Nanako Tenjo


 * This article contains major plot spoilers from the manga that have not been revealed in the anime. Proceed at your own risk.

Nanako Tenjo (天城 那々子) was the sniper for the CCC, in which she acted under the code name 07 (Zero Seven (ゼロナナ). She harbors a strong resentment towards devils and was determined to exterminate them because of a traumatic event that happened in her past. However, her view of devils altered slightly after witnessing Yuuki Anzai's and Tsukasa Taira's loving relationship, which defied the notion that devils are monsters who only desire to drink human blood.

She was against Plan B (the Ikebukuro Incident) and tried to rebel, but since she was threatened by life, she decided to desert from the CCC along with her friend and ally Kenichi Yoshii. Being pursued both by the CCC and the police and having nowhere to go, she agreed to assist the F Squad in their plan to "stop Kirio Kikuhara".

Early Life
Nanako's father passed away in an accident when she was small, which left her mother, Sayuri Tenjo, to raise her alone. However, her mother eventually began dating another man, Kenichi Morisawa, for about a year. He was a devil and Nanako disliked it as she thought devils were creepy. Despite that, Morisawa began staying over more frequently at Sayuri's house and began spending more time playing with Nanako in an effort to become closer to her. Eventually, Nanako warmed up to him and the two would play alone together and talk about different topics, and Nanako admits that she loved him as a child would do.

At some point, Morisawa moved into Sayuri's home and after some time, told he told Sayuri about his bloodlust, specifically towards Nanako. This made Sayuri enraged as she had already raised her suspicions about in which way Morisawa viewed Nanako and how they would play alone together. Sayuri demanded that Morisawa would move out and never go near Nanako again. It was also during this time that Sayuri told Nanako to not go near Morisawa anyone either.

However, due to Nanako's strong love and admiration towards Morisawa, she didn't want Morisawa to move out. One day while Morisawa pondered about his situation and feelings towards Nanako, she came up to him and they ended up playing cards. Suddenly, Morisawa hugged Nanako. At that time, Sayuri saw them and, sensing his bloodlust for Nanako, she took up a gun in an attempt to kill him. However, she was unsuccessful, as devils do not die if shot anywhere other than the head. Morisawa snatched the gun from Sayuri, shot her dead, and raped her while simultaneously sucking her blood. Nanako, frightened, stole back the gun and "accidentally" fired it and shot Morisawa in the head, resulting in his death.

Post-Incident
Left orphaned, Nanako was adopted into the Chizu household by Kousuke Chizu. Even after being placed in a new environment, she suffered from terrible trauma, was very quiet and didn't interact with anyone except her foster father. She also didn't make any friends in school nor play with her two other siblings that had been adopted into the Chizu household. This is because, after losing both her mother and a devil she was close to her, it wounded Nanako emotionally and she closed off her heart. However, soon after, she began insisting that she hated devils, and whenever she would talk about them, she would sound prejudiced. This change in behavior was triggered by her meetings with Kirio Kikuhara, as he had rationalized the fact that she had killed a devil and given her the idea that devils should be hated and killed. Apparently, he had "rescued" her heart.

The time she first met Kikuhara was in high school, at one of the study groups put on by her adoptive father, but she didn't talk to him at the get-together because she was busy studying for her high school exams. Another time when she went to turn in a mock test to her foster father, she ran into Kikuhara who had fallen asleep in the study room. When Nanako tried to find her father, Kikuhara woke up and saw that she wasn't very good at maths and offered to help her if she wanted to, since he claimed he was really good at it. Nanako hesitantly accepted, and they grew close during their study sessions. Nanako thought he was nice and strange, but the fact that he was not overly friendly and didn't help her for any ulterior motives, made Nanako trust him completely and someone she could feel safe with. Kikuhara also constantly supported her in math and emotionally.

The day Nanako's results came back, she rushed to a cafe and ended up getting there before Kikuhara. As she waited, she saw an incident with a devil taking place outside, to which she realized that Kikuhara was a devil officer in action and that he was in the police department. This revelation made her devastated, as she fell for another police officer. Kikuhara knew what she was feeling, so he came to visit Nanako who had holed herself up in her room. Nanako initially didn't want to talk to him and was very upset at him, but Kikuhara didn't give in and came clean about his job. He then convinced Nanako that unless people didn't do anything like isolating or exterminate devils, another devil like Morisawa would show up. While comforting her, Kikuhara said the words "Nanako, come here" which triggered Nanako's memories of Morisawa. However, Kikuhara explained that he couldn't love someone and didn't see Nanako as a woman nor sexually, and if she understood, she could come to his side (as in joining the CCC). This brought her great comfort, as even though she liked Morisawa, he wanted her as a woman which Nanako didn't want. When Nanako thought she understood, she accepted becoming a member of the CCC and fell in love with Kikuhara in the process with no reciprocated feelings. With doing so, she also forgot her terror of Morisawa.

Joining the CCC
By March 2007 when Nanako was 18 years old, she had graduated high school and planned to move out for college. However, she quit college in her sophomore year, and officially joined the CCC and moved into one of the houses rented by the organization, and being taken care of by Kikuhara. She worked part-time to cover for her tuition and living expenses and didn't even touch the allowance her adoptive father sent. Kikuhara didn't tell Nanako the CCC's true intentions, claiming that they would only help the police behind the scene to wipe out the devils. In 2010, Nanako began her weapon training with Takeshi Makimura and was taught sniping by him, eventually becoming a very skilled sniper herself. Her self-proclaimed hate towards devils also grew stronger, as she killed every devil that shared the same characteristics as Morisawa she could.

Appearance
Nanako is a young woman with fair skin, a relatively tall height, and a fit build who is noted to be beautiful. She has straight black hair which she initially wore longer; in upper-back length and bangs framing her forehead and face, which she occasionally wore in a ponytail. But after deserting from the CCC, she cut her hair to ear-length, as well her as her bangs more evenly so it covers only her forehead. She has sharp grey-colored eyes, and is also often seen with earrings.

After the timeskip, her hair has grown out so she now can wear it in a ponytail. She also cut her bangs and wears it sideways. Additionally, she gained a small scar beneath her left eyebrow.

Personality
Nanako was initially seen to be very merciless as she indiscriminately killed several devils out of pure hatred. She was also very devoted to exterminating every single devil in society. She didn't feel any remorse or guilt, as she didn't see it as killing, she saw it as pest control. She blames the devils in society for her being the way she is, since the devils were the one who killed her mother which caused her terrible trauma. Although she is withdrawn and a level-headed and physically capable fighter in most situations, she also appears to be distant and emotional, focusing solely on her drive to succeed. She wears her emotions on the sleeve and easily lets out her emotions, be it anger, fright, relief, or sadness. She is serious and mature at all times and does everything in her own way.

However, she does have a strong sense of right and wrong when it doesn't revolve around devils. She doesn't want to kill any humans no matter what and wants to keep the human death rate low when participating in the CCC's plans. She is someone who can't sit by and do nothing, as if she sees someone being assaulted or hurt, she is not above giving the predator a physical lashing. She is shown to be compassionate, caring and considerate of others, especially her allies such as Kenichi (Zero Nine). Later on, she decides to put her hatred for devils aside while working with the F Squad, especially after seeing Yuuki's and Tsukasa's loving relationship and how well they co-exist despite being a human/devil relationship. She also realizes she misplaced her hatred and sense of justice, as she came to understand that devils are in fact not bad people just because they are devils, especially since she had been hurt and betrayed by humans she thought were her allies. She also comes to terms that she doesn't want to shoot or kill anyone anymore, may it be devils or humans.

As time goes on, she admits that she has grown to like the F Squad quite a lot, and misses a little them when she is apart from them. She becomes more helpful and kind towards the group and is seen to apologize for her past behavior and actions. She also wants to take full responsibility and the fitting punishment for her crimes in killing five innocent devils and shooting innocent people. Nanako is a good person at heart, she is just very blunt and awkward. She doesn't want to trouble other people with her own problems and prefers to solve them herself. She tends to isolate herself sometimes for the sake of sorting out her feelings.

Nanako is also quite dense about romance and love, and although she is expressive, she doesn't understand it herself when she likes someone or when she has a crush on someone.

Kirio Kikuhara
Ever since Nanako met Kikuhara, she has always viewed him as someone she feels safe with. He didn't have ulterior motives and always helped her, comforted her and made her feel as though she mattered. He was also very understanding of her past experiences and trauma, which is why he was very gentle and patient with her, something that Nanako appreciated. Eventually, Nanako fell in love with him and even though he made it explicitly clear that he can't fall in love with people, Nanako wholeheartedly vowed to be by his side and join the CCC to be with him.

Nanako is extremely devoted and loyal towards Kikuhara, even though she may try to tell herself otherwise. After Kikuhara betrayed and hurt her, killed innocent people and committed many bad deeds, Nanako still couldn't come to hate Kikuhara, since he had helped her so much in the past. Nanako acknowledges this, and despite her mixed feelings for him, she is sure that she had fallen deeply in love with the twisted man, yet that she still wanted to protect him and see him safe regardless.

Kenichi Yoshii
Nanako has always viewed Kenichi, or Zero Nine as she always calls him, as a very precious friend. They had worked together and shared a room ever since joining the CCC, which lead to a close relationship with mutual trust between the two. Due to the large amount of time they have spent with each other; they miss one another when they are apart, understand each other like no one else, and can confide anything to the other party.

While Kenichi is in love with Nanako and has even confessed that he loves her, Nanako did not really pick up on this, explaining that she "likes" him as well. Nevertheless, she is very protective of him, cares for him greatly, and is rarely seen without him by her side. Additionally, after the two-month timeskip, Nanako confesses that despite having had always viewed him as a kid, she felt as though he's more reliable, that they could see eye-to-eye, and that they are truly equals now. This is why she has also voiced her desire to keep him safe no matter what.

Kenichi Morisawa
Nanako has always had a complex relationship with her mother's boyfriend, Kenichi. Nanako initially disliked Morisawa because he was a devil, but she eventually warmed up to after getting to know him. She felt that he was charismatic and someone she could get along with. Nanako came to love him as a child would do, which is why she was devastated by the fact that her mother had ordered him to leave their house after suspecting his bloodlust towards Nanako. However, her view of him changed completely after he raped and murdered her mother. Ever since then, Nanako apparently held a great hatred towards Morisawa and blames him for all of her trauma. Her hatred towards him was so great that she killed every devil that shared his characteristics, and she also didn't want to remember his name out of disgust.

However, it is later revealed Nanako had been manipulated by Kikuhara into thinking that devils should be hated. Because, in fact, ever since the day they met, Nanako has always loved Morisawa. After his death, she grew depressed because she had lost a person close to her. She regrets not thinking about Morisawa's struggles, which proved to be too much of a burden for him to carry, and she blames herself for making Morisawa transform that day and therefore killing him and her mother.

People killed

 * Kenichi Morisawa
 * Five devils
 * Yuuki Anzai (failed attempt)

Etymology

 * The name Nanako means "what?" (那) (na) and "child" (子) (ko).
 * Nanako's surname Tenjo means "heaven, sky" (天) (ten) and "castle" (城) (jo).

Trivia

 * Nanako's code name, 07, is actually a pun on her real name. The "Nana" in her real name translates to "Seven" in Japanese.
 * Nanako uses a thermal scope to measure the body temperature of her targets because she wants to be sure to only kill devils who have a lower body temperature (around ).