Houki Shinonono

Houki Shinonono is one of the main characters from the IS:Infinite Stratos anime and novels.

Houki s a 1st year student at the IS Academy. She's in Class One, and she's also the 1st childhood friend of Ichika Orimura.

In the AWA fics, Houki is a student at the AWA Academy.

Appearance
Houki is a beautiful teenage girl with dark blue eyes, long brown hair that she keeps in a slightly messy ponytail (that seems to be divided into two sections) using a green and black ribbon (in episode 12 a white and red ribbon), and a slim, curvaceous body, with a pair of large breasts.

She usually wears her IS Academy uniform, with high stockings and black knee-high boots that have white soles. She is also seen wearing a kendo uniform, with no boots or shoes.

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.

In the light novel and rebooted manga, it is stated that she is very well-endowed and has the largest bust size among the main heroines (including Chifuyu and Tatenashi). She was even complaining about the size of her breasts being too big and how they just keep getting bigger, only to think to herself that maybe Ichika likes that.

Personality
Having been raised in a shrine, Houki possesses a stern, disciplined personality. As such, she had a hard time socializing with other kids, 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 practicing 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 somewhat emotionally unstable, often resorting to be controlled by her own will rather than controlling it herself, especially when she gains a new power.

She has an admiration for Ichika. He (Ichika) shows a steadfast sense of what's right and wrong, regardless of his strength, which goes through a drastic change.

Ichika says that Houki's 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. She does want to change these tendencies, but still hasn't managed to make any changes regardless of that.

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's Tabane'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 is to compliment her.

Despite her rather gruff attitude, Houki is actually a pretty kind girl. Although she is a tsundere, and initially acts strict and mean towards Ichika to the point of not allowing him to use her first name, it's largely out of a desire for him to see her as a woman. She's also shown to get along well with Charlotte, Laura, Kanzashi, Tatenashi, Lingyin and Cecilia, considering them friends, despite their rivalry for Ichika's affection, 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 looks at her or compliments her.

She also likes seeing Ichika in suits, to the point in an instant, she finds it troublesome just trying to look at him directly. Compared to the other girls, Houki's desires can be considered as the most pure and innocent ones; as she doesn't have the same type of delusions as the other girls.

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 during the Grade Level Tournament.

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

Her knowledge in 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 Shinonono Tabane that affects her ability. However, sometime during Volume 7, her IScompatibility rank increases to S-Rank, dumbfounding Tatenashi Sarashiki. Tatenashi suspects this was done due to Houki being the sister of Tabane more than anything else.

Houki has initially piloted the Uchigane, a training IS, during her training with Ichika. Later she gets Akatsubakifrom 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, as seen when she dented a small locker when thinking about Ichika where she twisted the words on him wanting to defend his comrades (his original words), to wanting to defend her instead during their interview. However this may have just been for comedic purposes of the show. She does uses this strength with her swordsmanship. Houki was able to break through Laura's AIC (while partially deployed) with nothing more than a regular sword and pure brute force.

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

Trivia

 * Houki is the first character from IS:Infinite Stratos to be introduced in the AWA fics.


 * Houki is the first character to confess her feelings to Ichika (second one being Kanzashi). However, the first time she did so, her confession was rendered inaudible by the fireworks. The second time she did, she was asleep when she said it, but Ichika didn't hear her well and quickly noticed she fell asleep.
 * Houki's name in kanji means "broom".
 * 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 uses katanas as main weapons. Its inactive sillhouette, foot blades, and colors are all reminiscent of the ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice from Gundam SEED Destiny .
 * Aside from Ichika, she respects and admires her father, Ryuuin Shinonono.
 * The name of Houki's IS, Akatsubaki, translates to "Red Camellia". Camellias are flowers native to eastern and southern Asia.
 * Houki is the only known main female character that isn't a representative of any nation or country due to her being the sister of the creator of IS and being the only person who possess a 4th Generation IS that does not belong to any country or organization.
 * In episode 2, when Houki's in the changing room, she's seen wearing a duster. After the few seconds of flashback, she's seen wearing the school uniform.