Kuroko Shirai

Shirai Kuroko is a Level 4 esper and a student of Tokiwadai Middle School, as well as a member of Judgment. She can usually be found accompanying the third-ranked Level 5 esper Misaka Mikoto — her best friend, partner, and roommate. Though a minor character in Toaru Majutsu no Index, she gets a starring role alongside Mikoto in the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun sidestory. Kuroko is a girl with tawny hair tied into two curly pigtails; the rest of her hair is left to hang as two rows of fringes divided in the middle. Her pigtails are tied in place by a red bow each. Her hair is naturally curly and as such needs to get a straight perm for it. With 152 cm she isn't very big and with a flat chest her appearance is the usual appearance of an average girl at her age. As per ruling of both Academy City and Judgment, she wears the uniform of Tokiwadai Middle School and the Judgment armband though the latter only during on duty. On her thighs, she secures a pair of black straps where she stores the metal spikes used to secure criminals. Kuroko can be described as a "girl living in the future". She is used to the world 30 years from now portrayed by Academy City and is ignorant to the customs that present-day Japan still practices, like the "love umbrella", which students usually use to link their names to the name of their crush, and the conventional technology outside Academy City. Aside from being a girl with a modernistic outlook, she can also be blunt when giving her opinions, and this has caused her to be at odds with Uiharu once. Another distinguishing characteristic of Kuroko is her feelings of romantic love towards Mikoto. In the ongoing Railgun manga her affections appear to be genuine and that she is truly in love with Mikoto. She even allows herself to get severely hurt in order to do what she can to help Mikoto. She is regarded as Mikoto's best friend. Although usually laid-back and friendly, Kuroko portrays determination and confidence in her own abilities when she encounters enemies, even to those whom she knows is more powerful than herself. To her credit, she is an honorable girl who keeps her word, is kind to children, and shares with Mikoto and Touma the same ironclad sense of justice that makes neither of them ever back down in the face of adversity. According to a particular rumor concerning her and Mikoto: "There's this horrifying teleporter in Judgment who'll tear apart your body and soul if she catches you...and there's another that rules over even that teleporter's body and soul - the strongest Electromaster," although Kuroko had no knowledge of this rumor until a robber she took down told her about it. Kuroko can be close-minded at times refusing to believe in urban legends without any concrete evidence and even then it will still take some time for Kuroko to accept it. Examples include the boy with the power to make other powers stop working, despite knowing him personally and it was not until when she saw the effects of the Level Upper that she began to suspect it and even than it was only after seeing it a considerable amount of times. Kuroko doesn't seem to like the idea of Gemstones, believing that such a phenomenon couldn't be possible without the Power Curriculum Program. In her Japanese conversations, Kuroko has the habit of ending the determinative sentences with the auxiliary word "ですの" (desu-no), instead of "です" (desu) in standard Japanese language. This can be seen as her unique label in Toaru franchise. For example, Kuroko's catchphrase: " ジャッジメントですの！" (pronunciation: Jajjimento desu-no! meaning: I am Judgement! or This is Judgement!). This is also shown in her character song Desu no! White & Black.