Gregory Yates

In his early years, Takito was a shy, introverted Izushi child with good educational prospects and a strange interest in origami. He lived with his parents in a small house west of the main town, spending his days in the small school, or fishing by the river with his father and friends. Whilst he was never described as the most interesting of boys, he was certainly well behaved - and that went a long way with most.

So what happened? What turned that timid youngling into the shadow you see now?

Tokyo happened.

After visiting the place once, on a family holiday, Takito fell in love. The flashing lights... the technology... the women... - all of these merged together into one big fantasy: to become the entrancing socialite that he saw wandering the illuminated streets. As soon as he could
leave school, he moved into a tiny apartment in the poorer side of the city. Sure, it was a little run down, but he could make ends meet, right?

It would seem not. Takito, for all the charms he adopted as he moved into Tokyo, couldn't keep a steady job. It wasn't that he was stupid, or anything; on the contrary, he was sharper than most, and by far more witty. But he just couldn't seem to find a career that suited him. Or at least, that was until he got his first computer in 1991. He became obsessed with coding, and software writing, always striving to create something that was unique, and innovative. He ended up doing freelance work for one of the leading electronics brands in Japan, and made himself a tidy sum in the process.

Bit by bit, though, as the Internet grew in popularity and influence, so did Takito - or 'ro-zu' as he called himself then. He got into hacking, and the shady underworld of programming. By 1996, he was guilty of most internet crimes around at that time. Of course, none of this comes without risk; Takito can testify to that, in retrospect. He was tracked down by a particularly 'volatile' victim of his decryptions, who was intent (borderlining obsessed) with finding the man who called himself the rose. When she did, she burst into his apartment, and Embraced him without a second's pause. Why exactly she did this, Takito will never know. Did she want another hacker beside her for eternity? Or was she enthralled by the idea of someone as smart as her?

In any case, she didn't stay long enough for him to ask. He had to pretty much work out vampirism for himself, one bit at a time.

Ten years on, and Takito is still learning. He's carved himself a nice niche in Kindred society, working the dark underworld for the Carthian movement, mostly under the radar of the Invictus.

He still continues his hacking, though, his main trade now is in firearms. With the crackdown on any possession of arms in Japan, Takito recognised the opportunity, and pushed himself up as an illicit dealer of the guns - mostly to nightclubs (for security purposes), and other private establishments, but sometimes to the other movements in Tokyo: the Neo-Nazi underground, the Yakuza, and corporate black-ops.

It's risky business, and he knows it. But the profit he's getting, along with the influence with the rest of the Kindred in Tokyo, is too much to pass up. There's little Takito won't do for profit of some sort, and he certainly has the charms to pull any kind of move off. The only true weakness he has is his inability to stick with anything; he soon grows tired of one idea, or enterprise, falling victim to melancholia and boredom. Hence, he's always thinking of new ways to beat about the bush.

And, true to his nature, he's still 'The Rose'. Every handgun he sells has an ornate etching of a thorned rose stretching across from the trigger up onto the barrel. Sure, it's a risk in terms of identification - but Takito knows style when he sees it.

The Rose

Dressed in a tight-fitting blue suit and tie, Takito is the very essence of Tokyo-chic. He wears his hair spiky outwards, swept to the sides as to reveal his bright green eyes, and attractive features. When he walks, he does so with purpose, and drive; though, he does so subtly, and with a degree of nonchalance that suggests he's never quite taking the situation seriously.

Equipment: Beretta 92FS INOX Handgun, Briefcase [Possibly with assorted 'sleek' handguns], Cell phone, Laptop [With Satellite Broadband connection], Wallet, Cigarettes, Thorned Rose.

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