result in trouble, she almost asks for it. She gets on her classmates nerves purposely, so they won't bother her. She's a bit shifty and unpredictable, a bit of a schemer. She gets extremely mad when people touch or mess up her things. It's gotten so bad where she actually bobby-traps the things in her room, which is messy and full of gadgets and odd things made of household items. She's proud of this, knowing that eccentric/genius people have this trait. Eriko is pretty much apathetic with everything that doesn't have to do with her, and most things that do. They only thing that's closet to her, that she actually loves, but pretends not to, would be Mao, who she lets sleep with her in her bed.

Likes;
-Wild
-cooking
-dogs
-chocolate
-art, especially drawing
-the colors purple and silver
-her flute/all music
-philosophy
-horseback riding
-personal space & quiet
-full moons and sunsets
-detail
-clothes
-photography
-poetry
-apathy
-getting her books published
-being a feminist
-dragons
-strategy and planning
-occasionally being spontaneous
-sneaking out
-singing (SHHH!! DON'T TELL!!!!!)

Dislikes;
-Dominate men
-Aido
-people who wreck a room's atmosphere just by entering it
-bitter people
-sewing (SHE ALWAYS PRICKS HER FINGERS!!)
-Meat
-little kid games
-being touched by people she doesn't know
-traveling to places she knows nothing about
-independence
-nosy people
-balloons
Family; Mother-Maiya Father-Kano alive- Kammie- older sister-dead Osaka, Japan

History; Eriko comes from a normal middle-class family. Both of her parents work, semi-successful art sellers and only wanted the best for both of their daughters, as any parents would. Her mother was always supporting and her father gently urged her to try new things, which she always did, to please him. She would always succeed. She was very dependent on her family and yet still shined bright with a light of her own. She was one of those people that people like to be around, her attitude was very contagious. Her older, Kammie had always been there for her, did everything, since their parents were always working. Kammie always gave of herself and never asked for anything back, and her baby sister was her whole life. She was Eriko's guardian angel, a helping hand when needed, a guide, something that Eriko aspired to be, just like her sister. Eriko was closer to her sister than she was to her parents, but she always did aim to please them, even if it meant doing something she didn't want to do, because that's what Kammie did, without complain. At that time, she lived in her sister's shadow and didn't mind at all, because she knew her sister would never stir her wrong.

The reason she hates balloons is because at her eighth birthday party Kammie snuck up behind her and popped a balloon and scared her out of her mind. (So now everytimes she sees one, she thinks of her sister and pops it because she can't stand the thought that her sister can't do it.) But she went missing and then it was discovered that she had been killed. After-which, Eriko acted differently, radically so. She locked herself in her room for weeks and refused to come out, music was blasting and she ran away a lot. Eriko's world had crashed and burned. She didn't even go to the funeral, which she regrets now heavily. Her parents sent her to Cross Academy, in hopes it would help if she got away from home, and from the memories, which, little do they know, you can't outrun. So far it hasn't worked. Her mother constantly worries to the point where she misses work and her father becomes impatient with her, threatening her with punishments but they go in one ear and out the other, as everything else he's tried.

Before, at school she was a shining star, the first to raise her hand, the first to try everything and the only one who would got up on stage, in the spotlight and do what her heart told her. She knew everyone at her school and they loved her, wanted to be like her. She was a hero, standing between an unfortunate and their tormentor. She was the sun, life itself, personified. Her laughter was infectious.

She pretty much lived at her school, she did drama and band and was only torn between the call of her flute and the sound of her singing voice. Her friends were never far, they admired their own personal angel. But the only one closet to her other than her sister, Kammie, was Simon. He was the only guy she told everything to. He was what she wanted, forever. They were more than girlfriend and boyfriend. Her parents approved fully of the blond boy. he came from a family like hers, friends since they were one year old.

But after Kammie died, everything froze for Eriko. She caved into herself, into a place where her friends couldn't reach her no matter how much they tried. they were devastated by her change and one by one they vanished into the background. Simon watched this in horror, he tried the hardest. Simon showed up at her house with candies and flowers, bought her things he had to work weeks for to pay off but it still did nothing to change her. He finally took her to the beach one day and said thing that broke her, 'I love you.' Eriko panicked and ran from him, sobbing at the fact that her sister could never see her at hr wedding. At that, even Simon left her alone, thinking that's what she wanted.

She watched him from a distance and soon he found someone else. it was then that she became numb and any memories of him she soon started to forget or block out. She went through the motions of life without really experiencing them, she didn't want to.

She still remains more or less reclusive. She only talks when absolutely necessary, being very tight-lipped, even with the teachers, who are near giving up on her and breaking her out of her shell, and tries to ignore the other students, which doesn't always work well for her. She sits in her dorm or by the stables and either plays her flute or draws the horses. She ignores her parents' letters and often tries to sneak out Cross Academy at night, which she almost always gets away with.
Pets; Mao-Yorkshire dog- 2 years old, in her dorm

Siblings; Kammie-older sister-dead