Rekka Hoshimiya

**Rekka Hoshimiya** (烈（レッ）火（カ） 星宮（ホシミヤ）, *the traitor of company 1*) is a former Third Generation, a Lieutenant of Special Fire Force Company 1, and priest of the Holy Sol Temple. Having been raised by Sister Sumire, Rekka was a secret operative of the White-Clads using the bug to find people with an Adolla Burst.

## Appearance

Rekka was a young man of above-average height and a fairly muscular built with short, spiky dark-red hair that fell just above his eyes, bushy eyebrows and dark iris' with star-shaped pupils. He was considered very handsome as was noted as a fan-favorite in the Fire Force calendar. Rekka's outfit consisted of a dark-colored cassock, topped by a light overcoat-like garment with a high collar and a skirt-like garment, dark shoes and a pendant with a cross-like symbol as a charm — an outfit, which is shared amongst the lieutenants in Company 1. He usually carried an ecstatic facial expression, along with his demeanor. Rekka's eyes were sometimes depicted as being traditionally shaped stars; such times as when he was fighting, angry or excited.

## Personality

In contrast to the other leaders of Company 1, Rekka was an eccentric and enthusiastic individual who was always confident and expressive in his speech. He abided by the etiquette of the Company 1 as much as he could, but the moment any excitement started up, especially a fight, his more flamboyant nature came out and he was not shy about praising others for their abilities. Saying that he was getting "fired up" was a particular favorite phrase of his. These qualities were what led Tamaki Kotatsu to admire him and eventually develop romantic feelings for him.

Despite his amiable nature on the surface, Rekka had a dark, malicious, and manipulative side. He showed no remorse for the people he harmed in his quest to find the next Pillar, as evidenced by the fact that he turned people Infernal, executed a woman in front of a group of small children, infecting one of them, and violently assaulted Tamaki in front of said children once she caught on to his scheme, punching, kicking, and stomping on the young woman. When this terrifying, sadistic persona shone through, his somewhat healthy enthusiasm for combat quickly morphed into a passion for violence. He was also highly delusional about himself and the world, believing the children *wanted* to be infected and that Tamaki would gladly take the fall for him, seeing himself as the hero throughout the whole situation. Karim theorises that Rekka was too simple minded to create a false identity and that he would have needed to see himself as both their ally and a devoted member of the White Clad simultaneously. Having been raised from youth into accepting the White Clad's teachings, Rekka possesses zealous fervor for their cause and is completely devoted to the White Clad's mission of starting the next Great Cataclysm. This mania for his mission was enough for Rekka to disregard his own well-being during his fight against Shinra; risking burning his own arms and overheating in order to eliminate anyone who could jeopardize his objective.

## Abilities

Rekka was a Third Generation pyrokinetic who had the ability to generate flames from his arms. In addition to his raw firepower, he had immense physical strength and martial arts skills. He was able to suffocate Tamaki into unconsciousness with a bear hug and could kill an Infernal with a single punch. Rekka also had great reflexes: able to dodge the myriad of missiles Takeru Noto sent his way during their sparring match with ease. His Ignition Ability, called Star Fist Punch, amplified by his proficiency in martial arts, allowed him to land more powerful punches on his targets by using the propulsion of the flames to launch his fist forward. He could also launch his flaming punches from his fist if his target was out of reach.

## Background

Rekka was an orphan who meet Sister Sumire at a very young age. She saw him as an energetic and strong willed child who believed in his sense of justice. These qualities will drive him forward as a member of Company 1, where he became he became close friends and partners with Karim and Li despite their conflicting personalities. Over the years he would make many trips to St Raffles Convent and become a very popular figure among the public, even inspiring Tamaki Kotatsu to join the Fire Force.

## Plot

### vs. 1st Special Fire Brigade arc

After the scuffle between Companies 5 and 8, Rekka and fellow Lieutenants Karim Flam and Huo Yan Li are approached by Captain Burns and they discuss the event. Later, when rookies Shinra Kusakabe, Arthur Boyle, Takeru Noto, and Toru Kishiri arrive at the 1st Special Fire Fighting Cathedral for their training regiment to begin, Rekka is pitted against Takeru for the sparring matches, and Rekka is astonished by the trainees raw power. Takeru launches a myriad of missiles at him, but Rekka evades the attack, forcing Karim to freeze the missiles.

Some time later, Rekka is seen making a phone call in a phone booth to inform the person on the other end that the creation of artificial Infernals will not be delayed.

When an Infernal is spotted in Shinjuku District, Rekka takes lead of one of the squads. During the mission, he uses a bug on a man (witnessed by Shinra) before regrouping with Karim. Shinra and Arthur soon after approach both Lieutenants, but Shinra lies and says they simply got lost.

Later that same day, with the help of Tamaki, Rekka has assembled a small group people - a mother and a handful of small children - in an abandoned warehouse and claims to know a prayer that can protect people from succumbing to Spontaneous Human Combustion. When Tamaki insists on remaining to witness the prayer in spite of his repeated orders for her to leave, Rekka squeezes her into unconsciousness under the guise of hugging her in thanks for her assistance.

Understandably shaken, the woman tries to take the children and go, but Rekka stops her by infecting her with a bug, and she is transformed into an Infernal. Rekka immediately kills her. When he attempts to infect one of the children, Tamaki intervenes and slaps Rekka, saying how much she once admired him. This interference triggers some sort of mania within Rekka, so he punches her, knocking her to the ground, and segues into a monologue declaring he'll never give up creating artificial Infernals for his leader and searching for someone "compatible with the spark". He then grabs a small child and injects him with a bug. The child has an extreme reaction to the bug but does not die. Rekka is ecstatic to find somebody compatible with the spark. When Tamaki attempts to use her ability as a distress beacon, Rekka intensifies his assault kicking and stomping on the young woman - disappointed because he thought she was loyal.

As he readies his finishing blow, Shinra comes in from the skies and stomps Rekka in the face, saving Tamaki in the process. He quickly gets up and punches Shinra out of the way, shouting at him to not meddle with his plans. The two then engage in a battle of opposing Ignition Abilities and fight on an even level. As they break away from each other, the Bug inside Rekka's pocket begins to make strange noises, and he realizes it is reacting to Shinra's flames, indicating he is compatible with the spark. Ecstatic that he's found the third person his leader is looking for, he begins talking about Adolla Burst. As he goes on to talk about how many children he has burned, Shinra becomes enraged and goes in for the attack, but is easily put down by Rekka's punches. After Shinra continuously falls to Rekka's fiery attacks, the two prepare to go all out and finish it once and for all. Rekka struggles to catch up with Shinra's mobility, and is struck in the face by a powerful kick. As Rekka lays on the floor enraged, Shinra demands him to stop, but Rekka endures the pain and slowly stands, all the while expressing his passion of converting humans into Infernals, worshiping the Sun God, and eventually turning the planet into a "second sun".

As Tamaki attempts to evacuate the children, Rekka begins attacking them in hope of disguising their deaths as a fire incident and bringing the children to his preacher. Out of control, Rekka begins to burn his own arms due to the excessive use of his ability, but soon finds his arms capsulized in a pillar of ice. Looking behind him, he sees Karim standing, and tells him not to interfere, and tries to use his ability to melt the ice, though it just freezes him more until his entire body is subdued, though he left air bubbles for Rekka to breathe, intending for him to stay alive. Immediately after, Arrow uses her Ignition Ability to create a flaming arrow, and fires it straight through Rekka's chest, resulting in his death.

### Legacy

Rekka's death left a shadow over Company 1, with Karim choosing to working alongside Company 8 to uncover his lost friend's true nature and Onyango being called out of retirement to replace him. Most importantly, his discovery of Nataku Son and his Adolla Burst led to him being taken by Haijima Industries for testing. Suffering from the traumatic stress of Rekka's actions, Nataku is haunted by hallucinations of Rekka shouting praise and encouraging him to release his full power. These hallucinations combined with Haumea's influence cause Nataku to rampage against the White Clads and Company 8 when both groups attempt to apprehend him. Due to the influence of Yūichirō Kurono, Nataku seems more at peace with himself after the incident and is able to keep Rekka's influence under control, though it is still present.

## Etymology

* The name **Rekka** (烈火) means "fiery fire/raging fire, conflagration" in Japanese, relating to his ability as a Third Generation and hot-blooded personality.
* Rekka's surname **Hoshimiya** (星宮) can be translated as "star" (星) (**hoshi**) and "temple, shrine, palace" (宮) (**miya**).

## Trivia

* Due to the meaning in his name, star-shaped pupils, extremely outgoing personality and preference for close quarter/hand-to-hand combat, Rekka is quite reminiscent of members of the Hoshi Family and it's branch families, the Star Clan and the Hoshino Family from Atsushi Ōkubo's earlier series, Soul Eater and Soul Eater NOT!.  It's strongly implied that Rekka might be a common ancestor of both respected clans and families in light of recent events of the both series sharing the same setting.
* According to his Character Profile:
	+ Self-proclaimed: Hey you guys! The hot-blooded man until he’s unbearably hot! A hot-blooded guy!!
	+ Favorite foods: Rice ☆ rice ☆ yes rice!! Eat rice! Rice!
	+ Least favorite foods: You can’t always say you like or dislike this or that ☆ You won’t be able to get fired up ☆
	+ Favorite music: Fight song!
	+ Favorite animal: The immortal bird! The explosive spirit that never gives up ☆ I admire you!!
	+ He’s referring to the phoenix, he just didn’t name it directly
	+ Favorite color: The bright red of the always red passage that’s even redder than red ☆
	+ Favorite type: A hot-blooded man that’s violently and fiercely like the sun!! I need a guy like that!!
	+ Who he respects: The SUPER ULTRA PASSIONATE Sun God!!
	+ Who he hates: Let’s love EVERYONE, OKAY ☆ !!
	+ Who he’s afraid of: It’s only scary because you think it’s scary! If you don’t feel it’s scary, you can overcome it!! It’s alright! I’m right with you!!
	+ Hobbies: Life! Living is my hobby ☆
	+ Daily routine: Let’s just live looking towards tomorrow ☆
	+ Dream: Let’s make a hot burning world! Let’s DO IT!
	+ Shoe size: I will firmly support the earth with my 26.5 cm feet!
	+ Eyesight: I will not miss this moment with my 2.0 eyes!
	+ Favorite subject: The study of hot-bloodedness! Is there no such thing!? Ahahaha! I’ll teach you about it!
	+ Least favorite subject: Lunch break! Please let me do something! Anything is fine! Don’t stand around doing nothing ☆

## References

1. ↑ Fire Force Manga: Chapter 28, Page 12
2. ↑ Fire Force Manga: Chapter 23, Page 7
3. ↑ Fire Force Manga: Chapter 27, Page 16
4. ↑ Fire Force Manga: Chapter 27, Page 11
5. ↑ Fire Force Manga: Chapter 23, Pages 6 - 9