A factor which comes up occasionally in this world is the existence of "Red Women". The truth behind this phenomenon is that it's a gene which has been passed down through a family which has, until recently, used the surname "Tomura". The gene and family name are passed through the women, and it is considered a great honor to be a Red Woman of the Tomura line. Asuka Tomura, however, rejected this aspect of her heritage and took the last name Same when she married the politician Masura Same. Hence, her daughter Iwako Same does not use the Tomura family name despite being a Red Woman.
Tomuras with purple eyes are prodigies who pick up easily on anything that they are 'taught', ie, any task they witness another person performing or read instructions on. This ability can serve well on the battlefield, and they are known throughout history as emotionless killing machines, sought after by any army in feudal wars, due to the fact that they only learn how to feel emotion if they are taught.
Those with gray eyes have the Red Woman gene, but are not Tomuras, either being relatives so distant that their family is no longer associated with the Tomuras, or having the gene artificially recreated in their blood. These girls are normal humans learning at a normal pace, excluding the compulsion to kill and the lack of an inherent moral compass. Due to the inability to learn complex military tactics with ease, gray-eyed red women are usually trained over time to be stealthy killers.
Both types of Red Women are unable to naturally feel guilt for their actions, and are compelled to commit murders, however medicine does exist to prevent the compulsion. This medicine also removes the barrier preventing guilt, however, so most are unable to handle taking it after committing a number of murders due to the overwhelming burden on their conscience. The only red woman currently known to be on this medication is Ayano Ueda, who began taking it after her first girlfriend was killed by somebody else. Despite not feeling guilt at the time, she could understand that the loss she felt would be the same loss others felt if she killed the wrong person. Until then she had only been killing people she considered "bad", thus the lack of crushing guilt when she started medicating. Ayano is gray-eyed, and known to have had the gene artificially created. Her favorite way to see the color red is by collected stuffed animals which have red eyes.
Other known Red Women include:
Sayaka Yamaguchi, who is working as a hitwoman in the Yamaguchi-gumi, biggest yakuza group in Japan. She enjoys killing but will not kill children or act on requests made from anyone who doesn't seem to be thinking straight. In addition, she worries that her actions are too evil; despite not feeling guilt, she gets self-conscious when it comes to making friends with people she perceives to be normal. She is a gray-eyed Red Woman. Her favorite way to see the color red is by eating red foods, but not apples.
Iwako Same is the doctor at the infirmary of Korekara Academy. Despite rumors, she doesn't kill patients at that school; though it's not uncommon for important people to disappear from hospitals she works at. Having known her status for most of her life, Iwako has her compulsion under control and can go quite a long time without killing anybody. In the past, she worked for an organization who gave her hits to carry out on unfortunate enemies who came under her care, but deserted the group around five years before going to work at Korekara in order to mentor Ayano. Her favorite way to see the color red is red clothing.
Ryoko Tomura was Iwako's mentor, and used her prodigal abilities to create a shrine to her ancestors and learned how to channel them, offering to help criminals and the misguided, as well as offer blessings to soldiers. Ryoko also used this as a way to find targets to kill, going off of prayers she received from those who had been hurt. Her favorite way to see the color red is red drinks.
Mishio Oujouno has purple eyes and emotional shortcomings, as well as being able to pick up on Yokaishiteru's choreography very well just by watching them, but doesn't seem to have killed anyone. Perhaps this is because she was raised in a very strict environment, by a family which has no idea about the legend. Her favorite way to see the color red is red thread.
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