Eika Tsukihino

Name: Eika Tsukihino, 

Preferred Name: Eika, or Ei-chan

Meaning of Name: Song of Days

Language: Japanese/English

Nationality: Japanese-American

Pronunciation: Ay-ka(Eika)  TSu-kee-hee-no (Tsukihino)

Age: 17

Birthday: May 15, 1984

Blood Type: B

Favorite Food:  Rice Crackers, Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Least Favorite Food: Clams

Favorite Subject: Art and Ancient History

Least Favorite Subject: Math

Favorite Color:  Purple

Hobbies: drawing, fencing, dancing, singing

Likes: anything to do with nature (i.e., animals), old books, art

Dislikes:  liars, people who break promises.

Strengths: physically strong, stoic personality, very intelligent and loyal

Weaknesses:  Depressive, haunted past, self-conscious

Academy Job: Groundskeeper

Sports: Fencing and Swimming

Clubs: Theater, Art, and after school help

Dream: To protect people who can't protect themselves…(Sounds a bit Tenjou-esque, but it gets explained in her history), and to become an Olympic fencer.

Love Interest: None

Power: Transparent Phasing-Shift: Eika can break into the fabric of time and teleport herself across the dueling arena at any distance within a matter of seconds.  She can only use this move once every couple of minutes due to the nature of time, but it's a good way to buy time in a tight spot and confuse her opponent.
Tantric Momentary Amnesia:  By singing a select bar of song, Eika can push mnemonic energy into her sword.  If she hits her opponent while her sword is in energy form, it causes her opponent to forget where, who, and why he/she is for a space of up to 4 seconds.

Home: Onagawa, Japan

Family: Mother (deceased), Father, two older brothers Taro and Kabuo.

Anime Character They Look Like: I guess, if I had to pick one… Mayuka, from the Second Tenchi Muyo Movie, Daughter of Darkness

Appearance: Eika is short for her age, standing at 5'1" and weighs 145 lbs, most of it toned muscle from dancing and fencing.  Her hair is a burgundy sort of red-violet, styled into a set of high ponytails on either side of her head that hang down to her shoulders.  She has bangs and her rounded face is framed by two long pieces of hair that hang a little past her chin.
    Eika's eyes have an intelligent, alert look to them.  Her eyes are colored somewhat like a cat's, deep green fading into gold near the pupil.  She has a birthmark shaped roughly like a crescent moon on her right shoulder, and is physically built plump, curvaceous and sensuously.  

Clothing Description: When Eika has free time, she wears jeans and blouses.  She absolutely HATES skirts.

Personality:  Eikas' personality is very complex and evens seems to oppose itself at times.  Her basic traits are these:  Open-minded, attentive, purposeful, intelligent, determined and loyal.  On the other hand, Eika struggles with depression and her stubborn nature.  She's practical and very independent.  Her sense of responsibility impresses adults, although in turn she has a belligerent and aggressive streak.  
    Eika's very artistic and inwardly sensitive-if something bothers her she hangs onto it and tends to let it stew, not really taking care of it right away.  Her artistic qualities help her make friends and show her softer, tenderer side which she tries to publicly hide with all but her very closest friends.
    She places a lot of stock in telling the truth and being loyal; her biggest pet peeve's) are liars and backstabbers.  People and situations like that cause her temper to explode, and explode is does:  her internal anger manifests itself fiercely in a fight-or-flight situation, and if she isn't careful, she becomes irrational under the spell of her own temper.
    A short description of Eika might be thus:  An intelligent, strong and loyal girl with a hidden, secretive side.

History: Eika's determination and stubbornness developed in her early childhood, as she had two older brothers to compete with.  She's the daughter of a Japanese scientist father) and an American veterinarian mother).  The family lived in Northern California in the U.S., where Eika and her brothers Taro and Kabuo went to school and did normal childhood things.  Eika's love of fencing developed when she and Taro took up the sport and a fierce but seemingly friendly sibling rivalry was born between them.  Kabuo, the second child, was very much a bookworm and a student instead of a sportsman.
    Eika had a happy childhood until the year she turned 10.  Her mother  was driving Eika and Taro to a Fencing Championship Meet in a storm, and Eika was in a bad mood from worrying over her chances in the meet (she was one of the youngest competitors).  The car crashed into the rail of a bridge after a close lightning strike, and Eika's mother was killed.  Taro lost an arm, while Eika suffered only a broken leg.  
    Taro now blames Eika for the loss of his ability to fence as well as their mother's death.  Kabuo graduated early, leaving Eika to live with Taro and her father, who was very supportive of his daughter.  They moved back to Japan when Eika was eleven, and she was then sent to Heion Kisetsu Academy for her own benefit.  She likes her school and still loves her family, but the loss of two relationships in a car crash haunts her.  She believes that she could have done something to prevent it, and  in her depressive cycles  she beats herself up over the past.  As a result, she wants to be a protector for others so they won't give up on her like Taro did.

Characters