The Kagutsuchis

"My Family is very rich and many people work for us. We also have two houses so our holidays are cheaper because we don't have to book hotel rooms. My Father is a very important businessman so the government people have to listen to what he says. I think the government people are doing good work but it is better to be rich and important like Father because then people will want to listen to you."

Kagutsuchi Goro, age 8, "My Family".

The Kagutsuchis, as a family, have been part of the upper echelons of Kyushu for a long time. Their founder earned his name in the Sengoku period by fire and zeal, and successive generations built a legacy of power and wealth through their fierce commitment to family and community. That same fire runs through the veins of their modern-day descendants.
This is not entirely metaphorical. One in twenty Kagutsuchis are blessed with pyrokinesis - a few may only control existing fire, but most of them are able to ignite surrounding objects. Far rarer are the ones who can conjure fire or rain it from the sky at will. However, while talents like these will grace the family from time to time and most other family members enjoy excellent health, the odd one will develop unfortunate regressive traits, which are expressed through chronic, inexplicable fevers and a generally sickly constitution.
Over the years, many of the family have worked their way into positions of power in the local and regional government or in the private sector, where they turn their authority and influence to improving their community and further enriching themselves in the process. Bold, pragmatic and shrewd, they lead those under them from strength to strength, but this leaves them with no patience for troublemakers. All disturbances must be brought in line.

Public Agenda

"Not all the Knights could write in the Fire Runes, but that didn't matter. They slashed and stabbed and wrote their Runes again and again until all the vermin were gone, until all the evil weeds and plants too hopeless to survive were burnt away. And the roses grew strong on the ashes and everyone in the garden was happy."--Kagutsuchi Ranpei, age 10, "A Garden". Composition received low marks for excessive fantastical elements.

On a whole, the Kagutsuchis are known for two things: their eye for opportunity, and their unwavering commitment to stability and order. It is traditional for male members to serve at least a year in the military. In particular, Kagutsuchi Gen'emon, the current head of the family, takes care to impress upon his three children how important it is for everyone to work hard and follow the rules. He does so even as he drives his two sons to achieve personal gain at any cost; Goro by reassurance that the rules can be bent if he wants it badly enough, and Ranpei by denigrating his best efforts and telling him that only results matter. Even Hako, his only daughter, does not escape this entirely. He dotes on her in public and tells her she can be anything she wants to be, but obviously prefers arranging outings for her with scions of other wealthy families to looking at top high schools and universities, or even attending her tennis competitions.
His second wife, Meiko, backs up his words with a softer touch. She officiates at opening ceremonies for schools and shelters, takes the children to fundraising galas, and charms politicians and businessmen twice her age into supporting her husband's pet causes - but always upholds tradition and social norms in the process.

History

"My parents' favorite idiom is this: kishikaisei, which means to turn a desperate situation around. 'Rise from the ashes', as they usually put it. Remembering my mother's words, reaching for that fire deep within me, I found the courage to get up and try once more. And I succeeded."--Kagutsuchi Hako, age 9, "Preserverance".

The first Kagutsuchi rose to prominence in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was not the fire god, but named after him for his ruthlessness, cunning, and (rumored) power beyond ordinary men. A loyal and effective samurai, he nonetheless seized power for himself in the wake of his daimyo's death and eliminated all rivals both peacefully and otherwise. His family line remained daimyos until the 18th century during the Edo period, when the prefectural system was established instead.
The Kagutsuchis were not left powerless, however. They adapted to their new roles in politics and as landowners, and by the 1800s they had branched out into manufacturing and business. It was at that time that their tradition of military service was started.
In this modern age, some of its members have entered law enforcement as well, and several occupy high ranks within the force. Commissioner Kagutsuchi Hideo is head of the Fukuoka Prefectural Police Department, while Senior Commissioner Kagutsuchi Toru is Chief of the Kyushu Regional Police Bureau.
Kagutsuchi Gen'emon would have joined his brothers if he could, but on his father's orders he studied business and became CEO of Kagutsuchi Steel. Still restless, he took an interest politics and was soon a major power broker in their region. His first wife, Ine, left the family home a year after marriage and announced that she was severing all ties with the family. She requested her privacy be respected, and has not been seen in public since.
Gen'emon married Meiko, the niece of a Diet member, six months later. She is demurely adoring of him in public, but may be far shrewder than she appears.
Her children with Gen'emon provide some evidence towards this theory. Goro and Hako, 14-year-old fraternal twins, are outgoing and popular with their peers. Their grades are excellent all around, and they have won many trophies for their school as part of the swim team and tennis team respectively. It is clear to all that they have inherited their mother's charm and poise, but a few insiders whisper that the twins have inherited the Kagutsuchi dominion over fire as well. Goro in particular seems to be being trained by his father to take over Kagutsuchi Steel, while Hako is fast taking a place beside her mother as a clever and charming young lady.
Kagutsuchi Ranpei, Gen'emon's 16-year-old son with Ine, is a different matter. He is diligent and studious, a voracious reader, but asks too many questions in class and his grades are mediocre compared to his half-siblings’. He is also quieter and more withdrawn compared to them, but then he falls ill with mysterious fevers and has to stay home far more often than they do. His parents worried about brain damage from those fevers when he went through a phase of writing weird nonsensical stories a few years back, but it seems to have passed with no harm done. On paper, Ranpei stands to inherit much of the family's properties and holdings, but Gen'emon has recently changed his will to favor Goro. It is virtually certain that Ranpei will amount to nothing.

Touched by Fire

Powers are fragments of truths from beyond this world, appearing rarely in individuals and even more rarely in families. Someone pushed beyond their limits, beyond mortal tolerance, will occasionally have a flash of insight which is swiftly forgotten and thereafter possess a supernatural ability such as telekinesis or pyrokinesis. The difficulty in raising offspring to comprehend the same truth when it cannot be articulated, and the near-impossibility of repeating this over several generations, is understood to be the reason why powers rarely run in families. The Kagutsuchis, with their 5% chance of inheriting even a weaker version of the same power, are an exception and not the norm.

Type

Political, Family