Kimiko Fujihara

Kimiko Fujihara, is a reoccurring character in Northbound: The Chariot Girls. He later on becomes the main protagonist in the short story, Abyssal Realm Of The Divines. Kimiko is a diplomat from the Northern Fox Clan, chosen and sent to maintain relations with the Chariot Mercenary Guild. Working as Mitsuru Miyako's secretary, he helps her and the Administrative Team with his unique magical ability of Duplication. He worries about the safety of his clan during the ongoing epidemic of the Surge Virus.

Kimiko has no ranking in the Guild, as he is not a Mercenary. However, he acts as a specialist in all matters relating to the dead thanks to the aid of his Soul Lantern.

Appearance
Kimiko is a peculiarly short Kitsune with long gray hair tied up into a bun with a hair pin stick. His arms and legs are covered in a dark fur that matches his ears and the tips of his tails. Kimiko wears a sleeveless top with a light blue belt and shorts, he wears a large bead necklace of the same color as well as having wrappings around his legs. Kimiko also wears a long white banner piece of cloth at the front with his clan's insignia on it.

Kimiko always carries a strange lantern with him called the Soul Lantern. It houses a peculiar white flame surrounded in a blue aura.

Personality
Kimiko is known to be a bit shy and timid, but tries his best to remain very optimistic and helpful. His role as a Fox Clan Diplomat has made him very cautious about his wording, and is known to overthink and stutter a lot in social situations. His highest priority is wanting what is best for others, and not wanting to displease them.

Kimiko's personality takes a 180 degree turn when faced in combat focused scenarios. Known to be very calculating and very decisive, he's a gifted tactician at heart. His polite demeanor is also quickly dropped, his voice taking on a much colder and lower tone. Not aware of his sudden shift in personality, it can be very jarring to people who have not seen this side of him. When pointed out he becomes very embarrassed about it.

Birth and Early Life
Kimiko was born as the "runt" out of his siblings, but was later on shown to be the most magically capable out of all of them. He also was born with eight tails, as compared to his other siblings that were born with one to six tails. Kimiko's clan lives in the territories near the North and the Brumal Divide, and spent a large portion of his life studying and training. Well known for excelling in a lot of what he was taught Kimiko, was deemed a prodigy among the clan; and was later chosen to be the prime contender as diplomat for his people.

Unique Magic
Kimiko from an early age learned of his unique ability to duplicate himself. He was often seen split apart due to thinking he could be able to learn and train more if he spread himself out. To his surprise, this worked to varying degrees, and thus Kimiko was able to learn more than what a normal diplomat was able to learn within the span of 25 years.

Leaving to Aurelion
When told he was ready by the clan's chief, Kimiko was sent off to Aurelion City to work under Mitsuru. It was here that he began to work tirelessly for Mitsuru, he proved to be a valuable asset in expeditions to the North thanks to the resources his clan offered in navigating the land. Kimiko's duplication magic also allowed him to take on the work of ten people in the Administration Team, and became an essential pillar in the more technical side of things in the Guild. There are times Kimiko wishes he could be on the field more, but does not mind too much as he enjoys his job and the busywork given to him.

Surge Virus
Since the outbreak of the Surge Virus, Kimiko increasingly found himself to be overworked. He was assigned to time out of the office by Mitsuru personally in order to force him to take breaks. In maintaining good relations with his clan and the Guild, Kimiko found himself returning home more frequently to ensure that his family was safe and not in any danger.

Currently he still remains by Mitsuru's side, and is only ever seen on the field if any high priority work needs to be handled.

Soul Lantern
A gift from the chief of the clan, Kimiko possesses a unique compatibility in wielding this lantern. Claiming to contain the soul of an underworld deity, the Soul Lantern is able to purify and ward away restless spirits, and the undead. While it may appear to be an object only used in rituals, Kimiko uses the lantern as a weapon as well. Upon swinging the lantern around, Kimiko is able to cover the area in front of him with soul fire, engulfing anything it touches in spiritual flames.

While it may appear to be another form of pyromancy. The lantern's flame is cold to the touch, and leaves anything in its path in subzero temperatures.

Septuple Duplication Magic
Having eight tails, Kimiko has the strange ability to split himself off seven times; for every copy that's created, Kimiko loses a tail. Including himself, there can be eight Kimiko's roaming about at a time. It is easy to tell which Kimiko is the original however, if he does not deploy all seven copies at once, the original will still have more than one tail. Kimiko is able to swarm opponents with his duplication magic, as he is effectively a one man team. Though during his time with the guild, he has not seen the need to use all of his copies at once, aside from the multitasking he performs when working.

A unique feature to his duplication magic is that Kimiko's copies also wield their own copy of the Soul Lantern, possessing all the same abilities the original is able to utilize with his soul lantern.

In theory, Kimiko believes he is able to create more copies. Assuming that the only limiting factor to his duplication ability is his tails.

Tactician
Kimiko is a talented tactician, helping Mitsuru plan accordingly to investigate the virus by planning out which of the dispatched Mercenary teams should go where. Kimiko feels that his methods to approaching enemies his is best weapon. He views it as a way to make up for his physical shortcomings such as his lack of raw strength and size.

Alchemy
Kimiko is familiar with basic alchemy, mostly using it for first aid to help people out on the field. He's mostly familiar with the flora around the Brumal Divide and parts of the Aurelion region.

Keiko Fujihara
Kimiko's Mother. Being one of the most skilled navigators in the clan as well as being a talented alchemist, she passed on her knowledge down to Kimiko to help others. Keiko looked after Kimiko the most as a child, as he was the smallest and most vulnerable of his other two siblings.

Rio Fujihara
Kimiko's Father. Known for his expertise in magecraft, he taught kimiko how to utilize his own magical abilities.

Noa Fujihara

Kimiko's older brother, currently serving as a scout for the Royal Army. He doesn't see him often as he's on constant patrol around the Brumal Divide.

Mio Fujihara
Kimiko's eldest sister, Kimiko does not see her often either ever since she left home and traveled the Frontier.

Mitsuru Miyako
Kimiko's employer, he ensures that things run as smoothly as possible for Mitsuru. Taking time to intensively study every recorded mercenary in the Guild, Kimiko helps Mitsuru in the planning of various guild operations.

Mitsuru often takes him out drinking as a sign of thanks, as well as ensuring Kimiko does not work himself to death.

Kaho Mishima
Kimiko's partner while out on the field. When the Royal Army and the Guild have a priority assignment that must be completed, Kaho is Kimiko's go-to person to help aid him with their given jobs.

Beryl Bishop
A close associate, Kimiko is reluctant to ask for help and often refuses things out of politeness. Beryl is very insistent however and offers to spend time with him and help him whenever she has free time, not taking no for an answer.

Lyren Grandor Goetia
An exceptionally talented mage from another universe. Kimiko met Lyren through Mitsuru as they both shared common ground of being prodigies. Kimiko willingly offers to be a test subject for Lyren, as a means of helping him on his experiments. He also does not wish turn down any offers from Lyren, not wanting to displease him or come off as rude.

Tomoko Musashi
The chief of the Fox Clan, Tomoko encouraged Kimiko to both become their next diplomat, as well as being the heir to wielding the soul lantern. Seeing that Kimiko has a bright future with loads of potential in him, she nudged Kimiko into leaving home and to experience the world.

Shiori
Kimiko also works as a diplomat for another fox tribe that Shiori leads. Shiori loves to very intimate and affectionate towards him but, Kimiko finds this to be overwhelming. He isn't refusal of the amount of attention she gives him however.

Mishiko
Kimiko considers Mishiko to be a close friend as well, but often notices how defensive she gets when he's around Shiori. Kimiko tries to continue to befriend Mishiko, though his endeavors prove to produce mixed results form her.

Nyarlathotep
Does not know Nyarlathotep well, but has met them on different occasions. He's a bit wary of their presence and how close they are to Mitsuru. He keeps his distance as Kimiko finds their overwhelming magical presence to be concerning.

Augustine
An associate of Kimiko, they only know each other through work. Augustine and Kimiko share a professional relationship and work alongside each other to maintain the library, often giving Kimiko certain duties and chores to fulfill when needed.

Trivia

 * Kimiko's design is loosely based off snow foxes.
 * Ever since moving into Aurelion City, Kimiko has developed a love for cheap convenience store food and barbeque.
 * Kimiko is much more assertive and rude when he's drunk. He often turns down most drinking occasions because of this.
 * Despite being the shortest of his family, he does not possess any desire or envy to be taller. He's quite content with being small.
 * Kimiko is a workaholic, and always loves to keep his hands busy.