Kobeni Higashiyama

Kobeni Higashiyama (東山 コベニ) is a Public Safety Devil Hunter, she is a new recruit working under Makima's special squad.

Appearance
Kobeni is a petite, youthful girl with short black hair. She normally wears a professional suit and has two hair-clips.

At the newbie welcome party she wore a hand-me-down dress from her older sister which was considered to be cute by a couple other devil hunters.

Personality
Kobeni is not very courageous and gets scared easily by devils. Her first confrontation with the Eternity Devil lead to her being paralyzed with fright and babbling. She is shown to easily crack under pressure and breaks down in tears when the group becomes trapped in the hotel and she is confronted with the possibility of them all starving to death without any rescue.

Her sense of fear causes her to take drastic action in order to save herself such as turning on Denji and threatening him at knifepoint once a devil promised to free her in exchange for Denji's life. She even went as far as accusing Hirokazu Arai of being a spy for the devil's because he defended Power from Kobeni's delusional accusations. Despite how she acted towards them in her panicked state, she did feel remorse for her actions and gratitude towards Hirokazu for shielding her when they were attacked.

However when Kobeni gets into action she had proven to be cool-headed and efficient, ruthlessly dealing with both the Katana Man and Akane Sawatari and forcing them to retreat; only breaking down in a panic once the fighting is over.

Kobeni is shown to be nervous when hugged repeatedly by Himeno but tolerates her antics.

Kobeni is shown to enjoy alcohol, especially when it is paid for by someone else. Her hobby is to eat tasty things. She loves the flavor of ice-cream which she has only experienced twice in her life.

History
In grade school Kobeni had her parents buy her an ice-cream just once for her birthday. The first taste was described by her as being so good that she broke into a run, tripped and dropped the ice-cream.

Kobeni became a devil hunter partially because her parents forced her into work in order to support her elder brother to be able to go to college. Faced with the choice of becoming a sex worker or a devil hunter, Kobeni opted to become a devil hunter and joined Public Safety despite wanting to go to college too.

Bat Devil arc
Kobeni was one of the devil hunters accompanying Aki Hayakawa as he saved Denji from the Leech Devil. Aki told her and Hirokazu to evacuate the survivors.

Kobeni was one of the six devil hunters, alongside Aki, Himeno, Denji, Power and Hirokazu, assigned to the mission of tracking down a devil in the Morino Hotel.

Eternity Devil arc
When Himeno announced that the person who kills the devil will receive a kiss on the cheek from her as a reward, she hugged Kobeni and said that having a reward would be so much more motivating. Inside the hotel, Kobeni followed the others while growing more nervous and muttering to herself. Aki questioned Himeno on the two newcomers and Himeno stated that Kobeni pretty talented but also timid.

The group encounter what appears to be a walking decapitated head which leads at Kobeni who babbles in fright and can't move. The head is caught by Himeno and sliced in two by Power. As they progress through the Morino Hotel Power threatens Kobeni to test Himeno which causes Himeno to choke Power with her Ghost Devil arm as a warning. When the group discover that they're trapped on the eighth floor of the hotel both Himeno and Aki ask Kobeni to stand still and make double peace signs as they test the limits of the trapped space.

Kobeni begins to panic and worries that they'll starve to death and Hirokazu tries to reassure her by reminding her of why she wanted to become a devil hunter. Power laughs at Kobeni's misery while Himeno tries to calm her down and warns her that fear is a devil's favorite food.

Kobeni ended up breaking down in panic and tried to drink from a toilet. She was subsequently knocked out by Himeno and put in a bed. When the Eternity Devil appears to Denji, Power, Aki and Himeno and offers them a contract to release them from the hotel in exchange for Denji's life, Kobeni emerges from her room with a knife and demands Denji to let the devil eat him.

She rushes at Denji with her knife but Aki swiftly disarms her and she is knocked down by Himeno who elbows her in the chest. The Eternity Devil laughs mockingly as she's taken down. Later in her paranoia Kobeni begins to blame Power for their current state even though it doesn't line up with her abilities as a Blood Fiend. Hirokazu tries to talk some sense into her but Kobeni accuses him of defending a fiend which must make him a spy for the devils. As they both freak out their combined fear fuels the Eternity Devil who grows and begins to manipulate the space, tilting it while demanding Denji's heart.

Kobeni begins begging for anyone to kill Denji. When Hirokazu holds down Denji, Kobeni tries to use her knife to stab him but accidentally stops Aki who dove in the way of her attack. Kobeni tries to claim it isn't her fault and blames Denji for not allowing himself to be eaten. Denji backs up and says he will get eaten, but as part of his plan to fight the Eternity Devil and force it to surrender. Kobeni watches on in shock and horror with the others as Denji transforms and violently cuts himself out of the Eternity Devil's mouth.

After waiting over the course of three days for the battle between Denji and the Eternity Devil to be over, Kobeni sits in the corner in an exhausted state.

Once they leave the Morino Hotel, Himeno orders Kobeni and Hirokazu to report the incident to Public Safety. Kobeni later attends a newbie welcome party for Division 4. She introduces herself, revealing her age and hobby but keeps the identity of the devil she's contracted with a secret. A few other devil hunters comment that her dress is cute.

After the party Kobeni heads home, commenting that alcohol on someone else's tab is the best-tasting alcohol of all.

Katana Man arc
Kobeni was among the devil hunters targeted during the Gun Devil's plot to assassinate to the Special Divisions of Public Safety. An elderly lady pulled out a pistol and shot at her in broad daylight alongside Hirokazu.

Hirokazu was hit in the neck first but managed to shield Kobeni with his body to save her at the cost of his own life. Kobeni was able to kill their attacker and later went to save Denji shortly afterwards.

As Kobeni appeared on the scene, Akane Sawatari tried attacking her with the tail of the Snake Devil but Kobeni easily evaded it and ran across the Snake Devil's body to attack. She cut off the arm of the Katana Man before he could fire his gun, and caught his weapon out of the air to shoot him in the back. She tried to shoot Akane as well but ran out of bullets and had to take cover behind Denji's body in order to avoid Akane's counterratack. Akane retreated in a van that she loaded the Katana Man onto, leaving Kobeni behind with Denji. Kobeni glanced down at Denji and apologized for trying to kill him before, while reflecting on Hirokazu who sacrificed himself for her. As she breaks down, she announces she'll quit as soon as she sees Miss Himeno.

Kobeni took part in the raid against the terrorists lead by Akane, and was instrumental in capturing her by surprise after she held a knife to Akane's throat. When Aki questioned why Kobeni didn't quit Public Safety like she planned to, Kobeni sheepishly replied than their bonuses were due soon.

Bomb Girl arc
Kobeni attempted to ambush Reze alongside the Violence Fiend. After seeing that the Violence Fiend's attack was ineffective and hearing him tell her to retreat, Kobeni promptly collapsed and claimed that her legs wouldn't work. She frantically apologized to Reze and begged for mercy, claiming that she'd quit her job. Reze resumed her pursuit of Denji, leaving Kobeni to panic.

International Assassins arc
Kobeni and the Violence Fiend went out on a patrol and encountered an unknown devil which the Violence Fiend killed. When Kobeni questioning what type of devil it should be reported as, the Violence Fiend ventured a guess that it was a Grapes Devil. They took a break afterwards and the Violence Fiend bought Kobeni an ice-cream as a treat.

Kobeni tells the Violence Fiend of a story from her childhood when she first tried ice-cream before commenting that for a Violence Fiend he isn't a very violent person. He agrees with her and explains that it is due to still retaining a lot of his human brain. He explains that he can't remember much except that Makima saved him. Suddenly a man appearing to be Kurose appears in a bullet-riddled car claiming that his partner and master were both gunned down. He orders them to report the incident to HQ and they run off to obey to him.

Abilities
According to Himeno Kobeni is talented, but is held back by her timidness.

Enhanced Agility: Kobeni has an impressive level of agility, being able to dodge a tail attack from the Snake Devil before running across its body, a feat that prompted the Katana Man to call her a monkey.

Unknown Devil Contract: Kobeni has a contract with an unnamed devil whose identity she keeps a secret.