Joichiro Kaji

Kaji is a lanky youth whose dark, deep-set eyes sit beneath a navy ushanka trimmed with grey feathers, the cap pulled down over his hair. His wardrobe runs cold in tone: a teal jacket fastened with black buckles at the collar, shoulders, and cuffs, paired with pale aquamarine trousers cut with pockets and dark navy footwear.

Painfully bashful, Kaji second-guesses nearly every move before he makes it, which leaves him quiet for long stretches. That timidity hides real resolve, though. When it counts he proves brave and coordinates smoothly with teammates, laying out plans and carrying them through.

Brought in as a special recommendation during the third stage of the JCC entrance exam, Kaji ranks among the toughest applicants despite his reserved manner. His signature gift is an almost impossible sense of hearing. Teaming with the clairvoyant Shin Asakura against a Gaku-controlled Shinaya, he picked out Shinaya's heartbeat from a distance, caught the faint noise of the rig Gaku used for remote control, and even registered that Shinaya was fast asleep. By tracking the gap between Gaku's commands and Shinaya's motions, he measured a half-second lag, and he used distant echoes to pin down Gaku's position and reach. Given time and focus, Kaji can also mimic an opponent once he has learned their sounds.

His physical output matches the sensory edge. He is quick enough to snatch up both Toramaru and Mafuyu and bolt clear of Shinaya, nimble enough to slip past Shinaya's blistering strikes, and once he has a foe's rhythm he can outrun and hit them. His blows carry enough force to launch Shinaya backward, and his durability is startling: a hit that gutted his lower right abdomen, from a punch strong enough to fell several JCC examiners, failed to finish him, and he later recovered fully. He came out of the ordeal accepted into the JCC. In the English release his anxiety surfaces as a slight speech quirk.