Chapter 6.5: A Small-ish Character Info Dump; aka Not Really a Chapter
AN: With recent developments in the story, and especially with a couple of the side characters, I thought I'd go ahead and give some more background info on Sayu's school friends and their families (especially seeing as how I don't know when, or if, I'll ever get the chance to do so in the story proper). When I first created them, I hadn't really intended for any of them to really play an important role in the story, but recently, they've begun taking on lives of their own. This isn't a chapter. I just thought I'd leave this here for posterity, especially given that it's going to be a little while before chapter 7 is finished.
To be honest, I'm not a hundred percent sure that I even should post this as a separate chapter, but like I said, I don't know if I'll ever be able to cover this stuff in the story. Plus, I would usually have stuff like this in the AN at the end of a chapter, but I don't want to have an AN this long, so here you go, for anyone who cares.
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Amakashi Family
The Amakashi family are descended from the founder of a (fictional) school of martial arts, and to this day, the head of the family owns and runs a dōjō in Shinjuku, Tōkyō which trains students from around Japan, and even a few international students. In particular, the Amakashi family dōjō trains students in the ways of a unique form of Kendō (Japanese swordsmanship) which, similar to the unarmed martial art Aikidō, is founded in its creator's religious beliefs. Adherence to said beliefs is certainly not a requirement for being allowed to study, but they do play an important role in the way the art is taught and especially in the foundations of the art itself. Aside from the children of the family, other notable students of the dōjō (at least for the purposes of this story) include Nishimoto Yuri and Yagami Sayu.
The noteworthy living members of the Amakashi Family (not including extended family) are as follows:
Amakashi Jinrai (天歌詞迅雷)
Age: 42
Position in the Family: Head of the Family/Father
Amakashi Retsu (天歌詞列)
Age: 40
Position in the Family: Mother
Amakashi Itsuki (天歌詞五木)
Age: 18
Position in the Family: Clan Heir/First Son/Older Brother
Amakashi Mika (天歌詞美香)
Age: 15
Position in the Family: First Daughter/Younger Sister
~o~
Nishimoto Family
Originally from Nagasaki, the Nishimoto family are an upper middle class family of Japanese Catholics, one of several whose history goes back to before the persecution of Christians under the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period of Japan. The Nishimoto family moved to Tōkyō for work in the early 20th century, going on to establish themselves as business leaders in the Tōkyō area. The family suffered hard times during World War II, including the destruction of one of their business establishments and the deaths of some key family members from allied firebombing campaigns. However, the family have largely managed to recover and rebuild what was lost. Currently, the eldest daughter and oldest child of the main family, Nishimoto Yuri, is a middle school student, as well as a student of the Amakashi family dōjō and longstanding rival of the Amakashi family's eldest daughter, Mika.
The noteworthy living members of the Nishimoto Family (not including extended family) are as follows:
Nishimoto Keshi (西本芥子)
Age: 37
Position in the Family: Head of the Family/Father
Nishimoto Sumire (西本菫)
Age: 35
Position in the Family: Mother
Nishimoto Yuri (西本百合)
Age: 15
Position in the Family: Clan Heiress/First Daughter/Older Sister
Nishimoto Hinagiku (西本雛菊)
Age: 12
Position in the Family: Second Daughter/Younger Sister
Nishimoto Tsubaki (西本椿)
Age: 9
Position in the Family: First Son/Younger Brother
Nishimoto Himawari (西本向日葵)
Age: 7
Position in the Family: Third Daughter/Youngest Sister
~o~
Shinozaki Family
The Shinozaki family are a working class family who have lived in the Kantō region of Japan since before the founding of Tōkyō. The family's known history can be traced back to the days when Tōkyō was just a small fishing village named Edo, even before Edo castle was constructed by Ōta Dōkan in 1457. In recent years, the Shinozaki family has been very close to the Yagami family, even living next door to them for many years, and some members of the family have gone on to become police officers. Very recently, the family has undergone hard times, from Shinozaki Megumi's unplanned pregnancy with their youngest child, Mugen, and, especially, their recent money troubles and their run-ins with a local loan shark. Also, there are (unproven) rumors that Yagami Raito and Shinozaki Mikoto dated for a short time. There are also a few notable aunts, uncles, and cousins who were, and still are, members of the Japanese Communist Party, with two managing to win seats in Prefectural Assembly.
The noteworthy living members of the Shinozaki Family (not including extended family) are as follows:
Shinozaki Tsutomu (篠崎勉)
Age: 43
Position in the family: Head of the Family/Father
Shinozaki Megumi (篠崎恵)
Age: 38
Position in the family: Mother
Shinozaki Mikoto (篠崎尊)
Age: 19
Position in the Family: First Daughter/Older Sister
Shinozaki Tsuru (篠崎鶴)
Age: 14
Position in the family: Second Daughter/Younger Sister
Shinozaki Mugen (篠崎夢幻)
Age: 6
Position in the Family: First Son/Younger Brother
~o~
Gotō Family:
The Gotō family are a bit unusual among Japanese families in general. While the father is native Japanese, the mother is actually an expatriate. Mackenzie Morrell, now known by her married name Mackenzie Gotō, is a South African expat of British descent. The Morrell family originated in Plymouth, Devonshire County, England, but settled in what is now Cape Town, South Africa in the 1860's for the lucrative mining work. At age 18, Mackenzie Morrell left her native South Africa for personal reasons, briefly moving to England to earn her English degree and teaching certification before moving to the People's Republic of China to teach English. Then, about a year later, she moved to Japan for a similar, but higher paying, opportunity.
The Gotō family proper is also a bit on the unusual side, as they started out as Japanese "Burakumin," who were an outcaste social group in Feudal Japan who tended to work in occupations which had a stigma of "defilement" attached to them by the wider society (occupations like executioners, undertakers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, and tanners) and often lived in their own hamlets and ghettos (hence the name, as "Burakumin" literally means "hamlet people" or "village people"). Like many other Burakumin, the Gotō family became involved in the Yakuza active around the Kyōto area, specifically, as the founders and leaders of one of many smaller gangs associated with the Aizukotetsu-kai. Gotō Maharu, the man who would go on to marry Mackenzie Morrell and become the father of Gotō Sakura, was one such Yakuza in his youth, but he ultimately left his family's lifestyle behind to seek more honest work in Tōkyō, and ended up meeting Mackenzie when he took one of her English classes.
The noteworthy living members of the Gotō Family (not including extended family) are as follows:
Gotō Maharu (後藤真春)
Age: 46
Position in the Family: Father
Mackenzie Gotō (née Morrell)
Age: 41
Position in the Family: Mother
Gotō Sakura (後藤桜)
Age: 13
Position in the Family: First Daughter/Older Sister
Gotō Kōichi (後藤紘一)
Age: 10
Position in the Family: First Son/Younger Brother
