FUMIE ICHIHARA

Fumie was born into the once very rich and powerful Ichihara family, though she was born during a time of strife and tragedy for the family. In just the few months before her birth, an unusually high number of family members fell ill and died of the illness. When Fumie was born, her mother wanted to take Fumie away and keep her away from the family, thinking it had something to do with them. Her father wanted to stay with the family and help them through it. Thus, her parents were split within a month following her birth and her mother took her away to the far reaches of Japan to live together.

Fumie grew up very sheltered. She was home-schooled by her mother and not allowed to leave the house with the exception of their fenced-in back yard until she was nearing high school age. Her mother taught her everything she knows; academically, she is the equal or greater than a high school Junior even though it would normally be her Sophomore year. Socially, though, she is deprived and her mother taught her only the most foul of things about human behavior, causing her horrible personality defects to form.

Unfortunately, the inevitable happened, and Fumie's mother fell ill with the disease that had taken the lives of almost all of the rest of the Ichihara family by then. Many years earlier, they had received a letter from the family that Fumie's family had died and decided that they would receive anything and everything in his will in the hopes that they had escaped the disease. The only other family members that survived were those who had moved to other countries many generations ago and a few lucky elders still in Japan. Even Fumie's mother did not escape the disease, and died when Fumie was 14.

Fumie took some time to grieve, and was moved to the summer home in Karakura Town left to her by her father. It was determined that, thanks to her mother's teachings, she was fully capable of living on her own there, and thus none of the elderly family members live with her. They refused to live with her anyway, believing now that the younger generations were the cause of the sickness that destroyed their family and that Fumie would 'infect' them. They agreed to use their sizable stored away funds to pay for the home, but not to have anyone but Fumie live there.

Thus, Fumie now lives alone in Karakura Town and is set to begin attending Karakura High. But what kind of life awaits the shy hermit of a girl in this bustling town...? Will she overcome her fears and make something of herself, or will she crack under the pressure and fall into the depths of darkness...?