Kiruko Matsuoka

**Kiruko Matsuoka**, also know as the **Queen of the bad jokes**, is a character introduced in Volume 7 of High School DxD: Black, and serving as a secondary antagonist/protagonist of the next one. Dubbed '**The strongest Human**', Kiruko is an idol-hunter which admires the class idol Shiori Kamiyama, and see in Zenjirou Sasamoto a possible love rival. She's also the current host of the Evil Black dragon King Vritra, as well as all the Sacred Gears containing the fragments his soul.

She's the classmate of both Shiori, Zenjirou and Shoda, but because of her affiliation with the **Red Team**, she rarely appears during classes, missing the first bimester because of it.

## Appearance

Kiruko is a average-heighted, thin and short young woman with indigo bleached hair, unfocused hazel eyes and fair skin. Because of her usual stalker nature, she has extremely deep blacks around her own eyes, and sometimes her skin color can become paler, not to mention the experiments done on her while in the Miyama house makes her cover herself in bandages to hide her cirurgical wounds and scars.

She's usually seem wearing a dirty, ripped version of Kuoh's uniform with white shirt with black linings, magenta skirt and maching corset-cape. She wear various others clothes when on break.

## Personality

Kiruko is considered one of the most bizarre characters in the series, even more nonsensical than her fellow members of the Miyama house or even the cast in general. When first introduced, Kiruko was intimidating, cynical, threatning and low-toned, trying her hard to intimidate the current Heretic Plague Dragon so that he stayed away from Shiori Kamiyama out of jelousy. When she saw it wouldn't work, Kiruko downright threatened to kill him instead, only stopping because of the school's bells announcing another period.

   The next time they met, however, Kiruko showed her true colors: She has an extremely short memory span, doesn't like remembering things that don't concern her, is pretty vague and unfocused in anything else, and likes to make horrible jokes for the sake of it. She shows no resentment for Zenjirou and his crush for Shiori, nor his position as the Earthbound dragon, and clings on him like a sloth for no especific reason, much for his annoyance. Despite this, however, she can be friendly, supportive and even poetic if such things ever crosses her mind, but only in such occasions, since her own mentality is random and unfocused as the rest of her behavior.

She has a rather friendly relationship with her Dragon Vritra, as it serves as her tutor and friend, despite the clashing personality of both. She's also somehow dim-witted and close-minded, as she reached Balance Breaker on all of her sacred Gears, individually and even able to use Vritra Promotion, but doesn't even try to reach the full potential of them.

## History

Just like any other girl from the Miyama house, Kiruko was a nameless abandoned child picked by Fuichi Miyama is his rage against the heavens. Learn how to use language, the powers of Meta Concepts and becoming a Light Eater, she would soon leave the Miyama house like the rest of the children, but for her own random reasons. Later, after being adopted by another family, she discovered her Sacred Gears, and because of her status as a Light Eater, she soon developed Balance Breaker for all of them, discovering Vritra sealed in them right after it.

She enrolled in Kuoh academy after a complicated dice game, and ended up in class 1-B, together with Zenjirou Sasamoto, Shoda ichimoji and Shiori Kamiyama, that would be later her secret crush.

## Powers & Abilities

**Superhuman physiology -** Despite being human, Kiruko displays several times an absurd endurance against pain and injuries that would normally kill or severely cripple a normal one. Because of the experiments placed on her during her stay in the Miyama House, she can't feel or react to pain, since her own nervous system has been already shut down to it. Moreover, she can also maintain the Balance Breaker of several of her Sacred Gears at the same time without feeling tired not because of her own stamina, but because her body simply rejects the fatigue and body restrains it would normally place on it.

**Swordmanship expert -** Due to her random behavior and quick reflexes, Kiruko can wield a sword with little effort and create several random abilities with it, which desorientate and eventually confuse her foes. Unlike more skilled swordsmans, Kiruko can use several others styles of kenjutsu and vary them in the middle of a battle. Her weapon of choice seems to be a Katana.

**Stealth -** being a stalker, Kiruko can hide her own presence at will, and only skilled senjutsu-users can only struggle to put her in a single point.

**Meta Concept****(現状*)* -** Also known as **Status Quo**, is an ability Kiruko learned during her stay in the Miyama house. Raised initially by Fuichi Miyama, Kiruko learned how to use it during her younger ages. Her specialty seems to be **Glory of the Hero(***暗汚名; Gurōrī·Obu·zā·hiarō; lit. dark infamy***),** in which she can read the position and bio of certain people and take advantange of it.

**Light Eater** **-** Also during her stay at the Miyama House, Kiruko devoured the flesh of several fallen angels held in captive by Fuichi, awakening her status as a Light eater. Like other Light eaters, she's immune to hypnosis and enchants of demonic or angelic nature, and has a special immunity against holy objects.

**Cool Joker(クールジョーカー; Kūrujōkā) -** Possibly Kiruko's deadliest technique, she has the ability to tell a joke so deranged, so alien and nonsensical that everyone on sight, even satan-class devils, super humans and Seraph-class angels, has no choice but to fall down in disgust and confusion by it. This ability made her earn the title of the **Queen of the bad Jokes**, and due to the nature of he onthe ability, Cool Joker is almost unblockable, since even lip-reading can set the ability on. The only known person immune to this technique is her adoptive sister Setsuna Kurisu and her own ability **Immobile-Moving Fortress**.

**Hidden Blade Technique -** Kiruko's secondary ability in which she can hide several weapons in incredibly small spaces, like several katanas, grenades, guns and even bazookas and cannons from inside her uniform. According to Zenjirou and Oliver, the secret of her technique is her unability to understand even the basics of physics to care(and we will leave it like that.).

## Equipments

### Vritra Sacred Gears:

Vritra, the Black Dragon King also known as the **Prison Dragon**, has multiple Sacred Gears that were created after his soul was split following his defeat. Being the current host of the Prison Dragon after the death of the Glasses Black Dragon Genshirou Saji, Kiruko unlocked individual Balance Breakers for them, as well as Vritra Promotion.

**Absorption Line**(**黒い龍脈,*Absōrpushon Rain*)**, also known as the **Black Dragon's Pulse**, is the Sacred Gear residing in Kiruko. It resembles a small lizard (more specifically, a chameleon) with a deformed face that appears on the user's hand. It can produce lines that can suck the power of objects or beings its connected to. The user can also detach that line and connect it to other objects or beings to transfer the power it has absorbed. It can also be used to exsanguinate the blood of a person.

* **Soul Eater(**黒い龍の一口ソウルイーター, *Souruītā***)** - Also known as the **Black Dragon's Bite**, is Absortion Line's Balance Breaker. In it, Kiruko can summon two dragon-shaped gauntlets that unleashes several cobra-like astral dragons that engulfes it's victims and drain their powers faster.

**Blaze Black Flare(邪龍の黒炎, *Bureizu Burakku Furea*)-** also known as the **Evil Dragon's Black Flame**, is one of Vritra's Sacred Gears that grants Kiruko the ability to unleash Vritra's deadly black flames to burn his opponents.

* **Breakdown Burst Inferno(黒炎の減衰地獄ブレークダウンはインフェルノバースト, *Burēkudaun bāsuto inferuno*-** Also known as the '**Decaying Hell of the Black Flame**', is Blaze Black Flare's Balance Breaker, in which Kiruko can create Missile-like projectiles that explodes on contact and spreads Vritra's deadly flames.

**Delete Field** (漆黒の領域, *Derīto Fīrudo*), also known as the **Domain of Darkness**, is one of Vritra's Sacred Gears. It has the ability to take away the opponent's powers.

**Shadow Prison** (龍の牢獄, *Shadō Purizun*), also known as the **Prison of the Dragon**, is one of Vritra's Sacred Gears that allows Kiruko to use Vritra's shadowy aura to restrain her opponents.

* Dark Alcatraz(**邪黒い龍の束縛(**ダークアルカトラズ); Dākuarukatorazu) - Also known as The shackles of the evil black dragon, is Shadow Prison's Balance Breaker. Kiruko can use Vritra's shadowy aura to create massive blocks of dark aura and completely immobilize their victims.

**Vritra Promotion**(龍王変化, *Vuritora Promōshon*)- Also known as the **Dragon King Transformation**, allows Kiruko to take the form of a black dragon and use black flames. The flames can also restrain the movements of enemies, as well as absorb their power. This form allows Kiruko to use all of Vritra's abilities in unison. Kiruko stated that she can enter this mode.

## Trivia

* Her appearance and personality are based on the character Namanie Mienami from the **Medaka Box** series. Moreover, the abilities Soul eater and Dark Alcatraz are based on **One Piece** and **Bleach** moves, respectively.
* She's the shortest female character in **High School DxD: Black**, along with Annabelle, Sabrina Prelati and Luna(pre-transformation.).
* She's the second character in the series to ever show to have a Sacred Gear.
* Kiruko is the only character to have a name completely written in Hiragana, instead of Kanji.
* Like Zenjirou and Rei, Kiruko's named after a number, in her case, 9 and 02.