Kinshi (金糸)

''It's those of us who must start life at the very bottom that become ruthless when climbing to the top. We yearn for happiness but when it's right there in front of us, it's hard for us to see it. We begin to brush away the little joys in search for the larger joys only to die without know what true happiness was at all.''

Another Hungry Mouth to Feed
Miserable would be the word that best described the living situation Kinshi was born into. Accept, at the time, Kinshi was not her name at all. She had been giving the simple name of Furi, since that was the first thing her mother saw after giving birth; the long sleeves a rich woman's kimono. Furi was born in Oka no Kuni at the very outskirts of the capitol where the dredges of society lived. At that point, her parents were rather aged; her mother being about 38 years of age and her father about 45. At birth, she had a twin sister, Fusa. There were many children besides her and Fusa; about 11 (alive; three of her siblings died as infants by this time) altogether with oldest being 21 and one closer in age to the twins at about 4. There were three other sets of twins that accounted for the large number. The four eldest no longer lived in the household and in fact had families of their own, but it was hard for her parents to provide for the other six children. Her father was a failed farmer; each crop yielded little to no food and multiple times he had to take out loans that he failed to pay. Her mother was a seamstress; she would take the three youngest with her into the village where she worked in a shop, bringing in most of the money for the family. But, a good deal of the money was drunk away by her alcoholic father, who would return home late at night either singing or in the foulest of moods. Only Furi and Fusa were able to be kept safe since their mother would not let them out of her sight. Many times, the family went with out food and heat and at the age of three, Fusa died, being deemed the "Unlucky 13" since she had been plagued with maladies throughout her short life. Too young to understand what had happened, Furi searched for her twin for years, calling her name. Two more children would join Fusa in death eventually, the family's troubles becoming worse before they got better.

The Budding Seamstress
At the age of 8, Furi's mother began teaching her how to sew. At night, she would bring home some of her work so that Furi and her sisters, Ame, Aki, and Nezumi, could learn the trade. Not long after she began to learn, Nezumi died. Her mother began losing hope and her father sank deeper into his alcoholism, going as far as to beat the children who remained at home. Furi found solace in sewing and at the age of 10 became an apprentice in the same shop as her mother. She worked diligently, even staying late to make extra money (which she hid from her parents). Gradually, things seemed to be turning around for the family. Ito and Hana eventually left the nest, starting families of their own while Kyosuke and Shin were becoming successful farmers. Rima occasionally checked in on the family and Chiyako's husband was able to open a woodworking shop in town. Furi no longer starved and her money began to add up. She began to dream of opening her own clothing shop. But, tragedy struck the family. In his drunken fury, Furi's father murdered her mother and in revenge, the only three sons left conspired to murder their father. It was Ito who delivered the killing blow with an axe over the old man's head after Kyosuke and Shin brutally beat him. Ito was placed in prison for life while Kyosuke and Shin were locked up for 10 years and their lands confiscated. Kyosuke died in jail while Shin went insane. Rima took in Fusa while Hana took Ame and Aki since the two were at a marriageable age at that point.

Fun Facts
- As a child, Kinshi claimed to be able to see the dead spirit of Fusa and as a memento of her, carries a lock of her hair on her.

- Kinshi has altogether 14 siblings and only the first four were given names based on the effort of their parents, the rest were named based on the first thing the parents saw (Rima, Kyosuke and Shin, Chiyako, Mushi (bug), Ito (thread), Hana (flower), Sora (sky) and Kumo (cloud), Ame (rain) and Aki (Autumn), Nezumi (rat), Yuki (snow), Fusa (tassel) and Furi (long sleeves)).

- Mushi, Sora, and Kumo died before Kinshi was born, Fusa, Nezumi, and Yuki died after she was born.

- Kinshi firmly believes in Darwinism.

- Despite her cold demeanor, most children know that Kinshi's pockets are always filled with candy for them.

- Kinshi dislikes laziness and is known to hit those who don't put effort into their work.