❥ — Yaeko Hasegawa

She seems to act shy — almost even timid. Talking to complete strangers, especially octolings with an unknown background, feels dangerous to her. Her past experience with even her own family, or people she thought she could be close to ruined her initial image on people. Yes, she generalizes, but she isn't aware of how harmful that mindset is. Nor does she really plan on changing it soon. .

Even then, she's more affectionate than meets the eye. Yaeko is often found to cling onto the ones she manages to trust, following them wherever she can. Of course, if they want some alone time or feel uncomfortable with her behavior, she leaves them be. Though if not, then she'll stick around to tell them about her day, her plans, etc. If given the chance, she'll even decide on places they could go. Her behavior while isolated can be. . concerning for others to witness: she makes a habit out of talking to herself from time to time, but not for the reasons one would hope. Self-deprecation is something Yaeko does best, as imitated from people in her past. She pushes herself far too hard, whether for justice, strength, or someone else. Most of her dialogue consists of her insulting herself with or without the included compliment she may give others.

As a young octoling in the depths of her kind's territory, she often dreaded the idea of actually working under octarian law. She was an exceptional only-child with some relatively loving parents — there was nothing more that she would've wanted. Her family provided her with more than just the bare necessities both mentally and physically, and she found herself excelling in skills the average person wouldn't normally have. With this in mind, she partly set her future fate.

It was at the age of sixteen that she would be sent off to join the army, as they found her perfect for any future battles. Her family — unexpectedly, and against her wishes — allowed her to be taken away, tested, and generally evaluated. Yaeko, even now, could never truly express how betrayed she had felt in that moment. The army wasted no time getting her in the system, even having a uniform prepared for her the day she was picked up.

After only a month in her sector, Yaeko [ and a few others ] were picked to move to a different base. She was brought over to an off-road truck to board it and was sent on her way. In the midst of the heated journey, she saw a glimpse of Inkopolis — more specifically, the lights. She reached out to them at the same thing the truck hit a large ditch. As a result, she fell out long before anyone would notice her missing.

It's assumed that she hit her head on a rock as she fell off, but either way she was left unconscious and in serious danger. Luckily, a familiar inkling happened to find her. What the girl had been doing out there in the first place is left unknown, but regardless it saved Yaeko's life. Yaeko was brought back to the group the inkling had been part of and was taken care of by them. Later on when the group decided they were done getting her back healthy, it was noted that any memories she had from before were lost — including her combative skills. With that in mind, the group decided to keep housing her as long as she could pay rent.

With the offer accepted, she became a new member of the Voiceless Beacon team and now just tries to catch up with the rest. Her old memories. . aren't priority. Surviving, however, is.