Shigure Kōsaka

Shigure Kōsaka is the weapons master of Ryōzanpaku, as well as the youngest master of Ryōzanpaku and only female master. Shigure is a fair-skinned young woman of with black hair (eggplant in the manga) and unique zigzag-shaped eyebrows. As a child, Shigure had short messy hair and her appearance had a tomboyish appearance that even the immensely perceptive Akisame mistook her for a boy. As an adult, Shigure is an average height and beautiful young woman with a slender frame yet remarkably curvaceous figure, most noticeably in her well-endowed breasts and round butt. She has long waist-length raven hair usually tied back in a high ponytail, peach skin, and light purple eyes. She wears a purple choker around her neck that contains numerous small pins. She normally dresses in a small pink kimono that allows her bottom to easily slip out, and long purple stockings; underneath she wears Sarashi over her chest and a Fundoshi that snuggles deeply in-between the depths of her bottom area When fighting seriously she dons chain mail and wears a black strap under her breast to keep the chain mail in place. Her most eye-catching feature is her eyebrows which resemble lightning bolts. She is almost always seen carrying her father's last and finest ever sword; a tsuba-less Nodachi strapped to her back with a makeshift grip of bandages wrapped around the hilt. Shigure believes that weaponry should be seen as more than just a tool, that it should be seen as an extension of the body: simply relying on the strength of the weapon alone will not make you a master of it. Likely due to her emphasis on the Katsujinken, most opponents she faces end up losing without significant injury or by simply having their clothes torn (which she often does to Miu and Freya's Valkyries). She seems to be aimed at women probably due to the fact that more times than not, women will stop fighting and try to cover themselves up. Even during fights with dangerous opponents like Kagerō Kii and Mildred Lawrence, she will not resort to lethally slicing or slashing the opponent's body, instead opting to use the back of her sword, and in extreme situations, shallowly cutting or attacking an opponent with a weapon to the point that they have small, non-lethal flesh wounds and cuts. When initially introduced she appeared to be a loner, often avoiding interaction with the other members of Ryōzanpaku (besides occasionally Apachai). At the same time, due to her unique childhood experience with Akisame, she has developed a strong respect and loyalty to him, at times seeming like a surrogate father, as she will follow his requests without question. She will usually retaliate violently to Kensei's perverted antics much like Miu. However, she still has a feminine side, blushing in reaction to Akira Hongō refusal to fight her for being a woman and showing she was grateful for someone considering her as a woman and again when she was stripped naked during her capture by Yami and blushed to call the scientists in front of her perverts. Shigure is known to occasionally pause between words when talking. She is usually seen with an emotionless demeanor, rarely ever smiling. She is usually seen smiling when proud of Kenichi's progress. She was even cheering happily when Kenichi imitates her while battling Odin and copying her fighting style like the other masters. Shigure also has a great love for animals. Her best friend is her mouse Tōchūmaru and will not forgive anyone who hurts him. Shigure seems to have sleeping issues, as shown by Sakaki that she sleepwalks and mutters some words in her sleep that Sakaki states are creepy and somewhat scary, making this the only thing he's afraid of. Shigure's behavior has changed noticeably since Kenichi's arrival, as noted by Miu who once wondered if Shigure sees him as more than her disciple. She begins opening up to the others and even joins them for meals. She becomes indignant when the other members of the dojo express relief that Kenichi was alright after a training trip with her, though this could be due to her taking their relief as an insult to her mastery. Shigure even allows Kōetsuji to tell Kenichi of her past and is quite candid around him. She would even bathe right next to him, unconcerned with him seeing her nude and even suggests that they bathe together again. Out of all the masters, Shigure trains Kenichi the least, yet it is implied she yearns to train him, and is disappointed with Kenichi's reluctance (and fear) to use weaponry but often tries to convince him to train more. When she finds the ability to give Kenichi words of advice during her task to revive Kenichi as a martial artist, she pumps her fist triumphantly for succeeding as a teacher to Kenichi. There's a running gag that Shigure has shown to have no modesty in the slightest, causing others to be uncomfortable (or pleased) and that usually ends for trouble for others. Such as when Kenichi went to wake her up from a mission she had, she barely had anything on and caused him a nosebleed. She even wanted to bathe with Kenichi, showing no discomfort at all and even fought several opponents naked and not even embarrassed by it. When she fishes for food on her own, she is naked and not uncomfortable at all. She is even fine with undressing in front of others such as Kenichi despite his protests (and Miu covering his eyes). However, she does have some modesty, as she was somewhat embarrassed being naked in front of the Yami scientists, though this could because they also took her weapons.