maildisorder | ≒ A P P L I C A T I Ø N ≒

Name/Work Name: Asahina Leo / Gao
Canon: MIND≒Ø
Canon Point: Post-game
AU/CRAU: N/A
Age: 16

History: MIND≒Ø takes place in modern day Japan, specifically within Akihabara, Yokohama, Amamiya, and Nippori, where people have been talking about the recent disappearances of citizens and bizarre murders— ones where the killers testify with seeming absolute honesty that they have no idea why they did it, that it was like "something came over them". Due to the strange nature of the occurrences, there are actually rumors of the disappeared having been "spirited away" and that the murderers may have been possessed. As it turns out, the rumors aren't too far off.

Unbeknownst to most people, our world (known as the Outer Realm) is actually linked with a spiritual one (known as the Inner Realm), and at times, those spirits can enter our world through the use of special doors. Once they reach the surface, they prey on weak-minded people, those filled with anxiety, stress, or depression. In some cases, the victims disappear entirely. Other times, they can become possessed by the spirits and go on to murder other victims.

Takanashi Kei is a high school student who becomes involved with these incidents when he witnesses, though he doesn't realize the full extent of it just yet, an attempted murder of a young boy. Due to his interference, the boy is saved, but when one of those special doors open up, he finds himself pulled inside of it. He loses consciousness, and when he comes to, he realizes that he is in a weapon shop. The owner, known as the Undertaker, instructs him to select a weapon, one weapon, as his choice. There is only one correct answer, however, and if he mistakes it, he will die. He takes his time, listening closely as he seems to hear voices of some kind emitting from the selection, and finally he makes his choice with a sword. Thankfully, it's the right choice, and the reward is not only his life but a contract with a spirit of the Inner Realm known as a MIND. With this power, he can fight off the other spirits as well as utilize the doors between realms. When he returns to the surface, he encounters the spirit who had attacked the young boy and prepares to battle him. He still struggles, however, until he is suddenly aided by Chikage Sana, a friend from school who also seems to have gained the ability to summon a MIND. She seems more experienced at it than he is, but in truth, she's a newbie as well, having only had her power for a few days. On top of that, she was saved herself by a mystery man with the power who definitely knew what he was doing.

The next day at school, they meet up with their friend Asahina Leo who invites them on a ghost-hunting journey to the park where he wants to test out a new gadget he purchased online. Though they weren't interested in accompanying him in the slightest, he accidentally hooked them by mentioning a rumor about a famous "ghost hunter" that's been spotted there. When they pressed for details, he gave the witness accounts, and Sana realized it may have been the same man who helped her, in which case they could possibly find answers to all of the questions they had about MINDs.

Upon arrival, they don't see the man at all. It had become obvious to Leo that the two were there for more personal reasons, and so he confronts them about it. Unsure how to explain their unique situations to someone without a MIND, they dodge the issue. While they argue about this, another door appears and opens behind Leo. Just like with Kei, he feels himself pulled inside. Kei and Sana try to hold onto him but conversely end up being pulled in along with him. Before he realizes it, he finds the three of them all in the weapon shop. Given the same ultimatum that Kei received, what Leo basically takes away from that is I get something for free. And so, he's anxious to find the best weapon. He sees a couple next to one another that he likes, so he picks them both up to compare— which is when Kei and Sana inform him that picking up the weapon is making the choice. Seeing as he was only supposed to pick one, it could have easily meant his death. However, one of the ones he selected happened to be the right choice: a gauntlet. Because of this, the contract is successful, however... He has to pay to make up for the mistake. The MIND takes his arm, which is replaced by the demon's, even though only other MIND-users can see its true nature.

Once they exit the weapon shop, they find themselves in maze of tunnels within the Inner Realm which they must navigate, battling various spirits, until they can find the exit. They happen upon Detective Ogata Yoichi, who turns out indeed to be both the rumored "ghost hunter" and the mystery man who came to Sana's aid. He helps them out of the tunnel and sends them on their way home, but he offers an invite to his agency the next day and agrees to answer any questions he can for them.

They take him up on his offer and meet up at his office the next day, taking along another good friend of theirs, Kamina Shizuku, who is a rare case of a person who can see MINDs without possessing one herself. Despite Ogata's experience, however, it turns out that he doesn't know much more than the kids. He is uncertain about the reason for Leo's condition, he can't even guess why Shizuku is able to see MINDs, and he isn't sure about the truth of the Inner Realm at all. It's a bit disappointing, but the group agrees to become his assistants at the agency to help with some menial tasks while they work together to figure these things out.

Along the way, they encounter two other MIND users, Shiragiku Kotone and Lina Albertine. Kotone, at first, is unable to utilize the full advantage of her MIND as she rejects it, afraid of its intentions. Eventually, the group does help her to overcome her fears which turned out to stem from her own insecurities. Lina, on the other hand, knows more about MINDs than anyone. Furthermore, her MIND is permanently manifested beside her, able to be seen by even normal humans, and acts as her butler. She explains that she comes from a family who has been involved with MIND contracting for generations. It seems that it has been their responsibility to seal the doors that the spirits pass through. Even she can't quite detail their existence, however, or their origin. But she does enlighten the group to one thing: there are apparently three variations of contracts which can be formed with a MIND. The first is a perfect contract, like she has, which places her in complete control over the MIND. This one is actually quite rare, but everyone in her family has had this sort of contract. The most common is a mutual contract in which the user and the MIND are on equal ground. And the latter... would be Leo. His is a subservient contract in which the MIND is in control and the user is allowed to use their powers for a price. She can't say for certain either what Leo's eventual fate will be, but she presumes that it wouldn't take effect until his death. Since it doesn't seem to be cause for immediate concern at least, he pushes the issue aside. After assisting with sealing a door that Lina had struggled to seal on her own, she agrees to join the group and even offers them "special training" to master their MIND's powers better.

Things seem to be progressing well enough until one day, while working to seal a tunnel, they run into a mysterious group of MIND users who quickly prove to be their enemy as they launch an unprovoked attack. Despite their animosity, however, they seem to have an agenda of their own but they ultimately decide to leave the group be. It isn't until later that they become involved once more when their attack extends to the real world, the Outer Realm. It happens one day at school when a number of students start acting strange and attacking others. Kei's, Shizuku's, Sana's, and Leo's teacher leaves the room to discern the source of the noise in the hall and is killed instantly. As it turns out, a door had opened in the school, forcibly by the mysterious group they had encountered earlier. Various students were possessed by spirits, and the cause of that was one of their members with a rare ability to control various MINDs without possessing multiple contracts.

After the rest of her group appears, they decide that Kei and the others can no longer be left to interfere and they prepare to attack once more. As each of her friends fall before her, Shizuku wants to help so badly that a secret power within her awakens, a bright light which completely vaporizes every MIND in the vicinity. After witnessing this, the leader of the mysterious group, Saionji Togetsu, says something about having "found it" and Shizuku is taken away.

Kei and the others are completely clueless as to how to proceed in retrieving her considering that they have absolutely no idea where to begin looking. Fortunately enough, one member of the rival group, Sakyo Kanade, isn't entirely loyal to his leader and merely looks out for his own interests: namely, having fun. He calls Kei's cell phone with the proposition of beginning a game. He leaves clues to Shizuku's whereabouts, and in exchange, he simply wants the enjoyment of watching events unfold. His clues, however, as always less than accurate. They lead them, one by one, to the various members of Togetsu's group who are in the middle of exacting their specific procedures for their leader's "great plan." Shizuku is never found at these locations. Still, while the details are unclear, it seems that Togetsu's aim is to open doors to the spirit world and cause all sorts of chaos, so his plans need to be stopped as well. One by one, his members fall to Kei and his friends until finally, finally they find Shizuku together with Togetsu.

He uses her power to open a specific door, one which leads right to the heart of the spirit world and would unleash them upon this world without relent. Before he can succeed, however, Kei and the others defeat him and rescue Shizuku. Or... so they thought, anyway. Just when things finally seem at an end, the door opens itself and drags Shizuku inside.

... and... this is... literally the end of the game. \O_o/!!!

Personality: There's positive thinking, and then there's Leo. He is living proof that "ignorance is bliss" since he puts his all into maintaining his happiness through a positive attitude, even though it means that he makes mistakes a lot more often than the average person. He's quick to complain about anything that doesn't match up with his ideal lifestyle, but he's just as quick to recover from any negativity. The source of this neverending optimism is a mystery to all, and trying to reason with him to approach things more logically will only result in a headache. He can find any reason to justify his behavior, and furthermore, he encourages others to travel the same path as him. He believes that life is all about experiences and lives adventurously, often by means of shopping through infomercials. He seems pretty concerned about supernatural forces and so he's quick to purchase any product which might protect him from them.

This is, of course, something he worried about before even coming into contact at all with MINDs. After he does gain his power, he quickly adapts to the role he... assumes he has been given. Comparing it to television superheroes, he feels it is his heroic duty to protect the world from the forces of evil. He doesn't give a second thought to the dangers involved, not even after things have gone wrong. He sees them as minor setbacks, and in some way, he refuses to face the reality of the situation. His positivity is that strong, but it can certainly blind him. As a result, it can take a lot to convince him to back down once he's made up his mind.

He's definitely a good guy at heart, but he can grate on others' nerves with his loud personality. He likes to joke around a lot to lighten the mood, but it's not always appreciated. Again, he can have issues being serious in the first place, so he has trouble discerning the need to tone it down a bit. You can certainly put him on the list of Guys Who Can't Read the Mood. Furthermore, he dives headfirst into dangerous situations and naturally gets taken out first. Sizing up the enemy is yet another thing that refuses to cross his mind. He's extremely careless, and basically he could care less about it. He has what one might consider a troublesome personality in that he unintentionally piles the worries he should concern himself with onto others who feel the need to protect him from himself.

After Shizuku is taken away, Kei's role as the rational leader starts to fall apart. In exchange, the rest of the group takes it upon themselves to assume his role to hold him together. This includes Leo who proves that he does have it in him to be responsible when the need arises. He offers sound advice, even if it's the kind that he doesn't seem to take himself, and he shows that he's willing to compromise his ideal lifestyle for situations which do require it.

Debt: Leo's contract with his MIND is an abnormal subservient type in which his MIND has authority over him and will one day... eat him. At first, it simply takes the payment of Leo's arm, but considering that the debt of the rest of him is still owed, there's kind of an outstanding one there. I'm not sure if the way to go about this would be like switching the debt to the witch in exchange for a wish— which would be to rewrite the contract so that the two of them are on equal grounds. (Leo wouldn't want to sever it entirely because he likes having MIND powers...) If this method is okay, let me know! If not, I can rework it or switch it to something else :)

Suitability: Leo is an obnoxiously positive dude, and it often seems like there is absolutely nothing that bothers him. This isn't entirely true, of course, but he does take things a lot less seriously than most people, believing that happiness stems from your attitude no matter what the situation. So while he might not like the idea of a life of servitude, he knows how to make the most of anything and he'll still probably put his all into his tasks.

Previous Game Info: N/A

Inventory:
Ø School uniform + accessories
Ø His MIND
Ø Cell phone
Ø Various "ghost" charms or "magical" items used to locate ghosts or protect oneself from them (they're all garbage, actually, though)

Abilities, Strengths, and Weaknesses:
+++ Ridiculously optimistic
+ Extremely loyal to his friends
+ Has a bit of a hero complex, so he's eager to help anyone in need
+ Actually somehow intuitive? He acts on instinct but somehow ends up guessing right, usually
/ Can summon a MIND with Earth elemental abilities
/ Fights hand-to-hand when not using his MIND, so he has some decent physical strength
- A bit of a shopaholic
- Can't really read the mood
- Tendency to act first, think later (if at all)
- Not really the smartest guy around
- Is generally pretty indecisive

( SAMPLE )

Characterization Sample:

Leo— No. More accurately, it's Gao now, isn't it? At any rate, Gao lets out a sigh louder than should be humanly possible as he takes in his new surroundings. And just in case anyone missed it the first time, he sighs again. Standing amidst a heinously dirty and ridiculously oversized bath with cleaning supplies in hand, he can't help but be just a little disappointed. I mean, he knew that he was here to work and he'd already come to terms with that (within the approximate five minutes that he's been here). But! This isn't exactly what he envisioned! Weren't there like... some cooler jobs out there? Maybe he could put in a transfer request. He's already stuck daydreaming about such things when a stray bar of soap hurtles through the air and clunks him in the back of the head.

"Owwww! What was that for!?" he exclaims, turning around to face the responsible party, a grumpy-looking older man wearing quite the stern glare and impatiently tapping his foot in expectation. This prompts a third, more defeated than any other, sigh from Gao who rubs the back of his head before picking up the (now slightly dented) bar of soap from the sludge-covered ground. "I get it. There's no need to be so violent about it! Jeez." Some people just have no sense of drama.