Larry the Failed Baseball Player

[madimpossibledreamer]

Shime Kikune (Larry)

She used to play for the Hanshin Tigers, and got involved in some of the fan fights.  She had quite the reputation, but had to quit due to an injury (and, well…honestly, there were a few rumors).  The cap insignia is included on her shoulder, and also a baseball in the tiger’s claws.  She doesn’t have the actual mascot, because she thought kawaii was not a good look for a yakuza, but she does have a tiger.  She moved from Nishinomiya to Tokyo after an injury forced her out of the game and ended up getting on Miyamoto’s bad side—Sunao was trying to take a break due to a bad mood, and Kikune’s taunting about how he swings like a man made his accent swing wildly between Tokyo-ben and Kansai-ben and get all unpredictable action-wise.  Instead of the fight that Shime expected, Miyamoto challenged her to a bet—whoever hit more balls won.  Kikune still won, but it was a lot closer than she’d thought, even taking the injury into account.  Impressed, Kikune wasn’t annoyed.  Shime offered to take Sunao out to dinner after having won, and Sunao was very wary about it but accepted.  (Mostly, Shime was confused after learning the truth, but it also led to a few revelations on her part, and Kikune both accepted she liked women and wanted desperately to chase a new dream of power and glory and, even better, self-understanding, under Miyamoto’s command.)

Shime doesn’t have anything against the Oni Alliance (the Osato-kai) and even perversely enjoys fighting what would have been her brethren—provided, of course, that everyone involved knows she’s not challenging any sort of authority.  She just enjoys fighting.  Particularly when she’s allowed to use her bat.  It’s one of the reasons why, despite all the pro-Kansai baseball stuff in her irezumi, she also has a fierce tiger with a wounded leg (echoing her own injury) attacking oni.

The maple leaves falling around the tiger and oni on the wind are more mourning for her career than literal death.  She also has a baku sleeve, also known as a dream-eater.  Again, this is a symbolic thing—baku, eat this nightmare of the life after my injury so I can only have good-luck dreams of the future sort of thing.

*Tiger-strength, courage, long life, ward off bad luck, disease, demons, fighting oni, autumn, wind

*maple leaves on the wind-time passing, loss, cycle

*baku-devours nightmares, creates good fortune, not free, though