Ichika Yami

Yami Ichika (夜見一花) is one of the Ryuzen Seven of the Hino Country and the younger sister of Yami Sukehiro. She is also a descendant of the former Yami Clan.

Appearance
Ichika is a short young woman with long black hair that is tied back in a braided ponytail.

Ichika wears a black kimono with a dark grey hakama and a white undershirt. She also wears a pair of light-colored socks and sandals. Her katana is tucked through her belt on her left side.

As a child, Ichika wears a kimono with a dark-colored obi. Her hair is pulled back into a small ponytail and has a plain hairclip in the front, holding up hair on the right side of her forehead.

Personality
Like her older brother, Ichika has an overly serious and threatening demeanor and often resorts to physical violence to make a point.

Biography
Ichika was born to the Yami Clan in Goshu of the Hino Country. As a girl, she is dismissed as weak by her father, so her older brother, Sukehiro, defends her from their father's anger and violence. She often accompanies Sukehiro when he is fishing, and also befriends Ryudo Ryuya, the son of the regional lord.

One night, their father attempts to give Sukehiro the clan's secret drug to induce a bloodthirsty state and to forcefully draw out all of the mage's latent magic power. Ichika objects so their father gives it to her instead. Under the pill's influence, she slaughters the rest of the clan, except her brother, and collapses from exhaustion afterwards. Sukehiro and Ryuya agree to hide the truth from her, blaming Sukehiro for the massacre instead.

After Sukehiro flees the country, Ryuya becomes Ichika's benefactor. Over the years, Ichika trains and becomes one of the Ryuzen Seven. Meanwhile, Ryuya attains the Tengentsu and manages to gain popularity and unite the country's warring factions, becoming the Shogun.

After Asta washes ashore in the country, Ryuya has Mikuriya Humito heal Asta and Liebe. When Asta wakes up after being healed, Ichika is standing beside Ryuya to greet him. Asta fails to appreciate that he is far from the Clover Kingdom, so Ichika walks past him and slides open the room's doors, revealing the view of Hino Country. When Asta mentions that Ryuya does not seem strong, Ichika glares at him and warns him about disrespecting the Shogun.

The three then take a tour of the nearby town. Along the way, four bandits smash their way out of a building and threaten Ryuya. At the Shogun's order, Ichika steps in and quickly and easily defeats the bandits, sending them crashing into a wall. The citizens celebrate Ichika's victory and shout her name. Recognizing the name Yami, Asta asks if she is related to his captain, but she cuts him off by grabbing and squeezing his head. She warns him that he should not get so close and that she does not like men like Asta. Ryuya reveals that she is Yami's younger sister and one of the Ryuzen Seven, under whom Asta should train to get stronger.

When the citizens recognize Asta as a foreigner, Ryuya rushes Ichika and Asta to Humito's house to check on Liebe. While there, they have a meal that Humito prepared. Asta does not see how more training can help him and ignores Ryuya's assurances, so Ichika slaps Asta and reminds him that Ryuya and Humito saved his life, even though foreigners are believed to bring disaster. She asserts that if he is willing to waste his life by ignoring the Shogun who saved him, then she will go ahead and kill him there. Shocked back to his senses, Asta thanks everyone for their help and swears to repay them.

They all head outside to the bamboo forest next to the house. There, Ryuya explains Zetten to Asta, while Ichika demonstrates the technique. After she slices a bamboo stalk in half, she orders Asta to replicate it, but he uses Anti Magic instead, which causes the bamboo stalk to erode, shocking Ichika and Humito. Asta thanks her for her help and in advance for her continued help, but she silently glares at him. After Asta masters the basics of Zetten, Ryuya has him fight with Ichika so he can practice utilizing the technique in combat. Asta takes on his black form, and Ichika warns him that if he does not take the fight seriously, then he will die. During the fight, she repeatedly knocks him around and easily evades his attacks. After throwing Asta into the water, she draws her sword and, although he successfully blocks the slash, her attack cuts through a large section of bamboo behind him. She then kicks him onto the rocky shore, knocking him out of his black form. She is surprised to see him stand back up and insist on continuing the fight, but then slaps his head into the ground, knocking him unconscious.

After Humito heals Asta's injuries, the group is joined by three more of the Ryuzen Seven—Hanegatsuji Jozo, O'oka Daizaemon, and Imari Komari—who also beat up Asta with their styles of Zetten. Later that night, Ichika returns to where Asta rests reflecting on the training. When he is unsure how to refer to her, she reveals that she is 24 years old and insists on being called "Ichika". She then tells Asta about Ryuya and gets excited while relating Ryuya's rise to the shogunate. Calming down, she admits that he is her benefactor and that she owes him her life. When Asta draws a comparison to his relationship with his captain, Ichika grows angry and refuses to hear any more about the man who killed their clan. She tells him about the Yami Clan and her family. Asta refuses to believe Yami would do such a thing, and the two argue, growing more heated. Eventually, Ichika decides that they should settle the matter with a serious fight.

Ichika then clads herself in dark armor. When Asta tries to jump back, she draws him back in with the pull of Dark Magic, so he shifts to Unite, neutralizing the magic's effects on him. As the two continue fighting, she dodges his attacks and uses Black Stars to alter her trajectories in mid-air. After the Demon-Destroyer Sword negates the stars, Ichika and Asta aim for a Zetten clash, but Ichika ducks Asta's attack and lands a kick to his head, sending him crashing into the water below. She scoffs at his attempt to outmaneuver her. She also criticizes his dream to become Wizard King, claiming that he lacks resolve, conviction, and skill. Asta claims to sense something besides hatred in her heart for him and Yami, but she disparages his opinion. They charge at each other again for another Zetten clash; however, Ryuya interrupts, grabbing Ichika's hand and blocking Asta's sword. He tells them to stop, and Ichika immediately drops her spell and offers to commit seppuku as an apology, which Ryuya refuses. Ryuya then senses the arrival of the Paladins Lily Aquaria, Heath Grice, and Yrul in the sky above the country, so he sends Ichika and four of the other Ryuzen Seven to evacuate Goshu in preparation to fight the Paladins and the awakened five-headed dragon.

The Ryuzen Seven gather on the rooftop of the regional lord's palace and are approached by Lily. When Kezoukaku Ginnojomorifuyu voices her terror at their situation, Ichika tells her to stop whining and draw her sword, at which point Ginnojomorifuyu enters a bloodthirsty frenzy and slashes Lily across the face. When Lily attempts to catch Ginnojomorifuyu in a spatial cube, Ichika uses Black Star to pull Ginnojomorifuyu aside and criticizes her for leaping into battle without a plan. Lily suggests that the dragon will destroy everything, to which Ichika counters that it will not since they have an all-seeing Shogun on their side. When the dragon attacks, Ichika uses Black Crescent Moon and Zetten to cut off one of the heads. At the same time, the other Ryuzen Seven members deal with the other heads, and Ichika declares that they will never yield since Ryuya believes in them. Ichika boasts that they did not need Asta's help afterall, but Lily and Heath then unleash a combined spell that strikes down all five warriors.

Ichika and Ginnojomorifuyu are heavily injured but both remain standing, so Yrul summons a Bogeyman, which incapacitates Ginnojomorifuyu by exploiting her fear of frogs. As Yrul explains how the spell works, the Bogeyman transforms into Ichika's father. Although she initially dismisses the effect of seeing her father again, she is suddenly flooded with the memories of killing the clan. She struggles to come to terms with these memories, and the Bogeyman takes advantage of her lack of focus to attack her. Meanwhile, the five-headed dragon restores its heads. Disheartened in her abilities and strength, Ichika is left defenseless as the Bogeyman swings its sword down at her. However, Asta arrives in time to block the blade, reminding Ichika of the times her brother would do the same. After Yrul disparages Ichika for putting on a weak display, the Bogeyman transforms into a copy of Asta and voices his doubts, but Asta and Liebe calmly cut down the illusion, which shocks Ichika. Musyogatake Yosuga explains that Asta found his answer during training, and the pair watch as Asta and Liebe use Zetten to defeat Yrul. Ichika notices that the cut also severed Yrul's Paladin power, reverting his magic power.

After Asta's Anti Magic also fails to permanently injure the dragon, the Ryuzen Seven still refuse to give up, and Ryuya and Tenmanyashiki Fujio encourage and bolster them from the palace rooftop. While Ryuya uses his Tengentsu to analyze the dragon, Fujio reinvigorates the other Ryuzen Seven and communicates Ryuya's commands to them. After the others knock their dragon heads into position, Jozo falters in his attempt due to his injuries, but before the fifth dragon head can blast him, Ichika interrupts the attack, saving Jozo and knocking the head back into the air. With the five heads in position, Asta severs all five simultaneously, killing the dragon.

Magic

 * Dark Magic: Ichika uses this rare magic attribute to generate and manipulate the element of darkness.

Abilities

 * Master Swordsman: Ichika is a highly skilled swordswoman. She is capable of slicing an entire forest of bamboo in half with just one swing of her sword.


 * Enhanced Strength: Ichika is strong enough to lift Asta with one hand gripping his head. By manipulating her own ki, she can dramatically increase her physical strength. Her subsequent palm strikes are capable of lifting larger adult men off of their feet and sending them crashing into a wall.


 * Enhanced Speed: By manipulating her own ki, Ichika can dramatically increase her physical speed. She is capable of striking multiple people almost simultaneously.


 * Large Magic Power: Ichika possesses a large amount of magic power, even impressing the Paladin Lily Aquaria.


 * Ki: Ichika is able to manipulate her own ki, increasing it to enhance her physical abilities.
 * Zetten: Ichika is capable of manipulating her ki to concentrate her magic power in her body and subsequently release it in a single attack. By concentrating it into her arms and legs, she can increase the power of her palm thrusts and kicks, as well as her sword slashes.

Equipment

 * Katana: Ichika carries a katana and uses it in combat.


 * Scroll: Ichika possesses a scroll that contains various dark-based spells. The backside is decorated with a bamboo design.

Ryudo Ryuya
Ichika is very respectful and defensive of Shogun Ryudo Ryuya, not tolerating others to talk casually to or badly about him.

Yami Sukehiro
Ichika greatly despises her older brother, Sukehiro, and blames him for the death of their clan, having "witnessed" the incident herself with Ryuya. However, in the past, she looked up to and admired him, with the incident ruining their sibling bond. Having discovered the truth, her hatred for Yami vanished and instead begun referring to him as her brother again.

Asta
At first, Ichika hated Asta but has become more friendly with him.

Trivia

 * Ichika contains the kanji for "one" (一) and "flower, blossom" (花).
 * Ichika's scroll design is the background for Volume 34's cover, the first to feature a scroll's design instead of a grimoire's.
 * Ichika's favorite things are miso soup with tofu and the sound of insects at night.