Reikari Kiyoshi

Kiyoshi (れいかりキヨシ, Reikari Kiyoshi) is the main protagonist of the series. He is a Light User who trains at Elemental Council in order to further develop his abilities so that he can fight the SYSTEM alongside the Council, while searching for his parents. He is the only son of Reikari Fowntin.

Background
Kiyoshi was born on July 7, 16 years before the series begins. On a mysterious Wednesday evening, an 8-year old Kiyoshi awoke from his sleep. He decided to go to his parents' room. On the door of the room are his drawings depicting his parents, signifying a happy and normal upbringing. When he enters the room, his parents are nowhere to be found. In one flashback, he is shown crying. Recently, he had a dream that reproduced the same evening, but in the dream he was approached by a hooded figure. The figure tells him that his parents are Council headquarters. The figure decides to reveal himself to Kiyoshi, but the dream is interrupted before his identity is divulged. The information in this dream is considered canon, but some parts of the dream may be exaggerated or purely an element of fantasy, like when the 8-year old Kiyoshi fired a gun at the stranger. Because it is revealed that Fowntin was an Elemental, there would have been no need for a gun in the drawer. Kiyoshi, after that evening, presumably spent much of his time seeking his parents legally, although refusing to enter an orphanage. He remains in the house that he has always lived in, though he lives part time with Akako Akio, whose family's great resources pay for Kiyoshi's schooling.

Appearance
Kiyoshi is a blonde-haired, blue eyed teenager. At the beginning of the manga, Kiyoshi sported a green shirt with a blue overshirt, and lighter blue pants. His shoes match his shirt, and his outfit usually has yellow-gold trimmings. Currently, his battle uniform is more mature and form-fitting, consisting of a black vest with gold buttons and trim, and a gold collar, a green shirt and blue pants with black ovals printed on the sides. Kiyoshi also is never seen without his trademark lime-green headband. The headband hasn't shown significance, but he values it greatly considering it can be seen in all of his childhood flashbacks, he swims with it, and even sleeps in it. He also always wears his mother's blue crystal necklace, reminding him everyday to find the answers on his own about the disappearance of his parents. He panics when the nurse takes it during a hospital stay.

Personality
Due to being abandoned during childhood, Kiyoshi developed a strong desire to establish a family among those he knew. He tells Takashi during their second fight that his friends saved him from the pain of being alone. He has a strong sense of unity among his peers. His strength emerges when he wants to protect a friend in battle or when he is fighting to prove a point. He is unwilling to accept any other reason for fighting other than doing so for those you hold dear. Kiyoshi can be seen as wise in this respect, because he is quite friendly despite his abandonment as a child. His main motivation during battle is almost always to prove something to himself or those around him, to the point where it becomes less about justice and more raw will to battle and win. He first Awakened because he wanted to protect Asuna from a bazooka attack. His friends are closest to his heart.

Despite the aforementioned heroic motifs, Kiyoshi is far from perfect. He is arrogant, almost always believing that he can take on enemies that are stronger than he is. He constantly challenges the decisions of Takashi and sometimes Masuyo, both of whom he sees as rivals in strength. He has a desire to show off in front of Asuna or his peers whenever he can. He somehow believed that he could pass a standardized test by drawing all over it. He threatens to cut down the door of Saya's apartment before trying to knock. He often charges into battle without thinking, but shows more restraint and calculation than most heroes. He overextends himself often, and has come close to death more than once.

He has a few odd quirks that make him different from many people. At the beginning of the manga, he pours cereal all over the school hallway and forgets why. He also has a tendency to fabricate stories to make himself look better; he tells Akio that he kissed a girl on the way home, which Akio knows is false. He also tells Akio that Asuna flashed him, although the reality was that she gave him a disapproving look. He calls himself The Legendary Light User Reikari Kiyoshi in an interview with Burardo town's mayor. He displays a wide range of intelligence, making dumb comments at times and also displaying great insight at other times. He has a surprising way with women, besides Asuna. He is implied to be a very good dancer.

Abilities
At the start of the series, Kiyoshi's abilities are limited to athleticism in school related activities such as tennis. Kiyoshi has quickly learned how to use more advanced moves based on his powers and based on his ele. He has even begun to develop his own moves, a skill he picked up under tutelage of Irving.

Physical
Kiyoshi is a powerful fighter in his own right. He was the track star at his high school, and thus is said to be one of the fastest characters in the series. He is able to dodge bullets shot by SYSTEM bots, and can outrun missiles. His speed contributes the most to his fighting style, combined with his creative thinking and approach methods. He shows slight know-how when it comes to physical abilities, but not the extent of his sensei or Masuyo. He, like many Elementals, can use his ele to fuel his speed further, and jump higher. He can also survive more brutal hits than any normal human could, including icy avalaunches. Kiyoshi seems to have some fighting experience with swords, as his Eleweapons appear sword-like in nature.

Light Powers
Kiyoshi's ele takes on the power of the Light element. Unlike actual light, the Light Kiyoshi creates is more based on positive energy. It is physical, and its maintained form can cut and cause brutal damage. The light also illuminates things, and is used in many creative ways by Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi has the offensive component of the Light element, meaning that he can condense the Light into an eleweapon. His fighting style is derived much from the versatility of his eleweapons.

Light Pole
Kiyoshi's level 1 eleweapon, appropriately deemed the Light Pole, is a rod of jagged energy. It is usually seen surrounded by dischordious rings. These reflected Kiyoshi's lack of skill in forging an Eleweapon at the start of the series. Later, the rings are seen less frequently and the shape of the Light Pole is less jagged. Although it has taken a back seat as Kiyoshi's secondary weapon (being replaced with the Sun Sabers), the Light Pole is nonetheless a useful and helpful tool, serving as a projectile of sorts. At first, it served as his primary weapon. He could swing it around and cause impact type blows, like the blow he landed on Takashi during their second fight. He could also later use it to cut through metallic objects.

Other than using it as a direct weapon, Kiyoshi has used the Light Pole to stab into rocks or walls and give him a boost. He used it to resist the avalanche on Mt. Alclay. He also has used the Light Pole to hang or swing from. He has demonstrated the ability to extend the Light Pole to larger lengths. He used a massive Light Pole to vault himself over the Council Wall. He has even used multiple Light Poles to contain sound, similar to the way a windchime works. Kiyoshi has also been shown to spawn multiple Poles from a single point that shower down onto the opponent. This move is known as Maximum Light Pole.

Sun Saber
Kiyoshi's level 2 eleweapon is the Sun Saber. He is most commonly seen dual-wielding two of the swords at once. Kiyoshi's fighting style becomes more crisp and evolved when he is using his level 2 weapons, as they serve as his primary means of combat. He first uses the Sun Saber against Kataki after he finds Masuyo collapsed on the ground. He uses them later to approach Irving. The swords have no handles, floating around Kiyoshi's hand. They flow freely with his movement, making his slashes more efficient and far more deadly. They bear resemblance to exclamation points. They are superior to the Light Pole in solidity and density. They also are more resiliant, as the Light Pole would break easily on impact with an object.

They have all the abilities of the Light Pole, plus other uses. The Sun Saber has the ability to leave behind energy residue, making special ougi like the Light Tornado possible. Because he uses dual swords, he is not shown to be as open in his fighting style as he used to be. During the Fire Island arc, Kiyoshi displays interest in learning Niten Ichi-ryu, the two sword style. The versatility of the dual Sun Sabers is balanced out by their lack of power, with only one arm behind each of Kiyoshi's swings. He makes up for these weaknesses by slashing at the opponent continuously and staying on the offensive. He also is experimenting with using alterior momentum, such as the spinning of his entire body like a top during the Light Tornado, or using gravity and lift to rotate like he does during the Shining Blade. He has also combined the momentum of his Light Tornado with Masuyo's Full Moon Slash to form the first team ougi seen in the series, The Yin Yang Gear.

Archangel
Kiyoshi, later in the story, is revealed to be the Archangel of Light. This means that he houses the spirit of the original element that carved out Fa'Athella. The Archangel abilities have saved his life numerous times. When he is accessing an Angel Ability, his eyes become crosses. This was first seen during his Awakening. The Angel abilities, as of now, activate automatically as a defensive mechanism when Kiyoshi's life is in grave danger. However, they have also been activated in times where Kiyoshi has a great desire to help or protect someone.

Akako Akio
Akio is Kiyoshi's best friend. Akio keeps Kiyoshi under control; Akio himself is more cautious while Kiyoshi is reckless. Akio is extremely loyal and risks his life to make sure Kiyoshi is okay and doesn't do anything regrettable. Akio has experienced slight jealousy of Kiyoshi's powers, and is also critical of Kiyoshi's intelligence and mannerisms at times, but he and Kiyoshi share a deep hero-sidekick bond.

Hatomi Asuna
Asuna is Kiyoshi's love interest. Kiyoshi's relationship with her is one-sided at first, with Asuna being unreceptive. This parallels her treatment of the Elemental situation. As the story progresses, Asuna and Kiyoshi become more friendly and Kiyoshi saves Asuna quite often. She is the reason he Awakened in the first place. There are times when Asuna has trouble tolerating Kiyoshi's mannerisms, but she has admired his determination on several occasions. She also shows great support toward Kiyoshi's goal of finding his parents.

Shisuku Masuyo
Masuyo is the person Kiyoshi has chosen to be rivals with. His relationship with Masuyo is competitive at most times, but also very friendly and respectful. Kiyoshi has protected Masuyo from certain death, and Masuyo has saved Kiyoshi's life several times. The two respect the growth of both friendship and rivalry. Kiyoshi recently has shown to be annoyed at how deep Masuyo is, and Masuyo gets annoyed at how obnoxious Kiyoshi can be. They are similar in that both have had a rough past, and both are trying to unlock the mysteries of their respective pasts. It is shown that Kiyoshi and Masuyo work exceedingly well together to the point of coming up with a new team ougi on the fly.

Baku Sen'nin
Baku Sen'nin was there to witness the Awakening of Kiyoshi. He has from then on been a guiding figure in Kiyoshi's life. He expresses great concern for all of his students, and Kiyoshi is no exception. He is, like Akio, quick to criticize Kiyoshi's brash behavior, but ultimately sees that Kiyoshi is a powerful Light User. He comments twice that Kiyoshi is "a scary kid", and it can be inferred that he feels somewhat responsible for Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi admires Baku Sen'nin, and although their relationship is odd at first, Baku Sen'nin has taken his place as one of two primary, living "father figures" in Kiyoshi's life.

Itamichi Takashi
Kiyoshi and Takashi are considered foils to one another; one prefers people, the other prefers solitude, one is outspoken, the other is introverted, one is friendly, the other is somewhat cold. However, both share high levels of determination and dedication to what they do. Takashi is deeply moved by Kiyoshi when they battle the second time; he is impressed that Kiyoshi's friends can somehow be a source of strength to him. Kiyoshi also learns a lot from Takashi, like why people have different reasons for fighting. Kiyoshi is at first quite defensive when dealing with Takashi. He tries to intimidate and challenge Takashi, but later Kiyoshi becomes accepting of the fact that Takashi is strong. Takashi also later acknowledges Kiyoshi's strength.

Trivia

 * Kiyoshi is the character who most frequently breaks the fourth wall.
 * Kiyoshi has not once been seen without his headband, which seems to defy the laws of physics, as it is invisible from certain angles. It is possible that his hair may be constantly covering it.
 * The name Kiyoshi means quiet, which was chosen to contrast his behavior.
 * Kiyoshi was inspired slightly by Ash Ketchum from the Pokemon series.