Raiden Hataru

"*The things we must protect that are not new such as this obvious peace are the ones we must carry in our heart. In the end, what we are left with is the greatest gift of all: our humanity.*"
—Raiden Hataru

**Raiden Hataru** (は樽 雷電 Hataru Raiden) is a 1st year student at the IS Academy and the main protagonist of ***Hitokiri Kingslayer: Infinite Stratos Swordsman Romantic Story*** created by TalonAlpha3. A survivor from Phantom Task's cruel experiments and blind completely, Raiden enters the IS boarding school as the 2nd male IS pilot to seek penance for his sins.

## Appearance

Raiden is a tall and scarred muscular man with long silver hair reaching to the tip of his shoulders. The most prominent scars are his arms, neck, and ankles from his chains, a spot on his right hip that was a slash mark from a knife, two bullet wounds on his left thigh and right palm, and a never-ending amount of all the scars and bruises he has obtained in the past, most of which have faded.

He wears the IS Academy uniform with a gray leather trench coat that is only zipped down halfway, black gloves, and black shoes. He carries with him a sheathed katana that, when unsheathed slightly, activates his IS. In his casual clothing, Raiden dresses simply, wearing a plain men's kimono of cheap, worn cloth with a white *umanori hakama*, zori and white *tabi*. His kimono is almost always soft dark blue, most likely to contrast better with his silver hair. His sakabatō is worn tucked under his *obi* at his left hip in a black, steel *saya*.

Raiden wears a large black blindfold around his eyes so as to cover up the scars that were given unto him. Although blind, Raiden surprisingly knows where he walks and whom he speaks to given his improvised senses of sound and smell. After waking up from his slumber, his eyes were restored which had a blue color and fading scars across them.

## Personality

Raiden is a victim who carries a great weight of pain in his heart. Seeing his mother killed by Phantom Task scarred him immensely as it was the last thing he saw before losing his eye sight. After suffering at the hands of being an experiment for Phantom Task and of being molested as a young boy along with being a pet toy of Squall Meusel, Raiden was unable to shake off the memory of those dark times. Because of this, he sought to escape from any involvement regarding the IS during his years with Akane.

Soft-spoken, serene and humble, Raiden's usual demeanor suits his effeminate appearance perfectly. Always willing to put others before himself, both in terms of well-being and social standing, Raiden usually refers to others with the noble honorific of "-*dono*" while nearly always speaking of himself with the particularly humble pronoun "*sessha*" and ending his phrases with the formal verb "*de gozaru*" (translated as phrases like "that it is" or "that I am"). He carries himself with an air of amicable temperance, politely conversing with the people he encounters and freely giving his meager services to those who need a hand.

Raiden doesn't hesitate to put himself in the path of harm to shield those around him and often attempts to diffuse contentious situations with soft, calming words and a somewhat clownish personality involving feigned clumsiness and his trademark interjection "*oro*" (a unique pronunciation of "*ara*"). These traits lead those unfamiliar with Raiden to view him as ineffectual or easily exploitable, but more perceptive people become aware in short order that his gift for placatory eloquence and veiled redirection of disagreeable situations suggest a deep wisdom belied by his youthful, unassuming visage.

Tormented by his past as a hitokiri, or assassin, of Phantom Task, Raiden has developed an acute appreciation for life and has taken a vow in his heart to never again kill another person and to do everything within his power to protect people from being killed. This vow is the defining characteristic of Raiden's personality and the primary motivation for his transition into what he defines himself as a rōnin, a wanderer. Despite this, however, he holds his own existence cheap and carries in his heart a grievous guilt that prevents him from becoming emotionally close to the people around him and compels him to a life of humble service and selfless personal sacrifice. Even with his prodigious skill as a prolific swordsman, Raiden refrains from wielding his great combat strength for his own sake, drawing his sword only for the well-being of others when words fail to appease. Though unwilling to simply be killed by unrelated attackers, Raiden freely accepts that any grudges against his past self are well-deserved; he remembers the face of every person he has wronged as the *Kingslayer* and will face their hatred or judgment without complaint, believing that he does not deserve the same happiness as others.

Spending much of his alone time in quiet contemplation of his past misdeeds and future retribution, Raiden often ponders what the right path toward redemption is and laments each life lost due to his weakness. As such, he has a tendency toward trying to solve problems all by himself and alienating his would-be allies with secrecy so as to keep them from becoming involved in his risky endeavors. Having lived his own life carrying heavy regrets, Raiden is reluctant to judge others for their personal actions, beliefs or mistakes and always offers hopeful encouragement so that those who have stumbled onto the wrong path might redeem themselves in the future. However, when forced to draw his sword against those who abuse their power and undervalue the lives of others, Raiden's calm temperament gives way to a marked intensity capable of intimidating even other skilled swordsmen and can go so far as to become a powerful fury, despite his compulsion toward diplomacy.

As time passes, however, Raiden learns to trust the people around him with the truth about himself as well as with some of the burden he bears, understanding that his life, too, is a human one and that his friends and allies would suffer greatly if he were to die.

In great contrast to Ichika Orimura, Raiden is aware of the feelings girls hold for him to which he acknowledges and accepts but doesn't usually respond back, at least publicly since he and Houki, his lover, agreed to keep it a secret due to their roles as students at the Academy. He too feels the same feelings that Houki holds for him but initially concealed it as he fears of losing them just like how he lost his mother. Strangely enough, he knows how to make girls "feel good", a fact his mentor Akane Fujimoto learned too late in that she "created a monster". Some say that he likes to be a little rough around women, especially in bed but that is only imagined by his mentor Akane.

## Relationships

### **Houki Shinonono**

   One of the only girls in the Academy whom he trusts and personally feels more attached to, Raiden first met Houki Shinonono at the dojo club at the Academy when the former was practicing Iaido despite the two being in the same class. Since then, the two had remained friends because of their friendship with Ichika but Houki began to watch Raiden more due to his unique nature as a samurai with a sakabato and a vow to never kill, which resonates with her dojo's philosophy of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū.

As time passed, Houki felt more drawn to him than Ichika and came to care for Raiden greatly, which was first demonstrated when Raiden protected Houki from the first Golem's attack, at the cost of being injured in the process. It was then after being rescued by a former hitokiri and seeing the darker side of his nature that she realized that he truly was the infamous Kingslayer. She then began to fear losing who he was if he ever tapped into the mindset of his former hitokiri persona.

Houki greatly values Raiden's company after he appears in her life and is rather insistent that he stay with her in their shared dorm room or at the Shinonono Dojo. Though Raiden at first sees Houki as being equally important to any other person, her remarkable assertion that Raiden's past is unimportant in relation to his present self convinces him in short order that Houki is particularly special. On the other hand, his expressed hope that Houki's philosophy of *katsujinken* will someday become the example for all Japanese swordsmen gives her the confidence she needs to face the hardships in her path.

Overtime, Houki began falling in love with Raiden rather than Ichika due to his mature, honest, and kind personality along with his will to protect anyone he cares most for, something she admires most. Whenever Raiden felt down or depressed, she was the first to give him some comfort and assurance, all the while keeping his darker nature in check. Although Houki continues to keep up with her tsundere attitude towards him (such as being stern after receiving a compliment for being "quite feminine"), this is actually something that Raiden is fond of.

After witnessing to her horror of the true monster inside Raiden i.e. the Kingslayer and of how he was suffering much of his past because of it, Houki vowed to protect Raiden from harm, which is why she wanted her IS, Akatsubaki, to match his IS Battousai in terms of performance and power. The Silver Gospel incident and afterwards only brought them closer than ever to where they shared their first kiss on the beach. Upon spending time with each other during summer, the romance between them continues to strengthen to the point of Raiden feeling that he and Houki were like the perfect couple and may propose to her one day.

Their relationship became officially public during their last year. She is the first and only girl (aside from Chifuyu) in the Academy to look at Raiden's scarred eyes.

### **Tatenashi** **Sarashiki**

The student council president was assigned to watch over Raiden because of his past by personal orders from Chifuyu Orimura, knowing that Raiden has undergone a great deal in his time as the Kingslayer and that she wants him to feel safe and comfortable at the Academy.

Informed of this and having read the report of his parents' murder, along with the fact that she knows he is the Kingslayer, Tatenashi kept a close eye on Raiden for any signs that his darker nature would come about. Overtime, he started to trust her due to her dedication to protect him and help him with his past despite her teases and advances before falling in love with him. Tatenashi did everything she could in an attempt to instill some happiness into the blind boy, even if it meant doing perverted acts in front of Houki.

During this time, Tatenashi fell in love with him because of how patient he was with her since she was a teaser. She is willing to share Raiden with Houki but still desires to keep him all to herself. When she heard of Squall's history with Raiden, Tatenashi became shocked and angered that Squall had caused the one person she loved immense sorrow for eight years, hence the reason she believes for his suffering.

Ultimately though, Tatenashi decided to give up on Raiden, realizing that he had chosen Houki. In fact, it was better for her as Houki had been through a lot and is the primary reason why Raiden had not fallen back onto his former role as Hitokiri Kingslayer.

### **Chifuyu** **Orimura**

With a history of eight years, Chifuyu treats Raiden as a younger brother similarly to Ichika but without overdoing it. Knowing that the 2nd male pilot is the same young boy she rescued eight years ago, she keeps a watchful eye on him during his time at the Academy because although she doesn't show it, she worries for him constantly, as she believes he had not changed since the loss of his sight and of his parents' death.

The event and sight of a young boy whose eyes were blinded to the point of blindness scarred Chifuyu immensely, as it was a memory she would never forget and sometimes gives her nightmares about it. She regrets sending Raiden to the orphanage as she read the report of how he was constantly alone, being bullied by the kids for his blindness. But she knew that she couldn't take care of Raiden at the same time as being an IS pilot and taking care of Ichika, much to her frustration. She was further heartbroken when she learned that Raiden was taken by a disguised member of Phantom Task to an unknown location before reuniting with him eight years later at the IS Academy. She had a small feeling that Raiden was the infamous Kingslayer, but never investigated it personally.

She, like everyone else, does not like it when Raiden throws himself in the line of fire to save someone from a fatal attack. As a foster sister figure, she does not want lose him again; as a teacher, she reprimands him for such reckless action as he is one of her students. Although she can still teach and train harshly on him, Raiden doesn't mind as he acknowledges and trusts her to be doing her best as a teacher, even giving insight to Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū. While Chifuyu never undertook it, she understands the concept.

The two are extremely close to one another as Chifuyu is well aware that he is the infamous Kingslayer, even acknowledging the fact that Chifuyu lost a few friends because of him. Since his arrival to the Academy, Chifuyu was always helping Raiden from behind the scenes, such as rooming him with Houki to help him recover from his past or "accepting" his reasons not to be a class representative because she wanted him to feel safe and get comfortable at the Academy first.

### **Ichika Orimura**

Seeing Ichika's great spirit and sense of honor from their first meeting, Raiden comes to view Ichika as an embodiment of the future, both in terms of the new era the world was living in thanks to the IS and the potential of kenjutsu. Though he is aware that Ichika looks upon him as a hero, Raiden insists that the boy learn Kamiya Kasshin-ryū from Houki rather than Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū and trusts the young brother of Chifuyu to carry the ideals of "the sword that protects" into the new era. Raiden is initially caring of Ichika, mentoring him through example and wise speeches while he insists that the boy keep a safe distance from the dangerous goings-on in Raiden's life, but eventually begins to see Ichika as another of his comrades and trusts him to finish his own battles without being coddled.

Aware of his immense denseness of the girls that surround him whom some hold feelings for, Raiden could only feel pity for Ichika and wonders when he is able to go out and live his own life instead of remaining in close proximity to Chifuyu. He is also aware that Ichika can be cocky at times, having noticed him clench his left fist whenever it seems victory is within his sights. Ichika in turn, upon learning how Houki is close to Raiden, asks him to take care of his childhood friend and make her happy.

### **Laura Bodewig**

Laura had once viewed Raiden as an enemy, as she reveals that a few of her friends from the Schwarzer Hase were killed thanks to Raiden. Unsurprisingly yet confusingly for everyone else except Chifuyu, she calls him, and still continues to, Kingslayer. She initially did not believe of his vow to not kill again, believing that was nothing more than a lie to cover up his guilt and murderous actions all over the world. Repeatedly, she has tried to kill him several times in an attempt to avenge her comrades, only to either be avoided easily or ceased forcefully by Chifuyu.

After her defeat and rescue from the VTS System, she had the opportunity to speak to Raiden in the infirmary. Raiden has told her that he is neither proud nor regretful of his actions as the Kingslayer and of the title given to him. He doesn't want to ask for forgiveness as he knows it is far too late for that, which allows Laura to finally accept him and move on from her personal quest of vengeance. Now the two are comrades and fellow classmates, which Laura finds ironic that she now fights alongside the murderer of her friends. Over time, she has concluded that the Kingslayer is dead in a sense and that the Raiden she sees now is merely a simple rurouni with a vow never to kill again.

### **Akane Fujimoto**

A former US Marine who's reputation was highly respected among the Corps and one of the famed top agents of the CIA, Akane found Raiden in his prison when he was held captive by Phantom Task and the sight of him changed her for life. As such, she decided to take him in as his legal guardian and live with her in Yamanashi.

    From there, Akane raised and trained Raiden, instilling her moral values and teachings into his head, but treated him with great care and affection, even going so far as to have sexual intercourse with him to teach him about womanizing, which became a great help to him in the Academy. She taught Raiden how to fight in close quarter combat when deprived of a weapon. It was by her suggestion that she sent Raiden to learn Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū by Hiko Seijūrō XVIII (Ryuuin Shinonono). When she heard that Raiden became the 2nd male IS pilot, she acknowledged that she has done what she could for Raiden and that it was up to him to decide his fate from now on without her to guide the way.

All of Akane's finances were then transported under Raiden's name, which earned him a grand fortune, as a "last gift" to him, according to Miriam. Raiden never saw her as a mother figure nor a sister figure, but more of a mentor.

### **Miriam "Miri" Walker**

    An American childhood friend to Akane Fujimoto and an intelligence officer, Miriam was Raiden's second guardian, who had a lot of doubts initially that Raiden would recover considering of his blindness and of his scarred past, not to mention of his parents' involvement with the IS and of what he had experienced at the hands of Phantom Task. Together with Akane, she became a supervisor as part of the deal by their superiors.

Miriam kept from time to time an eye on Raiden to make sure he was doing well but trusted the students and teachers, especially Chifuyu Orimura, to take care and watch over him. She trusts Raiden in what he is doing in his operations, even if the methods that he uses don't exactly go along protocol rules to which she, to her annoyance, has to get the short end of the stick and explain it all to her superiors and to the media.

### **Hiko Seijūrō XVIII**

Raiden's master and the current heir to Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, Hiko Seijūrō, or better known as Ryuuin Shinonono, is a man whom he holds in great regard. From a young age, Ryuuin had mentored Raiden in all the ways of the sword, life and the world, but on the other hand, Raiden was given a rather unique vantage point from which to observe his master's vanity, selfishness and narcissism. Due to Raiden's desire to escape from the IS, the two parted ways under rather unpleasant circumstances before Raiden had the chance to complete his training. However, Raiden knows that Hiko is a stalwart, trustworthy man, even if the master insists on belittling and humiliating his former student at every possible turn.

Raiden was initially unaware that Hiko Seijūrō XVIII was a master priest at the Shinonono Shrine and Dojo. Unfortunately, he left his duties over to Yukiko, Houki's aunt, and left with his wife for Kyoto to live a more quiet and peaceful life away from society. Ryuuin took up pottery yet also honed his skills with the sword. Raiden was also unaware that Hiko and Akane Fujimoto knew each other professionally, even though the latter never took up a sword.

### **Squall** **Meusel**

    Squall Meusel of Phantom Task is Raiden's personal enemy as she reveals to be the one who picked him up from the orphanage to take to her compound where she personally trained him and took care of him. She gave him plenty of food, water, and shelter but was a pedophile and he became her obsession. An example of it is when she allowed Raiden to lay on her chest, mostly for her to breast feed him while playing with his nether regions. Raiden often addressed Squall as "Mistress", to which he still does to this day.

Before then, however, it is revealed that Squall, who disguised herself as Konomi Tsuhara as an old acquaintance of Raiden's mother Azumi Hataru, met Raiden as a eight-year old boy and gave him a piece of chocolate, making the encounter memorable for her as she couldn't let go of the boy in her mind, sending strange glances in his direction every time she came over to his parents' house. After the death of his parents, Squall tracked Raiden down to the orphanage and took him in, admitting the fact that his mother Azumi was a good friend to her. When she learned Autumn was the one to kill her, she chastised her for her envy and had her severely punished.

Having found out that Raiden is the 2nd male IS pilot at the IS Academy, she has personally plotted to retrieve him back not only for being the only successful experiment of Project Kingslayer on her superiors' orders but also to claim what she believes is rightfully hers and would go by any means necessary to bring him back to her. However she does not want him back right away, as evidenced when she went to visit him while paying respects to his mother's grave. After hearing about how he avoided coming back to Kyoto for years yet finally managed to bring flowers to his mother's grave, Squall felt proud of him and let him go, owing much respect to her deceased friend's son.

Despite her rather toxic obsession for Raiden, she ultimately does care for Raiden's well-being, wanting him to grow into a strong man, not a heartless killer like before and embrace the new path he has set himself upon. Raiden in turn does not particularly hate nor like Squall and doesn't blame her for what she did to him as a child, but nonetheless wants to prove that as her former student, he has surpassed her.

### **Madoka Orimura**

    When they were children in Phantom Task, Raiden and Madoka grew to become close friends, almost like surrogate siblings. They attended the same terrorist school in Siberia that was run by Squall and envisioned a better world. Madoka didn't seem to care much for Raiden at first as the two were evenly matched in their duels but over time, the two of them bonded and became close friends as they had a lot in common. Because of this camaraderie, Madoka let slip of her past to Raiden, in which she reveals she wants revenge on her older sister Chifuyu for "abandoning" her and "favoring" her twin brother instead. As fellow hitokiri, the two underwent many missions together, assassinating their targets without leaving a trail of evidence behind them.

They both envisioned a new world where the current system was gone and the Infinite Stratos evolved to complete its original program of space travel and explore the galaxy. Despite their differing backgrounds they were each able to gather large groups of followers and influence many to follow their lead.

But as Project Kingslayer advanced for Raiden, Madoka developed nothing but hatred and jealousy of Raiden being in favor with her higher-ups, Squall included. Despite being trained by the Archon personally, Madoka started to see Raiden surpassing her in terms of power. Madoka, furious that she was robbed of her rightful acknowledgement, believed Raiden had used her for a personal power play. Thwarted of her genuine ambitions for a better society and personal desires as Hitokiri Kingslayer, Madoka spitefully severed all connections with Raiden after their last mission together. Driven mad and by her own jealousy, she swore she would make her former friend pay.

Although she slightly respects, if not fears, Raiden due to his skill and heartlessness in combat, she regards him as the only obstacle to stand in her way to killing Ichika and Chifuyu and also wants end her former partner in glorious combat. Upon seeing that no ordinary IS pilot can match against him, Madoka realized only she stood a chance to end her former friend's life and decided she would kill Raiden herself.

Despite this hatred, Madoka still considers Raiden an old friend and a worthy opponent. The only hitokiri to equal her might and ambitions in her eyes is Raiden. Their old war has made them as intertwined as one can become. In Raiden's perspective, he once considered Madoka to be something of a surrogate sister before she became a warmonger. Despite her crimes though, Raiden has no desire to kill Madoka, intending to uphold his vow of not killing.

## Infinite Stratos & Abilities

In terms of IS knowledge and piloting, his skills are one of the best. Despite his IS Lion Heart being a 2.5 Generation prototype, Raiden has adapted to its functionality and performance. Using good tactical thinking, Raiden is able to overcome his opponents easily but that does not mean he is all powerful nor invincible.

Raiden is trained in close-quarters combat fighting by Akane, his mentor who was a former US Marines and CIA agent. In addition, he has an expert handling and accuracy on range weaponry, mainly pistols and sniper rifles.

For being blind, Raiden can sense where he is going and knows whom he is talking to. He explains that since his loss of sight, he trained his senses of hearing, touch, and smell to the point of superhuman.

Having learned the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū sword style from Hiko Seijūrō XVIII (Ryuuin Shinonono), Raiden's skills allowed him to become an elite hitokiri. The focus-point of his style is enabling him to move at "godspeed" to its fullest, striking and running about at speeds so immense and suddenly that he routinely outpaces the human eye and even dodges gatling gun fire. His signature skill in battle is the Battōjutsu, where his mastery of this skill and reputation for defeating his foes in a single blow instilled fear into his opponents. In the unlikely event his first strike misses his enemies, Raiden is equally adapt in dual-sword combat, using his sheath as a secondary weapon, able to use his ambidextrous swordplay to instantly unleash a secondary strike from his sheath, making it almost impossible to beat him once he takes the battojutsu stance. It was also with battojutsu that he earned the infamous title Kingslayer, having used it against the king and queen of Luxembourg.

Should Battōjutsu fail, Raiden is shown able to engage in prolonged battles, using a variety of techniques, enabling him to fight practically assault. With his slim and light frame, he is noticeably agile, able to use his environment to his advantage, flipping about and jumping off the terrain to confuse his foe and find an opening, even running across walls. He is also well known for his remarkable battle instinct, able to instinctively adapt to his opponent's style, letting him seeing through their true nature and read their attack patterns. This thereby lets him effectively counter an enemy's attack after seeing it once if not neutralize the threat completely. While specializing in swordsmanship, Raiden also shows noticeable hand-to-hand combat prowess, able to calmly fend off a large group of foes with jujitsu and aikido maneuvers. Since allying himself with the Shinonono Dōjō, Houki Shinonono's dojo, Raiden has gradually learned of its Kamiya Kasshin-ryū, employing many of its techniques into his style. Eventually, he mastered the style himself, aiding Houki in the teachings.

Outside of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, Raiden has displayed independent sword techniques which are indicative of his own acquired skills: Raiden, in keeping with his soft nature, is quite skilled at domestic work as many of the IS Academy residents comment favorably on his cooking and he is frequently seen performing such tasks as grocery cleaning of the dojo. Raiden is also an unparalleled orator, capable of spinning eloquence or humor into an offhand comment and prone to making grand, moving speeches off the top of his head. While maintaining his cool, he is rather adept at philosophical arguments, swiftly seeing the cracks in any opponent's logic without missing a beat in conversation.

Born and raised Japanese, Raiden specializes in a few languages such as English and Mandarin and is very fluent in the former, with only knowing the basic phrases for the latter. He also has developed somewhat a high tolerance for alcohol.

## History

Raiden was born as a child an unknown mother named Azumi Hataru. At the age of eight, Raiden watched as both of his parents were killed by an IS pilot (revealed to have been Autumn), an event that scarred him emotionally and psychologically for life. The last thing he saw were the dead bodies of his parents and the flames of his house before having his eyes sliced by the pilot, blinding him permanently. His life would've ended had it not been for another IS pilot, Chifuyu Orimura, who fended off his attacker and saved Raiden.

Raiden was later put into an orphanage and lived there for one month, where he grew up hated and bullied by a majority of the kids. He had barely eaten and barely slept and most of the time sat alone, scarred by the death of his parents and the slicing of his eyes.

Raiden was then picked up by Squall Meusel, who went by the name of Konomi Tsuhara in Japan and was an old acquaintance of his mother, Azumi Hataru. For four years, he was held captive by Phantom Task and became one of the many test subjects of Project Kingslayer. Project Kingslayer was formed when Phantom Task proposed to create an assassin skilled enough to kill the royal family of Luxembourg to gain access to the Time Crystals in their mines. Phantom Task then performed experiments on Raiden by inducing him with drugs, in an effort to create the first male IS pilot. While the project had many other male subjects, about 90% of them were deemed failures and assigned to other tasks. Raiden was the only one to have been a successful test subject. During his time as their prisoner/experiment, Raiden was tortured, harassed, and even sexually molested by the other girls who were the IS pilots of Phantom Task.

Soon afterwards, Raiden was transferred over to a terrorist training camp in Siberia as part of Project Kingslayer in order to perfect his skills. He was trained and pitted to fight against other test subjects to adapt to the effects of the drugs to become the ultimate killing machine. At the same time, he was sent on assassination missions to remove any people with the potential to destroy Phantom Task whether they were politicians, businessmen, IS pilots, or even the unknown. Raiden would eventually attract the attention of the CIA, his name growing infamous and he became known to all as the **Kingslayer**, after his first mission in Luxembourg where he assassinated the parents of Airis Twilight Ruxezemburg, the king and queen.

In the beginning years of the Infinite Stratos, Raiden worked as a hitokiri of Phantom Task, directly under Squall Meusel's leash. The time he spent with his mistress made him develop interest that lay with the tales of Phantom Task's history, but the more he learned about the past, the more he grew concerned about the present. There was a disparity in freedom among the ranks, and the Board of Directors was corrupt and all-powerful, with the Archon at the helm only as a figurehead. In seeking a solution to this inequity, he found inspiration in the words of another hitokiri named Madoka Orimura, and the two joined forces to change Phantom Task and eliminate the corruption within. Raiden and Madoka became close allies, becoming partners during their assassination missions together. But soon Madoka's ideals would become corrupted, and the two would become bitter enemies.

Both Madoka and Raiden appeared before the Board of Directors, and Madoka stated it was her intention to overthrow the board by force and instate herself as the next Archon. But it was Raiden's speech that drew their attention, wanting the board to remain in play but give more power to the current Archon. Jealous, Madoka left angrily and then spitefully severed ties with Raiden after their last mission together. She then studied directly under the Archon Edea Crownsworth in order to increase her standing and power within Phantom Task, something Edea approved of especially after she subsequently wiped out the Board of Directors.

A joint CIA-MI6 IS operation, called Operation Asgard's Hammer, was carried out when they attacked the compound that Raiden was held at. Their mission officially was to eliminate this compound which contained volatile experiments for IS purposes only and that it had to be shut down. Raiden, together with his partner and one-time lover Kaori, managed to escape but Kaori turned traitor on Raiden and tried to kill him, only to be gunned down by another hitokiri of Project Kingslayer named Tetsuo while at the same time, killed unintentionally by Raiden with a tanto knife. Raiden was appalled of what he had done, but Tetsuo informed him that Kaori had planned to be killed to help free Raiden from his enslavement to Squall and start on a new path. And should Raiden have failed, Tetsuo would have shot Kaori in the back. Tetsuo urges Raiden to flee before he is discovered by Squall and never to come back, telling him to start a new path and save himself from damnation. Raiden never saw Tetsuo, but it was likely assumed that he had been killed by Phantom Task for his treachery.

Distraught at the death of his lover that he killed, Raiden flees deeper into the forest; cold, tired, and hungry, he collapses from exhaustion before being found by a perimeter patrol. It was then that Raiden met his guardian and caretaker, Akane Fujimoto, who happened to be part of the operation where she discovered him in the forest and, realizing his identity as the Kingslayer, took him in to raise him.

After Akane took Raiden in, she raised him in her mountain cabin in Yamanashi, alongside Miriam Walker, her best friend. At the time Raiden was found, he was severely malnourished, dehydrated, feverish, bloodied, and on the verge of death. It took him three to four months in the hospital for him to fully recover physically. And in their time together for six years, Akane had managed to instill back his emotions and passed on her moral teachings. He was also taught the simple ways of living and how to see without the use of his damaged eyes, whether it be through hunting, cooking, fighting, bathing, etc.

On the advice from Akane, he decided to learn the ancient swordsmanship art of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū sword style from Hiko Seijūrō XVIII (Ryuuin Shinonono). He studied and trained for five years, learning from Hiko Seijūrō XVIII who became his second master. Akane reveals that she is acquainted with Hiko Seijūrō XVIII in that she had studied the art of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū but never took up his lessons as she was never interested in becoming a samurai.

For the next eight years, Raiden enjoyed a quiet and secluded life with Akane before one event changed his life for the better.

Raiden was taken to a remote underground facility to undergo what was presumably an entrance exam for high school. When he arrived, Raiden, to his surprise, was told to activate an IS. Surprised yet compiling to the command of his superiors, Raiden was able to activate the IS with a simple touch, to the surprise of the observers and to himself. This event officially made him the 2nd male IS pilot and he was transferred to the IS Academy, with Chifuyu Orimura as his teacher. This discovery, however, was covered up by the Japanese government as the world was solely focused on the discovery of the first male IS pilot, Ichika Orimura and to hide Raiden's identity as Hitokiri Kingslayer.

## Quotes

> "*A sword is a weapon. Swordmanship is learning how to kill. That is the truth, no matter how many excuses you give for it. However, I very much prefer Houki's play-talk over the truth, that I do."*
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- Raiden to Houki.

> *"Kanzashi, in any case, do yourself a favor. Put aside logic, do what feels right."*
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- Raiden advising Kanzashi to come out of her hiding zone.

> *"Akane was not a father to me, nor a sister, and not even a mother. That's why if I had to define her, she was my 'mentor.'"*
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- Raiden describing his late mentor to Houki.

## Trivia

* Raiden's hobbies are running, basketball, and piano as he is quite a good singer
* Raiden is influenced by many characters from past anime; primarily Kazami Yuuji from Fruit of Grisaia and Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin