KOIZUMI, MAKOTO

Makoto Koizumi

20

Female

Japanese

DAITO
ALTERNATE

Makoto is about 5’7 and weighs about 125 pounds. She has a rather slender, but athletic build and is also rather flat. Her hair is dark blond, almost brown, and it reaches a bit past her ears while her eyes are a deep brown. Prior to her middle school days, Makoto’s hair reached down her back and seemed to be a bit lighter in color. Perhaps it is due to her overall atmosphere, but anyone who sees a picture of her before she began cross-dressing has a difficult time imagining them as the same individual.

The user holds the blade in front of him/her, the tip angled towards the ground, almost as if in a defensive position. After a short moment the sword will glow green and the user will rush forward and slash up and then down. The strikes also carry the possibility of poisoning the enemy.

To activate this Sword Art, the user raises the blade to shoulder height and points it at the enemy with the elbow slightly bent while the non-dominant hand is also raised in the direction of the enemy. Once the blade glows a deep blue, the user races forwards and at the last moment, leaps to the side in order to flank the enemy. She then whips the blade around her head and drives it into the side of the opponent. After this strike lands, she uses the momentum from the initial strike to dash behind the enemy to deliver a second blow to its backside.

[classy=title]PERSONALITY[/classy]

Positive:

• Courageous- Makoto is always up for exploring or going after a difficult monster. She is rather intrepid and sometimes finds the danger of actually dying makes things more interesting. However, while she is willing to take risks with her own well-being, she is not the sort to put others in danger for a bit of excitement.
• Strategic- Makoto is skilled at making plans and strategizing in battle. She is also adept and modifying her strategies and almost always has a backup plan or two.
• Loyal- Once she throws her lot in with someone or with an ideal, she devotes everything to it. If it came down to choosing her own life or a friend’s, Makoto would barely even think about saving herself.
• Determined- Once she decides to do something, almost nothing will stop her. Some call her stubborn, which she is, but Makoto will keep at something until it’s through. She can be a very hard worker when it comes down to achieving what she has set her sights on.
• Protective- Makoto often worries more about others than she does about herself. She will go out of her way to help people and would much rather suffer herself than see others suffer. This is especially true when it comes to those she is close to; Makoto would do almost anything to ensure they are not hurt.
• Energetic- Despite the rather dour situation, Makoto always seems to have energy to spare. She almost always is full of life and appears like she is ready to take on anything.
• Leader- She is quick to take control in situations and is generally an easy person to follow. While she may not always have confidence in her decisions, Makoto is at least able to pretend that she does and she often feels more comfortable calling the shots than entrusting the role to another.


Negative:

• Secretive- Makoto has plenty of secrets- her true gender and status as a beta tester chief among them. Often she becomes so use to keeping her secrets that she naturally is hesitant to reveal any information about herself. If ever the conversation does turn in a direction that might cause her to reveal personal information, she is quick to change the subject.
• Insecure- Although outwardly she radiates energy and confidence, she often lacks self-confidence. She finds dressing as a man to negate this somewhat, but this habit also makes her terrified of being discovered and consequently hated. Makoto often goes to great lengths to prove herself, which is one of the reasons why she is always up for something dangerous.
• Bashful- She is surprisingly easy to embarrass and she blushes rather easily. Often she tries to brush her discomfiture off with a grin or a joke, but it isn’t very effective when her face is bright scarlet. Makoto is especially susceptible to this when it comes to romantic things, especially as she is surprisingly innocent in that respect. Personal mistakes and failures may also turn her face bright red.
• Vengeful- Although she hates this about herself, Makoto holds grudges easily. If you’ve wronged her, or anyone close to her, she will likely get back at you. Sometimes it may take a while and the individual on the receiving end of her revenge may have no clue what he or she may have done in the first place.
• Stubborn- The negative side to her determination is that she can be very difficult to persuade once she has made her mind up about something. Even if she is wrong and knows she is wrong, it will take her some time to acknowledge that fact.
• Obsessive- In many cases, Makoto’s determination is beneficial, but she often tends to go overboard. She also tends to fixate on certain things and will not let them go for ages.
• Guarded- She is a rather friendly individual, but there is a large gap between those she gets along with and those that she is actually close to. Despite her outgoing personality, there are few that Makoto really views as friends and even fewer that she would ever reveal anything personal to.

Likes:

• Cute animals, especially dogs
• Chocolate
• Bacon
• Exploring
• High places
• Video Games
• The night sky
• Playing the hero
• Baseball
• Cool headgear
• Her brother, Yukiko
• Petrichor

Dislikes:

• Chick flicks
• Drama
• Cold Weather
• Mushrooms
• Self-centered individuals
• Cooking
• PKers
• Dresses

[classy=title]HISTORY[/classy]
►DESCRIBE YOUR CHILDHOOD:

Makoto was born as the elder of a set of fraternal twins on February 4th to Hiraku and Shizuka Koizumi, a middle-class couple who ran a small restaurant in Kyoto. Her mother was especially pleased to have a girl and some of Makoto’s earliest memories were of being pushed into frilly dresses. As a young child, Makoto didn’t have much choice when it came to her wardrobe, but as she grew older it was quickly apparent that she wasn’t exactly the daughter that Shizuka had dreamed of.

Even as a child, Makoto had a hard time keeping still. As soon as she was old enough, Makoto was racing around outside, often in the fancy dresses her mother had carefully chosen. Much to her mother’s chagrin, Makoto had quite the knack for ruining clothes. While perhaps some parents may have swifty come to the conclusion that they might as well give up, Makoto’s mother kept trying.

In the summer when she was six years old, her mother signed her up for a juvenile beauty pageant, without bothering to ask for Makoto’s opinion on the matter. While she put up with it for a little while, she disappeared shortly before the judging. By the time she had been found, Makoto had managed to scurry up a tree, demolishing her dress. The young girl also couldn’t understand why none of the other girls seemed to find the massive cicada she’d caught fascinating.

Makoto’s mother did relinquish somewhat after that fiasco and the two managed to come to a compromise where as long as she went to school looking ‘presentable’, she could choose her wardrobe while at home. As her mother still purchased all her clothes, this wasn’t perfect, but it was still better than before.

This uneasy truce went on until the twins entered their second year of middle school. Around this time, Makoto’s brother, who had never been a stereotypical boy, began dressing in feminine clothing. Middle school students can be rather unforgiving, so it was unsurprising when her brother, Yukiko, began to be viciously bullied. While Makoto was only a few minutes older, she had always taken on the role of the older sibling and this was no exception. After learning the identities of her brother’s tormentors, she tracked down their leader during a break and wordlessly went up and punched the boy in the face, triggering a short, but vicious fight.

Although Makoto probably came off worse, there were plenty of witnesses that pinpointed her as the instigator of the fight and she was quickly suspended. However, the bullying didn’t stop either. Makoto decided that although she wasn’t able to stop the bullying, she might be able to give Yukiko's bullies a different target. During the night prior to her first day back at school, Makoto gave herself a rather awful haircut and borrowed her brother’s school uniform.

Her change had its desired effect; for a time the bullies bothered both siblings, but soon they realized that tormenting two people who stood together wasn’t nearly as enjoyable. Instead, the twins were generally ostracized from the rest of the school. However, Makoto was rather surprised to find that she enjoyed dressing as a guy much more than her normal clothing, although she did consent to having her hair fixed somewhat. Despite the ridicule, Makoto found herself feeling more confident and comfortable.

This feeling only grew as the twins entered high school, especially since none of their middle school classmates attended their new school. Unless proven otherwise, people tend to see what they want to see and their new school was expecting a boy and a girl. Makoto and Yukiko simply never set them straight. As opposed to her middle school, Makoto was able to immerse herself in the social scene and managed to make several good friends amongst the boys, especially after she joined the school baseball team. Several of her teammates were rather obsessed with online games and she was soon invited to play with them. While she wasn’t certain whether she’d like them at first, Makoto instantly fell in love with games. Soon she became an even more avid gamer than the boys who had introduced her to MMOs in the first place.

Although her mother hadn’t been able to stop her once she’d really decided to cross-dress, her home environment was never really comfortable and Makoto found herself using games to get away from the awkward and disapproving atmosphere. However, she was still glad when she graduated from high school and was able to move out in order to attend college.

Makoto had not been in her twenties for long before the NerveGear was released. Although she purchased it almost immediately, she was rather disappointed with the game lineup until Sword Art Online was announced. She followed the game’s development eagerly, and was overjoyed when she managed to clinch a spot as a beta tester. Although she didn’t manage to get off the first floor, Makoto found the game to be more amazing than she could have imagined. While she was generally a pretty good student, she was guilty of allowing her grades to slip horribly during the test. The wait between the end of the beta test and the start of the real game was almost painful, except that she managed to convince her brother to play the game alongside her.

Once she had reentered the game, Makoto had designed her avatar to look like a solidly built young man with an impish face and short black hair. She enjoyed the first few hours immensely and it was even better since Yukiko was playing alongside her. Of course, that all changed when the true nature of the game was revealed. Makoto had looked on as people began to panic, almost as if she was watching a movie. It took a few moments for reality to sink in and when it did, instead of fear she felt guilt. She had been the one to pull her brother into the game and now there was a chance that he could get killed. Silently, she made up her mind that she would get him out no matter what and while she was at it, she’d protect as many people as she could. Makoto realized that as a beta tester she had an advantage, but that also came with a responsibility. She’d be one of the players to clear this game.

Of course, that was thinking too far ahead. Even after playing for a few months, the beta testers had barely managed to get anywhere in Aincrad. She also realized that getting to the top alone was impossible, so the first order of business was simple; she had to find a group of other players to work with. She wouldn’t be able to help the thousands of players that might need it, but maybe she could at least help a select few which in turn could save the others.