Personality
The owner of Chioriya Boutique. A tailor renowned throughout Fontaine.
Chiori is a famous fashion designer from Inazuma who is currently running Chioriya Boutique in Fontaine and is one of the Komaniya Express's regular customers. She left Inazuma when the Vision Hunt Decree and Sakoku Decree was enacted and had not returned since. Chiori usually speaks in a blunt, straightforward manner, which can take some time to get used to. Her methods of resolving disputes can be considered radical, as she does not like wasting her time on explanations. She is also particularly mindful with her fabric, not wanting them to get damaged,[2] and even scolding Lyney on one occasion when his outfit got damaged.
In her youth, Chiori was often a troublemaker and considers herself spoiled by her parents. In one instance, she even snuck into the Kamisato Estate.[4][5] She developed an interest in needlework and shows immense skill, thus resulting in her parents sending her to a master tailor to refine her craft. However, she soon came to learn and despise arrogant higher-ups, thus resulting in incidents that made her leave Inazuma for Fontaine. Her Geo Vision aptly showcases her blunt refusal to submit to outside influence and the methods she uses to resolve issues.
After an encounter while delivering a package to her, Chiori made Kirara's current outfit, Whirling Bloom, after being displeased with her appearance at the time, which she described as akin to being "unceremoniously dropped in a bucket of paint". This resulted in her store becoming more known as people inquired about the outfit.[2][6][7] She also tailored the outfits worn by Lyney, Lynette, and Navia, as well as the accessories for Charlotte's Kamera, Monsieur Verite. Chiori is very popular among the people of Fontaine, ranging from the upper classes to even muscle men who treat her with respect and gifts; anyone who disrespects her are promptly thrown out of her store.[8] While people are willing to pay for her clothes, Chiori is not particularly driven by wealth, rather being more interested in increasing the reputation of her name and store.[9]
Chiori is good friends with Chevreuse, though her solutions to solving problems often leaves Chevreuse exasperated. She is also good friends with Navia, as the two young women share similarities with each other. It is also implied that she does not like competition in the fashion industry, as she quickly drives out malignant competitors[10] and had nearly done the same when she was learning the trade in Inazuma.
Appearance
Chiori has dark brown hair with yellow streaks, styled with side bangs and pinned up in an elaborate series of knots with a side ponytail. Her eyes are red. She utilizes the medium female model.
Chiori wears a golden-and-black kimono-inspired dress over a grey sleeveless top. A red obi sits around her waist, with bows at the front and a large, flower-shaped knot tied at the back. Her Geo vision is worn like an obidome on a purple obijime. A three-petaled flower design is common on her attire and many of her accessories, including her stud earrings. She wears elbow-length dark gloves and dark stockings. Her dark brown hair is styled into an ornate flower-shaped bun with a curled side ponytail, held together by kanzashi hairpins and a bow. She wears black cantilevered heels with red straps and black ankle straps adorned with a bow.
Official Introduction
On the busiest street in Fontaine's Quartier Lyonnais lies a clothing store called "Chioriya Boutique." Though it may seem unassumingly small, you'll notice that passersby often stop to peer in. People say that its boss Chiori hails from Inazuma, and that she is as direct as a bolt of lightning. They know what happens to those who insist on interfering with her business, having witnessed the fallout with their own eyes. Not only do such meddlers invariably end up tasting the bitterness of defeat, but some of them — for the very first time in their lives — learn what it feels like to be thrown backside-first into the gutter... literally.
What sort of background and upbringing gives a foreign fashion designer the confidence to act so boldly? This is the question that local journalists ask one another when they hear or witness such spectacles, their eyes wide with amazement. They're constantly on the hunt for anecdotes that might shed some light on her past, some even having traveled all the way to Inazuma to secretly interview her friends, family, and former tailoring mentor...
Obstinate, headstrong, and disobedient from a young age, even daring to forgo honorifics when addressing her elders... overall, not a particularly positive picture.
Chiori's parents alone would let out a smile, saying that she just has "a unique way of thinking" and is "single-mindedly devoted to the pursuit of her dreams."
"Miss Chiori, may I ask... How did you manage to achieve such success? And what are the secrets to designing such wonderful clothes?"
Sitting opposite, Chiori began to put away her needle and thread as she stared coldly back at this journalist masquerading as a customer.
"I make whatever I wish to, however I wish to. How about you then — are you planning to buy anything or not?"
Character Stories
You push open the doors to the boutique. Situated on one of Fontaine's busiest thoroughfares, it is named for its designer.
The crisp ringing of a bell chimes from above as if wishing luck to all customers who step through the door. If the rumors swirling about have even a grain of truth to them, then perhaps such blessings will come in handy.
"Welcome to the Chioriya Boutique, how may I help you?" The greeting that reaches your ears, while perhaps lacking somewhat in enthusiasm, is filled with assurance.
The owner of the voice shoots you a glance from behind the counter. A striking foreigner with captivating eyes — just like they said.
"A personalized, custom job? Or something off the shelf?" Her second question. The tone fills you with a certain feeling — as though the second someone steps through the door, even the highest-ranking aristocrat becomes merely a guest in her kingdom, while she sits high upon her throne, allowing supplicants to choose from among the blessings she offers.
"I'd like tailor-made formal attire." You say. Her expression softens a little. It appears that in this kingdom, customizing the cut of the cloth to the customer and designing a personalized outfit in the Kingdom's name is something worth a smile.
Perhaps this is the best possible outcome, you muse to yourself. After all, those who recommended the shop to you not only all praised the exquisite handiwork of this designer, but some nearly couldn't stop themselves from opening wide their wardrobes to show off the dazzling contents within, as though they wished nothing more than to shove you inside to bask in the clothes' glory for a day. They even say that the owner of the shop is rarely found within, and if she is on the premises, that means she is in a good mood.
But you quietly swallow all the same, for you know when fortune does not hold you in her fickle favor, then all manner of unimaginable and outrageous things may occur when the owner is in, such as...
Before you can even get a handle on your thoughts and feelings, the bell above the door screams a metallic protest. The boutique's door has been kicked wide open by a man swaying and rocking, foul breath reeking of alcohol and language yet more foul spilling out of his mouth.
"I—I won! I won the bet, the Boss is in toda—" Though you could not clearly see just what happened, before he even finished speaking, he suddenly flew out the window, drawing an elegant arc through the air.
Chiori brushes her hands and closes the window, before saying to you, as if nothing had happened, "Apologies, the weather has been somewhat inclement of late. All kinds of trash have come blowing into my shop. It's been taken care of, so pay it no heed."
It appears this kingdom does not welcome all unconditionally.
Character Story 1
Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 2
"Ms. Chiori, what past experiences did you have that forged the success you now enjoy?" — A reporter once asked her this question.
Chiori had hesitated as she searched for an appropriate response in her memories, but simply could not find a good answer. After all, in her own estimation, there was nothing special at all about her past.
Chiori was born into a family of merchants. Though not well-off by any means, she had lacked for nothing in her childhood. Busy with their business, her parents had not been overly strict with her. This, her parents joked, is what had created her carefree and unbridled nature.
At the age when many young girls began to study the art of tea or of flowers, Chiori was climbing trees and catching fish with other children... It wasn't that her parents never tried to get her to learn. But making Chiori sit quietly in front of a tea table for an entire day? Why, that would be the death of her (and of her teacher).
—Alright, then let's just have her study the art of the sword, said her father.
Before long, Chiori was carrying two swords with her to class. "Two is obviously better," she declared, boldly and confidently, dual blades in hand.
Her teacher had never seen a student with — his words to her father were tactfully chosen — such personality. And thus a seething Chiori was sent back home.
Similar scenes played out many times, yet Chiori's parents were never too harsh with her, only believing "That's just how she is."
Until one day, Chiori's mother came home to discover her sitting quietly before the table, staring entranced at a bolt of high-quality fabric. The Chiori that was normally bouncing off the walls was nowhere to be found.
"Do you like it?" Asked her mother. "It feels so smooth," came little Chiori's blunt answer, "And it's so pretty, how was it made?"
And thus, in the days that followed, Chiori sent tailoring teacher after teacher storming off in frustration, just as before. But at the same time, she also learned many tailoring techniques.
Also, in all fairness, it should be mentioned that Chiori was already far more well-behaved with the tailors than she had been with all those other teachers.
Character Story 2
Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 3
When the news of Inazuma's Sakoku policy reached Fontaine, the topics of tea-table discussions centered around the "Raiden Shogun" over there, that "Vision Hunt Decree," and those ceaseless thunderstorms on the islands, as though discussing some sort of fantastical anecdotes.
After all, even the loudest thunderclap cannot be heard across the vastness of the sea to the dome of the sky above their heads.
But the people of Fontaine could never have imagined that a storm that would imminently engulf Fontaine had at that time already left the shores of Inazuma, and was quietly heading for them. And the name of that storm was "Chiori."
The storm took shape on the journey out of Inazuma. From the very beginning, it had decided to let loose its thunder upon the streets of Fontaine — the capital of fashion and the City of the Arts.
At first, it was only a few rumblings from the diverse firmament of the fashion world that nobody paid much heed to.
"It's just a fad, that's all," "It'll be forgotten in a few days"... That's what they all said at first, as though they were discussing nothing more than a cat of unusual coloration that had appeared on the streets.
Yet after this storm named "Chiori" struck that year's Fontaine Fashion Week, nearly all could hear the echoes of its thunderous fury reverberating throughout Fontaine.
In a flash, the headlines of Fontaine's papers were completely occupied with a foreign name.
Some critics have opined that quality clothes are not just for looking at, but can also be "heard." In this aspect, Chiori had succeeded. Every stitch and thread of her clothes told a story: the echoes of waves, the breathing of a forest, a sweet spring gushing forth in the desert...
Naturally, the "old guard" of the fashion world could not tolerate this foreign interloper encroaching upon their territory, and thus raised their banners and declared war upon this "invader," using various methods.
Yet everyone can see how it ended. Not only did they taste the bitterness of defeat, but some of them — for the first time in their lives — tasted the feeling of falling butt-first into the gutter.
Character Story 3
Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 4
It is unclear when the Chioriya Boutique gained the nickname of "intelligence boutique." Even Chiori herself is at a bit of a loss as to how this occurred. It's almost as if all she needs to do is share some of the information she has overheard in her shop with her friends, and it will have a tremendous impact on certain matters.
Later, she came to understand that rather than the Chioriya Boutique being the source of reams of intelligence, it was better to say that rivers of intelligence flowed of their own accord through her doors.
Those impeccably dressed merchants and government dignitaries were a kaleidoscopic flock of butterflies, each scattering the pollen known as "intelligence" from their fluttering wings onto that gorgeous flower called the Chioriya Boutique. Their actual intention was not to pollinate this flower, but rather to flaunt just how much pollen they had to the other butterflies. They consider the amount of information one had on them to be far more worthy of taking pride in than the quantity of gems sewn into one's garments.
—Have you heard? So-and-so has yet another new flame!
—Oh, and that one, they seem to have sealed a huge deal with the one from the Maison Gardiennage!
—You mean the one in charge of transportation? Now I've heard that what he's really transporting is...
—Shh! You can't say that out loud!
...
If she really had to choose, Chiori would rather not listen to all this. She feels allergic to this sort of pollen, with the primary symptom being difficulty in quietly and wholeheartedly focusing on clothing. Thus, when designing new styles and products, she generally does not show up in her shop.
But after realizing the value of such intelligence, she began to take a certain amount of notice on behalf of others. Should the interests of friends or the safety of Fontaine be involved, she would kindly send a letter to give a friendly reminder, or do so to their face. For her, this is no different from tailoring clothes — sewing each element into its proper place.
In accordance with a businessperson's principles, Chiori naturally collects some small tokens of "repayment." After all, as she is wont to say: It's only business if there's an exchange.
Character Story 4
Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 5
If you truly wish to understand Chiori's designs, then you must witness Chiori fashioning clothes with your own eyes.
The first time people see said designs, it's as if they cannot comprehend what is before them. Does this designer not know what "rules" are? How can women's clothes be tailored like men's? How can men's formalwear use women's fabrics?
Yet there is some quality within that attracts them, and halts them in their tracks. It's as if all of this rejection and resistance to the "rules" is so eminently reasonable that it is plainly saying: You are the ones who are wrong.
It is the same for Chiori as she tailors the clothes. From the way she treats the fabric, it is as if she has never seen the material before. Her cuts come from unexpected angles, ignoring the direction of the thread, and sometimes suddenly seizing upon adding a completely new structure halfway through, before upending her own work once again...
Sometimes, she will even draw her sword and swiftly cut the first-rate fabric before her with a clean slash, as though she were not making clothes, but rather dueling — as though she were fighting with the fabric in her hands, vying for authority, with her emerging as the ultimate victor.
No one makes clothes as she does, much less converses so with the fabric. Her workstation becomes an operating table, and she knows just what the perfect form of the fabric is, with each stroke of her blade excising lesions and sores from her patient...
An employee once complained to Chiori that it was too difficult to cut the style she requested.
—"Why? Are your scissors not sharp enough?"
—"No, that's not it... It's just..."
—"Then you can cut it."
She will make you feel that if you cannot cut and trim clothes exactly as you please, then that is because you're simply too foolish to do so. Yet when you see the clothes she tailors, you will feel that if you cannot live exactly as you please, then that is yet more foolish still.
"Ms. Chiori, I would like to ask, just how do you design your clothes?" —Came the reporter's question.
—"However I want."
Character Story 5
Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 6
Dreams. Such an ephemeral word, far flimsier than even the thinnest silks Chiori has laid hands on. Yet when worn, they can be heavier and more suffocating than the thickest fabric.
She chased her dream all the way to Fontaine, and yet when she finally managed to catch up to it, she discovered that it had once more run even farther away of its own accord.
So, what next? Take up the burden of her dream and forge ahead, or just be content with what she had?
—No. Chiori firmly told herself. I choose neither.
She enjoyed the sweet aftertaste dreams left, the satisfaction that filled her. Yet she hated using dreams of the future to urge herself onward. That was itself a kind of shackle.
She chooses to live in the present.
She will work tirelessly day and night on a piece of clothing, just so that it might grace the stage of Fashion Week. She will also disappear for weeks on a whim, enjoying every sight along the way, the starry sky overhead every night, until finally setting off on the road back home once tired. It all depends on her mood.
None can dictate any aspect of her life to her, no one can tell her what she "should" do; not even her own dreams. It is almost as if she would toss life itself out the window without a moment's hesitation, should it prove an obstacle to her.
"Never give up" is Chiori's true brand. She has said so herself.
Strangely, it's as though it is in fact her "dream" that has begun actively trying to draw close to her out of fright. As opposed to her chasing it, her dream is attempting to curry favor with her, like a once-wild tamed beast attempting to cozy up to its new master's side.
—Ms. Chiori, you've said that you want your brand to become fashionable across Teyvat. May I ask when you expect to achieve this goal?
—Hard to say. Perhaps when I feel like it.
Chiori's Drafts
Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 4
When a Snow-Winged Goose chasing the reflection of the moon leapt into the lake, Chiori awoke. She blinked and yawned, gazing at the black evening dress glittering like the star-studded heavens. The shadows of her dream were melting in her mind, leaving inky traces of sadness.
"Scissors, please." She pushed herself into a sitting position as her loyal assistant appeared by her side, handing Chiori the tool in her hand.
"And a pencil." She added, and "Tamoto" pulled out a pencil that seemed to have seen quite some use from who knows where.
When seeking inspiration, Chiori prefers solitude to company, and often sets off on her own with little more than the clothes on her back, disliking burdening herself with this and that.
A notebook is something that nags at her, as though begging her to write something down. A map is too confining, as though seeking to draw lines and boundaries through her empire of fashion without her say-so.
Her drafts are harder to understand than those of any other designer in the business, for they are often drawn on menus, leaves, or even her own clothing...
Yet her finished products are also more breathtaking than those of any other designer, as they are the distillation of the scenery she has seen, the characters she has met, and even those melted remnants of dreams...
"Done." She looked at the newspaper before her — or more precisely, the tattered remnants thereof — and nodded in satisfaction. She didn't even remember how she had picked it up today, but that was irrelevant.
Her drafts are born with such spontaneity, and completed with the same free and easy spirit: They are brought back to the Chioriya Boutique, copied out onto the toile, and then turned into tea-stained taiyaki wrapping paper before finally being laid to rest in the garbage.
And as for the essence of the drafts... They are for customers to admire and acclaim, and for being enshrined on the front page of fashion magazines.
Vision
Item Companionship EXP Friendship Lv. 6
No way forward. Nothing left to do.
Chiori lay prone before the table, eyebrows knitting at her first work. "Tamoto" said nothing, as though sleeping — or perhaps it was that she had simply never awoken. Chiori's habit was to use a small amount of cloth to try out her designs on Tamoto before making an outfit. Should the result prove satisfactory, she would then copy the design onto a full-size model. Yet none of her designs had been able to gain the approval of her teacher.
Not long before, yet another teacher had expelled her. She had gradually come to understand that sometimes, it wasn't that her teachers disliked her designs, but that they simply didn't dare to be the first to adopt such designs. The judgmental gaze of others were threads far harder to snip than the stitches of any clothes.
"And what do you think?" She asked the puppet in front of her. "Tamoto" had never complained about her designs, and would happily try on any clothes without protest. But if she could open her mouth, would she say those three words, "I like it"?
Not long before, Ogura Textiles & Kimonos had extended an invitation to Chiori, asking her to work in the shop. Chiori appreciated Ogura Mio's intentions, for among the children studying tailoring, she was one who seemed to admire Chiori's designs.
But no. Chiori shook her head, rejecting the idea.
When all was said and done, that was someone's else shop, someone else's name. She didn't like the feeling of dwelling within the home of another.
"Fontaine..." She whispered softly. The word had been bubbling to the surface of her mind of late, as a hummed tune overheard may linger forever in the ear, unforgettable.
The books said that was the capital of fashion, a city of the arts. The merchants said it was a place that revered entertainment, and that anything interesting would be liked by everyone there.
Then, Chiori had thought it too far away. It would take months of travel just to get there. Now, she felt that Inazuma was too far away. Her designs would reach few here.
"Fontaine... Fontaine..." She murmured the name several more times, as though doing so could pull that faraway country closer to her.
As she thought of "Ogura Textiles & Kimonos," she found herself speaking another name — "Chioriya Boutique."
—It was as though her heartstrings had suddenly been plucked and were now humming. The sounds of "Fontaine" and "Chioriya Boutique" were two notes that seemed to form a perfect harmonious chord.
"Fontaine's 'Chioriya Boutique'..." She closed her eyes and imagined a sign emblazoned with her name appearing on Fontaine's vibrant avenues, and how the people there would sound speaking the strange name. It suddenly all seemed so real to her, as though, at that moment, the real her was already in Fontaine, and the "her" left here was merely a shadow she had carelessly left behind in Inazuma.
She swiftly sat up and left the house without so much as a word to her parents. They were shocked, and looked at each other in dismay, guessing that perhaps she was going out for a walk to unwind. Yet when she next returned, she had already said her goodbyes to some, and left a few others with no doubt as to what she really thought of them. Either way, the name "Chiori" would certainly return to Inazuma's shores long before she did. That was the oath she swore.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," She said to her parents. That melody humming internally was urging her forward, and she had to go chase the her that was in Fontaine.
Her mother looked at her father reproachfully, as if to say "Of all the traits she inherited, it had to have been your personality."
Naturally, her parents didn't try to stop her, as they knew very well that once this child said something, it was already set in stone.
As Chiori returned to her room to pack her things, the items on her table suddenly shifted, startling her.
"Tamoto" slowly turned in circles, as though showing off the clothes Chiori had made for her, before happily floating over to Chiori— and in the puppet's outstretched hands was a brilliant Vision.
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