Hamazura Shiage

Hamazura Shiage (浜面 仕上 Hamazura Shiage?) is a character introduced in Toaru Majutsu no Index. He initially played a small antagonistic role as the reluctant leader of Skill-Out against Kamijou Touma and Accelerator. However after becoming a subordinate of ITEM his mettle is tested during the citywide factional war on October 9, and proves himself after deciding to protect Takitsubo Rikou and defeating the 4th-ranked Level 5, Mugino Shizuri after being consumed by her need for vengeance against SCHOOL.

A Level 0 without any noticeable powers, he is a science side protagonist who mainly struggles in the story to protect what's important to him from the Dark Side of Academy City, relying only on his skills and wits to outdo his opponents. His continued survival against the odds has turned into an anomaly that disrupts Aleister Crowley's plans and calculations time and time again. His presence in the story as the powerless and unlikely hero marks a strong contrast between the other two male protagonists, something that is even noted by Aiwass.

Appearance
He looks like an ordinary teenager with unruly blonde hair. Shiage previously sported a nose piercing a month before his proper introduction but[2] it was violently removed after Touma hits him in the nose with a stolen bullet-proof riot shield.

Personality
Shiage can be considered a balance between Touma and Accelerator. Like most members of his Skill-Out gang, he is lawful; however, while he and Touma share some of the same traits, such as their reputations as delinquents, their victories over higher-ranked espers through tactics, and their interference with Aleister Crowley's plans, he isn't as idealistic or as compassionate as Touma, at least not initially. In battle, he prefers to avoid fighting if possible or to finish the fight as quickly as possible, which is somewhat like Accelerator's personality. Aiwass once commented that Shiage is someone who is never noticed by people and doesn't have any talent, but for the sake of the person he loves, he’ll become the hero.[4].

Initially, he displayed an inferiority complex that makes him think he can't do anything right or complete. The main reason behind this is that he had been always branded as a powerless person, and unlike Touma, he has yet to display any power at all even "any" manifestation of an esper ability. Therefore, due to his lack of power and mockery by other higher level espers, he joined a Skill-Out gang. This complex can be seen in his usual internal monologue, as he always complains about the situation but he never says it out loud, an example of this is his remonstrations on his treatment by the girls from ITEM as they talk in the family restaurant.[5]

He falls in love with Takitsubo Rikou, and because of this, he decides to fight the 4th-ranked Level 5 esper, Mugino Shizuri, also known as Meltdowner, in order to protect Rikou. As far the plots advances, he began to show a nicer side similar to Touma, as seen when he aids Russian villagers during pirate attacks, convinces Acqua to not give up on life, and his reluctance to fight Mugino leads to him forgive her and express his desire to get everyone back together as ITEM again.

Shiage is suggestive to anything sex-related, as shown when he got a nosebleed simply by seeing Kinuhata Saiai putting a stuffed bunny doll behind Rikou to give her a bunny girl look even though his perversion is usually used as comic relief

Background
Not much is known about Shiage other than the fact that he is a Level 0, thus having gone through the Power Curriculum Program. Shiage knows how to operate construction machinery, though how he is able to learn it is not known.

Prior to the first Friday of January of the current year, Komaba Ritoku's Skill-Out faction scouted him to be a potential member.[7] By May, Ritoku had named Shiage as the leader of his Skill-Out if anything happened to him.

Abilities
Hamazura Shiage is a true level 0 with no esper abilities. As a result, if he wants to survive, he must think ahead and rely on his wits and his skill in weapons. He has demonstrated that he's considerably proficient with firearms. He was able to successfully shoot 3 people holding Rikou hostage while falling out of a helicopter.[11] In close combat, as he is a Skill-Out often involved in streetfights he is very skilled, able to go toe-to-toe against Touma during their fight. Shiage himself has stated that in order to fight with espers, Skill-Outs work out more than professional athletes in order to have a chance. [12] Moreover, using his wits, he constantly outsmarts higher level espers who underestimate him or rely heavily on their powers, an example of this is shown when he tricks Mugino into attacking a jet while he escaped, leaving her caught in an explosion.[13] He also showed as well to be a great tactician, knowing when to use his advantages, such as when he instead used the case to attack Mugino's eye first in order to make her think he had no weapons, until the right moment where he can take her by surprise using his gun.[14] During his talk with ITEM's liaison at the end of World War 3, he stalled her long enough for Digurv to get help, during this instance he also learned enough about the Parameter List and how it could be used to blackmail the Academy City Board of Directors to negotiate with him.[15]

Of other skills he has, he has proven he has to get through security systems and locks by using a fiberscope on a connector at the bottom of his cell phone that he uses to send a small optical fiber thinner than somen into the keyhole to check the arrangement of the pins then, he uses the image of the inside of the keyhole displayed on his phone to use a number of wires to unlock the door.[16] He can also operate heavy machinery, a fact that is praised by his Skill-Out comrades[7] and even aiding Touma when he was in need.

Komaba Ritoku
Komaba was one of Shiage's best friends during his days in Skill-Out and not only cared for him but also respected him as the leader of that organization. It’s on his behalf that Shiage decided to protect Fremea Seivelun. He also participated in the stealing of ATM machines and was the one that lead the operation. It can be said that Shiage's philosophy of protecting the weak was influenced by him and Kamijou Touma. Hattori Hanzou

Hanzou has been one of Shiage's best friends since his early days in Skill-Out and therefore cares about his progress and well-being. It have been stated that they had a lot of fun, along with Komaba Ritoku, stealing ATM machines where Hanzou was the one who came up with the planning. He was the one who gave Shiage the lady's gun he used to defeat Mugino Shizuri and is always encouraging him to come back to Skill-Out, but still, he respects his decision of not doing so.

Takitsubo Rikou
Takitsubo Rikou is Shiage's girlfriend. They began dating after volume fifteen and have been together ever since. Shiage fell in love with Rikou because she treated him kindly when he was an ITEM grunt, in contrast of the other members who treated him like dirt. He has repeatedly proven his willingness to go to any length to protect her, including fighting the level 5 Mugino Shizuri.

Kinuhata Saiai
Kinuhata Saiai was Shiage's superior in the original ITEM, and one of his team members in the new one. They have been friends since the end of volume 15. Regardless of his status she always treats him like a lackey and enjoys teasing him.

Mugino Shizuri
The relationship between Shiage and Mugino is portrayed as one of evolution. At first, she only sees Shiage as a disposable grunt, therefore she only acknowledges his existence to mock him or to give him orders. Then after her defeat at his hands, she became obsessed with the idea of killing him to the point that she disregards her own well-being. This conduct finds its motive in the fact that a level 0 like Shiage beat an elite level 5 like her. This only changes when Shiage shows his concern for her as a friend and his desire to reform ITEM. It's from this point onward that Mugino acknowledges Hamazura as a colleague and true friend, although she still frequently mocks him.

Kamijou Touma
Hamazura and Touma were once enemies due to the city's assasination attempt on Misaka Misuzu, after those events and his defeat Touma's influence greatly inspired his philosophy of protecting the weak, Hamazura has so much respect for Touma that he even call him "boss", even going so far to help him in his adventures and fights regarding the Magic Side like with GREMLIN and St German.

Accelerator
TBA