Yoshiro Nakama (Psyche)

Yoshiro Nakama, also known by her superhero alias Psyche, is a student at Thomsen High and a current member of the Young Bloods. The daughter two Japanese immigrants who instilled in her a powerful sense of empathy from an early age. The foundation of her hero work would come from a time she preemptively stopped a robbery at their workplace.

Pre-YB
Born in Tokyo, Yoshiro’s family moved to San Diego when she was still a baby. She’s always considered the city to be her home, although her parents worked hard to give the young girl a connection to their homeland. Family vacations usually involved travelling back to Tokyo to stay with relatives, and traditional holidays are usually observed with friends and extended family in the States staying in the Nakamas’ modest apartment.

While Yoshiro’s mother worked to pursue her training as a nurse in San Diego hospital, her father worked hard to establish the family restaurant right underneath their flat. An avid believer in hard work, and possessing the stoic determination of a first generation immigrant, Yoshiro’s father taught himself English while turning his small street-corner establishment into a neighbourhood success. Much like her husband, Yoshiro’s mother pulled long shifts at the hospital, often coming home after Yoshiro had already gone to bed. Although part of Mrs Nakama’s work ethic was driven by a desire to bring in more income for her family, she also had a powerful empathy for her patients – a personality trait that Yoshiro came to inherit.

As she grew, Yoshiro became increasingly outgoing and sociable, seemingly at ease in around others and bucking her parents’ concerns during her early school years. Always wearing a smile and an avid listener, Yoshiro was a polite and well-behaved child. Even regular visitors to her father’s restaurant cracked a smile when ‘little Yoshi’ was around. At first, Yoshiro’s parents put her friendliness down to an extroverted personality and her mother’s sense of empathy – but it became increasingly apparent to them that something else was at play with their daughter.

When a customer would enter the restaurant, Yoshiro would be able to tell if they were happy or sad – sometimes without even getting a look at their expression. She could figure out just the right thing to say to cheer someone up, or work a compliment into a conversation that would give the recipient a cheerful spring in their step. When pressed on the subject, Yoshiro would shrug in embarrassment and claim that she could hear how someone was feeling. Growing increasingly suspicious of their daughter’s interpersonal instinct, Yoshiro’s parents became convinced of her powers not a week after her twelfth birthday.

Over the years, the Nakamas had added a small grocery isle to their store, serving a number of imported Japanese and Korean produce. While the restaurant portion of their business would shut its doors no later than 10 on a given night, Yoshiro’s father would keep manning the single cashier until midnight on the weekends. During these late-night shifts, Yoshiro would sometimes meander downstairs to claim a snack from the shelves. Already fatigued from a long and busy day of business, Mr. Nakama was waiting for his final customer to finish making their purchase when he turned to see his daughter pale as ice – her eyes wide in an expression of terror. Before the concerned father could even ask what was wrong, Yoshiro launched herself at the customer – just as the man reached for his wallet to pay.

Initially frozen in shock at his daughter’s actions, Mr. Nakama opened his mouth to yell at Yoshiro to stop, he spotted the glint of metal under the customer’s jacket. Immediately realising what was happening, he too leapt at the would-be robber just as Yoshiro was about to be overpowered. Managing to wrestle control of the man’s gun with his daughter’s help, the police would later inform Mr. Nakama that the robber was responsible for a string of heists – the last of which had resulted in the attending clerk being injured. When the authorities heard of Yoshiro’s involvement in events, and her explanation of having heard the robber whispering his intentions, they immediately brought in the SDPD’s Superhuman Division to interview her. They quickly concluded that Yoshiro was nothing short of a telepath, her latent abilities having warned her of the danger.

Uncertain of how to react, or how best to help their daughter deal with her newfound gifts, Yoshiro’s parents reached out to the people that they trusted the most: their family. While the overwhelming feeling was one of pride for having a hero and a superhuman in their midst, no one could offer much advice except for Yoshiro’s ageing great uncle Tokaji. Having moved to San Diego a few years prior to her parents, Tokaji ran a successful Aikido dojo in the city, and offered to take Yoshiro on as a student. Promising to train her mind and ‘ki’ as well as methods of self-defence, Yoshiro was curious at the offer and – looking towards the heroes of popular culture – asked her parents to allow her to attend the school. Not seeing many other options, and considering that at the very least it may prepare their daughter for any dangers that may emerge, the Namakas agreed.

For the next few years, Yoshiro would attend her great uncle’s dojo after school. Her training would consist of everything from martial arts exercises to meditation and reading. Although she at first questioned how the effort would help her telepathy, Yoshiro still came to enjoy the dojo for the physical release that it offered her and she proved to be a dedicated student. Overtime, she also came to discover that the meditation techniques did allow her to further develop her latent abilities – much to the young girl’s excitement.

When it came time for Yoshiro to attend High School, she received an offer from the Thomsen High. Although the Nakamas had tried not to spread word of their daughter’s abilities, fearing that she may be treated with suspicion and caution, she had still caught the eye of the school’s yield committee.

Overjoyed at their daughter’s acceptance into the prestigious school, Yoshiro’s parents encouraged her to attend and she’s never looked back since. Although she doesn’t stand out among all the famous and powerful students in the school, Yoshiro has still made a small name for herself as a kind-hearted, compassionate and fairly popular student whose tendency to mediate fights and arguments is only matched by her diligence with her studies.

Powers and Abilities
Like most other members of the Young Bloods, Yoshi has access to superhuman powers thanks to the Dragon Crystals.
 * Telepathy: Yoshiro is your friendly neighborhood mind reader. Her mind is naturally more empathetic towards others, allowing her to reach out psychically and connect with other sentient beings. Although at the moment her powers are fairly limited, they continue to grow and develop over time. At its most basic form, Yoshiro can ‘hear’ the general emotions and feelings of those around her as a background din. Stronger, more intense emotions appear louder to her and are more recognizable. With greater effort and concentration, Yoshiro can discern individual words and thoughts in the background noise and her great uncle believes that – given time – she should be able to search for specific thoughts in someone’s mind. Not that she’s ever tried to do so outside of training in the dojo and school.


 * Psychic Communication: Yoshiro can open up a psychic link with other minds, allowing for silent communication (barring interception by another psychic, of course). Taken a step further, she can also act as a relay for others to communicate through her in a similar manner. This ability is limited by the number of people connected via the link, how well Yoshiro knows them, and the distances involved.


 * Emotion Manipulation: After discovering that she could inadvertently sense the emotions of others, Yoshiro quickly found that she had the ability to manipulate these same feelings as well. Although she at first considered this power to be her greatest, enjoying the ability to subtly improve the emotions of anyone she met in the midst of a bad day, Yoshiro has become increasingly cautious of using this power. There was a time when all she could do was sense emotions, and eventually she found that she could manipulate them. Now she finds that – with effort – she is able to read minds. Although Yoshiro’s compassionate personality causes her to restrain herself in a fight, there is also a more pragmatic reason for her to exercise self-restraint. When she connects with someone else’s mind, be it while reading their thoughts or even passively sensing their emotions, Yoshiro can feel some of what they feel. That means, if she’s touching the mind of an opponent while kicking them in the gut, she could feel a shadow of their pain.


 * Telekinesis: After beginning to attend Thomsen High, Yoshiro found that she could manipulate objects as well as people – although to a far lesser extent. So far she her ability is largely limited to objects lighter than what she could physically carry. Regardless, Yoshiro relishes the utility of this newfound power – especially when she needs to carry groceries upstairs to her family’s flat and doesn’t have a free hand to unlock the door.

Trivia

 * Likes: Making friends, parties, coffee, nice people, heroes, making people happy
 * Dislikes: Sadness, cruelty, inequality, bullies, weapons, being hungry
 * Greatest Fear: People around her fearing her powers and moving away from her as a result. Losing control of her mind and hurting someone.
 * Favourite Food: Sushi
 * Has a crush on Austin "Red" Flanagan, and the pair are currently dating
 * Feels uncomfortable around androids that do not effectively mimic organic emotions