Hideo Nakai

Bio

AKA: The lazy one

Status: Alive

Birthday: 17 September

Age: 24 (current), 16 (left Suribachi)

Height: 183cm (6 ft)

Weight: 72kg (158 lbs)

Blood type: A

Likes: Plants, Tsukemono

Dislikes: Authority, rich people, open spaces

Ability: An Offering to the Void

Ability namesake: An Offering to the Void

Job: Researcher

Affiliation: Paulownia Court (Tsukishinaki-ya)

Appearance

Hideo is a tall, lanky man with dark hair in an undercut, which is dyed blond, and bright green eyes. He has multiple piercings over his entire body, including a nasallang, several lobe piercings, an industrial bar, several helixes, a daith, a rook, and multiple other hidden piercings.

Normally, he wears a dark grey hoodie over a green t-shirt and black ripped jeans, with black combat boots. His hands are covered by fingerless gloves, with several rings on each hand and he leaves his hair swept to one side, covering the piercings in his right ear. He wears plain silver jewellery in all his piercings.

When on missions, he has his hair tied back in a ponytail. He wears a black biker jacket. Underneath, he wears a black shirt and trousers with leather harnesses across his thighs and chest, and ankle length boots with thick soles. A black triangle with gold engravings is on a black choker, as well as a pair of lace charms on his boots. His jewellery is gold and the piercings in his right ear are revealed.

Personality

Nakai is a carefree, relaxed individual who often takes the easy route and prefers to take things easy. Unlike his boss, he tends to speak more casually with others, even those who he should show more respect to, which often makes him come off as rude. He does not seek to actively show respect as he sees everyone as equal, and nothing more than just another person, due to his upbringing in the slums and time with The Sheep. 

His relaxed attitude, however, does not mean that he’s stupid. Nakai is, first and foremost, an incredibly talented scholar, and as such is tactical and clever, able to come up with several strategies for his ability and others in any given situation. His skill with computers has led him to have a keen eye for situational abstraction, which he uses to easily break down the wider scope of a situation into smaller chunks. 

In his upbringing in Suribachi, he was an avid protector of the other children there, he is extremely protective of those closest to him and does his best to save anyone and everyone. This especially applies to members of the Tsukishinkai-ya, whom he will protect at any sign of danger, even from one of their own- such as the case with Ota. He has no concept of limits when protecting others, and of all members of the Tsukishinkai-ya, is the most prone to violence, having experienced the unforgiving cruelty of the slums. 

He is highly aware of how unfair the world is due to his upbringing, causing him to slip into nihilism at times, which he hides behind humour and snide quips. It rarely rears its head outside of work, but often makes itself present on missions. He teases his opponents mercilessly, using his ability as a taunt when they try to run, but tends not to be directly involved with gathering information or other social aspects,  as he is acutely aware of how much trouble his mouthing off can get him in if he were to go undercover. 

Ability

Name: Offering to the Void (虚無への供物)

The user can loop any enclosed space infinitely, making it inescapable and impenetrable (with exceptions) 

Spatial Looping

Skills

• Specialised knowledge
  • Due to his strong understanding of how spatial abilities work, he is able to easily find counter-strategies to these kinds of abilities, even where no opening should be reasonably possible. 
• Long-range weaponry proficiency
  • He is a skilled sniper and better in ranged combat than close combat.
  • Of all members of the Tsukishinkai-ya, he is the best ranged fighter.
• Plant knowledge
  • He knows a great deal about plants, including medicinal properties and poisons. He also is seen to be able to tell different plants apart by sight, taste or scent easily, even if they look similar.
• Cybersecurity
  • He knows a great deal about cybersecurity and hacking, and is in charge of the cybersecurity and digital file translation in the Tsukishinkai-ya.
• Singularity creation
  • When combined with Masako Togawa, the two of them are capable of creating a controlled singularity within their abilities, although the effects of this on anyone within the singularity are severe.

Background

Nakai has little knowledge of his birth family, who died when he was very young, leaving him on the streets. He grew up in Suribachi, taken care of by various street gangs, and joined The Sheep when he was thirteen. Three years later, he found a lost folder belonging to Seichou Matsumoto, and after reading it and studying it for weeks on end, returned it to him. Seichou realised how intelligent Nakai was, and how he was interested in Seichou’s research, and offered to help teach Nakai more. Nakai eventually revealed that he was from Suribachi, and Seichou offered to take him in.

From then on, Seichou helped Nakai get into secondary school and tutored him further in ability-related studies, and the two were soon after joined by Togawa. When Nakai started university, he was officially granted entrance to the Paulownia Court, and was made an official member of the Tsukishinkai-ya. 

Timeline

• 24 years ago
  • 17 September: Nakai is born
• 21 years ago
  • Parents died, was left with grandparents
• 19 years ago
  • Grandparents died, ended up on streets
• 11 years ago
  • Joined The Sheep
• 8 years ago
  • Met Seichou and Togawa
  • Was taken in
  • Started high school
• 7 years ago
  • Starts talking to Poe
• 6 years ago
  • Graduated high school
  • Officially joined Paulownia Court
• 2 years ago
  • Met Kunikida
• 1 year ago
  • Started dating Kunikida

Etymology

Naka (中): In(side)

I (井): Well

Hide (英): England

O (夫): Husband

Namesake

Nakai Hideo (中井英夫)

Japanese tanka poet and novelist who, alongside Mushitaro Oguri and Kyuusaku Yumeno, wrote one of Japan’s three great novels of the bizarre- Offering to the Void. He is best known for his novelty-based detective novels and fantasy literature. 

Trivia

• His ability ‘Offering to the Void’ (虚無への供物) is named after the book by the same name, which follows a quadruple locked room mystery.
  • The ability is based on the idea of an inescapable room, something which Offering to the Void relies heavily upon.
• His skill with computers is a commonality with his real-life counterpart, who did computer editing for the Shogakukan Banyu Encyclopaedia. 
  • His love of plants also stems from his real-life counterpart, who was born to a family of botanists. 
• His rivalry with Togawa is based off of their standings in the 1962 Edogawa Ranpo prize, wherein Togawa (alongside Sen Saga) beat out Nakai’s submission for first place, knocking him to second. 
• Seichou is legally his father, as he adopted Nakai in order to get him into high school. 
  • Togawa is also legally his sister
• He is an early riser, usually waking up around 6am, however he doesn’t leave the house much until 9-10am. Normally, he sleeps for about 5 hours. 
• Due to being the best with technology in the Tsukishinkai-ya, he has been referred to as ‘The IT guy’, to which he took great pride and mild offence. 
• Like the other members of the Tsukishinkai-ya, Nakai is able to speak both Japanese and English, however unlike them, he is also capable of understanding nearly all computer languages, including those that are now obsolete.
• Nakai is transgender, however nobody except himself and a few select members of the Paulownia Court are aware of this. 

Relationships

Appellations

Masako Togawa

Hideo first met Masako when she moved in with him and Seichou, joining them as a part-time helper in the Tsukishinkai. Since their first meeting, the two of them have butted heads on numerous occasions over various issues, big and small, however they also hold great respect for one another. Hideo recognises Masako’s bravery in leaving her home and her tenacity in learning and thriving in a new environment, however disagrees with her fundamental principles, thinking that she is too selfish and quick to judge. They are close friends and roommates currently, as well as (legally) siblings, having both been adopted by Seichou. As such, they tend to behave much like siblings, both being protective of each other and defending one another to the very end.

Seichou Matsumoto

Hideo’s first introduction to Seichou happened when he found a lost folder by the port and read it. The folder, which was a collection of research notes, greatly interested Nakai, and he sought out to find Seichou to return it and ask questions. Upon finding him and asking Seichou to teach him, Seichou quickly agreed, taking Nakai under his wing. They initially met three times a week, however after Nakai revealed that he was an orphan from Suribachi, Seichou offered to take him in permanently and helped Nakai get a formal education, adopting him in the process. Over time, Nakai began to see Seichou as a parental figure, as well as a mentor, and looks up to Seichou, taking it upon himself to repay his mentor for everything he has done for him- no matter the cost. 

Yoko Ota

Nakai and Ota were introduced when she initially gained refuge via Seichou, however, he was wary of her due to the orders given to him to look into her background. When he was unable to find anything concrete, save for rumours about a woman with black and white hair in Seventh Order. He told Seichou, leading to her attempt to run away and subsequent questioning. Like Seichou, Nakai did apologise for how harsh he was when questioning her, but he also warned her that next time, there would be no second chance. At present, he still jokes around with her and lightly teases her, treating her much like a younger sister, however he is still cautious around her, watching closely to ensure she won’t bring harm to Seichou or Masako. 

Doppo Kunikida

The two first met when Kunikida became involved in an investigation with the Tsukishinkai, however the two only really began talking after several months, as Kunikida only saw Nakai as a slacker at first. After realising how hardworking and caring Nakai was, Kunikida began to talk more freely with him, and vice versa. Nakai, who at first confused his attraction for a deadly stomach bug, confessed to Kunikida quickly, and after the latter got over his sexuality crisis, they began dating. At present, they have been dating for just over a year, and consider each other ideal partners in many ways, even if Nakai fits almost none of the points on Kunikida’s list. 

Osamu Dazai

Nakai and Dazai first met when Dazai was dating Masako (during his time in ‘hiding’), and immediately thought that Dazai was trouble. This theory was solidified when Dazai flirted with several women (and men) in front of both him and Masako, causing Nakai to dislike Dazai. This dislike was only made stronger when Masako and him (Dazai) broke up, due to Dazai still being hung up on someone else. Ever since, he has harboured a grudge against Dazai for making her cry, especially after learning the fate of The Sheep, and how Chuuya ended up in the Port Mafia. 

Chuuya Nakahara

While living in Suribachi, Nakai would often take care of the younger members, and ability-wielding members, of The Sheep, causing them to see him as an older brother and mentor. This, naturally, included Chuuya, who was good friends with Nakai and looked up to him a lot. When Nakai left, he said goodbye to very few people, with one of them being Chuuya, to whom he told to ‘live a good life, full of good people who you want to protect’. They did not meet again for several years, until Chuuya began dating Masako, only to break up with her shortly after due to his lingering feelings for someone else. Unlike Nakai’s hatred for Dazai due to a failed relationship, he recognises that Chuuya’s breakup with Togawa was mutual, and still holds him in good regards as a friend and ally. The two are good friends, and enjoy drinking together while griping about Dazai.

Edgar Allan Poe

The two first began speaking when Seichou arranged for them to speak in order to help Nakai, but quickly found that they had many common interests, such as gory mystery novels. Since then, they have become good friends, and while they rarely meet in person, when they do, they spend the time well. Karl is also very fond of Nakai, seemingly, as Nakai will usually feed Karl when he sees him (Karl) and Poe.