Kou Kurou

Kou Kurou (紅 玖琅 Kō Kurō) is the youngest brother of Kou Shouka and Kou Reishin and is the former Proxy Head of the Kou clan.

Personality & Characteristics
Despite of his strict and serious demeanor, he is actually kindhearted and broad-minded. Kurou cares deeply for his family and even accepts Kouyuu as his nephew, even though they are not related by blood. Many outsiders believe him to be the true leader. Though his older brother Reishin was sent to the capital to undertake the Imperial Examinations, Yuri notes that Kurou actually has a more suitable personality to become a scholar and bureaucrat.

Plot
A man of traditions and family loyalty, Kurou urged their father to pass over Shouka (whom he viewed as useless) in favor of Reishin as the next clan leader. This did not prevent Kurou from avenging his despised brother's honor some years later, when Shoukun's death stunned Shouka too much to notice when his servants stole all of his valuables. The proxy head issued orders to find the thieves and show them the tortures of Hell. Their severed ears and eyes were sent to their families to warn them against any such future behavior towards a member of the Kou family. His wife Kyuuka (九華), son Hakuyuu (伯邑), and daughter Sera (世羅) all aid him with his duties in running the Hong province.

Unbeknownst to Shuurei, Kurou comes to the capital to extend the full protection of the Kou clan when she embarks on the path to become an Imperial official. When Reishin is accused of manipulating the exam results on her behalf, Kurou protests by ordering the Kou clan to strike, which brings half of the country to a halt. Kurou also intervenes on Shuurei's behalf when she is appointed as the co-governor of Sa province; the travel pass for the journey bears the clan crest of Ko Kijin, as the minister who issues the pass, but in the special "seven-colored" ink that can only be made by the Kou clan and marks her as a person of importance to them.

Kurou intends to marry Shuurei and Kouyuu so they can lead the clan into the future.