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Name Meaning: "Subaru" - Pleiades Star Constellation; "Sumeragi" - Emperor of Japan
DOB - 19th February, 1974
Place of Birth - Sagano, Kyoto
Blood type: A
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Emerald green
Height: 163cm (TYOB); 175cm (X)
Weight: 50 kg (TYOB); 65 kg (X)
Family: Hokuto, older twin sister; Parents, deceased; Grandmother, 12th Head of the Sumeragi Clan
Place of Residence: Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo (TYOB); CLAMP Campus (X)
Likes: Animals, Reading, Mochi
Dislikes: Cruelty
Traits: Incredible strength despite his physical appearance; Ability to dive into other's minds; No sense of direction (always relies upon faxed maps to find his way to jobs)

 

 

Born to Lead

Born into one of the ancient Japanese clans, Subaru and his twin sister, Hokuto, were raised in a traditional way in the old capital of Kyoto. Their parents died when the twins were still young and the then head of the family, their grandmother, took on the role as their guardian.

(It is rumoured that their mother died in childbirth, and that, while they were still infants, their father was murdered by the clan's sworn enemy, the Sakurazukamori. (At this time, this position may have been held by Sakurazuka Setsuna.) However, this may merely be speculation.)

While they were still toddlers, the two began training in the light Onmyoji Arts. Before long it not only became apparent that Subaru's spiritual powers exceeded those of his older sister, but that he was stronger than anyone born into the family in several generations. As succession within the Sumeragi Clan was not dependent upon heredity, but instead the strength of spiritual powers, this meant that when Subaru finished his training, he would take leadership of the family from his grandmother.

This must have been a blow to the young Subaru. Not only was he developing dreams of his own, but he was already strongly empathic; the suffering of other souls, be they human or animal, affected him much more deeply than his own emotions. To be placed in a position where he would have to deal with the effects of abuse, suicide and murder brought with it the possibility the stress would shatter his fragile soul. He didn't believe the path suited him but accepted it as he had no other choice.

 

 

Not Normal

The older he became, the more he realised how different he was to others. He was often bullied and shut out by other children who felt there was something strange about him. Although he never let them see how such treatment affected him, these events deeply hurt him.

Even though he would never betray his family, he began to fervently wish that he was a normal boy. The situation only became more painful for him when his grade school crush, Mitsuki, told him she hated him as he wasn't normal.

 

 

Dreams

From an early age, Subaru felt a kinship with animals. Uncomfortable talking to other people for fear he may say something to hurt them, he was reassured by the fact he could communicate with animals without speaking. While in grade school he was once badly beaten when he bravely attempted to stop a number of boys abusing a small dog.

He was incredibly close to his childhood pet dog; when it became ill, the dog stayed with him until it died, never crying out, showing how it had accepted Subaru into its pack. The feelings of helplessness while watching his friend wither made Subaru want to become a veterinarian. However, when he found out that he would have to dissect animals while training, he altered his wish, hoping to one day become a zoo keeper, despite knowing that in reality it was an impossible dream.

 

 

Fateful Encounter (spoilers for TYOB ahead)

At the age of eight, he was separated from his beloved sister and taken by his grandmother to Tokyo, both to complete his training and to perform the Ceremony of Succession.

One day his grandmother had business at the Municipal Office, and left Subaru waiting for her alone. However, the nine-year-old strayed from where he was told to wait. He felt that he was being called by something and decided to try to find the source.

The boy found himself standing under an unusually large cherry blossom, or sakura, tree in Ueno Park. Disturbed by the grudges and hatred it harboured, and enchanted by its beauty, he decided to purify the tree. However, it was his first time using the spells he had been taught, and the effort failed.

With his hands held out, attempting to catch a falling petal, something red hit his palm. Looking up into the branches of the tree, he saw the figure of young man in a high school uniform. As he gazed closer, he noticed that the older boy was holding the body of a young girl; his hand was through her chest, blood dripping from his fingers.

Within a split second, the teenager had Subaru unconscious, the memory of the murder wiped from his mind. When the boy awoke, he was oblivious to the dead body at their feet, believing that he must have simply fainted. The two begin to talk of the tree and the young man told Subaru a story of how corpses under sakura trees turn the white petals pink. Subaru's response is anguish over whether or not those corpses feel pain.

Intrigued by the boy's words, the murderer makes a bet with the young Sumeragi; if they should meet again, he will spend a year in Subaru's life. At the end of that year, if he cannot make the assassin fall in love with him, he will kill Subaru.

"And so today, I will let you go."

- The Sakurazukamori; TYOB Vol. 1, Destiny

Before they part, he kisses the youth's hands, branding each with an inverted star, so as to identify him in the years to come.

When his distressed grandmother finds Subaru, she recognises the symbols as the brand of their archenemy, the Sakurazuka Clan. Subaru had been marked as the prey of the Sakurazukamori, one the assassin will eventually come back to kill. In an attempt to save her grandson and heir, she ordered him to always wear enchanted gloves when in company, and to never remove them for anyone, not even for another in their family.

As time passes, both the incident and the reason for the gloves fade from Subaru's memory.

 

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