Suzune Horikita

Suzune Horikita is one of the main characters of the You-Zitsu series and the main heroine of the √Horikita spin-off manga. She is a first-year student of Advanced Nurturing High School and the younger sister of Manabu Horikita, the Student Council president of the school. She is seated at the back of the class, next to Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.

Despite her academic ability, she was placed in D-Class since she refuses to work with others. Nevertheless, she still strives for A-Class and will do anything to reach her goal.

Background
Suzune always had top results from grade school. During her three years of middle school, she was never late or absent from classes. She chose that school to pursue her brother, Manabu Horikita, to be recognized by him, but her brother doesn't like her due to her lack of abilities, so she tries her best at studies and sports. However, they're never on good terms. Suzune rejected social life and cooperation with others since they were not important to her grades.

Suzune then enrolled at Advanced Nurturing High School in purpose of proving herself in the eyes of her older brother who was the Student Council president there.

Appearance
Suzune has long black hair with one braid tied by a pink bow as well gradient red eyes, she is always seen with a stern look on her face. She has a slim but well-endowed body which makes her stand out as a beautiful girl.

She usually wears the standard school uniform. Outside of school, she wears a striped sundress and a hat. She has also been seen wearing a white bikini when at the pool and a red tracksuit as seen when the school underwent the survival test.

Personality
A serious intellectual girl, who rarely shows any emotions and seems generally unfazed by most things, this was seen as she was unmoved by a boy from class 1-C threatening her. She comes off as rather cold to her classmates due to her lack of communication with them as well as her tendency to distance herself from them. Because of this attitude, she is openly honest about many things, which is shown when she admits to have no friends as she thinks that friends will only drag her down, but this begins to change as the series proceeds.

Suzune possesses antisocial outlook that has caused her to hardly talk to anyone except Kiyotaka (who she sits next to) and to not trust anyone like those who try to befriend her such as Kikyō Kushida. However, unlike Kiyotaka, who seeked to make friends, she is the opposite of him when it comes to friendship as she disregards it, thinking it is nothing more than a distraction and only thinks of getting promoted to the A-Class. It is highly suggested by Kiyotaka that her attitude and her inability to work properly with people or her tendencies on focusing too much on her goal was the reason she was placed in D-Class

She is not easily convinced, as she refused to accept that she was placed in the D-Class and strives to ascend to a higher class. This goal, however, was refuted by her brother, who suggested that she has no knowledge of her lack of character which is greatly holding her back. She refuses to believe that she needs friends to help her though she did force Kiyotaka to help her reach her goal. When Kiyotaka pointed out her isolation towards other could of been why she was placed in D-Class, she quickly denied his theory but appeared to briefly ponder on it being a possibility as the reason.

While she is generally composed, her emotions truly surface when she is in the presence of her older brother, who is, at the time, the student council president. This fear shows that underneath her cold exterior there is a fragile side to her which is usually shaken. She greatly admires her brother, but at the same time feels inferior to him due to his accomplishments compared to her shortcomings. Suzune was shown to shake in fear of him as well which was shown in their secret meeting especially when he nearly attacked her in Episode 2. This was seen again in Episode 5 where she couldn't talk at the hearing of Ken Sudō and was only to able snap out of it because of Kiyotaka.

Despite her disdain and cold attitude, it appears she is truly a caring person as she was willing to sacrifice 50,000 points to save Ken from being expelled after he failed a test. Suzune explained that she did so to further her own goals but this event and her previous attempts to help him study suggest otherwise. Later, Suzune also defended Ken's case and while she does criticize him, she firmly declared him to be innocent in the fighting incident. Suzune later shows this attitude in Episode 7 where she is shown smiling after looking at the email Kiyotaka sent her. Due to the time they spent together, she has come to trust Kiyotaka as she made him one of the two boys in charge of deplacing the boys tent during the uninhabited island exam after stating that she could not trust Yōsuke Hirata. When asked by him as to why she did so, she stated she needed an incentive and while she called Kiyotaka a secretive person, her reason may be because he is the only person she can count on. When he discoveredher illness, she tried to disregard this but would confide in that she was really ill for a few days. She also told only him that the key card was stolen in order to avoid causing a panic in the class.

During the final days of the survival test, Suzune appeared to have grown in character as she came to acknowledge the hypocrisy of her previous views of D-Class as in her fight with Mio after realizing her actions are no better than theirs. After she was taken down by Mio and found by Kiyotaka, she finally admitted that she needed allies. Once the survival test was over, she thanked Kiyotaka for his help in trying to get her allies once she discovered that he gave her credit for helping the class succeed and state she'll begrudgingly see him as an ally. In this time she displayed a rare moment of emotion, as she was both flustered and shy in thanking him while being unable to look him in the eye and stated she'll have him help her in reaching class 1-A.

Abilities
Not much is known about the full extent of Suzune but she possesses talent in many fields.

Academic Abilities
She is very studious as she makes sure to do so all the time while home alone. Suzune's dedication to keeping up her goal of advancing to A-Class, the class she believes she deserved in from the start.

Intellectual Abilities
Unsurprisingly, Suzune is very intelligent and has very good grades. Ms. Sae Chabashira revealed in Volume 1 that she got the third highest average score in her entrance exams. She is also noted by Honami Ichinose, a student from B-Class, to be one of the few people in D-Class to keep an eye on due to her potential. While she has great intelligence, it could hinder her due to Suzune having no friends or work with others.

She also possesses an analytic side to her, as it is shown that she studies people by their habits or bits of their personality to see their true depths as she deduced that Kiyotaka had a hand in helping the class pass their tests and that Kikyō holds contempt for her but wonders why he tries to get close to her. She was also able to see that Kiyotaka is hiding his true talents after hearing her brother and teacher explain there is more to him than he lets on.

Physical Abilities
Suzune stated she is an above average swimmer when questioned by Kikyō at the school pool. She stated she had skills in martial arts during the hearing for Ken but the full extent of her knowledge is unknown. She proves herself skilled in the art of grappling as she easily flipped Haruki with no problem. Her fighting skills are shown when she engaged Mio in a fight even earning praise from her before she was knocked down, though it is important to note that Suzune was ill at the time and couldn't really go all out.

Plot
As a result of her personality and inability to associate with others, Suzune was placed in class 1-D, the lowest ranking class of the school but she believed that she will soon ascend the ranks and enter class 1-A, the highest ranking class of the school.

After her entry into the class, she did not associate with her classmates even rejecting some of their offer of friendships. Despite that, she found herself interacting Kiyotaka, whose insightful yet mysterious personality catched her interest.

Days went by, with Suzune being asked by Kiyotaka to go with him to a cafe for a meet up. After class, Suzune accompanied him, as it was a girls café and he felt too scared to go along. Upon arriving at the packed place, a table opened up for them to sit, where they were joined by Kushida, although that caused Suzune to leave due to her uncovering their plan and calling friendship unnecessary.

Following this, the class was told they won't get any more points after losing them all, although put their effort in the upcoming test to gain more. She invites Kiyotaka to lunch though he was skeptical on her intentions, he went and treated himself to lunch at her expense. To his dismay, Suzune uses this as an opportunity to force him into helping her reach A-Class bringing up his supposed conspiring with Kikyō as a means to get an agreement. Reluctant, he agrees and is tasked by Suzune to gather up the more idiotic students for a study group. When Kiyotaka failed in getting Kanji Ike, Haruki Yamauchi and Ken to join, he contacted her but she hung up on him. Suzune then reached out to Ken to agree on joining by mentioning how his dreams of being a professional basketball player would be at risk. Despite this, Suzune's condescending attitude causes them to leave and taking a risk at failing. Kiyotaka brought this up to Suzune who paid it no mind and said what they did had no repercussion on her.

During one meeting with her brother, he told her to drop out of the school since his reputation which he worked hard to build would be tarnished. She plead with him to hear her out as she was going to make it to A-Class but he told her that her shortcomings are preventing that. He grabs her and prepared to inflict pain on her, to punish her but Kiyotaka intervened on her behalf. She begged him to go as it was not his problem, just as he complied he has a brief scuffle with her brother but manages to avoid the latter's strikes and come out unharmed. Manabu soon recognized Kiyotaka as a student who scored the same to all of his tests before hinting that Kiyotaka did so intentionally which leaves Suzune in wonder. Manabu then turned his attention to Suzune finding it surprising she made a friend, as she disregarded this stating Kiyotaka was simply a classmate and she didn't friends as he leaves voicing disappointment in her anti-social ways.

She spoke with Kiyotaka apologizing for her trouble but he shrugged it off, she complimented his fighting skill which he stated there's nothing special just simply piano and tea ceremony though she called him out on his contradictory statement. Suzune then questioned him if her brother's statement about him scoring half of what he should have made was true but he doesn't give her a clear answer. Suzune then remarked that everything about him is a mystery, in which he asked her if she was really done with the study group which she confirmed whoever failed didn't concern her. Kiyotaka soon inquires, on whether she ever thought it was this distant and cold personality of hers that got her placed in D-Class but she couldn't answer it though pondered on it. When class 1-D passed their test, she questioned Kiyotaka if he had something to do with this but he doesn't answer. After the teacher informs the class that Ken will be expelled as he had the lowest score. When Kiyotaka was bargaining with the teacher over halting Ken's expulsion, she accepted his offer but only if she receives 100,00 points he cannot pay the fee. Suzune soon makes appearance offering to chip in by giving 50,000 points which added with Kiyotaka's own 50,000 would be enough to buy the missing point from the teacher so that Ken's expulsion can be rescinded. Amused by this, Sae voices her earlier belief that the current Class D would interest her and what they are doing is proving her point about with this she accepts their offer and tells them to inform Ken he is not going to be expelled after all.

Suzune later attended a celebratory party at Kiyotaka's room, while there Kushida asks if Kiyotaka helped Ken out, as the latter and the others stop their activities and looked to see if this was true but he casts the credit to Suzune who is barely able to explain to a curious Ken of her reasons for helping.

When Ken was accused of beating up three boys from class 1-C, Suzune investigated it and very soon she found out there was someone who witnessed the incident. Learning it was Airi Sakura, she heads to Kiyotaka but found he had company and nearly left though is stopped and she relays her discovery to him.

On the day of the hearing, she questions Kiyotaka if he had spent time with Kushida as he explains it was the situation with Airi. He then questioned her curiosity and expression as she told that is simply who she is but is quite forward in mentioning how he seems more willing to help Kikyō than her but he can't give an answer and she shrugs it off, while he is left confused by her behavior. They head to the hearing where she is surprised her brother is presiding over it and becomes nervous as well as fearful of his presence. Her fear of him causes her to be unable to speak for most of the hearing and nearly causes the council to side with class 1-C.

Noticing her behavior, Kiyotaka tickled her to return her to her senses, much to her dismay. After he tells her to gather her wits, she realizes his motives and becomes aware of the situation. She regains her composure and asks what the circumstances were for the fight and points out that in a three against one fight that it is nearly impossible for those injuries that serious to be all Ken's doing. She reveals it may have been a set-up to get Ken in trouble before she presents Sakura as a witness.

Airi provided evidence that she was present as she captured the fight going on in the background during a photo shoot. However, the evidence only proved that she was present and did not clear Ken of any wrongdoing. The class 1-C homeroom teacher, Kazuma Sakagami proposed a compromise to suspend Ken for two weeks and the three class 1-C students for one week each, but Suzune rejected it resulting stating while Ken has faults he was not the one responsible for this. That resulted in an argument that's soon broken up by Manabu who states he'd make decision. After the hearing, Suzune was asked by Kiyotaka of her next strategy as she simply replied she won't lose and walked off.

She and Kiyotaka visited the stairwell for evidence that might help before she discovers something. They lured the incident accuser's and showed cameras in the area that caught incident on tape and after the boys question why the council hadn't brought this up but Kiyotaka's statement that they do and are just waiting to see what the students are planning as a test. The boys were fearful at the thought of being expelled but Kiyotaka told them there is a way for both classes to walk away as they disbelieve it but Suzune points out if they simply withdraw their accusations everyone would be safe. Daichi Ishizaki considered it and tried to make a call to someone but Suzune knocks away the phone calling him pathetic for being a person's pawn. He got angry and grabbed but she pointed out the cameras still in the area and the begging of his friends, he relented and decided to withdraw his accusation.

Much later, she was summoned by Sae Chabashira on the roof where Sae inquired as to what caused the boys to withdraw their complaint but Suzune didn't give an answer as Sae decided to change her question to another manner, she informed Suzune that to enter to A-Class she must be aware of the depths of Kiyotaka. Suzune questioned this as Sae told her that the students of D-Class have defective traits and that Kiyotaka is the most defective in her opinion since he hides his talents.

After the talk and the rain occurring, Suzune found Kiyotaka in the halls. She walked with him in the rain with their umbrellas and when they reached the street, she accused him of manipulating her into carrying out false evidence to get the complaint withdrawn, which he denied and she brought up the promise he made to help her reach A-Class as he reminded her that she had forced him to do so. He tried to walk off but she stops him and pressed him for the reasons of his actions as she wanted to know if she could really trust him as he explained that he simply wanted a peaceful life but she stated that he wouldn't have helped if that were true. Kiyotaka stated he was looking out for a friend but she disregarded this and pressured him into revealing his motives. Kiyotaka stated he would help her in reaching A-Class but sternly told her to never try prying into his past again.

During summer break, she spends most of her time in her room until she is contacted by Kiyotaka whose calls she rejects because of their recent talk. He keeps calling and she answers questioning his persistence as he invites her to the pool though she hangs up the phone. When he calls back, he tells her that the boys of their class plan to peep on girls to her shock. Kiyotaka continued by revealing he wants to ruin the boys' plan by asking her to get the memory cards from the camera after everything was done.

She went to meet him and others who are going as well, it is shown that Suzune studies the personalities of those around her such as Kikyō who she deduces hates her and questions why she wants to get close with her and asking herself why she is going along with them. The group then goes to pool where they meet students of other classes as well. In the changing room, Suzune questioned Honami over her chest size as the latter was somewhat embarrassed on answering. Suzune also agreed with Kikyō's comment of Honami being close to Kiyotaka as Suzune internally noted of Honami's capabilities. Suzune is soon warned by Kushida to be wary of the girl's getting closer to Kiyotaka as she states who he associates with doesn't matter to her.

She spent most of her time at the pool to herself observing those around before playing volleyball and questioning Kiyotaka on why he hides his athleticism since she saw what he can do but he ignores this. Later on, she helped him in stopping the other boys' plans of peeping by giving a speech of how D-Class can advance, this act manages to distract everyone. After the speech, she finds the memory cards as Kiyotaka thanked her and asks if she had fun but she states she is better off alone as he tries again to get her to shake off her strict nature by pushing her in the pool. His act causes her to do the same to him as payback, but this act somewhat works as it gets her to play with the other students. At night, Kiyotaka sent Suzune an email which is a picture of her with the other students as she remarks on how she gets along fine without others but smiles at the gesture.

During the school cruise, she spent most of it in her room as she was feeling ill. She soon called to meet Kiyotaka at a stand him and they talk for a while until Kakeru appeared. He addressed her by first name, giving hints that he is aware of what she did to get the complaint withdrawn. Suzune, who seemed to be very disgusted by his presence, found his arrogant attitude off-putting and told him to keep away from her but he responded by taking a picture of both her and Kiyotaka, after claiming to be a fan of her and stating he had already made plans to take care of her personally, he tells her to look forward to it. She and Kiyotaka then watched Kakeru and Albert Yamada bully Mio Ibuki, with Suzune remarking how C-Class is falling apart.

The ship soon arrived on a deserted island where the students are told they will undergo a survival test. That proved to be a challenge for Suzune as she reveals she is uncomfortable being around others for so long and that the woods are not her strong suit. When D-Class set up camp, she speaks with Kiyotaka about her reason choosing their school as it would give her a chance to enroll in a university for the future as she asked him his reason but gets no answer.

Suzune was later nominated as class leader by Kikyō since it would be unexpected of her. She later spoke with Suzune and refused to go gather supplies with him as he left with Airi and Yamauchi instead and they returned with Mio of C-Class who was seen injured. That night, the class learned Rokusuke Kōenji dropped out of the test as he was "ill" and they worried as they would lose points.

The next day, Suzune and Kiyotaka go on a reconnaissance to see what the situation is at the other camps. When they arrived class 1-B's camp, they see it is set up near a waterfall and operates much like class D's but at a better location. Suzune noted on a boy who seemed distant from the class as Honami stated he was a student of C-Class who got kicked out. Suzune and Kiyotaka then go to class 1-A's camp which is in a cave that is heavily guarded as Yahiko Totsuka threatens Suzune as she attempted to take a peak. But she was turned away when Kōhei summoned his security force and warned her that her actions might start a war. Class C's camp is on a beach where under Kakeru's leadership, all of the points are spent and the classmates treat this test like a vacation. While there, Kakeru flirted with her and was persistent in his advances on Suzune by stating that he will prepare a special tent just for the two of them, as well as, make her taste real heaven. She glanced back at him disgusted and told Kiyotaka, stating that being there any longer than they should have will just make her even more ill. After they left she berated Kakeru disregard for points as Kiyotaka told Suzune that Kakeru did that knowing that they would not be penalized if they had spent all of their test points beforehand. He also explained the strategy was fool proof since they could do what Rokusuke did and return to the cruise ship.

When panties are stolen, the class goes on alert and when the girls asked for Yōsuke to keep an eye on the boys she points out that he is also watched. After the girls wonders who should do it, she put Kiyotaka on guard as well since he is not lecherous like the other boys. When he finishes working, he asks why she did this as she states she doesn't trust Hirata as he seemed secretive and had Kiyotaka put on guard duty as insurance. Kiyotaka then noticed her sickness and though she denied it her slow reaction to his hand confirmed it as he touched her forehead and saw she had a fever. After finding out, he questioned her about that was sick and hiding it from the class.

While working to gather fish, Kiyotaka asked her about the leader key card as he had saw it on another student had and wanted to match them. Once she saw his reason and agreed, Kiyotaka confirmed they didn't match but Haruki places mud on Suzune's hair after noting on their closeness, which earned him a flip from Suzune but Kiyotaka caught him. Suzune then went to the waterfall and washed off the mud but found the key card missing and was worried. She returned to camp and informed Kiyotaka of this and they decided to hide this for not cause a panic.

Another problem occurred when the survival manual was burned and Suzune saw Mio escape and suspects her. She pursues Mio and discovers the stolen key card, she demands it back but Mio challenged her since there are no witnesses to prove she was injured in a fight. Despite her ill condition, Suzune put up a good fight but was shocked when Mio revealed she didn't start the fire as she deduced that Kiyotaka was responsible for burning the survival manual before she is defeated and knocked out.

After her fight with Mio, she was found by Kiyotaka who brought her to a tree before she awoke. They talk where she confided in him of her reasons for reaching A-Class was to be noticed by her brother. She stated wanted allies before he implored her to withdraw from the test but she refused out of pride, though she fell unconscious forcing him to carry her and have her withdraw due to her ailing health.

Afterwards she rested and watched the results of the test on the monitor in her room, she was immensely shocked to see that her class passed and questioned the outcome. When the class returned to the ship, she finds Kiyotaka demanding to know what he did for the class to have passed the test and he reveals that he made himself leader after she withdrew. He then tells her his plan and how he outsmarted the other classes with various tactics, which leaves her in amazement at his intellect. She then inquired as to what motivates him if he doesn't want to advance to A-Class before she can get an answer she discovers he also gave her credit for the correct guessing of the other class leaders, much to her dismay.

She later caught up to Kiyotaka confronted once more about why he made it seem his plans were all her thoughts. He calmly stated she needed allies and noticed she finally changed. After he confirms he did everything to help her, she got flustered and blushed before begrudgingly thanking him as she stated she will see him as an ally though told him not to get too friendly at school.

Trivia

 * As D-Class is a class for people with defective traits, Suzune's defective trait is that she refuses to work with others.
 * Suzune ranks #2 in "MF Bunko J Heroine Contest 2017 in Melonbooks" with 13.8% of the votes.