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Student Council Bios

A while ago, I did up some bios on Danganronpa's Student Council (well, the girls, anyway). Characters that we really didn't get to know, so none of this is really "canon". It's just backgrounds I've imagined to fill in gaps for these background characters. .... I did use certain characters from other series as a base for their personalities, at least for a couple of them, but I think it gives them flavor~ :3

Suzuko Kashiki

Suzuko Kashiki. The Ultimate Track and Field Star. This spirited, gifted young lady is not only an Olympics-worthy athlete, she managed to join the prestigious Hope’s Peak Student Council. Naturally, all events at this academy have to go through the Vice President and President of the Council, they get the “final” say… And yet Suzuko is charismatic enough and wise enough that Kotomi leaves most sports-related matters under her jurisdiction; Suzuko’s spirit for fair competition and taking students to new heights in athletics keeps things civilized, strangely enough. The athletes under Suzuko’s jurisdiction don’t want to disappoint her and get banned from events, so they keep it clean – Kotomi is only ever needed if… interlopers… try to rig the competitions, those are the only ones Suzuko isn’t fully prepared for because of their impish ingenuity and nefarious deeds. Suzuko is a model student, being gifted with both athletics and leadership abilities… But who is Suzuko? Where does she come from? What are her dreams and ambitions?

As far back as she can remember, Suzuko has always wanted to RUN. Her parents say that this has been the case ever since she began to walk as a toddler. And for all Suzuko cares about the authenticity of that, whether it’s just her parents being fond and boastful, as far as she’s concerned it’s the truth. It’s been a natural, raw instinct… That she feels the most alive when she’s charging ahead with full force.

It made her a rather hyperactive child. Yet Suzuko’s parents and teachers found ways to channel that endless energy. As long as Suzuko ate healthy, slept healthy, kept up her studies… They rewarded her with longer PE classes, and she could stay out longer than most kids in the neighborhood to run off that excess energy before bed. Her safety and health while she was out running was never in doubt – the golden rule was that if any incident ever happened, Suzuko would have to dial back her nightly runs. Suzuko got grumpy whenever that happened, so she became very careful and learned to avoid suspicious strangers that tried to halt her on her runs; and furthermore, she learned basic First-Aid fairly early on because of the few times she tripped and scraped her arms and legs. And because she got so much practice with her exercises, Suzuko developed a flawless racing record with schoolmates and neighborhood kids, even ones older than her.

… But alas, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Suzuko’s endless energy garnered her a reputation where many kids saw her as a spaz, someone that didn’t have brains to go with her athletic body. Suzuko tried to prove herself, that really, she did get good grades – however, kids simply assumed she was receiving help from one of the brainy kids. That she was a charity case. Though what was really fueling this negative mindset towards Suzuko was the fact that… Suzuko really was outrunning EVERYONE. And that stepped on more than a few toes, ‘cause kids hate losing… But Suzuko kept getting better at athletics, and kids in school and the neighborhood kept growing cold and distant as the gap grew exponentially. In short order, Suzuko became a pariah, her childhood became lonely.

And that’s when Suzuko began her “hobbies”. She learned to knit, learned what went into making dolls and pillows, personalizing mugs, just all these bizarre odds and ends that most kids wouldn’t even bother with unless it was an art project in school… Suzuko had the time to hone these skills because of her loneliness. And she learned these arts and crafts projects in attempts to win friends over, making dolls in their likeness, pillows stitched with their favorite designs, baking cookies in the shapes of her friends’ faces… Unfortunately for Suzuko, this didn’t go over well. Kids found that even weirder, obsessive, gave her an even wider berth and told transfer students to avoid her if they didn’t want to catch her ‘weirdo disease’.

Suzuko kept pressing on, though. Getting better and better in athletics, better and better in her… memorabilia creations… And one day, Suzuko was told her mother nearly made it into one of the Olympics before Suzuko was born – but an unfortunate accident caused her to miss out on the event, and Suzuko’s mother never quite got the opportunity to build back up to that level of skill. She tried and tried… But then she became pregnant with Suzuko, and she had to turn her back on those dreams.

Hence, with all her spare time, Suzuko developed a new goal: Train hard so she could get into the Olympics in any event, and earn a medal in her mother’s honor. Suzuko’s improvements skyrocketed with this new focus and dedication. And around the time she was ten years old, Suzuko managed to run a self-imposed 100 meter dash in 10.30 seconds. If she’d been recorded, that would’ve beaten out the world record for the 100 meter… But Suzuko didn’t stop trying. In the next few years, she built up to the 10 km run, aiming for the One Hour and the Half-Marathon next. And with her natural running abilities, she adapted to the races with the hurdles, steeplechase; and she branched out into the high jump, the pole vault, the long jump, the triple jump, shot put throws, discus throws, hammer throws, and javelin throws. From ages 11-13, Suzuko was watched with rapt interest as she cleared Olympic records with frightening ease, even without competing in the events herself. Kids that shunned her were now cheering her on, and scouts for the Olympics had their eyes on her when the TV news stations started broadcasting her school’s athletic events and she consistently got First Place in competitions. She was a bit young to join the Olympics, but in a few years…

Well. That’s why Hope’s Peak ended up scouting her. A superstar with such promise, a doubtless bright future, even if she had some peculiar… hobbies. She was also quickly scouted for the Student Council by Kotomi, who learned Suzuko wasn’t just a ‘meathead’, but had some excellent academic chops, and they could use someone passionate like Suzuko on the Council that would raise their athletics department to new heights.

Still, Suzuko’s hyper energy does unnerve many students still, and her place on the Student Council unintentionally puts a gap between her and schoolmates because of Hope’s Peak’s innate elitism. She’s still a somewhat lonely girl, but that’s fine~… A year after she joined the academy, a cute kouhai joined the school’s ranks, and she found a new focus for her… hobbies. One that quickly gained notoriety amongst the Student Council, because no one else out there was making Makoto Naegi merchandise. … Much less body pillows that were precisely Makoto’s size, and rumors about Suzuko working on an “anatomically correct” body pillow… *coughs* But that’s just baseless speculation~

Karen Kisaragi

Karen Kisaragi. The Ultimate Accountant. The undisputed wizard of the bankbooks. She can detect accounting fraud from a mile away, so do your best to keep your nose clean, especially of counterfeiting… or she’ll impound your ass. They say if you want a brutally honest and accurate assessment of your financial health and your financial goals, there is no one better to consult than Karen Kisaragi. And yet… as infamous as this young lady is, who is she? Where does she come from? What are her dreams and ambitions?

Karen was born into an impoverished family – impoverished, because her mother was just a teenager when she gave birth to Karen, and her mother’s family disowned her for the “shame” of teenage pregnancy even though the whole ordeal was nonconsensual. Her father was thrown in prison for rape charges, and her mother filed a restraining order so that when he inevitably was released, he could never go anywhere near her or Karen. So Karen has never known her father, and has had no real desire to.

From an early age, Karen has learned the value of money. Her mother breaks her back to keep the two of them afloat, and unfortunately has some past connections to shady loan sharks that she only barely got off their back by paying them back in full. It wasn’t easy, and her mother’s “sketchy history” has made it difficult to find employment whenever she gets laid off. Because of these conditions, Karen has never “wanted”, let alone known, wealth. She’s contented herself with hand-me-downs and bargain rack clothes, simple meals, and relied on her schools’ generosity when it comes to books and study materials. Yet just because Karen has possessed no desire to be wealthy herself, she cares a great deal for her mother, and so from an early age she began studying financial tips, all the ins-and-outs of finances, really. Her mother was initially indignant at first to receive advice from her child when it came to matters of money… But soon enough, she discovered that whatever her daughter was picking up from their neighbors, or wherever she was gleaning this knowledge, it carried significant weight.

… The secret is that Karen discovered a retired accountant a few blocks from their home, and he noted how attentive and dutiful she was as a child. In exchange for small chores around his home, the retiree would pass down his knowledge, and that’s what Karen brought home to help her mother get better, financially. Within just a couple years, Karen and her mother had better meals, could afford better clothes, and could even afford a more average apartment. And still have money leftover for an emergency fund. By the time she was nine years old, Karen was offering consultations to their neighbors’ families for a little bit extra of an income, because despite her young age Karen was cheaper than professional firms, and yet she was becoming just as accurate as the big name firms.

It was never about getting a name for herself. Karen honestly just wanted to support her mother. … And yet, by the time she was ten, her mother wanted Karen’s reputation to sore higher than their humble neck of the woods. They didn’t have to rely on loan sharks to stay afloat, and finding jobs was no longer as challenging; Karen’s mother wanted her daughter to go as far with her accounting skills as she could, because she was quite gifted, and she kept adding more knowledge onto herself. For the next two years, Karen served as a private consultant in their city, and her name kept getting out there. … Until eventually Deloitte Tohmatsu Tax picked Karen up at the age of twelve, having over 100 years of experience and receiving a recommendation from one of their former employees, the retiree that initially started teaching Karen the ropes. They were not disappointed. With access to more resources and experience, Karen’s capabilities grew exponentially. Even without the benefit of a “full-time” position, Karen was paid quite handsomely, and her schoolmates knew not to mess with her because of her association with the taxing firm.

Yet this notoriety came with its ups and downs. She was never bullied, but Karen also didn’t get too many friends, and there was only so much she had to do with her and her mother doing pretty well for themselves. It was almost boring to keep up the accounting gig, that’s how good Karen was getting with money… But Karen kept at it, because it would support her endeavors for university. And while she effortlessly pursued her career, she picked up a hobby of… writing. Though this habit came about because of unfortunate circumstances. … Namely, encountering shameless couples in alleyways, fitting rooms, behind the bleachers… Yeeeah… Karen has had the misfortune of bumping into frankly borderline exhibitionists, and this served as “inspiration” for some… SPICY writing… Never publishing any of these works, Karen simply writes for herself, substituting herself for the women getting railed, and featuring a vague apparition of a man that she did not yet have a clear picture of. … Just that she knew what sexual positions SHE would want to try out when she got older. And yes, Karen really did encounter THAT many perverted couples from ages 13-15. Her powers of closet smut grew in parallel to her powers of money, and yet for all that she was horny, Karen never developed an obsession with boys, never had a crush no matter how handsome or charming her schoolmates were. In fact, the jocks and prettyboys annoyed her the most because of how full of themselves they usually were, and it’s not as if Karen was out-of-control with her lust. She just had plenty of early experiences with overhearing perverted couples going at it like rabbits. … Nothing major.

And besides, Karen remembered her own birth came about because of her mother’s misfortune with a sleaze in high school, so she was in no rush for romance, let alone becoming friends with people. If they didn’t want to get close with her, then she didn’t want to bother with them. Karen would just continue her work as the youngest accountant for Deloitte, and keep accumulating a wealthy storehouse of smut for her future “Prince Charming”, because she just couldn’t help herself~...

Eventually, Hope’s Peak scouted her as the Ultimate Accountant. And while Karen had no real desire to become the “best” in her field, she did want to keep herself sharp in case her mother ever fell on hard times again, or her mother’s past caught up with her. So Karen accepted the invitation, and almost immediately got invited to join the Student Council as the Treasurer because of her abilities. Though all of this attention was troublesome, Karen accepted it and had a grudging respect for the ambitious Kotomi. … Just as long as people left her alone when they didn’t need consultations. Her writing time is precious, after all~…

Aiko Umesawa

Aiko Umesawa. The Ultimate Costume Designer. This… work-shy young lass has a reputation in the entertainment industry for creating stylish and realistic outfits that even veteran designers would be hard-pressed to compete with. It’s almost a guarantee that if you hire this young woman for your movie or stage production, you’ll draw in audiences from all over the world due to how sleek your actors and actresses appear to be in advertisements. Even the harshest critics have few complaints about the meticulous care Aiko Umesawa applies to the costumes she creates; whether it’s stepping back in time to the Victorian period, or jumping to the far future, Aiko gives it her all down to the tiniest buttons and patterns embroidered on clothes, down to the very material themselves. Those who work with Aiko know that they have to give her a generous budget for costumes, because the expense WILL make or break their movie or play. Aiko even has a social media page, so if she’s discontent with a project for whatever reason, her fans WILL know, and there WILL be Hell to pay. Still, who is Aiko Umesawa? Where does she come from? What are her dreams and ambitions?

Her parents were lovey-dovey saps, even if they were only movie production staff members. Their income was average, and their jobs always had them on the move, assisting with lighting production and stage design. For a brief window of time as a little girl, Aiko was enchanted, travelling with her folks from movie set to movie set, witnessing the ‘magic’ they created… And then she became desensitized because it was her everyday life. Aiko became home-schooled because of her parents’ jobs that had them on the go so often, barely had time to adjust to a neighborhood and make friends at all. They had to hire a tutor because of how in-depth their jobs were, and after a while Aiko stopped being diligent in her studies because of how boring and “troublesome” it all was. General knowledge and academics just never piqued Aiko’s interest; when would she even have to use 90% of this stuff…? It was all super lame and boring.

… So at about seven or eight years old, Aiko began ditching her tutor to wander around the various movie sets her parents worked on – avoiding them because of how lovey-dovey and gross they got with each other. In doing so, Aiko stumbled upon the costume and makeup departments, and she became mesmerized by all the colors and styles and the different textures of the costumes under her fingertips. Honestly, it was just an instinct kind of thing at first, not really having an earnest desire to learn but just to bury herself in something until her tutor got sick of looking for her.

But eventually, she got too engrossed in studying costumes and designs. Eventually she wanted to try her own hand at it, and started making clothes that she could wear that she thought were awesome and cute. To her annoyance, other kids that had parents working on the movie sets soon discovered her hobby, and begged her to make costumes for them, giving her ideas of what they wanted to wear. Aiko wasn’t really motivated to give in to their whining and pleading, but if it got them off her back, well… Fine, whatever. But then the first kid offered to PAY Aiko for her services, and from that moment on she started charging all of her ‘clients’, because at least then she could get something out of this hobby of hers. She really, really didn’t care for the popularity or the attention, especially when Halloween came around… But she became rich off these pests, and her reputation began to precede her.

… Her parents didn’t like the fact she ditched the tutor that they paid good money for, however, and that resulted in Aiko getting sent to formal primary school, much to her dismay. Gone was her lifestyle of moving around with her parents, now she lived with a housesitter and attended school like most kids. And Aiko HAD to keep her grades up, or her parents would stop paying her allowance for her hobby of costume-making. Well, Aiko didn’t like it, but she put up with it because it was too much of a bother to run away and fend for herself. Her schoolmates helped her catch up academically, and in exchange they formed a fanclub dedicated to cosplay… And if you asked Aiko, she didn’t like this tradeoff. Aside from the money for soda and candy and costume-making, there was no upshot to any of this. She learned useless junk, and now she was around people often enough that she HAD to take showers and maintain her hygiene if she didn’t want people whining about useless stuff like how she stank. … Never mind the fact Aiko hated dealing with people in general because they were always more upbeat than her and thus zoomed about their lives while she took a far more sedate pace, and she wanted to be LEFT ALONE… But alas. Life loved kicking her in the balls.

Her skills kept growing, and eventually the “almighty highschoolers” took notice of her dorky junior high self, and commissioned her to make costumes for their stage productions. Don’t get her wrong, they paid more money than her bratty classmates… But it was still troublesome. And it didn’t stop at highschoolers – they had friends in university who were impressed by their stage productions, and thus Aiko ran into even bigger monies for working for university theater groups at the tender age of eleven. And finally from there, official studios took note of her work, and that’s when Aiko made ALL the monies, even without a full-time job because of “child labor laws” and all that. … Yeah, like Aiko cared about those crappy laws. If it got her out of school and away from her slobbery, squealing schoolmates, Aiko was all for dedicating everything to those studios. Threw herself into studying costume design with a passion in the hopes that she would at last achieve an easygoing life… That’s really all Aiko wanted. Screw ambition and insane wealth, as long as she had enough to get by comfortably.

By the time Hope’s Peak noticed Aiko and recruited her, she’d helped with dozens and dozens of official movie studios and their productions, already a big name in the Japanese movie industry. And she was beginning to tread into international waters, but again, never diving too deep because that would take too much work. Especially learning new languages… No, no, Aiko was good right here in Japan, and if she did work with international companies, she left it to the translators to bridge the gap between her and her clients. Aiko gleefully joined Hope’s Peak because she’d have fewer classmates, and they’d all be absorbed in their own worlds to bother HER too much. The ideal academic atmosphere for her.

… And then the Witc… *coughs* Kotomi took notice of Aiko’s humble self, and for whatever insane reasons she got dragged into the Student Council because they wanted somebody to manage their drama department. Jerk didn’t even pay Aiko for the additional headaches, Aiko was just supposed to juggle her Council duties on top of her duties as a designer. … Well, at least with the Council position, Aiko could boss people around easier. Especially when it came to getting alone time with her adorable luckster kouhai that every harlot seemed infatuated with… Seriously. The guy just wanted to chill. Didn’t these idiots understand?! Of course not. “Just chilling” is apparently a crime in this world… But that’s fine~… Makoto-kun likes hoodies, and she likes coming up with different anime hoodies, like her Pikachu-themed one, so maybe he’d appreciate her skillz~… At a discount, of course. Gotta have some pocket change for junk food, y’know?

Kiriko Nishizawa

Kiriko Nishizawa. The Ultimate Fashion Designer. Certainly the youngest in her industry, this young lass has taken the world of fashion by storm, her clothes easily bringing in the most sales for stores, both chains and family-owned. Her designs are trendy, and express a plethora of emotions that appeal to just about anyone. Clean and professional, casual attire that somehow evokes memories of home, clothes that you can take pride in, clothes that you can wear if you feel you need to drop into the background… Gangsta, Hippie, Parisian, Athleisure, Classic, Streetwear, Business Casual, Retro, Minimalist, Vintage, Grunge, Chic, Bohemian, Trendy, Preppy, Punk, Tomboy, Gothic, Western… The list of styles goes on and on, and Kiriko can be said to have come up with designs for each category at some point or another. She doesn’t specialize in any one area because it’s her desire to connect with her customers, all of them and not just some of them, and her wish that by sharing a passion for a brand like hers that people will eventually come together, little by little. Everyone may have different tastes, but that doesn’t mean they have to stay in separate cliques. But even with all of this said… Who is Kiriko Nishizawa? Where does she come from? And is her dream as simple as uniting people’s hearts through fashion…?

Kiriko’s father is Japanese, while her mother is French. Her father is a gravure photographer that travelled abroad to bring some foreign beauty back to his homeland, and he wound up falling in love with one of his models. It took some convincing, but when her mother was confirmed pregnant, she agreed to travel back to Japan and raise their child there… Learning to speak and write Japanese was an ordeal, but her husband learned French to the best of his ability, so it was an equivalent exchange. And… the dual cultures gave Kiriko an interesting childhood experience. Both Japanese and French are reserved in their own ways, but whereas the former is more formal and respectful, perhaps even conscientious of how much they reveal to others… The French, on the other hand, are very much about getting to know others and are very casual. Hence, Kiriko had an interesting time fitting in at school; early on she thought she was doing something wrong with how distant her ‘friends’ could be, but her parents assured her that wasn’t the case – she just needed to dial back the… affection.

So Kiriko did… to the best of her abilities. In the end, she was still a child, so it was hard leading a ‘double life’ where she could be looser and more affectionate at home, but not so much out and about. To take her mind off of the troubles of making friends, the young Kiriko soon turned her attention to what her beautiful mother did for a living. … Probably not the best idea for a seven-year-old, if only because her mother was usually a model for a lingerie company, which meant most photos she looked over were… skimpy. Still, Kiriko was a responsible girl and didn’t focus on underwear when her mother’s magazines featured clothes of all kinds. And because her mother had quite an extensive collection of modeling magazines – both of herself and older stuff to reference to keep herself fresh for the modeling agencies.

This started Kiriko down a path of researching fashion for herself, and because they were quite well off she used some of her allowance to start up a hobby of attempting to make clothes for herself since she knew her measurements. It didn’t work out too well in the beginning, because Kiriko didn’t realize: of course, she would grow. If she didn’t want to keep making clothes every time she hit a growth spurt, or even just grew a few inches, she should create a few different sizes in advance. Clothes had varieties of different materials, too, which made some styles more flexible and comfy than others. Fashion design was a science, and Kiriko was a pretty fast learner for a kid. By age nine, she was making cool clothes for both herself and her schoolmates, who quickly warmed up to her because it was hard enduring their school’s strict dress code. Somehow, Kiriko had found ways to bend the rules and create unique uniforms that wouldn’t land students in trouble with the faculty; they were professional uniforms and yet each outfit that Kiriko made, they served to make a statement of the student that begged for Kiriko’s services. That’s because Kiriko paid attention to her schoolmates and their hobbies, and when she hadn’t yet spent enough time with them she straight up asked if they had any preferences for their unique uniform. In this way, Kiriko drank in both knowledge of what her schoolmates appreciated, and also the various styles that were out there. She did have to ask for some payment for her clothes, if only because there was a cost in making them; but if it was any consolation, they were practically bargain rack rates for stuff that probably could’ve been sold in clothes outlets.

All of that time taking experience and requests from her peers, not to mention researching on her own, it’s no surprise that the faculty of her school as well as her schoolmates’ families began making requests as well. These requests opened up whole new worlds for Kiriko, because now she wasn’t just adhering to a strict dress code and making little changes that wouldn’t rock the boat. These requests were literally blank checks for her to take various styles and create something unique in them. And her clients appreciated her work so much, they often gave her generous tips for her work, and spread the word she was an up-and-coming clothes designer and was taking requests. Kiriko didn’t mind the attention, at least at first, because she could easily keep up with her schoolwork and still make time for her family, even with all the extra work.

… But the requests flooded and overwhelmed her, and before long she had to put a pause on taking new requests to get to the ones that she received weeks ago. This happened around the time she was eleven, and came to understand that being a one-woman army of a clothes designer was just not feasible. She needed new connections to keep up with her workload. Thankfully, her father and mother had connections to department stores and mall outlets, who were interested in supporting the young Kiriko’s fledgling successes. Once she had their support, suddenly Kiriko didn’t need to take requests for specific people anymore – the stores would create multiple sizes for clothes, both men and women. All Kiriko needed to do was hammer out designs, which in the end was the core part of her business, the soul if you will. Stores and outlets had a broader access to different materials, so Kiriko would just outline what they would need, sketch out what the finished products would look like, and carry on to the next project. Any product that was used with her designs, the stores and outlets would give her a cut of the profits; and in the end, almost every design she sent in was used and brought to life. This brought her wider and more critical acclaim from people all over Japan, and soon all over the world – though this happened between the ages of 12-15.

Kiriko never stopped wanting to connect with people. Her successes with fashion convinced her this was a legitimate way to find common ground with others, to learn about them and also to express herself. She’s always learning something new and trying out different styles, but also returning to previous styles because fashion bleeds together after a while – what works in one style can be applied to another if you take the right approach. And this interconnectedness with her fashion designs has earned widespread popularity; usually any complaints or criticisms are when the styles don’t specifically suit the customer… or when they complain for the sake of complaining. Kiriko never lets these haters get to her, and just keeps on trying, because there are people that appreciate her art. Lots of people.

That doesn’t stop Kiriko from pursuing completely satisfied reactions, though. Probably because of her lineage, she’s a young girl that’s very much… hungry for love. Her parents are often quite busy with their careers, and her own busybody self is weighed down by all the research and design-making she has to do. She’s starving for friends that do more than just check-ins with her, that wanna hang out and all that fun stuff. That’s kinda why she accepted the invitation to Hope’s Peak – it felt like there was a gap between her and her old schoolmates. Even though the loved her clothing line, they definitely felt in… awe of her and her drive. By joining Hope’s Peak, she hoped to encounter other spectacular individuals that were confident in themselves and didn’t view her as just a designer... Though to be fair, the school prioritizes that talent stuff, and in the beginning her prospects for friends were looking bleak because it was all about the “results”, showing that they deserved to be elite… But then Kiriko got recruited for the Student Council, and she found some friends. And a year later, that cutey luckster joined Hope’s Peak~… Makoto Naegi. He hadn’t even heard of her, but could respect her skills as a designer. As long as she had Makoto, and her friends on the Council… she could keep going.

Kotomi Ikuta

Kotomi Ikuta. The Ultimate Biologist. This ambitious, plucky young lass has been an honors student from a young age, excelling in all subjects but shining the most in the fields of science. Her dedication to studying, and to being a law-abiding citizen and student, are second-to-none. From junior high to high school, Kotomi has become a well-renowned researcher in genetics, neuroscience, developmental biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, molecular biology, microbiology, physiology, biophysics, computational biology, zoology, botany, aquatic biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. Despite how much studying she had to do and the amount of work involved, Kotomi does not choose a specialization in the field of biology because she feels that would limit her perspective on humanity and the world, citing that it is her sacred duty as an Ikuta to both understand AND to use that knowledge to make advancements in medicine and improve the natural environment. Everyone who’s met her or read about her ongoing career in scientific journals knows that Kotomi is a passionate student of the sciences that has made a splash in the community, and will only continue to shine brighter as the years go by. But who is Kotomi Ikuta? Where does she come from? What are her dreams and ambitions?

Born into a distinguished family with a lengthy history of contributing to the sciences, Kotomi has felt the pressures of making a name for herself since she was a little girl. Granted, her parents were loving, and never explicitly ordered Kotomi to apply herself, academically… They only wanted her to be happy, and to pursue her own interests and path in life… But Kotomi was a girl deeply respectful of her family’s long and distinguished history, and as such she was so scared of tarnishing her family’s honor by doing anything short of “excellent”. What probably contributed to this attitude was her grandfather’s frequent visits – her grandfather, Eiichiro Ikuta, who won the Nobel Peace Prize around the time of World War II for his “great work he performed during the war on behalf of humanity”, because as a medic he did his best to help the Allies during the war, knowing that his homeland was wrong for allying with Italy and Germany, but also doing what he could to preserve their soldiers’ lives so that they could learn from this shameful part of their history. Eiichiro doted on his granddaughter, but he also had hopes she would continue the family legacy, and perhaps earn the Nobel Peace Prize herself, if not that then something equally as grand. Kotomi listened to his stories of World War 2 with rapt attention, and could feel the weight of her family’s history that went further back than him. Her parents tried reassuring her there was no obligations or “duty”, yet that’s what Kotomi picked up from her grandfather, that even without saying it their family consistently did well because they applied themselves and made contributions to the world. … So Kotomi would apply herself, too.

Kotomi wasn’t sure what field of science she wanted to pursue, however. Her grandfather was a medic, her father was a chemist and her mother was a university professor of the natural sciences. Since she didn’t know where to start, Kotomi decided she would study everything she could until something stuck out to her. Studying became second nature to her with how hard she threw herself into it – her classmates were a bit overwhelmed by her overflowing passion for academic excellence. She WANTED those top marks to prove to herself and to her family that she was doing her part to bring honor to the Ikuta name; and she urged her classmates to be just as passionate, holding study groups to stimulate a studious spirit in all of them… Because really, even if their family didn’t have a history like hers, wouldn’t it be honorable if they were the first in their families to apply themselves? Kotomi was doing them a favor by being so pushy about the academics, but alas~… More often than not, they tended to steer clear of her because of her obsess… passion. Her passion. Yeah. There were a few diligent classmates, of course, but even they so often paled to her towering infernos of obsess… passion.

Her dedication ultimately paid off, even if both her classmates and teachers were overwhelmed by her youthful energy and vivacity. It took a bit of time for her to cue into it, but she was definitely attuned to biology. And by “bit of time”, that meant by eight years old she was reading texts several grades above her normal reading level. Or, well. What SHOULD have been her reading level. About the only reason she wasn’t skipping several grades ahead because of being a child prodigy was due to her parents wanting her to take time and smell the roses. To make friends her own age. To have fun and just be a kid. … Alas, Kotomi believed studying was fun, bringing honor to her family was the most fulfilling endeavor she could take up… She was already writing thesis papers by the time she was ten years old, and was well-versed in many fields of biology by the time she realized it was probably her calling.

But even if she was getting published in scientific journals for her notes on current scientific research and postulating her own theories, it was never enough. Consistently placing nationally on her school exams was never enough. She wanted to whip her student body into shape, so in junior high she began joining the Student Council and enacting reforms to cut down on bias and prejudice, and to enhance their learning environment. That was around the time she began garnering a reputation as “Miss Perfect” as the Council President – always placing nationally, writing thesis papers and journal articles, and now Student Council management on top of frequent hall monitor duty… People started to wonder if she ever slept, and they weren’t even bothering to whisper about that behind her back, they just straight up asked her… asked if she had a life, if she ever just “chilled”… And, well, Kotomi just began ignoring those rude types. Kept up her mission to stir up a spirit of academic excellence in even her most lazy peers.

Her schoolmates might’ve thought Kotomi was crazy, but by the time she reached high school Hope’s Peak sent her a letter almost immediately because of how well she was performing in both her career as a biologist and just her brilliant overall performance in academics. She’d been on their radar for a while, but recruitment didn’t start until high school, so… And, well, it was partially because of her that the academy decided to start up an elementary school division, to foster academic drive like she had. Kotomi was pleased to have her efforts recognized, and accepted the invitation to further her career and gain access to research Hope’s Peak possessed and hoped a change of environment would help her to find likeminded hard-workers like her.

… Alas, it wasn’t all that she hoped it would be. Ultimates were varied, and were very quirky. For the sake of bringing order, she formed the Student Council – although to her dismay, there seemed to be a time-honored tradition of an “Ultimate Student Council President”, so she could only ever reach the Vice President rank, but Kyosuke was content to grant her that rank with how much passion and heart she possessed. He would leave it to Kotomi to assist his successor to acclimatize to Hope’s Peak, and appreciated how tough she could be on her peers; there was nothing wrong about expecting great things from her schoolmates, and punishing mischief-makers. … That’s what they believed, anyway. Kotomi dragged Karen and Aiko onto the Student Council, and in the subsequent year brought on Kiriko, Suzuko, and Tsubasa. When Kiyotaka Ishimaru was recruited in her senior year, Kotomi prepared him to succeed her as the Vice President of the Council and continue assisting Soshun after she was gone.

It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, but Kotomi will continue on as she is because she believes in humanity~… And she will reform those that don’t get with the program~… It’s not unlike how studying biology can progress the human race~! It just takes the right mindset. … And leadership.

Tsubasa Kamii

Tsubasa Kamii. The Ultimate Wedding Planner. This resourceful, adaptable young lady is your go-to for your ideal, perfect romantic getaway. Ever since she was a little girl she’s had this reputation of delivering highly professional and also small-time personal weddings that suit each couple she works with. Whether it’s something out in the countryside, or set in a higher, classier venue, or even something overseas… Tsubasa can help get it arranged for you, don’t go underestimating her just because she’s a child. There’s enough couples out there that can certify she’s the best in the business because she puts in the effort despite her workload. Frighteningly, she can juggle the planning of thirty different weddings at once, and still take on requests – all because of her golden rule: Contact her a year before your big day. It’ll take her that long to make the arrangements, but she WILL make it happen. All while still going to grade school. That said, who is Tsubasa Kamii? Where does she come from? What are her dreams and ambitions?

It may very well surprise you… But Tsubasa does not come from wealth. In fact, her parents are so painfully average, they work long hours at the office and are almost never home. Even while they’re home, her parents are too exhausted to shower Tsubasa with affection, let alone each other. She had a painfully dry, miserable beginning; Tsubasa made friends at school, but it was never quite the same for her. She yearned for a deeper bond with her family… And they just aren’t in a place financially where they can make that happen. They get by in life, and… that’s all they can do.

This doesn’t stop Tsubasa from craving love from her family. She knows it’s selfish, but her classmates and friends talk about their family lives all the time, and the more they talk the more Tsubasa wishes she had the colorful episodes they did… Even the hard times, where parents punished them for reckless stuff, or when the parents were unreasonably angry from a hard day at work. Her parents were just too dead inside to emote like that at home… and it frustrated Tsubasa. She was aimless for the first several years of her life.

But then one day when Tsubasa was eight years old, that all changed. A neighboring couple in her family’s apartment complex were talking about finally getting hitched, and Tsubasa overheard a few other neighbors gossiping about it. Apparently, the couple were as overworked as her parents, and they just didn’t have the time to arrange something fancy, so they seemed resigned to getting a civil wedding, aka just having a judge officiate their union. … Not even her parents had sunk that low – Tsubasa saw the few wedding pictures of her parents, it was a small ceremony but they’d at least done SOMETHING. She knew that if her neighbors went this route, their marriage probably wasn’t going to last. And… Tsubasa hated imagining a divorce between people that she vaguely knew, people she could empathize with because of her parents.

So Tsubasa buckled down and studied what she would need to do to make a ‘dream wedding happen’. … Definitely the hardest thing she had to study up on, ‘cause it was above her reading and comprehension level, and for a while it seemed hopeless… Until Tsubasa recalled she did have some neighbors that owed her some favors for doing chores for them a while back. It’s not like Tsubasa liked calling in favors like this, but that’s how she got in touch with professionals that could help her arrange something magnificent for her lovesick neighbors, even on a shoestring budget. She didn’t approach her neighbors first because Tsubasa knew that if she did, the neighbors would just pat her head and not take her seriously; she desired to help them, and needed to demonstrate how serious she was. So Tsubasa proved her resolve, to her neighbors’ shock. She even went around their back and chatted with their employers about giving the couple a few days off a year from then, just so they could celebrate their marriage properly… And it’s kinda hard to say ‘no’ to an eight-year-old that laid thick on the puppy dog eyes, so of course the employers caved, especially because these employees in particular seldom asked for days off. And, well… a wedding SHOULD be a big deal. That year went by in a flash, but Tsubasa managed to give those two a stellar wedding they would never forget; the one downside is that they didn’t have much money to pay her back for being so unabashedly sweet… And Tsubasa was fine with that. She argued that “love shouldn’t come with a price tag”.

… One problem, though. As indebted as the young couple was, they did have a bit of a selfish request, because there was a few friends that were in a similar boat of being unable to arrange a formal wedding just like them. Too busy with their lives. Tsubasa bemoaned her plight, because she’d used up all her favors with this first ‘request’. To her delight, however, the neighbors in her apartment complex were open to allowing Tsubasa to do more chores for them in exchange for calling on their connections again to help her out with subsequent jobs. That did mean she was indebted to her neighbors this time, but she could easily help them out during the planning phases for these new requests; Tsubasa merely needed to ensure she had at least a year to work with. To her further relief, her first clients’ friends had a bigger pockets to work with, and Tsubasa didn’t have to strain herself so much with all the chores. … Though she did anyway, and even helped out classmates and their families for more “favors”, just to build a stockpile of connections in the event she was called on for more jobs. What even further helped was that some of her new clients actually paid her for helping them have unforgettable weddings… And slowly but surely, Tsubasa was getting in a more advantageous position for helping these unfortunate couples that didn’t have the luxury of planning out what should’ve been their most precious day.

A couple years of doing business with friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends… Tsubasa developed quite a network of allies, and even now had a website where she could take requests even over a Zoom meeting with the newlyweds-to-be. Yes, by age eleven Tsubasa was tackling a dozen requests for the following year, and eventually they just kept rolling in – even people that Tsubasa had never heard of or seen before were calling on her. Tsubasa’s name was getting out into the world, and the more affluent clients she came into contact with, the more money and connections she acquired. Soon she didn’t have to do as many chores so much as do a few oddjobs for the professional companies she worked alongside. From 11-15 her reputation ballooned and skyrocketed. People weren’t looking at her as just a kid anymore, even her parents were impressed with the strides she was making, the income she was bringing in to make their lives easier and make them more of a family by cutting back on the work hours. Those four years were definitely the happiest in Tsubasa’s young life, even with how busy, busy, busy she was…

And then Hope’s Peak came calling. Tsubasa almost didn’t want to go because she finally had what she wanted… But her parents encouraged her to take the opportunity for what it was. Hope’s Peak would be the height of her accomplishments thus far, being the best academic institution in the world, and the school would give her access to so many resources and new clients that Tsubasa wouldn’t know what to do with… Just because she attended didn’t have to mean they’d stop being a family, Tsubasa would always have a home to return to. So Tsubasa reluctantly accepted the invitation, so long as their family stayed together.

Tsubasa never expected to get dragged into the Student Council, though… Her own career was becoming daunting enough, but now she had duties to her schoolmates, too, on top of keeping in touch with her parents… It made Tsubasa frazzled for a while, and she almost quit the Council because of how stressful Kotomi made it for all of them… But then she made friends with Kiriko and even Karen… and everything changed for Tsubasa at that point. Granted, all the wedding details and plans did make her attuned to the more… INTIMATE details of people, their anatomy, but Kiriko and Karen really brought out her shameless side that she didn’t know she had. … Honestly, Karen just automatically assumed with her voluptuous rack, Tsubasa was already one of THOSE types and was egging her on. Poor, poor Karen had no idea she was unchaining the beast and releasing her on Hope’s Peak. For a year, there was peace… But then Makoto-kouhai arrived, and well~… Tsubasa found her hubby. And she had no shame in getting him thinking about their future wedding, even if she ended up having to share the cutie. Honestly, though, that had Tsubasa even more thrilled and hot and bothered… ‘cause she never tackled a harem wedding before. It would be her masterpiece~! So many girls interested in the Egg~… Tsubasa could not wait to make the best wedding in existence~!

#despair arc #student council

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