Name: Seiko Suzuki


Gender: Female


Age: 17


Role: 2nd-year Student


House: House of Legacy, Legold


Rank: A-rank


Deck Played: Blue-Eyes


Ace Monster(s): Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon









Faceclaim Name: Asuka Tanaka


Faceclaim Series: Sound! Euphonium

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Hair Color: Black


Eye Color: Blue


Height: 157 cm


Weight: 47 kg


Just as one would expect of someone who gets a maximum of three hours of sleep every weekday and downs two large cups of coffee a day, Seiko is considerably smaller than she should be compared to someone her age. Doctors and her peers alike have noted that she is particularly fragile, prompting others to worry about her well-being. Seiko prefers to throw her back-length hair over her right shoulder on most days, opting to braid it should she need to look presentable for any student council related events. Additionally, years of all-nighters spent staring at computer screens and reading in the dark has led to her eyesight being terrible without the use of her thin-frame prescription glasses.







LIKES:


- Coffee (specifically black coffee)

- Amusement parks

- Snow days

- Naps

- Working


DISLIKES:


- Early mornings

- Flashing lights

- Spiders

- The nickname “Sleepy Seiko”

- Late club duties


Seiko under “normal” circumstances is a very work-driven soul who finds joy in keeping herself busy. Once she finds her hands on something, she makes it a personal mission to improve or solve any state that it’s in: whether that’s a puzzle cube, a research paper, or even her own student council duties. As the President, so far she has received critical acclaim for her work in optimizing the council’s records system, scheduling meetings and assemblies, rewriting the council constitution, and even assisting other club members in their duties. Seiko’s dedication and ability to keep pushing onward are astounding…


...That is, unless you find her outside anytime from 5 PM to midnight. When you sometimes pull all-nighters and down coffee as if it were water, the aftereffects catch up to you one way or another. In Seiko’s case? She frequently naps when she gets a chance and times her “crashes” for certain late nights so that she just barely holds herself over. Her sleep schedule looks more akin to Morse code, and the largest margin is normally scheduled for after her club duties are finished. Her awake life has devolved into a constant back-and-forth of hyper-focused work and tired stupor. The girl is intelligent and gifted, but much too prideful to “fail in her duties”.


In fact? Her idea of “humble” is just neglecting her own self-care. Her outward image is important to her, and when questioned about how she does it all, Seiko typically gives a cryptic laugh and a polite dismissive remark. She is much too stubborn to admit that she really wishes she could just lay down and drift off to Dreamland...






Seiko Suzuki was born an only child into unimaginable wealth. Her parents founded Team Critias, a world-famous sponsorship agency in the Pro Dueling circuit. At first, her life was nothing but a publicity stunt to the public: the two founders of a growing Pro Dueling powerhouse conceived a child, and they were like a miniature royal family in the scene. From an infant to the modern-day, Seiko shudders at the sight of flashing lights. Not that she could particularly remember the paparazzi cameras, but something about them nowadays makes her skin crawl.


Team Critias’ best Duelists were located all around the world, and as such Seiko had traveled around in private jets, luxury ships, and limousines for a good majority of her early childhood. In fact, it wasn’t until the age of five that she had been on an actual playground. Seiko vocalized these concerns, and… Surprisingly her parents listened! While the couple did care a great deal about their company and traveling to see their clients, they weren’t completely oblivious to their daughter’s feelings. While they couldn’t promise her that they would be home all of the time, they did ensure that she had sitters and caretakers on-hand from the company to watch over her.


Seiko enrolled in St. Vaulfort to maintain the education started by her mother’s tutoring. Life felt oddly strange for her there: some flaunted wealth and status around like signs at a concert, while others despised their positions and made scenes about it. As for Ms. Suzuki? She kept her head down and just kept working. Her desires were simple: get more 100% marks on her tests so that when Mommy visits, it gets put up on the fridge while she gets to pick what they do when her folks come home from whatever country they were in at the moment. Of course the stage of it was upscaled (hiring expensive catering, exclusive shows and events, etc.), but Seiko never put very much thought into it. After all, she had only met the upper class, and had no reason to dislike anyone just yet.


That sensation of accomplishment to impress her parents only further cemented itself when she was given the option to join the student council at St. Vaulfort Academy. Her parents seemed so enthusiastic on call, and they promised to come see her whenever she had important events to host for it: therefore, it had to be the solution to getting them back home more often! Seiko didn’t dislike the caretakers, and even treated a lot of them like godparents. She just “wished that her parents were around like everyone else’s”, or so she believed. But knowing the types of people at St. Vaulfort, to shoot for satisfaction alone was to ask for failure. The Pro Dueling sponsor conglomerate heiress would aim for no less than perfect.


Seiko spent weeks, nay, months preparing for her campaign. She personally reached out to all resources available to her in order to make this the best student council campaign of all time. She locked herself in her room and stayed up late, drafting out plans and practicing speeches. She knew she was only applying to be a secretary in a school election- not even high school- but it felt like campaigning to run the country. The thrill of burning the candle at both ends had gotten to her, and riding that high, she carried on.


Nowadays, people respect a great Duelist. Seiko accepted that fact, and sought out to Duel her heart out just to impress. One look at the poster on her wall confirmed her desires: Seto Kaiba, the president of Kaiba Corporation, was her idol in this endeavour. His Blue-Eyes White Dragon was majestic, fearsome, and commanded authority. As such, she adopted it as her “spirit card”, and even requested that her caretakers find her the cards needed to make a Blue-Eyes deck. With how deeply ingrained the Suzuki family was in the pro scene, finding the cards she wanted with the help of her parents took at most three days.


The weeks flew by. Seiko’s soul burned hotter than a Burst Stream of Destruction, but her body grew weary from this strenuous task. She found herself slipping into unconsciousness when planning past midnight, needing to be woken up by her caretakers lest she be late for school and ruin her perfect attendance record, and even going to the nurse’s office ready to pass out. Seiko had a fire in her belly for success, but unfortunately that frail body of hers couldn’t keep up. She had to face facts: she was small for her age, and just as weak. Seiko broke down one day, starting to believe that maybe she couldn’t do anything to show off to her parents that she’s doing well. She began realizing that maybe the president’s words were to be taken to heart: “boasting is the privilege of winners”...


”...No. I’m gonna be just like him. Mr. Kaiba’s so cool, and I wanna be just like him someday! Mr. Kaiba wouldn’t quit, he’d just Neutron Blast right through any problems!!”


Like nothing ever happened, Seiko pushed onwards. She kept up her daily schedule, kept campaigning, and hung on for dear life for this ride of a lifetime. And, after all that time… She barely won her position as Secretary of the St. Vaulfort Student Council by the end of her second year. Interestingly enough, after leaving the stage, Seiko Suzuki immediately collapsed once she was shielded by the curtain. The teachers escorted her to the nurse’s office, and her parents quickly flew home to check on her. After being asleep for almost fourteen hours, Seiko awoke and stated she had no regrets. Her first full rest in who knows how long was surrounded by her loved ones clinging onto a BEWD plushie. It was bliss.


Returning to school two days later, her parents reassured her that they would stay for a few more days just to ensure that their daughter was fine. This was fine by her: it just meant more time to impress them. The president was ruthless, and had her working tirelessly to upkeep and excel. Slowly but surely, Seiko was slipping back into the old habits… But just to ensure that her parents wouldn’t become concerned and keep her away from the position, she did her best to hide it. Staying awake was a challenge, and occasionally she would get dizzy or feel like passing out again. The middle schooler would spend break periods taking cat naps, even falling asleep during gym classes right on the gymnasium floor. The strange behavior was noted by her peers, and the taunting name “Sleepy Seiko” bothered her to her core: it was a sign of failure to show such weakness.


Although, her “weakness” did give her the opportunity to meet new friends. In particular, one of the girls named Melody Tomozawa approached her. Granted, it was because Seiko had fallen asleep at her desk instead of her own, but the two seemed to get along well enough. Melody would ask Seiko to double-check some of her homework, and in return she introduced her to more people. Seiko was never the type to have true friends beyond campaigning for her position as the SC secretary, but it was nice to actually meet people and be herself for once… As tired and drowsy as that person was.


Concerned for her friend’s well-being, Melody offered to try and help Seiko with her sleepiness problem. Reina, the SC president of St. Vaulfort, showed no signs of letting up on the workload, and as such Seiko agreed to keep up the pace with her superior. After school one day, Melody brought Seiko to a coffee shop. The latter was confused as to how a drink would help…


That is, until she bought a small cup and took a sip. In a matter of minutes, she perked right up and felt like she could shoulder tackle the sun. With a hyper display of gratitude, she went straight home to grind out four straight hours of council and school work. Passing out that night, she awoke to find herself covered in fully completed assignments. Coffee was her ambrosia, but this time, it didn’t kill the mortal who basked in its glory. It only made focusing ten times easier.


From that day onward, Seiko ordered an obscene amount of ingredients to make coffee at home. She carried two full thermoses of coffee to school with her every day, and her extra attention at school greatly increased the quality of her work. The wonder kid was back, and this time, “Sleepy Seiko” seemed to be a thing of the past. Sometimes Seiko would drop projects in front of Reina before she even asked for it, earning her a decent amount of respect from the president. Her grades skyrocketed again, and even her parents seemed pleased with her performance. Everything was starting to look brighter again!


Melody transferred away from the school, and although Seiko didn’t keep in touch, the two did exchange proper goodbyes as well as best wishes. Her final years in St. Vaulfort were a complete contrast to her low points before getting her position. Her Dueling skill had risen even more than before, and her goal to one day be just like the great Seto Kaiba was alive and well. She discovered that coffee gives heavy “crash” periods in between drinks, but with a bit of practice she learned to time those so that “Sleepy Seiko” almost never happened. To make matters worse, she discovered decaf coffee for when she just needed the taste instead of the actual energy boost: just to make sure that she wasn’t getting too used to its “godly effects on her body”. So far, the only godly effect it had was stunting her growth at an incredibly small maximum.


After graduating from St. Vaulfort, Seiko was bombarded with invitations to attend various Duel Academies around the world thanks to her parents’ network. They left the decision ultimately up to her, but she was stuck. So many options, so little time… Not to mention the granddaughter of her hero went to the Aurae Duel Academy, which sent her an invitation! She would have accepted that in a heartbeat, only to remember an important detail… Seto Kaiba, to her, is a man that takes on even the strongest of rivals undaunted. Seiko didn’t know anyone that could be considered “the strongest of rivals”, except for…


Reina Legionnaire, the former student council president of St. Vaulfort! She knew from occasional talks with her that she used the Dark Magicians, just like the King of Games during Seto Kaiba’s prime! The idea of the Dark Magicians clashing with her Blue-Eyes White Dragons made her squeal with excitement! She reached out again, discovered that Reina was going to Liberta Duel Academy in Silvershine without telling her. On the very first day, after chugging a full thermos of dark blend coffee, she marched right up to Reina and declared that from that day onward, they were rivals. Both Duelists had ranked in the A-rank in Legold: something that Seiko Suzuki believed was fate.


...Well, sort of. She didn’t have much of the wit and commanding presence that made Seto Kaiba so iconic, but Seiko didn’t let that deter her from sticking around with Reina some more. One could even say that the two became something close to friends? Admittedly, things were a bit tense when Seiko made a mistake on her Liberta Student Council application and ran against Reina for the title of president… And it only got worse when Seiko won. It wouldn’t be very rival-like to back down, would it? At first Reina was livid that she had to “take orders from her”, but after a bit of talking her down Seiko reassured her that VP was still an incredible achievement and that it wasn’t her voice that would be the entire council.


Going into her second year, Seiko has been going strong with her desire to achieve. Coffee keeps her motor running, a rivalry stoked her fire, and the thought of impressing her parents gives her reason to keep it together. She keeps moving on, one espresso shot at a time...