Natsuru Senou (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thirdbeauty) wrote2012-01-02 12:00 am
thirdbeauty) wrote2012-01-02 12:00 am
TFS Application
Player Information
Name: Phee
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
purpleminiskirts
Age: 30
Other Characters: N/A
Character Information
Name: Natsuru Senou
Canon: Kämpfer (CRAU from![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hollyheights)
Canon Point: End of Chapter 30 (+ September 2013 through April 2016 in Holly Heights)
Age: 20 (physically 17)
History:
Natsuru was a self-described "average guy that you'd find anywhere", an ordinary high-school student in Seitetsu Academy. Sometime prior to the beginning of the story, the girl he had a crush on, Sakura Kaede, gave him a small stuffed animal called "Disemboweled Tiger", part of the Entrails Animals series. While that seemed to be nothing more than a simple gift, it actually set the entire plot in motion.
After receiving the plush tiger, Natsuru woke up in a girl's body, with a blue bracelet on her right wrist, and Disemboweled Tiger, calling itself a "messenger", started speaking to her about "Kämpfer". Natsuru was apparently chosen by the "Moderators" to become a Kämpfer (German for "fighter"), and since all Kämpfer are female, males who are chosen always become girls. The bracelet can transform them between forms, but it takes practice to be able to trigger the transformation at will. Newly chosen Kämpfer will only transform randomly, in the presence of a nearby Kämpfer, or when they "sense a fighting intent". These transformations can last anywhere from a little over an hour to several weeks, or even months, at a time... basically until the bracelet activates, or is forced to activate, again. Distraught at her inability to change herself back, Natsuru shouted at Disemboweled Tiger to help, and it did... by knocking her unconscious. Which apparently is the only way to force the transformation out of Kämpfer form.
On his way to school, after waking up again, Natsuru's bracelet suddenly glowed, and he was attacked by a red-haired girl in Seitetsu's school uniform, wielding a gun. She introduced herself as Akane Mishima, a Gewehr (gun-using) Kämpfer, and was hell-bent on fighting her "opponent". Still confused over the whole thing, Natsuru ran and dodged Akane's gunfire rather than fighting... until she took aim at the nearby Sakura. Without thinking, Natsuru blasted the wall behind Akane with her Zauber (magic) power - a fireball launched from her outstretched hand. After commenting on this power, Akane took notice of Natsuru's bracelet and suddenly walked away, seeming disappointed.
It turned out Akane and Natsuru were both Blue Kämpfer, thus making them allies and not enemies. Even stranger, Akane seemed very different when she came to visit Natsuru at the boys' side of their school in her normal form - while her Kämpfer form was brash and violent, her normal self was calm and quiet... even shy. While Natsuru's Kämpfer form turned him into a girl, it was revealed that even girls who become Kämpfer have their appearance and sometimes even personality changed while in their powered form.
While discussing their situation in the library, Akane and Natsuru were both attacked by an actual enemy - a Red Kämpfer, and a Schwert (sword user), causing yet another involuntary transformation... and a lot of damage to the library in the ensuing battle. But they couldn't seem to catch a glimpse of the enemy, and the only other girl in the room they could see was Sakura, who was nearby yet again. Natsuru, of course, didn't want to believe that the girl s/he had a crush on was their enemy, and protected her from Akane, just in time to notice that the attacks were coming from elsewhere.
Rescuing Sakura a second time definitely made even more of an impression, though, and Sakura even arranged to see Natsuru (in his regular form) at school... only to ask him to introduce her to the girl who rescued her. Unable to say no, he agreed... and then even ended up agreeing to go on a date with Sakura while still in female form. Which ended with Sakura asking if Natsuru would be her girlfriend.
Confused over the confession coming from the girl s/he liked, but addressed to her as a girl and not as a guy, Natsuru excused herself and went to talk to (a jealous) Akane. When she came back, she found Shizuku Sangou, the student council president, at the table instead of Sakura. Shizuku revealed her identity as the Red Kämpfer who attacked them, and that she had kidnapped her own friend, Sakura, to force them to agree to schedule a battle with her.
Natsuru and Akane ended up winning the fight and rescuing Sakura, but all the recent Kämpfer activity, and the meddling of Natsuru's upbeat childhood friend who just returned from overseas, stirred up a lot of interest in the female Natsuru at school. Therefore, in the interest of quieting any possible rumors, at least on the surface, Shizuku made arrangements as student council president to have Natsuru's female form registered as a student in the girls' side of Seitetsu, even issuing Natsuru a pass between the two sides so that he could make appearances as both.
Surprisingly, to Natsuru at least, as a girl she became very popular with both the other girls and the boys... with even girls who described male Natsuru as "plain" or "boring" being fascinated by her and immediately thinking of her as "cool". Pretty much the only girl who didn't seem interested at all was Mikoto Kondou, Natsuru's childhood friend, who somehow viewed the female Natsuru as a rival for the male Natsuru's love.
Thanks to all the rumors going around about both his male and female forms, Natsuru ended up receiving a letter of challenge from an unidentified Kämpfer on the Red team. Shizuku's interest in the Moderators and their reasons for making them fight had apparently caused them to assign another Red Kämpfer to observe her and report on her activities. The reason Shizuku brought Natsuru over to the girls' side of the school was actually part of a plan to draw her out and use the Blue team to get rid of her. Finally, Shizuku revealed another detail she had gathered - that Kämpfer defeated by other Kämpfer are totally erased from existence.
After that fight, Natsuru finally got the hang of triggering the bracelet to transform him between normal and Kämpfer forms at will, and Shizuku seemed to have no interest in fighting anymore. Instead, she wanted to find out more about the reasoning behind Kämpfer and who the Moderators actually were. Meanwhile, Sakura used the school beauty pageant to hand out Entrails Animals plush dolls again, hiding one in particular in a bouquet she tossed out to the audience.
Shizuku, of course, continued to use Natsuru and the others to further her own purposes. Following the beauty pageant, she started to believe that Sakura had something to do with the Moderators, as all of the Entrails Animals messengers were gifts from her to others. Mikoto even approached Natsuru herself and showed him her own Entrails Animal, Strangled Stray Dog, mentioning that it spoke to her. Even Natsuru couldn't miss that a talking Entrails Animal probably meant Mikoto had become a Kämpfer... but decided not to say anything just yet.
Shizuku's plan eventually got them invited to Sakura's house, where they used the visit to investigate her connection to the Entrails Animals. She had started collecting them when she was in middle school, after finding a rare early type, "Burnt Alive Lion", that looked just like a lion she imagined as a child. Ever since then, she gave extras out to friends. Not all Entrails Animals were alive and acted as messengers. But all of the ones that were came from Sakura's collection, and Burnt Alive Lion seemed to have a large role in things.
During their visit, the three were attacked - by Natsuru's friend Mikoto, as a Red Kämpfer. Caught off guard by her "ally", Shizuku, she was knocked unconscious and the group told her everything - including Natsuru's double identity. In turn, Mikoto revealed that when she became a Kämpfer, she was told to observe Shizuku and report back, like Shizuku's defeated teammate had.
Taking advantage of Sakura's distraction during the visit, Shizuku managed to steal Burnt Alive Lion, who explained the reasoning behind Kämpfer. On a distant alien world, two factions were constantly at war. The Moderators were created to be the neutral side, and proposed to have representatives of each side battle each other instead. For the sake of being fair, they decided the battles would be fought on another world - namely Earth. The Kämpfer are all female because in that society, fighting battles is seen as a woman's role.
Once all of the existing Blue and Red Kämpfer were allied, several others from a third, unknown faction started to appear. These "White" Kämpfer claimed to act directly on behalf of the Moderators, with some mention of Sakura Kaede as well. Rather than fighting only to defeat the Blue and Red factions, they said their goal was for Natsuru to join them, and live out her life as a girl. Cryptically, they suggest Natsuru choosing to live as a boy would be a victory for the other team because "all of them like the male Natsuru". Whereas Sakura liked the female Natsuru.
Everything beyond that was still a mystery to Natsuru himself, at his latest canon point. But, as revealed in the anime and (not yet translated) later chapters, Sakura Kaede was the one who not only may have set everything in motion, but also commands the White Kämpfer. She even gave Disemboweled Tiger to Natsuru for the express reason of turning him into a Kämpfer who would then become loyal to her, and it's implied that Natsuru's absolute devotion to her may have been at least partially some form of hypnosis or mind control. What Sakura's plan had to do with the fate of their own or the alien world, if anything, wouldn't turn out to matter in the end for Natsuru.
While working at a maid cafe as a favor to a friend, Natsuru was taken to Holly Heights. Like every new arrival, she awakened sitting on a lawn chair in front of her new house, and stripped of her powers. This naturally included her contract bracelet, which was no longer able to transform her back to her male form. Her assigned family here, a mother and two sisters, were all extremely welcoming; though Natsuru initially found it awkward sharing a room with Max, an assigned sister around her own age. Too embarrassed to tell anyone she wasn't always a girl, and hoping she wouldn't be kept in Holly Heights for too long, she did what she always did back home and presented herself as any normal girl.
She soon settled into a new but familiar routine - school (completely co-ed and more American this time), getting hired part-time as a waitress, and even falling in with a new group of friends when Rise Kujikawa started a music group and invited her to join. The family life with her assigned sisters and mother took the most getting used to, because she was used to living alone and still somewhat awkward about female relationships of any kind. But as time passed, and the pros of her new life began to vastly outweigh the things she missed about her old life, she began to feel much more at home in Holly Heights than she ever had in her own world. Most surprisingly, she started to grow at least a little bit more comfortable with her changed body, in the absence of the kind of obsessive behavior she often encountered at home and after meeting many much more supportive friends of both sexes.
One very big part of these gradual changes was Sayaka Maizono. As time and distance from Sakura Kaede and the other girls from home wore on, and Natsuru found herself thinking less and less of them while her growing friendship with Maizono blossomed into a full-blown crush. She wouldn't admit this even to herself, both worried that Maizono might not like her like that and worried that she would, but only as another girl like Sakura did. Either option would be heartbreaking, so she remained in denial... until the Landlord sent prank 'gifts' to the Holly Heights residents, giving Natsuru and Maizono gifts that would make them feel and act embarrassingly in love with each other. They actually confessed to each other and began dating briefly while under this influence, and after it wore off they were both too embarrassed to speak to each other for several weeks. When they finally spoke again, they realized that they were both too nervous to admit that they genuinely had been developing feelings for each other since even before the Landlord's prank dragged it out of them. When she admitted her past to Maizono as well, the other girl told her that she didn't care whether Natsuru was a girl or a boy, or even which Natsuru would choose to be if she ever got her full powers back... and the two soon began dating for real.
Things continued to change and develop over time in various ways. Natsuru's secret got out to a few others, mostly close friends she trusted and wanted to be honest with; but also, for example, to another acquaintance with sex-swapping powers who began referring to her as his "little sister" to get on her nerves. Her assigned family gradually left one-by-one, the last shortly before Natsuru herself turned 18 and was assigned to a new house. This move placed her in a vacant spouse/parent slot, with an acquaintance from the music group as her new assigned 'daughter'. Unlike her previous family, they never fell completely into the roles they were given. But they did grow much closer as friends while sharing a house. Chieri, as well as Maizono, even helped when Rise disappeared and left the music group without a leader - at which point, Natsuru took over organizing the group out of a desire to make sure her new group of friends didn't fall apart. In the same vein, she inherited the restaurant she worked at and took over management tasks there. In both cases, while she felt entirely unqualified for the role, she managed to delegate tasks very well to those who knew certain things about the organization or business better than she did.
Owning the restaurant and leading the music group became her new normal life and routine for the rest of Natsuru's time as an adult in Holly Heights. Maizono especially took an interest in and encouraged Natsuru's training as an idol - perhaps partially out of a deeply rooted selfish desire to make sure Natsuru always needed her, though neither they nor anyone around them consciously realized this. Natsuru found she did genuinely enjoy singing enough to take another part-time job performing solo at a cafe eventually, but the main drive for keeping the idol group going always remained keeping the group of friends together.
The last big life change came a few months after Natsuru's own coming of age, when Maizono turned 18 and found herself assigned to the same house. By Holly Heights' loosely enforced family rules, this made them legally married in the eyes of the town. This was a fact which Maizono's former assigned mother, also a close friend of Natsuru's who considered them like sisters, very quickly latched on to. She began planning a wedding ceremony for them... without mentioning the idea to them at first. Eventually, they did find out and went along with the actual ceremony, marking the day they considered their marriage "official".
It wasn't until at least a year after their wedding that Natsuru finally regained the ability to transform back into male form, the last bit of her powers she'd still been missing at this point. By then, Maizono had gently guided the female Natsuru through so much, both publicly and in their private life together, she honestly felt comfortable enough presenting as a woman to remain that way (at least publicly) until leaving Holly Heights. Even so, and with Natsuru's uncertainty about how to deal with the dual bodies when so much of the town knew them as the very female leader of the local idol group, it was a relief finally being able to change back to his original body again in private. With everything that had happened, Natsuru didn't want to give up the life that came with the two years of being stuck in female form in Holly Heights. Nor did they ever want Maizono to leave, knowing that she was dead in her own world and had nothing left to return to. At absolute best, and as much of an impossibility as it might be, Natsuru hoped that the two of them would be able to continue their life together even after Holly Heights, somehow.
Personality:
"Average" and "everyday" are really two of the best words to describe the core of Natsuru's self-perception. He began pretty much as the poster child for an everyman protagonist pulled into events beyond his own control.
That's not to say he was ever completely unremarkable, as he might personally have believed. He's always been capable and independent enough to live on his own, and has a very strong sense of decency and morality. Though he might not always stand out from the crowd, he stays firm in his closely held beliefs regardless of what others around him say. He does like to stay in his own comfort zone, but when his friends need him, there's not a thing in the world that can stop him from fighting to protect them, and he can be surprisingly capable at it. While not the smartest or the strongest of his group of friends, he does bring his own balanced, rational sensibility to things where others might go to more extreme measures.
Unfortunately, he can also be very wishy-washy, too. When pressured about things that he has no interest in, he usually ends up going along with the flow until it's over, or he reaches a breaking point. When nothing important to him is threatened, though, he's perfectly fine letting others make the decisions in situations that he can't avoid, but doesn't personally feel strongly about. Even when thrown into an unfamiliar or unexpected situation, he tends to get very nervous... but rarely does anything about it.
Another major flaw of his is lack of perceptiveness when it comes to others' feelings. Especially girls, but he's been shown to be baffled by the way some of his guy friends act, too. Subtlety is not his strong suit, and he is often confused when things are not made absolutely crystal clear. There was no denying that Sakura was in love with his female self, but he totally missed that any of the others even had feelings for him, because they didn't come out and say so. This has improved in the female Natsuru's considerable time in Holly Heights, during which time she forged a lot of very close relationships with other girls. The confusion and uncertainty is still there, but to a lesser extent than before.
Natsuru's Kämpfer form and how s/he deals with it says a lot about his personality, too. He's able to adjust and get used to being a girl most of the time, except when it affects something he deeply cares about (like his crush on Sakura) or it's something he's just completely not prepared for (like, at first, the idea of bathing as a girl). He's also exceedingly chaste, and refuses to willingly take advantage of the situation whenever he transforms. While in female form, she even used to feel awkward about looking at herself in the mirror. Obviously, this isn't as much of an issue after living consistently in female form for two years, but there's still a sense of uncertainty and awkwardness whenever things veer off of her narrow field of experience. That awkwardness is a big reason why she always used to end up letting other girls take advantage of her so easily. She never knew quite how to deal with attention from girls, whereas with guys she would easily shut down any obvious lewd advances towards herself or her friends. This is also less of a problem now that Natsuru's had more experience with actual normal, sensible social interaction with girls; though there are times Natsuru will slip back into that pattern of behavior to a lesser extent, in either form.
Others around female!Natsuru also tend to see more of the traditionally "feminine" traits she already displayed in a more positive light, while her more "masculine" traits give her the air of a cool tomboy. More than one character comments on how cool and brave she is, but also find her shyness, innocence and demureness attractive. It's not that male Natsuru doesn't have these traits - in fact, they're a huge part of why Shizuku seems interested in him. But like everything, they present differently depending on how others view and react to him/her. (It's also theoretically possible, though not specifically mentioned, that there was a slight personality change in Natsuru like with the others, only it was so subtle compared to the physical changes, no one ever noticed enough to point it out.)
The nearly three years spent in Holly Heights naturally saw a lot of personal growth for Natsuru. She started out going along with the flow at first, but through several circumstances beyond her control, found herself in a leadership position in most areas of her life. With the help of her new friends, she's grown in both confidence and understanding of others. It's still a slow journey, though, and she can still be just as awkward or uncertain or self-deprecating as ever in an unfamiliar situation. But she's also been shown to be surprisingly responsible and capable, especially in the eyes of many younger residents who considered her a reliable big sister figure. While it wouldn't have been her choice to remain in female form for so long, she's grown much more comfortable with it over time. Especially without the unusual interest and perversion surrounding her in her own world. Conversely, it's slightly strange having the ability to go back to being male after so much personal growth in Holly Heights, but Natsuru plans to keep working on integrating his original body back into his new life.
Abilities:
Originally, Natsuru's contract bracelet could transform him into his female Kämpfer form and back, with control on Natsuru's part largely depending on practice and experience. Unlike many 'magical girl' style transformations, the change appears to be permanent until the reverse transformation is triggered. Due in part to the way Natsuru gradually regained their abilities in Holly Heights after a power loss, they now have more complete control over this. (This includes the depowered version of her female form she spent much of her Holly Heights years as, which Natsuru now reverts to when knocked unconscious while in full Kämpfer form.) In male form, Natsuru is still pretty average in physical terms, and cannot use any magic abilities. In female form and with powers activated, however, she gains heightened physical abilities (strength, agility, endurance, etc). She can also use fire magic, specifically in the form of launching fireballs from her hand, and has shown pretty good instincts in combat. On top of her natural physical ability, she's also trained as an idol for several years in Holly Heights. Dancing and singing are highly trained mundane skills as a result, of course, but this also means she's kept herself consistently in excellent physical condition even without powers. In either form, Natsuru benefits from the business experience of managing a restaurant, and the domestic skills that come from being responsible for an assigned 'family'. The only particular talent in these areas that stands out is cooking, which has also become a bit of a hobby.
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
God/Shinki: Shinki
Why?: While Natsuru can be a surprisingly capable leader at times, they lack confidence in unfamiliar situations and tend more towards the loyal and subservient side in general. Besides, using dead souls as servants would be too much for their hopeful manga protagonist heart to take. Being dead and serving a god would be a much easier pill to swallow, oddly enough.
Cause Of Death: Fatally injured in an otherwise mundane automobile accident
Vessel: Samurai-themed fantasy armor outfit
Name Location: Inner thigh
Power: Enhanced agility and defense/durability - essentially the sort of thing you might expect from a magical set of armor
Writing Sample
Sample: Test drive thread!
Other
Anything Else?: The Lightning Farron player and I would like Natsuru assigned to her, please!
Name: Phee
Contact:
Age: 30
Other Characters: N/A
Character Information
Name: Natsuru Senou
Canon: Kämpfer (CRAU from
hollyheights)Canon Point: End of Chapter 30 (+ September 2013 through April 2016 in Holly Heights)
Age: 20 (physically 17)
History:
Natsuru was a self-described "average guy that you'd find anywhere", an ordinary high-school student in Seitetsu Academy. Sometime prior to the beginning of the story, the girl he had a crush on, Sakura Kaede, gave him a small stuffed animal called "Disemboweled Tiger", part of the Entrails Animals series. While that seemed to be nothing more than a simple gift, it actually set the entire plot in motion.
After receiving the plush tiger, Natsuru woke up in a girl's body, with a blue bracelet on her right wrist, and Disemboweled Tiger, calling itself a "messenger", started speaking to her about "Kämpfer". Natsuru was apparently chosen by the "Moderators" to become a Kämpfer (German for "fighter"), and since all Kämpfer are female, males who are chosen always become girls. The bracelet can transform them between forms, but it takes practice to be able to trigger the transformation at will. Newly chosen Kämpfer will only transform randomly, in the presence of a nearby Kämpfer, or when they "sense a fighting intent". These transformations can last anywhere from a little over an hour to several weeks, or even months, at a time... basically until the bracelet activates, or is forced to activate, again. Distraught at her inability to change herself back, Natsuru shouted at Disemboweled Tiger to help, and it did... by knocking her unconscious. Which apparently is the only way to force the transformation out of Kämpfer form.
On his way to school, after waking up again, Natsuru's bracelet suddenly glowed, and he was attacked by a red-haired girl in Seitetsu's school uniform, wielding a gun. She introduced herself as Akane Mishima, a Gewehr (gun-using) Kämpfer, and was hell-bent on fighting her "opponent". Still confused over the whole thing, Natsuru ran and dodged Akane's gunfire rather than fighting... until she took aim at the nearby Sakura. Without thinking, Natsuru blasted the wall behind Akane with her Zauber (magic) power - a fireball launched from her outstretched hand. After commenting on this power, Akane took notice of Natsuru's bracelet and suddenly walked away, seeming disappointed.
It turned out Akane and Natsuru were both Blue Kämpfer, thus making them allies and not enemies. Even stranger, Akane seemed very different when she came to visit Natsuru at the boys' side of their school in her normal form - while her Kämpfer form was brash and violent, her normal self was calm and quiet... even shy. While Natsuru's Kämpfer form turned him into a girl, it was revealed that even girls who become Kämpfer have their appearance and sometimes even personality changed while in their powered form.
While discussing their situation in the library, Akane and Natsuru were both attacked by an actual enemy - a Red Kämpfer, and a Schwert (sword user), causing yet another involuntary transformation... and a lot of damage to the library in the ensuing battle. But they couldn't seem to catch a glimpse of the enemy, and the only other girl in the room they could see was Sakura, who was nearby yet again. Natsuru, of course, didn't want to believe that the girl s/he had a crush on was their enemy, and protected her from Akane, just in time to notice that the attacks were coming from elsewhere.
Rescuing Sakura a second time definitely made even more of an impression, though, and Sakura even arranged to see Natsuru (in his regular form) at school... only to ask him to introduce her to the girl who rescued her. Unable to say no, he agreed... and then even ended up agreeing to go on a date with Sakura while still in female form. Which ended with Sakura asking if Natsuru would be her girlfriend.
Confused over the confession coming from the girl s/he liked, but addressed to her as a girl and not as a guy, Natsuru excused herself and went to talk to (a jealous) Akane. When she came back, she found Shizuku Sangou, the student council president, at the table instead of Sakura. Shizuku revealed her identity as the Red Kämpfer who attacked them, and that she had kidnapped her own friend, Sakura, to force them to agree to schedule a battle with her.
Natsuru and Akane ended up winning the fight and rescuing Sakura, but all the recent Kämpfer activity, and the meddling of Natsuru's upbeat childhood friend who just returned from overseas, stirred up a lot of interest in the female Natsuru at school. Therefore, in the interest of quieting any possible rumors, at least on the surface, Shizuku made arrangements as student council president to have Natsuru's female form registered as a student in the girls' side of Seitetsu, even issuing Natsuru a pass between the two sides so that he could make appearances as both.
Surprisingly, to Natsuru at least, as a girl she became very popular with both the other girls and the boys... with even girls who described male Natsuru as "plain" or "boring" being fascinated by her and immediately thinking of her as "cool". Pretty much the only girl who didn't seem interested at all was Mikoto Kondou, Natsuru's childhood friend, who somehow viewed the female Natsuru as a rival for the male Natsuru's love.
Thanks to all the rumors going around about both his male and female forms, Natsuru ended up receiving a letter of challenge from an unidentified Kämpfer on the Red team. Shizuku's interest in the Moderators and their reasons for making them fight had apparently caused them to assign another Red Kämpfer to observe her and report on her activities. The reason Shizuku brought Natsuru over to the girls' side of the school was actually part of a plan to draw her out and use the Blue team to get rid of her. Finally, Shizuku revealed another detail she had gathered - that Kämpfer defeated by other Kämpfer are totally erased from existence.
After that fight, Natsuru finally got the hang of triggering the bracelet to transform him between normal and Kämpfer forms at will, and Shizuku seemed to have no interest in fighting anymore. Instead, she wanted to find out more about the reasoning behind Kämpfer and who the Moderators actually were. Meanwhile, Sakura used the school beauty pageant to hand out Entrails Animals plush dolls again, hiding one in particular in a bouquet she tossed out to the audience.
Shizuku, of course, continued to use Natsuru and the others to further her own purposes. Following the beauty pageant, she started to believe that Sakura had something to do with the Moderators, as all of the Entrails Animals messengers were gifts from her to others. Mikoto even approached Natsuru herself and showed him her own Entrails Animal, Strangled Stray Dog, mentioning that it spoke to her. Even Natsuru couldn't miss that a talking Entrails Animal probably meant Mikoto had become a Kämpfer... but decided not to say anything just yet.
Shizuku's plan eventually got them invited to Sakura's house, where they used the visit to investigate her connection to the Entrails Animals. She had started collecting them when she was in middle school, after finding a rare early type, "Burnt Alive Lion", that looked just like a lion she imagined as a child. Ever since then, she gave extras out to friends. Not all Entrails Animals were alive and acted as messengers. But all of the ones that were came from Sakura's collection, and Burnt Alive Lion seemed to have a large role in things.
During their visit, the three were attacked - by Natsuru's friend Mikoto, as a Red Kämpfer. Caught off guard by her "ally", Shizuku, she was knocked unconscious and the group told her everything - including Natsuru's double identity. In turn, Mikoto revealed that when she became a Kämpfer, she was told to observe Shizuku and report back, like Shizuku's defeated teammate had.
Taking advantage of Sakura's distraction during the visit, Shizuku managed to steal Burnt Alive Lion, who explained the reasoning behind Kämpfer. On a distant alien world, two factions were constantly at war. The Moderators were created to be the neutral side, and proposed to have representatives of each side battle each other instead. For the sake of being fair, they decided the battles would be fought on another world - namely Earth. The Kämpfer are all female because in that society, fighting battles is seen as a woman's role.
Once all of the existing Blue and Red Kämpfer were allied, several others from a third, unknown faction started to appear. These "White" Kämpfer claimed to act directly on behalf of the Moderators, with some mention of Sakura Kaede as well. Rather than fighting only to defeat the Blue and Red factions, they said their goal was for Natsuru to join them, and live out her life as a girl. Cryptically, they suggest Natsuru choosing to live as a boy would be a victory for the other team because "all of them like the male Natsuru". Whereas Sakura liked the female Natsuru.
Everything beyond that was still a mystery to Natsuru himself, at his latest canon point. But, as revealed in the anime and (not yet translated) later chapters, Sakura Kaede was the one who not only may have set everything in motion, but also commands the White Kämpfer. She even gave Disemboweled Tiger to Natsuru for the express reason of turning him into a Kämpfer who would then become loyal to her, and it's implied that Natsuru's absolute devotion to her may have been at least partially some form of hypnosis or mind control. What Sakura's plan had to do with the fate of their own or the alien world, if anything, wouldn't turn out to matter in the end for Natsuru.
While working at a maid cafe as a favor to a friend, Natsuru was taken to Holly Heights. Like every new arrival, she awakened sitting on a lawn chair in front of her new house, and stripped of her powers. This naturally included her contract bracelet, which was no longer able to transform her back to her male form. Her assigned family here, a mother and two sisters, were all extremely welcoming; though Natsuru initially found it awkward sharing a room with Max, an assigned sister around her own age. Too embarrassed to tell anyone she wasn't always a girl, and hoping she wouldn't be kept in Holly Heights for too long, she did what she always did back home and presented herself as any normal girl.
She soon settled into a new but familiar routine - school (completely co-ed and more American this time), getting hired part-time as a waitress, and even falling in with a new group of friends when Rise Kujikawa started a music group and invited her to join. The family life with her assigned sisters and mother took the most getting used to, because she was used to living alone and still somewhat awkward about female relationships of any kind. But as time passed, and the pros of her new life began to vastly outweigh the things she missed about her old life, she began to feel much more at home in Holly Heights than she ever had in her own world. Most surprisingly, she started to grow at least a little bit more comfortable with her changed body, in the absence of the kind of obsessive behavior she often encountered at home and after meeting many much more supportive friends of both sexes.
One very big part of these gradual changes was Sayaka Maizono. As time and distance from Sakura Kaede and the other girls from home wore on, and Natsuru found herself thinking less and less of them while her growing friendship with Maizono blossomed into a full-blown crush. She wouldn't admit this even to herself, both worried that Maizono might not like her like that and worried that she would, but only as another girl like Sakura did. Either option would be heartbreaking, so she remained in denial... until the Landlord sent prank 'gifts' to the Holly Heights residents, giving Natsuru and Maizono gifts that would make them feel and act embarrassingly in love with each other. They actually confessed to each other and began dating briefly while under this influence, and after it wore off they were both too embarrassed to speak to each other for several weeks. When they finally spoke again, they realized that they were both too nervous to admit that they genuinely had been developing feelings for each other since even before the Landlord's prank dragged it out of them. When she admitted her past to Maizono as well, the other girl told her that she didn't care whether Natsuru was a girl or a boy, or even which Natsuru would choose to be if she ever got her full powers back... and the two soon began dating for real.
Things continued to change and develop over time in various ways. Natsuru's secret got out to a few others, mostly close friends she trusted and wanted to be honest with; but also, for example, to another acquaintance with sex-swapping powers who began referring to her as his "little sister" to get on her nerves. Her assigned family gradually left one-by-one, the last shortly before Natsuru herself turned 18 and was assigned to a new house. This move placed her in a vacant spouse/parent slot, with an acquaintance from the music group as her new assigned 'daughter'. Unlike her previous family, they never fell completely into the roles they were given. But they did grow much closer as friends while sharing a house. Chieri, as well as Maizono, even helped when Rise disappeared and left the music group without a leader - at which point, Natsuru took over organizing the group out of a desire to make sure her new group of friends didn't fall apart. In the same vein, she inherited the restaurant she worked at and took over management tasks there. In both cases, while she felt entirely unqualified for the role, she managed to delegate tasks very well to those who knew certain things about the organization or business better than she did.
Owning the restaurant and leading the music group became her new normal life and routine for the rest of Natsuru's time as an adult in Holly Heights. Maizono especially took an interest in and encouraged Natsuru's training as an idol - perhaps partially out of a deeply rooted selfish desire to make sure Natsuru always needed her, though neither they nor anyone around them consciously realized this. Natsuru found she did genuinely enjoy singing enough to take another part-time job performing solo at a cafe eventually, but the main drive for keeping the idol group going always remained keeping the group of friends together.
The last big life change came a few months after Natsuru's own coming of age, when Maizono turned 18 and found herself assigned to the same house. By Holly Heights' loosely enforced family rules, this made them legally married in the eyes of the town. This was a fact which Maizono's former assigned mother, also a close friend of Natsuru's who considered them like sisters, very quickly latched on to. She began planning a wedding ceremony for them... without mentioning the idea to them at first. Eventually, they did find out and went along with the actual ceremony, marking the day they considered their marriage "official".
It wasn't until at least a year after their wedding that Natsuru finally regained the ability to transform back into male form, the last bit of her powers she'd still been missing at this point. By then, Maizono had gently guided the female Natsuru through so much, both publicly and in their private life together, she honestly felt comfortable enough presenting as a woman to remain that way (at least publicly) until leaving Holly Heights. Even so, and with Natsuru's uncertainty about how to deal with the dual bodies when so much of the town knew them as the very female leader of the local idol group, it was a relief finally being able to change back to his original body again in private. With everything that had happened, Natsuru didn't want to give up the life that came with the two years of being stuck in female form in Holly Heights. Nor did they ever want Maizono to leave, knowing that she was dead in her own world and had nothing left to return to. At absolute best, and as much of an impossibility as it might be, Natsuru hoped that the two of them would be able to continue their life together even after Holly Heights, somehow.
Personality:
"Average" and "everyday" are really two of the best words to describe the core of Natsuru's self-perception. He began pretty much as the poster child for an everyman protagonist pulled into events beyond his own control.
That's not to say he was ever completely unremarkable, as he might personally have believed. He's always been capable and independent enough to live on his own, and has a very strong sense of decency and morality. Though he might not always stand out from the crowd, he stays firm in his closely held beliefs regardless of what others around him say. He does like to stay in his own comfort zone, but when his friends need him, there's not a thing in the world that can stop him from fighting to protect them, and he can be surprisingly capable at it. While not the smartest or the strongest of his group of friends, he does bring his own balanced, rational sensibility to things where others might go to more extreme measures.
Unfortunately, he can also be very wishy-washy, too. When pressured about things that he has no interest in, he usually ends up going along with the flow until it's over, or he reaches a breaking point. When nothing important to him is threatened, though, he's perfectly fine letting others make the decisions in situations that he can't avoid, but doesn't personally feel strongly about. Even when thrown into an unfamiliar or unexpected situation, he tends to get very nervous... but rarely does anything about it.
Another major flaw of his is lack of perceptiveness when it comes to others' feelings. Especially girls, but he's been shown to be baffled by the way some of his guy friends act, too. Subtlety is not his strong suit, and he is often confused when things are not made absolutely crystal clear. There was no denying that Sakura was in love with his female self, but he totally missed that any of the others even had feelings for him, because they didn't come out and say so. This has improved in the female Natsuru's considerable time in Holly Heights, during which time she forged a lot of very close relationships with other girls. The confusion and uncertainty is still there, but to a lesser extent than before.
Natsuru's Kämpfer form and how s/he deals with it says a lot about his personality, too. He's able to adjust and get used to being a girl most of the time, except when it affects something he deeply cares about (like his crush on Sakura) or it's something he's just completely not prepared for (like, at first, the idea of bathing as a girl). He's also exceedingly chaste, and refuses to willingly take advantage of the situation whenever he transforms. While in female form, she even used to feel awkward about looking at herself in the mirror. Obviously, this isn't as much of an issue after living consistently in female form for two years, but there's still a sense of uncertainty and awkwardness whenever things veer off of her narrow field of experience. That awkwardness is a big reason why she always used to end up letting other girls take advantage of her so easily. She never knew quite how to deal with attention from girls, whereas with guys she would easily shut down any obvious lewd advances towards herself or her friends. This is also less of a problem now that Natsuru's had more experience with actual normal, sensible social interaction with girls; though there are times Natsuru will slip back into that pattern of behavior to a lesser extent, in either form.
Others around female!Natsuru also tend to see more of the traditionally "feminine" traits she already displayed in a more positive light, while her more "masculine" traits give her the air of a cool tomboy. More than one character comments on how cool and brave she is, but also find her shyness, innocence and demureness attractive. It's not that male Natsuru doesn't have these traits - in fact, they're a huge part of why Shizuku seems interested in him. But like everything, they present differently depending on how others view and react to him/her. (It's also theoretically possible, though not specifically mentioned, that there was a slight personality change in Natsuru like with the others, only it was so subtle compared to the physical changes, no one ever noticed enough to point it out.)
The nearly three years spent in Holly Heights naturally saw a lot of personal growth for Natsuru. She started out going along with the flow at first, but through several circumstances beyond her control, found herself in a leadership position in most areas of her life. With the help of her new friends, she's grown in both confidence and understanding of others. It's still a slow journey, though, and she can still be just as awkward or uncertain or self-deprecating as ever in an unfamiliar situation. But she's also been shown to be surprisingly responsible and capable, especially in the eyes of many younger residents who considered her a reliable big sister figure. While it wouldn't have been her choice to remain in female form for so long, she's grown much more comfortable with it over time. Especially without the unusual interest and perversion surrounding her in her own world. Conversely, it's slightly strange having the ability to go back to being male after so much personal growth in Holly Heights, but Natsuru plans to keep working on integrating his original body back into his new life.
Abilities:
Originally, Natsuru's contract bracelet could transform him into his female Kämpfer form and back, with control on Natsuru's part largely depending on practice and experience. Unlike many 'magical girl' style transformations, the change appears to be permanent until the reverse transformation is triggered. Due in part to the way Natsuru gradually regained their abilities in Holly Heights after a power loss, they now have more complete control over this. (This includes the depowered version of her female form she spent much of her Holly Heights years as, which Natsuru now reverts to when knocked unconscious while in full Kämpfer form.) In male form, Natsuru is still pretty average in physical terms, and cannot use any magic abilities. In female form and with powers activated, however, she gains heightened physical abilities (strength, agility, endurance, etc). She can also use fire magic, specifically in the form of launching fireballs from her hand, and has shown pretty good instincts in combat. On top of her natural physical ability, she's also trained as an idol for several years in Holly Heights. Dancing and singing are highly trained mundane skills as a result, of course, but this also means she's kept herself consistently in excellent physical condition even without powers. In either form, Natsuru benefits from the business experience of managing a restaurant, and the domestic skills that come from being responsible for an assigned 'family'. The only particular talent in these areas that stands out is cooking, which has also become a bit of a hobby.
Strengths:
- Loyal
- Flexible
- Caring
- Capable
- Selfless
Weaknesses:
- Dense
- Naive
- Suggestible
- Easily flustered
- Uncertain
God/Shinki: Shinki
Why?: While Natsuru can be a surprisingly capable leader at times, they lack confidence in unfamiliar situations and tend more towards the loyal and subservient side in general. Besides, using dead souls as servants would be too much for their hopeful manga protagonist heart to take. Being dead and serving a god would be a much easier pill to swallow, oddly enough.
Cause Of Death: Fatally injured in an otherwise mundane automobile accident
Vessel: Samurai-themed fantasy armor outfit
Name Location: Inner thigh
Power: Enhanced agility and defense/durability - essentially the sort of thing you might expect from a magical set of armor
Writing Sample
Sample: Test drive thread!
Other
Anything Else?: The Lightning Farron player and I would like Natsuru assigned to her, please!