Teru Momijiyama


 * This article is about the character. You may be looking for the manga.
 * This article is about the current Japan's Hero. For the former Japan's Hero and Teru's late older sister, see: Shine.

"You're right. Even Heroes can be overcome by fear... I'm really scared right now... My whole body is trembling... But I... I want to overcome that fear because I don't want you to see me in this embarrasing state. Because... I... am Shy!"

- Shy to Iko's brother in "I Am SHY"

Teru Momijiyama (テル), better known as Shy (シャイ), is a middle school student and Japan's Hero. She is the titular protagonist of SHY manga series.

Appearance
Teru is a petite, skinny girl with fair skin. She has spiky black hair of short length with a fringe swept to the left just above her black eyes and a bigger lock at her face's right side. She usually wears square-lens glasses. As a civilian, Teru commonly wears her school uniform, which consists of a long-sleeved shirt, tie or ascot, long skirt, calf socks and loafers. She has also worn a loose shirt and shorts while she was at home for fear of social reprisal against her Hero identity.

Casually, she once wore a zippered shirt, hoodie, long skirt, black socks on her calves and sneakers. When hanging out with Iko Koishikawa for the first time, she wore a buttoned shirt, jacket, layered long skirt, heels socks, sneakers and a beret in her head. When she is visiting Pepesha Andreanof's hometown, she wears a buttoned shirt, hoodie, pants, sneakers and a backpack.

As Shy, her hair turns white and she wears a white mask instead of glasses with a white bodysuit with triangular collars, a black gas mask above her clavicle and hood with a double tail with a red interior, belt with a white buckle with a "S", long white gloves and the Heart Conversion Bracelets with red lines on her wrists, black socks and white high heels with black soles.

Personality
As her Hero name says, Teru is extremely shy and has trouble dealing with crowds and people in general, just as she generally thinks negatively of herself, especially after being chosen as Japan's Hero. As her ability to talk in public is very poor, she also has difficulties to raise her voice or even talk normally with many people at once; even if she was invited to attend Hero Heartman's show, she couldn't stop stutter and bored the audience.

Her self-esteem is noticeably low and she often doubts her ability to save people. Due to the fact that many began to criticize her for Iko's serious injuries on the day of the roller coaster incident, Shy went without appearing in public for just over a month, considering that everything that was said about her was absolutely true. Even with N-Villio presenting problems to be solved in the country, she couldn't trust herself enough for her bracelets to work. Only when she saw the courage of a little boy along with Spirits' words that she could not save everyone did she have the least confidence to turn into Shy and do her job.

She is very kind and innocent, the type who can't say "no" to people. She ended up accepting to visit the calligraphy club simply because she didn't want to be rude in refusing. She still cares a lot about the people around her and martyr herself when she does something wrong as when she always remembered herself about what happened to Iko due to her poor performance as a Hero. Teru tends to think too much, but tries to act when necessary; after she appeared as Shy after a long time, she was internally freaking out but tried to focus and save the woman and her child who where at the building at the moment.

Teru has many fears and often lets herself be taken away by them although she tries to overcome them. She cannot speak to new people normally without blushing and stuttering, but she is always ready to help people, just as she did with Iko Koishikawa when she was still with her injured leg. She was also the only hero who was able to recover an entire ring from Stigma and was praised by Stardust for her unparalleled persistence, in addition to being the only one to say that he really does have a Heart. Even if she is afraid, she wants to be a better Hero and has the determination to get stronger.

Abilities
Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Even though she is a Hero for merely some months, as Shy, she proved herself to be quite efficient as a fighter and a quick learner. She could stand against Iko's corrupted form with a slight advantage and, while fighting, she quickly noticed that the fountain of her power was the ring. She was also the only Hero who could retrieve an entire ring.

Speed of Descent Regulation: Shy is able to manipulate the speed of which she falls, as seen when she fell with Iko's brother in her arm, she could also follow Spirits easily through the sky until they came to the Heroes Hideout.

Immense Endurance: As Shy, she is really physical durable as she could stand against Stardust for hours even if he was beating her really hard. As Teru, though, she doesn't have a lot of stamina and almost couldn't climb a small mountain with Chihiro Nagata and Pilse Dunant without staying out of breath.

Equipment
Heart Conversion Bracelets: As any Hero, Teru has possession of a pair of bracelets which syncronizes her Heart spirit into power. She can transform into her Hero form, Shy, through them and they also allow her to hear other languages as her own language and also comunicate with people from other countries. She also can use her unique ability with them. Shy can also comunicate with other Heroes through them.
 * Flame: After her fight with Stardust, she gained the ability to conjure flames through her bracelets and Heart power. She can put on fire almost anything. As the time when she and Spirits went to Arctic to help Meng Long, she could melt part of a block of ice made by Sveta.

Quotes

 * (To Iko's brother) "You're right. Even Heroes can be overcome by fear... I'm really scared right now... My whole body is trembling... But I... I want to overcome that fear because I don't want you to see me in this embarrasing state. Because... I... am Shy!"
 * (To Iko Koishikawa) "You know, my grandpa used to say that, our life can only have the most meaning when we know for whom we are living for. He also said that, by using kindness to create a bond with others, you will know that there is value in the life you have lived. If you want to thank me, Koishikawa, all you have to do is be kind of other people. Seeing a smile on everyone's face, is what makes me the most happy."
 * (To Iko Koishikawa) "Koishikawa, earlier you said you respect me because I can do great things and protect people... but I also respect you for how you helped that little lost boy. Heroes are people too... Our good deeds are what connect us with others... Seeing you help him made me remember that, Koishikawa."

Trivia

 * "Momijiyama" (紅葉山) is a common place name. "Momiji" alone can refer to the Japanese maple species, as well as to the color of autumn leaves as 紅 means "deep red" and 葉 means "leaf". Her first name is written in katakana (テル) and such can mean anything but could refer to the verb 照る (Teru), meaning "to shine"; the related verb 照れる (Tereru) means "to be shy", which corresponds to her hero name.
 * Her Hero name is sometimes written as (Hazukashi gariya) in the Japanese original version. It also means "shy".
 * Teru likes horror movies and natto.
 * She hates syringes.
 * She is at class 2-4 with Iko.
 * Her current concern is that her friends may find her hair messy.