Hideharu Chiba

in-game information

basic information

name — hideharu chiba
   nicknames — haru-kun
   western name — henri chiba
age — 23
gender — male
birthday — september 14
sexuality — heterosexual
religion — christian
marital status — single

height — 5'7"
weight — 125 lbs.
hair color — black
eye color — dark brown

languages — French (native), Japanese (native), Mandarin (fluent), English (conversational), Spanish (conversational)
likes — dogs, motorcycles, girls, sleeping in on a weekday, bugging Evelyn, letting his hair do whatever it wants, making ridiculous facial expressions, kickboxing
dislikes — most videogames, when people tell him to cut his hair, acne, any type of food with a banana involved
theme — "Closer" by Ne-Yo, "Childish" by Damien Rice

post-pulse

     2010

3/23: Started posting.

4/19: Was affected by the toxic water.

5/01: To attend the Point de Suture Tour in Rome, Italy.

6/13: Attended International Classical Music Night with Iris Cheng.

Dumped all three of his girlfriends...!

6/20: Went on a date with Iris Cheng to play at an arcade!

8/10: Protected the salon (and his hair) during the acid rain storm. His favorite girl even popped by, aww.

8/21: Finds his mother dead from an infected attack; destroyed Zhōnglóu

9/05: Due to Cupid, fell in love with Xiao Tong for 24 hours.

2011

1/1: Woke up in some girl's bed... Must have been the New Year!

background information

history

Hideharu was not born in China; in fact, he was not even born in Japan. The son of a diplomat Etsuo and his wife Kazuno, Hideharu was born and raised in France, three years younger than his brother Shinya. The family was handsomely provided for both by Etsuo's job and an inheritance from Kazuno's side of the family, so the boys were never without. In fact, they were quite spoiled by Kazuno, who never seemed to be able to resist the pleas and whines of her sons, almost always indulging into their whims. Etsuo was a regrettably absent father, but he was around enough that Hideharu and Shinya avoided being traumatically scarred for life with a plethora of Daddy issues.

The Chiba sons attended a private academy for children with parents involved with the embassy, and as a result, Hideharu was exposed to a number of cultures from a very young age. Despite his obvious interest in the world around him, Hideharu was irrevocably lazy and preferred to talk to his classmates rather than put any effort into his schoolwork. It was obvious that he was intelligent, but most of the time his intelligence was misplaced; he paid the straight A students to let him copy their homework; he started a cheating ring during exam time; he almost always had a valid excuse for when he was truant, though instructors swore they had just seen him at the cafe on the corner. It was obvious that Hideharu had only a passing interest in his academics, and that no matter what sort of pushing his teachers might have done, as long as his parents didn't mind, Hideharu didn't either.

Around the time Hideharu turned around fourteen, Kazuno caught wind of an affair Etsuo was carrying on with a French woman, and she decided to leave the family to return to some family living in Beijing, China. Rather than stay in France with a father he barely knew, Hideharu opted to go with his mother to China in order to experience more. The two left during the summer to give Hideharu a chance to settle in China properly. Suddenly, Hideharu was hit with the enormity of his situation; he could not speak one word of Mandarin Chinese, and he was suddenly hundreds of miles away from his friends.

It was looking like, perhaps, he should have stayed in France.

The academic pressure was definitely a lot heavier than it had been in France. Hideharu had trouble buckling down and really trying to do anything, and his heartbroken mother was more preoccupied with her crumbling marriage (one she was still trying to salvage) than forcing her son to focus on his studies. Having to deal with a lack of guidance and a lack of incentive, Hideharu's grades continued to drop, and his new instructors had difficulty understanding this seemingly apathetic foreigner who could barely speak the language. However, Hideharu knew enough to understand their insults and failing faith in him; after a while, he came to expect it and maybe even believe it himself.

Thankfully, Hideharu managed to graduate high school, and then promptly surprised everyone by shirking university (the expected path) and being the only male in his class to enroll in beauty school. One of Hideharu's fondest memories would have to be combing his mother's hair when he was younger, and the only occupation he could think of for himself was to be a hairstylist. Hideharu finished beauty school rather easily (much easier than any math class) and had dreams of opening his own salon one day while he toiled at someone else's to save up.

Hideharu met that chance when he encountered a small group of fellow beauticians at a convention. Finding they all had similar styles, the group entered a competition and found themselves in second place - very good for a first try. It encouraged Hideharu to maybe implement his plan dream of owning a salon with these people, and finding they all had the same dream, the group opened their own spa/salon in Bejing, China within the year. They entered the same contest the next year and won.

However, the outbreak successfully shook up business. Hideharu and his mother survived the outbreak, but he was sad to find out his estranged father and brother did not make it. Convinced she and Etsuo had been on the brink of reconciliation after all these years, Kazuno took their deathes especially hard. Hideharu has made a note of his mother's fragile mental state.

personality

Hideharu likes what he feels are the pleasures in life: women, money, and sleep. He is very easy-going, complaining about very little and pleased by just whatever you throw at him. When things do not go his way, he simply shrugs his shoulders and tries again. Rejection never dissuades him from a goal, but maybe if it takes too long, he might just simply lose interest. If it really is a pleasure, after all, should he work so hard to obtain it? Sometimes, the answer is that it simply is not worth the toil. Anything that makes him break a sweat is an activity he will do anything to avoid; he will hide, lie, and play dead just to avoid some sort of responsibility.

Maybe that's what it is: a self-condemnation to a shallow, mediocre lifestyle abetted only by his laziness. Hideharu hates overexerting himself over things he feels are not important. One of them, primarily, being girls; if a girl makes her difficult to obtain, Hideharu drops the matter like a hot potato. Some guys like the thrill of the chase, but not him; he just wants the constant companionship and someone to makeout with. Making it hard for him to even find out if she reciprocates the feeling makes him feel like the girl is more trouble than she's worth. Even if he really likes her, he does not have the interest to deal with petty mind games. Women, really.

Hideharu is remarkably childlike in his reactions. His moods are easily perceptible on his face. Most of the time he has a bright smile or smirk, but he also seems to be in a state of perpetual surprise as well. It takes a lot to really anger him, and when you do, his anger is something quite formidable; the icy, cold kind where he bites hard and does not let go. When pissed off, Hideharu will lash out at anyone that comes across him, and he becomes a remarkably blunt, almost cruel kind of guy. He's made countless people cry when he's woken up on the wrong side of the bed, just because they set him off by making a mistake in his line of sight. It's a trait he would regret if he cared enough about anything to do something about it.

He can be a little full of himself. If there is anything he does care a little about, it is physical appearance. Just like a girl, Hideharu can spend hours in front of a mirror primping. It isn't that he's piling on mounds of make-up; he's obsessive about his hair. Fitting, considering his profession, but a good explanation for why he is late to work nearly every day. If he could be fired from his own business, he probably would have been a long time ago. However, his perfectionist attitude translates to perfect hair-cuts on other people, and so he's always been rather talented in the beauty department. He's even dabbled a little in make-up application (not on himself, on others).

His darkest secret would be the fact that Hideharu suffers from a huge amount of self-loathing. He feels that the sort of life he leads is one he is completely unworthy of, despite the fact he readily accepts it and abuses it. Any good luck that comes his way is downplayed mentally, which explains his apathy towards everything. It also explains why being rejected does not bother him as much as people would expect; he is, after all, deserving of it (in his mind). He feels he's a huge failure in the eyes of his family, and sometimes when the going gets really tough, he contemplates why he even bothers trying to keep living.

powers

fireballs — Just by thinking about it, Hideharu can issue fireballs from the palm of his hands in rapid succession. The longer he concentrates them, the larger they end up. He can also control to a fine degree the tempeature of the flames he creates, so he can do something as small and trivial as light a cigarette or do something really bad like light Beijing on fire.

density manipulation — Hideharu can make himself as dense, or as not dense, as he should feel. The denser Hideharu makes himself, the more power behind any physical attack - however, he does slow down significantly. With this ability, Hideharu can also use it to smash through walls. He has also learned to apply this to other objects, enabling him to slow down enemies and sink them into the ground, or any other amount of results he should wish. Unlike when applied to himself, density manipulation applied to objects or other person does not affect their personal strength, meaning they will otherwise be the same.

levitation — Hideharu, using the power of his mind, is able to create an anti-gravitational force that allows him to lift himself to any height he should wish. With concentration, he can also affect other objects and people, levitating them up with him. It also gives him a form of 'flight' though Hideharu cannot move very quickly while levitating, only at around 10 miles per hour, max. However, he can levitate upwards up to 200 miles per hour and is theoretically able to go up past the stratosphere into the mesosphere, if he so wished, but after that, he'd get kind of tired. Upon re-entry into the toposphere, no, he does not catch on fire.

relationships

family

Etsuo Chiba — His estranged, diplomat father. He was present in Hideharu's life, but not very. Apparently, a womanizer. Deceased.
Kazuno Chiba — Used to be very beautiful in her youth, but has been made tired with two boys, a womanizing husband, and the outbreak. Hideharu was devoted to her entirely. She was killed by infected. Deceased.
Shinya Chiba — Hideharu's older brother by three years. They were pretty good growing up, but didn't keep in contact when Hideharu left with Kazuno. Deceased.

co-workers

Evelyn — He can't deny her talent, but she's his fierce competitor despite being the fellow co-founder of his spa/salon. She likes to rub it in his face when she gets more customers, but he doesn't care since women tip him more anyways. Despite it all, he probably considers her a friend when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, even though she wants to beat him up most of the time. Geez, woman, calm down. Definitely hits on her for shits and giggles.

ex-girlfriends

There were three of them he was dating.

Shan Mei — A slightly older, wealthy woman he's seeing. They met when she came in and got her hair cut once (as he meets all his girlfriends). She likes to treat him to special gifts, explaining why Hideharu's wardrobe is full of designer clothing.
Xiao Tong — A university student who he also met cutting hair. She's bubbly, perky, and exceptionally clingy with Hideharu - however, he never has any fear she'll find out about his two other girlfriends since she's not exactly the brightest tool in the shed.
Rong Jia — A waitress at one of his favorite restaurants, who he has recently begun seeing. She's pretty perceptive and seems to be the only one aware that Hideharu isn't faithful to her, but for the most part, she hasn't really seemed to care so much as long as he pays attention to her in the end.

friends

Bae — Evelyn's neighbor but his own personal friend as well. They get along pretty well, despite the fact Hideharu is a womanizing, French-speaking fool. Bae at least grounds him and makes him realize there may be more to life than sex (but not much).
Iris — He met her on the community, and lately he's been taking her out. To him, Iris is a little sweet and funny and cute, all at the same time. Oh, he likes her, because she is totally his type. Possible girlfriend #4?
Yuiko — Their parents were friends, and she visited France pretty often. Hideharu thought she was a pretty cute and fun girl. She's a little like a childhood friend. She found out about his cheating ways and is angry with him, and Hideharu is kind of annoyed by her now because of it.

others

Shawn — A guy he talked to a little on the community. They have similar attitudes on relationships: the more, the merrier!

trivia

• He drives a Suzuki Hayabusa, a hyper sport motorbike which only betrays his secret hobby of street-racing.
• To be fair, Hideharu did not start street-racing until he got his motorcycle when he was 17.
• Hideharu's a carnivorous kind of guy, and he kind of hates most fruits and vegetables.
• He picked up kickboxing and yoga as a means of keeping himself in shape.
• He occasionally spars with his kickboxing, but that's basically the extent of it.
• This is a secret, but Hideharu is pretty scared of an infected eventually biting him.
• He doesn't understand the concept of video games and doesn't really like to play them. He'd rather go out and do it for real.
• His eyesight is really awful, so he always wears something to help him - either glasses or contacts.
• Maybe because he grew up in France, but he loves European girls. Chinese girls are next, followed by Spanish women.
• If he has to listen to anything, he prefers French music over Chinese and Japanese, because it's what he's most used to. His favorite is LES VRP.
• Hideharu tends to dress rather grungily in jeans that seem to keep slipping off his waist and loose shirts. He's not so professional.
• He kind of wants to find the right girl and do his mother proud, but he's kind of scared of commitment.
• He's been dating around since he was fifteen, and he lost his only a few days before his sixteenth birthday.
• Hideharu would kind of do anything for his mother, including murder. Not that he has had to... yet.

places he's been

• Paris, France ▬ birthplace, former residence
• Rouen, France ▬ vacation
• Beijing, China ▬ current residence
• Rome, Italy ▬ attended the Point de Suture Tour
• Hong Kong, China ▬ vacation

Categories: Beijing, China | Characters