Kayo Sudou

"The more you sharpen them, the better they cut."

- Kayo Sudou

Kayo Sudou was a tailor of Enbizaka in Jakoku. After the loss of her entire family, the devastated young woman agreed to swap bodies with Elluka "Ma" Clockworker and start a new life. Inheriting scissors from her mother, Kayo became possessed by the Demon of Envy. After discovering her dead husband seemingly alive, she began murdering women she suspected of courting her perceived love.

Early Life
Kayo was born in Enbizaka, Jakoku in EC 822, the daughter of Nagare and Kagura Sudou. Living in the family tailor shop, Kayo eventually began helping out with the business in EC 832. Her father later passed away due to endemic disease. At some point, Kagura told her that a pair of scissors were like a married couple, claiming that the blades carry out their tasks by being close and scrape against one another.

In EC 838, Kagura disappeared, leaving only her sewing scissors at the edge of a cliff. Presuming her to be dead, Kayo took over the tailoring business. She eventually married her cousin Gakuga. Following their marriage, Gakuga continued with his pleasure-seeking habits, remaining outside of their home for the majority of the time. Later that year, Kayo and Gakuga had a son, naming him Ren.

Neighborhood Tragedy
After her mother, husband, and child were killed in a fire, Kayo slipped into a depression. On the brink of despair, she met a missionary, Elluka "Ma" Clockworker, in EC 842 and became enamored with her beautiful appearance. When Ma offered to swap bodies with the woman, Kayo agreed and acquired the missionary's pink-haired body, starting a new life running a tailor shop in Enbizaka with her mother's keepsake scissors. At some point, she became acquainted with a local boy, Ren.

Enbizaka Murders
"Although he has someone like me, he never comes home."

- Kayo musing about her "husband"

Later that year, the popular tailor saw a man who appeared to be her husband in town. Awed that he was alive, Kayo grew concerned that her husband was being unfaithful to her and never returned home. At some point, she became possessed by the Demon of Envy. Some time later, she saw him on the main street with another woman in a beautiful red kimono. Disgusted, Kayo left. Later that day, Kayo murdered the woman with her scissors before stripping her of her red kimono and disposing of the body. Afterward, she retailored the kimono for herself.

The next day, Kayo saw her husband being comforted by a girl with a green sash in front of the bridge. Believing her to be the type of girl her husband liked, she later killed her and took the green sash before retailoring it for herself as well. The day after, she found him in front of the hairpin shop buying a yellow hairpin for a child. Assuming they were in a relationship, the disgusted tailor later murdered her like the rest, taking her hairpin.

Realizing her "lover" wasn't coming home, Kayo decided to confront him. Dressing up in the clothes taken from her victims, Kayo approached the man and he greeted her as if she was a stranger. Furious, the tailor killed him with her scissors before stripping him of his clothes and disposing of his body. Soon after, Kayo's crimes were discovered and the tailor was arrested. Convicted and sentenced to execution, Kayo was beheaded by Ren with a sword atop the hill of Enbizaka.

Afterlife
"I have to go on an errand after this. After this... I have to receive judgment."

- Kayo

Following her death, Kayo ended up in the Hellish Yard and remained there. In EC 998, she and the other souls returned to the Third Period as the ground world merged with the Hellish Yard. Returning to Enbizaka, Kayo recreated an illusion of her hometown from her memories and returned to her daily routine of tailoring while also awaiting her husband.

Some time after, the tailor was given summons to go on trial for her crimes in life at the USE Dark Star Bureau courthouse that appeared in Enbizaka. Afterward, Kayo headed down the main street toward the courthouse when she saw Allen Avadonia. Recognizing him as Ren, the surprised tailor approached him and asked if he'd come back and the boy affirmed he had. She then questioned if he was doing well and noted he didn't appear to be with his friends at the moment.

The boy again affirmed he had before asking about Kayo and the tailor related she was still the same as always, detailing her routine. The tailor then lamented that she would've gone home to make dinner by then before admitting she couldn't do anything about her next errand. When Allen inquired about the errand, Kayo related she needed to receive judgment before looking over at the courthouse behind him. Murmuring again that she needed to received judgment, Kayo walked into the courthouse.

She then headed straight into the courtroom. Standing before the defendant's stand, Kayo silently waited until Chief Justice Gallerian Marlon arrived and began the trial. During the proceedings, the tailor quietly listened to the prosecution and defense make their cases for the murder charges against her. Once Gallerian convicted Kayo to beheading by the guillotine, Kayo allowed two men to grab her by the arms and drag her to the execution tool that suddenly appeared in the center of the room.

Fastened into the platform, Kayo remained calm as Allen intervened, screaming for them to stop. Shortly after, a man directed the delusional tailor toward the hearing seats and she obeyed, following him there. After the Master of the Hellish Yard arrived and transported Gallerian into the bowels of the Hellish yard, the masked woman asked Kayo if they should start heading home. The tailor immediately shook her head, citing she still hadn't received judgment.

The Master of the Hellish Yard pointed out she already received it and wouldn't be able to see her family again regardless of whether she relived the experience. After being told she'd slowly spend her time in the land below from there on,  Kayo drooped her shoulders in defeat as the masked woman wrapped her arm around her abdomen to carry her. After the woman sent away Allen and Hänsel, Kayo was returned to the bowels of the Hellish Yard.

Legacy
"The tailor Kayo Sudou was a beauty with gorgeous black hair but, oddly enough, she seemed to have a complex regarding her own appearance, envying Elluka's appearance herself."

- Ma

Following Kayo's death, her head was hung at the execution site atop Enbizaka as an example for three days. After seeing the head, the monk Gakusha asked about the tailor's crimes. The next day, he and Ren performed the funeral rites for the head together.

Long after Kayo's death, few accurate historical documents existed about her and the Eastern region she lived in, leaving the truth about her relatively unknown. Some accounts claimed she had dark hair while others stated it was peach-colored. One of these documents, the Eastern Magic Record, noted that she had caused an incident that shook her society, although its validity was unknown.

Ma continued to utilize Kayo's original body and identity over a century later, passing on the family name to her daughter, Nemesis. Ma and Gammon Octo later created a film of the incident Kayo perpetrated. While watching the film with an intruder to Evil's Theater, Ma commented that the tailor had been jealous of the Mage of Eternity, Elluka Clockworker, prompting the sorceress to exchange Lukana's body with Kayo along with scissors to attempt to prevent Kayo's possession by the vessel of sin.

Personality and Traits
"Well? Aren't I beautiful?"

- Kayo

Kayo was a broken, envious woman, out of touch with her reality and indignant toward any who stole away her husband's attention. Kayo was extremely attached to family and considered it to be everything to her. As a result, she was happy with the life she gained living with her mother, husband, and only child. She was similarly considered amicable and friendly by the townspeople of Enbizaka. However, after losing her family, Kayo slipped into a deep depression and nearly lost all hope. Due to Elluka's intervention, Kayo felt revived in starting a new life in a new, beautiful body.

After being possessed by the Demon of Envy, she grew insecure about her own looks and desired the appearances of other beautiful women. She also seemed to lose some touch with reality, disassociating herself from the murders she committed and treating the people's panic over the issue like a separate incident. Furthermore, she harbored an insidious feeling of envy towards women who were with the man she loved, feeling greatly hurt and disgusted by those she assumed her "husband" cheated on her with, finding him pitiful for even seemingly courting a child.

Despite this, she remained completely infatuated with the man and held a psychopathic determination to murder the man's "lovers" in order to silence them; associating their unique articles of clothing to what she believed he found appealing about them, Kayo took the clothes and retailored them for herself in an attempt to make her more desirable for her lover. However, in spite of her obsession with the man, she was furious by his apparent flippant attitude, treating her like a stranger, and murdered him as well.

Skills and Abilities
Kayo was admired by many for her talent in tailoring kimonos. She was also skilled enough to not be discovered committing her heinous crimes by anyone in Enbizaka and had stalked her love without being caught until her final crime. After being possessed by the Demon of Envy, she was, also, unable to die by ordinary means, only able to be killed by the power of another vessel of sin.

Character Connections
Kai Miroku: Kayo's victim. Initially projecting her dead husband onto Kai, Kayo was overjoyed to see her "loved one" alive again. After learning of Kai's role in her family's death, however, the tailor snapped out of her projection and desired to have revenge against him, taking his family members away as he had to her before finally killing the man.

Mei Miroku: Kayo's victim. On the surface the two had an amiable relationship, with Kayo often helping Mei with her work and receiving support from her in turn after her family's death. As Kai's wife, however, Kayo saw fit to kill Mei out of revenge towards Kai and murdered her brutally with no remorse.

Miku Miroku: Kayo's victim. As Kai's daughter, Kayo saw fit to kill Miku out of revenge towards Kai and murdered her brutally with no remorse, also killing the girl's unborn child as a result.

Rin Miroku: Kayo's victim. As Kai's daughter, Kayo saw fit to kill Rin out of revenge towards Kai and murdered her brutally with no remorse, despite having a harmless relationship with the girl otherwise.

Lukana Octo: A body Kayo swapped into. Kayo preferred Lukana's body to her own and saw it as a means to start a new life. After obtaining the body through Ma's body swap, Kayo was satisfied with her new appearance and used it to begin anew after the death of her family.

Ma: A missionary who traded bodies with Kayo. Knowing her as "Elluka Clockworker", Kayo was approached by the apparent Levin missionary in her time of despair and envied her pink-haired body. Accepting her help, she agreed to swap bodies with the sorceress.

Kokutan-douji: A local boy. Believing him to be her long-lost son, Kayo treated "Ren" with motherly affection and befriended him. Additionally, despite later acknowledging that it was impossible for Kokutan-douji to be her son, Kayo still took comfort from him regarding her as his mother.

Gakuga Sudou: Kayo's real husband. Kayo and Gakuga had a deeply loving relationship as husband and wife, despite often trading sarcastic remarks with him about his constant boasting. Due to this love Kayo was bitterly saddened by his death and dealt with her grief by, initially, projecting Gakuga onto Kai Miroku.

Ren: Kayo's son. Kayo loved and deeply cared for her son, and was bitterly saddened by his death. To deal with her grief, the woman often projected her son onto other people with similar traits as the child.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * Kayo's name is written as 禍世 in Japanese kanji, using the kanji for "wickedness" or "calamity" and "world" or "soceity" respectively.
 * Her surname, Sudou, is written as 首藤 in Japanese kanji, using the kanji for "head" or "neck" and "wisteria" respectively.
 * Her name is also derived from the term ストーカーよ (sutookaayo) or "stalker"; when read in its eastern format, Kayo's name becomes "Sudou Kayo" (スドウ＝カヨ).
 * Kayo's name is partially inspired by the name of her representative Vocaloid, Luka, with Kayo's name beginning with "ka".
 * Kayo is inspired by the Kuchisake-onna, a popular Japanese urban legend of the ghost of a woman mutilated by her jealous husband asking her victims, "Am I beautiful?" before killing them with a pair of scissors; Jakoku, Kayo's native country, is inspired by Japan.
 * Her preference for tuna takoyaki is likely a reference to Tako Luka and her representative Vocaloid, the latter of whom's character item is a tuna fish.

Curiosities

 * Lukana Octo, Kayo's eventual body, was also a tailor;  similarly, Elluka, who inhabited Lukana's body before Kayo, was also mentioned to have a sewing hobby.
 * When working on her song for the Seven Crimes and Punishments album, mothy commented that she was the Seven Deadly Sins character he'd least like to meet in real life.

Gallery
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