Yuu Kotarou

"Thank you for choosing me."

Yuu Kotarou
Also Known As...	Strength
First Appearance	Thread 67
Organization	Seventh Officio
Rank
Occupation	Soul in a weapon
Ability	Hand to Hand Combat, Self Healing
Weapon	Ogre Arms (Golden Gauntlets)
Height
Date of Birth

Character Summary

Yuu Kotarou is the soul inside the golden gauntlets. She used to be one of the Blessed Lady's chosen until her eventual defeat in combat. Of all golden weapons, she is the one with the best relationship to Chiaki Matsuda, providing her with power while she uses the gauntlets.

Physical Description

• A short tanned girl with white hair and completely black eyes with fiery orange pupils.
• She wears a black leather jacket with a hood and high collar covering her face, her legs are clad in thigh high white stockings and black maryjanes

Personality

• Yuu is a timid girl.
• She greatly enjoys fighting, switching to a rougher personality in the heat of combat.
• She is eager to prove herself useful to her wielder.

Character History

Yuu used to live in an orphanage until her master took her under his wing. At some point, she made a contract with an incubator. Her wish was “to be strong”. She traveled the whole world in search of strong opponents for her training and won almost all of her fights.

After acquiring the Ogre Arms, she kept it as a last resort attack, but eventually found herself using it exclusively even if they were not needed. The desire to challenge everyone, to pound their faces in and to prove that she was the strongest grew, even if she had to do it on a mountain of corpses.

She once fought a girl from the First Officio and almost died in the process, she only survived by throwing a punch strong enough to send her opponent flying straight to the moon, shattering one of her gauntlets in the process.

Training

Chiaki trains with Kharn and decides to use the golden gauntlets. She somehow enters Yuu’s mind, who thanks her for being chosen and lends her new master her strength to beat her opponent. She heals Chiaki's wounds and mentions her auto-cannons, but accepts her master's decision to stop fighting and retreats.

When Chiaki engages Kharn in a training match in Siberia using golden weapons, she gets beaten down hardly. As Kharn is threatening to cut her arm off unless she yields, Chiaki briefly enters Yuu's memories, encountering the soul inside the gauntlets she is wearing for the first time.

Yuu thanks her for choosing her and agrees to help Chiaki take on the chainaxe user, stating that Chiaki can take it. They grasp each others hands and Chiakis mind returns to her body, Yuu now awakened and talking to Chiaki in her mind. Seeing Kharn, Yuu mentions that she always wanted to fight the Blood God's Daughter but never had the chance to, before taking control of Chiakis body and punching Kharn across the room.

She gives control back to Chiaki and heals the wound on her shoulder. They get ready for another round and Yuu mentions that the gauntlets' fingers contain autocannons, but Chiaki decides to stop fighting Kharn on Midoris request. Yuu is somewhat disappointed, saying that she could have put Kharn down in two seconds, but accepts Chiakis reason for not wanting to kill a friend and retracts her power.

Kharn tells Chiaki to keep the bangles and to ask for her name, upon which the soul formally introduces herself as Yuu Kotarou.

Return

Back in Japan, Chiaki talks to Yuu inside her mind. They talk about Yuu's past as a magical girl, the contract that freed her from the hospital and how her Incubator was more interested in her continued growth than hunting witches. Yuu traveled the world to train herself, fighting many magical girls all over until Lance Kilgore cheated in a duel, shooting the magical girl before she even started moving.

After Chiaki returns to Japan, she decides to speak to Yuu again while inside her personal vault. While she is unsure of how to make contact, the spirit inside the Gauntlets senses the probing presence of the girl wearing her and invites her into her mind space.

Chiaki finds herself in a snowy landscape, right next to a passed out bear. One of Yuu's sparring partners apparently, knocked out by a single, long trained, punch.

Upon Chiaki's question, Yuu explains that she did not belong to an Officio in the same way her current owner does. She contracted with an Incubator who explained the whole magical girl deal and mentions that he seemed to be interested in her continued growth more than anything.

He approached her while she was hospitalized with strong asthma and even offered to supply grief seeds whenever she needed one, but Yuu decided to hunt witches whenever she could find any regardless. At least when she could find any in between her continued training that even took her to America once, where she fought a magical girl that nearly killed her with a kitchen knife.

She tells Chiaki that she received her golden weapon from a pretty girl with long, white hair, but can't remember a lot about it other than falling for her at one point. She also explains that Lance Kilgore cheated during a fight they had. She needed money to return to Japan and bet her bracelets, intending to fight fair without using magic. Kilgore had her shot before she could even land one punch and would have killed her if the Blessed Lady did not offer her a way out.

While being inside a golden weapon is admittedly boring, Yuu thinks that there could be worse things. Before leaving, Chiaki pats Yuu on the head, earning a surprised but pleased reaction from the girl who completely forgot what it is like to have somebody else around to do that kind of thing.

Before Chiaki leaves, she asks about Yuu's Incubator. She explains that he called himself the Seventh, a white cat with long floppy ears and a red scarf that always flows in the wind, even when it was calm. As Chiaki is about to leave, Yuu throws a handful of snow at her face, removing her from her mind for the time being.

Concert

At the concert, Yuu informs Chiaki that she senses somebody she once fought in the area. She can't remember the name or pinpoint the exact location, but is sure that her former opponent is not looking for trouble.

During Chiaki's fight with Lucius, Yuu lends her power to the Warmaster, unleashing the full power of the Ogre Arms with her brutally efficient fighting style.

In the backstage area of Mitakihara stadium, shortly before the concert, Yuu calls for Chiaki's attention. While the Warmaster tries to focus herself into Yuu's mind, the spirit appears next to her in the real world, although only Chiaki can hear and see her.

Yuu explains to her confused master that she did not want to distract her too much by calling her into the weapon while on important business and thus took a little of Chiaki's energy from breakfast to manifest.

Yuu tells Chiaki that she can feel when somebody she once fought is close and claims that the girl who nearly killed her with a kitchen knife one time seems to be in the stadium. While she can't remember the name or pinpoint the exact location, Yuu is sure that the girl is not looking for trouble.

The spirit apologizes for being useless, but Chiaki pats her head and tells her that incomplete information is better than no information at all and that she is still useful. Clasping Chiaki's hand between her own and intently gazing up at her wielder, Yuu promises to try her best and assures that her fists will destroy anything that dares stand in Chiaki's way.

Yuu reverently places her lips on Chiaki's soul gem before returning into the golden weapon.

When Lucius starts her campaign against Chiaki, Yuu reminds her of her presence by warming the bracelets. During the intruder's provocative speech, she tells her master to ignore the taunts and to use Yuu to make Lucius shut up together.

When Lucius throws the soul gem of Chiaki's subordinate that she used for blackmail, the Warmaster stops time to catch it, but upsets Faust. Yuu feels the Blessed lady being angry and informs her master that she will not allow her to see her for a while, but should recover from her tantrum soon.

Yuu admits that Lucius is right about subordinates being dispensable and that Chiaki should have just let Faust have the soul gem she wanted to keep her time stop ability, but Chiaki explains that she wanted to save the girl, not give her away as a snack. She claims that going without that one ability is a small price to pay for saving a soul from being eaten, and Yuu accepts the explanation.

The spirit then manifests the Ogre Arms on Chiaki's hands to fight against Lucius' ongoing assault. Upon learning that Lucius sent a severed head to Chiaki, making it look like Mami, Yuu offers to use her strength to reduce her dishonorable opponent into a greasy smear. All according to the Blessed Lady's wishes, “Purge the weak, purge the unclean, purge the unfaithful. The sharpest blade is contempt and the surest armor is hate. No mercy, no remorse.”

To Yuu's surprise, Chiaki agrees to her proposal. The soul takes control of Chiaki's body and assaults the startled Lucius, claiming to take everything from her as the onslaught continues. Using a few dirty fighting moves, they beat their opponent down and across the field. Chiaki wonders how her untrained body can perform with this kind of speed and Yuu admits that she doesn't know, but enjoys it.

Lucius calls forth two other magical girls to join the fight and calls for an attack pattern, charging their opponent from different directions. They decide to take all three at once instead of dividing them. The first to arrive is a girl wielding two spears. Yuu breaks her guard before she can throw the first, slams her forehead into her opponents nose and punches her to the ground.

She quickly sidesteps the second opponents spiked iron ball and catches Lucius' blade with her iron clad hands. Yuu throws Lucius off balance and rains punches on her face, cackling in unison with Yuu, asking Lucius if she's feeling like a hero yet. She punches her opponent across the field once more, then sidesteps the iron ball again. This time she catches the attached chain, pulls the magical girl towards her and slams her opponent into the ground, breaking some of her ribs.

As she starts moving towards Lucius, Chiaki is stabbed by three spears from behind. The first magical girl attacks her again, a series of spears floating around her. Reacting in perfect unison, completely suppressing the pain, Chiaki and Yuu raise the gauntlets towards their opponent and fire the integrated auto cannons.

Chiaki picks the unconscious girl's soul gem up and stores it in a compartment within the gauntlets while Lucius and her other subordinate stagger to their feet. Lucius' subordinate coats herself in a spiked armor and charges at Chiaki. One of her furious punches hits, but Yuu counters with an uppercut that sends their opponent flying.

Chiaki offers to let her live if she surrenders, but the girl refuses, explaining that as long as the Shieldmaiden draws breath, everything will die and that the Prophet and her followers will never stop fighting her. Chiaki and Yuu then lift the girl up and slam he into the ground repeatedly until she looses consciousness. They take her soul gem and turn to face Lucius again.

After exchanging some words, Chiaki yields control back to Yuu who charges at Lucius, who now wields her sword again. After a few blocks and parries, the fanatic manages to score a surprise hit. She shoves the blade deep into Chiaki's body, then tears it back out again. At this point, the pain returns in full force, enough to drop Chiaki to her knees, unable to move.

Lucius takes up an executioner's stance and asks for any last words while Chiaki and Yuu's connection is weakening. Chiaki laughs at her after Enishi reports that all suicide bombers have been apprehended. Mustering their strength again, Chiaki and Yuu attack the now panicking Lucius before she can bring her sword down. They catch the blade, a deep scratch revealing gold underneath the black gauntlet's surface, then snap it in half with a scream of pain and rage. As Lucius falls to the ground, Chiaki undoes the gauntlet's transformation and Yuu's presence retreats.

While Chiaki slowly drags her injured body across the field after taking Lucius out, Yuu wonders if they won, her voice filled with pain. Chiaki confirms and thanks the soul for the help. Yuu apologizes for getting carried away letting Chiaki get hit during the fight, but is happy to be of use. She explains that she will need some time regenerate the damage to the Gauntlets and will sleep in the dark for a while, promising to be alright again. Before she fades from Chiaki's consciousness, Yuu mentions that she placed the captured soul gems in her inventory.

Trivia

• Yuu is a direct port of Yuu/Strength from Black Rock Shooter, the only difference is being a magical girl in this setting.
• Yuu can feel when somebody she fought before is around.
• The Black Templars of the Second tried to recruit her after Yuu defeated one of them in a sparring match, but she declined to continue her training.
• Her teacher is an old man with a white beard who carries a turtle shell on his back and wears aviators.
• Yuu's fighting style is surprisingly brutal and blood thirsty for a soft spoken girl like her.

NECO Profile

*DECEASED*
NAME: Kotarou Yuu
	"I’m sorry...Here, let me help you up.”
OFFICIO: Seventh, in…wherever they want to be
RANK: Wandering Wuxia
BIO: Known as The Ogre in magical girl circles, Kotarou Yuu was a legend in her own right – she’d wander the world trying to improve her punch-fu, challenging and defeating magical girls left and right. Eventually they turned it into a game, though she might never have realized – the Sixth and Eighth especially competed to see who could last the longest against The Ogre before going down. Her win record was impeccable up until her unfortunate death at the hands of Lance Kilgore a few years ago.
ABILITY: Punching, though she can set her fists on fire, because that’s totally not excessive or anything.
WEAPONRY: Fists, though she eventually acquired some kind of magic superfists.
	STRENGTH	 SS
	SPEED		 C, A in bursts
	MELEE 		 SS
	RANGED		 F
	MAGIC 		 D
	TACTICS		 D
	CHARM		 A+

TRIVIA
-She used to have a really adorable attitude, and she’d tend to her opponents after she beat them, shyly asking them for bus fare or enough money for lunch. Most reports say she turned into a real jerk toward the end of her career, though, and all that mattered to her was finding someone stronger.

-Yuu makes most of her money by collecting and picking up trash, then recycling it. It improves the environment AND makes people’s lives better! Makes you feel like kind of a jerk, huh?	

-Poor kid misses her master terribly, some old man on a tiny little island out in the ocean. He passed away shortly after she left on her journey, and she never got to learn his ultimate technique.

Gallery

Art by Deculture

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