Igarashi Rin

charms

To the people in the House of Comforts--and Sumi, by extension--Rin is the cheeky bartender named Kim. Come inside, sit by the counter, she'll already have a drink served up for you and chances are, it's just the drink you need. Her wit and charm always make for a compelling day at the bar, and you'll find that there is never a dull moment when she's around. As co-manager of the reputable establishment, Rin is well-versed when it comes to handling people in different situations--she's accustomed to defusing fights, solving complaints, helping the staff and many various jack-of-all-tradery. But most importantly, she is your shoulder to cry on from behind the counter, the one person you can confide your problems in who will also offer you helpful advice if she can.

Outside of working, Kim is one big social butterfly who'll go where the crowd goes and make friends with just about everyone. She likes to jump in on every opportunity, not quite seeing the risks of it but instead the rewards (a trait she shares with her real persona). One might say she's a little bit reckless and a little bit of a troublemaker that sometimes it can be a miracle if she even gets out of trouble. It's just that Kim loves the thrill that adventure gives her (albeit the real Rin wouldn't admit this).

However, you'd be surprised to find out that it's all just an act. If you even manage to find out at all, without her admitting it.

Rin, in reality, is so much colder. Her words are usually sprinkled with sarcasm and bluntness, careful and calculating and collected. One might even agree that yes, she does feel like a Nobody--Rin acknowledges this herself, a feeling of emptiness always pressing to her chest and a realization that despite being many people at once, she herself was nothing. The real Rin is a calculative, passionate woman, always seeing an opportunity in everything and making sure those opportunities were never wasted. She is what one might call a "chessmaster" as well, never afraid to make a move as long as she knows she and the people involved will get the upper hand in the end.

Subterfuge and deception are two of Rin's best points. As a longtime spy, she is very well-versed in the art of information-gathering. She prides herself for knowing "at least one thing" about every person in the locale, even those she's never actually met in person. Rin thrives in the gossips and rumors passed around by the bar's customers, although she doesn't believe in them until she herself can find some proof of its legitimacy. Sometimes, she goes out of her way to know if something is truth or telltale, just for the sake of gathering genuine information.

The various identities she's pretended to be all over the years are a testament to Rin's excellent acting skills, and unless you have a close enough relation to her you wouldn't really manage to identify her. She has long accepted that she is a nobody and instead takes pride in her versatility and various personas. Heck, even "Rin Igarashi" wasn't her first name--it was the name given to her by the thieves who raised her, her original name having been lost when her biological parents were murdered.

One notable thing about Rin is her firm loyalty to the House of Comforts. She views the establishment as her home and has watched it grow from a humble tavern to the biggest pleasure house in Hanami--as well as an information hub, to which she was involved in the transition. She will go to any lengths to protect both the establishment and the purposes the House has provided for Hanami.

Consequently, she might trust employees of the House of Comforts more than any other person, although this still doesn't melt the ice walls surrounding her. Due to her job and experiences in life, Rin has found it very hard to establish personal ties, sometimes finding it very ironic that some of her identities are big social butterflies (including Kim). She finds new ties to be meaningless--although deep down she's just afraid of the pain of losing her friends all over again. The only friends she still has are ones she's met more than 100 years ago, and are still alive because they either have long lifespans or were resurrected as drifters. Either way, she's stopped making bonds long ago and whatever ties she has now are simply professional or required for her personas.

Deep down inside, however, past the cold exterior and the walls surrounding her, Rin feels immensely lonely and empty. Many times have people almost, almost managed to light up the spark that once genuinely brightened her eyes, to no avail. Empty, because she was Nobody and had no true identity, and lonely, because her lifespan and her job have time and time again made her lose anyone she cared about.

But maybe, maybe one day that'll change.