Kureno Sohma

## Voices

**Kureno Sohma** (草摩 紅野, *Sōma Kureno*) is one of the oldest members of the Cursed Sohmas and the former Rooster of the Chinese Zodiac, whose curse has been broken for at least ten years. Despite being freed, Kureno agrees to pretend that he is still a part of the Zodiac, and is determined to continue to stay by Akito Sohma's side at all times, since he wants to keep her from being lonely.

When Kureno meets Arisa Uotani, he is instantly attracted to her. However, after their second meeting, he refuses to see her again because of his promise to stay with Akito. When Kureno eventually leaves Akito, Arisa helps him move out from the Sohma compound. It is later revealed that they are preparing to move in together.

## Appearance

Kureno is a young man with a slender yet muscular build, and a rather tall stature. He is mentioned to be quite handsome.

He has straight, short, brown hair, which reaches down to his nape, with two cowlicks sticking out from the top of his head. He has fairly messy bangs which part in an "M-shape" on the left side of his head, and cover most of his forehead. He has a pair of calm, reddish-brown eyes (brown in the anime).

Kureno always dresses professionally and is rarely seen without wearing a suit. His most usual suit and consist of a black vest, with an unbuttoned grey shirt underneath without any tie, along with black trousers and a pair of brown shoes. However, since he doesn't like suits so much, he prefers to wear simple and light-colored clothes that blend in with the background, so he doesn't bring attention to himself.

## Personality

Kureno is noted to be very much like Tohru Honda; kind, polite, slightly scatterbrained at times, and cares more for others around him than for himself. Because Akito very rarely allows him to leave the Sohma estate, he has little to no experience in the outside world. This is evident during his first meeting with Arisa at her convenience store job; he is carrying a huge amount of groceries in his arms since he has never been to a convenience store before and didn't realize he could use a basket to carry them, resulting in him spilling his groceries all over the floor.

Kureno's main trait is, similarly to Tohru, his unfailing kindness and selflessness, which is both a strength and weakness. His kindness has let Akito to dominate his life more than anyone in the Zodiac, since he is too nice to reprimand her abusive behavior or leave her alone. He also forces himself to stay with Akito to keep her from being lonely despite knowing full well that who Akito really wants is Shigure Sohma, not him. He feels it is his duty to be by Akito's side, as he also feels guilt at being the only member of the Zodiac to be able to enjoy absolute freedom, while the rest are still burdened by the curse. He even forgives Akito when she stabs him in the back and never blames her for the things she put him through. Kureno is also a very level-headed, calm, polite, gentle, and compassionate person, who rarely asks for more than what he already has. For this reason, he keeps his needs and wants to himself, including his desire to be with Arisa, or later, to leave the Sohma estate. He is shown to be very considerate of people around him and wants to help them out no matter what, even it means that he would suffer the consequences.

However, after realizing how much abiding by Akito's wishes only contributed to her growing up as bad as she did, and realizing that his presence would only remind Akito of her mistakes and keep her from moving forward, Kureno leaves the Sohma estate towards the end of the series. Kureno also yearns to live his life the way he wants to without being bound by the Sohma family, and is excited to discover and experience new things he was never able to do throughout most of his life.