Gensoukyou:Youmu Konpaku

Background
Half-Phantoms are created when the bond between a human soul and their body is incomplete due to an over abundance in spiritual energy. Because of this, the soul exists outside the body, but is still bound to the body and mind of the human. Thus, a Hannin Hanrei is created. The Konpaku family is composed entirely of Hannin Hanrei and live away from human settlements in order to avoid any conflict with humans in the village that may mistrust youkai. Although, many of the Konpaku clan eventually go there for work or other such things. A rather modest family, those of the Konpaku were raised to be hardworking individuals, always striving to be the best they could be. Youmu Konpaku was no exception. She had an interest in fencing, however, and would sometimes play with a fallen branch, pretending it was a sword. Such a notion was common in the clan, as a good many of them were sought as ronin due to their physical prowess. It wasn't long before her swordsmanship training begun under Youki Konpaku.

Youmu admired Youki and often thought of him as a close friend, despite the fact that he was related to her; she was still too young at the time to realize the difference completely. The more Youmu learned from Youki, the more distant he became. Although, in all honesty, he was never very 'close' to begin with, often seeming very cold and mechanical in his instruction. There was an exception to this coldness, however, being whenever Youmu managed to do exceptionally well at some technique or another, at which time he would seem kinder, if only for a few moments before falling back into his usual manner. After time, he just vanished, leaving Youmu’s style incomplete, much to the dismay of the young half-phantom, who was forced to attempt to teach herself the rest of the Konpaku style. She felt that she had done something wrong, perhaps she wasn't trying hard enough, leaving her with the notion that failure took away the things that you enjoyed. She determined that if that was the case, that she simply wouldn't fail at anything. Youki took nothing but the clothes on his back without a word, much to the puzzlement of Youmu. As a member of the same family, Youmu inherited his belongings and his title as Gardener of Hakugyokurou. When the Princess informed her of these developments, she merely nodded in consent, she did not plan to fail ever again.

Thus she started her role as the new Gardener. She found that although her title was “gardener” her duties included far more than just that. She was to act as a sort vassal to Yuyuko herself, a thought that made her nervous, but she eventually accepted. As a vassal, she was in charge of cooking, cleaning, and protecting her mistress-- a job her skills suited well. She found no difficulties with the day to day routines and the subtle formalities expected of her. In addition to these other tasks, Youmu was in charge of instructing her mistress in swordplay, but it never seemed like Yuyuko was taking it seriously. Of course, it didn't seem as though Yuyuko needed any sort of training with a sword at all, as her skill in danmaku was overwhelmingly high. At that point, Youmu allowed Yuyuko's sword training to be more of a recreational activity than one for serious self defense, seeing that Yuyuko would probably never need that skill. She did, however, ask Yuyuko to help her with her own danmaku, something that she had neglected somewhat in order to hone her skill with a blade instead. The mistress seemed happy to do so, commending Youmu for her hard work in regards to practice. Youmu, being the easily embarrassed girl that she is, simply flushed at the praise and nodded.

Yuyuko was kind to her, though she picked on Youmu occasionally, she didn’t mind too much, finding Yuyuko to be a very pleasant mistress. Although, Yuyuko has her do many silly things, often getting one, or both of them into trouble. What a goofy mistress.

Power/Combat
Youmu’s power lies in the ways she uses her swords. She has a variety of techniques that she uses to make up for the fact that she has no special power of her own, replacing special abilities with training and skill, many hidden arts of the Konpaku can be observed if you make her angry enough to use them. She tends to use her swords for manipulating danmaku, sometimes using them as a magic conductor for attacking, or using them to deflect and stop danmaku. She has gotten quite good at this, in fact, and claims that there is nothing that she can't cut. Indeed, there are very few things that she cannot cut, as she can use Roukanken to cut spirits and physical beings, while Hakurouken is capable of cutting more conceptual things.

Youmu is incredibly fast, using spiritual power to boost her physical performance far above what any human, or even youkai, for that matter, are capable of. It's a good idea not to blink, because if you do, you might end up dead before you have a chance to open your eyes again.

The art of the Konpaku style lies in the way that it affects those it is used on. Indeed, certain techniques can have various effects on the target in a spiritual way, perhaps binding them with their desires or punishing those who lack focus. There are even rumors that Youmu's Konpaku style can allow her sword to transcend planes, allowing even higher beings such as deva to feel the bite of her steel.

Artifacts and Possessions
Roukanken: A long bladed katana that has been forged by youkai in human blood. It is a demonic weapon that craves the taste of blood against its blade and must be kept sealed by its sheathe. It has been compared to the legendary Muramasa blades, though it is likely that it is much more powerful than even those swords. It is designed for combat with spiritual beings, often seen radiating a ghostly aura; it is still quite good at killing non-spiritual beings as well, however, since it still has a physical form.

Hakurouken: A finely-crafted wakizashi that can supposedly only be wielded by someone of the Konpaku clan. Although it has a physical blade, it seems not to be capable of cutting physical things, but rather, concepts. It is said that anyone cut by Hakurouken has all of their confusion wiped away and they ascend to Nirvana. This is only true if that is the concept that Youmu is targeting, however.

Personality
Youmu is a hard working, straight-to-the-point type of person. She is a little sensitive, and the words or actions of people close to her have a great deal of power over her. She is full of emotion and tends to be pretty animated and expressive when she is in a particularly good mood. Around anyone that isn't Yuyuko or Sariel, however, -- generally people who shouldn't be there-- she can come off as quite snappy and cold. Though, you can usually get away with trespassing if Yuyuko is around, as she often counteracts Youmu's coldness towards strangers and tells her to behave around guests, to which Youmu agrees with a sigh. Needless to say, Youmu has a lot of watchdog tendencies when looking after Hakugyokurou, and it wouldn't be wise to antagonize her there.

She tends to be quite cheerful about her duties, answering requests with a "Yes, right away!" or "Of course!". Of course, she is a little more distant towards those she does not see often, treating them in a cool, respectful manner. Generally speaking, she is very passionate and her emotions bleed through into her actions regularly, with the exception of the presence of strangers or those she is otherwise not close to. Around these people, she probably comes off as cold and emotionless, although that isn't really the case.

Spellcards
Ghost Sword "Fasting of the Young Gaki"

Gaki Sword "Scroll of the Gaki Realm"

Hungry King Sword "Ten Kings' Retribution on the Gaki"

Hell Realm Sword "200 Yojana in 1 Slash"

Hell Flame Sword "Flashing Slash Formation of Karma Wind"

Hell God Sword "Divine Flashing Slash of Karma Wind"

"Divine Flashing Slash of Karma Wind"

Animal Realm Sword "Karmic Punishment of the Idle and Unfocused"

Asura Sword "Obsession with the Present World"

Human Realm Sword "Fantasy of Enlightenment"

Human Era Sword "Approaching Disillusion"

Human God Sword "Acceptance of Eternal Truth"

Deva Realm Sword "Five Signs of the Dying Deva"

Heavenly Sword "Displeasure of the Seven Hakus"

Heaven God Sword "Three Kons, Seven Hakus"

Six Realms Sword "A Single Thought and the Infinite Kalpas"

Human Sign "Slash of Present World"

Human-Oni Sign "Slash of the Eternal Future"

Life-Cutting Sword "Slash of Meditation"

Hesitation-Cutting Sword "Slash of Departing from Hesitation"

Soul Sign "Wheel of Pain of the Living and Dead"

Konpaku "Dharma of Gumonji Wisdom of the Living and Dead"

"Double Wheel of Pain"

"Slash of Delusional Inner Eye"

Arcanum "Slash of Saigyou Spring Wind"

"Matsuyoi-Reflecting Satellite Slash"

Hesitation Sign "Sword of Binding Desires"

Hesitation Sign "Half-Body Disillusion"

Human Knowledge Sword "Turning Angel Cut"

Obsession Sword "Blood of Asura"

Celestial Star Sword "As the Silent Nirvana"

Four Births Sword "Resounding of the Natureless Beings"

Sword Skill "Cherry Blossom Flashing"

Spirit-Cutting Sword "Slash of Ascension to Buddhahood"

Cherry Blossom Sword "Flashing Scattered Flowers"

Thought-Cutting Sword "Slash of the Buddhahood of Flora"

Closed-Eye Slash "The Bullet-Cutting Spirit Eye from Roukan"

Reincarnation Sword "Slash of Circular Vicissitude"

Voidness Sword "Slash Clearing the Six Senses"

Major
Yuyuko Saigyouji- Her mistress and charge. When not performing her various duties around Hakugyokurou, she can be found nearby Yuyuko acting as a body-guard of sorts. They share a deep bond, going farther than mere master and servant, there is nothing that Youmu would not do for her. Yuyuko often teases Youmu a little or asks her to do silly things, but things like that are fine if it's Yuyuko...!

Sariel- Her mistress’ companion. Sariel serves as a figure for Youmu to look up to. She is aware of the pair’s relationship and generally tries to let them have their space, though recently, they have become closer, having a somewhat similar relationship to that of Yuyuko. However, it seems that Sariel is still anxious around Youmu, which has served as a sort of barrier that keeps them from getting any closer. Despite that fact, Youmu would still defend her as fiercely as she would Yuyuko.

Minor
Yukari Yakumo- Yukari occasionally drops by to visit with Yuyuko, so they sometimes see each other in Hakugyokurou. Yukari gives her advice on occasion and she has respect for her as the Youkai of Boundaries and as Yuyuko’s friend. However, their relationship does not extend much past that.

Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu- Her mistress’ superior. She has a sort of professional respect for her, but they don’t see each other often.

Trivia
- Youmu is ambidextrous

-Myon, her ghost half, is like an extension of her subconscious and will sometimes do things on its own, though it will generally obey Youmu's commands to it.