Kushida Kikyo

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Kushida Kikyo (栉田桔梗)
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Class 1-D, Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing School
Occupation/Role	Student; Class D social connector and information broker
First Appearance	Chapter 7

Background

Kushida cultivates an image of a cheerful, considerate girl who wants to befriend everyone. Her charm quickly earns her a wide circle within Class D and connections beyond it, forming what she privately considers the “Kushida Empire.” The effort of maintaining that network, however, leaves her under continual pressure. 25 28 67

Hoshino En recognizes that her sweet demeanor is constructed and confronts her in private. When he points out her hostility toward Horikita Suzune and theorizes that a serious middle-school incident still threatens her reputation, Kushida drops her smile and responds with open coldness. 25

Her first attempt to gain leverage over Hoshino fails when he reveals that a camera recorded her actions, including her attempt to create evidence using his fingerprints. The failure leaves her exposed to Hoshino’s scrutiny, but she gradually begins relying on him as the one person around whom she can vent without maintaining her public persona. 26 27 40 64

Appearance

Kushida is a brown-haired girl with shoulder-length hair. Her expression is one of her most recognizable traits: she normally wears a bright, gentle smile, but it falls away into an expressionless, sharp-eyed look when her façade breaks. 25 77 90

• Shoulder-length brown hair. 77
• Maintains a polished, friendly smile around classmates. 25 64
• Her “true face” is marked by narrowed eyes, visible irritation, and an openly hostile expression. 25 90

Personality

Kushida is intensely driven to be liked, trusted, and regarded as indispensable. She wants to be “number one” in socializing, leading her to present herself as a friend to everyone and to collect other people’s confidences. This pursuit gives her influence, but also isolates her: few people know what she actually thinks. 27 64 112

Behind her public image, she is blunt, resentful, competitive, and prone to angry internal outbursts. She particularly struggles when Karuizawa Kei’s growing influence threatens her position in Class D, or when Hoshino’s relationships with other girls make her feel excluded. 64 67 90 115

Despite her manipulative tendencies, Kushida repeatedly acts for the class’s benefit when an opportunity also lets her use her social standing. Her practical contributions during the midterms and special exams show initiative beyond the helpless persona Hoshino initially attributes to her. 61 62 108 110

Abilities & Skills

Social Network and Influence

Kushida’s greatest asset is her ability to make herself central to Class D’s social life.

• Maintains friendships and contacts across multiple grades. 77
• Uses her popularity to mobilize classmates behind group decisions. 62
• Can redirect attention and shape the classroom atmosphere while preserving her “little angel” image. 16 39 71
• Her need to remain universally liked limits her willingness to openly oppose classmates or make sacrifices. 71 110

Information Gathering

Kushida’s social connections make her useful for obtaining and distributing information.

• Spread Hoshino’s analysis of the Behavioral Norms Exam to Class D. 16
• Obtained old examination papers and distributed them as practice materials before the midterms. 61
• Keeps track of personal secrets shared by those who trust her, which Hoshino identifies as a source of both influence and danger. 27

Academic, Athletic, and Teamwork Ability

Hoshino regards Kushida as unusually well-rounded: academically strong, physically capable, and highly effective in group coordination. 112

• Her practice-paper initiative gives Class D an advantage in the midterms. 61
• She proposes using pooled Private Points to cover Sudo Ken’s missing exam point, helping preserve Class D’s Class Points and monthly Private Points. 62
• During the island exam, she remains at the Class D base camp to support the group rather than joining the main stronghold operation. 108 110

Cooking and Caretaking

During the island exam, Kushida becomes responsible for camp meals and Sakayanagi Arisu’s care.

• Prepares food for Sudo Ken and Miyake Akito. 110
• Watches Sakayanagi at Hoshino’s request, despite resenting being treated as a babysitter. 108 110
• Her cooking is explicitly praised by the Class D group. 110

Relationships

• Hoshino En — Knows her true face and repeatedly confronts her manipulations. Their relationship begins with mutual attempts to gain leverage, then evolves into an uneasy reliance as he becomes her outlet for stress and pushes her toward accepting herself. Kushida develops feelings for him, complicated by his closeness with other girls. 25 26 64 67 111 112
• Karuizawa Kei — Rival for Hoshino’s attention and for influence within Class D. Karuizawa’s sharper leadership increasingly threatens Kushida’s “Kushida Empire,” though Karuizawa later offers to accept her into Hoshino’s circle. 64 67 72 115
• Horikita Suzune — A classmate Kushida is determined to make into a “true friend” despite Horikita’s disinterest and their underlying friction. Hoshino identifies Kushida’s fixation on Horikita as a major weakness in her behavior. 27 115
• Wang Meiyu — Kushida’s closest friend in Class D. Wang openly celebrates Kushida’s success in saving Sudo and worries about her after her ankle injury. 67 90 91
• Sakayanagi Arisu — During the island exam, Kushida is assigned to monitor and care for Sakayanagi, placing her uncomfortably between Sakayanagi and Karuizawa. 108 110
• Shiina Hiyori — Shiina’s arrival at the Class D cabin contributes to Kushida’s emotional collapse over her mask and Hoshino’s growing circle of relationships. 111

Story Role / Major Arcs

Early Class D and Hoshino’s Exposure

Kushida initially attempts to approach Hoshino as part of her broader effort to befriend everyone. She later helps spread his Behavioral Norms Exam analysis, but her private meeting with him exposes the difference between her public persona and her true temperament. 7 16 25

Her attempt to fabricate leverage against Hoshino through his fingerprints fails because he has recorded the encounter. Afterward, Hoshino lectures her about the danger of knowing too many secrets and encourages her to seek healthier ways to release her stress. 26 27 29

Midterm Rescue

Three days before the midterms, Kushida distributes old test papers as practice material, giving Class D a major advantage. The class’s gratitude strengthens her standing as a key figure in its social structure. 61

When Sudo is one point short of passing, Kushida proposes that the class pool Private Points to buy the missing point. With Hirata’s support, Class D raises the required 100,000 points and avoids both Sudo’s expulsion and the loss of Class Points. 62

Rivalry with Karuizawa

Karuizawa’s rise as a class leader and her closeness with Hoshino provoke Kushida’s jealousy and insecurity. Kushida repeatedly restrains herself from lashing out in public, recognizing that losing her composure would damage the image on which her influence depends. 64 72 77

Karuizawa eventually confronts Kushida more directly, arguing that Kushida has already been shaped by Hoshino’s influence and inviting her to join Hoshino’s expanding circle rather than compete against it. 115

Island Special Exam and Breakdown

During the island special exam, Kushida stays with Class D’s base group, monitors Sakayanagi, and takes on cooking duties. She resents the role but performs it successfully, keeping the camp supplied while Hoshino’s group captures strongholds. 108 110 115

After Shiina’s arrival intensifies Kushida’s fear of being displaced, she openly rejects Hoshino’s demand that she remove her mask. Hoshino subsequently forces her to confront her desire to be number one and argues that she can become someone others choose without pretending to be everyone’s friend. The confrontation leaves Kushida emotionally shaken but beginning to accept that her existing abilities have value. 111 112

Summer Group Special Exam

By the Summer Group Special Exam, Kushida serves as an observer and mediator during Hoshino and Horikita’s dispute over exam strategy, showing awareness of Hoshino’s social blind spots. 122

Notable Quotes

“Why should I take off the mask??!!” 111

“If I ever fell in love, my ‘Kushida Empire’ would definitely collapse halfway.” 67