The Takada Kiyomi I've Spent So Long On
Title: Pursuit of Excellence
Author: AkaiHikariRating: PG12... Maybe lower...
Character: Kiyomi Takada
Notes: I took, I feel, far too many liberties with her character, but I did enjoy writing it and obsessing over how to make it better until, eventually, I went, "Just post it already!!"
1. Kiyomi Takada and her family was familiar with perfect. She had been from a very young age, at which she was not allowed to go outside and soil her pretty clean hands and white expensive dresses. She was to stay inside with the pianos and books and the white table with clear glass vases and always-fresh always-fake tulips. She could have hobbies inside and go out into the artificial garden from time to time to get some sun.
2. Her father had been a lawyer and her mother had been a doctor, hence, she came from an affluent enough family. Their house was the same as the Yagami's a few neighborhoods away, only a bit more elegant. The Takadas had three other children, aside from Kiyomi, who was the oldest; Natsuru (9 years younger than she), Takeshi (6 years younger) and Tsuburu (2 years younger), all boys with the exception of Kiyomi.
3. Perfection became a necessity for her parents to even spare her a cursory glance of pride, much less act on that pride and speak of her highly to houseguests, neighbors and coworkers. In grade school, middle school, being 2nd out of all her classmates was simply not good enough to merit praise. Bringing home tests, quizzes, projects that hadn't receieved full-marks was just not good. If she had brought home a 99, her parents would ask, "Why," with all the resources available to her, hadn't she gotten a 100? So, Kiyomi-chan started studying harder to pull those 99's into 100's. She became familiar with all-nighters and under-eye concealer by the age of 13.
4. One incident in which perfection was necessary stood out firmly in Kiyomi's mind. The morning of picture day, while she was in her 1st year of middle school, she was brushing her teeth and there was one small spot that simply would not come clean. She spent 5 minutes scrubbing at that one spot furiously until her little mouth bled, her toothbrush was stained, all she could taste was blood and mint and it hurt. The spot finally came off, after she took tooth-whitening gel to it, the blood was rinsed away, mouthwash was gargled, spat and Kiyomi had a perfect picture.
5. At the age of 14, her parents stopped doing a lot of things for her. Cleaning her room, cooking her meals and laundering her clothes. Those were up to her, along with the responsiblity of taking care of her 5, 8 and 12-year old brothers. They didn't thrust the responsibility upon her cruelly or abruptly. She had just come home so often to an empty house and two messages on the phone, one from each parent, stating that they would be home late and she would have to make her own dinner, wash/iron her clothes and be sure to watch her brothers, I love you and I'll see you when I get home.
6. Once, Natsuru had gotten into a fight at school (Something that her parents said, "Kiyomi-chan would never do that."). It was over something trivial but neither parent could be disturbed at their job. With embarassment, the elementary school called the high school to retrieve someone to get Natsuru. 16-year old Kiyomi had to leave her classes in the high school section and run all the way over to the elementary school, a full block away, to go retrieve her brother because her parents were busy with a court case and a surgery.
7. That night, Kiyomi was dressing her younger brother's bloodied cheek and trying to make idle small-talk with him while taking care of the ironing. "So, any girls?"
The little boy pouted and stuck his tounge out. "Girls are gross."
She smiled, the perfect lips curling up. After putting away the medical kit, Kiyomi picked up her iron and continued working on the blouse she was going to wear the next day. It was her school uniform, it was important. "Am I gross? Is Mom?"
"No, nee-san's nice... In fact, I want to get a girl like nee-san for my girlfriend when I grow up. Not you, though, 'cause we're siblings."
8. In that moment, she had a revalation. Kiyomi had become a perfect mother to her brothers, a perfect daughter to her parents, a perfect student to her teachers and a perfect friend to all her peers. Outside, she was radiant. Inside, she was starving with a need for unconditional love.
9. She arrived at Touou and attracted much attention. After all, she was beautiful, intelligent and a pleasure to talk to. Perfect student, perfect friend, perfect lady. The perfection of her high school years carried on into her four years of college. That scrabbling animal inside her that yearned for love with ostensibly satiated with praise and words of awe.
10. When she met Light Yagami, after months of vigorous study, she considered that the downpoint of her life. He was near-perfect, just like her. To think that all that lay across the bridge of self-loathing and constant pushing was someone just like her made her cry sometimes. She cried out of fear and hope.
11. While attending Touou, Kiyomi lived at home and worked as an intern at a local news channel. Her parents supported Kira and thought highly of him, considering him justice and they were pleased when the second Kira came around. "Kiyomi-chan would make a fine third Kira," they said as she walked past the door. They had no idea that she would become Kira's right hand several years later.
12. Light Yagami left Touou for several months and things were peaceful for Kiyomi. She graduated, magna cum laude, and went on to her career as a newswoman. Her new life was tranquil and beautiful enough for her.
13. When she was selected as Kira's spokesperson, pride welled up in her chest. Finally, a divine power telling her that she was perfect. She was good enough to be Kira's only spokesperson. Kiyomi carried the title with pride and dignity.
14. Learning that Light Yagami was Kira was like meeting him again and realizing that that was all there was to life; Other people, no divinity. Becoming the goddess of a new world would be nothing if she was human.
15. She became fairly hollow after that; A beautiful cream-colored eggshell. She went through the motions of work and relaying information between T and Light but no feeling was placed behind the action.
16. Her bodyguard, Hal Lidner, was the sort of perfect that Kiyomi wouldn't mind becoming. Hal managed to take care of everything around her and still look perfectly fine. It was a quality that Takada envied and wished that she had more of in herself.
17. Before she died, she had only had contact with two extremely unlike-her people; Misa Amane and her kidnapper.
18. Misa Amane was bratty, self-centered and downright blonde. She was volatile and a swirling rage of emotions for something that wasn't perfect or divine. Throughout their entire dinner, Kiyomi had been screaming mentally, "WHY ARE YOU SO BLIND?!? HE'S NOT WHAT YOU NEED!!! NOTHING ON THIS EARTH IS!!!" She left the dinner with the sad knowledge that she, Kiyomi Takada, was smarter and more perfect than Misa Amane.
19. Her kidnapper, Mihael Keehl, was more volatile than Misa and more dangerous. He had ridden a motorcycle through the crowded alleyways, risking his life in more ways that Kiyomi thought possible. He demanded that she strip and so many different things ran through her head. First and foremost of which was that she would be safe if he laid those oil-stained hands on her. She killed him with vigor. She was Kiyomi Takada, perfect in nearly every way, and it would take more than a wannabe assassin like him to bring her down.
20. She burned to death in the church in which she killed Mihael Keehl and Kiyomi Takada was mourned by thousands. The funeral had been extremely formal, traditional and went off without a hitch, just like everything else in her life. Had she been alive to plan her own funeral, she would have demanded opposite what she was given. It shouldn't have been the usual Japanese one, an open casket American one would have been fine. Instead of going beautifully serene, someone should have accidently started a fire or the priest should have come in drunk.
Instead of placing fake yellow tulips (her favorite when she was little) at her grave, they should have been morning glories.
Kiyomi Takada had lived her entire life behind a mask.
Author: AkaiHikariRating: PG12... Maybe lower...
Character: Kiyomi Takada
Notes: I took, I feel, far too many liberties with her character, but I did enjoy writing it and obsessing over how to make it better until, eventually, I went, "Just post it already!!"
1. Kiyomi Takada and her family was familiar with perfect. She had been from a very young age, at which she was not allowed to go outside and soil her pretty clean hands and white expensive dresses. She was to stay inside with the pianos and books and the white table with clear glass vases and always-fresh always-fake tulips. She could have hobbies inside and go out into the artificial garden from time to time to get some sun.
2. Her father had been a lawyer and her mother had been a doctor, hence, she came from an affluent enough family. Their house was the same as the Yagami's a few neighborhoods away, only a bit more elegant. The Takadas had three other children, aside from Kiyomi, who was the oldest; Natsuru (9 years younger than she), Takeshi (6 years younger) and Tsuburu (2 years younger), all boys with the exception of Kiyomi.
3. Perfection became a necessity for her parents to even spare her a cursory glance of pride, much less act on that pride and speak of her highly to houseguests, neighbors and coworkers. In grade school, middle school, being 2nd out of all her classmates was simply not good enough to merit praise. Bringing home tests, quizzes, projects that hadn't receieved full-marks was just not good. If she had brought home a 99, her parents would ask, "Why," with all the resources available to her, hadn't she gotten a 100? So, Kiyomi-chan started studying harder to pull those 99's into 100's. She became familiar with all-nighters and under-eye concealer by the age of 13.
4. One incident in which perfection was necessary stood out firmly in Kiyomi's mind. The morning of picture day, while she was in her 1st year of middle school, she was brushing her teeth and there was one small spot that simply would not come clean. She spent 5 minutes scrubbing at that one spot furiously until her little mouth bled, her toothbrush was stained, all she could taste was blood and mint and it hurt. The spot finally came off, after she took tooth-whitening gel to it, the blood was rinsed away, mouthwash was gargled, spat and Kiyomi had a perfect picture.
5. At the age of 14, her parents stopped doing a lot of things for her. Cleaning her room, cooking her meals and laundering her clothes. Those were up to her, along with the responsiblity of taking care of her 5, 8 and 12-year old brothers. They didn't thrust the responsibility upon her cruelly or abruptly. She had just come home so often to an empty house and two messages on the phone, one from each parent, stating that they would be home late and she would have to make her own dinner, wash/iron her clothes and be sure to watch her brothers, I love you and I'll see you when I get home.
6. Once, Natsuru had gotten into a fight at school (Something that her parents said, "Kiyomi-chan would never do that."). It was over something trivial but neither parent could be disturbed at their job. With embarassment, the elementary school called the high school to retrieve someone to get Natsuru. 16-year old Kiyomi had to leave her classes in the high school section and run all the way over to the elementary school, a full block away, to go retrieve her brother because her parents were busy with a court case and a surgery.
7. That night, Kiyomi was dressing her younger brother's bloodied cheek and trying to make idle small-talk with him while taking care of the ironing. "So, any girls?"
The little boy pouted and stuck his tounge out. "Girls are gross."
She smiled, the perfect lips curling up. After putting away the medical kit, Kiyomi picked up her iron and continued working on the blouse she was going to wear the next day. It was her school uniform, it was important. "Am I gross? Is Mom?"
"No, nee-san's nice... In fact, I want to get a girl like nee-san for my girlfriend when I grow up. Not you, though, 'cause we're siblings."
8. In that moment, she had a revalation. Kiyomi had become a perfect mother to her brothers, a perfect daughter to her parents, a perfect student to her teachers and a perfect friend to all her peers. Outside, she was radiant. Inside, she was starving with a need for unconditional love.
9. She arrived at Touou and attracted much attention. After all, she was beautiful, intelligent and a pleasure to talk to. Perfect student, perfect friend, perfect lady. The perfection of her high school years carried on into her four years of college. That scrabbling animal inside her that yearned for love with ostensibly satiated with praise and words of awe.
10. When she met Light Yagami, after months of vigorous study, she considered that the downpoint of her life. He was near-perfect, just like her. To think that all that lay across the bridge of self-loathing and constant pushing was someone just like her made her cry sometimes. She cried out of fear and hope.
11. While attending Touou, Kiyomi lived at home and worked as an intern at a local news channel. Her parents supported Kira and thought highly of him, considering him justice and they were pleased when the second Kira came around. "Kiyomi-chan would make a fine third Kira," they said as she walked past the door. They had no idea that she would become Kira's right hand several years later.
12. Light Yagami left Touou for several months and things were peaceful for Kiyomi. She graduated, magna cum laude, and went on to her career as a newswoman. Her new life was tranquil and beautiful enough for her.
13. When she was selected as Kira's spokesperson, pride welled up in her chest. Finally, a divine power telling her that she was perfect. She was good enough to be Kira's only spokesperson. Kiyomi carried the title with pride and dignity.
14. Learning that Light Yagami was Kira was like meeting him again and realizing that that was all there was to life; Other people, no divinity. Becoming the goddess of a new world would be nothing if she was human.
15. She became fairly hollow after that; A beautiful cream-colored eggshell. She went through the motions of work and relaying information between T and Light but no feeling was placed behind the action.
16. Her bodyguard, Hal Lidner, was the sort of perfect that Kiyomi wouldn't mind becoming. Hal managed to take care of everything around her and still look perfectly fine. It was a quality that Takada envied and wished that she had more of in herself.
17. Before she died, she had only had contact with two extremely unlike-her people; Misa Amane and her kidnapper.
18. Misa Amane was bratty, self-centered and downright blonde. She was volatile and a swirling rage of emotions for something that wasn't perfect or divine. Throughout their entire dinner, Kiyomi had been screaming mentally, "WHY ARE YOU SO BLIND?!? HE'S NOT WHAT YOU NEED!!! NOTHING ON THIS EARTH IS!!!" She left the dinner with the sad knowledge that she, Kiyomi Takada, was smarter and more perfect than Misa Amane.
19. Her kidnapper, Mihael Keehl, was more volatile than Misa and more dangerous. He had ridden a motorcycle through the crowded alleyways, risking his life in more ways that Kiyomi thought possible. He demanded that she strip and so many different things ran through her head. First and foremost of which was that she would be safe if he laid those oil-stained hands on her. She killed him with vigor. She was Kiyomi Takada, perfect in nearly every way, and it would take more than a wannabe assassin like him to bring her down.
20. She burned to death in the church in which she killed Mihael Keehl and Kiyomi Takada was mourned by thousands. The funeral had been extremely formal, traditional and went off without a hitch, just like everything else in her life. Had she been alive to plan her own funeral, she would have demanded opposite what she was given. It shouldn't have been the usual Japanese one, an open casket American one would have been fine. Instead of going beautifully serene, someone should have accidently started a fire or the priest should have come in drunk.
Instead of placing fake yellow tulips (her favorite when she was little) at her grave, they should have been morning glories.
Kiyomi Takada had lived her entire life behind a mask.