Musashi Number Nine

Musashi #9 (1996-2006) is a Japanese manga series, written by Miyuki Takahashi. Published originally in Japan, under the title "Kyūbanme no Musashi", it falls into the Shōjo category. It follows the adventures of a 16-year-old secret agent, the 'Musashi' of the title. She works for an organization called Ultimate Blue. There were 17 translated collections made in English before the imprint was shut down. In 'Ultimate Blue', each agent is given a codename and number. The number is actually far more important than the name. The lower the number, the higher position. The 'ones', as they are called, agents #1 through #9, run the entire organization. And, as was probably pretty obvious, the agent followed by the series is #9.


 * Action Girl
 * Bifauxnen: Makes Unsettling Gender Reveal practically a Running Gag.
 * Character Development: Oh so much.
 * Tachibana Shingo starts out as a bit of a jerk He gradually  When he   and then he   to protect her.
 * 9, meanwhile, starts out as seeming almost emotionless, but gradually  She's clearly torn up, though still trying to hide it, when she thinks she has to   When she finds out, months later, that he never really believed it,, and has been   ever since- seconds before he   Then, when she finds out that that   she defrosts again. Even while   she was still slightly more free with her emotions, especially when on a mission if something reminded her.
 * #19, one of 9's doubles, and the closest to her, starts off just as emotionless as 9. Even more so, in fact, since by the time we meet him, she's already begun to defrost a bit. He, too, eventually becomes much nicer.
 * Parental Abandonment: Shingo's parents died when he was a kid, and nobody from Ultimate Blue seems to have any family.
 * Ordinary High School Student: Shingo and his friends, of course, and it's a recurring disguise for UB agents.