Patient Kiku Honda

Character Name: Kiku Honda

Age: 20

Appearance: Short to medium height, though he tends to stand slightly shy of straight. He tends to run his fingers through his hair or fidget with his clothing when nervous. He seems to touch his face at random; upset with something that may or may not be there. His eyes are brown, and his skin has become very pale since his arrival at the asylum. He prefers to wear long, conservative clothing in solid colors.

Staff or Patient: Patient

If Patient, what is your derangement? Why are you here? Kiku suffers from Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Hypochondriasis, mild Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD), Perfectionism and Selective Mutism.

Sexuality: Bi, though he does not acknowledge that he is gay.

Personality: Quiet and withdrawn, Kiku prefers solitude and often rearranges the furniture in his room (at least, anything that’s not bolted down) or the clothes he wears. If he becomes ill or even slightly injured, he takes extreme precautions in order to keep from contracting something worse. When allowed to have pencil and paper, he is often seen drawing elaborate sketches of both people and things. Kiku often becomes depressed after these instances, as he either finds a flaw in his drawings or himself after looking at the sketch. He hates failure, whether it is real or in his own mind, and will become depressed to the point where he will begin to plan out his own death. He has yet to follow through with many of his plans though, having become distracted with seemingly more important things (such as reorganizing something or cleaning). When confronted with unfamiliar people or situations, or instances of high anxiety, Kiku will find himself unable to verbalize anything at all. Inwardly, his derangements frustrate him and he only wishes to not be alone and to find someone who understands him.

Background: Kiku was originally born into a strict, Japanese family that accepted nothing less than perfection from their only son. Stealing money and eventually running away from his parents, Kiku made his way slowly to the town where the Asylum was located. To make his living there, Kiku began to draw and sell an illustrated story about a detective that followed elaborate clues in order to solve a mystery. The illustrated story became immensely popular, and Kiku began to publish a new issue weekly in order to keep up with demand. He stayed in his home, refusing to come out except for late at night, when almost no one wandered the streets. Each week, the plot became more elaborate, and the drawings perfected down to the last detail. To the fans, the story almost seemed real.

What Kiku’s readers did not realize is that Kiku was actually using the comic as a published blueprint on how he planned to carry out his own suicide.

All of Kiku’s fans began to worry when the release of the final comic was an entire month late, though it was rumored that the artist had contracted a cold while out at night and refused to come out. During a sneak peek of the unfinished final story, one of Kiku’s more avid readers realized that something was off about it. The man took the story to some of his friends, and the group decided to investigate. One of Kiku’s relatives, having come to the same town some time ago, happened to be part of the group. He immediately sought out information on Kiku, and when the final issue of the comic was released he began to piece together the information. Gathering some police, he ran to Kiku’s place of residence, only to find the man staring intently himself in the mirror, a family sword clutched forgotten in his right hand. The police listened as Kiku mumbled to himself, words like ‘imperfect’ and ‘unacceptable’ being some of the only ones they could understand.

Kiku was brought to the station, where the police read the comic and found that Kiku had been planning to use the sword to not only cosmetically alter his appearance, but to also carry out the suicide. When questioned however, Kiku found that he could not explain his actions. Without hesitation, his relative contacted Kiku’s parents, and they decided to send him to the local asylum in the hopes that not only would Kiku learn not to dishonor his family but also that Kiku would recover from his illnesses.