Matsuura Michelle

Misaki Matsuura (松浦美咲, Matsuura Misaki), also known as Michelle (ミシェル, Misheru), is a Diviner of the North American Soul Society Branch. She is Briar Rose's best friend and is the older sister of Nemuru Matsuura and daughter of Matsuura Hanako.

Appearance
As a child, Michelle was known to have very long black hair, as this was important to her clan heritage. She was very skinny, almost frail-looking as a child, often sporting bruises because she would get beat up in public school. She has warm, ivory skin, with one mole in between the left side of her nose and her tear duct.

As a teenager, Michelle has become taller, just a few inches shorter than Briar Rose. She is still thin, though her thinness seems more muscular than before, however, these muscles are just for show since she is only able to lift her drums and nothing else.

Contrary to her earlier years, Michelle’s hair is now short, hanging just above her shoulders, generally in a wavy style. Looking at Michelle, upon first glance, many have the conception that she is some kind of femme fatale. With full lips always quirked in a slight smirk, sleepy eyes, and neat, straight brows, her coy appearance has been a cause for many heads to be turning. Of Japanese descent, Michelle has naturally dark colored eyes, which are generally green due to the colored prescription contacts she wears, instead of glasses.

Michelle’s clothes are generally within the realm of gender-neutral, favoring jeans, jackets, sneakers and graphic tees. She does not like skirts or dresses, but has, on occasion been seen in shorts. Michelle loves snapbacks and is rarely seen without her signature varsity band jacket or original snapback on. Michelle always has earrings on, favoring a double chain earring which hangs from her helix to her standard lobe. She changes it every day.

Staying true to her style, Michelle's agent attire is one of the more casual versions of the uniform. Using the provided hat, Michelle sometimes wears it forward, but generally, it is backward. She forgoes the blazer for an open light jacket and wears a sleeveless top underneath when her jacket sleeves are rolled up, one can see the arm guards she wears. Her pants are skin tight instead of the somewhat loose fabric and she wears flat ankle boots. Along with her standard utility belt, she carries a small medicine pack.

In terms of makeup, Michelle doesn’t put much on, as she doesn’t favor going full out on her face, but she will do colorful, bold, and sometimes distracting eye makeup. She is never seen without eyeliner on or her colored contacts.

Personality
When Michelle, previously known as Misaki, was younger, she was a reserved child that hardly had anything to say. She was very closed off and tried to blend in with the background, as she was strictly taught in her homeschooling. This led to Michelle lacking empathy for others, and towards herself, as she had no social skills or knew exactly how to express these things.

When she finally went to Public School, her lack of knowledge of societal norms led her to be perceived as arrogant and stand-offish, although this was not her conscious intent. Her lack of empathy was generally what caused her to be excluded from activities because of her peers’ finding it difficult to work with her. She also found it difficult to relate to them, and she isolated herself.

Some time after going to Public School, Michelle met Briar Rose, Aneri Magnolia, and Ricky, the three individuals she was supposed to shadow. Upon meeting, and seeing how expressive and colorful they were, her perception of how she viewed herself began to be called into question. Michelle gained a growing admiration of the three, and found herself wanting to change. They inspired her to try to ambitiously change herself to be better. Not initially knowing how to go about making these changes, Michelle began to put herself in very uncomfortable situations in order to grasp the concepts of being human.

This resulted in her spending more time with the three cousins and getting to them, as well as discovering things about herself. As she went on this journey, she finds that she loves singing and theatre. She likes being people who she couldn’t have been when growing up, something she can only achieve by acting.

She also begins exploring different interests and takes up learning the drums, among other instruments. This leads her to join not only the school’s theatre troupe but the school band as well.

Michelle does come across as a bit dogmatic when it comes to presenting herself to others. After gaining confidence in herself, she does not hide or change herself for anybody. Coming to terms with her sexuality, Michelle has become even more confident in herself and has learned her self-worth, because she now has a loyal group of friends and a good support system at home.

Not being the type to conceal what she feels, Michelle sometimes offers too much information. Similar to Briar Rose’s act first, think later mentality, Michelle does not think about what she has said until afterward. This sometimes gets her into trouble with others. Being the main comedian of the group, Michelle is known for her crude jokes and general sarcastic responses. Even with her lack of a filter when she speaks, she tries not to cross certain boundaries when making jokes. Often picking fights that she knows she can't finish due to her generally dry or sarcastic way of speaking, Michelle relies heavily on Briar Rose to back her up, because she knows she talks a lot but can't get herself out of certain situations. Contrary to her looks, Michelle is not at all strong and instead can hardly lift a five-pound bag of rice.

Michelle has been shown to be a good student, though not by the standards of her mother.

Michelle loves tom-boy-ish clothing and Japanese style breakfasts. She doesn't mind spicy foods but hates anything sour or bitter, like Briar Rose.

History
Born into the Aseru clan of the Divine Realm, Michelle was destined to become 'one with the background' due to the clan's power being of the Meinai Hogo-sha (invisible protector). This leads her to have a strict upbringing, where she was restricted from meeting with anyone outside of her family, resulting in her being homeschooled for the first years of her life. After she showed that she excelled in using her family’s power, Michelle was allowed to attend Public school in the human world, where she met Briar Rose and Aneri Magnolia Fleur, the two being her mother's best friend's children. At first, Michelle retained her rather quiet and invisible demeanor, but prolonged time with the two, and their cousin, as well as them refusing to exclude her in any activities that they were involved in, resulting in a change in her behavior.

While this was viewed unfavorably by her family, it was not initially something that they could not handle, and so continued to allow Michelle to ‘act out’ and remain friends with the Fleurs. As time went on, Michelle began to realize that she was ‘different’ from her boy-crazy best friend Briar Rose, and realized after some time that it was because she had romantic feelings for a girl, specifically one in her class. Initially, Michelle tried to hide these feelings, but through some events, the information was found out and she was exposed. With her friends by her side and the three cousins being suspended for fighting, Michelle was able to overcome all of the bullyings and ridicule.

Agents of the North American Branch arc
As Briar Rose, Michelle and Maggie enter school, it's revealed in conversation that Michelle was unable to attend the mission and briefing the day prior due to her having a school activity. She laments over not having seen Ricky get beaten up, and casually talks to Briar Rose while Maggie is being a good Samaritan. Michelle helps Maggie after she's been attacked. Later on, during lunch, Michelle is there with Briar Rose while they wait for Maggie. She isn't surprised to see that they have been reinstated immediately to their activities.

Michelle hands out fake hall passes to the group in order to get them out of the cafeteria. While Briar Rose and Maggie cover, Michelle quickly punches Tobias in the stomach in order to get the teacher away from them. As Maggie and Tobias leave, Michelle and Briar Rose make their way down the hallway, and are attacked by the creature. Briar Rose suggests splitting up, as she believes the creature will follow her instead of Michelle. Instead, the creature follows Michelle. She manages to lose it twenty minutes later when she runs into Maggie and Tobias. Upon remeeting Briar Rose, Michelle continues her quips while Briar Rose is being possessed. She shields herself and various students from Briar Rose's ire. In the end, she is one of the only ones unharmed.

On the weekend, Michelle goes with Maggie to the base because she has nothing else to do, and complains the entire time. When Ricky shows up, they begin talking about the video that Maggie has been watching for the last few hours. While they watch the video, Michelle is asked by Ricky if she is afraid of anything, to which. she replies that she dislikes clowns, but doesn't really fear anything. She is then called, along with the rest of the team, to the debriefing room, making a comment about how they're always called to be debriefed. In the debriefing room, Michelle teases Tobias about how far he's sitting from the group and makes a snide comment when the Commander comes in.

As he's debriefing them, Michelle is shocked to finally find out the name of the creature they've all had a chance of seeing and battling with. When the Commander describes their inability to eliminate the hollow, Michelle makes a point of making sure Maggie knows that being a hollow is native of people of Japan, and only for dead people. Like the others in the group, she makes a silent agreement that they need to do something.

Natural Abilities
Expert Hand-to-Hand Combat Practitioner: Not exactly a pacifist, Michelle detests actually fighting for herself, so she leaves this to the others. This does not mean she is inept at fighting, however. Being Briar Rose's best friend, Michelle tells the others that she is "pretty okay" in a few different fighting styles she thought were pretty cool. Briar Rose reveals that she wanted to make sure Michelle could defend herself if need be, making sure that Michelle was the equivalent of a black belt in the styles that she knows.

Enhanced Strength: When in her ascended form, Michelle is able to use enhanced strength, such as lifting things she normally would not be able to. As a human, Michelle exhibits very slight enhanced strength.

Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: When it comes to speed, Michelle does not seem very fast when compared to Ricky and Briar Rose, but she is able to hold her own, especially when running away. Her reflexes are rather unconscious, as she is able to deflect things without thinking about them and draw up her shields and barriers at a moment's notice.

Durability: Michelle's ability to take a hit is very low, as she is usually protected by her shields, she is somewhat durable, but a well-placed hit can take her out.

Enhanced Endurance:

Enhanced Stamina:

Divining Spirit
When it comes to Divining, Michelle's power tends to shock others. In essence, she has no divining spirit, because she is her divining spirit. In one of the oddest conundrums, Michelle is half-divine, leading her to be able to 'contract' with herself.

In her former clan, Michelle's power was the greatest recently known, as she has the ability to enchant things without even saying anything, as well as making her shields invisible without much practice. She is able to speak into existence barriers that last for days or weeks depending on how much effort she puts into each construct.

Trivia

 * Originally named 'Misaki', after her grandmother, she decided to change her name to Michelle because she was tired of people not saying her name correctly
 * A teacher once said her name wrong multiple times in a span of five minutes. Michelle almost got suspended that day.
 * Michelle is almost never seen wearing her glasses, as they don’t fit her style, though when she’s studying, she will wear them.
 * Briar Rose and Michelle have matching diaries, though Michelle will hardly admit it.
 * Michelle couldn't spell much of anything properly until the 8th grade.
 * Michelle was Ricky and Briar Rose's first kiss.