Ruka Yokoi, Ultimate Spelling Bee Champion
while i don't think there's anything technically wrong with her original design except the weirdass shirt, i do think a little more could be added because at a first glance I had no idea what she was meant to be other than a student. ofc it's kind of hard to convey spelling bee visually so i tried to lean more into the bee aspect with a bee hairclip and a hexagon pattern on the skirt. i also made her way more nerdier and i honestly think the look is cute on her
i changed her backstory a bit just to make it a little more interesting, so she's kind of now a prodigy who skipped several grades which is something i think she and hirose could bond over and possibly be a point of development because as far as i can tell they don't have much else
for her story role, i think she would try to take the lead like she did in chapter 1, but ends up being overshadowed by the older participants who have way more life experience. i think for her she would be used to being the smartest one so this situation would be very offputting for her, the cherry on top being put under the spotlight during the first trial after ouno's gaslighting. chapter 2 she's in the additional bleeding, and is at first very panicked because of the gravity of the situation, but is able to formulate a plan and reclaim her position as smartest of the group.... which is shattered when the bleeding is exposed. chapter 3 starts off with a rough patch but she and the rest of the remaining bleeding mend their relationship with the rest of the cast.
chapter 4 is where i decide to have ruka kill ninomiya. i think her actions could have been interesting but they felt random and didn't have enough build up from what i've heard. i would still have her get ninomiya's insulin but instead make it be from the chapter 4 motive. something similar to the chapter 1 guessing game where they are given items but this time are not allowed to return them until a murder happens, and ruka happens to get ninomiya's insulin. ninomiya is panicking about his missing insulin, and while ruka is aware of this, she decides to leave him in the dark believing that in these circumstances, he might try to kill her knowing she has the insulin; after all, they've seen three murders happen by now. ninomiya begins to skip meals, afraid that his blood sugar levels will spike, to the point that his blood sugar gets dangerously low. a few days into the motive he starts suffering from a hypoglycemic diabetic seizure, and ruka, assuming that he's actually suffering from a hyperglycemic diabetic seizure, uses the insulin and ends up accidentally killing him. after realizing what's happened, she attempts to cover it up but of course she doesn't have any experience, and is easily figured out as the killer.
now the backstory:
Ruka Yokoi was born into a large family, being the middle child out of 5 children. She focused most of her time on academics, and when she was 13 she was gifted an English dictionary by her father. Ruka would find a place to settle down and begin writing in the margins, taking notes and translating words. After about a year she participated in her first spelling bee—and won. After this, Ruka competed in more spelling bees and excelled at school, graduating high school early and attending a college in California as a transfer student. There, she studied and became almost fluent in English. Ruka also studied a bit of French on the side, before returning to Japan for a brief family visit.
