S001 - Tsurumi, Kaede

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Name: Kaede Tsurumi
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12th
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Dancing, Model United Nations, Natural History Club

Appearance: Kaede Tsurumi has straight black hair that is normally done in a loose bun, but goes down to her shoulder blades when undone, with dyed blue streaks, and light blue eyes. She is 5'7'' tall and weighs 136 lbs. She is conventionally attractive, possessing light skin, a medium build, with her weight evenly distributed throughout her body and an average bust, although her legs are exceptionally toned due to years of dancing, and a waist that is slightly narrower than her hips. Her face is ovular, with a relatively flat nose, and full lips. On her face, she uses basic concealer, but nothing more. Kaede’s clothing alternates between two main styles: a wardrobe that is reminiscent of westernized Japanese fashion in the 1930s, or more often, a more modern ensemble of jeans, T-shirts, and boots. On the day she was kidnapped, Kaede was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, black boots, as well as a plain white shirt and a black fleece jacket.

Biography: Kaede was born on February 26, 2004 to father Rikyu, who is a former warehouse delivery driver and lists himself as a stay-at-home father, and mother Hoshiko, who works as a supervisor at an Amazon warehouse in Lynn. While both Rikyu and Hoshiko were born and raised in America, they were first generation Americans raised by more traditional Japanese beliefs of the 1950s and 1960s. The two of them were in their late teens (Rikyu was nineteen, Hoshiko eighteen) when they had and married due to their first daughter, Sayaka, in 2002. Sayaka was unplanned, and was the source of many arguments, as Rikyu and Hoshiko’s relatively low-paying jobs meant that they frequently had few funds to raise three people. As a result, in a misguided effort to fix the marriage, they intentionally had Kaede.

The combination of having two children led to many financial problems, which ended up bleeding over into their home life, as Hoskio was always working and Rikyu was very frugal, obtaining cheap clothing from secondhand stores or as hand-me-downs, for example. Furthermore, neither parent truly cared for their children, as Sayaka was unplanned, and Kaede didn’t fix the issues in the marriage. They didn’t offer any support, and in fact repeatedly criticized and talked down to them, drilling in two points: the first was that they never wanted Kaede and Sayaka, and that the family was depending on the two of them. This gave the two of them inferiority complexes, as their parents’ words made them believe that they would never receive or deserve praise or acknowledgement. This continued until Kaede was nine and Sayaka eleven, when Kaede asked to stay in Sayaka’s room, as Kaede was afraid that her parents would criticize her room again. This made Sayaka more defiant and self-confident, as she stepped up to take care of Kaede.

Kaede’s biggest interest is in dancing. Her parents signed her up for traditional Japanese dancing at the Salem YMCA when Kaede was six, mainly because it was a relatively inexpensive way for Kaede to be out of the house and allowed them to work more. Kaede stuck with it, since it was a break from home, and she was genuinely enjoying the lessons. While she has never thought of competing, she has participated in a few cultural festivals, and has helped out with the beginners since she was fifteen. She has enhanced this by dancing to more active music, namely hip-hop and techno music, which has given her a more toned physique.

Kaede’s social life and social skills have never been very good. This comes from her home life, which has made her very neurotic, which means that people at school have only talked to her when they had to. Her home life gave her a very severe fight or flight response which causing her to, when too quickly approached, either leave as quickly as she can or reflexively slap the person who approached her. Although she has since improved (especially with counseling from the elementary school administration regarding slapping), these social issues combined with her clothing style, which consisted of hand-me-downs reminiscent of westernized Japanese fashion from the 1930s, caused her to stick out in a negative manner. This continued into high school, where she was left alone and talked about as being bizarre, which made her feel bullied, even though she was merely avoided. This has, somewhat, continued into high school at John Endicott Memorial.

High school has represented a bit of an upturn for Kaede socially. Entering freshman year, she did not have any friends, a result of her outdated clothing style and neuroticism. This changed due to three things: The first was Kaede joining the Model UN during freshman year, which was due to a passing interest in cultures that has since been solidified. The second was joining the school's Natural History Club, which she joined due to the club's study of nature and animals, both in a theoretical standpoint, such as museum trips and discussions about the environment, and practically, through events like nature walks. The third was Kaede meeting up with Danielle Bird. Danielle met up with Kaede when Dani saw Kaede was relaxing through active dancing. This caused Dani to strike up a conversation with Kaede, noting their similar interests in dance. The process of Kaede opening up to Dani was quite slow, as Kaede’s nervousness and inferiority complex made it hard, however the two of them were quite close by sophomore year. When the two of them go out, Danielle would often pay for food and the occasional set of clothing or makeup set. Kaede appreciated the gestures when they were done, which Danielle would do because she likes to spoil her friends. This was further helped by the fact that Sayaka had graduated high school at the end of Kaede’s freshman year with a job lined up with the US Postal Service. Upon turning 18, Sayaka moved to an apartment as soon as she could, with Kaede moving in with Sayaka.

The COVID-19 pandemic over Kaede’s junior year wasn’t much of an issue for her. As she only had one person whom she was close to, Kaede was content with online classes as well as Zoom calling Danielle or talking with Sayaka while in lockdown.

Kaede plans on taking a gap year to figure out what she wants to do with her life after college or even if college is the right move for her. Scholastically, she is an average student, having a B average with almost no standard deviation. The main exception is in English, where she can spend more time writing and sourcing opinions, where she gets an A-. Gym class and art class can also be more pleasant, due to her dancing improving her performance in individual activities in the former, and being able to can simply lose herself in what she’s doing in the latter, although those simply stayed average. She is very close to Sayaka, and relatively close to Danielle, and like Sayaka, estranged from her parents, but with no close relationships otherwise.

Advantages: Kaede is, through her dancing, very athletic and flexible. To elaborate, she not only possesses great coordination, endurance, and reflexes, but her traditional dancing practice has allowed her to hold position for longer periods of time than normal.
Disadvantages: Her life before she moved in with Sayaka has given her extreme social anxiety. While this has been getting better, she is still very nervous around others, and has a strong inferiority complex. As a result of her nervousness, she can be very impulsive, manifesting in a fight or flight response, which could cause her to run from or attack a potential ally. Furthermore, she only has one person whom she could truly count as an ally, her friend Danielle Bird.

Designated Number: Student No. 001

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Designated Weapon: Box of condoms

Conclusion: You're taking part in a grand tradition, S001. Another version, another worthless wallflower with nothing going for her but looks. - Veronica Rai