Shinra Kusakabe

is a Third Generation Fire Officer at the 8th Special Fire Brigade of Tokyo.

Appearance
Shinra is a young boy of average height with short and spiky dark brown hair, and glowing red eyes. He's first seen wearing a black suit over a white shirt, a pair of black trousers and black boots which burnt like many others when he ignited them to save Iris. He was later given a Bunker gear, which consists of a tank top buckled at the waist with a belt, which presses a middle part that's strapped to his shoulders, and dark colored shorts. Those are later topped by protective outer jacket and trousers, and finished with a helmet. The trousers he wears with his bunker gear was specifically tailored by Maki to be three-quarter lengths instead of reaching down to his feet, being advantageous so that Shinra could freely use his Third Generation ability without having to worry about burning his trousers. He was also seen wearing a grey jumpsuit.

Personality
Shinra is energetic and confident, not hesitating to act immediately when the time calls for it and is very proud of his ambition of becoming a hero. However, Shinra suffers from nervous laughter, which is a real life condition where animals naturally grin or show their teeth when nervous, stressed, angered or uncomfortable. Such things as running into a schoolgirl even made him nervous and when he saved Iris from a falling object. He was quite easily made shaky by Akitaru staring him in the face, and is naturally nervous around girls since he's been in training with males only for an extended period of time. Aside from this, he isn't easily agitated by other people's words and opinions on his ambitions, as demonstrated when Takehisa asked if he wanted to become a hero just for his reputation. Shinra also bickers often with Arthur on who are superior: heroes or knights.

Abilities
Shinra is a Third Generation, able to kindle, control and utilize flames he generates to his own will. So far, he has only shown the ability to ignite fire on his feet, allowing him to run longer distances with much greater speed, and multiply his kicking power drastically. The ashes he leaves on the floor in image of his footprints were noted to be called the. After his first official mission, Shinra was given a Seven-Style Fire Fighting Battleaxe to wield, by Takehisa, which was said to be capable of firing sacred spikes from the front, when the trigger is pulled.

Background
Twelve years ago (Year 186), Shinra lived with his mother and his baby brother Sho. At some point, he promised his mother to become a hero, so that he could protect her and Sho. One night, he woke up to his house on fire and according to him, something was present in the house, which lead to his family being incinerated along with their house. Afterwards, he was rescued by the 1st Special Fire Brigade and was labelled as the perpetrator after others discovered he was a Third Generation. After the ordeal, Shinra attempted to move to his grandmother, but she thought of him as a monster, calling him a demon and saying he doesn't even realize what he has done. This occurrence led to Shinra being blamed, even though Shinra himself states that there was another "black shadow" beside his own shadow on that day.

Introduction arc
Shinra attempts to catch up to a train, but bumps into a girl instead, scaring her away with his awkward grin. Saddened that he was not able to use his powers to catch up to the train, Shinra overhears an alarm in the train station and notices a Flame Human coming out from one of the carriages. He readies himself to fight, but the 8th Special Fire Brigade arrives to deal with the threat, with Akitaru impaling the being's core with low difficulty. After the fight, a light starts falling from the ceiling, straight at Iris. Shinra manages to jump in and save her, but burns through his shoes in the process. Then, he introduces himself as a Fire Officer, to be enrolled in the brigade. Shinra later arrives at the 8th Special Fire Fighting Church, where he meets the others. Akitaru then teases Shinra when he learns of the boy's nervous laughter, and follows up with a question regarding why he decided to join the brigade, to which he replies that his ambition is to become a hero. Shinra is present when Akitaru delivers a speech about the Human Body Ignition Phenomenon, making him recall his past and current ambitions. While in bed, Shinra recollects the black shadow that has wronged him in the past, but his train of thought gets cut short when Maki runs into his room and informs him about the accident in a factory. Shinra jumps into the Special Armored Fire Engine and moves out, encouraged by Akitaru to do his best.

After arriving on the scene, Shinra contemplates the act of destroying the Flame Human and how it is equivalent to killing a real person. Once there, Shinra starts shaking in fear, which forces Akitaru to remind him the purpose of the blue lines. Distracted by Maki's Second Generation abilities, Shinra is caught off guard by the Flame Human, who knocks him out. While unconscious, Shinra recalls his past, before being awaken by Takehisa, who tells him to stand up, confirming that the boy has only been out for 5 seconds. Indifferent about the issue in hand, Shinra aggregates his thoughts to finally decide to fight. With the squad cooperating in order to deal with the peculiarly intelligent Flame Human, Shinra launches himself towards the opponent, igniting his feet in the process. Overcoming his fears, the boy delivers a fatal kick to the core of the Flame Human's heart, sending her to the afterlife in peace. He overhears the spectators chanting for him and cheering while the rest of the crew praises him, saying that he has finally become the hero he longed to be. Elated, Shinra shows off a delighted smile instead of his usual anxious grin.

Akitaru later informs Shinra that he will be participating in the Fire Officer Newcomer Tournament, alongside the new recruit who is supposed to come today, which makes Shinra excited, as he sees it as a chance to meet the man from the 1st Special Fire Brigade who had helped him in the past. Shinra bumps into Arthur in the corridor, realizing that he's the new recruit Akitaru was talking about and instantly getting into a fight with the boy, which leads the two to the top of the roof, where they interrupt the conversation between Maki and Iris. Shinra and Arthur start squabbling again, but it is cut short when Takehisa arrives to see what's behind all the ruckus. He orders Maki to fight the two boys, and she easily defeats Shinra by putting out the flames on his feet, making him almost fall to his death, but the boy manages to land safely. When Arthur insults Maki, she creates a fireball creature out of Arthur's sword and Shinra's flames, ending the fight in her victory. After the battle, Shinra is baffled and thinks to himself that he needs to become stronger, so that he can protect people when the time calls for it.

Later, Akitaru treats Shinra and Arthur to some foot at Ippudo Ramen, where the three strengthen their friendship. Back at the church's armory, Shinra is given a Seven-Style Fire Fighting Battleaxe to use by Takehisa. When the brigade is notified of a Flame Human, they depart to the scene and Akitaru instructs the new recruits to conceal their weapons in public. Upon arrival, Akitaru pulls the two aside for disobeying his orders and explains his reasoning. Their conversation, however, is cut short when a burst of flames emerges from the apartment, leading the brigade to storm in, where they are welcomed by the Flame Human. Arthur volunteers himself to kill the harmless threat, much to Shinra's confusion. After completing their objective, the building's ceiling begins to collapse and Shinra watches in awe as Akitaru risks his life to save a precious memento for Mikako. Afterwards, he apologizes to the man for not being of any help during the mission.

Trivia

 * is derived from the Japanese word, which, when translated, can mean either "all creation" or "all things in nature".