If you miss my post about the Trigger Locked series, then let me introduce the person in this artwork again. Meet Touka Kimizuki. She’s the main character in the Trigger Locked series.

Unlike everyone else in her age, she’s leading a double life. She may only be a typical first-year high schooler, but she also works for Public Security Intelligence Agency (PSIA). PSIA is the Japanese Intelligence Agency similar to CIA. Same goes with her twin brother, Yuuto.

So, what makes them being able to become PSIA agents at such a young age? Well, it has a lot to do with what happened to them in the past. And it also has something to do with them being born with a transhuman characteristic. Their intelligence, strength, durability, and awareness are beyond the average human being. So, it makes sense for someone like them to become a PSIA agent.

With such traits, Touka and Yuuto can accomplish their mission just like an experienced PSIA officer. Even their father, Minoru, who is the Head of Special Activities Division in PSIA, acknowledged them too.

Touka Kimizuki is the first character to have such a kickass personality. She’s entirely different compared to my other main characters, Risa Akagi from The Diary of Modern Cinderella and Takumi Ichirou from Twisted Destiny.

Initially, it was difficult for me to portray her. But somehow, things become much easier as the story progresses. I’m glad that I’m able to portray everything about her in the story. And that includes the imperfect side of her.

You’ll know what I’m talking about when you begin reading the first book from the series, The Mind Control Assassins.

What inspires me to create a character like Touka Kimizuki

I never thought that Sword Art Online 2 (SAO2) during the Gun Gale Online (GGO) arc could be the source of my inspiration for the Trigger Locked series.

To be honest, I hate first person shooter games. And I will never play such game no matter how much people are raving about it. So, it’s hard for me to believe that the GGO arc can be so influential to me since then.

But then again, my favorite character in SAO is Sinon. And she’s the only character I like since I don’t have any favorites in SAO. It was also thanks to her that I wanted to have a similar character like her in my next book. And the rest is history. Touka Kimizuki comes to life because of my fascination with a character like Sinon.

So, you can put it this way that the inspiration for Trigger Locked began because of her. Just like my previous book, I was thinking of writing Trigger Locked as a standalone book.

But I’ve decided to turn it into a series after realizing that I have no problem with expanding the existing storyline. Twisted Destiny is the perfect example. Sure, I have no idea what Touka and Yuuto will face next. But I’m sure that I will figure it out eventually.

At the same time, I also felt that I should start picking a genre and stick to it instead of writing in whatever genre I felt. With Trigger Locked in mind, I felt that I could use this opportunity to establish myself as a YA thriller author.

To be honest, I don’t have any problem with telling people that I’m an author. But I do have a problem with telling people that I write YA. I know that there’s nothing wrong with writing YA. It’s not like writing YA is as embarrassing as admitting that you’re writing erotica.

It’s just that most people may have no idea what YA is all about. And even if they do, they will think that I only write for teenagers. It’s obvious that’s not the case. YA is appealing not just to the teenagers, but to the adults as well. YA isn’t that different with shounen anime and manga. It’s appealing to the broad audience.

So now, I’m using this opportunity to use the Trigger Locked series to establish myself as a YA thriller author. Thanks Sinon for making this possible.

The inspiration behind Touka Kimizuki’s look

Since it’s no longer a secret anymore that I was so fascinated with Sinon, then it’s obvious that I want Touka to look like her. That doesn’t seem like a no-brainer, does it?

In case you don’t watch SAO2, this is Sinon. In case you’re wondering, she’s a sniper in the GGO arc.

As usual, Color-LES is the one who does the character design for Touka. I was glad that she was able to pull it off despite the rush. Well, don’t worry about it, guys. I didn’t pester her every minute just to get the illustration done. That’s a big no-no if you’re working with an illustrator.

But I had to hurry because I had to get the cover design and the book interior done pronto. I was targeting to send the whole manuscript to the printer by the end of May.

I thought that I couldn’t make it at first because I felt that I had a lot of things to do. And none of them seemed nowhere in sight. But I was glad that I was able to meet the deadline. You have no idea how relieved I was when I was able to complete everything on time.

I guess I’ll reserve the talk about the print book for another day. Just keep an eye on this blog for more posts about this book.

Here’s the rough sketch for the character design. Color-LES provided me with four different rough sketches after I gave her the character description. I picked this one among the many drawings she gave to me.

At a first glance, it looks more like Kirito than Sinon. And there were sketches which looked like Sasuke and Sai too. To be honest, I was worried about the final design. I was just hoping that Touka didn’t resemble any of them.

I was glad that the final design didn’t even resemble any of them, not even close. Heck, it didn’t even have any resemblance with Sinon either! Did I want her to look like Sinon? Of course, no! I don’t want Touka to be recognized as Sinon’s carbon copy. That’s a big no-no.

You can see Touka Kimizuki in action for FREE

Yes, you read that right. I’m currently posting a new chapter on Wattpad on a weekly basis. And I’m going to do it until I’ve finished posting the whole book there.

The book will still be available for download at your favorite e-book retailers. And it will also be available in print and as an audiobook too. You can also get the book on my website if you don’t feel like getting the book at any of the e-book retailers.

But for the time being, you can only read the book on Wattpad. You don’t need to have a Wattpad account if you want to read the book. But it’s useful to have one if you want to receive an update when I’m uploading a new chapter, vote for the book or comment directly on Wattpad.

If you don’t have a Wattpad account, or you just don’t want to sign up for Wattpad, you can also leave your comment here. I’ll be replying to your comment personally if you do that and answers any questions you may have.

You can begin reading the book here:

Trigger Locked: The Mind Control Assassins on Wattpad

Don’t forget to let me know about your thoughts about the book in the comment below.