Here is Kanu! I had an idea of him for a year now.
I thought of Merci having a crush back in high school, and since last year, thought about it off and on.
Last month, I revisited the idea, and built more on it to flesh Kanu out into his own character!

Kanu, age 15, belongs to a small community near Los Diablos who worships the sun goddess. He comes from an ancestry line of famous archers noted for their impressive leaps to shot down even the most far distance birds. Phased out into modern times, Kanu still has his ancestor’s abilities shown through basketball. While Kanu is an excellent player, especially for a Freshmen, he prefers it as a hobby with no scores (as it makes him anxious) and actually wants to be an advocate for pet welfare. After taking care of his rescued pet rabbit, Kanu wants to help out other pets, especially the abused ones, and raise awareness about them. Least he wouldn’t worry about losing another tooth permanently doing this like with basketball!

His close-knitted community help shaped Kanu into being an open and friendly person, and he welcomes someone like Merci with no prejudice. In fact, before meeting them, Kanu admires the type of boldness Merci had, and then sympathy when they were forced to cut their dreads. He hopes that one day they can be that bold again. To be free.

• Kanu Sharma the Caracal
• Artwork
-- Belongs to Radical-Alex