Homuramaru Nowaki

Homuramaru Nowaki (, Nowaki Homuramaru) or simply Nobimaru (野火丸, Nobimaru) is the subordinate of Yoko Inari. He is also the leader of the Special Investigation Unit.

Appearance
Nobimaru appears as a cheery young boy with short blond hair. He has golden eyes and a beauty mark under the left side of his mouth. He wears black and yellow headphones to conceal his fox ears. His typical attire consists of a yellow undershirt, white tie, black suit jacket and black shorts. He also wears white socks that are paired with black sock suspenders and brown semi-formal shoes.

In his adult form he looks generally the same, besides a few distinct differences. He is noticeably taller and he wears a cropped white leopard print fur coat over his black suit. Instead of shorts he now wears black suit pants. On his right hand he wears a red glove. His headphones rest around his neck and he also occasionally wears oval sunglasses.

Personality
Nobimaru presents himself as polite and approachable, using his cute and innocent exterior to his benefit. He wants to be seen as someone trustworthy and reliable, but beneath the surface he is elusive, scheming and manipulative, often looking to use others to his own advantage. Kon, a naive individual with a strong sense of duty, falls victim to this. He’s also secretive about his past and life outside of work, which makes his intentions and motives hard to discern.

He displays his ruthless side from time to time. He shows little to no concern for violence and bloodshed, and in fact views such situations as rather exhilarating and entertaining. Nobimaru is confident in battle—whoever he is facing doesn't really stand a chance against him.

As Inari’s subordinate, Nobimaru naturally holds her in high regard, respectfully referring to her as “Lady Inari”. He carries out her orders with loyalty and diligence. In actuality, however, Nobimaru views her in an intensely negative light; upon his first meeting with Kabane, he reveals that he hates her. On a few occasions, he is also shown to momentarily get carried away, his typical bright expression darkening. He proceeds to talk about Inari in a hostile and bitter manner, though he quickly catches himself and playfully pretends like the “slip of the tongue” didn’t happen.

He even goes as far as to deceit Inari and lie to her face. However, he does this to protect others from Inari’s wrath. It’s through moments like this, where Nobimaru’s more compassionate, caring side comes to light. Though his ways are questionable, his intentions, in the end, are good.

Nobimaru tends to operate in the background behind Inari’s back. He’s looking to accomplish his own selfish goals, likely using his position and status as a stepping-stone. Nobimaru is amiable towards the members of the Inugami Detective Office, even letting them in on Inari’s plans and willing to cooperate with them. Such behavior is extremely disloyal and tiptoes the line of betrayal, yet he doesn’t seem worried about Inari finding out about his schemes.

Powers & Abilities

 * Replication: Nobimaru is able to replicate himself, producing many copies of himself to confuse the enemy.
 * Transformation: Nobimaru can change his form from a child to an adult.
 * Illusions: Nobimaru is able to "erase" memories by showing the subject an illusion which makes them think it was a dream. Although the memory gets erased, the feelings stay intact.
 * Flames:
 * "Flower Kindling" (花火種,): Nobimaru's signature move, as described by Robara. Nobimaru plants seeds of a flame at the points he touches with his fingers, detonating them by making them sprout, which he does by snapping his fingers. This ability leaves little marks on the body which are similar to burns.

Yoko Inari
Nobimaru's boss. He dislikes her and resents her ways of operation, but acts loyal and dutiful in front of her. When asked why he even follows her in the first place, Nobimaru claims that his reason is “exceedingly self-serving”. As for what this reason is, is currently unknown.

Umetaro Matsutake
Nobimaru's subordinate. He had suffered a hefty monetary loss due to gambling and thus was in debt. Nobimaru paid it off, sealing his fate of working at the Special Investigation Unit, holding the fact that Umetaro owes him over his head. Despite basically forcing Umetaro to act as his personal minion, Nobimaru considers him reliable and trusts him with certain tasks.

Kabane Kusaka
Realizing how far Kabane is willing to go for his friends, Nobimaru desperately wants for Kabane to add him to his "friend list". Given Nobimaru's nature, he most likely wants to take advantage of Kabane's good-heartedness and his powers. That said, they seem to be on good terms and even cooperate in battle against Yui.

Trivia

 * He wears an apron when he cooks, thinking that he's cute when he cooks with an apron on.
 * He is not against being on full display.
 * He likes soba.
 * His preferred type is someone who would fall down to hell with him.