Yumiya Rakko

Yumiya Rakko (弓箭猟虎) is a character introduced in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun. A student of Private Shidarezakura Academy, she is also an operative of SCHOOL and was its sniper before Sunazara Chimitsu.

Etymology
Her surname "Yumiya" (弓箭) literally means "bow and arrow". The given name "Rakko" (猟虎), as a whole, is the word for "sea otter" in Japanese; if interperated seperately, these two kanji literally mean "hunting" and "tiger" (although the Japanese for "hunting the tiger" is not written and read as such).

Appearance
Rakko appears as a normal girl with long dark-colored hair and wears it with two pigtails. She normally wears her school uniform, but when on a mission she wears a pouch belt.

Personality
Her demeanor in school is in stark contrast to her demeanor during missions. In school she is a shy girl that gets easily flustered to the point that she stutters, and has dreams of becoming popular at school. During missions she is very serious and appears to enjoy her mission especially if her target has irritated her, as shown when she smiles after shooting Frenda Seivelun down.

Background
Not much is known about Rakko, but according to her, she spent a year and a half in school not talking to any of her classmates. It is also unknown when she became an operative of SCHOOL.

Dream Ranker Arc
She first appears as she exits her school. Much to her surprise, her classmates call out to her and invite her for a little adventure out of School Garden. Rakko was about to accept until she is contacted by the Boy with goggles, telling her to hunt down the ones that defeated the team that was supposed to capture Saten Ruiko and her Indian Poker card, whom they believe may have information regarding the Tweezers. Disappointed, she turns down her classmates' offer. She later gears up and investigate the scene of the attack, and easily narrows down her targets. She makes a point that her targets should make her hunt enjoyable as they took away her chance of becoming popular at school. Not long after she was able to track them down, and shoots one of them, Frenda of ITEM.

Abilities
She is referred to as SCHOOL's sniper, and is apparently very good at it. She is able to shoot Frenda accurately despite apparently having no weapons on her person within a crowded area.

She is also good at tracking, able to analyze how many targets she had, what shoes they wore, and their heights based on their pace length. Indeed, she is able to track both Ruiko and Frenda down shortly after arriving at the scene where Frenda attacked SCHOOL's lackeys.

Character Art Design
In designing Rakko, Kamachi initially thought of using Sunazara Chimitsu to base the concept of Rakko as both characters served as SCHOOL's snipers. However, he already had Frenda and how Rakko would fire her guns considered early on, and instead modeled her after a "high school girl who is somewhat sly and a little loose".

Later designs would add explanations to details, notably the "tights" that are actually a full-body suit and her hairstyle that is based on Asuka Soryu Langley from Neon Genesis Evangelion. The "hunting dog" motif of her design is also finalized. Kamachi also tries to distinguish him from Sunazara (who would naturally stand out in Academy City that's full of students) and makes sure that Rakko can still blend in with the crowd while maintaining the distinction that she is a student that also works as a sniper.

In the character sketches, Rakko is called simply as "Sunako-san" (スナ子さん) based on the word "sniper".

Quotes

 * (From Railgun Chapter 81): "My classmates spoke to me for the first time in a year and a half... but I had to say no myself. That was supposed to make me popular... and end up making me the school's idol. you crushed that bright future... so at least let me enjoy this hunt."