saviorsoul | Jaeger Academy AU History

Character AU History:

Setsuna and his twin sister, Sara, were born in Japan. They're a quarter-British on the their mother's side. Setsuna was always a bit of an unusual child, having the inexplicable ability to avoid most hazardous situations but at the expense of others who got hurt in his place. His mother interpreted this as her son being cursed and often treated him cruelly, while lavishing affection on his sister. As a result of this emotional and sometimes physical abuse, Setsuna developed a propensity toward violence and would lash out savagely when emotionally distraught since he couldn't strike back at the real cause of his problems: his mother and his fear of being a freak. Setsuna's emotional state worsened as he started attending school and was frequently bullied for his non-Japanese appearance, especially his dirty blond hair. His father never paid too much attention to what was going on at home since he was always at work and later revealed to be having an affair.

The first Kaiju attack in San Francisco occurred when the children were around nine, around the time when their parents' issues were starting to come into the open. Setsuna's mother wanted to return to her parents, who had since moved to the more mainland part of Europe, but Setsuna's father refused to leave his job. Too young to really understand the situation, Setsuna and Sara found refuge in each other, often creating their own fantasy worlds where they would save each other from monsters and the like. Meanwhile, their parents continued to live in great discord, with much of their mother's frustration being projected onto Setsuna.

By the time the first Jaegers started winning, Setsuna was already in the habit of constantly running away from home and other delinquent behaviors. Like most pre-teens, Setsuna found himself immediately fascinated with the Jaegers and their near-superhero abilities. It soon became one of his new fantasies with Sara, the idea of piloting a Jaeger and escaping their crazy family together. But Setsuna was still too young to put serious thought into the notion.

When Onibaba attacked Tokyo in 2016, Setsuna had been in the middle of another runaway attempt. Sara discovered him just before the sirens went off. The shelter wasn't especially secure and the fighting between Onibaba and Coyote Tango caused a lot of collateral damage. In particular, a falling chunk of debris just barely missed hitting Setsuna and instead killed a woman who had been standing next to him. Sara went into shock at the sight and became unresponsive, driving Setsuna into a panic at the fear of losing her. He managed to flag down some help after Coyote Tango forced the Kaiju away, but at the hospital Setsuna's mother blamed him (and his "curse") for everything and flew into a rage. She took Sara and moved out of the house, leaving Setsuna with his father. Setsuna has deep personal resentment toward the Kaiju for this.

Unwilling to lose her brother, Sara continued to meet with Setsuna in secret for years after that, even amid Setsuna's protests. The Onibaba incident made Setsuna even more overly protective of Sara. Gradually, Setsuna started to realize his feelings for his sister were deepening into something more romantic and he tried to both repress these feelings and keep them hidden from Sara. He convinced himself that it was just because Sara was the only person that had ever treated him decently and that he could find someone else, he wouldn't feel this way. He just never managed to find that someone else.

In late 2019, Setsuna was wandering by the memorial of the Tokyo attack, trying to figure out if it was his separation from Sara that caused his more intense feelings, when he encountered a relative of the woman who had been killed next to him. The relative told Setsuna that the woman had been preparing to become a Jaeger pilot and was visiting family when the attack happened. She also had incredibly high synch scores when it came to drifting and had been considered a prodigy. Upon picking up that Setsuna recognized the woman, the relative muttered some crazy wish that one of the survivors of the Tokyo attack could fulfill the woman's dream for her so that something good could come out of her death. Setsuna didn't put much stock into the idea since he had his own problems, but he couldn't deny that part of it still weighed on him. It also reminded him how much he wanted to strike back at the Kaiju for all the suffering they've caused.

Then, Sara threw even worse news at him when she announced that her mother finally planned to take Sara to Europe with her. They would probably not see each other again for a long time. As much as Setsuna wanted Sara to stay with him, he knew there was no way they could support each other. But he remembered that the Jaeger Academy recruitment flyers promised a decent stipend. Since was already high on his Kaiju rage again, he figured this would be a good way to kill two birds with one stone.

He signed up and told Sara on her last day in Japan. Frightened for him, Sara ended up confessing her love for him and insisting that she'd join the academy too. But the combination of Sara's sudden confession and the realization that he was dragging her into a dangerous situation when all he wanted was to keep her safe shook Setsuna badly. He refused Sara's offer and love and ran from her, never expecting to see her again.

Soon after, he arrived at the Shatterdome, just hoping to be anywhere but back home.