□ Name: Surge

□ Age: 21

□ Contact: HPlus Future (AIM)

□ Journal: surgeprise

□ Do you play anyone in Ariel?: Nah.

→ IC

□ Name: Mizuki

□ Journal: nondateable

□ Series: DRAMAtical Murder

□ Canon point: Post-Mizuki Route in DRAMAtical Murder Re:Connect (Note: Aoba's romances have no bearing on his route in Re:Connect and are never mentioned. It can be assumed that Mizuki knows of the people he has romance options with via their roles on Midorijima or them being mentioned by Aoba or present at the Morphine shitshow at the end of the Common Route. Noiz and Mink are the leaders of a Rhyme and a Rib team respectively, Koujaku is his friend as well as the leader of his own Rib Team, and I imagine Aoba would have told him about Clear in an off-screen hospital visit, since Clear is a little weird. He obviously knows about Ren, since he starts off as Aoba’s AllMate. Additionally, his route takes place two months after the Common Route, whereas the Good Ends for every route take place after three months or longer, so Aoba wouldn't have been with whoever he picked yet anyway. Since this is the case, I'm just going to have him not know who Aoba chose, since it's not relevant to his character and it puts less pressure on everyone involved.)

□ History:

DRAMAtical Murder takes place on an island called Midorijima, which used to be an island paradise where the locals lived in harmony with the surrounding environment. Of course, this changed when a vague yet menacing company called Toue Corporation, owned by a megalomaniac named Toue, came into town and started buying up land on the island and paying off the inhabitants to leave so that they could build Platinum Jail. Their attempts to pull this off were only half-successful, as many of the inhabitants didn't want to leave. Toue built Platinum Jail on the half of the island he was able to get anyway. To put the cherry on top, he worked the laws so that none of the current inhabitants could leave the island, and no one is allowed to come in without the permission of Toue Corp. It's said to be the way that Toue is punishing the people of the island for not allowing him to take all of the land rather than some.

Platinum Jail was designed to be a playground for the wealthy, containing high-end entertainment, food, and technology not usually found anywhere else. It also serves as the base of operations for a lot of Toue's research facilities, primarily devoted to figuring out ways to mind control people through a variety of experiments. Though the primary focus of the story revolves around Aoba's, and in the True Route, Sei's abilities to control people with their voice and eyes respectively, there are also obvious hints in other routes that Toue has attempted to experiment with controlling people through tattoos, scent, light and music.

When Toue Corp took over almost half the island, they pushed the people who refused to leave the island into a smaller area, and due to this, it became something of a lower class urban sprawl. This is known as the Old Resident District, for obvious reasons. Though the population still has access to a lot of basic amenities, getting and maintaining them appears to be difficult. To add to the problem, there is no regulation on construction, the police are woefully corrupt, and for the most part, the island seems something like a free for all. In this kind of environment, it's not surprising that something like Ribsteez got popular.

Ribsteez is gang-fueled turf wars at it's root. Young people get together, form a team with a certain tag, and claim a section of the Old Resident District for their own. Teams recruit members and fight each other to gain more territory, as well as defend their own from other teams who want to overtake it. Things can get nasty and some teams do end up killing people--occasionally members of other Rib teams, but usually people who aren't part of one. These people are called No-Marks, and they’re usually targeted simply because there are no consequences to hurting or killing them. The cops don't care and no Rib Team will stick up for them. While Rib teams fight each other, they typically stay out of the way of the Yakuza, and don’t openly make war with the police. The notable Rib teams in DRAMAtical Murder include Scratch, BeniShigure, Morphine, and Dry Juice. The latter is more of the focus of this app, since it is Mizuki's team.

Also gaining popularity on the island is something called Rhyme, which is a game where players go into a virtual world and fight each other using self-aware A.I. companions called All-Mates, . Rather than taking a toll on the body, the damage sustained in a Rhyme match happens mentally. Rhyme has been around on the island for some time, but has just now been getting popular. Due to the high rate of incidents where participants ended up brain damaged, Toue uses a special All-Mate called Usui to keep the damage at a minimum. Around the time the game starts, there have been reports of people who have been pulled into unregulated matches, which tend to end poorly for the loser since their mind is irreparably broken more often than not.

Unlike the characters who have a route in this game, Mizuki doesn't actually get a complete backstory from childhood to his current point. He’s very much a minor character in the universe and is in need of a little fleshing out in order to get the full range of his personality, which can be inferred from his actions as well as what Aoba has to say about him. While his past isn't elaborated on at all, it’s known that he's lived on the island all his life, and anything from then on may as well be headcanon. I tend to figure that he lost his biological family somewhere in his past, possibly that they ended up moving off the island when Toue started kicking people out, and that he decided to stay behind. This gave him a strong fixation around gathering people around him and essentially looking after them and treating them like family.

However, his lack of a proper backstory doesn’t mean he just shows up out of the blue in the story, since Mizuki has known Aoba since the other man was the kind of person who got into fights often and disliked playing nice with others. While he didn’t know Aoba back when he played Rhyme, they have been friends for quite some time. They met when Mizuki was twenty-one and Aoba was eighteen, but didn't hit it off right away. Mizuki became his friend out of sheer tenacity, and Aoba warmed up to him because Mizuki was just a nice guy who he could rely on. He'd put up with Aoba's moods, was constantly understanding and kept people from picking fights with Aoba. Once Aoba realized this guy was decent, they became fast friends, but Aoba still wouldn't join his Rib team. Aside from joking about it on occassion, he doesn’t bring up the details of Aoba’s rough past at all.

Rib is as intertwined with Mizuki's history as it is with his personality. He runs the largest Rib team in Midorijima, named Dry Juice. While it hasn't been specified how long he's been doing Rib, it's at least known that he was doing it back when he met Aoba, who he constantly asks to join Dry Juice, even though he knows Aoba wouldn't consider it. His love of Rib is almost obsessive, and the importance he places on it and the people in his group is what gets him into trouble in the main storyline. In Re:Connect, it's revealed that Toue uses both Rib and Rhyme as testing grounds to find promising test subjects, and that Dry Juice was a subject of study due to how large the group had gotten. Mizuki doesn't find this out until it's too late.

Concerned with the flagging popularity of Rib in relation to Rhyme, Mizuki starts having an internal crisis when some of his members start leaving the gang to do Rhyme because Rib isn't popular anymore. While he tells no one, he does start trying to figure out ways to make Dry Juice seem more alluring so that people who joined will stay. When he receives an invitation to merge with the legendary Rib team Morphine, he thinks that he's found his trump card. Unfortunately, Morphine isn't a real Rib Team so much as it is something of a personal army of brainwashed drones run by Virus and Trip. While he originally thought that Morphine and Dry Juice would merge, Virus and Trip brainwashed every single member of Dry Juice they could find before Mizuki could do anything about it, then did something similar to him after bragging to him about it. Whatever they did left him with enough mental capacity to act as more than a zombie, but still under their control. It also made him more vicious and sadistic than he was before, handily stipping him into a tool they could use that was little more than a wounded animal.

Using him as a go-between, Virus and Trip had Dry Juice members break into Aoba's house and kidnap his grandmother so that he could be lured into going to Platinum Jail. Of course, Mizuki didn't know about their obsession with Aoba or anything related to it, only knowing that he was doing this under orders from Morphine. After Aoba makes his way through the warehouse full of zombified Dry Juice members with the help of Mink, Koujaku, Noiz and Clear, he finds Mizuki holding a knife to his grandmother's throat and trying to coax him into joining Morphine. Aoba panics and unwittingly uses Scrap, the power his voice has to warp people’s minds.

Using it, he takes a trip into Mizuki's brainspace. Once they're both in his head, which looks like a fucked-up version of his tattoo parlour, Mizuki unloads how concerned he is about Dry Juice's dwindling membership and how he's scared to lose them all because they're the closest thing to family he's got and he doesn't want to be alone. He reaches out to Aoba and asks him to help, but Aoba has no clue what the hell is going on with all this journey to the center of the mind crap, and pushes him away. In refusing to listen to his cries for help, Aoba accidentally breaks his mind and sends him into a coma for two months.

Mizuki isn't seen again until Re:Connect, where a route for him is unlocked after completing the Good and Bad End routes for every romanceable character (and Virus and Trip’s purely Bad End route). Nothing plot important or romance-related happens in his route, which is primarily about him and Aoba coming to terms with what happened between them and gaining closure. Mizuki talks with Aoba about how he hates what he did intensely--getting fooled into Morphine, unwittingly surrendering his team to a pair of sociopaths, threatening to murder Aoba's grandmother, and saying quite a few terrible things to Aoba himself. He blames himself and considers his unwillingness to deal with his insecurities in a more straightforward way to be the reason everything happened, because if he hadn't been so desperate to keep everyone together, he never would have taken Virus and Trip up on their offer. Aoba reassures him by telling him that his team is waiting for him and don't hold what happened against him. He says that Mizuki wasn't to blame for what happened at all, and that his concern for his teammates is a good thing despite what it drove him to do. In turn, Mizuki reassures Aoba that h’es apologized enough for breaking his mind and that he’s long since forgiven him for not knowing that Mizuki was going through some emotional difficulties. He states that even though they weren't honest with each other about their problems, they can make up for it by talking about them in the future. Jokes are made, apples are shared and Mizuki and Aoba decide to stay friends.

□ Personality:

The first time you see Mizuki in-game, he stops two guys from trying to mug Aoba for his jacket because he's a No-Mark. He doesn't make threats or fly in kicking and punching, just taunts them with a smile on his face until they recognize who he is and how much power he holds. His conversations showcase a person who likes to smile and tease other people, regardless of whether or not he's exceedingly close with them. While he comes off as very playful, he's also mentioned as being very capable of rational thought and planning. He never jumps to conclusions when he hears something strange, and while he listens to every kind of rumor, he only considers them something to be wary of and to prepare for just in case.

He's obviously got plenty of charisma, since he's managed to put together such a large team even though Rib is played by some pretty stand-offish people. His team likes him to the point where some of his members will bow to him, even though he considers it ridiculous and would rather they didn’t since they’re more family than organization. Though he was hospitalized later and took a long time to recover, most of his team still waited for him. He managed to draw people to him both by force of personality as well as being able to kick a lot of ass, since Rib respects those who are physically strong as well as mentally.

Aoba mentions that Mizuki has a penchant for looking after other people, making him a bit of a big brother figure to just about everyone he maintains a relationship with. His friendliness is his default setting, protectiveness waiting just behind it to take it’s place, and he doesn’t seem to have any problems with anyone so long as they don’t start shit with him. Any bad attitude from him is more reaction to other people’s moods than it is his own. He looks out for other people, and what’s more, he enjoys it and doesn’t expect anything in return. His friendship is surprisingly unconditional for someone who’s hobby revolves predominantly around fighting.

Of course, there are limits to Mizuki's friendliness, primarily revolving around whether or not he needs to kick the shit out of a person because they're on a different Rib team and a fight has broken out. As it's implied that Ribsters kill No-Marks or people on different teams, whether on purpose or by accident, that Mizuki has probably done a few unpleasant things before the start of the game would come as no surprise. While his team is known as one of the nicer teams that protects people in their territory rather than victimizing them (BeniShigure being the other), maintaining it is not a feat for the soft-hearted.

However, his reasoning is pretty great in the sense that he's capable of compartmentalizing why he does the things he does and why they're necessary. Mizuki has no problem fighting to defend his turf, his team and his friends, valuing their safety over what he has to do to keep them safe. He'll hold a grudge with anyone that tries to pick on his teammates or uninvolved people he’s close to, and if given opportunity and reason, would have no issue taking care of someone in a more permanent way. It’s not his first resort, or even something he likes to do or is proud of having to, but if it keeps the people around him safe, Mizuki is willing to get his hands dirty. While he doesn’t make decisions for anyone in his group and refrains from trying to turn their lives, his dedication to his friends and family can be seen as both honorable and a little worrying.

Another obvious qualifier for dislike is participating in Rhyme, which Mizuki holds a fair amount of disdain for due to it's increasing popularity luring people away from his team. His dislike of Rhyme stems not only from it’s growing popularity and his lost members, but the idea that virtual actions can’t truly protect people. He points out that doing things solely in the virtual world has no effect on what happens in real life, and so you can't protect your territory or your friends with fake fighting. When it comes to protecting others, Mizuki is the kind of person who has two feet firmly planted in real life, not pretend. During the conversation Aoba has with him, he expresses a fair amount of dislike for Rhyme, to the point of leaving just because it's being performed near his vicinity. Like most Ribsters, he looks down on people who mess around with it. His particular brand of loathing is so intense that Aoba says that talking to him once is enough to get a good picture on why Rhyme is bad and you should never ever play it.

Rib is a massive part of Mizuki's life, and while there are some people who consider it stupid because it's children playing at war, it's obvious that he takes it very seriously. This is because he considers his Rib team like a family to him, and the reason he asks people to join is because he feels close enough to them that he wants them to be part of it. In fact, it's one of the things he chews out Aoba over when he's brainwashed, since Aoba never took Rib seriously and never even considered joining Dry Juice. As far as he's concerned, Aoba was rejecting the prospect of being part of his family, which was something that hurt him even though he didn’t make it obvious. While he might seem a bit obsessive, it makes sense that he would take it seriously, since Rib is something that puts the multiple people under his care in danger on a semi-regular basis, either from getting the shit kicked out of them or getting killed .

Mizuki's main problem is that, due to his high status as a Rib leader, there aren't many people he can show his weaknesses to. Despite being friends with both Aoba and Koujaku, as well as being surrounded by Dry Juice, Mizuki doesn't think he has anyone safe to talk to. Exposing weaknesses isn't exactly encouraged among people in general, let alone when you're supposed to be putting on a tough front as a gang leader. While Koujaku (and even Aoba to a lesser degree) were able to pick up on the fact that Mizuki was behaving strangely before the full plot of the game kicked off, Mizuki never once bothered to explain what was going on to either of them, and wouldn't have even if Aoba had asked.

He dislikes talking about his problems with other people, seeing them as his burden to bear and his alone, not to mention he finds it embarrassing to run a gang and a tattoo parlour and have trouble handling your own feelings. As a result, he tends to bottle up his emotions until they either go away, he finds a solution, or they just haunt him constantly. He isn’t the kind of person to have breakdowns, he simply doesn’t have time for them and tends to become a half-functioning person when things trouble him. Sometimes, if his feelings are intense enough, they lead him towards making bad decisions, which explains why he thought accepting Trip and Virus’ offer to join Morphine was a good idea despite the fact that they are known as yakuza. While he remarked to Aoba in Re:Connect that he would at least try to break this habit, at least around him in particular, it'll probably be some time before he can speak casually about anything personal to people he knows.

Mizuki also has a fair amount of insecurity and shame hanging about him for what happened with his team. He prides himself on looking after other people and, having failed his team and gotten them into even deeper trouble, he's ashamed and guilt-ridden. The encounter with Morphine may even make him a little paranoid when it comes to taking people at their word. After all, the last time he trusted someone trying to make a deal with him, it ended with him brainwashed. Physically, he can handle anything, but emotions and insecurity are what got him into trouble in the first place, and as such, he's had enough of dealing with them. He can easily make new friends, it’s just that he won’t confide in them about his own issues, and will more than likely brush them off when questioned on his problems.

After waking up from the hospital, Mizuki is seen to have bandages around his neck, and is implied to continue wearing them if the ending art is anything to go by. Under the bandages is a tattoo that was forced on him by Trip and Virus after they’d brainwashed him. While we’re never told who tattooed him, the fact of the matter is that it’s there, and a great source of anxiety and guilt for him. It’s also the main reason he has an issue with things being slipped to him without his knowledge. While any normal person is pretty averse to being mind-controlled, drugged, or forced to do something against their will, Mizuki is even moreso due to his prior experience with it. It’s also a constant reminder of his biggest mistake in life, so he never takes them off unless he absolutely has to, usually to shower or change the bandages.

Another thing that Re: Connect manages to cement in his character is Mizuki’s capacity to forgive his friends. Aoba breaks his mind and sends him into a coma for two months just by virtue of not being able to understand his emotional issues, and Mizuki doesn’t hold it against him in the least. If anything, he’s almost a little too forgiving when it comes to that. Still, outright betrayal wouldn’t sit right with him, such as when Aoba mentions that he’d hold a grudge on anyone who left Dry Juice to play Rhyme would have a hard time getting back into his good graces. Though that’s mostly because he would see it as a member of his family essentially turning their back on everyone else to go play a game.

□ Age: 26

□ Gender: Male

□ Appearance: Here.

Mizuki is 181 cm tall, or 5’11”, with light brown skin and a tear-shaped tattoo on his face in white ink (though some art gives it a slightly green tint). He has broad shoulders, long legs, and is probably slightly muscular, though the stay in the hospital has taken quite a toll, hence the use of the word ‘slightly’ as opposed to ‘built’. He has a tattoo on his neck and, in some art, he’s got sleeves and other tattoos on his body in the same style. I go with the headcanon of one full-sleeve (left arm), a shoulder-blade tattoo (right), one around his belly button, and two that circle around the middle of his calves. All of them follow the same flow of the one he had on his neck, having teardrop motifs and containing a lot of sharp curves, and all of them are done in white ink. I’d give proper examples, but there aren’t any in existence and I’m not a tattoo artist. The idea that he’d have multiple tattoos makes sense, considering he is. Differences from the picture are that he’s a little less broad and that he's got bandages wrapped around his throat now to hide the tattoo that was forced on him. The one he has under the bandages looks like his original tattoo was smudged over with black ink, then drawn over with the Morphine tag art.

□ Abilities/Powers:

Considering he comes from a universe where super-strong, self-healing robots and people with brainwashing abilities exist, as well as where congenital insensitivity to pain is sort of considered a superpower, Mizuki doesn't have any abilities or powers of note in comparison to a good deal of the people in canon.

His only implied ability is being great at street fighting, having been playing Rib for a good chunk of his life as well as being the leader of the largest team. This means that he can take hits as well as give them out, and that he hits back twice as hard for what he takes. His capabilities are high enough that Virus and Trip don't even consider his quick recovery a surprise after they beat him and his gang into the ground what whatever methods were at their disposal at the time. This might be impeded by his stay in the hospital, because while he is up and running again, he’s lost a good amount of strength from the two months he spent in a coma. He can still handle pain, he just doesn’t hit as hard anymore, and won’t until he starts gaining back muscle mass.

Outside of that, the only real skill Mizuki has is being a tattooist. This means that he has the full range of artistic talent needed to conceptualize, draft, and finish tattoo designs, as well as an intimate knowledge of various styles of art in relation to tattoos. He can also work a tattoo machine in full, and has an intimate knowledge of the process, side-effects and methods involved in tattooing. He manages his own tattoo parlour, so he's obviously as good at running a business as you can be in Midorijima. On the other hand, he did replace the waiting room with a bar, so maybe not the best. Speaking of bar, Mizuki is also a bartender. It means he can mix all sorts of different drinks and even invent some of his own.

□ Personal Items:

* A Coil - Basically a smartphone computer bracelet. It sends and receives messages and calls, can probably access whatever passes for internet on the island, as well as interface with computers wirelessly and directly by being connected to certain systems with a cable. The interface is entirely holographic.

* A set of keys - They belong to his house and his shop, the former of which he never uses and the latter of which he doesn't need since the city never sleeps and you would have to be an idiot to try and break into a bar/tattoo parlour owned and operated by the leader of the largest gang in the city.