We’ll kick this off with the Water Keyholder team’s young but charismatic leader, Takeshi. Though his village was historically peaceful, he grew up during a time when Kaita was undergoing turbulent changes. Tensions were high between pure-blooded Kaita natives and villagers descended from the Japanese settlers, and the pure-blood faction split off from Kaita to form its own village. At a very young age, Takeshi lost both of his parents to the conflicts between Kaita and the newly-formed Falaña village. His grandparents took him in, but not wanting to burden them, he quickly learned how to make his own meals, take care of chores and so forth, and he returned to his parents’ house when he got a little bit older. Inquisitive about the world around him, he took to reading and studying as a way of coping with living in the empty house, which gave him book-knowledge beyond his years and a broader perspective than most of his peers. Whatever information he couldn’t find in books, he’d seek from his teachers and the village elders, and he quickly adopted mature mannerisms and ways of speaking by regularly interacting with people older than himself. His natural curiosity, broad view and courage to act led to him gathering the team of Keyholders in order to avert the threat engulfing the Gates. Acutely conscious of how he would be perceived by the oldest of his teammates, he faced the challenge of becoming a leader that could direct and inspire these people of different ages and backgrounds. And despite his lack of practical knowledge and borderline blind naivete, he did that, too, with his strength of will and power of reason. His premature growth, though, had costs: he made serious mistakes because of his lack of practical knowledge and emotional maturity, and he saw his limitations in the worst possible way when he couldn’t save his best friend, Yuki, from being killed in the midst of a battle. That loss was a turning point as it forced him to face the emotional gravity that came with the consequences of his decisions – not just for himself but now also for others.
Second, we have a young leader on the Fire Gate side: Shuichi. Like Takeshi, he grew up in a time of war; but he had the added circumstance of living in a country rife with social injustice. He watched his older brother struggle to make a difference through activism, fail and fall into a depression that drove him to pick up and leave the country and his family. Having a keen sense of justice himself, Shuichi also wanted to do his part, in smaller ways, to alleviate the problem. One of the things he did was to continue to help his brother’s mentee, Hisao. But their growing friendship was cut short – Hisao was killed, and Shuichi was left with picking up the pieces, which led to him reaching out to Hisao’s grieving best friend, Reka, when he hadn’t even gotten over the shock of the loss himself. Shuichi in a way took on the role of a responsible older brother in looking after Reka. Seeing the suffering caused by the war and the civil strife convinced Shuichi that he wanted no part in either. But, forced to join the Llanian Guard, Shuichi and his circle of friends saw injustice on top of injustice and were pushed ruthlessly to compromise their values. A second turning point came for Shuichi when, on an undercover mission he was forced into, he was severely injured, which left his legs partially paralyzed from spinal damage. He struggled to come to terms with his new limitations and, after the war ended, to support Reka, who was dealing with family problems and in a tough spot emotionally. In an effort to both help Reka and stay true to his ideals despite his handicap, he came up with the idea of opening a daycare center to help underprivileged kids and their families. The initiative was met with fierce opposition. Taking all of this on at once pushed him to his limits, and he was again trying to shoulder others’ wellbeing when he was barely able to maintain his own.
Next, with a similar environment to Shuichi, is Sharon. Granted, she grew up literally worlds apart from the two Gate boys, but her home in the deep south of the United States was also mired in injustice. Her father was made to take the fall for a corporate crime he didn’t commit and was imprisoned when she was in her late years of elementary school. An only child with a virtually-single mother, Sharon had to take on a lot of responsibilities as their roles in the family changed almost overnight and her mother took on a second job to make ends meet. Sharon decided that she would go to college and get a good job so that she could help her family get back on its feet. So, she changed herself – tried to be a model student, speak in a dignified way in defiance of black stereotypes – in order to be perceived well in her racially-divided community. She tried so hard to meet an idealized image that she was soon constantly on guard, worried about how others would view her, and became rather inflexible and stand-offish. She plays the adult when she’s also given a measure of responsibility on the team of Keyholders.
A fourth case in point is Takumi, whose strict upbringing within the Key-Seekers organization fairly well robbed him of his childhood. He was raised by a work-absorbed, authoritarian father to follow in his footsteps as a high-ranking member of the organization. From a young age, Takumi was taught etiquette as well as self-defense. Soon, he was brought to live in a dorm on the premises of the Seekers’ headquarters and underwent even more intensive training, and soon he was apprenticing in clerical duties and low-difficulty field work. He quickly learned that his opinions were not to be aired and that being too sensitive would only get him hurt; so, Takumi repressed his emotions and pushed himself to do what was expected of him. By the time he was assigned as the Keyholders team’s monitor, he was extremely aloof and rule-oriented – so much so that a younger Keyholder notorious for her rude nicknames gave him the name, “Mr. Protocol”.
Lastly, we have Reka. A previous post already discussed at length how he lost his innocence to abuse from his father and became overly independent in trying to shoulder it by himself. Another factor that caused him to grow up prematurely was the loss of his friend, Hisao. Befriending Hisao changed Reka’s worldview, and that loss was a catalyst for everything that came after – his conflict with his father and subsequent drafting into the Llanian Guard; joining the Keyholders in hopes of ending the war and improving conditions in Llania; and lastly, starting the daycare center with Shuichi. Fear of losing anyone else spurred him to become a fierce protector who would stand up to just about anyone despite daunting odds. Not yet having learned how to keep his emotional balance, this more often than not resulted in him being extremely reckless, which nearly cost him his life on several occasions.
So, can you guess how old these characters are? (And no peeking at their profiles!) As of Eternal Storm (when Takumi is introduced)…
- Takeshi is 15
- Shuichi is 18
- Sharon is 19
- Takumi is 14
- And Reka is 16.
This is what happens when kids aren’t allowed to be kids.
