Tsurigane Saryou

Tsurigane Saryou (釣鐘 茶寮) is a character introduced in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun as a competitor for Jailbreak Trial. Originally a member of the Kouga School sent to infiltrate Academy City years prior, she is later shown to be a traitor, having allied herself with Kimi and her group.

Appearance
Tsurigane looks like a teenage girl. She wears a school uniform with full-body climbing harness and carries Tanto (短刀) at her back. Her hair is short and tied in a low ponytail style.

Personality
She uses a facade of clumsiness and incompetency around her older colleagues, but is actually a two-faced backstabber. She doesn't care about Kimi's plan or the kidnapping of Uiharu Kazari but only to use them for her own agenda, which is to have the perfect death, where she sees her own body after getting her head cut-off, specifically done by Oumi Shuri. According to Oumi Shuri, her personality's transformation may be because of her involvement in the Dark May Project. It is unknown as to what extent the Dark May Project had changed her as Oumi Shuri could not tell Tsurigane would betray her until the moment she attacked. Moreover, her complex with death stemmed from the incident in her youth prior to even going to Academy City.

Tsurigane respects people that can match her as with case with Shirai Kuroko, and would give them a painless death even commend them by saying she won't mind getting killed by them.

Despite betraying her former clan, she still looks up to Oumi Shuri as she wants her to recognize her skills no matter what, even joining the Iga clan for more ninja training just so Oumi doesn't ignore her.

Background
Tsurigane is a member of the Kouga School of ninjutsu. She claims her earliest memory was of her wandering in the mountains at night and getting chased by wild dogs then getting saved by Oumi Shuri, the Ninja Master of her school. The image of her cutting the dogs heads in her attack made an impression on young Tsurigane, who would later be obsessed with getting decapitated by Shuri and seeing her own body as she dies. She later infiltrated Academy City by disguising herself as a Child Error and has lived in Academy City for ten years. Despite being a member of the Kouga School, she appears to be bad at ninjutsu. Kouga School's training ends on age of five. She became an orphan at age of five.

At the age of six, Tsurigane was at an orphanage along with Raifu, Honoka, Kimi and Aohoshi who was taking care of them. After Aohoshi left the orphanage, she and along with her friends are left to take care of younger Child Errors at an orphanage. Later Tsurigane along with friends are sent to a "power-boosting" facility much to their happiness, however Tsurigane wasn't much excited. Tsurigane and the others participate in the program, she was surprised at Raifu's esper level growing. Tsurigane later reads the result of Raifu's esper levels are growing. She then notices that Honoka's esper powers are dropping. Noticing that, promotes her to sneak into their file record room. Where she figures out that they weren't boosting their esper powers but watching how it affects their esper power by tampering with their brains. As she is going through the data thinking that they would be useful information to the Kouga's as it's part of her duty and later hides while researchers discuss about how well the expirments are going except for Kimi's unknown development as a level 0, unable to know what's the cause they decide to expand their research data on Kimi.

She later joins with her friends, with Raifu in a state of daze, Tsurigane mentions that it's due to the intoxication's of the experiments are worsening. After Kimi was being called by one of the researchers, noticing that she is being called repeatedly, she recalls what were the researchers were talking about her when she snuck into their file record room. Having already planted a transmitter in one of the researchers room, Tsurigane is shocked about them erasing the data and doubts herself if she should remain silent or cause a scene, not wanting to risk her duties as a Kouga. While Raifu still in a daze, Tsurigane suggests escaping the facility. She and Honoka knocks off two researchers when they were about to call on Kimi again and escapes along with her friends. The researchers notices their escape plan and they authorize firearms, and killing all of them. Tsurigane says they didn't tell the main the lab about this, meaning they have a chance of covering it up and she takes a different route. Hiding in the ceiling she notices their combat armour and weapons commenting she could never win against them head-on attacks.

Later Tsurigane slaughters all the researchers in their control room not before trapping the armored guards. They finally escape out of the facility and burning it out. Kimi apologises to Honoka who has been shot and killed during their escape plan. Tsurigane points out to Kimi she shouldn't feel responsible which she agree's on. As she doesn't feel anything even though Honoka's dead. She mentions that they were messing with their brains that some of their of feeling and emotions are gone. At some point, Tsurigane became involved in the Dark May Project.

She also became part of another team consisting of herself, Raifu, Aohoshi, and Kimi. She hid this fact from the Kouga. When Kimi was imprisoned, Tsurigane and the other two came up with a plan to break her out, using the cover of the Jailbreak Trial, and also find a skilled hacker in the process. Tsurigane proposed to bring in her ninja comrades so that they would win the trial if they weren't able to find a hacker. She assured Aohoshi that her comrades have high specs, though Aohoshi remained doubtful.

Jailbreaker Arc
Tsurigane first appears during the Jailbreak Trial. She is helped by another ninja while climbing the wall of 2nd Reformatory (Juvenile Hall). Two days before starting the Jailbreak Trial, she had helped her fellow Kouga sneak into Academy City easily. She suggested that they participate in the Trial to Oumi Shuri to observe Academy City's technology and achieve Shuri's purpose.

Although she joins the Jailbreak Trial as a team with Oumi, Yasu, Asai, and Sakata, she shows herself to be clumsy and incompetent, and in need of more training. However, this was a ruse. Later, after the jailbreak competition was concluded with Uiharu Kazari's victory, she is left alone with Shuri. Seemingly feigning injury, she tries to attack her in the back. Shuri catches the blade with her own, but it has already injured her. Knowing what Tsurigane has done, poisoning her, she runs away. Tsurigane later meets up with her real team, consisting of herself, Raifu, Aohoshi, and Kimi, with their plan to kidnap Uiharu.

Tsurigane later plays cards with Kimi and Raifu. Aohoshi tells them that she has obtained information on the winner of the trial, Uiharu. Tsurigane ends up losing the card game to Kimi.

They kidnap Uiharu that night, taking her away in a recreational vehicle (RV). Raifu mentions that Uiharu's capture was easy, but Tsurigane says that it is at times like these that they should be ready for anything. Suddenly, she senses something - Kuroko landing on the RV. Tsurigane climbs to the roof and engages Kuroko in battle, eventually forcing her to teleport away. She thinks about how she didn't expect the kidnapping to be noticed so soon, then sees barb wire rushing towards the RV and shouts a warning to the others. The wires bring the RV to a stop, so Tsurigane orders her subordinates to steal a new vehicle for them. Mikoto arrives and fights with Kimi, but is overpowered by the latter's dragon and Kuroko retreats with her. Afterwards, Tsurigane and her group leave in two vehicles, using the entrance-way road that leads to School District 11.

Eventually their vehicle crashes and Tsurigane is revealed to have been already outside hanging on a tree, she throws a needle but Kuroko dodges it. Tsurigane then engages in a battle against Kuroko, noticing she wasn't Mikoto she throws away some of the tools that she had prepared. While Kuroko teleports behinds her Tsurigane attempts to stab her using her dagger, but Kuroko blocks it with a tile she then jumps upwards and throws some needles while jumping from tree to tree at high speed, preventing her from teleporting. Kuroko is forced to stay on the defensive blocking them using her tile. Kuroko figures out that they are poisonous after it slashes one of Kimi's minions but is shocked at the fact that Kuroko figured out her powers in such a short amount of time to which Tsurigane explains her AIM observation power with years of experience of combat. Kuroko teleports at a distance then grabs a club weapon and Tsurigane comes with a suprise attack from behind but Tsurigane figures that she will teleport in front of her. Kuroko throws a rock as a feint attack and lands a hit on her using the club weapon.

However Tsurigane managed to regain her footing using her athletic skills and complementing Kuroko how she hid her tile under her clothes with landing a hit on her despite Tsurigane ability AIM observation powers to which Kuroko tells her how she was able to slash her clothes right before she attacked Tsurigane. After Tsurigane tells Kuroko that she also knocked one of her teeth, Kuroko sarcastically offers a judgment treatment. Tsurigane tells Kuroko that she already betrayed Oumi whom Kuroko thought she is the mastermind behind all of this and Tsurigane asks her about her earliest memories which Tsurigane reminisces about how she was in the mountains chased by wild dogs and Oumi saving her. She tells Kuroko she doesn't care about Uiharu kidnapping and that her goal was simply to betray her previous organization and she wants to die the same way the wild dogs that was killed by Oumi in her memory. While Kuroko is bored about her chatter, Tsurigane tells her about how to find a quick death such as the guillotine as she wants to die the same way. She asks Kuroko how does she wants to die, Kuroko imagining Mikoto romantic love for her as how she has serious illness. Both Tsurigane and Kuroko continue their battle with Tsurigane breaks part of Kuroko tile and slashes her club in half, she keep using her AIM observation powers to predict where Kuroko might teleport next as she tries to slash her but Kuroko teleports a centipede at her scaring Tsurigane but Tsurigane dagger stretches to Kuroko's neck after attaching it to a wire though Kuroko barely manages to dodge the attack, she kicks Kuroko but she managed to stop her wire-dagger attacks by coming closer and grabs her, though Tsurigane attempts to use a needle to stab her. However Tsurigane quickly manages to hold her wire-dagger as she tries to slash Kuroko but at the last second Kuroko teleports behind a tree. When Kuroko tells Tsurigane that she will arrest her as a judgment officer for the ATM robbery. Annoyed, Tsurigane charges at her using her wire-dagger while throwing her needle from behind and comes closer for Kuroko teleportation range preventing her from teleporting but Kuroko manages to dodge it distracting her enough for a surprise attack to use her wire-dagger from behind that managed to slash Kuroko's hand, however as a last resort she teleported away with little strength left only for Tsurigane to find her using her speed, surprising a wounded Kuroko as she corners her.

As Kuroko is cornered, Tsurigane goes for the kill, however Kuroko manages to dodge the sword by a hair and headbutts Tsurigane and knocks her with her body. Tsurigane tries to swing her sword but Kuroko moves backwards, to Tsurigane's surprise she figures that Kuroko right arm is paralyzed but it doesn't cause her pain due to the hemostatic drug Kuroko teleported to her arm preventing Tsurigane drug from spreading. However Tsurigane thinking her drug would work and finish Kuroko, deciding to keep her distance and buy some time. Tsurigane tells Kuroko that's being killed by her would be nice despite she's not the best, Kuroko counters that she has feeling for someone else (Mikoto). Tsurigane continues her assault against Kuroko using her sword but she doesn't notice that Kuroko has thrown a camera flash to a tree. Tsurigane continues on the offensive but Kuroko teleports to the air confusing Tsurigane, Kuroko then teleports to the tree where she set the camera flash countdown to five seconds, avoiding being blinded while Tsurigane on the other hand is blinded by the light and hears Kuroko kicking off a tree by a flying kick teleportation. Though Tsurigane manages to dodge but Kuroko true intention was her wire-sword that was around Tsurigane, Kuroko however manages to scrach Tsurigane's arm by using her own sword against Tsurigane but she manages to kick Kuroko who falls down exhausted however due to the poison in the sword Tsurigane was affected by it but was able to remain conscious, knowing the poison will paralyze her and knock her unconscious. She bows to Kuroko and apologizes that she said that she is an easy opponent, Tsurigane finally collapses.

Oumi and Yasu watch the collapsed Tsurigane from afar, Oumi comments on her learning about the Dark May Project that may have influenced Tsurigane personality transformation. She says that a project like that is too dangerous for their ninja techniques and Tsurigane risking her life was her accomplishment now treating her as a resident of Academy City and the city laws will decide her fate. With Oumi telling Yasu, Sakata and Asai that Academy City technology are detestable and to be avoided as her title as a ninja master. As they departed, she silently said farewell to Tsurigane, remembering their past.

Tsurigane later wakes up, wondering when Oumi is going to kill her. She reminisces about Honoka's dying moments, then thinking to herself for Oumi to forgive her as she waits for her to show up. Moreover Tsurigane thought that Oumi thinks of her as a second-rate ninja and not even worth killing. Still paralyzed from the poison, unable to move, she is later taken to prison.

However Tsurigane eventually manages to escape from prison. She then locates Kuruwa, a ninja from the Iga clan introducing herself to her. She begs Kuruwa to teach her ninja training, Kuruwa at first is confused by Tsurigane's sudden appearance, she informs Kuruwa by joining the Iga clan is the best way to oppose the Kouga. Tsurigane is happy thinking to herself all she have is to train until Oumi recognizes her skills. Kuruwa accepts her offer as she wants to expand the Iga clan as well. Upon noticing her kusarigama weapon, Tsurigane is surprised mentioning how wild it is which Kuruwa agree's so, as it helps her attack in close range and mid range. Noticing Tsurigane prison clothes she asks about it, however she is suddenly found by security. They notice Kuruwa is with her, assuming that they are accomplices. As they fire their guns, Kuruwa is shocked as she immediately uses the kusarigama to protect herself, Tsurigane removes the GPS that was placed on her clothing and runs with the annoyed Kuruwa. Tsurigane simply informs her to think of it as part of her training, but Kuruwa inquires her reason for being caught in the same case as she cries in annoyance. Tsurigane with a happy expression in excitement thinking to herself that she will meet Oumi once she is a full-fledged ninja. Still annoyed, Kuruwa insists to stop following her.

Abilities
Tsurigane is trained in Kouga ninjutsu. She is also a skilled actor, capable of fooling the veteran ninja Oumi Shuri into thinking that she is actually a poor ninja. With the advantage of surprise, she is able to land a hit on Shuri as well as parry her attacks. However, Tsurigane does not believe that she could find Shuri after the latter escapes. She also knows how to read lips.

Having been through the Power Curriculum Program, Tsurigane possesses an esper ability, initially referenced by Shuri when thinking about esper powers she wanted to see for herself, though not the right kind for her to see. It is later revealed to be AIM Watcher (能力観察), which allows her to "see" and visualize the AIM diffusion fields of other espers. As a result of her years of both combat and AIM observation experience, Tsurigane can identify changes in the AIM diffusion field which occur when an esper performs calculations in order to use their ability and from those changes, she can accurately predict how their ability is going to be used.