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“ | Shall we begin? | „ |
~ Hiruhiko challenging Chihiro |
Hiruhiko is a major antagonist in the 2023 urban fantasy manga series Kagurabachi.
The youngest member of the Hishaku sorcerers, he is one of Yura's main enforcers and a sadistic, battle-hungry young man who enjoys the thrill of fighting and killing, having been raised as a killer since he was three years old and molded into a member of the Hishaku. After the events of the Rakuzaichi and the death of Kyora Sazanami, Hiruhiko is tasked with assassinating Yoji Uruha, the wielder of the Kumeyuri. This leads to him engaging in battle with Chihiro, who was sent to protect Uruha, and Hakuri.
He serves as a major antagonist of the Sword Bearer Assasination arc.
Appearance[]
Hiruhiko is a young man with light-pink hair and pale sking, being around the same age and height with Chihiro. He wears a black collared jacket with oval-shaped objects around the sleeves fastened with distinct pins along his left side. He additionally wears black pants fastened with a belt and black shoes. He bears the insignia of the Hishaku on the back of his right hand.
Personality[]
Hiruhiko is a very easygoing, casual individual with a hint of playfulness to him, and an innate enjoyment of fighting. Before he began his fight with Chihiro, he voiced his excitement to be finally acting to his colleague, considering the three prior years of preparation boring and displaying no sign of being wary of the danger of the opposing Enchanted Blade.
During his fight with Chihiro, Hiruhiko's exuberance did not decline in the slightest, especially as Chihiro launched the two of them off the train, the sight that Chihiro was about to go all-out thrilling Hiruhiko. Hiruhiko is extremely open with the idea of killing and violence, having grown up with the idea ever since he was three.
In spite of his outgoing nature, Hiruhiko is still capable of planning and thinking rationally, pondering the Hishaku's weaponisation of Datenseki while guiding allies to counter Chihiro.
Due to having very little experience with people, Hiruhiko believed his and Chihiro's similarity in having experience with murder would allow them to be friends. During his interrogation at the hands of Chihiro, Hiruhiko developed the understanding that the act of fighting to the death because of two people's differences was what friendship was; a grossly inaccurate understanding.
Kagurabachi[]
Past[]
Fifteen years ago, when he was 3 years old, Hiruhiko was first introduced to the idea of killing people.
Three years ago, Hiruhiko was a member of the Hishaku, but did not participate in their attack on Kunishige Rokuhira.
Sword Bearer Assassination Arc[]
The day after the 208th Rakuzaichi, Yura noted it was time for the Hishaku to begin their next phase of operation, and dispatched Hiruhiko to attack Kokugoku Hot Spring alongside several sorcerers wielding semi-stabilised Datenseki. The sorcerers destroyed the fortress but were wiped out by the Kamunabi's Kokugoku Steam Squad, and the Enchanted Blade wielder Uruha managed to get away. Hiruhiko then stepped in and killed the Kamunabi squad, before taking four of the bodies to a train station that Uruha was arriving to in an attempt to goad Uruha into losing his cool upon seeing his comrades' bodies and attacking.
The tactic failed, and Hiruhiko bought and consumed a canned drink before noting his excitement to finally fight after three years of inaction to his subordinate, as he stepped onto the train with several other sorcerers, preparing to engage Chihiro. The sorcerers rushed in as Hiruhiko used Blood Crane, sending forth paper cranes straight through the body of a sorcerer that Chihiro had decapitated, the bloody cranes flying in Chihiro's eyes and temporarily blinding him. As Chihiro cleared his vision, Hiruhiko grabbed a nearby sword and slashed down, though Chihiro parried and broke the sword without issue. Hiruhiko then laughed and pointed behind Chihiro, Chihiro turning to see the cranes having transformed into shurikens and impaled Uruha, though Uruha was not seriously injured.
Chihiro then used Kuro in an imitation of Magatsumi's Centipede, performing a wide area slash that cleaved through many sorcerers in the room. Hiruhiko ducked and Hakuri dragged Uruha out of the attack's range. Hiruhiko idly praised the attack's effectiveness as Uruha told Chihiro not to worry about him, and Chihiro stabbed Hiruhiko and launched the two of them out of the train's window. Seeming uncaring of his injury, Hiruhiko was excited that Chihiro was about to go all-out, but was slightly dismayed it wouldn't be one-on-one, summoning some paper butterflies to carry Datenseki to several fallen sorcerers that Chihiro and Uruha had previously dispatched and thrown out of the train. Hiruhiko idly called them the 'Anti-Enten Special Forces', and prepared to fight and kill Chihiro.
Hiruhiko briefly questioned Chihiro if he thought he had made the right decision with leaving Uruha and Hakuri when there were already sorcerers headed towards Senkutsuji Temple, but Chihiro ignored him. Focusing on the need to uncover knowledge on the Hishaku, Chihiro activated Nishiki. Happy to see that Chihiro was eager to fight, Hiruhiko reveals that he and Chihiro are the same age and how he learned about being a killer at the age of 3, but never had anyone who could share his experiences with him. Believing Chihiro to be an equal, Hiruhiko declares that they should be friends since they are the same: natural-born killers.
This enrages Chihiro, who charges to strike Hiruhiko and angrily yells at him to never compare them as the same, disgusted at being compared to a Hishaku. Hiruhiko ignores him and asks him to call him by his name, before activating his sorcery and vanishing from a flurry of papers.
Having gotten away, Hiruhiko leisurely walks over to a local theatre and attends a play, deciding to let his assassins deal with Uruha while he takes a break. Making conversation with another attendee, he reveals he has attended the play before and casually spoils the ending where the hero Sasuke kills the Black Ogre and reunites with his family. However, upon the attendee noticing his stomach wound, Hiruhiko tells him he was stabbed by someone with an Enchanted Blade and that the attendee should watch out. Closing his eyes, Hiruhiko uses his paper sorcery to control his minions to fight against Chihiro, luring him to the roof of the theatre before using one of the goons to destroy the roof. At that moment, Chihiro and the goons crash down into the theatre just as Chihiro successfully killed the goons, causing Chihiro to be framed as a killer in front of the audience without any context. Hiruhiko uses this to once again convince Chihiro that he is the only one who can understand him, only for Chihiro to rebuff him once more.
Confused by his intentions, Chihiro asks Hiruhiko whether or not he intends to kill him or be friends. Hiruhiko explains that he believes they can become friends while still trying to kill each other, having never had a friend before and not knowing any better. He activates his paper sorcery to surround the area, concealing Chihiro's view from him and the audience members, knowing that if Chihiro were to try and cut his way through, he would risk the safety of the audience. Wanting to prove Chihiro and him are killers, he tempts Chihiro to engage in his killer instinct to cut his way through the paper, even if it means killing innocent bystanders. However, seeing that Chihiro is behaving like the hero of the play and refusing to attack, Hiruhiko uses paper cranes to slash Chihiro, leaving him bloodied and cut. However, Chihiro activates Kuro, engulfing the area in darkness, allowing him to intercept Hiruhiko, cutting off his arms and deactivating his sorcery. Holding him at swordpoint, Chihiro admits that he is a killer, but that he can at least avoid killing innocents and only direct his rage toward the Hishaku, before ordering Hiruhiko to talk.
Chihiro reveals to Hiruhiko how he was able to stop him, using his abilities to engulf the area in goldfish in order to pinpoint Hiruhiko's location and strike him from there, deciding to let Hiruhiko cut him up with the cranes in order for him to waste any remaining weapons. Hiruhiko asks him why he would go to such lengths, insisting that they are the same, and Chihiro tells him it is because he refuses to kill innocents, and because of that, him and Hiruhiko are not the same and that's why they seek to kill each other.
Shocked by this, Hiruhiko deludedly believes that because of their differences on their views of killing, him and Chihiro must be real friends. He decides to reveal information to Chihiro, revealing that the Hishaku are a group of 10 sorcerers, their leader being Yura, and their plan to attack the fortress. He apologizes to Chihiro for not showing up to fight with a proper weapon, but declares they will both be able to fight as equals once he properly arms himself. Unbeknownst to Chihiro, however, Yura had taken the Kumeyuri and was secretly using his crane to carry it towards him.
Realizing that Samura took control of the Tobimune, Hiruhiko declares that they have failed, but they will still fight to get the Shinuichi for Yura to wield it. He taunts Chihiro's declaration that they won't let a single Swordbearer die, saying that Chihiro's naivety is why Yura called him "green." He asks Chihiro if he's ever heard of school, stating how in school, history teaches Kunishige Rokuhira and the Swordbearers as heroes who ended the Seitei War. However, he states that such a thing was only surface knowledge, stating how Chihiro saw the power of the Magatsumi at the Rakuzaichi and the destruction it caused. This makes Chihiro realize that Hiruhiko is implying the Master Swordsman was not a hero, which Hiruhiko confirms, revealing that Samura believes the same. He reveals that Samura made a pact with Yura three years ago (the same time of Kunshige's death) and how Samura believes that the Swordbearers have to die, revealing to a horrified Chihiro that Samura is in kahoots with the Hishaku (and possibly the mole who sold out Kunishige). Having brought the Kumeyuri within distance, Hiruhiko throws his dismembered hand at Chihiro and makes a grab for the Blade. Biting the hand with his teeth, he activates his Contract with the Blade, summoning two geisha and revealing that Samura has killed Uruha. However, Chihiro is teleported by Hakuri to Samura's location before anything could be done further.
Powers & Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Sorcery
- Paper Manipulation: Hiruhiko's personal sorcery was named "Blood Crane." Blood Crane allowed Hiruhiko to generate and telekinetically manipulate sheets of paper. He could conjure and control a vast amount of sheets simultaneously, allowing him to disorientate opponents by surrounding them with a screen of sheets. The edges of the sheets were sharp enough to easily cut through flesh, making them highly dangerous projectiles. By making physical contact with a sheet, Hiruhiko was able to change its shape in a similar way to origami.
- He lost this ability after gaining ownership of Kumeyuri.
- Physical Augmentation
- Paper Manipulation: Hiruhiko's personal sorcery was named "Blood Crane." Blood Crane allowed Hiruhiko to generate and telekinetically manipulate sheets of paper. He could conjure and control a vast amount of sheets simultaneously, allowing him to disorientate opponents by surrounding them with a screen of sheets. The edges of the sheets were sharp enough to easily cut through flesh, making them highly dangerous projectiles. By making physical contact with a sheet, Hiruhiko was able to change its shape in a similar way to origami.
Equipment[]
- Kumeyuri: Following Yoji Uruha's death at the hands of Seiichi Samura, Kumeyuri's Eternal Contract is broken, allowing Hiruhiko to gain ownership of the blade.
External Links[]
- Hiruhiko on the Kagurabachi Wiki
[]
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Hishaku Sazanami Clan Sojo's Organization Other |