Masato Kageura

"We don't care about away missions. But... we're not going to let people weaker than us get ahead. If you want to get up to A-rank, you'll have to go through us first. Shrimp."

- Masato Kageura to Yūma Kuga

Masato Kageura is a B-rank (formerly A-rank) Attacker and the leader of Kageura Unit.

Appearance
Kageura is a lanky, light-skinned young man with wild black hair and amber-colored eyes with slit pupils. He may hide his jagged teeth with a surgical mask, which also serves to minimize the areas of his body susceptible to his Side Effect. His casual outfits invariably include a black sweater, sometimes with a zipper and often with a high collar. He is also seen wearing jeans or cargo pants with front pockets and zippers, as well as black shoes.

Kageura's uniform is comprised of a double-breasted, black military jacket which folds over the right side, where the coat is fastened by a vertical row of five buttons. On the wearer's right breast are two piped patch pockets closed by the same flap, and a second pair recurs at the height of the wearer's abdomen. Kageura Unit's logo is emblazoned on the jacket's high collar. Gray plain button epaulettes adorn the jacket's shoulders. The attire is completed by light gray cargo pants with a piped patch pocket and a zipper on the front of each leg, and black combat boots.

Personality
Kageura is very belligerant, decapitating two trainees for badmouthing him behind his back, although he would not harm anyone who is not in a trion body. His violent behavior stems from his Side Effect, which not only lets him know how others feel about him, but also produces a prickling sensation that is all the more unpleasant if the emotion is negative. The distress caused by the ability led Kageura to detest it. He has recently taken to give a second chance to the ones who mock him to themselves, although he does not warn them about his Side Effect, but he will not hesitate to raise his hands against them if they do not relent, claiming that he'd rather be demoted than allow himself to be berated. Onlookers who become afraid of him due to his outbursts he may try to scare away in a non-violent, facetious way. He can be verbally abusive even to those who do not provoke him, and he may be very blunt even to his friends, casually revealing Ema's crush on Chika to a whole tableful of people while Ema himself was present. Murakami describes him as "aggressive and tactless", but "simple and real". He loses his patience easily with tardy people.

Kageura profoundly enjoys fighting skilled opponents, and it is not uncommon for him to pursue his amusement during rank battles at the expense of strategy. He takes a very relaxed approach to the competition, refusing to watch the logs of his opponents unless they pique his interest. Nonetheless, he will not allow his unit to be outranked by any one he perceives as undeserving. He started making more of an effort to lead his unit after Ema expressed his desire to join the away expedition, although the pressure ended up affecting his performance negatively the first time he attempted to play the match more strategically. Despite feeling the sting of failure, however, he remained determined to help his teammate.

Kō Murakami
Kageura and Murakami are friends, rivals and classmates. They often spar together in their free time, or hang out at Kageura's family's restaurant, where he invites only his closest friends. Murakami can shrug off Kageura's aggressive or mocking tone with a smile when it is directed at him, although he does not approve of him being rude to people who do not deserve it. He knows him well enough to tell that when he does seriously snap, it is not completely unmotivated, quickly inferring that the two trainees whose trion bodies he destroyed had continued mocking him despite his warning. On that occasion Murakami assured them that Kageura would never lay a finger on them while they are in their flesh and blood body, and then proceeded to further scare them by telling them that Kageura was able to read minds. His comments to Kageura after the fact only expressed concern over his conduct causing him to be demoted again. For his part, Kageura seemed to feel the need to explain his actions to his friend. Murakami appears to sympathize with Kageura due to the pain caused to him by his Side Effect, and, despite his difficult personality, will introduce him to people which he believes Kageura will get along with, although he may give them pointers on how to behave around him beforehand. Their friendship does not prevent them from going all out against each other in rank battles, and Murakami has no qualms about acknowledging Kageura's superiority in combat. Kageura addresses Murakami by his first name, while the latter uses a nickname, neither adding an honorific.

Yūma Kuga
Yūma was introduced to Kageura by Murakami upon hearing that they would clash in round four, and thinking that their personalities would be compatible. Kageura was amused by the notion of Yūma defeating Murakami and Arafune, but refused to fight him and give him information. Nonetheless, he was impressed with Yūma effortlessly shrugging off his attempt to rile him up. He grew more interested in Tamakoma Second's ace after watching the logs, making him his designated target for the match. Later, an amicable rivalry developed between the two as they begun to compete in solo rank battles, followed by genuine friendship. Kageura's closest friends remarked that he had taken quite a liking to Yūma, going so far as to invite him to his family's restaurant. Yūma is completely unfazed by Kageura's rudeness rather he sympathizes with him due to the discomfort caused by his Side Effect and expressed surprise at the possibility of there being a more powerful solo combatant than him in B-rank. Kageura also holds Yūma's skill in high regard, with ability not to trigger Kageura's Side Effect making their duels all the more thrilling for the former A-rank agent. Kageura went from addressing Yūma through epithets centered on his height to using his surname, which he had actually been doing to refer to him in private while still using unflattering monikers to his face; Yūma has consistently referred to him by his nickname "Kage" followed by the honorific -senpai, a combination denoting both closeness and respect.

Yuzuru Ema
Ema is part of Kageura's unit and circle of close friends whom he treats to meals at his family's restaurant, although Ema may on occasion pay for his own. Ema's laid-back bluntness irritate the Attacker from time to time, who may snap at the Sniper for having an answer for everything, although his frustration is light-hearted. Similarly, despite the initial shock Ema did not appear to harbor any hard feelings over Kageura revealing his crush on Chika to a tableful of their friends, including one of her teammates. Although the two generally share a relaxed approach to rank battles, Kageura was opposed to Ema's intention of throwing round seven for Chika's sake, which not even Kitazoe was privy to. When, following Arafune's intervention, Ema became determined to win, Kageura took his resolve to heart and attempted to fight in an unusually strategical way to improve their chances of winning, his poor performance throwng him into a slump. Initially unaware of his teammate's intentions, Ema showed concern over it, and was then touched upon discovering why Kageura had been so motivated. Kageura promised Ema to continue to try hard to ensure his acceptance in the expedition team. The Sniper refers to his captain by his nickname followed by the honorific -san.

Hiro Kitazoe
Kitazoe is Kageura's teammate and one of his closest friends. The two acknowledged one another after eight rounds of a solo battle, and enjoy a good relationship despite the Attacker's distaste of the Gunner's unfiltered displays of emotion. Kitazoe is undeterred by Kageura's reactions, to the point of not shying away from giving him the occasional curt response, and openly expresses his concern and affection for his friend, proving very perceptive when it comes to identifying shifts in his mental state and behavior. He will try to pacify him when his temper flares. The Gunner is more invested in rank battles than his captain, so he may spur him to act in a way more beneficial to the team and serve as Kageura's go-to option for information. They address one another by their respective nicknames, without honorifics.

Hikari Nire
Nire is Kageura's teammate and one of his closest friends whom he invites to his family's restaurant. She can effortlessly shrug off Kageura's attitude and, like Kitazoe, spurs Kageura to be more invested in rank battles, during which she routinely complains about her teammates relying too much on her. She was visibly displeased with Inukai's unflattering commentary at the end of round eight. Kageura calls her by her first name while she uses his nickname, neither using an honorific.

Isami Tōma
Tōma is one of Kageura's closest friends. The Attacker invites him to his family's restaurant despite the Sniper being neither a teammate nor a sparring companion. Tōma knows Kageura well enough to be able to tell that he was growing fond of Yūma. He addresses Kageura by his nickname, without honorifics.

Tetsuji Arafune
Arafune and Kageura appear to be on good terms, with Arafune referring to the latter by his first name without an honorific and recognizing his superior skill as an Attacker. Kageura refers to him by his surname, without honorifics. Arafune is a regular customer of Kageura's family okonomiyaki restaurant, although he does not seem to be part of Kageura's closer circle of friends.

Kuniharu Kakizaki
Kageura and Kakizaki are presumably on good terms with one another, since they address each other by a nickname, with the Attacker even adding the honorific -san.

Taichi Betsuyaku
Kageura refers to Betsuyaku by his first name, without honorifics, which could imply that the two are on good terms with each other.

Nozomi Kako
Kageura addresses Kako as "phantom hag", although it is currently unknown if the nickname betrays distaste as Kako herself was unfazed by it and greeted him with her customary smile. She is at the very least not afraid of him, beginning a tug of war of sorts with him over Yūma. She addresses him by his surname with the honorific -kun.

Sumiharu Inukai
Kageura hates Inukai, but the Gunner does not care and is ostensibly unafraid of the belligerant Attacker. In his commentary of round seven he did not shy away from making unflattering comments about Kageura, whom he refers to by his nickname without appending honorifics.

Eizō Netsuki
At some point in the past Kageura threw an uppercut at Netsuki, which led to his unit's demotion.

Quotes

 * (To two trainees) "You guys tripped by yourselves. Or... did you see me do something? Tell me. What did I do?"
 * (To Kō Murakami) "Tch. As if I care! Being laughed at by cocky twerps just makes me a hundred times angrier!"
 * (To Yūma Kuga) "You just made B-rank and are already in the top group? You guys are pretty desperate, huh? You trying to go on an away mission or something? What happened? Did they kidnap a girl you like?"
 * (To Yūma) "My stupid ability isn't that useful."
 * (To Yūma) "We don't care about away missions. But... we're not going to let people weaker than us get ahead. If you want to get up to A-rank, you'll have to go through us first. Shrimp."
 * (To his teammates) "I'm going to play with Tamakoma's Kuga. He seems like the most fun."
 * (To Yūma) "Hey, squirt... Let's play."
 * (To Sumiharu Inukai) "Who cares. Shut up and die."
 * (To Yūma) "This dude here totally has a crush on that little Sniper on your squad."
 * (To his teammates) "This ain't over yet. It's the first time in a while I've had something to really fight for."

Trivia

 * "Masato" (雅人) means "refined person", which is ironic given his belligerent demeanor. "Kageura" (影浦) means "shadowy riverbank".
 * He likes sushi, grilled chicken, manga, and lazing around in the operation room.
 * In his first appearance Kageura was in a trion body with his casual clothes instead of his unit's uniform.
 * Although Kageura wears a mask to reduce the amount of skin exposed to his Side Effect, it was shown not to be hindered by clothing, at least when he is in a trion body. It is possible that clothes offer protection when he is in his flesh and blood body, and/or that they reduce the intensity of the sensation.
 * Kageura has never been seen wearing the mask over his mouth, instead keeping it on his chin.
 * Kageura has a motorized bicycle license.
 * Kageura was originally supposed to have the haircut that was eventually given to one of the "3 Idiots", and to be the top Scorpion user.
 * The author comments that Kageura's hair is very annoying to draw and jokes that because of this the character may discover the joys of baseball or Buddhism and shave his head.