Xiang Xin

Xiang Xin
Japanese	項辛
Rōmaji	Kōshin
Appears in	Light Novels
Personal Info
Gender	Male
Class	Human
Affiliation/s	Outlaw, Guilunhui
Status	Deceased

"I won't let anyone else take the place beside you. The Headquarters has mechanism that even the hunters cannot comprehend... and above all else, I am here because you are here. Isn't that enough?"

—Allowing himself to stay behind with Yu Xuan during the Battle of Shanghai.

Xiang Xin (項辛, Kōshin, Pinyin: Xiàng Xīn) was a Chinese human and also one of the Elders (大老, Tairō), the highest-ranking executives who oversee East Asia's Outlaws, collectively known as Guilunhui. He perished at the Shanghai Outlaw headquarters during the battle with Bal Masqué.

Appearance

Xiang Xin was an elderly man wearing a suit that exuded quality at a single glance. He also possessed a talisman which allowed him to move inside the Fūzetsu.

In his youth, Xiang Xin was a ruddy-faced boy. He also allegedly considered himself a good-looking boy.

Personality

In the past, Xiang Xin was an ignorant, reckless youth. He also had a sharp tongue which Yu Xuan commented to be an old, bad habit that could really never be fixed even after he grew older.

Background

Over half a century ago, Xiang Xin encountered Yu Xuan in a slum. Back then, he was an ignorant, reckless youth in a slum. He was drawn to her elegant attire, which was utterly out of place in such a setting. Moreover, it was Yu Xuan's face of a fearless warrior that stirred cheap defiance and prejudice within Xiang Xin. This made him trying to resolve those feelings through violence; he went to blocked her path. Resultedly, he was defeated by a single hit from Yu Xuan's fist, which landed square in the center of his face. This encounter ignited his admiration for her, leading him to join Outlaw. Over time, he rose through the organization ranks and became one of its Elders.

Plot

Xiang Xin and other Elders decided not to heed the plan of European Outlaw, led by Sophie Sawallisch, to decentralize Guilunhui's Flame Haze and stay hidden until the arranged day to deploy at the enemy's base. Instead, the Elders arbitrarily assembled most of East Asia's Flame Haze to battle Bal Masqué's force head-on in what was later called the Battle of Shanghai. Their plan failed and most of Guilunhui's Flame Haze were overwhelmed and crushed by the forces of Bal Masqué led by Sydonay.

The Elders managed to escape the city, except Xiang Xin, who chose to remain with Yu Xuan. In his final moments, he entrusted his fate to the woman he fell in love with. As he closed his eyes, she gave him a kiss which shocked him. In that brief moment of bliss, she severed his head, granting him death as a better choice than being crushed under the crumbling Headquarters or getting consumed by Crimson Denizens.

Relationships

Yu Xuan

Xiang Xin was in love with her. After he got knocked down by her back when he was a youth, he was mesmerized with her and strove to being able to stand beside her.

Quotes

• (To Yu Xuan): "I won't let anyone else take the place beside you. The Headquarters has mechanism that even the hunters cannot comprehend... and above all else, I am here because you are here. Isn't that enough?"
• (To Yu Xuan when she reminisced about the past him): "I would rather you call me 'a good-looking boy'. For this last time, at least."

Trivia

• His surname is an allusion to Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period.
• Xiang Xin's demise is a parallel to Xiang Yu's at the Battle of Gaixia. He was besieged by enemies and later committed suicide along with his wife, Consort Yu , whom Yu Xuan's name is a homage to. But in Shakugan no Shana, Yu Xuan beheaded him and went out to fight Bal Masqué forces and was killed by Sydonay.