Houki Shinonono

Houki Shinonono (Shinonono Houki) is a first year student at the IS Academy. She is also the younger sister of the IS creator, Tabane Shinonono, the first childhood friend of Ichika Orimura, the true loved one of Raiden Hataru, and the first heroine to be introduced in the Infinite Stratos series.

Appearance
Houki is a beautiful teenage girl of average height with long brown hair that she keeps in a slightly messy ponytail (that seems to be divided into two sections) with a green and black ribbon. She has dark blue eyes, a slim, curvaceous body with no trace of fat on her and large breasts (which are still growing). She usually wears her IS Academy uniform, with high stockings and black knee-high boots that have white soles. After the battle with the Silver Gospel, she replaces her green ribbon with a red-and-white ribbon that Ichika bought her for her birthday.

Her initial IS training uniform matched the standard ones worn by all other female students, but after gaining Akatsubaki, she changed into one (a uniform) that is predominantly white with a black neckline, and black edges on the legs.

Personality
Having been raised in a shrine, Houki possesses a stern, disciplined personality. As such, she had a hard time socializing with other people, so she had virtually no friends, with the exception of Ichika. Ichika thought of Houki as a cute girl, and he helped her out by chasing the bullies away whenever they mocked her. Even as a child, Houki had trouble expressing her feelings for Ichika, and shortly after they first met, she asked him to use her first name, but then she justified it by saying that there were three other Shinononos (her father, her mother, and her sister). Since her place of residence is a kendo dojo, Houki had been interested in kendo ever since she was young. After being forced to move away from Ichika, Houki continued practising kendo, as it was the only connection she had left with him.

As a result of the separation, Houki has a serious emotional problem. Although she has been training in kendo, which emphasizes obtaining self-control as with most other forms of martial arts, she is very emotionally unstable, often resorting to violence first, and is quite prone to jumping to conclusions without taking the time to understand. Whenever Houki gains a new power, it doesn't take long for it to go to her head, causing her to do and say things that she would later regret.

Ichika says that Houki is vile at times. This is because she's too prideful and stubborn to agree with others or admit her mistakes whenever she's wrong. Ichika even notes that this is what leads her to make mistakes as a result. She usually wants to be punished for her mistakes and feels worse when she isn't. Ichika was quick to forgive her, but she did accept his kindness because she thought that she shouldn't be forgiven that easily, and often feels that she doesn't deserve someone as kind as him. She does want to change these tendencies but still hasn't managed to make any changes regardless. Houki also has a habit of constantly frowning, as noted by Ichika. Sometimes, her stubbornness even leads her to be hypocritical, such as not wanting people to bring up the fact that she is Tabane Shinonono's sister, but taking advantage of the fact that she is in order to gain her own personal IS. Often, however, Houki can be cheered up if Ichika or Raiden compliments her.



Despite her rather gruff attitude, Houki is actually a kind girl, which is what led Raiden to develop romantic feelings for her. Although she initially acts strict towards Ichika upon their reunion to the point of not allowing him to use her first name, as well as have a tendency to act quite mean to him sometimes, it's largely out of a desire for him to see her as a woman, and she soon drops the facade and treats him much nicer, though she still isn't above hitting him when he makes her really angry or is about to do something stupid. She's also shown to get along well with Charlotte and Tatenashi (despite their rivarly for Raiden's affection), as well as Laura, Kanzashi, Rin, and Cecilia, considering them friends, and often watching their backs in combat.

Houki has very little confidence in her looks and in being feminine, likely a result of being bullied in her past for being a tomboy. She always feels uncomfortable when she has to wear revealing and/or feminine clothes like dresses or bikinis (a fact that she's well aware of). She also becomes quite shy when Ichika or Raiden looks at her or compliments her. She also likes seeing Raiden in suits, to the point that in one instance, she finds it troublesome just trying to look at him directly.

Houki seems to have some complex thoughts when it comes to using sex appeal to get Raiden's attention. She usually gets angry when she sees any of the other girls getting to physically close to Raiden, calling it indecent. Sometimes however, Houki has considered the idea of using her body to attract Raiden, even thinking that Raiden might be attracted to her large bust (something that was also pointed out by Tatenashi). However, she still gets easily nervous about actually doing so, such as buying a revealing bikini to attract Raiden at the beach but was too embarrassed to show herself wearing it to him until the last day, which is also the same day they share their first kiss with each other.

Infinite Stratos & Abilities
She is particularly skilled in the art of kendo, having won the national tournament a year prior to the story. Her fighting style is decidedly offensive, as in the past, she has always won her competitions with pure power, and she had issues defending against Charlotte Dunois during the Grade Level Tournament.

Her skills of operating an IS are slightly above average, being able to compete with Charlotte Dunois for a short period of time in the Grade-Level Tournament, despite using a training IS.

Her knowledge about IS is particularly limited, as Ichika often thought that he has absolutely no idea what she is trying to say with her punches. In the novel, it is stated she is a C-Rank user, most likely due to her strong emotions towards Tabane Shinonono that affect her ability. However, sometime during Volume 7, her IS compatibility rank increases to S-Rank, dumbfounding Tatenashi Sarashiki, who suspects this was done due to Houki being the sister of Tabane more than anything else.

Houki has initially piloted the Uchigane, an IS unit for training. Later, she gets the Akatsubaki from her sister, Tabane. Although the unit has the highest specs out of the whole series, the level is brought down due to her skills, thus putting her at the same level as the other heroines.

She also seems to have some form of abnormal strength, which is seen when she dented a small locker when thinking about Raiden, where she recalls his love confession for her ("We are together. And I love her just as much as she loves me") during their interview. However, this may have just been for comedic purposes of the show. She does use this strength with her swordsmanship. Houki was able to break through Laura's partially-deployed AIC with nothing more than a regular sword and pure strength.

Outside of her combat-related skills, Houki is a talented cook. Ichika has also said that Houki is a good swimmer.

History
Prior to the start of the main series, she was a childhood friend of Ichika. Her place of residence was home to a kendo dojo and she has been interested in kendo since she was young. Houki even competed in kendo competitions at a national level and was the winner of the national tournament that was hosted one year before the story of Infinite Stratos began. Due to her older sister, Tabane, being the mother creator of the IS, yet Houki dislikes her because six years ago, Ichika agreed to become her boyfriend if she could win the national kendo tournament of their grade. However, the day of the tournament was also the day the IS were introduced to the world. Because of their links to Tabane, Houki's family was placed under government protection and Houki was forced to withdraw from the kendo tournament. Since that incident, Houki has disliked her sister for moving her away from the first boy she loves and abandoning their family.

Quotes
Houki: "Y...You have a good eye" Ichika:"Nah, I just noticed since the color and design's different, since I see you everyday." Houki: "T...That's right! We see each other everyday...I see...!"'' - Houki and Ichika's night talk in room 1025 (Chapter 4)
 * ''Ichika: "Is that a new obi?"

Trivia

 * Houki's name in kanji means "broom" (houki, 箒).
 * Houki's IS unit Akatsubaki and its swords are a tribute to the MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame from Gundam SEED Astray. Both Akatsubaki and Astray Red Frame are close combat units that use katanas as main weapons. Its inactive silhouette, foot blades, and colors are all reminiscent of the ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice from Gundam SEED Destiny.
 * Aside from Ichika and Raiden, she respects and admires her father, Ryuuin Shinonono.


 * Houki is the only known main female character who isn't a representative of any nation or country due to her being the sister of the IS creator and being the only person who possesses a 4th Generation IS that does not belong to any country or organization.
 * She has a similar appearance to Momotaros
 * Houki Shinonono's Japanese and English voice actors both play Erica Blandelli in Campione!.