Akiba Tanegashima

"If someone tries to do evil, I'll cut its weapons in half. If it persists, I'll cut off its hands, if it still persists, I'll cut off its legs, and if its still persists, then I'll cut its life." ""The wind only speaks in whispers.""

Akiba Tanegashima is the eldest son of the Tanegashima Foundation (Formerly Tanegashima Weapons Research and Development). He joined Beacon because of his grandfather. He is a second year and is strategist of Team AYTM despite being a mute.

Personality
Akiba can be described as, at best, complicated. Akiba's mind tends to wander off from time to time and his attitude can change quickly depending on the situation. Even when thinking though, if he has somewhere to go, Akiba will almost always get to his destination (which dumbfounds many).

He doesn't like to socialize due to being mute, instead allowing himself to be obscured by his more sociable teammates. Despite this, he is gentlemanly thanks to his upbringing and is wise for a boy of his age. He is treated as the big brother of Team SAAN for his caring nature to his female teammates yet can exemplify laziness, like his habits of playing video or board games when bored.

When taking on detective work he changes his attitude to a more straightforward-type (or as straightforward a mute can be) who doesn't like no for an answer. He has a bad habit of thinking frequently, so much so that even after work is done his mind would get clouded for an entire day or so.

When in missions he, either alone or with others, takes on a typical samurai-like attitude. He puts honor above all, becomes highly alert and converses with his team more frequently, using hand gestures or by projector (See equipment). Akiba believes in his version of "The code of the warrior" which is basically his moral values towards battle. But there are conditions where Akiba will break this code and when he does he will do whatever it takes to fulfill a desire, which is usually an act of killing.

Backstory
Akiba is the firstborn of the Oda Clan family branch, the Tanegashima family, in Zen, an island located in the middle of the 4 great continents, in the coastal capital town named Tōgan. He was a sheltered child, but he did not fear others. He disliked them. He was very disciplined and loved his family, but despises strangers due to the insults of businessmen and lower-class peons alike about his family. During his first days in school he immediately avoided others. He acted cold to strangers keeping a stoic look to scares away others. Whenever someone did try to approach him he would threaten them to stay away or simply stare down the strangers in silence until they back off.

This attitude though changed when he lost his parents to an assassin and was almost killed himself when he was 11. The trauma from the attack caused Akiba to develop Anthropophobia or the fear of people, which forced himself out of school for the next two years of his life. Natsumochi Oda, Akiba's grandfather and head of the Tanegashima Weapons Development And Research, now simply the Tanegashima Foundation ever since the attack, felt worried that Akiba will become a shut-in for his entire life if he didn't do anything. He shrugged it off for the meantime though as he let them Akiba stay inside his home, The Tanegashima Manor.

Akiba feared everyone, even those he once trusted and loved and the only few people he still trusts are his sisters, Fuyuka and Tempera, and his grandfather. Wishing to cure this phobia, Natsumochi created his a plan, which is basically a sort of therapy for Akiba. He ordered his closest friend and bodyguard, Kazemaru Toyotomi, to have his daughter befriend Akiba.

Akiba avoided the upbeat girl from befriending him for a month, until he finally gave in and accepted her request. At first, she simply followed him everywhere, but he started to slowly warm up to her that they started to play with eachother.

Appearance
Akiba is 4'8 tall and has a slim yet fit physique, has brown hair with light brown streaks. On his neck is a long horizontal scar. His eyes are unique, the right being a plethora of colors, changing depending on his emotional state, and his left being grayed out when semblance is off, neon green when on. He always wears his best friend Ace's long red scarf and large closed-headphones, which are usually hidden under his hair.

Main Outfit:
His main outfit is a modified orange jacket with four front fastenings. The coat has two red stripes on both sides at the front of the coat that goes down to the waistband. detached sleeves connected by crisscrossed straps.

Akiba also wears a kimono over this with a golden-colored epaulette on the right shoulder. The kimono has a golden, orange, and red flower design in a purple background.

A metal band is attached to the upper waist of the jacket''. A metal band wraps around the jacket's ''waist with a magnet to holster his weapon. He also wears wears brown pants and a 3-layered armor plating ''suneates. ''His footwear are speciallized boots that have metal soles that split into 2 parts and a white dust crystal on the outsole.

Casual Outfit:
Akiha wears a brown long-sleeved sweater underneath an orange-red sweat jacket and white baggy jogging pants with a red line that runs down the pants and fluffy red flip-flops.

Combat Prowess
Akiba's skills in combat can surprise many if met for the first time. His aura is below average but makes up for it by training his body and his mind. Akiba was trained by his uncle in Judo, and is very intelligible due to being a bookworm when he was little. His grandfather taught him how to use a gun, as well giving him Masamune as a present on his 16th birthday.

Akiba is a patient fighter. He never takes the first move and prefers tiring out his opponents, quickly taking them down by a throw or picking them from afar with a long ranged weapon, i.e. a sniper rifle.

CQC <> Close-Range Combat
Akiba has trained his body to quickly let out tremendous amounts of energy in an instant, although this means that his muscles tire easily. Akiba focuses on eliminating his enemies quickly and and efficiently and retreats when the battle is prolonged or the odds are stacked against him.

His main weapon may be a gun but he also knows his way around a fist fight. Akiba's strength is at best above average, so he instead focuses on counterattacks or throws. He waits for his enemies to make a move, then counters them by a throw or a precise hit on the body's weak spots. He also never fights a battle he cannot win. for example, when he is fighting against four people. He can take out one then go for the second, but Akiba has to keep in mind the third and the fourth so that he does not get surprise attacked. Also, a person may not be fully incapacitated by Akiba's attacks, which means that they could get back up again. If a situation like this is to ever occur, Akiba will retreat immediately if possible.

He was also taught swordsmanship by an instructor who is the head of a dojo nearby. Although swords or any close-range weaponry in general are not something he favors, he was attracted to a specific style by a special sword dance when he was 11, with the weapon in general being a ''nodachi. ''This became his main reason of learning in the dojo.

His sword style is adopted from battojutsu and kenjutsu. Using the blade more as a shield or to catch an enemy's weapon than cutting, his style focuses on counters, throws, or striking either a weak spot or the weapon (if any).

Akiba's holds his sword horizontally, level to his torso, with the end of the hilt pointing the opponent. This enables him to quickly catch another's weapon or to parry them by a simple forward side-step. He also has many options for attacking when in stance.

Medium <> Long-range Combat
When it comes to shooting, Akiba is an ace. He has keen eyes and is very precise with his shots. Akiba almost never misses and he tries to keep it that way, calculating every shot and weighting possible risks and will abandon a shot altogether if the risk outweighs the reward or is impossible to begin with. This need and care for precision is why he has an 89.86% accuracy rating.

Unfortunately, Akiba focuses on one target at a time, which can take awhile for him especially if group of beowulves are charging at him. So to make up for this he either hides himself first or find an elevated area where Grimm are unable to access (not unless its a Nevermore; nobody likes to fight a Nevermore).

Due to Akiba's code he cannot kill a man under normal circumstances so he instead aims for the limbs, or the weapon, if any. Akiba also never shoots a man twice unless necessary.

Against Grimm
Akiba goes into a completely different mindset when facing Grimm. Akiba prioritizes taking out Grimm than anything else and will not give up until he or someone else kills it, or when it escapes. He also becomes more cautious knowing that he doesn't have enough aura to protect himself from a direct hit from a Grimm, nor will his judo training do any sort of damage to them. Instead focusing on using more inventive techniques and tactics to defeat the beasts. Akiba will almost never approach a Grimm or engage a Grimm at close-range. Instead, he shoots them down from a very far distance or uses traps.

If Akiba does get into a situation where he engages a Grimm in CQC, he does so swiftly and as quick as possible. Akiba will always go for the head of a Grimm, since nothing alive has survived without their heads attached (Or so Akiba believes). If he cannot kill the beast within a minute he instead impairs its movements or make the creature incapable of harming him before retreating, aiming for the legs and arms or any part of the creature that will lessen its ability to move or remove its ability to attack him or anyone.

Another factor that will decide if or how Akiba will fight a Grimm is its size. Grimm that are as tall or 2 feet taller than he is are considered the weakest while the larger ones, around twice his size or larger, are more stronger and more difficult to kill. When against such large Grimm, Akiba will retreat to a safer area so as to shoot it down or will retreat altogether if the odds are stacked against him.

When with his team he acts as a support, shooting down Grimm from afar while giving orders to his teammates. He tries not to get in the way of his more physically capable allies. He also acts as the scouter and will help his allies as well as himself by scanning the area and noting the area and obstacles around them to increase his team's efficiency. He also puts up traps that he tells his teammates to make use of, like using a ice-dust bomb trip wire trap where his teammates lead a flock of Grimm to or cutting down a large tree to create a wall which helps to deter the creatures from chasing after them.

Masamune [Experimental Dust-Powered Katana Railgun]
Is an experimental sniper railgun created by the Tanegashima Foundation from Akiba's sketching notebook. A sleek, black and gray body which houses not only the firing mechanisms and ammunition but also a battery. Instead of a long barrel, the Masamune has an upper extendable electromagnetic rail, with a thin plate on the bottom that can fold in, then flip out to create a hilt when in melee form.

A weapon that doesn't use physical rounds but instead, dust that is accumulated into a semi-physical ball of energy or, coined by Akiba, "dust plasma". The dust plasma is then accelerated by an electromagnetic rail to or almost mach speeds.

At the end of the upper rail is a folding flap that works as the weapon's gun form's safety lock. When folded down the railgun cannot fire its load but instead, the dust plasma circulates around as a dense beam of light that can cut through almost anything. The beam is physical enough to be intervened by other weapons and its properties can absorb dust to increase and even augment its power.

The weapon has many pros like little to no recoil, less weight, more range and firepower, and simpler mechanisms but exhibits its own unique set of cons like dust-only ammunition, a limited power supply, that the weapon's rail must be cleaned and other problems that may present themselves later on the weapon's line of work due to the weapon being the first of its kind to the Foundation.

Equipment
To increase his effectiveness as the team's support shooter, Akiba is armed with a variety of gadgets to widen his team's chances of victory and/or survivability.

Dust Bombs/Grenades
==== explosive grenades that are infused with different types and combinations of dust. To identify different types of these grenades is a color band around the body of the grenade. Akiba can hold at maximun 6 grenades, 3 on each side of his belt, and may be any combination of the ff. ====
 * Red - Incendiary; highly explosive, causes fire around blast radius.
 * Blue - Freeze; immobilizes, forms ice crystals around blast radius.
 * Yellow - Static; incapacitates, useful in crowd control.
 * Gray - Air pressure; least harming, creates shockwaves.
 * Light Blue - Smoke; creates a cloud of smoke, inhibits sight.
 * Light Red - Heatwave; Similar to Red; powerful explosive, can cause lethal shockwaves.
 * Light Yellow - Flashbang; creates a flash of light, blinds.

Tsubame
Specially-made boots made for Akiba. The boots have a metal outsole and insole that houses a gray dust crystal inside. The dust crystal, when activated, creates a cushion of air underneath. The amount of air used can be regulated by how much Aura is being sent into them. Akiba can use these boots to enhance his movements. The boots can make make him glide on the battlefield, create bursts of wind to propel him in any direction, or to soften landings.

Sakura Units
Another experimental weapon created based out of Akiba's sketching notebook. These pink, elongated, hexagonal plates are dust-powered, self-propelling, attack drones. The units are designed similarly to the Masamune, expect having two rails, an upper rail and a lower rail, instead of the Masamune's single upper rail. The units are controlled via Akiba's headphones and alongside his semblance Pathfinder.

The rails can open and close like a jaw when not in use and can combine with other units via magnets for either defensive purposes or docking. The units use a special gray dust based on the dust used by the Tsubame that grants it levitation for a prolonged amount of time. The units, which are around 5 of them, can shoot down targets from afar, act as scouts when alongside Pathfinder, or combine to form formations for either firing down enemies from multiple angles or to shield himself or others.

The batteries of each "petal" can last for 1 hour and are recharged by a special stand. The units ammo capacity is around 50-60 shots each and the shell of each "petal" can withstand multiple shots and direct hits. Also, the maximum range a petal is around 50 meters from Akiba's position.

The units are weak to electricity and are highly reliant of Akiba's mental ability that if he loses focus or does not have enough the units will not operate. The weapon's effectiveness is also dependent on Akiba's semblance.

Headphones
One of Akiba's most notable accessory, these large closed-headphones sport not only a autumn-themed design but also a special piece of tech. The headphones are modified to read Akiba's brainwaves, which translates then displays them via an extendable glass projector widely used in Scrolls. This is Akiba's main method of communication

Pathfinder
Pathfinder is a unique semblance that, when activated, creates a HUD in his left eye that can zoom in and out, act as a crosshair for shooting, and can even display, pinpoint, or mark targets, locations, and even people. The semblance can also display things like, but not limited to, angles measurements, degree of a slope, height, area of a square, and shows these in a graphical representation in real-time. The semblance helps Akiba shoot down targets accurately, mark enemies of interest to tell his teammates, calculate possible outcomes, and is needed to operate the Sakura Units effectively.

Side-Effects
 * Akiba's right eye changes color depending on his current emotion. The different hues pertain to the intensity of the current emotion.
 * The semblance only works on his left eye, which is blind when inactive.
 * Prolonged use of the semblance will cause headaches, a throbbing pain in the left eye, and the inability to reactivate for a definite amount of time, depending on how long he has used it (His Recommended length of use is around an hour or less).

Etymology
Akiba (秋葉) is an abbreviation of the kanji 秋の葉 (aki no ha) meaning autumn leaf.

Tanegashima (種子島) is the name of the an island comprising the Osumi Islands as well as the japanese musket which was also produced within the island as well as its namesake.

Masamune (正宗) got its name from a real word swordsmith renowned for being the most legendary swordsmith of japan's history who lived during the 13th to 14th century.

Trivia

 * Akiba's design and sword style is based on Hakumen from the Blazblue series.
 * When frightened, he smiles wryly instead of having a shocked expression.
 * As mentioned in his data card, he loves takoyaki.
 * Akiba had a crush on his childhood friend, Sétanta, during his time in Sengoku.
 * Akiba has never danced before.
 * He also makes a 4-koma manga about a lonely fox and his adventure to find friends, which is based on his own life.