Honami alongside her homeroom teacher and fellow classmate.
Honami is a sweet girl who is friends with many students, including those of other classes. Rivalling and even eclipsing the level of popularity of Kikyō Kushida, even Mio Ibuki has stated that she is indisputably the most popular student in the school. It can be said that her kindness and beauty was what allowed Honami to earn her immense positive reputation throughout the school. For this reason, she is greatly admired by all sorts of students from all the different years and classes in the school. Particularly, Honami with her charm and charisma was respected enough to the extent that she had even caught the attention of famous upperclassmen Miyabi Nagumo, who granted her membership to the Student Council. According to Nazuna Asahina, even among the third-years, nobody has anything bad or negative to say about her. For this reason, Honami was described by Haruka Hasebe to be too perfect at everything such as being able to make friends with nearly almost anyone, thinking the leader of Class 1-B can't be a human being without having at least a couple faults to her flawless, benevolent character.
So far, these are the known developed relationships she has made over the course of the series:
Family
Much remains unknown about Honami's family, though it is revealed Honami hails from a single-parent household without a father, living with both her mother and her little sister who is two years younger than her.
Unnamed Mother
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami's mother is a full-time worker who was able to barely provide for her family. The young Honami saw first hand the many difficulties a single parent had when she and her little sister was brought up. The sight of her tired mother was a common occurrence which caused Honami to strive to make her mother's life easier in any way possible, eventually leading her to cultivate many of her morals.
Since the time when she was still a young child prior to high school, Honami wanted to improve their financial situation by working as well and increasing their monthly income to lessen the burdens of her mother.
Honami figures the best way to support her mom is by taking the extra step in searching and applying for a well-paying job, however, her mother rejected this idea as the latter wanted her to solely focus on her education and not let extraneous factors get in the way of her daughter's bright future.
Above all, she prioritizes Honami's education by having her keep up with her studies consistently in school, with the latter diligently getting excellence and distinctions in her grades to ingratiate her mother.
In one instance, her mother collapsed from overexertion of work and was sent to the hospital. This was a traumatic ordeal for the young Honami who believed that it was time to carry on her parent's duty by looking out for both her hospitalized mom and younger sister.
When her sister's birthday arrived, Honami's mom showed no signs of getting better, and so, Honami shoplifted a gift for her sister after witnessing her sister's disappointment that she couldn't receive one from their mom.
Unfortunately, her mother learned of the robbery, she grew extremely upset with Honami, to the point of slapping her in the face for committing the act of stealing.
She then took away her sister's gift which is the hair clip, and proceeded to forcibly drag Honami back to the store to return it and have her apologize for her action. Having her mother discharge herself against the hospital's order, in conjunction with her sister's disappointment, left Honami deeply ashamed of herself despite her unselfish motivations, that many later told that she was too hard on herself.
It was even highly implied by Honami that alongside her younger sister, her mother can no longer hold a smile at Honami anymore and is one of the reasons why she decided to enter a prestigious high school as a means of hoping to restore relations.
It is currently unclear as to what transpired between Honami's relationship with her mother or whether they are still kept in contact with one another. This deep scar has been carried by and sealed deep within Honami, and was only opened after she was mentally attacked by Arisu and saved by Kiyotaka.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Unnamed Sister
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami cares deeply for the well-being and interests of her younger sister.
Her love for her sister is to the extent where she went as far as commit the crime of shoplifting. Reason being that their mom was unable to properly purchase a gift for her beloved sister since she was hospitalized, she decided to take on her mother's duty by celebrating the date of her birth.
Seeing how distressed her sister was when she was unable to get a present from their mother, she figured that it was her responsibility as the older sibling to care for little sister. She also felt obligated to lessen the burdens of their mother and ease her worries.
For the first time, Honami visited a department store and secretly stole an expensive fashionable hair clip that is described to be worth the price of around 10,000 yen. Although she felt guilty for having committed something regarded as robbery, it didn’t stop her from giving the stolen hair clip as a special gift to her sister if it's to make the latter's wish come true. Seeing how her sister never once asked for anything before, Honami felt compelled to ensure this wish was fulfilled.
She didn’t want to see her sister sulking and feeling angry without a birthday present which would had indubitably caused their sick mother to be more distressed.
Despite Honami telling her sister ahead of time to hide the present from their mom and keep it a secret between the two of them, she ends up wearing it the next time they greeted their mother in the hospital.
From their visit, her mother was extremely suspicious and learned of Honami's theft which she did silently behind her back. She then took away the hair clip she got for her sister to return to the store, causing her sister to be infuriated.
It is implied by Honami that alongside her mom, her little sister doesn't smile at Honami anymore and is one of the reasons why she hopes to amend her horrible action by enrolling in high school.
It is currently unclear as to what happened between Honami's relationship with her sister or what it is like between them now that the problem of shoplifting is taken care of. We do know that Honami never forgave herself until volume 10 where her past actions was revealed to everyone. With Kiyotaka's and her class encourage, she was able to move on and accept herself.
After this valuable lesson, Honami would always strive to do the right thing and would also rather sacrifice her own happiness so others could live happily.
She eventually accepted her mistake and after everyone told her that she was too hard on herself and had the best intentions, she forgave herself and did not allow this history to weigh her down any longer.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Class-A
Arisu Sakayanagi
No interaction was made in the first season, though Honami sees her as a class rival. During the survival test, she explains to Kiyotaka on Arisu being one of Class A's leaders and spoke highly of her intellect.
During the second season, Honami can be seen accompanying Arisu on a walk, while holding a good conversation with her.
In the third season, Arisu exposes Honami's past of shoplifting through a rumor until the school knows and it did serve to cause Honami turmoil. Thanks to Kiyotaka's help, Honami was able to inform her class of her misdeeds with confidence and Arisu was left annoyed that she failed to raddle her. Despite standing up to her, Honami still shows wariness towards Arisu and was quick to leave her conversation with Kiyotaka upon seeing that Arisu was approaching.
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami hanging out with Arisu.
Honami considers Arisu and her class to be a rival to her own. Although they don't see one another as friends, it didn't deter Honami from accompanying Arisu on a walk as they engaged in friendly talks after an exam is over.[1]
When Arisu reaches out to her for a private one-on-one consultation between the two of them, Honami was open to hear out the Class 1-A leader's problem without being cautiously wary. However, Honami was surprised when Arisu asked for consultation from her, considering that she views her as a person who seems like the kind to solve everything on her own without anyone's help.
Honami was unsure whether Arisu request of her had a hidden agenda, but she decided to hear about it first. If Arisu really was in trouble as the former was making it out to be, Honami admits that she can't simply ignore or refuse the girl's words, nor could she turn a blind eye to her, as she vows to do what she can to be helpful to her.
The condition being that it doesn't involve choosing between saving Arisu or her Class B friends. Honami was willing to lend a helping hand to her seemingly most formidable rival, as well as time on her day off. Based on her character, she strives to always do her very best to answer the calls of anyone no matter what or who she is interacting with, even if the girl is viewed as an enemy to her class.
Honami believes the two of them can get along well, as she spends some time over the holidays together with Arisu, thinking it be useful for both leaders to have an amicable relationship.[2] Facing her in a class conflict for the first time, Honami came to understand that Arisu is a very formidable opponent who can be slightly similar and yet distinctly different to Kakeru Ryūen when resorting to using unique, dirty and underhanded tactics and strategies to attack her psychologically.
After Arisu spread various rumors surrounding her past, Honami attempts to remain strong and resolute against these allegations caused by the leader of Class 1-A until she eventually succumbs to it to the point that she reverted to her shut-in mentality.
Particularly, she was shaken up to find out that one of the rumors Arisu happened to be spreading is true, regarding her past actions being characterized as criminal behavior. This forces Honami to recognize how the leader of Class 1-A knows her deepest and darkest secret.
Honami had not considered trying to file a report on Arisu or her class's wrongdoings to the school for the trouble they had caused her as she felt this was due to her own fault to begin with. Despite the likelihood that the school would indubitably be on her side and punish Class A appropriately.
Honami also reasons on the fact that she never once asked Arisu to keep it a secret from everyone, thinking it was not right to lay the blame on Arisu for exposing it as is. Thus, she decides to forgive and hope everything would become water under the bridge.
Honami knows Arisu perceives and treats the former's act of kindness and honesty as nothing but shameless and deceitful. She even alleged that she was sympathy-seeking to convince her classmates to continue trusting her.
When Kiyotaka broke Honami's fighting spirit first and made her get her act together, she was able to later directly confront Arisu face-to-face about her actions.
If not for him, Honami knows she would have definitely succumbed to Arisu's aggressive strategy and accepts her demands of giving the private points back to her classmates along with stepping down from her leadership position. This would eventually spell the doom of Class 1-B as they lack a de facto leader. Through this renewed resolve, she was able to resist and withstand the accusations thrown her way by Arisu.
After surviving Arisu's strategy, Honami is not willing to run away from her past any longer and let it dictate her, believing the leader of Class 1-A's action only served to remind her not to make the same mistake twice in telling someone her secret. Honami directly tells her this and extends her appreciation to her for such a valuable lesson. Arisu could only respond in awe at her indefatigable spirit.
Nonetheless, Honami knows Arisu's schemes were a way to mentally disrupt and throw her own mind into chaos, acknowledging that she got completely defeated and bested. Until the point that Kiyotaka, someone from another class had to help her get on her feet.
Later on, after she and her classmates dropped to Class 2-C, Honami accepted a proposal made by Arisu to call for a truce between both sides to cease their competition. Arisu wanted to make use of her class unity though Honami caught her true motives.
She knew how Class A was desperate and in a delicate position, as they were vulnerable is the other classes teamed up. Shocked at her development, Arisu could only praise her once again.
Honami and Arisu cooperating.
Instead of having their two classes compete with one another, Honami had to take into consideration forming an alliance together with Arisu for the upcoming Uninhabited Island Exam since none of the other classes would reach out to her. Due to this, Honami admits that she is unhappy and dissatisfied that her class is unworthy of Arisu's caution, unlike the other classes.
She feels like they're being treated as an insignificant existence in the long run to the latter. She felt that Arisu is underestimating her foresight and abilities juxtaposed to the other class leaders who Arisu seemed to have grown more cautious of over the course of their first year in high school.
Honami disagrees with how Arisu sees her and her classmates overall. Arisu proposed the conditions and structure of this new alliance for their classes to be made in the exact same way as Honami did with her former alliance for Class D based on the difference and gap in class points.
Despite the disagreements they have back and forth, Honami was still cooperative in working alongside Arisu to formulate a plan in coming out on top against Kakeru's class, Suzune's class, and other classes from different years. Arisu did not pass up the chance to degrade Honami and repeat her past mistakes and was surprised when she pushed back and even threatened her to some extent, admitting that she underestimated her.
However, Honami told Arisu that even if their alliance is official, it won't be enough of a reason to stop her from working with other classes in the future. This forces the latter to give up more private points than first suggested to have the former fully cooperate.
She partnered up with Arisu while working alongside members of Classes 2-C and 2-A in the same large group together, doing her best to go to designated areas and fulfill tasks to help their alliance prevail in the Uninhabited Island Exam.[3]
By the end of the exam competition, she and Arisu successfully came in 3rd place among the Top Three groups which allowed them to earn a fair amount of class points together for their respective classes.
When they returned to the cruise ship, Honami met up with Arisu and apologizes to her directly for leaving their group behind to go and chase after Kiyotaka without much warning. Arisu forgave her actions as she herself cares immensely for Kiyotaka in her own way but didn’t divulge this to Honami. Even though Arisu had forgiven her and refuses to put the sole blame on her, the remorse Honami felt still did not go away so easily. For this reason, she feels heavily guilty and apologetic towards Arisu for inconveniencing their group. She wanted to be held responsible for her actions by Arisu, feeling that a due punishment is in order.
On the other hand, Honami was also shocked by how Arisu seems to notice her own feelings for Kiyotaka based on the fact that she went and prioritize him over their classmates when choosing to look for him out of concern. It was through talking with Arisu in private that Honami learned how her action was somehow instrumental in saving him from possible expulsion.
During their one-on-one meeting after that exam, she was then advised by Arisu to not always overly depend on Kiyotaka or easily trust the things he says to her as they are first and foremost rivals and enemies from opposing classes. Lest she gets irremediable hurt but his true self. That said, hearing the sudden mention of Kiyotaka's name from Arisu made Honami feel visibly agitated when he is mentioned alongside Suzune and Kakeru to be untrustworthy.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Kōhei Katsuragi
No interaction was made in the first season, though Honami sees him as a class rival.
During the survival test, she explains to Kiyotaka on Kōhei being one of Class A's leaders and spoke highly of her intellect.
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
She believes his "castle gate" strategy is a disagreeable idea as everyone from Class 1-A is prohibited from contributing and participating in any conversations. This runs into conflict with her manner of working and philosophy, as well as thinking he may be forcing them to stay quiet against their will.
Discontented and dissatisfied with Kōhei's approach, she immediately sprung into action by confronting him and having the latter change his strategy for the benefits of both classes. She was ready to argue with Kōhei that communication is vitally important to the Cruise Ship Special Test compared to his notion that "thinking" is the most logical path to follow.
While she doesn't think there was anything wrong in trying to protect the standing and status quo of his class, that didn’t stop her from clashing with him about his strategy, especially when all the students from different classes are mixed together, when it was designed for them to collaborate in teams for the exam.
Through that argument the two shared with each other, Honami was able to deduce his determined resolve as well as his thoughts and mannerisms that he will achieve in order to protect his class.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make Kōhei give up on his strategy or get him to reconsider. However, she came to understand how much of an obstinate and resolute leader he was for the sake of his own class, with others not even factoring into his consideration.
She believes his class policy is not allowing everyone to fully participate and communicate effectively in the Rabbit group, as he believes he was the sole person from his class who has the ability to convince and manage the rest of Class 1-A similar to herself regarding Class B.
Though Honami didn’t belittle the man's strategy entirely, she strongly feels that this castle-gate strategy he employed on the members of Class 1-A is unjust for the lower classes, knowing that he will probably attempt to use a similar plan again for other special exams if he was ever the leader.[4]
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Kōji Machida
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami and Kōji don't see eye-to-eye with each other's strategy, questioning one another's ideas and remaining doubtful if it will succeed as they planned. She would try to convince Kōji and his classmates to cooperate and participate in the group meeting, desiring him to discuss with every member of the Rabbit group including herself.
She understood that neither Kōji nor the students of Class 1-A would ever willingly follow her strategy, and she was proven right when they remained uncooperative and skeptical of her entire plan, seeking to downplay the plan she had in favor of their own class.
Without him or his classmates, she is cognizant that the Rabbit group discussion would not be able to make any significant progress in finding the V.I.P. among them. Honami remains considerate to him which only serves to cast suspicion on herself when the latter perceived her as someone with an ulterior motive.
When virtually everyone was about to agree on Kōji castle-gate strategy created by Kōhei, Honami remains defiant in allowing it to succeed as she continued to argue with him about the obvious flaws of his plan.
She wouldn't let Kōji have his strategy be accepted and attempts to ask for everyone's opinion on it, reminding them that only those from Class 1-A would be aware of the full scope of the plan and the weaknesses it entails, with the other classes paying the price for getting behind it.
Honami is aware of the fact that Kōji distrusts her and how they aren't friends, to begin with, she still does her best to improve their poor relationship by suggesting to play a card game with him and everyone else in the Rabbit group which the latter refuses.
She knows that it was unrealistic to win him and his classmates over to her side unless she confronts the leader of Class 1-A, Kōhei about giving them permission to work together with her. Even after getting them to cooperate by the final discussion period, Honami wasn't surprised to see Kōji and his classmates betray them at the end of the exam despite revealing the fake V.I.P. being Kiyotaka to the latter.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Other A-Class students
Honami's first interaction with Class 1-A students was when they were on the Cruise Ship Special Test. Being in the same Rabbit group as her, she became acquainted with some of them as fellow group members. Despite trying to better understand and know them, Honami was unable to establish a sense of trust or friendship with any of them due to their difference in class values and policies. Honami understood that befriending them with her kind words wouldn’t be enough to open their hearts to her but inadvertently did the opposite, as they doubted the sincerity of her words and treated what she told them with immense suspicion due to the threat she poses. When Kōji Machida revealed the reason as to why they were not participating and joining the Rabbit group discussion, Honami received the silent treatment from the Class 1-A members who refused to cooperate in that meeting. As she is aware of Arisu's attack on her, Honami knows that the members of Class 1-A were the ones under their leader's order who secretly went around spreading malicious rumors about her. In spite of their deliberate vitriolic actions towards her in the past, she harbors no resentment towards them and even cooperated with them by making a pact between their classes.
Above all, it made Honami realize her mistake. She foolishly revealed her dark secret to an outsider of her class and failed to comprehend the repercussion of her naive actions, causing her class to suffer. Hence, she was actually thankful to them for teaching her a valuable lesson. In the Event Selection Exam, she wanted to choose Class 1-A as her opponent in the team competition, believing that this is the most effective way to overtake them but decided to back down for the sake of Kiyotaka who she owed a favor to after he helped her out during the previous special exam. After losing to Kakeru's class in that exam, Honami recognizes that Class 1-A led by Arisu doesn't see either her or her classmates as a real threat to them when compared to the other two classes who were growing considerably stronger over time and at a much faster rate. Although she isn’t able to get along with some of the Class 1-A students like those from the Rabbit group in the Cruise Ship Special Test, Honami was still able to somewhat get along well and work fine alongside the rest of them such as their main fighting force like Masayoshi Hashimoto and Masumi Kamuro when they developed a temporary class alliance together.
Class-B
At the start of the series, Honami was the first student among the first-years to have successfully brought complete unity, trust, and collaboration between the students in her class without any signs of internal discords, unlike Classes 1-A, 1-C, and 1-D who couldn't match their unity at the time. From the beginning to the end of her first-year, Honami was able to successfully prevent all her fellow classmates from dropping out of school, having not lost any one of them in her Class 1-B by expulsion when compared to the leaders of the other three classes.
Chihiro Shiranami
Honami and Chihiro.
Chihiro is a classmate and friend of Honami who unbeknownst to her had actually harbored romantic feelings for her. In Episode 4, Chihiro hugged Honami after the class scored well on their recent quiz and was happy to be in the same class as Honami, who was just as happy in return, though for a different reason. Chihiro later wrote a love letter to confess her feelings to Honami, but the latter did not reciprocate those feelings and had no idea of how to handle it without hurting her. Honami soon turned to Kiyotaka for help, but he refused her strategy of pretending to be her boyfriend, instead advising her to be open about her real feelings towards Chihiro and tell the truth.
When Chihiro saw Honami with Kiyotaka, she became jealous and quickly teared up. Honami quickly apologized for being inconsiderate. Chihiro nearly cried after Honami struggled to answer the question about her relationship with Kiyotaka but was relieved to hear from Kiyotaka that they were simply just friends as he left them to talk it out. Honami followed Kiyotaka's advice and laid bare her true feelings as she told Chihiro she wasn't interested in her but hoped they can still continue on as friends, leaving a heartbroken Chihiro running away. Despite this event, Honami still hoped they can really go back to normal after the event, as unrealistic as it sounds. In the anime, it is unknown if they ever patched up their relationship or whether they still associate with each other.
During the middle of their summer break, the two hung out with each other at the pool implying that they are still on good terms even though weren’t seen directly interacting with one another.
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami considers Chihiro in a cute little sister position to her. The following day after Chihiro's confession, the two were able to reconcile and still remained close friends. They are able to continue with their friendly interactions with each other as they used to do.
However, she notices that Chihiro still possesses romantic feelings for her and couldn't move on past the rejection, with the latter thinking she still has enough time in school to change her mind and get the former to accept her love which Honami found admirable, much to her confusion.[5]
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Ryūji Kanzaki
Honami and Ryūji.
Not much is known about their relationship, but she appears to get along well with Ryūji as they are both in the same class. She treats Ryūji as her right-hand man in their class, letting him play the role of a supportive assistant for her. Additionally, she seems to hold a great deal of trust in him and was ready to hear out his plan for their class and supported his analysis of what the other opposing classes may be up to. In Episode 4, Ryūji didn't mind helping Honami and Kiyotaka Ayanokōji gather evidence for Ken Sudō's case.
On that note, Honami appears to respect him as she agreed with his theory about Ken possibly being set for his expulsion. During the survival test, they tried to do some reconnaissance on who the Class C leader may be but found the camp deserted. After the survival test, they discussed the test results and shared a laugh on the outcome of the test. She then questioned him on what they were told about the points and how they should decide on what to do with them.
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
She states that Ryūji was not the sort of person who would voluntarily take the spotlight. She refers to him as a man with few words to say, lacking assertiveness to engage with others despite his popularity with girls and admits she doesn't understand him well enough.
Honami trusts his deductions skills as she valued his method and analysis of the Ken incident. She was happy that he arrived at the same conclusion as she did and agreed on how they thought the case should be handled. She thinks of Ryūji as a cherished partner who can speak up on behalf of the class's feelings, asking meaningful questions that the rest of her classmates wouldn't do.
In spite of her trust in him, Honami didn't want to rely on Ryūji when it comes to solving a violent dispute between boys since she worries, he might end up making the problem worse than it already is when dealing with troublemakers. Even though she reminds him to not do anything rash like confronting members of Class 1-A when a rumor was being spread about her, Honami learned from Kiyotaka that her words were not heeded.
Disappointed, this made Honami realize how much of a worrywart Ryūji was being and decided to reaffirm her reminder to him once again, determined to resolve the problem herself rather than have him and her classmates help the former out.
While Honami was feeling a bit hesitant to respond to Arisu's remarks when the latter confronted her classmates, she lets Ryūji answer in her stead until the former gathered her thoughts together before she was ready to speak.
However, she will still criticize him harshly whenever he does happen to step out of line, especially in the case of Kiyotaka's impact on their class. Honami can appear very discontent when Ryūji tries to act aggressively with Kiyotaka. This made her compelled to step in and put a stop to his argument with Kiyotaka, announcing that things were about to become more intense if left unchecked.
Ryūji told Kiyotaka that he feels that the way Honami is currently, she isn't good enough to reach Class-A and wants her to change for the better since their class had been experiencing numerous defeats by other classes. Honami and Ryūji have started to not see eye-to-eye with each other's opinion on how they should view Kiyotaka since he is no longer an ally but supposedly an "enemy," a term that she refuses to easily accept or hear come out from her classmate's mouth.
While Ryūji thinks their class should go forward with abandoning their naivety in the future, Honami disagrees and feel they still need to maintain pleasantry with other people regardless of the bad situations they're in, especially Kiyotaka, which made him suspect that she is bringing her own personal feelings to the matter and treating Kiyotaka with a higher priority than her own class.[6]
In Second year volume 5, rather uncharacteristically, he was the only voice of opposition who openly went against Class B and their decision against expelling a classmate in pursuit of gaining more points. He recognized the outcome of Ichinose's leadership which clouded the judgment of their peers, so much so that they were spouting idealistic claims that they would reach Class A without taking this opportunity.
He reasons how their standing with other classes is unstable and they could very well drop to Class D if the other two classes chose the route he proposed. He also reasons that it could help them close the gap to Class A. However, his classmates were vehemently against forsaking even one of their classmates and instead turned on him. Thus, he continuously voted against them, being the sole voice of dissent as he passionately hope that they would see reality and take his side.
Hoshinomiya shared her personal experience and supported Ryūji, alleviating some anger in the perceived betrayal in the process. Despite understanding their rationale, Ichinose remains steadfast in her belief that with unity, they could overcome any challenges, and that she doesn’t want to reach Class A if it meant sacrificing a classmate and praying for luck that other classes wouldn’t do the same. This further incentivized her classmates to support her as she said that their decision would remain unchanged.
This causes a predicament for Ryūji as this was their final vote and time was running out, if he were to do it again, he would be going against what he was trying to accomplish initially. Finally relenting, the class of 40 voted unanimously against expulsion. He had realized that his class prioritized keeping their class together even if they had to be in Class D instead of graduating as Class A.
Ryūji begrudgingly reflects that it was too late to change his class dynamic and he’s not qualified enough to loosen Ichinose's firm grip on them. As he recalled Ichinose's request for them to work together and become strong enough to defeat Class A with their own strengths, he wonders if he'll be in Class B or Class D in the end.
Though he knows one thing for sure, this Class as it is now would never reach Class A. His face was downcast while the others displayed joy at the exam completion.
As a result of their decision, at the end of the volume, they were dropped to Class C as Horikita's class was the only one to expel a student to gain more points. In the next volume, they dropped to Class D after underperforming in the sports festival.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Sō Shibata
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
She became friends with Sō at the beginning of her first year when the two were both placed in the same classroom. They have strongly different opinions on how they view the lower classes.
Seeing how judgmental and condescending he was being to students beneath their class, she is always prepared to refute his words and give him a lecture on how they should not be underestimating or thinking less of others just because of one area usually being academics which others may fail at.
She was able to skillfully work well with Sō and Ryūji in performing teamwork while playing pool volleyball against members of Class 1-D, holding their own against someone physically powerful like Ken Sudō. The same could be said during the Sports Festival where she and Sō team up as a pair for the mixed three-legged race, having already done several practices a couple of times with him before the competition was announced to begin.
After the results of the Paper Shuffle Exam were revealed, she did her best to cheer up Sō who felt responsible and depressed for their class defeat. When Honami accepted Arisu of Class 1-A's request for a private consultation with her, she understood Sō's worries and asked him to not be concerned about her lack of wariness, believing it was just a normal talk between two class leaders.
When Sō was about to get into a fight with Kakeru's lackeys before the Event Selection Exam began, Honami ordered him from going after them and causing unnecessary trouble before such a paramount exam. She reprimands Sō to not fall for Kakeru's attempts to incite violence, trying her best to reign the latter in, and keep him under control in front of public space so as to avoid creating a scene.
During the Uninhabited Island Exam, she promises to remain safe and not act recklessly when walking back to the starting area of the test to get her wristwatch replaced in poor weather conditions.
She was deeply apologetic to Sō for needing to accompany her and since she didn't want him wasting any more of his precious time, she encouraged him to go on ahead and not stay with her for too long as there are designated areas and tasks that he is designated to. She doesn't like the idea of slowing Sō down from collecting points for his team.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Tetsuya Hamaguchi
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
As friends and fellow classmates who were placed in the same Rabbit group during the Cruise Ship Special Test, she and Tetsuya were able to easily cooperate with each other when discussing with other students.
While attempting to make her point across to members of Class 1-A in that exam, Honami would receive multiple verbal support from Tetsuya who also offered reasonable statements that backed her argument, agreeing to nearly everything the former has to say for herself when they offered a cooperative strategy for the group.
Honami has Tetsuya's complete trust to accept her decision-making way for not only their class, but the group they're also in as well like revealing he is not the V.I.P. If a Class 1-A student who harbors doubt about Honami's words cast their suspicion on her, Honami knows Tetsuya will come to her aid and has no qualms in trusting him to broach certain topics on her behalf.
She understood Tetsuya was able to coolly brush aside all of Class 1-A's criticisms of her and give Honami some time to reflect on what to say next in response to Kouji's skeptical remark about her strategy.
When Honami couldn’t do anything to convince Kouji of Class 1-A to take part in the group discussion and meeting, she allowed Tetsuya to take the initiative, with the former arguing the same rationale in her stead.
Both Honami and Tetsuya are quite supportive of one another's arguments as they shared the same objective against the idea of enforcing Class 1-A's castle-gate policy and strategy in the Rabbit group but their own requires everyone to start participating and cooperating.
Most of those apart of the Rabbit group, excluding Kouji and members of Class 1-A was willing to hear them out and consider their strategy. They were able to eloquently make their stand and make a convincing proposition. They are often seen taking the lead in the group discussions while also attempting to get all of the members involved.
Even though Honami was the main leader throughout the talks, the two have shown to have mutual respect between them. In the middle of a special exam, she had Tetsuya go along with her idea and play a card game with some of the members to pass the time while waiting for members of Class 1-A to open up their hearts and reach out to them.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Mako Amikura
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Mako is one of Honami's friends she has become close buddies with and talks to within their circle of classmates. Honami received comforting words and was supported by Mako when the former was getting slandered by malicious rumors.
She has shared words of encouragement with Mako in the form of advice who wishes Honami to do something about the rumors and not let the perpetrators get away with this. Ichinose decides not to add fuel to the fire and tells her to be at ease as she takes care of everything.
Regardless of what Mako says to her, Honami had every intention to put up with the rumors until people lost interest and when it finally fades away into obscurity. While Mako has no intention of forgiving the mastermind who perpetuated the widespread rumors about her friend, Honami thought otherwise and was willing to let bygones be bygones.
Despite having the chance of reporting the culprit to the teacher as per her classmates' wishes, Honami tried to reassure Mako that she is a strong girl and that something like this isn’t enough to break her mentally.
Nonetheless, Mako continues encouraging her to confront their teachers about the problem, Honami refuses to heed her friend's plea as she wants to settle things in her own way. Honami understood Mako's intentions of not allowing the rumors to continue to spread, yet she can't bring herself to go through with her suggestion.
Honami doesn't want to see Mako be trouble or concerned in helping with problems that she felt responsible for, desiring the latter to not get involved or wrapped up in her own mess.
When Kiyotaka was examining how the Class B students were 'helping' Honami, he felt that they only made things worst for her personally. Despite extending friendly words, no one took the liberty of being there for her, nor was anyone tenacious enough to persuade her as they all had a fear of incurring Honami's wrath.
These kind words had the opposite effect as they made Honami feel worse about herself which eventually lead to Kiyotaka taking it upon himself as he sat behind her front door every day while she was going through depression phrase. This one silent action was enough to eclipse all the flowery words others showered her as she could feel someone's presence in her darkest days, that would otherwise be spent in solitude.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Norihito Watanabe
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Honami apparently seems to already know that Norihito harbors a romantic interest in Mako, when she figured he is secretly involved with Kiyotaka and Mako behind the scenes that the former is not made aware of until catching on about it later. After Honami's interaction with Kiyotaka during their date, she realizes that her classmate Norihito indeed has a crush on Mako, confirming the former's suspicion of his feelings for her. She understand well that the one and only person who would care enough in wanting to learn more about Mako's type than anybody else in her classroom is just Norihito himself. Seeing how he is willing to ask for Kiyotaka's help in finding out what type of guy Mako likes, she learned that Norihito must've grown close enough with him during the school trip as sophomores that they become friends thereafter to meet up again. For that reason alone, she came to an understanding that Norihito is beginning to open up to Kiyotaka and rely on him when it comes to relationship advises.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Yuki Himeno
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As a friend, Honami sees Yuki as a precious classmate of hers that she feels need to be look after and care for. When Himeno told her and their classmates that she got a headache and wants to step out of the room, Honami was among one of them to volunteer in accompanying the former out of concern but was quickly turned down. From the viewpoint of Himeno, Honami must've been seen as someone who view her as a child who needs to be overly protected and have their condition treated. In any case, this preconceived perception by Himeno made Honami look as though she was trying to take responsibility over her friend's well-being, though it's uncertain if that's the case or not. Through her interaction with both Kei and Maya, she noticed that Yuki is one of the people working with Kiyotaka in rebuilding their class from the ground up to make it more stronger than it was before.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Other Classmates
Besides being their class representative, Honami's outgoing and engaging personality makes her greatly adored by her classmates which also extends to people from other grades, making her a prize jewel in their eyes. They are also incredibly proud of her academics, physical and student council achievements, perceiving her as a paragon student. Honami's classmates were seen hugging and thanking her for tutoring them after they achieved good grades on a test. Everyone in Class B has become important friends and comrades to her that she did not feel bothered at all by the school's placement of her in this class, despite her skillsets being more than suited for Class A. After interacting with them, she came to realize that the bonds they shared and memories cultivated were irreplaceable.
When paired with students outside her class during an exam, Honami was also quick to become friends with people she never interacted with before after talking to them once for the first time. She convinced her friends to get along well with whoever is a part of their group, resolving disputes and arguments between different sides.[7] If a student who is not from her class acts violently in the middle of lunchtime while at the library where she is studying with her classmates and friends, she is more than ready to call out the troublemakers and scold them for their rude manners.
For that reason, Honami would speak on the behalf of her classmates who can't concentrate on their studies properly not as long as they're around to interrupt her study group session.[8] More so, she was willing to act as a bridge between her classmates and the new first-year students so that they can become friends and partners during an exam by establishing friendship with them.[9] In spite of this, Honami's classmates like Sō Shibata believes she should have been a little more wary of their class rival and enemy, such as Arisu who was not from their class yet she still went and consulted with the latter in private anyway regardless of their concerns.[10]
Later on, in the following second-year of her life in high school, Honami begun to slowly put the well-being and trust of her classmates second to Kiyotaka who she admits being her main priority and focus of protecting above them more than ever before after recognizing and realizing her romantic feelings for him. In spite of this, Honami has on many occasion hidden the truth of clandestine deals her classmates like Tetsuya about the alliance she had with Class 1-D and possibly dating Miyabi Nagumo to avoid the chances of getting one of their classmates expelled.
Anything she says goes as they have an indefatigable trust in her and faith that she will achieve great things for them. With the amalgamation of many responsibilities and this heavy pressure, she has crumbled many times unbeknownst to her classmates and had to be saved by Kiyotaka.
She is the main spokesperson and protector of her class and thus, many difficult situations were forced upon her and her alone. There isn’t anyone in the class she can turn towards as a deputy, someone to vent to or seek advice from, which made her felt obligated to take on all the burdens of the class. No one in class had ever asked her true feelings nor sought to understand the real Honami. They were afraid to ask her as well, as they feared she may despise them. Kiyotaka understood that she was sending many signals, silently pleading and begging for help but no one heard or answered her calls. They only offered kind words that eventually made things worse, as they never understood her true personality, causing him to do it for them.
Class-C
Kakeru Ryūen
Honami appears to be familiar with him and his inimical ways as shown when she quickly stopped him and his henchman from provoking Ken Sudō.[11] Although he tried to cover up his intentions, she saw right through them and reprimanded them for their actions. They eventually listened to her threat and left Sudō alone. This displays a level of respect accorded to a fellow class leader as neither Kakeru nor his men tried to go against her order and did as they were told.
She recognizes him as a powerful adversary and a rival to her class. When it comes to the matter involving Kakeru and his involvement in aggressively initiating class conflicts during their first-year, she cautioned both Kiyotaka and Suzune to be careful around him, warning Class 1-D of the danger he may pose to their classmates. Honami felt grim and somber after experiencing firsthand how Kakeru mercilessly hurt her classmates using underhanded tactics and even other students outside her class if it meant obtaining the position of Class A. She picked up on various rumors that he's making various moves behind the scenes. Soon after their enrolment, she could not forget the fact that he brought a dangerous bomb over to Class 1-B by initiating conflict with them.
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
After having enrolled in Advanced Nurturing High School and rising up to become their respective Class representatives, she came into conflict with his class for the first time when they initiated physical violence with her classmates. Honami keenly suspected that Kakeru played a major role in this, believing him to be the mastermind who is leading Class 1-C and orchestrated the Ken incident.
She is vigilantly cautious around Kakeru due to the troubles he had caused to her classmates before, knowing it was likely his handiwork that caused a class conflict to happen. Due to his deceitful actions, she starts to grow cognizant and became more aware of what sort of structure the school they're enrolled in together is. Honami doesn't seem to trust Kakeru due to his past dealing with Class A's Katsuragi.
It was to the point that she didn't want to risk having her class team up with someone like Kakeru which may jeopardize her alliance with Suzune and Class D. She was also not willing to betray Class 1-D by forming a contract with neither him nor his class, seeing him as nothing more than a troublemaker who creates problems for the other classes including her own. Honami felt it must be tiring for Kakeru to shoulder everyone's dislike towards him. For better or for worse, she cannot help but feel that Class 1-C is greatly influenced by the movements of Kakeru alone who makes all the decisions over his classmates.
In a way, she felt that if he was to accidentally make a single mistake in his strategy, the class will also take a step back proportionately and suffer as well because of him. Honami considers Kakeru as a snake rather than the latter who sees himself as a dragon. She thinks of him to be a tenacious predator that when Kakeru finds his prey, he'll go to any extreme lengths to bring it down. From her point of view, Honami thinks Kakeru to be someone who is full of hot air, talking a lot meaninglessly, especially without saying anything of value while he doesn't really know or comprehend.
Nonetheless, she will still go out of her way and try to probe Kakeru for information to see whether he could be trusted even if he were to cooperate. If their two classes were to be paired up in an exam, she will put aside her personal feelings and wariness toward Kakeru for now in order to work with them on attaining victory over their opponents.[12]
Even when it was announced Kakeru will no longer be a class leader, Honami was skeptical of the news at the time, feeling doubtful of whether or not he was truly going to step down and let his classmates do as they please under a new representative without his leadership. Honami believes that just because he's fallen to Class 1-D once doesn't mean it's the end of the road for him, understanding the former can't afford to drop her guard down due to his retirement from the class competitions.
Honami shaken up by the arrival of Kakeru.
Since Kakeru is no longer a leader anymore, Honami became less wary of him over time and did not notice his grand scheme of things. Later on, he shocked her when he made his return to the class competitions. Coming across him and learning of his role involved in the Exam, she was caught off-guard after discovering Kakeru was the real commander of his class in the Event Selection Exam all along.
Because of the aggressive and unconventional strategies Kakeru is willing to pull off behind the scenes, she considers him to be the worst opponent for her personally to face off against, as she tends to approach things head-on. He didn't mind breaking the rules to achieve victory for the sake of his class, thus, she cannot help but feel an uncomfortable sense of unease and wariness towards him on what he may be plotting while their classes are competing with one another.
Due to Kakeru returning as a leader to help his class in an exam, this surprised and caused Honami to lose her composure throughout the exam, unable to completely wrap her mind or head upon seeing him. She was unnerved and distraught by how Kakeru suddenly appeared out of nowhere to be taking part in the competition without noticing it herself until the latter decides to reveal himself that he was, which caused her to not be able to lead at her full potential.
After being on the losing end with Kakeru, Honami becomes indecisive to the point where she could not quickly adapt to a bad situation happening to her class at the time or find a way in striking back until it was too late. Honami was unable to clearly see through what Kakeru's strategy was until the exam rolls around when she loses to him.
For Honami, he is an opponent she wanted to avoid having her class deal with if possible. She describes Kakeru and his fighting style to be the type where he would go to great lengths to pull out every trick in the book in order to snatch a win. When up against Ryuen, she feels as though the match between the two of them will only end up turning into a bad omen for her own class.[13]
She felt it would've been okay if he could at least try to connect with others more in order to get along with them. Honami reflects on whether or not Kakeru turns over a new leaf and starts over, she was doubtfully unsure things will be forgiven and go well for him by others.
Nonetheless, Honami understood that by the end of their freshman year, he keeps displaying tremendous growth as a very powerful leader unlike herself who can't seem to show that. She thinks there's something about Kakeru that makes it hard to tell what he's thinking in the back of his mind.
Even though Kakeru had to use despicable means to directly hurt the health of her classmates, she can't bring herself to harbor any blame on him. On the flip side, she blames herself for feeling self-responsible and for not seeing through the man's schemes from the start. She would rather look at Kakeru's win in the Event Selection Exam as a hard lesson not to overlook anyone like him from his class anymore, feeling it was her own naivety of falling for his trap.
Although he was not someone whom she wishes to face in a competition on exam day, Honami understood that sooner or later, Kakeru was a foe who must be overcome and defeated by her in order to reach Class A.
If he was ever in trouble, Honami couldn't help Kakeru out easily like how she does for the sake of others even if they’re strangers, showing how much she dislikes him. Honami knows someone like Kakeru is not someone who she was willing to offer a helping hand unless forced directly or if there was something to be gained from that exchange.
With that said, if it's within the scope of her power, she will strongly deliberate the idea of helping him out. For instance, when her own classmates are vulnerable to the possibility of facing expulsion, she will go to his subordinates like Mio and Daichi for their assistance in securing millions of Kakeru's private points to save both sides.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Hiyori Shiina
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami notes how she had always wanted to become Hiyori's friend and befriend her compared to the other students in Hiyori's class. After meeting and greeting Hiyori for the first time, they started developing a friendly relationship with each other since that day when they were placed in the same group.
Honami was able to get along well with Hiyori when the two could talk to one another without hesitation regardless of their class affiliation. Particularly, she labels Hiyori as an extremely reliable person who took the initiative for her and accepted the role of leader for the group they're part of together during the Mixed Training Camp.
She is cognizant that ever since Kakeru initially stepped down from his position of power as the class leader, Hiyori has been taking an active part in leading the Class 1-C girls in his place while working alongside Satoru. They both have a common dislike for class conflicts that their school encourages.
Hiyori beseeched Kiyotaka to help Honami multiple times, understanding that he’s the only person she would open up to, and although they were from different classes, she couldn’t stomach the idea of letting her friend Honami suffer alone and in silence. This was augmented by the fact that part of her suffering was due to her class particularly Ryuuen's action.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Daichi Ishizaki
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During the Ken incident, Honami grew suspicious of Daichi's involvement in picking a fight with a Class 1-D student after learning his history of violence. She worked with Kiyotaka to manipulate Daichi and his gang to drop the Ken case entirely, believing that it was perhaps natural to use deception as a means to clear up the lie that start the incident in the first place.
When dealing and arguing with Daichi while putting up a fake act in front of the guy, Honami fake it till she makes it to outsmart him. She deliberately uses convincing words that made Daichi expose himself to the latter's crime and got him to admit his guilt.
Once she won the argument by deceiving Daichi with the trickery set up by her allies of Class 1-D, Honami was wary enough to not give him or his friends the time to reconsider his option of contacting Kakeru for help. She chooses to escort Daichi all the way to the Student Council room without allowing him to make his escape until the matter was finally cleared up.
When Daichi and Ibuki sought Kiyotaka's assistance in restoring Ryuuen, he was surprised to see Honami lend a hand as well. They were able to form a contract whereby both fulfilled their own obligations while keeping the deal clandestine.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Mio Ibuki
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
During Class Poll special exam, Honami and Mio understood each other's intent for being in Kiyotaka's room good enough that they are able to be cognizant of one another's matching interests when it comes down to saving someone important to their respective class from possible expulsion.
She was willing to cooperate with Mio to save Kakeru from getting expelled by his class as long as the latter promised to give her a large number of private points in exchange for securing his safety. Once Mio sends over the points to her,
Honami kept her word and proceeded to fulfill her end of the bargain, appealing to all the members of Class 1-B to give their praise votes to Kakeru. Even though the two of them aren't usually involved with one another. Kiyotaka deliberates that there's no reason for Honami or Mio to enter into a relationship built on trust while they're negotiating.
However, by facing eye to eye with Mio directly, she felt it was possible to determine whether or not Mio was trustworthy, at least to a certain extent. With Kiyotaka who she trusts acting as a mediator between the two parties, Honami was okay with making a trade deal with her after ascertaining Mio's sincerity.
She understood that Mio seems to care a great deal about Kakeru even though the latter do not get along nicely. Honami knows Mio thinks of her like an idiot for making stupid decisions like saving her classmate but the former refuses to let the latter's comment slide without first pointing out the same question back to her as being hypocritical.
She doesn't think that Mio was in any position to mock or criticize her for using the points selflessly without any personal gain and reminds her that what the latter was doing is not any different from what Honami has been planning to do either. No matter what petty excuses Mio made for herself, Honami felt convinced that she was the type who will still try to save Kakeru anyway no matter the reasons.
Ibuki has a high opinion of Honami, stating and taunting Kushida for always being second place in terms of popularity and of her poor personality, unlike Honami who doesn’t need to maintain a facade to retain her supporters.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Shiho Manabe
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During the Cruise Ship Special Test, she came to first know Manabe as a member of the Rabbit group where they were placed together. She was one of the people within their group who refuses to go along with accepting the Outcome #1 strategy proposed by Honami, not trusting a word the latter said. Honami understood that Shiho was skeptical of her plan as the girl can't help but questioned it.
In the end, Honami was able to find a way in convincing Shiho and the rest of Class 1-C in the group to agree with the cooperative strategy she had in mind by the end of the special exam. When Manabe and Kei Karuizawa start bickering with each other, Honami had no idea on which person to side but remain silently neutral, contemplating on who is in the right and wrong until Kouji of Class 1-A stepped in to resolve the heated argument. Honami considers Manabe a problem girl in Class 1-C who has a big ego, feeling that she and her fellow classmates can come off as blunt with their remarks.
Though Honami believes it may be impossible to get along nicely with Shiho, she was willing to do her best to reach out and engage in a conversation with, wishing peace and friendship to be established between the two despite belonging in two different classes. Since Shiho was in the same girl group as her during the Mixed Training Camp, Honami prefers to avoid becoming suspicious around the girl by deciding not to play favorites with her own classmates and friends.
Honami is aware that if she carelessly starts pulling Shiho and the girl's classmates along willy-nilly, they may start to suspect her and avoid becoming friends with her. Honami even told Kiyotaka that she was not exactly close with Shiho as the two of them had only ever spoken once or twice to each other. Honami felt a little bit lonesome when it was revealed that Shiho got herself expelled in the Class Poll Special Exam, understanding the fact that someone she knew but hardly talk to is now gone from her life.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Satoru Kaneda
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami became acquainted with Satoru after she and her fellow classmates coincidentally found him by himself during the Deserted Island Special Test. After examining his physical injuries, she guessed that he may have gotten into a violent dispute with one of his peers in Class 1-C and was kicked out for it. Seeing that he was left on his own without assistance from his class, Honami volunteers to bring him over to Class 1-B's campsite and have the latter live with them until the exam is over.
Although she doesn't fully comprehend Satoru's bad situation, Honami couldn't find it in her heart to leave him alone in the wild and believes a lone person like him needed her assistance. She didn't want to abandon someone who is in need of possible assistance even if he didn’t exactly request it.
After hearing from Suzune of Class 1-D about the reason behind why he and some of his classmates got estranged from Class 1-C, this strengthens her resolve to do everything she can to protect her classmates and a new friend like him who she manages to befriend through this exam.
She initially knows him as a rebellious student who resisted and defied Kakeru's way of just doing whatever he pleases by recklessly spending the S-points that were provided to them during the test. When Satoru offers to help her classmates out with their tasks, Honami didn't mind accepting his service to her class and was happy that he asked to share in their workload.
When Kakeru vacated his class leader position and handed it over to Satoru, she started placing more of her attention on him instead as her new rival leader. During the Event Selection Exam, Honami views him as an opponent who desired to challenge her in a team competition. She was a little bit wary about what sort of strategy Satoru is planning to use against her class, knowing he is not the type who will resort to violence and aggressive methods like the previous leader of Class 1-C.
For instance, she knows such acts of intimidation like stalking and harassment are far from Satoru's level of planning and believes it coincides with Daichi or someone else like Kakeru in their class. Due to a favor that Honami owed Kiyotaka after he assisted her in the Class Poll, she puts aside her interest in facing Class 1-A led under Arisu behind and decides to face Class 1-C, particularly Satoru as the supposed commander before he was shockingly replaced by Kakeru.
When Kaneda showed up as the commander of his classmates back when the class matchups were chosen, Honami ended up dismissing the possibility of Kakeru's involvement altogether. After Kakeru revealed himself to be the real commander all along, Honami thought that having Satoru show up previously was their class's way of throwing her off-guard. Since Satoru is a vital asset to his class, she realizes Kakeru must've decided to give up on him or persuade him onto his side as he was able to come up with this clever scheme that involved making him a sacrifice.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Other C-Class students
She views those that blindly follow Kakeru as troublemakers who enjoys starting fights and picking on others for nefarious purposes. She was more than ready to go out of her way to reprimand them, scolding them for the numerous problems they were causing in front of people around them. She considers some students in Kakeru's class to be problem children in and of itself. Since Kakeru's the one who lead them, she felt that trying to get along with his classmates was a rather impractical task.
Nonetheless, she was still willing to hear out his classmates like Nishiki who came to the former for assistance in pairing up with one of her own fellow classmates. When pairing up with a majority of C-Class girls in a group, Honami did her best to resolve any stormy and dramatic events repeatedly, volunteering herself to be the one and only one among her classmates to work with them. She understands that not all students were as wicked as Kakeru, and using her good social skills, she was able to give and receive a good impression of many of Class C students.
Class-D
Kiyotaka Ayanokōji
Kiyotaka and Honami.
Kiyotaka and Honami first met when she was seen walking through the school store after Kikyō greeted her and stated her goal of being friends with everyone no matter their class. While they caught a glimpse of another, there was no attempt of starting an interaction between the two. He later watched her stop Ken Sudō from getting into a fight with some students of Class 1-C. While leaving to return to her classmates' side once the conflict was resolved, Honami took notice of Kiyotaka's presence who was quietly observing her from a distance as she heads back. Although she didn't pick up on his name immediately, she does remember coming across him in front of the staff room with their two teachers Chie and Sae.
In Episode 4, she meets and greets him formally where she asks Kikyō if she was dating Kiyotaka, but was told that it wasn't the case. She later asked to see him and begged him for support by asking him to pretend to be her boyfriend after one of her friends gave her a love letter. This showed that even though they've just met not too long ago, Honami trusted Kiyotaka to an extent as she could have chosen anyone besides him for the task. Though Kiyotaka refused at first, she continued to beg for his help as she was unsure of how to properly answer the confession, but her admirer showed up and saw them together. When asked by Chihiro what they were, Honami tried to nervously "confirm" that they were a couple but Kiyotaka answered first stating he and Honami were simply friends, to her surprise. He left telling her to talk it out with her admirer after explaining how hard it was to gather the courage to confess to someone. She was amazed by his wisdom and followed his advice of being honest to Chihiro.
This event proved he has no problem associating with her and is willing to help out but it is unknown if he genuinely considers her to be a friend or if it was simply a ruse to cover for her.
After Honami had turned down Chihiro, she met up with him and thanked Kiyotaka for helping her as she apologized for dragging him into her mess but he was fine with it as Honami smiled on and stated she owed him a favor for his help. She acted on her word as she would later help him in proving the innocence of Ken Sudō. Kiyotaka was confused by her actions but she assured him that she wasn't up to something, as she slyly winked at him and reminded him that she had owed him a favor. This gained attention from Kikyō and the other students, who wondered exactly why Honami owed Kiyotaka. She helped him get evidence for the fight Sudō was in and had no problem in letting him borrow her phone after he asked for it, though she quickly reclaimed it after it looked like he saw how many points she had but continued to offer aid.
In Episode 6, Kiyotaka asked Honami if he can borrow private points from her to get surveillance/security cameras for Class 1-D's strategy in trapping and fooling Kakeru's lackeys from Class 1-C, promising to pay her back later after that, which she accepted. After completing his task, he met up with her and they talked, as it appeared that she has noticed his hidden intelligence as she wondered why he's in D-Class with his cunning plan. He gave her a vague answer as she smiled in response to the answer, probably out of respect for his privacy. When the Cruise Ship Special Test was still going on back then, there happens to be a time where Kiyotaka once regarded both Honami and Suzune as his usual partners in crime who he normally worked together with. This is seemingly the case in multiple instances when they happened to be cooperating to clear up the matter involved, including the Ken Sudō incident. As for the incident of the stalker attempting to sexually harass Airi Sakura, Honami acted as a helper who was willing to lend a helping hand to Kiyotaka, assisting him with bringing in security to take the culprit away from Airi. This event would suggest the two are really friends as she was open-minded enough on the idea of wanting to aid him though the former had no obligation to do so.
During the middle of summer break, they hung out at the pool with some of their classmates. There was one instance where she went out of a whim to have him play with her, teasingly throwing water at Kiyotaka multiple times to make the latter playfully resist and fight back against Honami's action.[14] Honami would tease Airi for her close relationship and obvious romantic affections towards Kiyotaka after she said she came after he invited her. When Kikyo mentioned Honami's own close relationship with him, she is seen smiling, showing she has no problem with people mentioning their association.
In the anime, while they don't interact on the cruise, her teacher Chie made a list of students that Class 1-B should be watching out for and how Kiyotaka was no exception despite them being friends and allies between their two classes. There was a certain student that Chie seemingly forgot, to which Honami immediately asked if she was referring to Kiyotaka, which her teacher confirmed and asked her student to be wary of. Listening to her teacher's words, this further proved how Honami sees that there is more to Kiyotaka's capabilities than he lets on and she is curious as to why he hides it from them.
During the survival test, they met up and she freely allowed him to scout her camp after he and Suzune came to observe it. They have another encounter at Class 1-C's deserted camp when Kiyotaka and Airi meet them as both Honami and him tend to exchange information with each other whenever the two meet up again. For instance, he asked Honami and Ryūji about Kōhei Katsuragi and Arisu Sakayanagi with her giving as much information as she could about the two leaders of Class 1-A. While during other exams like the Cruise Ship Special Test and Sports Festival, Honami thinks about Kiyotaka and the extent of his true abilities, having second thoughts regarding his involvement in the class competitions and conflicts. In these two exams aforementioned, she can't help but feel the need to pay very close attention to him silently, being on the lookout of what else he has to show that can add to her own evaluation towards him, believing there was more to Kiyotaka than meets the eye.
Due to his monologue at the end of the season one, it is unknown what he actually thinks of her, however, it can be seen that he seems to value their association, as he chose not to jeopardize their classes alliance when identifying class leaders for the end of the survival test.
In Season 2, they are still on good terms. They were placed in the same group and it is shown she has picked up on his habits. This was best seen when she deducted his machinations in an assignment. Afterwards, he found her asleep before she awoke to seeing him. Since they were alone, she reveals the reason she has so many points was to save up to enter Class A.
In Season 3, he visited her when she got sick and brought food. She jokingly called him pushy but invited him in as thanks. As they talk, she voiced appreciation for his efforts and when she nearly collapsed, he caught her. She gave him a mask so he would not get sick. The two caught up before he voiced his worries on the rumors but saw she was not affected by them. As he took his leave, Honami thanked him for visiting. It was through his visit that her past of shoplifting came up, though she was upset when mentioning the topic it serve to give her strength and she was able to stand up to Arisu and tell her class of it. Honami later caught up to Kiyotaka and thanked him, before she nervously tried to give him chocolates for Valentine's Day and when giving them to him, she was seen blushing. The days following, she waited for him outside the dorms so that she could talk with him while walking to school.
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami spending her time with Kiyotaka in his room.
In the light novels, they speak very often with each other and the primary reason for Class 1-B working with Class 1-D can be attributed to their closeness. When she first conversed with him and Suzune, Honami was the one who volunteers to share her contact information and phone number with the two but only Kiyotaka had chosen to accept it with open arms.
When Suzune attempts to not negotiate with her as she is an enemy from a different class, the one person who still reaches out to Honami and accepts her desire to cooperate was Kiyotaka himself. For instance, she was elated to work with Kiyotaka in carrying out Class 1-D's strategy against other classes, particularly one that was led by Kakeru.[15]
This closeness is much more emphasized when Honami has seemingly no problems with him seeing her sleeping face, and during the moments where she teases him by unintentionally flirting with him many times. Honami had never shown her vulnerable side to anyone before, much less a boy from a rival class, yet, Kiyotaka never once turned her away.
Kiyotaka would then reflect on how many boys would wish they’d were in his position and imagine their scornful looks. Honami wasn’t affected by the stoic and individualistic persona of Kiyotaka, and many people could see how she had given him special treatment.
She describes Kiyotaka to be the kind of person who is calm-minded and stoic in nature, thinking he has the aura of a senpai that doesn't belong in the same class year as her.[16] Even when the going gets tough for Kiyotaka as she exposed Class 1-D's phone-swapping strategy, she can't help but be intrigued and drawn in by Kiyotaka's calmness and how he was not the least bit worried, feeling there was more to his scheming than meets the eye.
At first, she initially sees him as a good friend where they were able to have their classes cooperate in tackling an exam, though it eventually fostered into something more than that.
According to Kiyotaka, whenever the two of them had ended up alone together in the past, Honami would usually be the one to start the conversation.[17] When chatting with Kiyotaka, Honami doesn't mind doing the talking and thinking for him, thinking it will be fine to have him rely on her and use whatever info she can offer him even if he is not good at exchanging ideas alongside her.
She tends to make verbal promises to Kiyotaka such as the case where he knew about the specific amount of private points the former had in her possession and questions him about what he will do with that information about her.
Besides tolerating his possible decision of possibly sharing that info to Suzune Horikita, Honami indirectly suggests not to blabber or tell it to anyone else other than her who by any chance were to ask the latter about the private points if he did manage to find out the information regarding her being a class bank for himself.
She wants the points to remain a continued secret between the two of them until Kiyotaka later on, secretly betrays her and use Kakeru Ryūen as a cover-up to mask his action from her that he spread the rumor of the former gaining the huge amounts illegally.
However, Honami did consider questioning how the leader of Class 1-C knows she has a lot of points, suspecting someone like Kiyotaka to have probably been the one who gave away that info intentionally and let Kakeru spread it as a rumor. Although Kiyotaka admits he felt ashamed of never choosing to tell the truth about knowing how much her points are worth or the fact that Class 1-D went ahead and planned out their strategy without her and her Class 1-B, Honami expressed that she wasn't angry with him at all or what he had done in the past. She doesn't want to see Kiyotaka take the blame or feel guilt over his action for doing anything like trying to look into her phone and easily forgives him for it.
It was the same for Honami as well, choosing to state her apology on the matter, and how she can't go into any details with him about how and why she got so many points on her. Even though it was one of her closest friends and ally Kiyotaka, she reasons it was to maintain confidentiality only between her and Class 1-B like the strategies and going ahead with the plan without telling him and Class 1-D.
She regards that it was her way of being fairly even with him, believing that neither of them should feel bothered about using deception against each other. Once an exam is guaranteed to be over and thereafter, she and Kiyotaka were more than ready to discuss with one another the effectiveness of their class strategies and how deceptive it was to others. During the "mind game" -- the second half of the summer vacation special test, Honami was very observant of Kiyotaka's moves, reading much of his strategies which is another sign that she is aware of his true intelligence.
While she knew Kiyotaka was lying to her during the Cruise Ship Special Test's final discussion period, Honami wouldn't completely outright exposed everything about what he said to her in front of all their group members and kept quiet until it was just between the two of them talking with each other in private. When Honami was placed in a Rabbit group with him, she would try to ask for his cooperation and opinion on what their next course of action to take if one of their members are remaining uncooperative and avoided discussion.
Although she would like for him to be honest with her, Honami admits she doesn't like forcing the truth to come out of his mouth if he doesn't want to speak about it. However, when he has chosen to go through with telling Honami who's likely not the V.I.P. in his class, she felt a bit guilty and apologetic for her actions being what's responsible for his decision. Due to this, she would ask her fellow classmate Tetsuya Hamaguchi's permission to tell Kiyotaka that the latter is not a V.I.P. target in her class. Honami trusts Kiyotaka enough to reveal to him that she was not the V.I.P. either and that if she was, she wouldn't have admitted it in the first place.
She doesn't mind Kiyotaka accompanying her on a walk to any place they go to. She later talked with him about his strategy and his plan of action. Kiyotaka, however, spread rumors about her huge amount of points unbeknownst to Honami later down the line, which was revealed to be legally obtained by her, to trap Kakeru Ryūen from Class 1-C, though the man caught on to it and decided to play along in order to find the true mastermind of Class 1-D.
However even though Kakeru admits he was the perpetrator of spreading the rumor about her, Honami can't help but suspect Kiyotaka was the one who revealed the information to him while factoring the people in her classroom who knew about their class secret. Recognizing how cunning he is, she believes Kiyotaka should've been somebody her class was supposed to be far warier of than either Suzune or Yōsuke Hirata from his class.[18]
Honami considers the possibility that her being placed in the Rabbit group instead of the Dragon group must have likely had something to do in relation to investigating Kiyotaka.[19]
Based on her analysis of him, she considers Kiyotaka as a very amazing and intelligent individual after taking into consideration so many of his feats where he saved Airi from danger, the actions he took during the special exam aboard the cruiser, along with how fast he is during the Sports Festival in their first year of school.[20]
Honami did her homework on Kiyotaka, examining what she knows about the extent of the abilities he showed so far on the surface and informing her classmate Ryūji Kanzaki beforehand of what kind of opponent he is. In the Sports Festival competition, this would include the ranking Kiyotaka had in the 100-meter dash, understanding well how his thought process works such as holding himself back intentionally by not revealing everything regarding his full strength.
It was for that reason that she cast her doubt on whether Suzune really pulls off all the successes and achievements for Class 1-D on her own, believing Kiyotaka must have also had some major role in their large progress. When she sees Kiyotaka running to save his classmate Airi, Honami can't help but desire to follow after him and help the guy out despite not being fully aware of what was happening at the time until the former discover that he tries to stop a stalker. Honami likely believes Kiyotaka is a good person for trying to save people. In situations like this where they confront Airi's harasser and corner Kakeru's classmates, she and Kiyotaka are able to work extremely well together as a pair, skillfully acting as either partner in crime or pretending to be a couple of lovebirds.
While putting up such a fake act of deceit to bait them and lure out their true intentions, she and Kiyotaka were able to somehow fool others into running away from the scenes of their crime and confess their wrongdoings to conclude cases revolving around sexual harassment and allegations. Because it was him who she sought after for advice, Honami trusts that he is not someone who would speak a word of this matter to anyone without considering her situation. Knowing a bit of his personality, she undoubtedly believes in Kiyotaka as the kind of person who will even openly share everything or anything at all with people about the trouble she mentioned to him, choosing to keep it a private matter between the two of them.
Though they are rivals from different classes, she has shown remarkable trust in him to the point of willing to create and harbor a secret between them. She deliberated in her mind whether to see Kiyotaka as a possible threat to her classmates in reaching Class A, feeling indecisive and unsure on what to make of him personality-wise other than considering his abilities and keen intellect.[21] Before completely falling head over heels for him, she remains troubled whether to continue seeing him as an ally or a threat to her classmates, regarding him to be almost threatening to her class's objective until deciding to dismiss it entirely.
She doesn't enjoy dwelling on the thought of seeing him from an allied class become her enemy someday, but rather remained curious about what he was up to behind the scene, while Suzune seemingly was gaining all the fame for his class. Later on, Honami got into deep trouble dealing with a rumor called: “Honami Ichinose is a criminal”. Kiyotaka has a conversation with her about her circumstances.
After Valentine’s Day, Kiyotaka decided to save her from the bad situation she was in. After which he visited her room and she confessed to him that she used to be a shoplifter. He tells her that it doesn’t change his opinion of her and saved her while helping her to get back up and move forward.
Honami felt indebted to Kiyotaka and what he did to help her stand back up strong as a class leader, feeling that she must express her gratitude by preparing the latter a gift that she plans on buying him.[22]
Later on that day, Honami asked Kiyotaka if she can rely on him, and he opened up to her by accepting her request. For this reason, she decides to take into consideration the idea of consulting Kiyotaka about her problem as long as he has time to spare for her and if it doesn't trouble him or his class. She nervously gave him chocolate as a thank you gift. This was especially special as was the first time she ever gave someone chocolate on Valentine’s Day.
Despite initially stating that she only likes him as a friend, Honami begins to subconsciously develop romantic feelings for Kiyotaka as they spend more time together, and the closeness they share is more emphasized based on her classmates' opinions of the two. Meanwhile, Honami recalled a time about her own previous experience where she had once been hanging around in the rooms of several male students from her Class 1-B before, but staying at Kiyotaka's room at an hour past 11 pm during the middle of nighttime midnight was actually considered as a first for her unlike the others.
Additionally, Honami would tried to volunteer in paying a treat to him and the Ayanokōji Group during lunch break, but Kiyotaka himself turned down that offer out of consideration, knowing full well how she and her class were very low on private points after the former saved one of her own classmates from expulsion. When they were on spring break vacation, Honami had invited Kiyotaka and Suzune out to Keyaki Mall's cafe, buying them their breakfast with her own money.
On the other hand, she finds engaging in a conversation with him like they usually do was getting harder to keep up consistently each and every time they're together. When Kiyotaka gives her his gift as thanks for the Valentine's Day chocolates, Honami accepts what was given to her much to her own embarrassment due to how she feels and acts around him.
While recalling her deal with Miyabi where she has to date him in exchange for securing enough private points to save one of her classmates from expulsion, she felt the impulse to go out of her way and overwrite it somehow by confronting her crush, seeking to meet up and talk with him. She was very happy that Kiyotaka invited her to his room out of concern for her about what she is going through in considering Miyabi's deal.
Honami felt somewhat awkward and nervous around him, unable to come up with a good topic to start their conversation off as her mind was in disarray at the time while thinking over the deal with Miyabi and what to feel about Kiyotaka.
To Honami, dating Miyabi was not an easy decision to accept immediately without sorting out her own feelings for Kiyotaka first beforehand. Honami worries that her own heart and mind might break apart emotionally sooner or later by possibly choosing to disregard the feelings she had towards Kiyotaka over the deal of becoming Miyabi's girlfriend to save her own classmates. In the end, the deal never did come to pass but fail as Kiyotaka was able to successfully find a way to help save her from going out with Miyabi and losing her classmate.[23]
Her feelings towards Kiyotaka were also indicated when she would sometimes avoid locking direct eye contact with him during lunch with their classmates or even face-to-face despite having a conversation with one another.
More so, she preemptively uses some kind of citrus perfume on herself for attracting Kiyotaka's attention, which is noticed by the latter. However, when she stumbled upon Kiyotaka unprepared, and without her citrus perfume, Honami felt very awkward, nervous, and embarrassed about not having made use of it ahead of time had she known this would have happened. This highly implies that Honami was ready to use citrus perfume at any time and any place if she had arranged an appointed meeting where Kiyotaka would be present.
Even after losing to Kakeru Ryūen in the Event Selection Exam, she remained a bit optimistic and hopeful when meeting up with him and Suzune in person, yearning to continue maintaining the cooperative relationship between their two classes solely because of Kiyotaka, not wanting neither of them to view or accept each other as enemies moving forward.
Despite the end of the alliance between both their classes, she still could not help but not see Kiyotaka as an enemy to her own class. She greatly dislikes calling Kiyotaka an "enemy" even when he said it blatantly. She adamantly refuses to go along with such notions just because they are from different classes. Honami would go so far as to deliberately rephrase her choice of words towards him to avoid the term "enemy," creating distinctions for her own sake which she can refer to and describe Kiyotaka in a better light.
He was the only one from his class that she feels this way towards compared to Suzune and the rest outside her classroom who she regarded as enemies to her classmates from on during their second year in high school. She even spoke up to defend Kiyotaka from her classmate Kanzaki who grew wary of him and his abilities, adamantly stating that Kiyotaka is not an enemy to their class. Honami would rebuke Kanzaki's remarks with a forceful tone that she rarely shows to any of her classmates until this moment, appearing quite dissatisfied with his thorny, hostile attitude towards Kiyotaka.
Kiyotaka had also admitted that Honami didn't once bother to try and raise any questions about him hiding his real strength and abilities all this while despite having aced the 2nd year special exam with a perfect math score.
Despite her willingness to rely on him, Honami dislikes the many instances whereby she appeared vulnerable in front of Kiyotaka, as she wished to appear strong, decisive, and capable, especially before him. She also felt it was unfair to burden him with such forlorn matters.
Yet she would frequently at times end up letting him hear her complaints and seeing her weaknesses regardless. Honami felt that he was always there for her and by her side whenever she was depressed. Once she revealed to him her weakness in his room, something that had been weighing down on her mind vanished.
All she felt towards Kiyotaka was his act of kindness to reach out in helping her although they are from different classes. No matter how many times she tries to push Kiyotaka away with her words, Kiyotaka refuses to leave her alone in a depressing, vulnerable state as he wishes to accompany her until Honami was healed up and no longer in despair.
Honami felt Kiyotaka was overly stubborn and forceful with her, understanding he will go so far as to let himself become drenched wet in rainy weather like the former was doing if she doesn't do as he wanted. Not wishing to see Kiyotaka become sick because of her, Honami would give in to his demands, deciding to walk with him back to the dormitory together.
She is considerate towards Kiyotaka, understanding that he doesn't like to stand out in the presence of her friends, and was able to find an isolated quiet place to hang out with him privately such as in his room. Whenever she is depressed and feeling conflicted while sorting out her thoughts about what to face in her second year of high school, Honami doesn't like the idea of returning to her own living room in the dormitory and thinking alone. That was only until Kiyotaka invited her to his room, that she can gather her thoughts together and sort them out carefully with him acting as her emotional support to slowly clear away the depression.
According to Ryūji, he understood the fact that Honami happens to harbor an unnatural amount of trust for Kiyotaka. She acknowledges the fact that Kiyotaka was the one person who happened to understand her very well and feels that he is more trustworthy than anyone else. Having recalled being saved and comforted by his words in many instances, she feels her chest grow hotter and her heart beating faster by simply thinking of him and the time she spent with him during that day on spring break.[24][25]
She sees Kiyotaka as a special individual and takes his opinion to heart, hearing him out about the profound possibility of betrayal and new factions possibly created by her classmates popping up in her class. Honami accepts his words of encouragement and wisdom, promising him that she will certainly make sure to move forward with her classmates and stick by them no matter what changes happen to their class. Honami even confidently reassures Kiyotaka that she was willing to let herself be expelled for their sake if either they asked her to or the former chooses to volunteer.
Not wanting that to happen, Kiyotaka made Honami promise to meet one another again a year later, just between only the two of them alone to see how much she would change, noting that it sounds like he was confessing to her.
When Kiyotaka declares he will not let her drop out of school by expulsion, she vows to stay on and not leave while feeling utterly flustered that he would say those words to her without sugarcoating.
Recalling his exam score on the second-year math test, Honami feels he has a special weapon that ensures he may never be able to lose to anyone including herself which she doesn't have unlike him who does.
However, Kiyotaka on the contrary doesn't think so. He believes instead that she has something powerful as a unrecognized weapon that cannot be deemed a lost cause or a loss to her class. Honami was dubious when he said that nobody but her could wield it proficiently, especially when alone.
Honami believes that if there was a chance that she and he were to ever be in the same class together, then all her worries would disappear and she could go on fighting without any hesitation. On the other hand, he feels that he'll definitely fall for her if that situation ever comes to fruition.
During the final day of spring break vacation as a former first year, Honami acknowledges that the special time spent with Kiyotaka in his room was more valuable and productive than the ones she had alongside her classmates and friends.
In the following volume where the Uninhabited Island Exam began, it was revealed by her fellow classmates how Honami will get excited and interested whenever she heard someone mentions his name in a conversation. Particularly, bringing up Kiyotaka's name was what subconsciously made her heartthrob any time she heard it. Based on what her classmates say, it shows that Honami could no longer suppress her peculiar feelings for Kiyotaka and from being noticed by them. According to Arisu, because they've grown a lot closer to each other, Honami continued to hold a strong interest in Kiyotaka and sincerely cared about his well-being.
Honami in Kiyotaka's arms and chest confessing her own feelings up close to him.
By this point in the story, it is apparent that Honami sees Kiyotaka as a special someone to who she was more than indebted and thankful for, but also dearly important to her alongside her other classmates if not more indispensable than them altogether. This gratitude Honami felt towards Kiyotaka had not only led the former to deepen her trust with him increasingly, but it had also allowed her to develop more obvious signs of romantic attraction for the latter.
Upon learning of Tsukishiro's plan to expel him, she felt totally restless and had a sense of growing unease and anxiety at the mere thought of losing Kiyotaka to expulsion. Feeling stressed out over the likelihood of Kiyotaka getting expelled during the Uninhabited Island Exam, she didn't think twice about choosing to go and save him first before her classmates.
Becoming concerned and worried, she was deeply uncertain and distressed about how someone like her can even hope to save Kiyotaka but she still felt inclined to warn him of the danger regardless, knowing full well the consequences of reaching out to him instead of prioritizing her class overall. Honami was easily able to betray the proposal she had with Tsukishiro without hesitation after he warns her to remain focused on protecting her classmates and looking out for them more than anyone else, yet she refuses to turn her back on Kiyotaka no matter what befalls her. She would go so far as to abandon her precious classmates for him, putting his safety first before them despite knowing that her decision might end up betraying their trust during the exam.[26]
More so, this was to the point where Honami admits she can no longer pretend to not notice her own feelings for Kiyotaka or continue running away from them, refusing to keep it hidden anymore by the time they meet each other face-to-face on the last day of such exam. She "unconsciously" blurted out directly to Kiyotaka that she likes him. She then realized what she just said before panicking and getting flustered, saying how she has never felt this to anyone else before.
However, when Kiyotaka asked her about it, she finally said it clearly because she realized there was no going back. Although surprised, Kiyotaka thanks Honami for thinking that way about him but told her that he couldn't give a response to her feelings yet, not when neither of them is through with the Uninhabited Island Exam.
Despite him neither accepting nor rejecting her confession, she wasn't disdainful nor dissatisfied, deciding to wait for his answer until they both survived this test and return to the cruise ship. Through this heroic action, she was able to understand that Kiyotaka would still deliberately continue to endanger himself by going to I2 for her sake and the classmates she failed to protect after not heeding Tsukishiro's proposal as a warning.[27]
When Kiyotaka was about to reveal his answer to her confession, Miyabi steps in and interrupted their conversation. Hearing from Miyabi that Kiyotaka is already dating Kei Karuizawa, tears uncontrollably dripped down her face as she apologizes for being an idiot as she was ignorant and didn't know about this. Furthermore, she felt guilty for making Kiyotaka feel burdened by her confession.
Shortly after, Honami rescinds the words she said in her confession scene, asking her crush to forget what she said back then on the island. Before long, Honami quickly walks off after accepting of the truth that Kiyotaka already had a special someone as his girlfriend and it was not her place to be by his side knowing this fact. She knew that it was natural for an amazing person like Kiyotaka to have a romantic relationship, considering the idea that he is so cool, great, and kind to anyone who came to like and know him.[28]
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Kikyō Kushida
Honami greeting Kikyō.
In the anime, she is shown to be on good terms with Kikyō as they greeted each other with a wave sometime after school first started. When questioned about their interactions by Kiyotaka, Kikyō responded by stating she was simply trying to be friends with everyone, including those of other classes.
In Episode 4, she greeted Kikyō and inquired if she was dating Kiyotaka but was told it was not the case. She helped Kikyō and her friends in proving Ken's innocence, with Kikyō thanking her for the assistance. Kikyō was very curious to know exactly what Honami owed Kiyotaka after she stated she had a debt to him.
They hung out at the pool for summer break, when Honami teased Airi's relationship and romantic feelings towards Kiyotaka, Kikyō mentioned Honami's relationship with him as well, which resulted in her smiling.
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
During a side story about their youth, she appreciates Kikyō's invitation to go on a trip with the rest of the latter's classmates and humbly accepts it with excitement in her voice. Honami is open to exchanging information about the boys from her class with Kikyō, particularly Ryūji Kanzaki to help out one of the latter's female friends of whether or not he is currently dating anyone to which the former admits he isn't so far. Even when they were waiting on Ken Sudō to arrive after them for a summer vacation in the pool, both Honami and Kikyō didn't hesitate to talk to each other to pass the time shows how friendly and close they are to one another as friends.[29]
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Suzune Horikita
Honami was initially viewed as being suspicious by Suzune for trying to lend a hand to their investigation on the Ken incident. Suzune would show her hostility towards Honami much to the girl's bafflement of having been unjustly viewed in a negative light. It was to the point where Honami was not even able to give her contact number to Suzune temporarily for the time being as the latter doesn't want it or look to share her own with the former. She expresses the fact that there was no ill intention behind helping an innocent victim in need, believing her class has every right to know besides Class 1-D since they too were a victim of Class 1-C's antics. Honami wouldn't have been able to easily get Suzune to cooperate alongside her on the Ken incident if not for Kiyotaka playing the middleman in their talk to help establish relations with her. In the anime, they barely had any interaction until Episode 7, where they hung out at the pool during summer break.
When changing, Suzune questioned Honami over the growth of her chest size as the latter was somewhat embarrassed on answering and gave a hesitant answer before inquiring as Suzune shrugs it off. In the light novels, Honami tries to strike a girl talk with Suzune but was aggressively push away from her, leaving her no other choice but to turn to someone else like Airi and Kikyō for dialogue unlike her. When Honami was going to the elevator with Kikyō, Airi, Suzune and Kiyotaka, she didn't give up on trying to befriend the girl. Honami couldn't leave Suzune by herself so willingly without her own say in the matter, arguing that she needs to experience a little fun in her youth some more with the people around them who're going out of their way to invite her on vacation. At this point, Suzune slowly opened herself up to Honami, seeing how kind-hearted and persistent she is with becoming her friend and refusing to leave the girl alone.[30] Honami was able to have her Class 1-B establish a friendly study group with Class 1-D led by Suzune, cooperating with each other to improve the academics of both classes.
It appears Honami recognized Suzune's intelligence because on the cruise her teacher included her in the list of people in the other classes that she should watch out for. As Suzune was an ally to her class, Honami was opened to sharing and explaining what strategy she used in the Deserted Island Special Test since there was no harm to her class in telling the girl. She felt Class 1-B was on unequal footing with Suzune and her class, wanting to make sure competition with them was as far as possible by revealing crucial information that the girl's teacher have not bother to inform the latter about unlike with the former's class. Honami thought that Suzune was extremely smart in coming up with the surveillance strategy while not knowing it was actually all originally part of Kiyotaka's plan. Through hearing out Suzune's method in full details, she felt that perhaps Class 1-B would've easily reach the position of Class 1-A in no time if they had someone amazing as her within the group.
Honami had faith in Suzune's judgement, showing no intention of betraying the girl's trust when Kakeru offered her a proposal to abandon their ally Class 1-D for Class 1-C. During the Deserted Island Special Test, Honami was kindly generous enough to lend supplies to Suzune and her classmates. Nonetheless, she still harbors doubt whether all the successes and achievements made by Class 1-D was purely the handiwork of Suzune alone, figuring that there might be somebody else like Kiyotaka besides her working in the shadows to help the class while hiding their tracks. Taking Kiyotaka's words into consideration when he was still the commander in the Event Selection Exam, she believes what he said thinking that all the decision-making and strategies being formulated are solely in the hands of Suzune who gets the final say of deciding on his class's choices. From that conversation, she came to understand how very reliable and trustworthy Suzune was to Kiyotaka who left everything to her with the arrangements.
On the other hand, Suzune recognises Honami Ichinose as the first person the former met in high school that was actually a purely good person with a kind-heart, among everyone else she knew, making her come to the realisation of how there was likely indeed someone genuine like her out there in the real world.
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami maintains a cooperative relationship with Suzune throughout different exams where their two classes are in an alliance. Honami and Suzune would exchange key information about an exam so that both their classes benefited from it. She had this friendly cooperation with Suzune for as long as almost a year already since the Deserted Island Special Test where they decided to form a partnership.[31] Honami was also willing to give advice to Suzune, hearing out her ally's problem when asked by the latter what the former would have done if she was faced with a conflict with her own classmate within their respective class that requires herself making a tough choice.[32]
On the other hand, she believes the idea of using a phone-swapping strategy set up by Suzune (Kiyotaka) was a huge success as it was what allowed everyone to start cooperating with their group members. Believing in the notion that it was Suzune's strategy and not Kiyotaka, Honami respects her for being able to think of the same strategic planning as she and her own fellow classmates could. Although she calls the phone-swapping strategy supposed believed to be the work of Suzune, Honami admits it was a lie on her part to the Rabbit group members that it was ineffective but the opposite as it was extremely effective enough in carrying out.
While Honami was willing to answer anything Suzune may ask of her, she does at times refuses to answer if it affects her personally. She doesn't appreciate the idea of Suzune reaching out to aid her in fighting Class 1-A as part of their class alliance and armistice. She believes Suzune and her were destined to face each other in future class competitions, not wishing to receive help from a possible enemy later down the line and become indebted to. Honami dislikes causing trouble for Suzune and her class, telling them to mind their own business and not to interfere with her class problem that she was planning to resolve by herself.
However, because of her class dropping down to C along with the difference of class points decreasing with Class D, Honami can no longer continue having an alliance with Suzune anymore as the latter put an end to that. Honami resumes seeing Suzune as an enemy to her class's position and will compete against her from here on out during the start of their second year in school.[33] According to Ryūji Kanzaki, it can be said that Honami holds a high opinion towards Suzune, believing that may have something to do with the latter's honesty rather than her talent like keeping her promises and standing by them.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Airi Sakura
There hasn't been any first interaction between them, but in Episode 6 Honami and Kiyotaka finally came to Airi's aid when the female Class 1-D student was creepily pursued by a crazed stalker who tried to force himself on her. She was excited to learn of the fact that Airi is a famous idol on the web who goes by the name of Shizuku, enthusiastically desiring to shake hands with a famous person like her. As Honami never once dream of being an idol or anything similar in her lifetime, she can't help but be admire the reputation and appearance Airi holds on the web. Honami was deemed trustworthy enough by Airi that the latter had chosen to allow Kiyotaka permission to reveal her identity to the former. She sees Airi as a friend she befriended and introduced herself to after meeting her in an incident with am idol fan. At the same time, Honami finds Airi amazingly cute enough to the point that she was astonished to see how the latter left a different impression with and without glasses on her. She couldn't stand to stand idly by and watch Airi get harassed by her stalker for too long, expressing concern and the wish to save her as quickly as possible before the situation becomes any more worse than that.
During summer break, they hung out at the pool where Honami would notice and tease Airi in a playful manner for her close relationship and obvious romantic feelings towards Kiyotaka, much to Airi's embarrassment. She remains friendly with talking to Airi as the two caught sight of one another in the girls' locker room, getting recognized by Kikyō who couldn't easily befriend the girl or earn the shy girl's trust. Later, they met each other again in the survival test where Kiyotaka and Airi encountered Honami and Ryūji at C-Class' abandoned camp but there was no interaction between them. In a side story about their youth, she finds it interesting to see Airi surround herself with multiple classmates that she is not normally together with like Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, Kikyō Kushida and Suzune Horikita. Seeing Airi hanging around these three, Honami desires to join alongside them in their conversation and hear out what they were talking about before she came across them. Even though she doesn't know Airi well like her other classmates do since they're not in the same class together, Honami was still willing to offer the latter a helping hand anytime if she calls for it in the event that accidents like sexual harassment were to happen again. Airi was surprised but appreciative of this.
Hideo Sotomura
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Honami and Hideo met each other for the first time through Suzune as she enlisted the cooperation of the former. While she purchased the surveillance cameras with her own money, Honami had Hideo install them before carrying out Class 1-D's strategy against Kakeru's lackeys.
During the Cruise Ship Special Test, she happens to meet Hideo again in the same Rabbit group as her, befriending him and even playing card games with him. Through playing a game of cards, Honami was able to have fun with Hideo who also found the same enjoyment, as she came to have a better understanding of his personality.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Ken Sudō
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She sees Ken as a troublemaker but felt he was also a victim who fell for Class 1-C's aggressive antics leading himself into trouble. She would speak in Ken's defence when dealing with Kakeru's subordinates, knowing it was not his own fault, to begin with, that the fight had broken out.
She reasons with Kiyotaka and Suzune that Ken is worth the time and effort in saving as his athletic abilities may prove physically useful to their classmates in the future. She believes Ken was someone enjoyable to be around when playing water volleyball alongside her classmates, acknowledging him as a mighty force to be reckoned with and a powerful individual to warily look out for.
She remembers Ken as someone who is a member of the school's basketball team, having heard much about the latter from her own classmates who were involved in the same sports activity as him. She remarks how her classmates labelled him to be the best first-year in that sport and understood what they meant after facing him in a team battle.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Kanji Ike
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When Honami first met with Kanji during the middle of summer vacation, she was patient enough in considering waiting for his friend Ken to arrive. She saw how excitedly enthusiastic he was to go to the swimming pool and took his words into deliberation, deciding to have her own band of classmates wait for them too before they can walk together to their destination.
After he starts accusing their upperclassman Miyabi of wearing an ear piercing illegally against the school rules, she acts reasonably and informative with Kanji to clear up his suspicions about him.
Once she suggests Kanji and his classmates play volleyball sports with her in the pool, she was able to gain their cooperation immediately as he agreed to her idea to have a team competition. She then used this opportunity to assess the student's physical abilities for herself while also having fun.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Mei-Yu Wang
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During the Mixed Training Camp, she cultivates a friendship with Mei-Yu when they became part of the same girl group. She understood that Mei and herself are just students brought in to fill the leftover spots in their group and they don't really have much of a connection with one another.
Honami felt a sense of urgency to forge a relationship with Mei-Yu since nobody in the group was willing to converse with her. As she and Mei-Yu are the one and only students from their respective classes to be present in the group, Honami could sympathize with what it's like to be surrounded by unfamiliar people who she doesn't know.
For that reason, Honami was able to reach out to Mei-Yu and befriend her, eventually becoming close friends with her. After establishing friendly ties with Mei-Yu, she and her slept ate under the same roof together for the time being until the Mixed Training Camp is over.
While jogging around campus ground, she noticed from behind her that Mei-Yu was experiencing physical fatigue and decided to slow down. Honami would jog at the exact pace as Mei-Yu out of consideration and concern for the latter's exhaustion, giving the girl moral support in the form of encouragement by choosing to run alongside her side. She in turn was grateful that Ichinose chose to accompany her so she wouldn’t feel left behind.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Kei Karuizawa
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The first moment it was known that Honami had an interaction with Kei was during the time when they were put together in the Rabbit Group for the Cruise Ship Special Test. After starting a discussion within the group, the person who reacted to Honami's statement before any other member could be Kei who remarks that the former was stating the obvious which everybody already knows including the latter. Honami understood that Kei's comment had led to the formation of a hierarchy to be created in their group. Honami spoke first about leading the Rabbit group, followed by Kei who was the first to agree with her was what allowed that to happen between the members. Honami would ask for Kei's opinion on how she feels about the argument between the former and Kouji Machida, looking to hear her stance on whether or not she will act according to Class 1-A's castle-gate strategy created by Kōhei Katsuragi. Like any person who is from the same group as her, Honami believes it was right to take into consideration how Kei felt and thought concerning the exam. When Kei and Shiho started getting into conflict with each other, Honami stood silent throughout their bickering, watching the scene unfold between the two until she can sort out her thoughts on the matter herself.
Between either Kei or Shiho, Honami doesn't want to choose a side yet unless she was able to determine which one of them was right and wrong first. Next discussion period, she is able to get Kei to open herself up to her after initiating a conversation about their life experience on the cruiser ship. She desires to have Kei become comfortable around her, feeling that it was best to have the two of them talk to each other openly without creating barriers around themselves like the people of Class 1-A are doing. While she and Kei had been able to interact pleasantly without hints of hostility, Honami felt they can find a way to reach a compromise and become friends, not always needing to act seriously stern towards one another despite both of them being from a different class. Once that special exam is almost over, it was by this time she pieced the information together from all discussion periods that Kei was the real V.I.P. in hiding, noticing how unusually strange her behavior was in one of their meetings. Suspicious towards the girl, Honami felt Kei was not the kind of person who would normally care very much about Kiyotaka and knew something was off about her when she kept turning her gaze over to Kiyotaka while her face tightened.
Despite typing in her phone that Kei was the V.I.P. as the betrayal message, the exam had already come to an end at the same time shortly after while Honami had no intention of sending it immediately anyway due to herself still deliberating on the possibility if she was truly the V.I.P. Although it is unclear if Honami and Kei are friends after that exam, the two are at least acquainted with one another moving forward. The two had a polite greeting when they met up again during the middle of their summer vacation, indicating that she and Kei do in fact, are on friendly terms. During the Sports Festival, Honami came across Kei to be her opponent from the other opposing side of the team who she has to square off and win a match against as a competitor. When she and Kei finally clash in the Cavalry Battle Event, the competition between the two of them was said to have been a showdown of Honami using her team's unity to overcome Kei's group who relied on maneuverability.
In the end, Honami had successfully led her team to emerge victorious as the winner over Kei and her teammates, cornering the latter to the point that it became an eight-to-one fight one-sidedly when the losing side lost their group coordination.
When Nagumo dropped the news that Kiyotaka was taken, Honami was surprised to hear Kei's name, but after listening to his explanation, she began fighting back tears. She was able to give a smile as she shares her thoughts that it isn’t surprising that someone as great as Kiyotaka was taken, and that she was foolish for thinking she could be with him. Before Kiyotaka could respond, Honami ran away so they wouldn’t see her break down.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Teruhiko Yukimura
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During the Cruise Ship Special Test, Honami learns that Teruhiko was willing to cooperate with her plan as long as everyone else is on board with the idea.
However, after Kouji cast his suspicion on her and doubted whether Honami's cooperative strategy will work, she became suspected by Teruhiko to be acting suspiciously in the group that others grew warier of her as a result of a Class 1-A student's remark.
Although she understood that Teruhiko was convinced enough by Kouji to follow Kōhei Katsuragi's castle-gate strategy where they must stay silent and not participate in the Rabbit group discussions, Honami refuses to give up on letting him do as the Class 1-A student says.
Honami would try to persuade Teruhiko to reconsider the thought of accepting what Kouji says, asking him to think about the chances that there are downsides to the castle-gate strategy Kouji was proposing to them without revealing everything to all the group members including themselves.
Honami would argue how there might be flaws in Kouji's plan to deliberate over that Teruhiko hadn't thoughtfully taken into consideration before until she outright pointed it out to him. Honami wanted Teruhiko to see the bigger picture behind supporting her Outcome #1 strategy compared to Kouji's castle-gate strategy, getting him to agree with some of the things she has to say.
However, Honami knows Teruhiko still remained questioningly cautious of her, voicing his complaint and refusing to go along with following Honami's idea but rather remaining neutral. Realizing that he and others don't harbor trust towards her, Honami tried to start a card game and befriend him but failed.
Honami figures he was a gloomy type of guy who wouldn't open his heart to her, feeling he ought to shake that downer aura she see before her away. When Kouji refused to honestly talk to her alone, Honami thought of using Teruhiko and Kei to extract as much information as she can out of the Class 1-A student by talking to them while egging him into their discussion.
She also learns that Teruhiko is likely not the V.I.P. after examining the latter's behavior and attitude along with how Kiyotaka revealed the truth to her. Once he acts pushy towards her, she reminds Teruhiko that he shouldn't be giving an excuse to make things look convenient for him. Since he can't lead the conversation either, Honami desires to see him become self-reliable and responsible for himself than leave everything to her in changing a bad situation around for the Rabbit group.
When Teruhiko was viewed to be the V.I.P., she took what he has to say for himself into consideration and did not want his courage to go to waste, asking for everyone's cooperation in the group after hearing him out. However, she suspiciously believes Teruhiko is not what he makes himself out to be, keenly seeing through the latter's lie as he has been holding Kiyotaka's cellphone to hide his classmate's identity who was supposedly the real V.I.P. all along.
Due to how strange his gesture and manners were, she discerns the phone Teruhiko was using is not his own but in fact, belonged to a classmate like Kiyotaka after she contacted the person who had her phone number, to begin with. She knows for a fact that Teruhiko doesn't have her contact information and recalls never giving it to him except for only Kiyotaka who she did exchange phone numbers in the past.
Honami and Keisei are not particularly close with each other as the latter sees her as an enemy to his class rather than a long-term ally. Honami knows how distant Keisei was towards her especially in the presence of his friends, understanding she can't be around him for long after greeting his group.
Knowing her presence is sometimes not welcome in front of Teruhiko, she can't hang out with him or his friends too often since the latter view her as a tough rival who must be beaten and overcome in order to reach Class A. Before the Event Selection Exam begins, she invited him and his friends out for lunch to clear up misunderstandings about a fight happening between her classmate Sō Shibata and Kakeru's class that might end up spreading as rumors.
From this, it can be said that Honami and Keisei can still engage in a cordial conversation about their classmates' circumstances as long as their two classes were not opponents of one another during special exams or team competitions.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Other D-Class students
Unlike most of the upper-class students, she doesn't share their views of looking down on Class 1-D and doesn't oppose to interacting or befriending students of D-Class. Honami is curious about what the issue is surrounding their class after seeing and hearing that Ken Sudō got into an argument and fight with Kakeru's lackeys. She was willing to cooperate with them in order to solve the Ken incident, believing an innocent victim getting accused by a lie is unjust and unfair to the lower class. She is even aware of many of them have potential to reach the upper class and makes it a necessity to list them, which shows she is interested in them. More so, she had established a class alliance with Class 1-D ever since the Deserted Island Special Test that span for almost an entire first-year of their freshman days. Through this cooperative relationship, Honami didn't need to view Class 1-D as an enemy to her classmates and their goal of reaching Class A. Feeling less worry about Kakeru's class as they are being dealt with by her ally, she and her classmates feel more at ease in focusing on combating Class 1-A to reach their goal. She doesn't take interest in wanting to betray or target Class 1-D for special exams except with other classes. Even if she didn't deliberately plan out her class's moves with Class 1-D, Honami was still willing to maintain a cooperative relationship between them regardless. However, the alliance came to an end when Suzune, the leader of Class 1-D decides to dissolve it, knowing that the class points they have are no longer a large difference between the two sides.
She was reluctant in wanting to end the alliance and wanted to continue it a little longer yet had no other choice left but to accept it due to Suzune's reasoning that one of the conditions for the cooperative relationship cannot be met anymore after the the results of the Event Selection Exam were revealed. Despite understanding that their two classes are not allies and but enemies from this point onward, Honami still can't help but view Kiyotaka to be the one and only person in his classroom as trustworthy moving forward, denying to regard him like an ally or an "enemy." In Honami's mind, out of everyone from that class, she involuntarily wishes he was assigned together in the same classroom as her rather than be apart. Once the second-year of her high school begins, Honami realized that members of Class 2-D overall are gaining incredible momentum that she can no longer overlook them anymore especially after her alliance with those students came to an end. Noticing that they've been rapidly growing in strength over the course of their first-year, Honami regards how some of them in terms of individual strength wouldn't likely lose to anyone in the other classes. Honami acknowledges the fact that she doesn't have any room left to spare when finally deciding to compete with them. When Arisu describes how potentially dangerous Class 2-D's lineup of people are like Rokusuke Kōenji who she don't have a lot of information on, Honami can feel the thick layer surrounding those students with unknown abilities she have yet to fully grasp or get the full picture of.
Class 3-A
Miyabi Nagumo
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Miyabi recruited Honami into the Student Council, after taking a particular interest in her and deeming that she has what it takes to become a part of the organization. Truthfully, the real reason as to why Honami was even allowed to enter the Student Council by Miyabi in the first place was solely due to how she happened to meet his first criteria in working alongside him where the former qualified as an extremely good-looking person, something which her upperclassman seeks in the opposite sex.
Because of this, the other two reasons he had as criteria were nothing more than a mere bonus to Miyabi, one was that she was placed in Class 1-B during freshman year, much like himself, rather than being from Class A while another was her excellent academic ability, grades and immense popularity. He seems romantically inclined in her, an interest that Honami doesn't reciprocate, and felt that it wasn't right to date him when she already has her own feelings for Kiyotaka Ayanokōji to consider, after Nagumo confessed to her. Nevertheless, Honami apparently gets along well with him as fellow members of the council and as her underclassman.
Honami would defend Nagumo from accusations made by Kanji Ike at several points during their conversation when the school didn’t allow him to wear earrings, to which she argues it is only during the middle of vacation that he is permitted to. She had even gone out of her own way to seek him for help in saving one of her classmates from being expelled.
However, after she discovers that the condition he set for the lending of massive amounts of private points to her was to force her into a relationship with him, Honami chose to give herself more time to think things through a little longer before finally deciding due to her growing feelings for Kiyotaka. She was conflicted with the roundabout way and forceful nature of Nagumo in making her his girlfriend, while many others felt that Nagumo was superficial and only lusted for her body.
In the end, she turned down Miyabi's financial aid in favor of Kiyotaka's help which succeeded in preventing her classmate's expulsion without having to date the Student Council President. Honami was extremely happy and relieved to not experience compensated dating after knowing that she didn't have to go out with him, thanking Kiyotaka profusely for saving her.
She also took Miyabi's words at face value without considering the possibility that he may have been lying to her as to why Manabu didn't allow her in the Student Council initially. She stated her goal in Advanced Nurturing High School was to be someone like Miyabi without knowing about who he truly was.
He was most likely the first person in high school she had revealed her past history with of being a shoplifter to as Arisu learned Honami's secret from him.[34]
Ever since she joined the Student Council, Honami had to undertake multiple works alongside Miyabi, to the point where rumors have begun circulating regarding how the two had been seen alone together often by students. Unnerved by the accusation and suspecting that her friends think that she like Miyabi in a romantic sense, Honami clears up their suspicions and states that she herself doesn't really view him in that way but as a colleague platonically.
It is unknown whether Nagumo is still pursuing her, but he still views her as the most likely candidate to take his place as the next student council president. Though Kiyotaka suspects that he may just be playing with Honami while also attempting to antagonise him.
As of Year 2 volume 6, Nagumo was said to have invited Honami to lunch with just the two of them alone in the student council room. This was done for a couple of days and is conceivably ongoing. Kiyotaka deduced that Honami is trying to ingratiate herself with Nagumo so he will support her candidacy, but for Nagumo, he is using this opportunity to make Kiyotaka jealous while also potentially making Honami suffer more if he decides to choose Suzune in the end, making her efforts for naught.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Nazuna Asahina
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She seems to be acquainted and on friendly terms with Nazuna as Honami knows her senpai's name and respectfully greets the upperclassman. When Nazuna stumbled upon seeing her getting along well together with Kiyotaka, Honami would become embarrassed by how she reacted and her teasing remarks about them.
Before her senpai could develop any sort of misunderstandings about her relationship with Kiyotaka, the flustered Honami tries to clear it up while stating that he is a good friend. Nazuna remains dubious but decides to play along with her story.
She allowed Nazuna to have a one-on-one private talk with Kiyotaka upon her upperclassman's request. According to Kiyotaka, she and Nazuna shares a proper senpai-kouhai relationship.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Advanced Nurturing High School
Chie Hoshinomiya
As her homeroom teacher, Honami respects her as such, though she does find her eccentric because of her display of drunkenness. On the other hand, Chie views Honami in an outstanding light since she is the class representative as well as a model student, believing she’s capable of surpassing Class A.
During the cruise, the two got a massage together and discussed the students of other classes they should watch out for. Although Honami is put off by her teacher's erratic behaviour, she agreed with Chie's assessment about watching Kiyotaka closely due to his unknown capabilities.
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
As for their first interaction, she sees her as somewhat of an unpresentable teacher who comes to their class tardy in the morning. However, because of how nonchalant Chie acts around herself and her classmates, she believes that this gives Class B an easy-going atmosphere due to the former's influence.
Honami was close enough with Chie to the point that the teacher had willingly shared her goal with the former of wanting to aim for Class A as well.
Through Chie, Honami learns that her homeroom teacher can earn a special bonus if she and her classmates were to graduate from Class A. She seems to receive plenty of support and recommendations from Chie when the former was looking to earn a spot in the Student Council and become an official member of the student body organization.
After Honami was able to successfully join the prestigious group, she views her teacher as a reliable superior since Chie was willing to accompany the former to go to a faculty office when handling school matters together.
Unbeknownst to Honami, Chie has begun to lose hope and started to view Honami in a more disappointing light, after her many failures and causing their class to drop to C for a period of time.
She openly complains to the other teachers that in Honami's current state, it would practically be impossible for them to reach Class A and openly admits that she has given up on them and that her previous classes have never dropped below B before.
When Kiyotaka scolded her for not fulfilling her role in helping her class and leaving everything to Honami, she got angry but did not deny his statement.
During the exam whereby their class was given the choice to expel a student to get Class points, Chie decides to share her personal story to attempt to break the deadlock. Honami understood the benefits of attaining class points but argues that using dubious means such as this would go against the morals their class prides itself with.
Furthermore, it would be impossible even for her to convince all her classmates to affirm the choice of expulsion, which in turn would deduct more Class points in the end. Since this was the final choice with time being of the essence, the only logical path forward is to reject this proposal. Chie was surprisingly neutral about the unanimous choice, understanding that this is how the class functions.
Honami then asks for everyone's full cooperation so that they can reach their goal without needing to sacrifice anyone reasoning that a Class A which does that, isn’t a Class A they want to be. Everyone was able to support that declaration, except for one who was extremely doubtful.
In the end, no one was expelled but their class position dropped once again to Class D with the class gap widening with the others. It is unknown whether Chie has consulted or advised Honami on their future strategy or if she had really abandoned every and all aspiration.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Tsukishiro
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At first, when encountering Tsukishiro during an Uninhabited Island Exam, she was worried about whether to interrupt the man's conversation with a first-year teacher.
However, upon hearing what they were quietly scheming to do with Kiyotaka in particular, she began to eavesdrop more attentively. Having a person of authority discuss the expulsion of her friend caused her to grow terribly worried and curious about Tsukishiro and his motives.
She felt threatened by Tsukishiro who warns her to not reveal his private conversation with Katsunori Shiba to anyone including the one that they're conspiring to go after for their plan to work as it would risk their job and reputation if their action is revealed to the public.
She became fearful about the fact that Tsukishiro had vowed to forcefully make her fellow classmates face expulsion no matter what means he will use to get that to happen, using them as a hostage and bargaining chips to have Honami ignore whatever they're planning to do to Kiyotaka.
When Tsukishiro tries to convince her that she shouldn't let herself be bothered by an enemy who is from a different class outside her own, Honami plays along with his words as a way to escape from that conundrum successfully. In truth, Honami adamantly refuses to conform to Tsukishiro's reasoning and line of thinking that expelling Kiyotaka will be beneficial to her class's chances of victory in any future competition.
Despite her own growing fears toward Tsukishiro, she had no intention of backing down against his threat as Honami had still gone out of her way to look for Kiyotaka and inform him of that adult's scheme. Kiyotaka later thanked her for choosing him and decided to play along with the adults plan to save Honami from further harm.
Through overhearing Tsukishiro's conversation with the first-year teacher, she was able to learn about the existence of the White Room for the first time, a term she doesn't clearly have an understanding or heard of ever before in her lifetime. Furthermore, she also became seemingly aware that Kiyotaka has some special involvement with the second-year teachers as the student is working behind the scene with them in secret.
After learning of the real implications behind what that conversation is really about, Honami came to understand Tsukishiro as somebody who is extremely dangerous and corrupt. She acknowledges how he has no intention of letting her go without first considering the consequences of her action of eavesdropping on their conversation.
Since only the three of them were present, Honami understood that he no longer had to maintain a professional attitude or employ a fake facade around her now that she overheard his plan. Since Tsukishiro wasn’t above considering letting one of his subordinates, Katsunori, a first-year teacher to do whatever he wants to her if given permission, the possibility scared her immensely.
Honami was shaken to the core by Tsukishiro's suggestion of allowing either himself or Katsunori to use violence against her until she completely forgets the memory of what she saw and heard during their conversation.
When being interrogated by Tsukishiro, Honami knew it was impossible to get the man to believe her lie, recognizing that anything she tells him won’t be easily accepted as the truth. Honami remains undecided about accepting Tsukishiro's proposal. Being forced to choose between focusing on who to protect, save and prioritize more, by either siding with her own fellow classmates or sacrificing them to protect Kiyotaka whom has saved her countless times.
Even after she parted ways with Tsukishiro, his threatening words that came with such a proposal were fretfully on the back of her mind for days afterwards. Knowing how Tsukishiro was willing to go so far as to abuse his position of power as the school's Acting Director, and threatening to expel her classmates in this exam, her impression of the man isn’t the best.
Due to Tsukishiro's action, she felt extremely conflicted in her head on what to do next regarding her decisions from then on involving Kiyotaka and her fellow classmates.
In a way, Honami negatively regards Tsukishiro to be the detrimental factor to the well-being of her class instead of his claims of it being Kiyotaka. After considering how the man is in control of manipulating the school and exam rules to make his point clear, which includes fabricating a justification, it wasn’t hard to believe her rationale.
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.Katsunori Shiba
Spoiler warning: Plot from light novel beyond official English releases details follow. Click here to show spoilers.
Alongside Tsukishiro, Honami also views Katsunori as a fierce and cruel individual who has no qualms of making her silently disappear off from the exam and school. His objective was to make her whereabouts go unnoticed by everyone including the teachers without them caring about what happened to her.
Seeing how desperate and vicious Katsunori was willing to be by looking to get his hands dirty with her through violence physically, Honami felt endangered and unsafe around him. It was only when Tsukishiro took her role into consideration that they allowed her to leave unharmed even as she overheard their conversation.
She is aware that he is a menacing person who is secretly in cahoots and scheming with Acting Director Tsukishiro. More so, Honami understood Katsunori is not someone that can be trusted after catching wind of him admitting he illegally alter all the logs and records to prevent himself and Tsukishiro from being traced back or caught by the teachers.
She felt intimidated by his stern gaze at her, unable to grasp what Katsunori was thinking of doing to her after he captured her. Out of fear, his intimidating presence standing before Honami was enough for the girl to back down and obey his orders to ensure her safety.
Though she tries to explain her reason for coming across his conversation with Tsukishiro was accidental and unintentional, Katsunori was not having any of it and considered disposing of Honami right then and there if not for his superior refraining him from doing so.
During the Uninhabited Island Exam, Honami thought she was going to get penalized under the school's rules by him for eavesdropping and poking her nose in the adults' conversation without permission.
However, things took a grim turn for Honami when the former learns how Katsunori dismisses her reasoning as having nothing to do with the exam but the fact that she happened to hear something confidential and secretive. Honami thought herself to be a goner who was soon to be broken apart in the hands of Katsunori as the man was readily prepared to commit an act of violence against her.
He considered roughening Honami up as the first thing that came to his mind as an act of punishing. He prepared by wearing rubber gloves to hide any evidence of his fingerprints that are proof of a physical assault being committed against her.
His reasoning was to forcibly make Honami forget the details of his conversation with Tsukishiro despite not knowing how much she heard. She knows Katsunori to be nothing more than a mere subordinate of Acting Director Tsukishiro who is ready to thoroughly remove her existence.
Through coming across that life-threatening encounter with Katsunori and his superior, she has come to understand that he is not the type of person to show her such leniency or let her get away scot-free without physically facing heavy punishment and the consequences of her action.
If Tsukishiro followed through with permitting Katsunori to do what he feels is the right thing to do in their situation, Honami knew that any and all hopes she had of getting away were long gone by now solely because of him, leaving her with no other choice but to wait for her sentencing to happen.
With a mortified look expressed on her face, it was clear to Honami that she herself cannot even begin to imagine what sort of punishment awaited her by Shiba once the man put on the gloves.
Honami can't help but remain on high alert of what Katsunori and his superior have threatened her with to keep quiet while searching for the whereabouts of Kiyotaka.
Honami quickly distance herself from them both who were still reconsidering about how to deal with her moving forward, during and after the exam if she failed to keep her mouth shut.[35]
Spoilers end. Click here to hide spoilers.References
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 7
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 7.5
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "An Enjoyable Moment" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 4
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "The Circumstances of Honami Ichinose's Test" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — 2nd Year Volume 2
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 8
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Honami Ichinose's Everyday" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — 2nd Year Volume 1
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Honami Ichinose's Everyday 2" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 1
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 5
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 11
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Swimsuit Short Story: Honami Ichinose Chapter" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 2
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "A Small Being" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Apparent Difficulty" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Small Heartbeats" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "In the Cracks between Dream and Reality" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Sports Festival: Ichinose's Battle" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Weariness of the Heart" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "The First Gift (Volume 9 SS)" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 10
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "The Second Chapter is about to Begin" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Honami Ichinose’s Spring Vacation - The Final Day -" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Something I Have to Tell You" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — 2nd Year Volume 4
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — 2nd Year Volume 4.5
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 4.5
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — "Oh, One Page of Youth!" Short Story
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 3
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 6
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 11.5
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — Volume 9
- ↑ You-Zitsu Light Novel — 2nd Year Volume 3