Kashima

**Kashima** (鹿か島しま, *****Kashima*****?) is a subordinate of Slur, being the primary antagonist of the Lab Arc and becoming a supporting antagonist in later arcs.

## Appearance

Kashima is a relatively tall man who, in all his appearances, wears a black business suit with a floral-patterned tie and a realistic reindeer head. When preparing for combat, he takes off his head.

Kashima's normal appearance is a man of average build with numerous stitches and scars covering his body, including an X-shaped stitch over his mouth which still allows him to speak. He has medium-length light-colored hair with black streaks and a long face with sunken eyes and black fingernails.

## Personality

Kashima is cordial, business-oriented and emphasizes polite manners. He is a firm but reasonable leader, frequently meeting his subordinates at casual venues such as karaoke clubs or fast-food joints and allowing them to eat or drink on the job as long as it doesn't interfere with their work.

He has a strong fascination with cutting-edge technology, expressing his disdain for guns and knives as well as heavily modifying his body with mechanical parts. He also seems to take great pride in his augmented body as shown by his disbelief when Taro Sakamoto managed to defeat him. In fact, Kashima's fascination with technology is so strong that he took over a research lab as an "*independent project*" in order to facilitate more research.

Despite his obsession with technology, Kashima is still pragmatic and meticulous planner, rigging the laboratory to explode in case of an emergency as a form of scorched-earth strategy.

Kashima has a twisted respect for life, such as when he started weeping for his subordinates when they were killed by Osaragi and Shishiba (despite having ordered the latter to kill the former) or how he violently stomped on a cockroach Mafuyu Seba had injured so as to give it a "*merciful death*". He has also shown himself to be a very delusional and self-righteous person, following his own warped ideal of justice and believing himself to be misunderstood as he's eliminating "*bad people*", despite said individuals only committing minor transgressions like bothering a cat. Another example of Kashima's backwards views on right and wrong is the fact he believes his acts of murder are justified simply by virtue of being permitted by his master, Slur, to whom he places on a pedestal and holds a fanatical devotion towards.

Kashima also strangely dislikes Christmas and "*people who talk back*".

He states that he has own rules saying that he will not shoe someone his face until he trusts them.

## Skills & Abilities

**Overall Skill Level**: Kashima is a powerful individual, being able to hold his own against members of the Order and even Sakamoto for a short period of time. However, while his physical capabilities are quite high, Kashima's greatest strength is his extensive body modifications.

**Enhanced Speed**: Kashima was able to catch Shishiba, a member of the Order, off-guard with a casual slash to the chest. Kashima was also capable of holding his own against the overwhelmingly fast Sakamoto for a brief period of time.

**Enhanced Durability**: Kashima has no sense of pain, being completely unbothered by any injury. Not only does this allow him to freely modify his body without issue but, during his fight with Sakamoto, Kashima was capable of withstanding being slammed through the wall as well as remain fully conscious for the majority of the resulting beatdown in spite of the damage.

**Body Modifications**: 70% of Kashima's body is surgically modified, not only does he have a highly modified skeleton made up of steel cables which allow him to segment his limbs into reattach able pieces, but he also has an artificial spine that makes his neck all but impossible to break. He also possesses a multitude of weapons concealed within himself that he can use in battle, either by unravelling his stitches or prompting them to emerge from his body; some of the weapons displayed or used by Kashima include:

* A gun on his right arm with multiple, wire-guided grappling hooks.
* A directed-energy weapon inside his mouth.
* A mass of blades inside his left forearm.
* A large cannon embedded within his ribcage.
* Limbs that can separate into segments joined by a thick cable.

**Advanced Surgical Knowledge:** Kashima was able to reattach Gaku's arms and fingers nerve-by-nerve, restoring them to full functionality with minimal surgical equipment. However, he notes that the muscle tissue on the severed limbs was still alive, and he was still unable to reattach Gaku's ear.

## Etymology

* The surname **Kashima** means "deer, venison" (鹿) (**ka**) and "island" (島) (**shima**).

## Trivia

* Kashima enjoys Heisei-era music and has a playlist of it, which he is proud of.
* According to a flyer advertising Kashima's group, employment comes with no overtime, fulfilling training programs, excellent benefits packages, lifetime employment, two days off per week and a cheerful, fun workplace.