Kazuko Himura, born Kazuko Sui, is the only daughter of Raiden and Makoto Sui, an Auri Raen couple who live and own a tailor shop in Sui-No-Sato. At a young age, Kazuko’s appetite began to increase, and she began experiencing fainting spells if not given food in a timely manner. These symptoms baffled both Ruby Sea and Tamamizu healers, leading the family to abandon their home for good just so Kazuko could hopefully be treated-all the while she grew thinner and thinner.

Partial answers came in a waterside village in Doma-while there wasn’t a clear diagnosis, a knowledgeable healer residing there provided excellent palliative care, allowing the young Kazuko to thrive. Sadly, this bit of thriving didn’t last long, as the Garlean occupation of Doma was thoroughly underway, even prior to the family’s arrival. Yet one fateful day, when Kazuko was barely six summers old, the village healer that the family had considered a friend, was taken from the village to serve the Empire.

With no means of keeping Kazuko’s health checked upon, the risk of forced conscription rising, and a resistance movement beginning to form,  the family once more took to a harrowing journey with limited supplies, eventually arriving in Kugane. Whilst seeking food and shelter, Kazuko and Makoto were held at knifepoint in an attempted mugging. The attempt was thwarted by Gouken Himura, a member of the Sekiseigumi. Raiden, having gone off on his own to cover more ground, heard the commotion nearby and reunited with his family just in time for Kazuko to lose consciousness.

Gouken rushed the ailing girl to his residence, delivering her unto his wife and her sister, Juni Himura and Nika Housina, who are both healers. Their examination made one thing clear-Kazuko had nearly starved to death on the trek over. With their daughter’s dire state weighing heavily on their minds, Makoto and Raiden told Gouken everything, from Kazuko’s health to the family’s pilgrimage. Over a much needed meal, he and Juni opened their home to the family, allowing them to stay in exchange for assisting in its upkeep.

With their savior’s help accepted, Kazuko and her parents had access to safe lodgings, food, and medical care. Grateful for the assistance, the three donned the last name of the family that assisted them and saved Makoto and Kazuko’s lives, among further ‘repayments’ as the years went by. To this day, Kazuko still remembers Gouken, Juni, and Nika as people she owes her life to, but has since mentally repressed the entire series of events, only occasionally getting small flickers of those memories.

Once Kazuko was nearing adulthood, the family came to a decision-since Kazuko was going to be striking out on her own soon, it was time to crack down on the search for answers. Having long since gotten themselves a foothold on their own, her parents closed their respective shops-as Raiden had since become a fishmonger who caught his own wares, sold all of their products and any possessions not of sentimental value, and utilized their money to purchase a decent amount of supplies. As no answers lay in Kugane, the three boarded a ship and headed west.

While their main destination was Eorzea, a land known to be rich with aether, Makoto suggested that they try other locations along the way, to which Raiden agreed, intending to utilize each stop on their trek to catch and preserve fish to bolster their food supplies. Raiden’s ulterior motive proved fruitful, as he managed to make out quite well, and the family benefited in a time of need, as Makoto had fallen for the oldest swindling trick in the book-a placebo tonic for an exorbitant price. The contents of the bottle ended up being amra juice, so it wasn’t a complete loss, but not worth the price that was paid. Not wanting to be fooled a second time, Makoto and Raiden both agreed to hold off on their search until the next stop.

Their trek continued with little trouble, except for finding out that Sharlayan, one of their destinations, was inaccessible, striking that option off the list. Yet one destination remained: Eorzea. The boat soon docked at Vesper Bay, and the three took a carriage to Ul’dah. While Kazuko seemed to adapt to the aether-rich environment, Raiden and Makoto had to deal with some dizziness courtesy of aethersickness. Thankfully it didn’t take long for them to adapt, and by the time they did, the carriage arrived at its destination.

Ul’dah was…rough for the family. Despite being considered successful businesspeople in all three of their former homes, Makoto and Raiden were treated like they treated all penniless refugees-with scorn and gossip. Even Kazuko did not escape such remarks unscathed, her unnatural thinness and massive appetite only adding fuel to the fire. Yet still, the three continued on their search, the three Auri’s hopes only being crushed upon finding out that their best shot for answers, the Phrontistery, was too expensive.

Though their despair was great, a glimmer of hope shined through, as Raiden overheard a few adventurers’ discussion, revealing that the Conjurer’s Guild lay in Gridania. Upon replenishing their supplies, the family’s journey continued, with their new destination being Gridania.

While distrustfulness was abound due to the trio of Au Ra being ‘outsiders’, thankfully access to the Guild as individuals in need of healing was accessible. Not only was it the Kami looking out for Kazuko that day, but The Twelve, too, as the journey for answers was close to its conclusion. A Sharlayan scholar of healing and medicine was in the area, learning about the art of Conjury for her thesis on medicinal methods across Hydaelyn-and the Conjurer she was shadowing was the one that looked over Kazuko.

When traditional Conjurer’s methods bore no fruit, the scholar conducted her own cursory examination, and all of her results pointed to a rare illness called Aetherspurn. Yet, something still seemed off, as Kazuko suffered no fever, and when given some aetherically dense food, her body did not reject said aether within it, nor did other forms of aether supplements decrease her hunger. Given that when Kazuko was fed well, there weren’t any signs of intense weakness, and that even with a steady supply of sustenance, there was still a risk of the Au Ra fainting from hunger, the scholar felt that a traditional Aetherspurn diagnosis didn’t fit.

With a near-adult Kazuko’s and her parents’ permission, a more thorough examination was conducted. By the time it was through, the answer to all of Kazuko’s troubles was found, in the form of a rarer variant condition called Aethersap, a condition denoting the body utilizing larger amounts of aether and nutrients than that of a normal person, thus requiring extra food intake, in not just amount, but frequency, plus any aetherial manipulation needs to be done with caution. It was named as such as it seemed like not only aether and strength, but the ‘meat on one’s bones’, per se, is sapped away. Unfortunately, like its originating condition, there is neither treatment nor a cure, just palliative care.

Yet there was a silver lining. Having been eating food procured in an aether-rich land such as Eorzea had affected Kazuko’s health in a good way. She had more energy, some of the outward signs of malnutrition decreased in severity, and even her growth started to speed up a tad. Given the overabundance of aether in Eorzea doing wonders for Kazuko’s health, a consensus was made to remain there for the foreseeable future. Given that they lived near the waterside for their entire lives, everyone was in agreement to find a seaside location. Thankfully, the trek to Limsa Lominsa went smoothly, outside of some scorn at a brief stop in Ul’dah, courtesy of their reputation from their prior visit.

Kazuko found herself taking brief walks outside of Limsa, taking in the aether-filled environment. Though she didn’t stray too far from the city borders, the young Au Ra found herself yearning to see the world beyond. She wanted to explore, to travel…but she had to learn how to defend herself first, as surmised from witnessing many adventurers going to and fro.

While surprised, Kazuko’s parents were supportive of her dream, but advised that she make sure to keep her health in check, given her condition. There was concern that Kazuko would have to leave for one of the other city-states of Eorzea in order to learn one of the combat disciplines, in addition to the possibility that her choice of discipline could strain her aetherial reserves.

Her above average aetherial reserves narrowed her options down to one of the casting-inclined disciplines. In the end, things worked out heavily, as her specific needs of aether management during the learning process matched up well with the Arcanist discipline-the guild of which was based in Limsa Lominsa. Passing the basic ‘entry test’ with flying colors had the young Au Ra studying there for the foreseeable future.

 

Kazuko's trials unfortunately were not over, as Dalamud's falling had only brought a new set. While the guild gave her and all other students full permission to return to their families, enough destruction had been wrought to outright prevent her from returning to her home-and from them getting to her. Upon figuring that she'd hide out at the guild, falling rubble blocked off her passage back there, thus leaving her on the streets of Limsa Lominsa. Food supplies were soon disrupted as a result of the chaos, and with all forms of leadership's hands full with rebuilding, Kazuko's situation was completely off the radar, where she found herself near-death from starvation once more.

 

Yet for the sickly Raen, there was still hope. The next thing she knew after losing consciousness for what she believed would be the final time was waking up in an infirmary, and being told that a Miqo'te with golden hair had found her and brought her to safety. During another long recovery, her parents finally reunited with her, and were incredibly distraught to know that such a thing had befallen her again. Desperate to find some way to prevent such events from happening again, both Makoto and Raiden made the difficult decision to travel the star, leaving Kazuko in the care of the Arcanist's Guild until they returned. Unfortunately for Kazuko, both the matter of the Calamity, and her own mind repressing another traumatic time, lead to more than expected being repressed, so to the Raen woman, her parents suddenly went missing.

Despite these circumstances, her studies were not forgotten-Kazuko found herself at a point where she had a basic grasp of all she could be taught once the five years of recovery had passed. Now she was out on the road, traveling from place to place, eager to see new sights and meet new people. Yet despite this, she seems to be in over her head in some way, shape, or form…