Kiyomi Azumabito

Kiyomi Azumabito is a supporting character in the anime/manga series Attack on Titan. She is an ambassador from an Eastern country named Hizuru, which is the only declared ally of the island of Paradis, and the head of the noble Azumabito family. She supports Paradis in their conflict against the rest of the world, mostly due to commercial interests, and organizes a plan for Eren and Zeke to meet each other so that they can use the power of the Founding Titan. She is also a relative of Mikasa Ackerman through a common ancestor.
During the War for Paradis arc, Kiyomi helps a group of Marleyan soldiers and the Survey Corps renegades stop Eren and the Rumbling in order to atone for being responsible for Eren and Zeke’s encounter.
She is voiced by Kiri Yoshizawa in the Japanese version and Michelle Rojas in the English version, who also voiced Shion from That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime and Tohka Yatogami from Date A Live.
==Appearance==
Kiyomi is a middle-aged woman of Asian descent. She has black hair rolled in a bun which is partially falling on her forehead, as well as thin black eyebrows.
She is often seen wearing light brown pants and a beige coat over a dark brown shirt, though she wears a kimono during the reception held by Willy Tybur before his show in Liberio.
==Personality==
Like many from her clan, Kiyomi is greedy and motivated by Hizuru’s own financial interests. As such, she seeks an alliance with Paradis mostly to benefit from their reserves of iceburst stone, a resource that is extremely valuable outside the island. She is willing to negotiate with anybody in Hizuru’s interests. To achieve her goals, she doesn’t hesitate to make deals with former enemies, for instance by taking part in Zeke's plan to ally with Paradis, making himself a traitor to his nation. She is easily convinced to join Eldia as soon as Zeke tells her about the possibility of gaining iceburst stone in Paradis Island's reserves, even owning a monopoly of it over every other nation. She was also apparently close to Willy Tybur and personally went to speak to him one last time, as she knew beforehand about the brutal outcome of the festival in the Liberio internment zone.
However, Kiyomi also has a good heart and is shown to be sympathetic to Eldians, as shown when she blames herself for her clumsiness in public when Udo accidentally spills wine over her kimono during Willy Tybur’s reception. Unlike the rest of Hizuru's government, she and her family genuinely offered to try for peace negotiations between Eldia and the rest of the world, before choosing to resort to Zeke's plan, and hosted members of the Survey Corps in one of her estates in Marley. She and her family offered to act as mediators for peace talks and speak on behalf of the Eldian government, to tell Marley and other nations that Eldia does not seek conflict nor revenge. She is shown to be genuinely saddened when the Association to Protect the Subjects of Ymir expressed hatred for the Eldians living in Paradis and excluded them from their humanitarian campaign.
She also holds a strong sense of pride over the roots of her own family, as she insists on protecting Mikasa and seems to genuinely care for her, regardless of the outcome of the Azumabito's investments, due to the fact that Mikasa is a descendant of an Azumabito ancestor that was the heir of the former Shogun clan of Hizuru over a century ago, making Mikasa a distant relative of Kiyomi’s and the current Azumabito family.
Kiyomi is shown to be wise and collected when she is confronted and threatened with a gun to her head by Floch. She keeps her composure and even warns Floch about the delusion that the Rumbling will end all conflict on Paradis Island. She also displays her wisdom during a conversation with Annie when she acknowledges that human greed and selfishness cause the worst loss, showing that she experiences remorse. She blames herself over humanity and the world being destroyed by the Rumbling, and even lets Gabi and Falco do as they please and sink her boat, in order to let Falco's flying Jaw Titan help to fight Eren and stop the Rumbling, despite the risk of herself and her technicians starving on small lifeboats in the middle of the sea.
Kiyomi is also shown to be a brave and strong-willed individual, attacking Floch while being unarmed and claiming that she won’t go out without pulling a fight. Her determination leads her to help the coalition fight the Yeagerists and stop the Rumbling in spite of Hizuru’s destruction and the risk and difficulty that they face.
==History==
Kiyomi Azumabito was born into the powerful Azumabito noble family, whose more recent members are descendants of the former ruling Shogun clan of Hizuru from over a century ago, which Mikasa Ackerman is also a descendant of through her mother's family's side. Said Shogun clan was possibly still named Azumabito, due to the initial of Mikasa's tattoo being the same as the Azumabito family's modern crest. At some point in her life, Kiyomi became the head of her clan and became an ambassador for her country, dealing with Hizuru's foreign affairs and international talks and pacts.
Sometime around 852, Kiyomi secretly meets with Zeke Yeager during the Marley Mid-East War. He tells her of his plan of restoring Eldia (pretending he is an Eldian Restorationists and not telling Kiyomi his real final objective) and asks for her help, promising that Hizuru will benefit from it. Zeke shows Kiyomi the ODM gear that he took from Mike Zacharias and tells her about the iceburst stone reserves found on Paradis Island that would turn Hizuru back into a rich and prosperous country. Kiyomi tells Zeke that she also wishes to Mikasa Ackerman, whom she believes to be a relative to the Azumabito.
Kiyomi thus decides to visit Paradis alongside a delegation sent by Hizuru. She finds confirmation about her ties with Mikasa through a crest passed on by Mikasa's mother's family. She claims Mikasa is the sole reason why she came to the island, in a probable attempt to consolidate her alliance with Eldia. Kiyomi then details Zeke’s plan to the military, setting Paradis’s strategy against the world (and especially Marley) in motion. Zeke's plan is divided in three processes, and offers to help Paradis bring its level of technology at the same level as the rest of the world. Kiyomi states that her and Hizuru's contribution is part of the second process, which is the island's technological development, promising that Hizuru's government will work with Paradis and the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers to fully develop the island from its almost one-century behind status, if the Eldians accept Zeke's terms and agree to let Hizuru gain possession of the island's resources. According to Kiyomi, the island will not reach equal levels to the rest of the world until after the next fifty years.
Because of the length of the process, Zeke's written terms propose that the Queen Historia Reiss inherit the Beast Titan and pass it down to her children so that the power of the Founding Titan can perdure and still be a threat to the world, allowing Paradis to save time until they equal their technological capacity, and the use of the Rumbling will no longer be required. Zeke's plan is initially rejected by the government for the time being, with Eren fervently agreeing with the decision to try other options before taking Historia's freedom, and with time to try them still being available, as Marley is busy in its war against the Mid-East Union and no other nations are attacking the island. It is decided that Eldia will not immediately resort to intimidation and violence before trying diplomatic solutions with its enemies first. However, Hizuru's leaders wish to monopolize Paradis Island's resources for their nation exclusively.
When the Survey Corps secretly visit Marley during 853, in hopes to find allies in the Association to Protect the Subjects of Ymir and negotiate for peace with the world, they are welcomed at Kiyomi's estate in Marley's biggest trading port city, where she expresses her pessimistic views, warning them about the recent improved blood tests in the countries which renewed the fear that the people felt for the Subjects of Ymir. On the day of the international forum meeting of the Association's politicians and activists with the public, Kiyomi and the Corps are saddened by their declaration of exclusion of the Eldians of Paradis Island from their human rights program of the world's Eldian communities. That same day, Eren disappears and makes no return to Kiyomi's estate in the city.
Several months later, during 854, after the end of the Marley Mid-East War, Kiyomi is still in Marley hosting the Survey Corps' veterans, while Eren has gone missing since the last year. As Marley is inviting all the world's nation to join a festival for world peace and to form a global alliance against Paradis Island, Hizuru has to cover its own involvement with Zeke's plan and the Eldians, and Kiyomi is to travel to Liberio to join the numerous world VIPS in the upcoming event. Throughout the month passing since Zeke's return to Liberio, Kiyomi and Hange's team are surprised to finally receive word for Eren, from letters delivered over the weeks to Kiyomi's estate in the large trading port city. Kiyomi and her allies learn that Eren is with Zeke in the Liberio internment zone for Eldians, and that he has decided to go with his half-brother's plan to protect Eldia with the Rumbling as a deterrent and to sacrifice Historia by having inherit the Beast Titan to preserve the Founder's power without the influence of the war renouncing vow. The last letter from Eren reveals to the group that Zeke and Eren plan to push Marley and the rest of the world into action by launching an ambush in Liberio, when all the most high-ranking leaders of the Marleyan military will be gathered in one place, a rare occurance. As part of Zeke's secret plan, Eren wishes for Armin to destroy Liberio's military naval ports with the Colossal Titan.
A month since Zeke's return to Liberio from the previous war, numerous ambassadors and other important figures from across the globe and Marley come to Liberio's Marleyan part of the city. As Hizuru’s ambassador, Kiyomi attends Willy Tybur's party in Liberio's military headquarters building, the day before his stage show in the city's Eldian internment zone. There Udo, who was in charge of serving the guests along with the other younger Warrior candidates (except the senior Colt), accidentally spills wine on her kimono. In order to protect him from serious consequences, she covers him up by claiming that she clumsily spilled wine herself and was asking for Udo’s help to take care of it. The following day, just before Willy Tybur’s play, she meets him backstage and warmly congratulates him for his bravery and his sense of duty, before leaving Liberio's internment zone's plaza with her bodyguards, having no intention to stay and watch the show.
With the Raid on Liberio, the massacre of numerous world elites and VIPS, and the Global Alliance being formed, the Eldian government of the Walls gives up on any hopes for peace negotiations with the world, and is forced to opt for Zeke's plan. Days after Paradis’s victory in Liberio against the Marleyans, Kiyomi returns to the island and congratulates Darius Zackly on Hizuru's behalf. She shows him Hizuru's flying boat, running on iceburst stone, the first of its kind. Kiyomi tells him that her crew will use the vehicle to observe the small-scale Rumbling planned by Zeke against the Global Alliance's Fleet, in order to scare the world into accepting peace negotiations and leave Paradis for the next fifty years at least.
A month since the Raid on Liberio, Premier Zackly is murdered by insurgents within the Eldian military, and Kiyomi is seen along with another ambassador listening to the leaders arguing about the situation. She is invited by Commander Pixis to retreat to the island's harbor for her own safety as tension and infighting grows within the Walls. While admitting she worked with Paradis for the island's resources, Kiyomi wishes for her to leave the island with her, if chaos erupts. When the latter accuses her of being greedy and only acting out of selfishness, she recognizes her fault but reaffirms her will to help Mikasa, promising to protect her if she requires it.
Three days after the beginning of the Rumbling, Kiyomi and five of Hizuru's best engineers are taken hostage at the harbor by the Yeagerists. After killing the other members of Hizuru's delegation, Floch Forster holds her at gunpoint and threatens to kill her and her technicians if they do not give their support to Paradis, to develop its technology. Kiyomi calmly points out to him that destroying the rest of the world will not prevent internal conflict within Paradis. Seeing that she doesn’t want to comply, Floch is about to shoot her when he is interrupted by Armin and Connie who ask for his help in chasing the Cart Titan and the Armored Titan, claiming they are swimming away to stop Eren and that the Cart killed Jean and Onyankopon. After pondering over whether he can believe them or not, Floch decides to kill the engineers, only for Kiyomi to suddenly jump out of her seat and lock him onto the ground with her bare hands. As Floch’s men are about to shoot her down, Mikasa flies through the window and incapacitates them. Floch manages to break free and gives the order to kill the traitors, whilst the Azumabito crew inside the harbor's main building are ambushed by three Yeagerists, who are killed by General Magath and Commander Hange.
Kiyomi and her crew take refugee within the building's basement, along with Magath, Hange, Jean, and Mikasa. Because of the time it would take to prepare the flying boat for takeoff, Kiyomi proposes to set sail with her ship for the Marleyan island of Odiha, otherwise they would have to deal with the Yeagerists during maintenance. Defended by Magath, Reiner, and Annie, the Azumabito rush onto the boat under gunfire and manage to get on board, and the mechanics prepare the boat's boiler with Onyankopon's help. Later during the fight, Kiyomi's boat is defended by Magath and Gabi, the former at some point returning to the docks to deal with Falco's Jaw Titan being out of control. With the Yeagerists beaten, the allies of Hizuru, Marley, and the Survey Corps finally depart from the harbor on their way back to Marley. While leaving the island, Kiyomi watches with sadness, along with her allies, as Magath takes his own life by staying behind and sacrificing himself to blow up a Marleyan cruiser that was previously captured by the Volunteers, to prevent the remaining Yeagerists from using it to chase his allies and destroy the flying boat. 
In Odiha, Kiyomi and her allies find that the city has been deserted by its entire population and all ships have left the ports. While the Hizuru engineers are servicing the flying boat, Kiyomi agrees to Pieck and Reiner's request to look after Falco and Gabi and to keep them safe on her boat. Just as the Rumbling's Wall Titans reach Odiha, the boat finally leaves with Kiyomi, the two kid Warriors, the engineers, Annie Leonhart, and Yelena and sets sail for Hizuru, although Kiyomi is confident that her nation has already been destroyed. She expresses remorse for having helped the Yeager brothers meet each other, making her partially responsible for the Rumbling.
When Falco and Gabi intervene to suggest using Falco’s Jaw Titan’s flying ability in order to help their comrades, Kiyomi agrees, even though Falco’s transformation might destroy the boat. Kiyomi, her technicians, and Yelena then evacuate on lifeboats while Falco transforms, sinking the boat in the process.
In 857, Kiyomi is seen in Paradis Island's rebuilt harbor, with Queen Historia and ambassadors from various nations, awaiting for the arrival of the Global Alliance's embassy from Marley to begin peace talks. It is unknown if any of Kiyomi's family members survived the Rumbling, and what Kiyomi's reputation with humanity outside the island is, after her unintentional involvement with the activation of the Rumbling.
==Trivia==
*Kiyomi shares her birthday with Annie Leonhart.
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