Legacy: Shin Yagami

Unwritten spoilers will be whited out.

Name: Shin (David) Yagami 

(Typically Japanese names don't have middle names but Yamada's children and their children have continued this tradition)

Year Born: 1980

Hair Color: brunette

Eye Color: blue
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)

Ethnicity: ¾ Japanese, ¼ American

Career: Police lieutenant; military sergeant

Introduced in: Steps Toward the Future

Parents: Yagami Dana (mother) and Yagami Yamada (father)

Girlfriend/Spouse: Yagami (nee Okamoto) Lyla

Children: Hotaru, Nara, Koushirou 

Siblings: Shin, Koji, Nerimaru (Nelly), Tony, Jill, Shaun

History:  In the case of Shin, ALL of his history will be a spoiler. Beware. Yagami Shin was born to then Kobayashi Dana and Yagami Yamada. Due to circumstances surrounding Dana's family, some of his early life was spent in the sole custody of his father. His parents were quite young when he was born, his mother barely sixteen. Yamada would spend years in college aiming for his medical degree and working to support them thus Shin spent quite a lot of time with their neighbor. While the woman seemed annoyed with Yamada's plea, she later would say he was the type of child a very lucky parent would have. He was quiet and helpful, never complained, and was never messy. 

Yamada saw his mother sporadically the first five years of his life, aware of the woman and also aware that she wasn't allowed to be a permanent fixture in his life along with his somewhat younger brothers. While he wondered precisely why they were separated, he didn't ask too many questions as his father assured him that soon they'd all be together. One day all of them ended up living together and he was tasked with getting used to his siblings and mother living with them under roof. Alas, Shin comfortably accepted the change. He was also very concerned about Koji's well-being after a series of events he gets clued in over time merely to avoid letting Koji find out about them. Knowing this, he became somewhat protective of them all, recognizing in his babysitter's household the role of the older brother amongst her children.

When Yamada was given a promotion and he bought a house, Shin was pleased about having a huge back yard. Very active, he would often go exploring their large grounds by himself. One day, he ended up in a neighbor's yard and found a young girl swinging there. He became youthfully enamored when she saw him and invited him to play. He learned that her name was Okamoto Lyla and they'd just moved in next door as well. Shin was quite intrigued with her, having never met anyone with attributes as unique as hers. As Lyla was an only child, she was happy to have children close to her age nearby and her and Shin easily became good friends. 

As the years continued and they got older, Shin started to recognize that his feelings for Lyla weren't platonic but romantic. However, by that point Lyla was considered more a sister in the family than anything else, staying over with him and even spending vacations with the family. Unsure if he could comfortably suggest it, one of their classmates started to show interest in her and they began to date, much to Shin's disgruntlement. 

Shin was quite popular with girls in high school but as a result of his feelings for Lyla didn't really date anyone. On the other hand, he had a lot of male friends as well, often going to concerts and out to eat with them. During one of these ventures, he found out that one of the guys at school had a thing for Lyla and that he was sort of a creepy type of guy. Shin wasn't sure what to make of that but grouchily thought that her boyfriend would have to deal with it then.

Nonetheless, Shin is horrified when he gets home and finds Lyla in tears, telling him about how her boyfriend abandoned her to walk home by herself and she thought she saw someone following her. Shin held her until she fell asleep, angry enough to confront her boyfriend the next day. The boy merely scoffed and told him to just take care of her since everyone knew how into her he was. Shin was hurt when Lyla defended him by saying they weren't like that all and never could be. Playing it off with her, Shin told himself to get over it. 

With graduation looming, Shin realized he had no real goals. One of his friends suggested he join the military so he could 'find himself'. While his parents weren't too happy about the choice, they supported him and he signed up. Lyla was very upset about him leaving for boot camp and additionally  about his subsequent ignoring her after the course of events with her boyfriend. He finally confessed that he had and always would have feelings for her but would never want to make her uncomfortable. Lyla did seem a bit puzzled by his feelings but told him while he was away she would consider them closely.

Shin did very well in boot camp, always active in sports during school. Upon returning home, he is met by Lyla who is happy he's back, asking shyly if they could try to date one another. Shin reluctantly agrees, thinking she's not a hundred percent on the idea. Alas, the two are happy together until Shin is deployed to help in the Kosovo War. Lyla is frightened for him and starts to question if, in the future, things of this nature happened would all she be able to do is stay home and worry about him. Shin wonders this too and they both mutually agree to break up while they consider where they were in their lives.

During the conflict, Shin is promoted to private first class and then corporal. In the alternate universe, women have always been allowed to serve in combat and Shin's promotion is met by contention by Felicity Godwin, a private whom thinks her gender is the cause of her lack of promotion. Shin is puzzled by her animosity at first but hearing about her service record starts to think she is the victim of some sort of discrimination. Alas, it comes to his attention that many women in her class had been promoted to sergeant and sergeant first class. He finally sits down with her and asks if there was perhaps another reason. While evasive, she admits after a while that the army fears showing favoritism to her as her father used to be a general and now is a politician. She complains that her efforts are played down in order to not look bad. Shin thinks it isn't fair but she comes to the conclusion that the important part is serving their country. Surprising himself, Shin is attracted to her determination in the face of unfairness and asks their higher ups to reconsider promoting her. They don't but he continues to vouch for her. They eventually put her in his group and tell him to make her prove her loyalty.

Disgruntled, Shin finds himself in wilderness with his brigade attempting to deactivate a bomb buried by enemy forces. Successfully completing the task, their commander is taken injured and Shin along with two other higher ups start to direct the group back to their helicopters and Humvee. When Shin gets there, he realizes that Felicity is missing and tells the others to retreat while he goes to find her. Rushing back into the forest, he finds she'd been hit with some sort of gaseous weapon and quickly takes her into hiding within the thicket. They hold their ground for three days, Shin slowly making his way toward an allied base while carrying the injured Felicity. She asks him to tell her things to help her stay away and he tells her about his family and friends and Lyla. Felicity wonders about relationships and tells him her father and her never agreed but that he was always the nicest man she knew. Shin chastised her about speaking so gloomily and gave her a smile, saying she'd have to stay alive and beat his ranking. She agreed and started to walk on her own.

The two finally arrived and were sent back to their base. Both were treated for injuries but Felicity ended up staying in the infirmary longer. One night when Shin was preparing to go home and see his parents, on leave, Felicity stops him and asks if she'll come walk with her. They go for a walk and speak to one another about their duties and eventually about where they wanted to be. Felicity admits she'd rather study medicine to help those in the field while Shin would like to one day use his skills to become a police officer. Shin realizes that he feels comfortable with her, telling her this. Though fearful, Felicity admits she likes him too and that she doesn't expect she's as pretty as Lyla but that she's a lucky woman. Shin thinks they're both beautiful and the two end up sleeping together before Shin departs. 

The next day, just about to go home, Shin gets news that Felicity was in the hospital due to internal hemorrhaging. Rushing to see her, alarmed as he'd just seen her not long ago. However, when he arrives, he finds out that she had lost all brain function. Shin is utterly flabbergasted, demanding to know what happened. Autopsies seemed to believe it had something to do with the gas from the attack and that the days they were out in the wilderness caused internal rupturing. Heartbroken, Shin asks for extended leave and goes back to Subami.

Everyone wants to know what happened when Shin was missing but he is less than talkative about the matter, not wanting to admit it even happened. Shin keeps to himself for some weeks before Lyla finally comes to see him. He doesn't want to talk about it especially with her but she tells him that she'd been so frightened she'd never see his face again when they said he was missing. All she'd been able to think about was him being hurt or dead and she'd not slept at all. She didn't ask him merely what happened but if he was alright. Finally breaking down, he told her about everything including Felicity. Lyla isn't upset with him but allows him to lament, holding him while he wonders why it happened the way it did. He feels that Lyla was even more justified in not wanting to be with him if their lives were on the line. Lyla disagrees and says that she'd want to be with him to know that he'd always make it back okay.

Over time, Shin recovers and eventually he and Lyla do continue their relationship. He finds it to be much healthier than before, the woman supporting his efforts a hundred percent and Shin supporting her while she opened her business. Eventually, after Koji is wed, he asks her to marry him and two tie the knot in a small comfortable ceremony. Together they have three children, two girls and a son.

Personality: Shin is a particularly calm character, rarely riled up, except in cases like Yume where he grabs Adam Parker and hoists him up out of anger, or led to act out. Unlike his impassioned brothers, he looks at everything from a reasonable standpoint. He has the pragmatism of his mother and the spirit of his calmed father. He's also a little more reserved than his rambunctious brothers, seeing their partying ways as cause to be reckless.

Relationships: Shin is closest to his father out of his two parents, the man having been their everyday to some degree from day one. He loves his mother and though the disconnect has closed, to some degree he's at least a bit distant from her. Despite having gone five years of their life not being together, Shin is fairly close with his younger brothers. He tries to keep them out of trouble usually, Nelly even remarking that he and Koji would be in jail to this day if it weren't for Shin in the short At the Bar. While Shin is a bit more permissive, he's also as protective as Koji and Nelly of their only baby sister, Jill. Naturally Shin cares about them but he doesn't seem as close with Shaun and Tony as the others.

Shin and Lyla aren't fluffy lovey, really, but the two are cozy with one another. Shin thinks the world of his wife and does all he can to keep her happy. Lyla is a doting wife as well and is understanding of her husband's career that sometimes keeps him away from home for long periods of time. Unlike Koji and most of the other male figures in the family, he wasn't as protective when his daughter married. In the long run, he's usually fond of Joe, his son-in-law, his daughter's boyfriend, Angelo, and is also close with his daughter-in-law, Lynette, both of them having the military experience in common.



Trivia:


In Chapter 14 of Yume, titled Reverse, it is found out that Shin, during his and Lyla's first break up and before he is deployed, that he ends up sleeping with Chihaya's mother, Julia, when going to check on Koji in college. Lyla grows quite upset, saying she thought she was his "only". Shin apparently did not tell her about Felicity either...


Despite being the oldest, Shin is actually a later character that had gone missing in some ludicrous affair in my original version before showing back up to speak with Koji (if I recall my 11-year-old stupidity, he got washed away in the ocean for some reason...).

Shin is based on the Save the Homeland/ Hero of Leaf Valley character. His hair is typically long enough to put in a ponytail but usually keeps it trimmed because of his duties.


As of Chapter 30 of Yume, Shin's military ranking is Major General.


A mystery as he should have been fired for some time now, Shin is the key to all of his sibling's ability to gain the intelligence they needed. The biggest flex of power had to be Shin allowing Koji and Nelly to get past security to beat up attempted rapist Makita Hoji in Jewel in the Rough not to mention him walking into an American prison and commandeering the arrest of Adam Parker.

The events of Shin's history will be told in story format in Trees.