Yuuto Nakamura [Hero] [Lockon]

THE BASICS

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

PERSONALITY

Yuuto is nothing if not severe. As the Bloodhound Agency's leader, he sees it as something of a necessity - his agency has a reputation to maintain as a ruthless and efficient band of fighters, after all. Another hallmark of his personality is how demanding he is - not just of recruits, but of his peers as well. He runs a tight ship, and refuses to suffer anyone undermining it, whether it is due to incompetence or because they simply don't have the mindset necessary to hack it in the Bloodhounds. He doesn't hold it against them if they aren't cut out for working with him, but he is as ruthless with recruiting as he is with fighting.

However, beneath the stern exterior, Yuuto is surprisingly patient. When he sees potential, he will work to bring it out of someone, no matter what it takes. His peers will often joke that there are two things that the man will never give up on - a student that he thinks would make a good hero, and getting revenge for being stiffed on a payment. And, when the day comes to a close, and everyone's jobs have been finished, he's not afraid to let his hair down. It can be slightly disconcerting to see him suddenly bringing out humour drier than his booze, but he's learnt - with no small amount of effort - that sometimes, you need to wind down.

BACKGROUND HISTORY

Shadda was hardly the best place to raise a family. With it being one of the few areas that the Yakuza still had something of a major foothold in, both heroes and the police found it difficult to keep the place in any liveable shape. And yet, Yuuto was born there. His parents, hopeful as they were that he'd grow up safe and strong, weren't entirely optimistic. They weren't blind to the dangers that surrounded them. And yet, they still had him. Though the boy was an accident, they loved him with all their hearts, and wanted only the best for him.

It didn't take long for Yuuto to understand exactly what kind of a town he lived in either. His parents tried to help him keep his optimism as much as they could, but it was a futile endeavour. Even from a young age, the crime - and that people were failing to stop it - was not lost on him. The news spoke of heroes that roamed the streets, shutting down crime wherever they went. People spoke of bright, shining icons in colourful suits, flashing cheesy grins at the camera. So where were his?

What few heroes roamed his hometown's streets were corrupt. Sure, petty theft and the occasional big plan were foiled. But it meant nothing, like trimming the leaves off a weed. Nobody dared to attack the stem, let alone the roots. The corrupt were paid off, the idealistic killed off. The villains and the gangs pulling the strings behind the scenes shrugged their shoulders and said they had nothing to do with it - but it was an open secret. It was them flaunting that they could get away with literal murder, and nobody could stop them.

Resolving to help remedy the situation, Yuuto threw himself into his studies. be it academics or sports, he forced himself to excel, devoting himself entirely to the task of becoming good enough to get into the best hero schools available. Some were awed, some were perplexed, others even a little scared - he was a man possessed, his passion unshakeable. By the time he left middle school, he was head and shoulders above his peers. He would have been considered a model student, were it not for the fact that he wasn't exactly the most personable of people.

Still, it didn't stop him from getting accepted into Shiketsu - with some sponsors, no less. Some short-lived government program or other saw him receiving what was essentially a scholarship, due to being a student from a 'designated area.' He knew they meant 'impoverished shithole,' but he didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, and accepted without a second thought. Having passed the entrance exam with flying colours, he once again threw himself into honing both his mind and his body, preparing himself to be the best that he could ever be.

By the time he graduated, Yuuto was a pro hero in all but name. He'd honed his Quirk, his body, and his brains to the point where he could stand toe-to-toe with more experienced villains with skill and sheer power alone, and as such, agencies were clawing at each other to have him on side. Ruthless and cold a personality as he was, he got the job done, and a great many hero respected that. Or, at least, they said they did - Yuuto wasn't convinced that they approved of him, just of his raw talent.

And he hated that.

He'd become a hero to save his hometown - or, at the very least, keep some other community from meeting the same fate. Acting soft, making friends, playing nice... with everything he'd seen, he didn't believe that any of that would work. People called him hawkish and brutal for it, but he was adamant that the only way to solve the problems facing that sort of place was to crack down on crime, and do it hard. Show no mercy, and let villains know that crime would only result in their destruction. It wasn't a long-term solution, he accepted that. But going in with grants and gift baskets wouldn't solve anything either, to his mind.

There was one agency that he truly felt understood him, though, and his methods. The Bloodhounds. More like mercenaries than heroes, they were ruthless and efficient fighters, focussing more on infiltration work. Search and destroy, hostage extraction, asset recovery - they were like a rifle. Precise, deadly (as much as heroes could be), and sticklers for payment, they were notoriously difficult to impress. Even harder was passing the test they gave all new recruits. It was a gruelling, painful thing, spanning days and giving participants minimal rest. Every one of his skills was put to the test, but Yuuto scraped by, determined to join the agency, even if it killed him.

The years came and went, with Yuuto proving himself time and again. The heroes there were sceptical that he'd make it, as they were with any fresh blood, but in time they warmed up to him. They began to teach him more of their methods, lending their experience in arms, stealth, and other areas to him, on the condition that he try to 'loosen up' a little. Hell, one of the men there agreed to help him with some trickier hand-to-hand techniques - but only if Yuuto agreed to go out on the town with him, and get blackout drunk.

They were dysfunctional, they were moody, and they were merciless. But in time, Yuuto came to see them as a second family. He still kept his severe manner when out in the field - it was life or death, after all, and he had a job to do. But when the day came to an end, and everyone was back at HQ with a glass of whatever cheap booze they'd picked up on the way back, he found himself cracking a smile or two when he wasn't paying attention to himself.

Time was the one thing they couldn't fight off, however. Its ravages took people from the Bloodhounds, whether they retired on their own terms, due to injury, or were just outright killed. Not even their leader was immune to it, and all the punishment he'd taken over the years caught up to him. Too weak to go out in the field, and feeling too old to lead in a new age, he decided to bow out while he still had the chance. There was a lot of discussion over who would take the reins after, but eventually, one man was chosen above the rest.

Having proven himself a smart and capable leader many times, and one willing to listen to his peers and learn without taking anything personally, Yuuto was voted in. While initially unsure about accepting the role, Yuuto understood why he'd been chosen - and, if he was to be honest, was a little embarrassed to hear that they all thought so highly of him. The burden he took on was a heavy one, but he'd been in the business for years. He told himself that he'd be fine, and that he'd been voted in for a reason. It wasn't like he didn't have time to learn, after all.

Nowadays, the Bloodhounds are as formidable a fighting force as they ever were, though with the notable exception of the students they have started taking in. Taking them on wasn't a decision Yuuto and the senior heroes at the agency made lightly, but with the rising quality of hero education and further research into the nature of Quirks, it was unanimously - if tentatively - agreed by them that not capitalising on potential recruits would just be giving rival agencies an advantage that the Bloodhounds couldn't afford to give them. Not if they wanted to keep their reputation and their income, anyway.

THE ARMORY

HERO SUIT
Designed for both practicality and the sheer intimidation factor, Yuuto's hero suit is a pitch-black ensemble with glaring red lenses on the mask. Composed of Kevlar and bulletproof plating, its design incorporates features from various military and law enforcement uniforms, altered so that its look helps instil shock and fear in villains. The suit is designed to be highly resistant against small arms fire, but won't take more than a few rounds of rifle fire at medium range. Sufficiently sharp knives (or similar) will also cut through the sections without plating (more specifically, around the joints, face, and hands).

GRENADES X3
Yuuto avoids explosives, apart from those that are absolutely necessary to take down a villain or breach a location. Instead, he carries up to three nonlethal variants. Any combination of smoke, tear gas, concussion, flashbang, and sonic emitter throwables can be taken with him, with the amount of each varying based on the assignment. He will generally default to one smoke and two flashbangs.

PISTOL
A pistol modelled after those commonly used by the Japan Special Forces Group, Yuuto's is specially designed to only be able to fire nonlethal rubber bullets. Light, easy to handle, and remarkably durable, his pistol is a staple of his standard kit.

RIFLE
A rifle modelled after those commonly used by the Japan Special Forces Group, Yuuto's is specially designed to only be able to fire nonlethal rubber bullets. Though it is notably more difficult to handle due to its size, makes up for it with superior range and fire rate.

QUIRK & SKILLS

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TRACKER

TYPE: Emitter
RANK/LEVEL: B
SUMMARY:
Tracker gives the user the ability to ‘mark’ targets, and intuitively know where they are. The user needs only maintain two posts of visual contact with the people or objects that they wish to track, and they will know which direction they are in (relative to the user), no matter where they go, or what’s between them. The marker stays active for a maximum of five posts, but can be refreshed if visual contact is maintained until his next post.


WEAKNESSES/LIMITATIONS:
However, the user must look at the person or object in the flesh. A photograph will yield no effects. Moreover, he must maintain unbroken visual contact for two posts - even blinking will reset his progress.  Moreover, the effect only lasts for twelve posts, whereupon he is afflicted with a splitting headache that he's likened to a particularly bad migraine.

Yuuto can only track a maximum of five things at once. If he attempts to track more, the first person or object he marked will lose their ‘marker,’ and it will be transferred to the new target. Additionally, only three targets can be tracked without placing him under significant strain. Four targets will render him longsighted while his Quirk is active, while five will blur his vision at close ranges as well.

Finally, Yuuto’s Quirk is only active in a radius of fifty metres - any further, and the most he can get is a vague sense of which direction they are in. Within the radius, he is able to pinpoint their direction down to the number of degrees he’d need to turn to face them. Outside of it, he has to make do with something more along the lines of “north” or “past that house.”

RANK/LEVEL: B
SUMMARY:
Having spent years training with firearms (albeit ones loaded with nonlethal ammunition), Yuuto can reliably hit a target at a fair distance. While he has an understanding of most conventional guns, he generally tends to stick with handguns and the occasional rifle, since most of his jobs see him working indoors.

RANK/LEVEL: B
SUMMARY:
Yuuto is trained in numerous forms of martial arts, and can reliably take down targets at close range with his bare hands or a knife. He prefers not to get in any closer than he has to until he knows the nature of someone's Quirk, but with a formidable understanding of strikes, holds, and throws, he can definitely hold his own.

MRGUY

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