Kushida

Biodata

Background / History

Kushida has a past she wants to conceal, and Suzune Horikita knew her before their current enrollment. Yang Cheng knows that Kushida has sought Horikita’s expulsion to protect that secret and is willing to betray her class to achieve her goal. The supplied account does not explain the incident she is hiding 37.

Rumors that Yang Cheng is pursuing Horikita lead Kushida to suspect that Horikita has told him about her. She arranges a private meeting to discover how much he knows, extending her hostility to him when he confirms that he recognizes her hidden personality 37 45.

Appearance

• Face: Described as angelic and youthful, complementing her outwardly gentle manner 37 39.
• Figure: Notably curvaceous 37.
• Expression: Her sweet smile can abruptly become vicious or contemptuous when her public persona is challenged 37.
• Clothing: Wears a school uniform during her encounter with Yang Cheng 38.

Personality

Kushida presents herself as kind, approachable, and eager to befriend everyone in Class D. Her gentle treatment of classmates makes her exceptionally popular with both boys and girls. Beneath that image, she is calculating and hostile toward people who might expose her past 37.

She treats her reputation as a weapon rather than merely a source of affection. When threatening Yang Cheng, she explicitly relies on the expectation that classmates will believe her over him. Even after he obtains evidence against her, she remains defiant and looks for ways to regain leverage 37 38.

Her resentment also extends to competition for influence. When Kei Karuizawa becomes more popular after helping Class D pass its midterms, Kushida smiles publicly while privately fearing that her strongest advantage is slipping away 48.

Abilities & Skills

Acting and Deception

Kushida convincingly maintains a friendly public personality while concealing her hostility 37 43.

• Switches between warmth and threats during private confrontations 37.
• Returns to ordinary classroom interactions after her failed attempt to frame Yang Cheng 43.
• Her disguise is vulnerable to recorded evidence: Yang Cheng’s footage captures behavior incompatible with her usual image 38.

Social Influence and Information Gathering

Her popularity gives her access to classmates and information that less sociable students lack 37 48.

• Attracts Ike and Yamauchi to a study group, though their interest is primarily in spending time with her 43 47.
• Uses her classroom connections to learn that Karuizawa distributed exam questions 48.
• Recognizes Yang Cheng’s involvement in Karuizawa’s success and correctly identifies their relationship as an act 48.

Manipulation and Coercion

Kushida exploits trust, appearances, and perceived romantic attachments to pressure others 37 43.

• Attempts to manufacture evidence of misconduct and threatens Yang Cheng with expulsion 37.
• Tries to provoke Horikita by acting unusually close to Yang Cheng 43.
• Her plans depend on assumptions about others: Yang Cheng refuses her traps, and Horikita unexpectedly turns the study-group invitation into an opportunity to help struggling students 38 43 44.

Relationships

• Yang Cheng — Adversarial classmate who knows her hidden nature. His recording prevents her from freely acting against him or Horikita; he later chooses Karuizawa rather than Kushida to distribute exam questions, denying Kushida the associated popularity 37 38 43 46.
• Suzune Horikita — Prior acquaintance and principal target of her efforts to conceal her past. Kushida hopes to exploit Horikita’s presumed feelings for Yang Cheng, while Horikita finds Kushida’s behavior unnatural without understanding the reason 37 43 44.
• Kei Karuizawa — Rival for classroom influence. Karuizawa’s assistance with the midterms raises her standing above Kushida’s, making her a threat to Kushida’s social advantage 48.
• Ike and Yamauchi — Classmates attracted to her who join the study group largely to spend time with her. Kushida’s attention to Yang Cheng makes them jealous 43 44 47.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Failed Framing Attempt

• Kushida privately questions Yang Cheng about his resistance to her friendliness and whether Horikita has told him anything. He answers that he already knows her other side and that Horikita has probably forgotten her 37.
• She stages a compromising encounter, citing fingerprints on her clothing and her spotless reputation as evidence she could use to have him expelled 37.
• Yang Cheng retrieves a phone he positioned beforehand and reveals clear footage of her actions and threats 37 38.
• After he threatens to expose her persona, Kushida tries another intimate trap to obtain leverage. He refuses to take it further, and she leaves frustrated 38 39.

Midterm Study Group

• Kushida invites Yang Cheng to study with Ike and Yamauchi, intending to provoke Horikita and damage her relationship with him 43.
• Horikita unexpectedly accepts for both herself and Yang Cheng, asks Kushida to invite Sudo, and agrees to meet at the library after school 43.
• Yang Cheng ultimately refuses to attend. His absence ruins Kushida’s prepared plans to drive a wedge between him and Horikita 44.
• After Yang Cheng publicly begins dating Karuizawa, Kushida congratulates him and teases that she had liked him too 47.

Loss of Social Advantage

• All of Class D passes the midterms, and Karuizawa receives widespread praise for distributing previous exam questions 48.
• Kushida deduces that Yang Cheng supplied the questions and resents his decision not to use her as the intermediary 48.
• She considers reporting Karuizawa but abandons the idea because Yang Cheng still holds evidence against her 48.
• During the subsequent island exam, she initially doubts Yang Cheng’s confidence in making facilities from trees, despite already knowing something of his physical abilities 49.

Notable Quotes

“My wish is to become friends with everyone in our class, but you and Horikita are the only ones who seem a little resistant to me.” 37

“If the people in Class D found out about this, who do you think they'd believe? You, or me, with my popularity and spotless reputation?” 37

“Looks like I'm not the only one who's good at pretending.” 38