Rakuen :: Application

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PLAYER INFORMATION

Name: Aki
Journal: ginbean
Contact information: GinryuKnight [AIM]
Other characters: Tougyu Shiro frozen_desires
Do you need an invite code? Nope.

CHARACTER INFORMATION

Name: Kevin Smith
Age: 12
Canon: Here.
Canon point: After the Goodwill Matches.

History/Personality:

Kevin is the son of George Smith, a former pro-tennis player. Yet despite having such a title, George was never able to make it into the US Open and instead retired, choosing to teach at a tennis club. His methods of teaching, however, were rather Spartan-ish and often brutal. To this so called coaching, two people stood up to him, Takeuchi Rinko and Echizen Nanjiro, Ryoma's future parents. When Rinko was injured protecting one of George's students from his violence, Nanjiro stepped up and challenged Kevin's father to a match, one George pitifully lost.

Humiliated and angered, rather than seek to better his own skills, George turned his vengeance and hatred onto his son, Kevin. Kevin endured a sort of hellish childhood, suffering physical abuse from his drunken father and mental abuse at watching his father break down. Eventually, Kevin did as his father had and chose to scapegoat someone, Echizen Ryoma. Nanjiro, he surmised was the source of all these problems and so, if he could defeat Ryoma and regain his father's honor, then everything would fix itself. With that motivation in mind, Kevin began to pursue Ryoma in the tennis world with an obsession that borderlined possessed. He entered several junior tournaments, seeking Ryoma and won them all. But to him, all these victories were worthless because Ryoma hadn't been there. Every trophy and compliment he earned for his skills was discarded without care, as he focused on his target.

Yet it was these very same victories that caught the eye of Richard Baker, the owner of a posh tennis club. He offered Kevin a chance to partake in the middle school Goodwill Matches where teams comprised of the best tennis players in Japan and America would compete in a friendly match. To add to the allure of such an offer, Richard told Kevin that Echizen Ryoma of Seishun Middle School would surely be in Japan's lineup.

There was no more to be said, Kevin accepted and was nominated as the American team's captain. He flew to Japan a week early and, in order to seize Ryoma's attention, began attacking all of the middle schools whose tennis teams were participating in the Goodwill matches. Challenging each and every player who hadn't left for the training camp, he beat them down viciously, telling them to send a message to Ryoma that he was waiting for him. When he finally did confront Ryoma, it was with a venom so thick that you could practically taste it. Unfortunately he was prevented from actually playing Ryoma outside of the matches by Ryoma's captain, Tezuka.

Fast forward to the actual tournament, Kevin's match was the last to be played and it was revealed that his opponent was not Echizen Ryoma. A fact that drove Kevin to disregard the match completely. If he could not take his vengeance on Ryoma, the American felt that the entire thing was pointless and hardly worth the time. The fact that he still played, however could have been because he just wanted to get it over with or because of the fact that it was his match that would decide if the American team got a sponsor or not. If he forfeited, it would be his teammates who paid the price.

And though he intended to not take the match seriously, his opponent, Kirihara Akaya, proved him dead wrong. Akaya, disgusted with Kevin's half-assed attitude, forced the blond to realize that even if he wasn't Ryoma, he was still a force to be reckoned with and played so well, Kevin had no choice but to take the match seriously. Unfortunately, halfway through the match Akaya injured himself grievously and had to be taken to hospital. Though that should have meant an automatic win for Kevin, his coach, Richard, insisted they allow a special rule to be put into play. That the reserve player, Ryoma, could take Akaya's place and the match could go on. His reasons for doing so, while unscrupulous, allowed Kevin to face his target and so the blond agreed.

The match resumed as it had before, only with a different player now and while it seemed Kevin had the lead at first, eventually Ryoma pushed him back, blocking him off at every corner and turning the score in his favor. While many feared Kevin would then resort to his violent tactics he had shown during his first week in Japan, one in particular scoffed at the possibility. Kevin was, in all honesty, too good of a guy to do that. The violent attacks had been a provocation for Ryoma, but once in an official match against his rival, Kevin would never stoop so low even if he was being pressured. Kevin, at heart, just wasn't the villain so many thought him to be.

Near the end of the match, when Ryoma was about to win, Kevin suffered what might be considered a mental break down. He was afraid that if he lost here to Ryoma, like his father had to Nanjiro, that he would become his father. Faced with such a future, though delusional as it may be, it scared him so much that he forced himself to break his own limits and entered the Muga No Kyouchi state, pushing the match into a tie-breaker. Unfortunately for Kevin, Ryoma was not one to be easily overwhelmed and the match ended in Ryoma's win. Despite his loss, however, Kevin came to an understanding of Ryoma in that state, realizing in the end how petty his father had been, obsessing over his loss as he had and still did. What occurred was a sort of bonding between the two, the kind that cannot be described in words but only felt. He realized that in comparison to his easily dissuaded, depressed and irresponsible father, a man who strives beyond his limits every time and faces down the odds with endless determination was really an "amazing kind of guy." And so, the match ended and Kevin gave up his hatred of Ryoma, instead becoming a friendly rival. Someone who sought to defeat him on the court but for the purpose of becoming a better player and not vengeance.

Later, when he meets Ryoma in America, Kevin's hatred is all but a thing of the past. He displays an energetic and upbeat disposition as well an eagerness for every day life along with a budding maturity.

However, this is no indication on his current family life. In the past, Kevin has been shown to have a calm indifference towards violence directed at himself. Despite his father's drinking and abuse, he goes out in every day life and plays tennis with his friends and is shown to be laughing and smiling. When he was struck by Coach Baker, Kevin, though seemingly annoyed or frustrated, moved on without commenting on the hit. It shows he's built up a saddening tolerance of physical violence and, while knowing it's wrong, doesn't find it unusual. Yet even with all of these burdens upon him, he has shown an amazing resilience and determination. Such fortitude comes out in almost everything he does. In the way he practices tennis day in and day out and in how he pursues his goal with single-minded determination.

At the end of the series, he is shown to have matured a great deal and has set his eyes on entering the US Open. To do something his father could not and achieve his goal for him, even though his father has become what he has. Whether it's because Kevin understands his father's feelings or because he still retains the goal of trying to make his father return to his old self is unknown. What can be said of Kevin, however, is that he is a remarkable young boy with skills beyond his years and an energetic disposition that has not yet been destroyed despite his hardships.

Weapon:

Name: Illusion

Form: Bayonet Rifle.

Upgrades:

• Agility: How fast a Player can move and react. Higher Agility boosts act as a haste or speed+ effect, as though the world surrounding the Player has slowed down.
• Dexterity: The stat governing the effectiveness of ranged attacks. Attacks with high Dexterity have bonuses to accuracy.
• Confusion: Up is down and back is front, a confused Player cannot perceive directions, gravity or tell the difference between an ally and an enemy. The condition lasts thirty seconds or until the target receives a physical blow.
• Vindictive: Gain +10 Strength and +10 Dexterity if the opponent has beaten the Player in a previous battle.
• Enmity: The more the Weapon and Player hate each other, the stronger the weapon becomes. Maximum +15 Offense.

Lost memories:

1. His mother's face.
2. Why he plays tennis.
3. His father's beatings.
4. Why he chased after Ryoma.
5. His best friend, Billy.
6. How to use chopsticks.
7. How to turn lights on.
8. The word "friend."
9. The taste of cheese.
10. That water isn't harmful in small quantities.

Sample:

dear_mun entry