Kushida

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Kushida Kikyo 1
Gender	Female 1
Affiliation	Class D; identified as second-year Class D in the later story 2 297
Occupation/Role	Student; influential class organizer; later Kamio Tatsuya’s paid spokesperson and informant within Class D 65 220 276
First Appearance	Introduces herself to Kamio Tatsuya and exchanges contact information with him 1

Background / History

Kushida attended the same middle school as Horikita Suzune. Horikita remembered her as a gentle, sociable student with a circle of friends and a strong sense of unity 158.

Horikita also recalled a rumor that a girl had caused an entire class to fall apart near the end of their third year, leaving it unable to recover before graduation. She suspected Kushida but explicitly admitted that she did not know the full truth. Yagami Takuya’s later investigation established that Kushida had caused a major incident in middle school, without detailing exactly what happened 158 297.

At high school, Kushida presented herself as someone starting over without her middle-school friends and announced that she wanted to befriend everyone. Privately, she feared that Horikita would expose her past; her early attempts to approach Horikita were intended to test how much Horikita knew 2 131.

Appearance

• Blonde hair — described during her first classroom appearance 1.
• Sweet smile — a prominent part of her friendly public presentation 1 15.
• Attractive face and figure — explicitly noted by Kamio Tatsuya 65.
• Black stockings — worn during a visit to Kamio’s room 140.

Personality

Kushida’s public persona is cheerful, considerate, and persistent. She greets classmates readily, exchanges contact information, mediates disputes, and continues inviting Horikita out despite repeated rejection. This makes her extremely popular among the first-year students 1 2 15 34 44.

Privately, she is foul-mouthed, resentful, and deeply invested in preserving that image. She vents by insulting classmates and kicking a railing, and attempts to threaten Kamio with false accusations when he discovers her behavior. Maintaining her persona places her under severe strain: she describes tearing at her hair and vomiting from stress 44 45 65 132.

Recognition is central to her sense of worth. Being chosen over Horikita for a task makes her feel valued, while comparisons that diminish her social achievements can provoke anger or an emotional breakdown. Her hostility toward Horikita comes both from fear of exposure and from feeling that Horikita’s determination invalidates her own choices 108 132 160 161.

Her later efforts to protect Class D do not erase her self-interest. She gains satisfaction and support by prioritizing vulnerable classmates, yet subsequently complains about the financial burden and privately wishes troublesome students would be expelled 140 220.

Abilities & Skills

Social Networking and Information Gathering

Kushida maintains friendships across her grade and the wider school, giving her access to people and information beyond her immediate circle 52 220.

• Has Sakura Airi’s contact information despite Sakura’s isolation 52.
• Reports Class D’s internal disputes to Kamio after his transfer 131.
• Uses her connections to help arrange a meeting between Sakura and Hasebe Haruka 98.
• Her extensive social life creates significant Private Point expenses 220.

Persuasion and Class Organization

Her popularity allows her to mobilize classmates through emotional appeals and personal trust 65 103 108.

• Helps Hirata organize the midterm study group 106.
• Persuades wavering students to sign the contribution agreement for Sudo’s settlement 65.
• Collects signatures for Kamio’s exam agreement, earning his praise 103 108.
• Later offers to guide Class D’s cooperation with Kamio in exchange for a monthly salary 220.
• Her desire to remain universally agreeable limits her leadership: she cannot impose a firm decision during the island exam’s spending dispute 74.

Concealment and Manipulation

Kushida maintains a friendly expression even around people she dislikes, using her trustworthy reputation to protect her private behavior 34 45.

• Accepts Horikita’s lunch invitation cheerfully despite privately hating her 34.
• Publicly approaches Sakura about her witness testimony, drawing uncomfortable attention to her 52.
• Offers sexual favors to persuade Kamio to help expel Horikita; he refuses 132.
• Her dependence on her reputation makes recordings and evidence of covert payments effective leverage against her 45 221.

Situational Analysis

Kushida can identify motives and weaknesses in agreements even when she does not know the other party’s exact objective 218 220.

• Infers that Kamio must want something from Class D if he is willing to lend an enemy class 12 million points 218.
• Recognizes that a contract cannot prevent classmates from complying halfheartedly, creating an opening for her services as a spokesperson 220.
• Proposes abandoning a Sports Festival victory attempt in favor of protecting weaker classmates and preparing for the next midterm 137 140.

Relationships

• Kamio Tatsuya — Initially a classmate, then the holder of a recording exposing her private behavior. He becomes an outlet for her frustrations and a source of recognition, later employing her as his Class D intermediary for 50,000 Private Points per month. She gives him Valentine’s chocolate, but their relationship remains entangled with payment and leverage 45 132 211 220 221.
• Horikita Suzune — Former middle-school schoolmate and the principal target of Kushida’s resentment. Horikita negotiates to protect her secret despite suspecting her of betrayal. Kushida later stops pursuing friendship and vents openly around her, while remaining hostile 131 160 161 211.
• Hirata Yosuke — Fellow class organizer. They work together on study groups and agreements, although Kushida alone cannot replace his stabilizing influence when he withdraws from class affairs 65 103 106 131.
• Sakura Airi — Kushida approaches her as a potential witness in Sudo’s case and accompanies her to have her camera repaired. Sakura later admits that being around Kushida frightens her 52 60 98.
• Ayanokoji — Witnesses her private outburst and Kamio’s recording of it. Kushida seeks his expulsion, but follows Kamio’s advice to avoid him and give him no further leverage 158 276.
• Ichinose Honami — A social benchmark and later a model for protecting classmates. Kamio’s unfavorable comparison with Ichinose helps trigger Kushida’s breakdown; Kushida subsequently decides to emulate Ichinose’s protective approach 132 161.
• Yagami Takuya — Approaches her as an admiring junior from her middle school. Kushida consults Kamio about the threat posed by his knowledge of her past; Yagami later attempts to recruit her into a plan against Ayanokoji 285 297.
• Nagumo — Approached at Kamio’s direction under the pretext that Kushida wants to expel Ayanokoji for a 20-million-point bounty 276 297.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Exposure of Her Private Persona

• Kamio follows Kushida from the dormitory at night and discovers her kicking a railing while cursing Horikita 44.
• When she tries to threaten him with false accusations, he reveals that he recorded their encounter and uses the recording to control her 45.
• She begins visiting his room to vent, later crediting those conversations with helping her withstand the stress of maintaining her persona 65 132.

Class D Organizer

• Helps secure classmates’ contributions toward the five-million-point settlement preventing Sudo’s expulsion, despite privately resenting the loss of spending money 64 65.
• During the island exam, volunteers to clarify leader-change rules and comforts Ibuki after Kamio’s interrogation, but does not provide forceful leadership during class disputes 74 77 78.
• Successfully gathers signatures for Kamio’s Favoritism Exam agreement; being entrusted with the task instead of Horikita gives her a strong sense of achievement 103 108 132.

Recognition Crisis and Protective Strategy

• Asks Kamio to help expel Horikita, offering anything in return. He refuses and challenges her dependence on admiration, eventually provoking a tearful breakdown 132.
• Steps forward while Hirata is withdrawn and proposes prioritizing classmates’ safety over winning the Sports Festival 137.
• Explains that she cannot confidently lead Class D to promotion, but can try to preserve the favorable school environment for its students 140.

Mistaken Informant Accusation

• Horikita and Ayanokoji suspect that Kamio forced Kushida to leak the Sports Festival roster. Horikita negotiates a contract preventing him from using Kushida’s secret to threaten her 158 159 160.
• Kushida denies providing the roster and says she has not betrayed the class. The actual informant is Karizawa Kei; Kushida’s later paid employment is a separate development 160 161 220.
• Despite Horikita’s intervention, Kushida warns that exposing her secret would cause her to drag Class D down with her 161.

Paid Cooperation with Kamio

• Offers to guide Class D after it agrees to submit to Kamio, requesting 30,000 points per month. Kamio instead offers 50,000 and asks her to report developments within the class 220.
• Receives the payment and has her contract notarized. Kamio also threatens to expose the transfers if necessary, making her public reputation another means of enforcing cooperation 221.
• By the second year, his payments allow her to live comfortably despite Class D’s financial difficulties 276.

Ayanokoji Bounty and Yagami’s Approach

• Following Kamio’s plan, approaches Nagumo as someone seeking Ayanokoji’s expulsion for points, concealing her cooperation with Kamio 276.
• Reports Yagami’s approach to Kamio, who advises her to maintain the senior–junior pretense and signal hostility toward Ayanokoji 285.
• Yagami investigates her background and accepts her apparent motive, then tries to use her in his own operation. Kushida refuses his request with an excuse 297.

Notable Quotes

“I want to become friends with everyone here.” 2

“I'm afraid I can't lead Class D to Rank Up, so I chose to try my best to protect my classmates.” 140

“Although I find you very unpleasant, I haven't betrayed the class.” 161