Kanou Shinka

Kanou Shinka (加納神華) (born December 1 ) is a character introduced in Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index. Despite being small and timid, he takes the name of Aihana Etsu in order to find clues on what had happened to his friend Frenda Seivelun, and with a little help from Kamijou Touma and Hamazura Shiage finds the strength within himself in order to protect the memory of Frenda.

Appearance
Kanou Shinka is a short boy who appears to be about twelve. He has shoulder-length brown hair, and wears a black hooded jacket with bears ears. He wears black shorts with it, as well as a blue shirt and socks.

Personality
He is described as a crybaby, and is shown to be timid and easily frightened. It is likely because of these qualities that St. Germain was able to easily manipulate and sweet talk him. Despite this, his heart is in the right place as he is willing to go meddle in the affairs of the Dark Side of Academy City and fake his own identity just to search for his friend and, even after finding out about her death, is willing to fight for the sake of his memory of her.

Background
Frenda Seivelun was Kanou Shinka's friend, despite him being oblivious to her involvement with the Dark Side of Academy City. She once told Kanou that she admired his crying because he could shed tears for anyone's tragedy while she herself was unable to do so. Frenda later divulged to him that she has a secret base in the Dianoid which she said was a place that had no connection to the "light or the dark".

She later disappeared from his life and later, not knowing that she had died, he tried looking for her whereabouts. But his meddling in the Dark Side of Academy City was noticed by Yokosuka. Yokosuka beat him up and suggested to him to make use of Aihana Etsu's identity, with Kanou not knowing that Yokosuka was working for Aihana in helping other people through the use of his name.

St. Germain Arc
He first appears after being beaten up by Yokosuka and recalls his words to him. He later decides to assume the identity and become Aihana Etsu in order to search for Frenda. Using a fake ID he goes into the Dianoid as he believes it would have a clue in finding out what happened to Frenda. He deceives thugs from the "darkness" on his way to the Dianoid using the name Aihana Etsu, but later runs into a girl who is also using Aihana Etsu's identity, forcing him to run away. He then ends up in the bottom-level of the Dianoid, finding Hamazura Shiage and Stephanie Gorgeouspalace there as they were transporting goods using the Power Lifter. He tries to use Aihana Etsu's name again but it only intimidates Stephanie. Scared, Kanou runs away again as she argues with Shiage.

Tired of running, he later ends up on the same floor as Kamijou Touma. Seeing his state, he buys him a bottled water. After divulging on how he is in the Dianoid to rescue a girl, Kanou once again introduces himself as Aihana Etsu, the 6th-ranked level 5, but Touma however is not intimidated. He introduces himself to Kanou, prompting him to panic that he is before Kamijou Touma after hearing many rumors about him. Kanou later runs away just as soon as St. Germain makes his move on Touma.

Shinka hides away scared after witnessing St. Germain's Chambord attack. As he becomes encouraged after remembering Frenda's words to him, St. Germain appears before him in a form of an old man. He faints and later finds himself on the roof of the Dianoid with St. Germain. Initially frightful of him, St. Germain manages to calm him down and offer him a drink. St. Germain later shows to Shinka that he eats pills. Then, St. Germain reveals that he is also after him, Kanou Shinka, not Aihana Etsu. He talks circles around him until he tells him he has to leave in order to retrieve "Anne's Shield" from TV Orbit. He then implies that Frenda is already dead and that Shinka may lose his chance in finding the last vestiges of her. He allows Shinka to roam freely in order to do what he needs to do. Before leaving he introduces himself to Shinka. As the battles against St. Germain continue in Dianoid, Shinka once again swallows his fears and decides to act. He ingeniously uses his cellphone to draw Anti-Skill to the Dianoid before leaving the roof, making sure that there is a rock between the entrance and the door so it won't close and lock like the rest of the Dianoid.

Shinka later returns into the Dianoid and drags Touma to a hiding spot as he was being attacked by St. Germains. Seeing him, Touma tells him to run away and hide but Shinka refuses. He divulges to Touma that the St. Germain knew where they were but did not act because they are obsessed with him and don't want to hurt or kill him yet and as such gives them a fighting chance. Despite being scared, he tells Touma that he will get St. Germain to talk. He then says that if he doesn't make it then he would like for Touma to go to Frenda's apartment in the upper level of the Dianoid to find a clue that could save her, not believing St. Germain's words to him prior. Before leaving, Shinka reassures Touma and reiterates that he is Aihana Etsu the 6th-ranked Level 5.

He later meets up with a St. Germain and takes him back up to the rooftop garden, there he finds another St. Germain in the form of a woman chosen to look like Frenda had she lived and grew up. Before they talk, Shinka makes St. Germain promise not to harm Touma, which she assures him so long as he keeps talking to him. Before starting, Shinka once again sees St. Germain eat a pill. Here, St. Germain divulges to him their "history" and their "plan". She reveals to him, including several references to magic side terms that confuses the uninitiated Shinka. Eventually she tells him that she is looking for the one who can wield Queen Anne's Shield, and the only one who can do that is someone who is genetically close to the mythical twin sister of King Arthur, Queen Anne, which in this cases is supposedly Shinka. St. Germain praises Shinka, disparages herself, and later goes off on-tangent during their conversation. But in the end, she tells Shinka that because he was chosen by the shield then they would serve him as a king. She later hands to him the golden shield they took from what was supposed to be delivered to TV Orbit for a show, claiming it to be the same shield in the myth giving him "power". Despite being a Level 0, Shinka hesitates in accepting the shield that would supposedly grant him power. But St. Germain pulls a fast on him, referencing the "last vestiges of Frenda Seivelun".

After eating another pill, St. Germain reveals that they have gained access to Frenda’s room's DNA computers. And after much prodding from Shinka reveals to him a video. Much to his horror, it is the video of Mugino Shizuri confronting Hamazura Shiage just after killing Frenda. Shinka breaks down after seeing the video, demanding answers from St. Germain. Before answering, she references the graviton-style artificial gravity control device in the basement of the Dianoid as a bomb, leading to Shinka to ask if it is what Frenda left behind, though St. Germain doesn't answer him straight. As the building shakes because of Mugino's attacks on the St. Germains below them, she identifies to Shinka that the one who is attacking is the same one who was carrying Frenda's corpse in the video. Despite that, she says that she doesn't matter. She tells Shinka that Kamijou Touma is the one to blame as he wasn't there during the incident as Frenda would've definitely been saved if he was there. Having now fallen to despair, wants vengeance and demands to make use of the "weapon" that is Queen Anne's Shield. He is later taken to the basement of the Dianoid where the gravity control device of the building is located that could be turned into a black hole bomb that could destroy the planet. After St. Germain mocks the Magic Gods, Shinka wonders why Touma couldn't save Frenda in time, and in the end wonders why didn't arrive in time to save her himself.

Thus, Shinka need only to wait for Touma to arrive as the black hole bomb will draw Touma in order to prevent it from happening. Instead however it is Hamazura Shiage who arrives, having prevented Touma from letting Shinka attack him despite the fact that he was not involved at all in Frenda's demise. Shiage tells Shinka that he was the one who let Frenda die and that it makes no sense for him to attack Touma as he is a much more suitable candidate for revenge for Frenda. St. Germain tries to intervene but Shinka stops them. Shiage urges Shinka to fight him and he relents, despite the fact that he knows that he is only hurting himself by doing his revenge. Little did they know that Touma has arrived, sneaking into the basement. Not wanting to let Shinka fall into vengeance, he tosses the gift that Frenda prepared for Shinka prior to her death next to him. St. Germain tries to intervene but Shinka stops them. Here, Shinka sees that it was a voice message from Frenda for his birthday. The message has Frenda admire him for being a crybaby, and that she respects him for it as it prevents him doing awful things. There, Shinka is finally lifted from his despair. He casts aside the shield, the name of Aihanu Etsu, and calls himself Kanou Shinka again. He tells St. Germain that he will not accept him. Realizing that their ruse has been found out, destroys Frenda's present, though Shinka remains steadfast. With that, Kamijou Touma and Hamazura Shiage decides to aid him against St. Germain at the same time as their respective group of friends arrive in the basement.

Much of the battle has Shinka being protected by Touma and the others. He was nearly hit by Mugino's Meltdowner beam under the assumption that he was one of the enemy, much to Shiage's frustration. Along with Touma, he discovers that the reason how a person could become a St. Germain is through the consumption pills, the same pills that Shinka has seen them eat. With that, Index need only unravel the spell that binds the person in a trance that makes them believe that they are St. Germain. With the St. Germains being affected by Index's song, gives Touma the opportunity to point out that St. Germain's true enemy was beside him all along, and that was Kanou Shinka. With that, Touma allows Shinka to punch the St. Germain that looks like an older Frenda.

With St. Germain defeated, St. Germain's control over the Dianoid breaks and they are able to get out. He is outside with Touma, and decides to help Touma explain to Anti-Skill what had happened. With a sigh, Shinka finally accepts the death of Frenda but is glad to know the truth about her. He then asks Touma why he handed the finishing blow on St. Germain to him, to which Touma says that it was because Kanou Shinka was the hero.

Frenda Seivelun
Shinka is a friend of Frenda Seivelun, despite not wholly knowing much about her and the world that she lives in, certain that there was a place for him in her heart. During the course of his investigation regarding her disappearance Shinka continually relies on Frenda's words to him, giving him strength to carry on with what he needs to do. Shinka cares for her, and with a little prodding from St. Germain was willing to get revenge for her sake after discovering her death. In the end, it is also Frenda's words that allowed him to turn against St. Germain and his lies.

As for Frenda herself, she also considered Shinka one of her friends, making up a gift for him for his friends, and assuring that there are also strengths in his weaknesses.

Character Art Designs
According to Haimura Kiyotaka, the outline he was given for Kanou Shinka was a little vague so he worked at it for a while. It was pointed out early on that he was going the "trap" route for this one but he hadn't fully shaken it off with the first design. After being told he could make him more of a "moe" character if he wanted, Haimura continued to the next design. The hooded jacket that Kanou wears is based off the bear-suit type worn by Lain in her bedroom in . Haimura thought that the hood hiding or covered the head was perfect for Kanou's position of borrowing someone else's reputation and obscuring his own identity, meaning it was only natural for him to remove the hood after he cast off the assumed identity at the end.

Trivia

 * He has the same surname as Kanou Shion. The relationship between them is currently unknown.