Character Profile: Kei

Rough, tough, and usually willing to take on almost anyone to get what she needs. She and her close friend Komimasa lead a gang of orphaned children who live in the slums known as the Shadow Zone. At first glance, you'd think Kei was a guy, and she sure tries to act that way. Her first encounter with Iria didn't sit too well with the Apprentice Hunter (Iria tried to shoot her when she tried to make off with the car). However, even Kei knows better than to let a monstrous killer loose in the Shadow Zone, so she (uninvited) helps Iria to force Zeiram off the planet.

She wouldn't admit it right there, but after those brief encounters, Kei was beginning to like Iria, and she wanted to be with the Hunter and help her, so she and Komimasa snuck a ride to Myce, Iria's homeworld, where she found herself in the thick of things again.

It would turn out to be Fujikuro's nose that picks up the fact that Kei is in fact a girl. He also commented that Kei was acting just like Iria in her younger days.

So what if she is? It's like things coming full circle. The student becomes the teacher, and Iria ends up with a student who acts a lot like herself under her wing.