Kozuki Hiyori is the daughter of former daimyo Kozuki Oden and Kozuki Toki, as well as the younger sister of Kozuki Momonosuke. Unlike her brother Momonosuke, Hiyori was not sent to the future by her mother. She survived the castle fire 20 years ago, and from then on mingled with the residents of Wano Country using an alias. To them, Hiyori is known as the Oiran Number One Komurasaki (jap. 小紫, Komurasaki) and holds the highest rank among them as Dayu.
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Appearance
Hiyori is a slender woman with long blue hair that she has styled into bangs. As a prostitute Komurasaki, Hiyori is dressed ostentatiously. She wears very high Geta (footwear) appear taller. Her hair is pinned together into a complex and magnificent hairstyle, which is adorned with ornaments such as flowers and other trinkets. She also wears an opulent kimono with floral patterns. Her beauty is generally considered to be so radiant that many go blind or faint in her presence as soon as they catch a glimpse of her.
When Komurasaki plays the Shamisenshe always puts on a kitsune mask.
Personality
Hiyori seems to be affectionate with those who are close to her. Thus, she treats her servant Toko with respect. Otherwise, however, she comes off as very greedy and materialistic, as she preys on those who are in love with her and want to ransom her. After successfully fleecing them, she treats them coldly and disparagingly, as she can’t stand poor people. In addition, she acts hostile towards men, whom she views as dogs who are merely supposed to give her money. She is very self-confident and doesn’t shy away from any confrontation with Shogun Orochi. When the latter tried to kill Komurasaki’s Kamuro O-Toko, Komurasaki slapped him. She is also very proud and would rather die than live a life of subservience.
But all this was just a facade, which she adopted on Denjiro’s advice in order to remain undetected. In truth, she took the bloody money from unscrupulous men and gave it to Denjiro, who brought it to the poor population at night as an Ushimitsu boy.
Past
Hiyori was born on the Moby Dick 26 years ago, when her parents were traveling with the Whitebeard pirate gang. And so she and her brother also accompanied their parents on their voyage with the Roger Pirates aboard the Oro Jackson. But once they were back in the New World, her mother Toki fell ill and disembarked on Wano Country with her children and Nekomamushi, as well as Inuarashi, while Oden continued his adventure. There they quickly became popular people for the residents, but their castle was attacked by the Beasts Pirates about half a year before their father returned. Kawamatsu and Inuarashi were able to drive off the attackers, but Toki was injured.
When Oden then returned and learned of this, he ran to Orochi in a rage. However, his attempt to overthrow the Shogun failed and from then on, Oden made a monkey out of himself for five long years, cutting a deal that no one but him knew about. While to most of the population he was now just the jerk prince, his family always stood by him. However, when Orochi broke that deal 20 years ago, Oden and his henchmen went on the counter-offensive and attacked Kaidou. Meanwhile, Hiyori, Momonosuke and Toki were guarded by Shimotsuki Yasuie and his men at Oden Castle, but this attack also failed and Oden and his henchmen were sentenced to death by boiling.
However, just before his death, Oden was able to save his henchmen, after which they rushed to his family. Hiyori was with her mother and brother at Oden Castle, which was set on fire by Emperor Kaidou. Her mother Toki then sent Momonosuke and his henchmen 20 years into the future using her devil powers. While Toki then perished in the fire, Hiyori escaped through the help of Kawamatsu, who dug a tunnel and disappeared inconspicuously with her. He took care of her until she was 13 years old. She ran away because although Kawamatsu took care of her carefully, he didn’t think of himself. She was afraid that he wouldn’t survive like that. 13 years ago, she was then taken to the yakuza boss Kyoshiro, who revealed himself to her as her father’s loyal retainer: Denjiro. He gave her a new identity as a Komurasaki and she mastered it with flying colors, rising to the rank of Oiran.
During her career, she seduced several men by making them believe that she wanted to be ransomed before Shogun Orochi could do so. She agreed to start a new life with whoever could raise enough money. Many men tried their luck, but were fleeced and eventually disowned by Komurasaki, leaving them with nothing in the end. However, she gave the captured money to Denjiro, who distributed it among the poor population as an Ushimitsu boy.
Present
The Shogun’s Banquet
Orochi chose Komurasaki to attend his banquet. On her way there, she passed through the streets of the flower capital, where she was harassed by some men, but they were defeated by her bodyguards. When the men then burst into tears, she taunted them before leaving them in the dust. Later, she arrived at the shogun’s palace, where she attended the banquet alongside Orochi, which Robin also attended. However, at the shogun’s banquet, after a short while, he began to speak of the prophecy that Hiyori’s mother uttered. Although everyone, including Hiyori, knew that mocking Orochi’s paranoia was punishable by law, her servant Toko laughed uncontrollably. Orochi, ignorant of Toko’s condition, then became very angry and wanted to execute Toko for her disrespect and mockery.
Hiyori begged Orochi not to punish her, however, he ignored her request, saying that no one should laugh at him. Hiyori then stood in front of Toko and slapped Orochi, whereupon he tried to transfer his anger onto Hiyori. She retorted that she was proud to be the daughter of a samurai. Hiyori was then caught off guard by Orochi’s devilish power and he threatened to crush her. However, before he could do so, the ceiling collapsed due to Shinobu’s devil powers. In the commotion, Robin managed to pull Toko to safety. After the commotion, Kyoshiro caught sight of Hiyori and asked her if she was ready for what was to follow. She replied that she accepted his “mercy”, whereupon he “executed” her with his sword. He then found a hidden message that Hiyori had previously kept hidden in her sleeve. After the banquet, Komurasaki was pronounced dead, but Hiyori managed to escape from the city.
Escape from Orochi’s henchmen
While the whole town mourned the loss of Komurasaki, Hiyori fled the town with Toko, but both were pursued by the assassin Kamazo. In the Ringo region, they met Zoro, who was fighting with Gyukimaru. He rushed to help them and fought a duel with Kamazo and defeated him. However, he himself fainted afterwards, after which Hiyori took care of him in a remote temple in the Ringo region. After Zoro regained his strength, Hiyori revealed to him her identity and that she was looking for her brother Momonosuke. She then told Zoro about her past, being rescued and growing up under Kawamatsu, and what happened to her after her parents died. All three of them slept and later woke up to find that Brook had found them. He then told them about Komurasaki’s funeral and Tonoyasu’s arrest and execution. Toko ran off towards the capital without a word, followed by Hiyori, Zoro, and Brook.
Tonoyasu’s execution
All four arrived just as Tonoyasu was being executed, at which point Zoro noticed that the people of Ebisu were also present. However, they were merely laughing, which angered him. Hiyori then tearfully explained to him that they had no choice but to laugh because they had to eat the failed smile fruits that were knowingly distributed by Orochi among the poorer residents of Wano Country and suffered the consequences. She then noticed Toko kneeling next to her father and then called out to her to come to her like this. However, Toko was noticed and recognized by Orochi, who then sought to exact his revenge on her. His shots were blocked by Zoro and Sanji, who stood protectively in front of Toko. Thereupon a huge fight broke out between the present Straw Hat Pirates and Orochi’s subjects as well as the arriving Beast Pirates. In the melee, Hiyori saw Toko being led to safety by Usopp, and she herself was then chased by Fujin and Raijin, but was again rescued by Zoro, and both then fled back to the Ringo region.
Reunion with Kawamatsu
Zoro defeated their pursuers and both rested again at Enma Shrine. Both then returned to the Oihagi Bridge, where Zoro again engaged in a duel with Gyukimaru, and the name Shuusui was also mentioned. However, to everyone’s surprise, the fight was interrupted by none other than Kawamatsu, who reunited with Hiyori after over 13 years. The reunion was interrupted by an angry mob of the Beast Pirates, who wanted revenge on Gyukimaru for the theft of their weapons. However, they were quickly defeated by Kawamatsu and Zoro, whereupon, to everyone’s amazement, Gyukimaru suddenly ran away. Kawamatsu then told her the story of Shimotsuki Ushimaru and Onimaru and how he himself became a prisoner. They both then met up with Zoro in a crypt where Kawamatsu was hoarding some weapons for the resistance. Hiyori then respectfully asked Zoro to hand over Shuusui to her in exchange for Enma. The sword that was once wielded by her father, Kozuki Oden, and would be the only sword that could scar and wound Kaidou. Despite Kawamatsu’s misgivings, she told Zoro more about her father’s swords and asked him again to give her the sword, to which Zoro then agreed. She told them both that she would not accompany them to their allies, as she did not want to disrupt their preparations for the coming war.
Miscellaneous
- Hiyori’s name means “weather” in Japanese.
- Her favorite food is kappa maki, but she hates fish tsukune.
- To Oiran is a Japanese courtesan who is a prostitute and entertainer at the same time.
- Her alias might be based on Miura-ya Komurasaki. A real-life Oiran from the Edo period whose tragic love story was immortalized in a work of art by Kitagawa Utamaro. In this story, her lover committed numerous crimes to buy her freedom. However, she killed herself when her lover died.
- If Hiyori were an animal, she’d be a peacock.
- Her hobby is playing shamisen.
- In the seventh character popularity vote, Hiyori ranked 49th.
