𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃;

[happyberry]

𝕤𝕒𝕜𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕒 𝕞𝕚𝕨𝕒𝕜𝕠

kissing you is a paradise kiss

• FIRST IMPRESSIONS •

Sakurada Miwako • 櫻田 実和子 NAME Paradise Kiss • the day George departs SERIES + TIMEPOINT human, japanese, 17, cis straight girl DETAILS Light magic • illusions + glamours MAGIC moon rabbit • pearlescent fur, jade eyes FAMILIAR • NAME: MOCHI consignment shop; freelance tailor EMPLOYMENT roommate: Tsukino Usagi; starter flats RESIDENCE

SKILLS + ABILITIES

SKILLS + ABILITIES

INVENTORY

INVENTORY

CLOTHING LINE IN AVALON

CLOTHING LINE IN AVALON

• APPEARANCE •

APPEARANCE_INFO height build hair eyes voice smell clothing voice

• PERSONALITY •

Miwako has a contagious enthusiasm for the things she likes and the people she cares about, and she finds enough good in most everything and everyone to be able to spread that cheer around wherever she goes. While she may be a bubbly and charming person, which is truly genuine, she quietly harbors deep anxieties and insecurities, maybe a little more than most teenagers. She's a passive and sensitive girl, loyal to a fault, and has some trouble discerning her own feelings healthily, choosing instead to swallow her nerves and smile. And swallow her nerves she does indeed, quite literally; she frequently gets stomach pains due to her anxiety, and so takes "magic medicine," which has truly a placebo effect (a literal sugar pill, it's just konpeito candy), because as a child her friends and family told her it was a magic bottle that turned candy into medicine to soothe her worries and ease her tummy aches. Her wild imagination and her love and trust for her family seems to make the magic work, though.

Magic cannot create confidence, unfortunately. Miwako places her elder sister Mikako on a pedestal and feels as if she’s living in Mikako's shadow, although Miwako herself does not look down on her little sister this way. Mikako is quite a bit older than Miwako, and is a successful and established fashion designer, owning her own well-known clothing and accessories line, Happy Berry. While Miwako has tried her own hand at designing, she feels most her ideas just seem like Happy Berry rip-offs; it's no help that she still shares the same scrutinizing professor who taught Mikako at the same arts high school both sisters attended. Whether it's a mental block or truly not her calling, what Miwako lacks in originality, she makes up for in passion. She values beauty, fashion and the arts in general above all, steeped in only this eccentric, creative, colorful world all her life. Nothing can compromise her own sense of style, which is authentically hers, even if her closet boasts quite a few Happy Berry pieces... ♥

She keeps her friends and family very close to her, and despite her sincere friendliness, she does not keep a large friend group. She's likable and charming, more or less, but absolutely an oddball, a little bit over-the-top, and while she's not unpopular, she's not Yazawa Art School royalty like her friend George or her sister Mikako. She keeps her tight knit group of friends at Paradise Kiss as her highest social priority, her best friend being the pragmatic and hot-headed model Yukari, whom Miwako strangely renamed Caroline on a whim, which somehow stuck... Miwako’s imagination abounds and mystifies.

Her other closest friends, however, have much more complexity and pain involved in their relationships, which haunts Miwako still for many years, and influences still many of her reactions and relationships, particularly when it comes to conflict of any kind. Miwako is a lover, not a fighter, even when she should fight. She’s spent years of her short life so far ensnared in a love triangle of her own creating, as she feels equally in love with her only two childhood friends, Arashi and Hiroyuki — whom she still affectionately calls Hiro for short, even after three years of silence. She uses these two contrasting figures, along with her sister, as measuring sticks in life, having trouble setting her own goal posts as her own character. She admires people easily and deeply, but that does not necessarily increase one’s self-esteem. It’s not to say that Miwako is meek or mild in any sense at all! But that behind the bubbliness, there is something deeper, darker, shakier, that disables Miwako from being able to confront her own problems or repair her own interpersonal conflicts. Instead, she pushes away, and allows herself to be guided by other people who are keen — consciously or not — to take the reins in her life. She needs someone to hold her hand, and seeks to hold other people’s hands in turn.

• HISTORY •

Miwako was born into a colorful world of creativity, and could not escape art even if she tried; it´s in her blood. Not only is her sister a famous fashion designer, and her brother-in-law a professional fashion photographer... but her mother is also a famous shoujo manga-ka, and her father is also a professional nature photographer. Mikako is almost two decades older than Miwako, and was already in university in London by the time Miwako was born. During Mikako´s childhood, their parents divorced, and Mikako was raised by their single mother; although, their mother is so swamped with her manga work at all times, even still, Mikako mostly raised herself, and instead took care of her exhausted mother. However, once Mikako reached back out to her estranged father years after the divorce, she found that he was still in love with their mother, and so she was the catalyst for her parents getting back together, and for her younger sister’s birth.

Once their parents remarried, Miwako was raised by both her parents together, a happy family of three. Although she was raised as an only child, she stayed close to her sister all her life, who looked out for her, as both sisters struggle with anxiety and high expectations of themselves... but Miwako far more so. She often found herself incapacitated by anxiety-induced stomach cramps as a child, especially triggered by performance stress, like being bullied by other children in elementary school when cleaning the classroom at the end of the school day.

Thus was the birth of the “Magic Medicine.” In both Miwako’s and Mikako’s childhoods, in the same apartment complex, their families kept close ties with their neighbors, who helped to raise each other’s children, including the children themselves. Miwako’s two best friends are a shining example — Hiroyuki and Arashi. Both boys cared deeply for Miwako, and in particular, even as a child, Hiroyuki was concerned for her mental health; she was the inspiration for him to later pursue a career in psychiatry. But his first practice “prescription” began one year at Christmastime in elementary school. He and Arashi found a bottle of konpeitou sugar candies, in a cute jar they labeled “magic medicine.” They told Miwako Santa got it for her... but once she was in middle school, and still relying on this placebo, her empathetic and wonderfully caring father told her the truth — it was not from Santa, and it’s just candy.

However, his spin on it changed her worldview in one breath. He told her that the jar itself was magic, so anything put inside it would become healing medicine even if it’s candy, because it’s imbued with the love of her friends who care so much for her. Even now as a senior in high school, she believes this; and as long as it continues to soothe her in times of distress, there’s no reason to pick apart the logic there. Her family and family friends are supportive and comforting, and while Miwako grew up neither rich nor poor, she had a wealth of love around her from her whole neighborhood.

This warmth, however, became compromised once teenage problems crept in. Just before her freshman year at high school, Miwako’s world turned upside down. While she may never have the presence of mind or pessimism needed to call it as it is, this year was a traumatic experience for many reasons. Her parents both moved away when she was 15 or so, deciding to travel overseas together indefinitely for her father’s photography work. At this point, she left her childhood home and tight-knit neighborhood, and moved in with her sister and brother-in-law elsewhere in Tokyo, deeper into the city. She had still remained close friends with Arashi and Hiroyuki, and became quite close with both... but she struggled immensely with weighing her romantic hopes for both boys, whom she loved equally, wanted equally, but could not share.

Arashi was particularly keen not to share, the jealous type, hot-headed and bold against Hiro’s mild manner. Teenagers feel things and do things, and while her physical relationship with Arashi developed faster than with Hiro, Arashi’s jealousy and possessive feelings drove him toward a violent selfishness. Arashi raped Miwako, and though she lost her virginity against her will, she numbed this pain immediately, forgave him flat-out mere moments after sobbing beneath him, and showed up at his apartment the next day as if everything was fine. The scales were tipped for her; she no longer had to choose between boys, because Arashi chose her first. He told Miwako he was jealous of Hiro and broke up his friendship with him; not only that, he told Miwako to end her friendship with Hiro, too.

And so she did. Once more, tearfully against her will, she made Arashi’s choice, and on a snowy winter day, lied to Hiro and said she did not love him anymore and that she never wanted to see him again. The shock was immense to them both, especially Hiro, who had always been a healing presence in her life. Hyper-intelligent and observant reading people, a natural psychologist, Hiroyuki inferred what had happened between Arashi and Miwako, and walked out of their lives as asked. Arashi and Miwako decided to attend the same art school, while Hiroyuki selected a prestigious high school to advance his dream of a medical career. The absence became natural, easy to move on, in theory... But Miwako harbors the heartbreak and guilt of this unwanted betrayal still, three years later, sorely missing her best friend in secret, in silence.

However, by some kismet twist, small world in a big city, Miwako was unwillingly reunited with Hiroyuki in her senior year of high school, after three years apart. She happened to meet a classmate of Hiro’s, her new friend Yukari Caroline who modeled for their brand Paradise Kiss; when Caroline realized they had a friend in common, she carelessly arranged a surprise meeting between the estranged lovers, not knowing their history. While this first meeting was painful and confusing, the shock blossomed into repair over time. Caroline herself harbored dual loves between Hiroyuki and the designer of Paradise Kiss, George, Miwako and Arashi’s brilliant classmate. This big reveal became the initial deep bonding point between Miwako and Caroline, who became unlikely best friends, despite their different dispositions. Softhearted teenage girls in complicated romances need one another, right?

Caroline advised Miwako to cherish her memories of Hiro and keep her feelings in her heart, because her thoughts were hers to enjoy and hers alone, but if she is happily in love with Arashi now, then there’s no problem or need to weigh her loves again. This perspective reached Miwako, and stirred a boost in maturity that rubbed off on Arashi. The two boys had an awkward reunion alone, themselves, discussed Miwako and what all happened, and likewise slowly repaired their friendship, too. By graduation, the three childhood friends mended their bonds, and brought in a bright New Year together. Miwako stayed with Arashi; and Caroline ended up with Hiroyuki! The four remained close friends even well into their adulthood, still celebrating holidays together with Arashi and Miwako’s daughter, maintaining the same close-knit dynamic with family friends that Miwako and Arashi and Hiro grew up with. A happy ending if there ever was one.

Those years have not yet come to pass for Miwako in-game, who’s being pulled after graduation when George moves to France, but of course this complex love story needed to be tied up nicely for you, dear reader! In-game, Miwako will come with the fresh wisdom and warmth she gained from all the healing that happened so fast in her final year of high school. She got a job at Happy Berry, which she’s not yet started from the point I’m taking her. However, Caroline shook her up with a new perspective again by reassuring her that Mikako, who is such a stern professional (who also hired Caroline as a model and helped her launch her own career), would never hire someone incapable. Miwako didn’t get the job because of “connections,” as Arashi and others always teased her for relying on, but indeed was hired because she is an expert on Happy Berry, can emulate Mikako’s designs (now beneficial, not shameful), and will be a key member of the Happy Berry team. Miwako had never considered that she might actually be of genuine help to her genius sister, and the idea both blew her mind and boosted her self-esteem.

This is the happy ending she will come with in-game — a newfound sense of capability and expertise, whether it’s in Tokyo with her sister and friends, or elsewhere in the universe. She’s learned enough about her own worth to be able to make the best of being spirited away to an alien planet, of all things! Despite her many worries, compromises, and insecurities, Miwako can now proudly begin a new life, even if it’s in another dimension, built of her own beautiful and unique design — and her own choices. Likely still involving a lot of pink and strawberries, though. Not that much can change! ♥;

• AVALON APPLICATION •

Q1: You've been stranded on a desert island with only one standard-size travel suitcase. If you could only have 3 items in that suitcase, what would you want those items to be and why?

Well, first of all my magic medicine, because I imagine I’ll be pretty upset about being stranded on a desert island so my tummy will hurt a lot there, and I’m prioritizing being practical first. I guess a cell phone and food would be practical, too, though... Oh, that doesn’t count? Okay, then— oh, I know! Specifically a shin-length skirt with reversible fabric, maybe a thin cotton so it won’t be too heavy but the prints can still be clear (cuz being stranded needs two prints for variety, island life will get messy and probably boring!); and for the top, a loose-fitting half-sleeve button-up blouse, white linen so it’ll breathe easily and dry quickly! This way you can hitch up the skirt halfway, maybe button the hem to the waistband, and can roll the sleeves up on the blouse and tie it in the front in the daytime to keep cool, and just let it all down in the nighttimes. Plus, that way, I’d have... twelve different looks, too, right...? (One, two, three shirts and— yeah, twelve! Of course, I’d need matching sandals, also practical! They’d have to be well-made sandals, though, not plastic flip flops or something, so they could hold up in the sand and the water and last a long time, if I’m really stranded there. Oh, and a lightweight but tightly woven sun hat that’d compliment the sandals, you know, to block out the sun — and sunblock, while I’m at it, I guess...

But that all just counts as one item, okay? Cuz it’s just one versatile outfit. And obviously it’s not an ensemble without mascara and lipstick, even stranded on a desert island that’s a given, but that takes up no room at all. Really, it’s very little space altogether! So for the third...? Hmm. I guess I’d bring some knitting needles and crochet hooks and such and just fill all the rest of the suitcase up with lots of yarn. The yarn-balls can be like soft pillows, and I’d always be able to create new designs for things. Oh, and that way I’d have a hobby, too! I could make blankets, a sleeping bag, maybe a net of some kind for... something... for camping, you know. I could knit a tent... Wait, can you knit a tent? ...I’d knit a tent. So all-around practical! Medicine, one outfit, and just a whole bunch of yarn~

Q2: Tell us about a defining event in your life that you think influenced who you are today.

When I cut ties with Hiro... That was a crossroads in Miwako’s life. It can’t be undone, even if we become friends again. Everything changed after that — and I guess before that, too. Mama and Papa had to go abroad, so Miwako moved in at Sissy’s house, who lived closer to Arashi at the time, and then we were all graduating junior high, of course — we would’ve split up anyway... Hiro went to a prestigious high school, while Arashi and I went to a famous art school... So we spent more time together then, and we were all at that age, y’know, when we you-know... It just made sense. It all happened very naturally, more or less. I wish it could have happened differently... I mean, don’t get me wrong! I like how it happened, and I don’t regret my life with Arashi, even for one day! But— maybe I wish it didn’t have to go the way it had to go. And sometimes I wonder if it really had to go that way... Arashi is so jealous and hot-tempered, but the other side of that is he’s protective and passionate! He’s inspiring! He can make a super normal day seem invigorating! And we feed off each other’s creative energy even though we’re so different. That’s important. But... it can’t be like that every day, we have rainy days, too...

And sometimes that’s when I wonder what the rainy days with Hiro might have looked like. Probably a lot less thunderstorms. Like a gentle rain... so calming. But even though Hiro is very comforting, and very, very smart, that’s not really invigorating, is it? Although I guess being that different from each other could be inspiring for Miwako as an artist, too, but... it’d just be for Miwako. Hiro isn’t an artist. And even though it was a lot of other stuff that got in the way, like the move and school and sex and Ara being jealous and stuff... I think that had a part to do with that turning point, too. I mean, now after three years at Yazawa Arts, by this point I think the only other friend I have who’s not an artist is Caroline... and I’d much rather someone like Caroline date Hiro instead. They’d make more sense. And I love Arashi just as much — more now... but still just as much.

Q3: What does family mean to you and who do you consider a part of your family?

Family can be anyone! It’s not always so normal as just “mommy, daddy, kids.” Miwako lives with Sissy and her family now, but with Mama and Papa as a little girl... but when Sissy was my age, it was before Mama and Papa got back together, when Mama was a single mom — working hard as a mangaka! (Go, Mama!) Back then it was just the two of them at home, and they didn’t even talk to Papa then, but when my sister was a little girl, they all lived together like we did too. But we never lived together as four cuz Sissy’s so much older. But still I feel like living with her and her husband and my niece and the cats the past few years— we’re all a family in our own way, too, ever since I moved in. I know I’m technically a guest, but family is family, and they’re the people who make you feel at home. Maybe someone’s mama isn’t as nice as mine, for example, and they don’t get along... if that someone has a group of friends who love them, who want to help them when they need it, and see them succeed, that’s family, too, right?

Q4: Tell me about a time you were involved in a personal conflict (not a physical fight). What would you do differently to resolve it?

I know exactly what time! The time Hama-chan stole our dress’s accessories right before the fashion show!!! We were working on it when we were supposed to be in class but we were so close to finishing and everything was looking so good, the tiara was beautiful, Isabella was working so hard, and then Hama-chan rolls up like the devil and confiscates it all like she didn’t know the show was right around the corner?! Soulless! Hama is heartless! I know she was just being a good teacher and we broke the rules and all, but jeez... Did she have to take such pleasure in being so cruel about it?! Honestly, though, since I figure George probably would’ve found some other beautiful, time-consuming idea to put us in a time crunch no matter what, whether we slacked off or not... ...if I could have resolved this predicament another way, we really should have just skipped class in an empty classroom instead of on the roof. Rookie mistake — especially for three seniors, to boot...! We should’ve known she’d sniff us out!

Q5: Do you have any regrets? If so, what are the biggest ones? If not, what is something you wish you had gotten to do back home?

Well, I guess it goes back to choosing between Hiro and Arashi. I loved them both the same, and I still keep my feelings for Hiro deeply special in my heart forever and I’ll always cherish our memories... but I’d still choose Arashi. However— I wish I would have been nicer to Hiro; maybe it could have hurt less, I don’t know if it’d be possible. If I were nicer, maybe it’d hurt even more...! But sometimes it feels like Arashi made the choice more than Miwako did.

Maybe I could at least have used different words than “I never want to see you again.” That was mean. And a lie. And it hurt Miwako just as much to say it as it hurt Hiro to hear it, probably. I don’t know if there could have been a compromise, necessarily, but... at least could have been less of a shock. The results would have been the same, but... maybe if my words had been softer then, Miwako’s heart wouldn’t be so heavy now.

• ellie | 28 | EST | summerdive | CODE •