Raiko Takashima

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Raiko Takashima
IC Information
Full Name: Raiko Takashima
Aliases: Witch of Wise Levin, Inheritor Wise Levin, Levin
Gender: Female (she/her)
Age/Birthdate: 15 (June 30, 2000)
Height: 5'2"
Hair Colour: Light Blue
Eye Colour: Bright Orange
Astrological Sign: Gemini
Blood Type: A
Favorite Food: Hot Chocolate, Sweets
Least Favorite Food: Spicy foods
Favorite Subject: Math, Science, Magic
Least Favorite Subject: History
Dossier
Organization: Magic Association
Position: Apprentice Witch
School: Infinity Institute (Grade 9)
OOC Information
Source: Lost Inheritor Yumi (OC)
Player: Talnora
"Staff of Wise Levin, hear me! In my hand discovered be!"

Raiko Takashima is a young, bright, determined witch chasing a dream: to combine her witchcraft with her love of electronics and technology. A dream that she is starting to make progress on… at the cost of her grades, reputation at school, and her closest friendships. And to make matters wore, her only living relative, her grandfather, has gone missing on a mission for the Magic Association. This means she's been moved into Infinity's dorms… right in the middle of where she's bungled her social standing, and she doesn't even have her grandfather's advice anymore to help her fix it. And if all of /that/ wasn't bad enough, she's also discovered she is the heir to a long with bloodline, and the latest person to inherit the Staff of Wise Levin--adding being a magical girl to her list of problems. Now she has to juggle chasing her dreams, fixing her relationships, and fighting back against The Hungry Queen and her forces.

Personality

"Oh! That just gave me an idea…"

Raiko is always looking to the future and the possibilities that lie within… though sometimes she loses sight of the present.

In better times she is a bright, cheerful girl, with an enthusiastic zeal for her work. Lately, due to a school presentation that blew up in her face and the friendship it cost her, she's become more withdrawn. And the recent disappearance of her grandfather hasn't helped her very much…

But she's still plugging away at her dreams of modernizing witchcraft, though. She's just kept her work to herself.

She grew up taking apart electronics and other appliances, learning how they worked, and putting them back together--an interest fostered by her grandfather. At the same time, growing up with her grandfather, a mage, and his familiar, Shiori, she always knew she would one day become a witch herself. And as she started in her magical studies, she grew frustrated with some of the antiquated thinking and the slowness of some of the older magic users to embrace modern ideas. Would it kill the Magic Association to just get a digitized card catalog already?

However, after meeting Yumi Ohzora and then discovering that she was the next person to inherit the Staff of Wise Levin, her confidence and outlook have slowly started to improve, thanks to several successes and victories: Helping to defeat Conflagria not once but twice, using her studies to create a new new storage spell for her staff (which involved reverse engineering an ancient spell, to boot!), and even just getting to meet other magical girls and start to form new friendships.

Current Events

Lineage

Since accepting her staff, Raiko has been doing her best to live up to the responsibility of her legacy, and especially to support her new friend Yumi, wanting to pay her back for all the kindness she showed. Having Yumi as a friend has provided the motivation she's needed to try and put some things in her life back together. Starting with her grades, anturally. But she has also turned her attention to improving the Staff of Wise Levin: first, reverse-engineering a storage spell for her staff based on the spell for the Staff of Lost Ivy, and then fully empowering Shiori as a familiar.

But it hasn't been all positives. During a crucial encounter with Conflagria, it was revealed that The Hungry Queen was none other than Yumi's mother, a devestating secret that has certainly made their quest to oppose her complicated, to say the least.

In the wake of this, while attempting the carry out the ritual to empower Shiori, Raiko and Shiori kept facing setbacks. At first it was Raiko's lack of openness preventing it from succeeding, but after admitting to Shiori that she sometimes imagined having Shiori around was what having a mother felt like, it turned out that Shiori was now the one with reservations.

Shiori revealed to Raiko that Kenji Takashima was not, in fact, her biological grandfather. She explained that Kenji had been a friend of Raiko's parents, and that they had been able to divine both that the newborn Raiko was likely to become the next Inheritor of the staff… but that The Hungry Queen would almost certainly know this as well, and take action. Raiko's parents gave her over to Kenji's care, making the ultimate sacrifice to protect her.

Shiori feared that this revelation would damage Raiko's trust in both her and Kenji, having intended Kenji to explain himself when the time was right. A teary-eyed Raiko confessed that she had figured out she was adopted when attempting to research her family line, but thanked Shiori for finally telling her parents had done for her.

A chance encounter with her two former best friends, Cheiko Otome and Kiyo Tagawa, has also lead to the start of a reconciliation between the three. It's still in its early days, but Raiko is glad to be speaking with them again.

There still remain many threats to the world to solve, and it's not at all clear how they will deal with The Hungry Queen, but Raiko is determined to be someone Yumi can rely on in these troubled times.

Background

Early Childhood

For as long as Raiko can remember, it's just been her, her grandfather Kenji Takashima, and his familiar, a cat named Shiori. Kenji provided all of the love and attention she ever needed, so she doesn't often think about her missing parents--and all she's ever been told about them is that they died in an accident.

Raiko has always been a curious and inquisitive child, and at a very young age once took apart a vacuum cleaner because she was curious how it worked. Kenji wasn't… too upset. Instead, when he had it fixed he asked the repair person to both show Raiko how it worked as well as how to put it back together. This fostered a love of working with electronics and devices.

She's lived in Tokyo all of her life, and has attended Infinity Institute since kindergarten. He has also been enrolled in their magic program, with her very earliest instruction coming from her grandfather and his familiar. There she made two best friends, also fellow Infinity and magic students, Kiyo Tagawa and Cheiko Otomo. They bonded over their shared magic classes, and also naturally complimented each others' strengths academically and in group work, so formed a fast friendship.

As Raiko started to learn more magic, she became more and more frustrated with some of the antiquity associated with it, when she could easily look up manuals or specs for an appliance or a phone online that she was working with, why couldn't she do the same for her magic studies? And being intimately familiar with how, say, her cell phone worked, what was really preventing her from using the phone's compass for a finding spell instead of a dowsing rod? Her friends were intruiged, and encouraged her efforts.

Scholastic Setbacks and a Friendship Fractured

When Raiko, Kiyo, and Cheiko moved up to 7th grade, Raiko was inspired by starting a new phase in her academic career, and wanted to make a big impression on her classmates. She did, though unfurtunately not in the way she'd intended. For their first group project Raiko decided to try and demo one of her prototype ideas. Unfortunately, it failed. Horribly. The group got a bad grade and Kiyo was incredibly upset with her.

Since Raiko had only finished it the night before, she hadn't had a chance to test it and work out all the bugs. It also meant she hadn't had a chance to show it to anybody else who could then vouch for it. Obsession consumed Raiko as she attempted to get it working, and when she did, she took it to show Kiyo and Cheiko… but Kiyo was unreceptive, upset at Raiko for letting her other responsibilities slip and ultimately broke Raiko's prototype. This, in turn, angered Raiko, and no amount of peacekeeping from Cheiko was able to diffuse the tensions. Kiyo and Raiko ultimately ended up calling their friendship over and went their separate ways.

Raiko, troubled by the public failure of her demonstration and now bereft of her friends for support, retreated into her research, putting less and less effort into her studies until she was barely scraping by. She did make some headway, but over time realized that she was ultimately in the wrong. She attempted to make amends, but Kiyo was unreceptive. (Cheiko was more willing to forgive, but said she couldn't be fully friends with either girl unless they were both on spekaing terms again.)

Raiko was once an academic star, but her grades have slipped so badly that it's clear she isn't trying her best at the moment, leading her to be viewed askance by Infinity's student population. Her grandfather and the other teachers, meanwhile, have been trying to get her to reapply herself to her studies again.

Storms Brewing on the Horizon

Once Raiko reached a certain age, Kenji would take leave for a few days at a time on Magic Association business. A fellow mage from the organization, Akinori Ayase, would check up on Raiko during those times, and Raiko was always secure in the knowledge he would return.

Until he didn't.

When Kenji failed to return from his latest mission, and a week had passed with no word, Akinori had to break the news to her that they had lost contact with him. And what's worse, she couldn't stay by herself at her home long-term. Akinori, while able to stop by and check in on Raiko, couldn't take care of a child full time, so Raiko would be moving into the dorms at Infinity.

Right in the middle of where she had been bungling things for the last couple of years.

Once the news came that contact had been broken off, Shiori took off, ostensibly to find her mage, so Raiko didn't even have her for support when she moved into the dorms. And without her former friends to lean on, she's had a hard time adjusting to her new circumstances.

Destiny and Inheritance

By chance, Raiko met a fellow Inheritor, Yumi Ohzora, in the nurse's office at Infinity. During that chance encounter she accidentally dropped a cell phone case she had been in the middle of enchanting, and Yumi picked it up. Yumi recognized it for what it was and took it back to Raiko, guessing (correctly!) at its intended functionality, which surprised Raiko. Raiko was unused to anyone appreciating her work, and was overjoyed to gush about her interests with a fellow witch.

Their conversation eventually strayed to family, however, and Raiko eventually let slip her recent difficulty dealing with her missing grandfather and moving into the dorms… and then spilled her realizations of her just how badly she'd bungled her social standing in school. Yumi was kind and empathetic, which Raiko needed dearly.

Despite having finally admitted (to both herself and to Yumi) how she got into her current state, which was incredibly cathartic for her… the realization left her feeling more empty, and the following day she ditched class to go back to her house and brood. There she discovered the newly-returned Shiori, and inadvertently discovered the Staff of Wise Levin, as well. Entering the study to demand answers, the staff reacted to Raiko's presence, emitting enough power to destroy the wards and make The Hungry Queen aware of its presence.

Shiori tried to convince Raiko to take up the staff, to no avail. She was forced to turn to Tama and then Yumi for help. The three of them eventually found Raiko sitting by herself by a lake. Yumi revealed he was a fellow inheritor, and they continued their heart-to-heart talk from the day prior, now will full knowledge of each other's identities as Inheritors.

Their talk was interrupted by an Ogre attack however, and while Yumi bravely tried to fight it off, it was clear to all present, including Raiko, that she was outmatched. Shiori drove home that she had to try, despite her fear of failure, or her inaction could cost all of their lives. Raiko finally accepted and formed a pact with the staff, transforming into the Witch of Wise Levin. Together, Yumi and Raiko unleashed a fearsome combination attack to banish the ogre.

Skills and Abilities

"Oh, you cracked your phone's screen? I can replace that for you, no problem. Tell me what model it is and we can order a new one online. I'll look up replacement batteries, too, just in case. Oh and what size memory card do you have, maybe we can…"

In academics her best subjects are STEM and magic, though her grades are currently suffering from dealing with various issues.

Raiko loves taking things apart to see how they work, fixing them up or even making them better, and then putting them back together. Electronics like cell phones, laptops, and computers certainly get most of her attention, but she's comfortable working with many different home or consumer products.

She is also a witch in training. Her current focus and specialty are enchantments, and spells that search or find things, and spells that work with information. She also regularly practices telekinesis as a useful tool for her work.

Of course, her love of both have let her to attempt to combine the two, and her current masterpiece is her cellphone. She's added a storage enchantment to it to allow her to store and retrieve items at will. She also uses it as the focus for many of her spells.

She has also created an enchanted cell phone case, that can wirelessly recharge a smart phone, one of her proudest achievements. Her latest project involves enchanting a new broom to replace the one that was destroyed in the past: she planes to enhnace the basic flight enchantment to make the broom extra durable, to boot.

The Witch of Wise Levin

Raiko is the Inheritor of the Staff of Wise Levin, aligned to the element of Air, and able to call forth its vast lightning magic in order to smite wrong doers. The staff's guardian, a cat named Shiori, is now her familiar as well, serving as a mentor and a guide as she starts to learn the ins and outs of its power.

Transformation

Raiko wills her staff to appear from where it normally resides, causing it to fade into existence in her gripped, outstretched hand. She shouts, "Staff of Wise Levin, hear me! In my hand discovered be!" A magic circle appears at her feet, encircling both caster and staff. Raiko slams the staff down, and it transforms into a thin bolt of lightning that surges up, splits, and then descends as four thinner bolts, striking the inner edge of the circle at the four cardinal points. From there, four sparks trace along the circle until the entire thing is aglow. The witch looks upward, raises a hand to the sky--and a massive column of lightning descends from above to engulf her.

From within, a yellow glow builds up on her body. Raiko looks down, directly ahead, and with a smirk ends the pillar of lightning. The glow increases for just a moment more before it explodes in a massive swirl of electrical sparks. It temporarily engulfs her body but then dies away to reveal a buttoned, charcoal-gray shirt, with a black vest overlaying it, and a black, multi-layered, frilly skirt that goes down to her knees.

Raiko then lowers her hand from above, pointing with it. An electric spark appears at her pointing fingertip which explodes outward into radiating lines of electric force. The lines spin rapidly around the spark as it travels down her arm to her elbow, leaving behind a yellow glow. The spark and lines vanish, only to reappear at Raiko's other elbow and continue to her fingertips, leaving behind a matching yellow glow. The light on both hands burst into a smaller shower of sparks to reveal elbow-length amber-yellow leather gloves, secured in place with black leather belts fastened with silver buckles. Winds swirl around her feet as she momentarily lifts up. A much larger spark and horizontally radiating electric lines appear at her feet. They spin as the lines and spark travel upwards over her legs to her knees, leaving behind a yellow light that bursts to reveal a pair of leather boots that match the gloves. As they appear the winds gently set her back down on her feet.

Raiko makes a quick sideways swiping gesture, and in time with that motion a line of electricity encircles her hips. It builds in intensity and then bursts to reveal a yellow leather belt. On the left side are two square pouches, while the right has a square pouch in back but a silver pocket watch, embedded in the front right of the belt, with a chain that also attaches to the belt. She brings her hand up to her throat, and a field of shimmering electrical energy spreads out from her her throat to drape down to mid-thigh, exploding with a shower of sparks to reveal a cloak.

From her throat, Raiko draws her hand back, seemingly pulling a ribbon out from the collar of her shirt with her fingertips. They hang in the air as she lets them go, and then, with a snap of her fingers, they start to move, tying themselves into an ornate bow. Another snap, and a ring of lighting encases her hair running down her hair, causing her hair to twist and turn rapidly as it's worked into a braid. Once the lightning reaches the end of her hair it tightens down to solidify into a silver ring to secure the braid.

Raiko's fingertips spark with electricity, and she reaches over to the left side of her vest to make a quick swiping gesture, leaving behind a silver quill insignia. The sparking fingertips then travel upwards to make a quick swiping gesture past her forehead, tracing the brim of a not-yet-extant hat. The spark continues around her head, leaving a trail as it forms a circle. Next, a shimmering field of energy flows in from the circle, then upwards to form a cone in the center. A final shower of sparks marks the formation of a witch's hat. Wide-brimmed, in the classic style, with a yellow belt and silver buckle encircling the base of the cone.

The staff reappears, and Raiko reaches out to grab it with her left hand. But just before her hand touches it she yanks her hand away and leans in, so her face is next to it. She grins, bringing the fingertips of her right hand up to touch the bridge of her nose. With a shimmer of magic, a pair of goggles appear on her face. Her grin grows a little bit wider as she winks from behind the goggle's lens. She stands back up, grabbing the staff with a swipe of her hand as she does a little spin and then poses with the staff. A bolt of lightning strikes dramatically behind her. "I am the Witch of Wise Levin! And if you don't wise up, you'll be sorry!"

Relationships

Name
Gramps "Grandpa… I'm trying to be the best witch and magical girl I can be. Wherever you are, I hope you're safe. I miss you, but I 'm doing my best to make you proud."
Shiori "She's my familiar, but… she means a lot more to me than just that. She's always looked after me, even in non-magical stuff, and… she's family to me, too."
Aya-kun "He's one of my grandpa's friends from the Magic Association, but he's always been really good to me, too. He looks after me while my grandpa is… away on business, but he's always interested in seeing what projects I'm working on!"
Yumi-chan "When I didn't have anyone else, you were there for me. You made me feel like it was possible to fix things again. No matter what happens, I'll be behind you, 100%."
Ki-chan "I know things haven't been great between us, but... I want to keep working at it. I've missed being able to talk to you."
Chitomo "I know Ki-chan and I put you in a tough spot, and I'm sorry for that. But thanks for being so patient with us."
Michiko Nakara "… She seems nice… She barely knows me, but… I can tell she's still really concerned for me. … It's nice that there are people like that in the world."

Notable NPCs

Kenji Takashima

Raiko's grandfather, and the only family she's known growing up all of her life. He is kind, supportive, and devoted to his granddaughter's development.

He's also a mage for the Magic Association, and his work sometimes takes him away from home. He works to thwart The Hungry Queen by attempting to locate and secure artifacts and objects of power that are of interest to The Hungry Queen before she can get her hands on them. He didn't return from his last mission, forcing Raiko to move into the dorms at Infinity.

He was also helping Shiori safeguard The Staff of Wise Levin, which Raiko has now accepted as her destiny. She's hoping that by fighting The Hungry Queen that she can eventually discover what happened to her grandfather and bring him home safe. She also has access to his study, and is hoping she can decipher his notes to find some clue of his whereabouts, or ways to foil The Hungry Queen's plots.

Raiko adores her grandfather, but without him she feels so lost, especially with having to move into the dorms. But now that Shiori has returned and she's made friends with Yumi, she doesn't feel quite so hopeless. But she's still looking forward to the day when she can show her grandfather that she's trying to turn her life around.

She realized sometime after taking up Wise Levin that she was adopted, or at least she strongly suspected it. In attempting to research her family lineage she hit a dead end, and suspected that was the reason why. Shiori has since confirmed this, along with the fate of her parents.

Shiori

A tabby calico cat, who is the guardian of the Staff of Wise Levin and, upon Raiko accepting her destiny, now also Raiko's familiar. She's been a part of Raiko's life for as long as the young girl can remember, though formerly she was told Shiori was Kenji's familiar, as they were not ready to disclose her destiny to her yet. Raiko views her as just as much a family member as her grandfather, a bond that has only strengthened now that she has learned of her destiny, and Shiori's patience and care in helping her to accept it.

Shiori has provided assistance to Raiko with her magical studies ever since she was ready to start studying magic, tutoring her in the basics whenever Kenji wasn't available. Now Shiori is also her advisor as she learns about and adapts to the power of her staff.

The feeling between them is mutual. Shiori has watched over Raiko her entire life, and feels a sense of fondness and affection for the girl that goes beyond her role as a guardian and familiar. She provides counsel and advice for any number of issues Raiko faces, taking an interest in the rest of her academics as well as her emotional well-being.

Despite Shiori's fears that revealing the truth of her parentage would cause mistrust or hurt feelings, Raiko was instead grateful. Together, they were able to finish the ritual to fully empower Shiori as a familiar, meaning their bond has become closer than ever as they both get used to their new roles.

Kiyo Tagawa

A fellow 9th year Infinity student, and formerly one of a best friend group with Raiko and Cheiko, and also a fellow magic student. Kiyo was always the most athletic one of the trio of friends, proudly tomboyish, and usually took the lead on organizing projects and boosting up others.

She grew upset when Raiko's surprise demonstration hurt their project grade in 7th grade, and lost her temper completely after Raiko attempted to show her the working version after increasingly ignoring her studies and other responsibilities. She broke Raiko's prototype… which is an action she now regrets.

Things remained tense between Kiyo and Raiko for several years. However, a chance meeting with Raiko while she was working late in a lab lead her to discover all of the progress that Raiko had

Cheiko Otomo

A fellow 9th year Infinity student, and formerly one of a best friend group with Raiko and Kiyo, and also a fellow magic student. Cheiko was the artistic one of the group, often providing creative flare for flourishes to their presentations, and also a bit softer and something of a peacemaker between the stronger personalities of Kiyo and Raiko.

Cheiko attempted to mediate the growing rift between Raiko and Kiyo, but was unable to prevent the arguments from blowing up the way they did. She grew upset at how they treated each other, and told them both off after the prototype was broken and the fight really kicked into high gear.

She calmed down the fastest of the three, and is perfectly willing to be cordial with both Kiyo and Raiko… however, out of respect for the other she won't be fully-invested friends with either of them until the two other girls can patch things up between each other.

Raiko and Kiyo have recently seemed to reach an understanding, and Cheiko is doing her best to quietly encourage this development, wanting to get back to their old status quo as much as the other two girls do.

Akinori Ayase

A fellow mage from the Magic Association. He's much younger, and was chosen to look after Raiko because she got along well with him. He's friendly and personable, and genuinely interested in the new things Raiko is doing with her magic. He often stops by to check in on Raiko when Kenji is out on a work trip.

Akinori was also entrusted with enacting certain contingency plans should Kenji not return from one of his trips. Since he's not situated to take in a child, it was agreed Raiko would be moved into the dorms at Infinity instead. This would bring her more under the auspices of the Magic Association's protection as well as take advantage of the infrastructure already in palce to support students living on their own.

He is also Raiko's primary contact within the organization for any matters she may need related to her own membership.

Raiko recently revealed to Akinori that she took up the Staff of Wise Levin, much to his surprise. He was concerned that she didn't come forward about this sooner, but is doing his best to support her now that he's been made aware.

Scenes

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