Kōtaishi Hiraishin

Kōtaishi Hiraishin (避雷針皇太子, Hiraishin Kōtaishi) is a Human-Shinigami Hybrid. He is the grandson of Masayoshi Hiraishin and the older brother of Masanori Hiraishin whom he both lives with in Subarashii Town. He is the main protagonist in the series. Towards the beginning of the storyline he was completely unaware of his Shinigami heritage but has always been spiritually aware throughout his whole entire life. His interactions with spirits and ghosts eventually led to him becoming the victim of consecutive attacks by Hollows who then began sensing his spiritual pressure.

Appearance
Kōtaishi is fair skinned with neck-length jet black hair and solid onyx colored eyes. He is tall an average teenage boy with a slender body build. Others have often poked fun at Kōtaishi for his thin build and he has in turn become very sensitive about it. Because of his feelings about being so thin he often tries to train himself so that he may be more muscular. His efforts have proved to be futile however as he still manages maintains his skinny frame. This is primarily due to his tremendous metabolism. His normal attire consists of a purple sleeveless shirt with which he usually wears a white t-shirt underneath. He can also be seen wearing black jeans and tennis shoes as well. When in his spiritual form he will sport the average Shinigami attire with the only difference being that he wears a orange sash around his waist. Ironically, before obtaining his spiritual powers he would draw pictures of himself in a Shinigami uniform with a orange sash worn around his waist.

Personality
For most of his early life Kōtaishi had neither of his parents around. All Kōtaishi ever knew was his grandfather and younger brother. Due to his grandfather constantly working both him and his brother he has found a sense of responsibility and maturity that most boys his age do not have. Kōtaishi realizes the importance of being a hardworker and in turn has become very determined as a result. However Kōtaishi's inferior complex often holds him back from taking part in other activities that other boys his age enjoy such as playing sports. According to his grandfather Kōtaishi has been this way since he was a young child.

Kōtaishi holds within him a great sense of bravery and justice which both are sometimes powered by his foolishness and incompetence. He has high moral values which he will be ashamed to defy. While he is compassionate Kōtaishi has been shown to be merciless towards those who he deems as evil. Loyalty is also another important component of Kōtaishi's persona. Whenever Kōtaishi has allied himself with someone it is very unlikely that he will turn his back on them. Likewise Kōtaishi hates traitors and his trust can be easily broken. Once his trust is broken it is very hard to regain it back.

Most of the time Kōtaishi attempts to portray himself as tough and courageous when he is truthfully emotional. Sadness is a emotion that Kōtaishi strives to cover up and keep hidden from others. He absolutely refuses for others to see him cry and he views sadness as only a weakness. Still Kōtaishi cries and has been overcome by sadness and dissapointment on numerous occasions. Anger on the other hand is something Kōtaishi isn't afraid to show. Kōtaishi angers rather easily as his anger has fueled him during combat situations. Because of his anger in the past he has made rather costly decisions.

One of Kōtaishi's favorite hobbies is to draw. At a young age Kōtaishi picked up drawing as a skill as a means of expressing himself since he was rather lonely during his early years. Kōtaishi is however sensitive about his drawings as his grandfather often ridiculed him for doing it. Kōtaishi often enjoys drawing pictures of scenery and non-human things such as inanimate objects, plants, and animals. Despite being a decent artist Kōtaishi is somewhat embarrassed that he can draw, much thanks to his grandfather, and is afraid of having his art judged.

History
When Kōtaishi was only four-years-old his mother died and his father left him and his baby brother in the care of his grandfather in Subarashii Town. Kōtaishi hasn't seen his father since. While under the care of his grandfather, Masayoshi Hiraishin, Kōtaishi has been taught the skills of a man early on. Due to the fact that his grandfather was up in age both Kōtaishi and his younger brother were needed to help the elderly man with the shop he ran in town.

Around the age of six is when Kōtaishi began to start interacting with spirits. He started to see ghosts and whenever he told his grandfather about them he would often ignore the young boy. Soon Kōtaishi decided that it would be for the best to start making friends with the many spirits that he came across. Young Kōtaishi soon discovered that not all of the spirits that he came across were good however. At the age of nine Kōtaishi was subjected to a Hollow attack. During the attack he, his brother, and his grandfather were all badly injured. After the inital attack Hollows continued to pursue Kōtaishi from that point forward.

At the age of ten, while he was in the fifth grade, Kōtaishi met his soon to be best friends: Sotaro Ibuka and Hiro Minatoya. At the time he met them they were only ordinary humans with no spiritual power whatsoever. Over the course of the next few years however they began to develope their own spiritual power through their relationship with Kōtaishi.

Kōtaishi's relationships with the spiritual world continued. Unfortunately he was still plagued with constant Hollow attacks. Soon Kōtaishi had his first ever encounter with a Shinigami during the course of a Hollow attack. Kōtaishi was near dead when a Shinigami appeared and rescued him from the clutches of the evil spirit. Kōtaishi was amazed by the power of the soul reaper who was surprised that he could see him. Kōtaishi immediately informed his grandfather of what he had saw. Masayoshi however passed him off as he did not yet want his grandson to know the truth about the spirit world around him.

Kōtaishi began doing research and found out about the legends of Shinigami in Japanese mythology. He then became fascinated with the phenomeon and began to dream about becoming a soul reaper himself. He would draw pictures of himself dressed in the same outfit that the Shinigami he had saw that day wear. The only difference being that he would draw himself wearing a golden sash around his waist. Masayoshi dissapproved of Kōtaishi's dreaming about Shinigami and insisted that they did not even exist. Kōtaishi remained adamant that Shinigami were real and still aspired to become one himself despite his grandfathers wishes.

Powers and Abilities
Great Spiritual Energy: Due to his Shinigami lineage, Kōtaishi has been handed down great spiritual power. Throughout the entirety of Kōtaishi's early life, he was very unaware of the spiritual power which he possessed. It is believed that his spiritual energy has been strong for quite sometime as Hollows were able to pick up on it early in his life. Initally, Kōtaishi had little to no ability to control his spiritual power as he of course was completely unaware that it remained dormant within him. His grandfather remained aware of his grandson's spiritual strengths yet he wasn't trained in controling his energy. Kōtaishi's spiritual energy takes on a orange coloration which is perfect representation of his firery personality.

Trivia

 * Kōtaishi can translate to "crown prince."