Ririchiyo Shirakiin

"Time is a burden. That's what I believe." — Ririchiyo Shirakiin in Episode 1

Ririchiyo Shirakiin
File:Ririchiyo Shirakiin.png
Name	Ririchiyo Shirakiin
Kanji	白鬼院 凜々蝶
Rōmaji	Shirakiin Ririchiyo
Characteristics
Race	Atavist (Throwback)
Gender	Female
Age	15–16
Birthday	21 February
Hair Color	black
Eye Color	violet
Height	145 cm
Weight	35 kg
Blood Type	A
Personal Status
Status	Deceased/Reincarnated
Relative(s)	Unnamed father Unnamed mother Unammed sister Unnamed son Soushi Miketsukami (future husband)
First Appearance
Manga Debut	Chapter 1
Anime Debut	Episode 1
Portrayal
Japanese Voice	Rina Hidaka
English Voice	Hilary Haag
Gallery

Ririchiyo Shirakiin (白鬼院 凜々蝶 Shirakiin Ririchiyo) is the main protagonist of the story who once resided in room number four of Ayakashi Kan, and was the client of Soushi Miketsukami. She tends to put a cold front because it is her only way to cope the things she was put through. Ririchiyo finds herself constantly distressed about not being able to communicate with people properly and decides to move in to Ayakashi Kan in order to be alone. She later befriends Karuta and Banri, both of which attend the same school and live in Ayakashi Kan. She can be called a tsunshun instead of tsundere due to the fact that she gets depressed (shun) instead of becoming lovestruck (dere) after behaving in a conceited manner.

Ririchiyo is killed at the age of sixteen after trying to stop the enemy youkai raid after they killed Soushi. In Part 2, she is reincarnated and now resides in room one of Ayakashi Kan, but has amnesia due to the trauma of losing Soushi after he protected her.  

Appearance

Human Form

Ririchiyo as her usual self

Ririchiyo is a petite young girl. She has long indigo hair, violet eyes , and full legs. Her hairstyle is only slightly different in Part 2. In the final chapter, her hair is cut shorter. Her cheeks are noticeably chubby.

She wears many different types of clothes, but is mostly seen wearing her black deep V-neck dress with four buttons on each side and no sleeves. Underneath, she wears a white long-sleeved ruffle blouse. She is often seen wearing plain black shoes with gray thigh-length socks.

Youkai Form

Ririchiyo in youkai form

In her youkai form, she grows two curved horns along with a flower on one of her horns and is taller by a few centimeters, as she wears Zori. Her outfit is a dark red hakama with a mini-skirt. She wears black arm bands and bracelets on each wrist. There is also a Hannya mask hanging on the back of her waist. A naginata is present when she transforms; the traditional Japanese bladed, spear-like weapon is slightly taller than her own height, and is decorated with red tassels on each end of the shaft.

Personality

As the result of her isolated childhood, Ririchiyo harbored a cold and brooding personality. She would inadvertently lash out at others and interacted poorly with people. This was the reason for her decision to move to Ayakashi Kan: she wanted to live on her own. Her plan, however, is disrupted by the arrival of Soushi, who unexpectedly enters her life. At first, she is initially surprised and uninterested by his offer to form a contract with her, but after his persuasion that his one duty in life was to serve her, she creates a true connection with him, and he becomes her Secret Service agent in the process.

All her life she had been respected merely for her family or social status, yet because of his genuine kindness and services towards her, Soushi was the only one to take interest in her for who she was. Though she continued to treat him with some (unintended) bitterness, she began to warm up to Soushi, and eventually those around her as well. Over time, she came to see her friends as an almost family, and although her slight abrasive nature remained, she reached out to people more in attempt to better understand them.

During this course of her inner development, as Ririchiyo spent more time around Soushi, she found that she was falling in love with him. Although she internally denied this and was confused by her increased heart rate whenever she was around him, she at last admitted her feelings to him. This shows that the icy, impersonal girl she once was had been replaced by a kinder young woman.

Relationships

Soushi Miketsukami

Ririchiyo was somewhat hesitant when it came to Soushi devoting himself to her. At first, she did not believe that their contract was necessary because she feared that she would just hurt him in the end. Ririchiyo rejected the contract many times, causing Soushi to believe that life would be meaningless without him being by her side so every time she would reject him, he would insist on her disposing of him with a katana, which she declined every time. There is a moment in which Soushi agrees to their contract being void because of the way Ririchiyo saw him at one point, claiming he was "morally corrupt", due to him toying with another girl's feelings. This caused Soushi to believe that he was not fit to be her servant. However, they did finally seal their contract when they both apologized to each other, thus forming their master/servant relationship. Soushi is willing to go to extreme lengths to protect Ririchiyo, whether or not it means putting his life on the line.

As the manga/anime series progresses, their relationship begins to develop more into a friendship, but soon it starts to develop even more in which Ririchiyo starts to fall in love with Soushi. It is later revealed that Soushi has been yearning to meet Ririchiyo face to face ever since he first encountered her at her fiancé's estate. It is hinted that he has had feelings for her since then, even though they were never properly introduced to each other until Ririchiyo moved into the complex. In the anime, the two become a couple after Ririchiyo discovers that Soushi was the one writing to her ever since childhood, and that they "noticed" each other. The two of them confess their love at a park. Later on in the anime, Soushi tells Ririchiyo that he has a dream in which he wants a family with her. They don't have children due to the fact that he is killed but is reincarnated whenever he is killed. This means that his personality and feelings change, but he still tries to act like the original Soushi to please his master, Ririchiyo. However, Ririchiyo eventually finds out the truth, so they cancel their contract. There will always be moments from the old Soushi, however. At the end of the series they get married and have a boy.

Renshou Sorinozuka

Sorinozuka is Ririrchiyo's childhood friend. Though he considers himself her "big brother" and looks out for her, she does not think of him as more than a neighbor, nor does she appear to appreciate him that much. However, he is unfazed by her normally cold demeanor and continues to help her whenever he can. He also points out that Ririchiyo does care about others, as she wrote him an apologetic letter after the two got into a fight. She does indeed show concern for him, though she'll never admit it out loud.

Kagerou Shoukiin

Kagerou was Ririchiyo's fiancé. They used to write letters to each other when they were young and Ririchiyo would always wait for his letters. Later on, Kagerou tells Ririchiyo that Soushi was the one writing the letters and not him. Their parents were the ones who set up their arranged marriage. He said that he came to Ayakashi Kan because he wanted to entertain her. Once, she visited Kagerou's house.

Nobara Yukinokouji

At a first glance, Nobara gave Ririchiyo the chills. Nobara is constantly infatuated with Ririchiyo's innocent appearance, claiming that she hopes that she and Ririchiyo may get along. "Of course, I mean this sexually!" This tends to make Ririchiyo very creeped out by Nobara's perverted persona. But she does find Nobara a nice person who makes a decent friend, despite her fetish with Ririchiyo's body.

Karuta Roromiya

Ririchiyo immediately thinks the exact same thing other people would think after meeting Karuta: she is odd. Slowly, though, Ririchiyo becomes charismatic towards Karuta by constantly worrying about her getting into trouble and by giving Karuta food. Immediately after receiving food from her, Karuta proclaims she loves "Chiyo-chan". Ririchiyo is embarrassed by this and dismisses it as Karuta only showing her gratitude. Eventually, it can be clearly seen that Karuta truly does care about Ririchiyo and that she thinks of her as her best friend.

Banri Watanuki

Ririchiyo is not very fond of Watanuki, as Watanuki is not very fond of Ririchiyo either. They can be seen having silly, pointless arguments, but nothing brash enough to cause any drama. Ririchiyo finds it humorous on how Watanuki claims to be a delinquent, yet he acts most the time as a bright and kind person. Although they do bicker, they consider each other friends.

Zange Natsume

Zange would most likely be Ririchiyo's least favorite person, as he tends to tease her a lot. However, at times, he does give Ririchiyo tips on how to communicate better with people and consider others friends.

Unnamed Son

It is revealed in the future that she and Soushi have a son.

History

Ririchiyo as a child.

Ririchiyo was born into the Shirakiin family, a wealthy family of important status; it was mentioned they do clothes and fashion. But because of this she suffered bullying and humiliation at school: her classmates told her she was a boring person and that she shouldn't get full of herself just because her family was rich. That is why Ririchiyo puts up a front and developed her bad habit of verbally abusing people. Even her teachers vainly defend her from the bullies in hopes of getting recognized by her family.

Young Ririchiyo, slapped.

Since Ririchiyo was of demon ancestry, her family kept her in intensive protection at home - which was nothing more than isolation. She has a younger sister whom she grew jealous of, merely because of the fact that she had more attention and love from their parents than herself. Knowing this, Ririchiyo's father didn't hesitate in slapping her for her yearning of her little sister's place. He told her that she didn't know better, and instead of her suffering, her younger sister had it much worse for having to live under her "shadow". Young Ririchiyo then only stood shocked and unmoving.

Ririchiyo checking her mailbox.

During her childhood she would write letters to her fiancé, Kagerou, for comfort. Ririchiyo loved to write letters in special stationery sets, and often would write one out of modesty and kindness. Since she couldn't talk to people properly, she vented her feelings in these letters, and apologized sincerely once to Renshou after a fight they had. She wrote her feelings especially in the letters she sent her fiancé, after which she eagerly awaited his reply.

Synopsis

Ririchiyo Shirakiin moves into the high-security Maison de Ayakashi apartment complex. There, she finds herself assigned a Secret Service agent named Soushi Miketsukami,a very strange and annoying man, who claims to have known her for a very long time. Ririchiyo is reluctant to have Soushi as her SS agent, particularly because she doesn't feel worth protecting as her family household has taken up much of her being. She meets other tenants in the apartment complex; her childhood friend Renshou Sorinozuka, with whom she claims to be "just neighbors"; a quiet girl named Karuta Roromiya; and Sorinozuka's Secret Service agent, an odd woman named Nobara Yukinokouji. One night, a burglar breaks into the complex to try and rob Ririchiyo, only to learn that Soushi, along with the other Secret Service agents in complex, have the power to channel the spirits of monsters (youkai). Nobara channels an ice spirit, and Karuta is a Gashadokuro (a large skeleton made from the bones of people who died of starvation). Having been protected from a gunshot by him, Ririchiyo accepts Soushi as her bodyguard.

Ririchiyo is out shopping and Sorinozuka's goal is to keep her out the complex until 6. At the mall, Ririchiyo sees a commercial about a dog and thinks how similar Soushi is to that dog. When they return to the complex, they are told that Karuta is missing. As they set out to find her, Ririchiyo is forced to show her youkai side when she is captured by another youkai. After defeating the youkai, Soushi, Ririchiyo, and Sorinozuka go back to the complex to find that the tenants of the complex were setting a welcome party for Ririchiyo.

Ririchiyo attends a high school enrolled as a top student. She intends to not insult her classmates and to meet new friends, but this doesn't turn out as planned when two boys at her school insult how wealthy she is. After dealing with the stress of making a good impression at her new school, Ririchiyo notices Soushi turning down an admirer. After questioning him about it, her emotions get the best of her and this time, the contract is terminated. Ririchiyo regrets terminating the contract and hurting Soushi after all he has done for her, without even saying one last "thank you". At the social gathering, the boys who insulted Ririchiyo earlier continue to torment her until Soushi arrives and splashes them with water. Ririchiyo is happy that Soushi returned and splashes water on herself, claiming that she is responsible for her agent. Ririchiyo forgives Soushi and lets him continue to be her agent, pinky-promising that they will never be separated ever again. In episode 4 in the elevator scene, Soushi asks if something is bothering her. She replies, "I'm alright", but it turns out that he's the one that's not. He tells her that only a few days ago he was extremely happy just being with her, but right now every hour his need to see her becomes more and more demanding, which implies that he is growing more and more attracted to her. He also says that he was quite jealous when Natsume said that he saw Ririchiyo last night. As he tells her this he raises her hand to his lips and kisses it, which causes her to blush and push him away from her, claiming him to be too close. 

In Part Three, all of the residents get a letter from their reincarnated selves, saying what will happen in the future if they don't stop the attack. All characters are current the same ages as before.

In the final chapter, Natsume 'sees' Ririchiyo and Miketsukami holding hands with a little boy.

Trivia

• Her favourite song is a classical piece called "Comme au Premier Jour" by André Gagnon.
• She has a younger sister.
• Her favorite drinks are tea and coffee.
• According to the Official Guidebook (Volume 0), in response to a question about whether she likes high places or not, she answers by saying that she likes relatively high places but isn't very good with roller coasters. 
• The mask she carries in her youkai form is called Hannya, a mask used in Noh theater, representing a jealous female demon. The Hannya mask is said to be evil and dangerous, but also sorrowful and tormented, which may be in reference to Ririchiyo's true personality, as well the complexity of human emotions. From front, the mask appears frightening and angry; when tilted slightly down, the face of the demon appears to be sorrowful, as though crying. 
• Her preference in clothing colours are black, white, grey, blue, and brown.
• Shirakiin Ririchiyo, written as 白鬼院 凜々蝶. The 白 in her name means “white” whereas 鬼 and 院 mean “oni” and “house.” The 凜 in her first name means “haughty” or even “dignified”, but it can also mean “cold” or “lonely”. The 々蝶 means “butterfly”, which is also the symbol of rebirth.
• Ririchiyo is a tsushun not a tsundere because unlike a tsundere she regrets insulting or looking down on people and often falls in depression.