Kakeru Ryūen

Appearance
Kakeru is a young man of average height with shoulder-length magenta hair that is styled on either side, and sharp magenta coloured eyes that strikes fear and trepidation onto anyone he comes into contact with. In addition, he has a slim and muscular physique.

In the light novel, he wears the standard uniform of the school. Although, in the anime, his attire consists of a standard red jacket and an unbuttoned black shirt underneath without a tie.

Personality
Kakeru is a blameworthy and reprehensible person who loves causing trouble for others as seen when he and his gang purposefully caused conflict with Ken Sudō and wanted to expel him.

He also possesses a sadistic nature, as shown when he looked as if he was going to attack the vulnerable Ken after his men held him down only to instead flick him on the head while laughing at his fear. He was very ruthless as he took a glass bottle and hit one of his followers on the head with it, showing no remorse after the act. This and many other actions shows that he is willing to use followers for any goal as he sees fit to achieve his purpose of controlling the school and enjoying himself. He is also shown to be insubordinate and disrespectful to certain characters, as shown when he spoke with Suzune Horikita and Mio Ibuki even having Albert Yamada throw the latter down after telling her to come to his room.

Despite his intimidating and dangerous appearance, Kakeru is acute in his own way of thinking, as he was quick to cover his tracks by telling Honami Ichinose even when she witnessed the event by declared that it was out of self-defence. He would come up with many unexpected strategies such as when he and one of his followers attacked another injured follower who failed in his task to frame Ken Sudō for assault and get him expelled. He also chose not to pick a fight with Class 1-A while in the presence of Manabu Horikita, the Student Council president and knows that he isn’t capable at that moment to take on Arisu Sakayanagi.

In the light novels, he showed great fear of Kiyotaka Ayanokōji after the latter viciously attacked him without an ounce of compunction. This incident caused him to note how shaken he was from it and how it was a first for him. Also, he is embarrassed by Rokusuke Kōenji for nicknaming him "Dragon-Boy", which caused Arisu Sakayanagi to making fun of him by repeating it.

Despite his ruthless nature he does seem to care for his class. For instance, he approached Hiyori Shiina as he was worried about her for always being alone. He also treats her as an indispensable ally in their class and is one of the people he truly respects.

Plot
Kakeru is first seen harassing Ken Sudō along with members of his gang where Kakeru voices plans for Sudō, but the near brawl is broken up by Honami Ichinose who sees through his obvious lie and threatens to call security if he doesn't cease his act and he complies.

After completing the grueling Island survival special test, yet another special test was announced back on the cruise ship. For this special exam, Ryūen was placed in the Dragon Group, alongside prominent students from other classes like Kōhei Katsuragi from Class 1-A, Ryūji Kanzaki from Class 1-B, and Suzune Horikita, Yōsuke Hirata, and Kikyō Kushida from Class 1-D. On the day when a briefing for each group about to start, Ryūen approached Katsuragi by referring to him as the beast from a 'Beauty and the Beast' show that Suzune and Katsuragi were displaying in the front of him. However, Katsuragi stayed calm in the face of that obvious provocation and stating that since Ryūen and his lackeys were here, his original prediction about the group was comprised solely of students with a high-level academy ability was wrong. Hearing that, Ryūen snorted and said that thing was meaningless. When Katsuragi swore that he wouldn't let Ryūen bring his awful attitude to this exam, Ryūen pretended to be confused and asked what he was talking about, demanding Katsuragi to refresh his memory so he could remember.

The following morning after the exam's announcement, Ryūen, alongside Ibuki, approached Kiyotaka and Suzune, who were seen exchanging information at a cafe. He blatantly asked them if they were chosen as the VIP, to which Suzune denied him an answer. Ryūen wondered how Suzune managed to wrangle the results on the island test, guessing that only certain types of people would’ve been able to conceptualize and execute a plan like that since she was far too serious-minded to have come up with it. He assumed that it was the second leader pulling her strings from behind the scenes as he quietly observed Kiyotaka. However, Suzune dismissed that theory and retorted that Ryūen was just upset a girl managed to see through his schemes. Hearing her reply, Ryūen laughed as if her words were irrational before adding that it was a mistake to put her trump card during the survival test when the game was just getting started. He then took out his phone and pointed it toward Suzune to snap a picture of her. As he was about to leave, he warned Suzune that he would discover who among Class D was making moves behind the scenes and everyone in her class was his target. When Suzune questioned him why he was so fixated on her and not leaders from other classes, Ryūen answered that neither Katsuragi nor Ichinose was his enemy; if he wanted to crush them, he could do it any time. However, when Suzune mentioned Sakayanagi, Ryūen became silent before responding that he saved Sakayanagi for the final course.

On the second day of the special exam, Ryūen approached Kiyotaka and Suzune once again, who were in the middle of a discussion, asking Suzune whether she had decided how to find the VIP. When Suzune answered that she had no intention of telling him, Ryūen smirked and told her he had started to discover the VIP's identity. Still, Suzune didn't believe it, stating he had no support like Katsuragi and Ichinose to get information. Ryūen simply responded that making friends and gathering information was two different matters. He had already reached the fundamentals of this exam, and Class C would win overwhelmingly depending on how things go; he only needed to find which class the VIP belongs to and then analyse their group. He also revealed that he was using a brute-force method by checking his classmates' emails to make sure they couldn't lie to him. Suzune argued that it's against the rules and he would be expelled, but Ryūen said that was not a problem. When she asked his thoughts on the Monkey group's test that ended the day before, he said he didn't care about it and left. After Ryūen had left, Kiyotaka and Suzune found a phone set to record audio underneath the chair Ryūen had been sitting in.

That afternoon, Ryūen was seen discussing with Suzune and Kanzaki even after the third discussion period ended in the Dragon's room. When Kiyotaka and Ichinose entered the room, Ryūen greeted Ichinose and gave her a proposal to crush Class A. He claimed that he had already known all the VIP students in Class C and wanted the three classes to share information on all the VIPs so they could go after Class A. Suzune rejected the idea in fear of betrayal, specifically from Class C. Ichinose also disagreed as she felt there's too much risk, and since Suzune had rejected his proposal, the plan was off to a bad start. However, Ryūen refuted it by saying there was a reason why Suzune couldn't do it. For the strategy to work, they need to understand their own classes perfectly. For Class D, which lacked any spirit of teamwork, this was an impossible undertaking. The same case also could be applied to Class A since they were split into two factions. Ryūen added that he and Ichinose could make it work, as he ruled his class while Ichinose was very popular within her class. He told her that he originally pitched the idea of a three-class alliance, but it was also possible with just two classes. The chances of a perfect outcome might be lowered, but he believed that he could see it through. If they pulled this off, Classes A and D would be stripped bare and left with nothing. Still, Ichinose didn't budge and refused to ally with him as his past actions hurt her classmates. Ryūen, not disappointed, got up from his chair. As he left, Ryūen glanced at Kiyotaka. When their eyes happened to meet, Ryūen muttered that it was impossible before lightly shook his head.

After the final discussion period ended, Ryūen approached Kiyotaka and others in the middle of a discussion at the cafe. Grabbing a vacant chair and forcefully slamming it next to Suzune, he thanked them for gathering in such an easy-to-find place. He started teasing Suzune, saying that it seemed she had grown more sociable given a rather large group she had gotten there with her, which provoked Sudō. When she wondered why he looked rather relaxed, Ryūen answered that he already knew the VIP student's identity in the Dragon group. As Suzune countered that the test had ended and no one in the group turned traitor, Ryūen, while smiling, told them the VIP was Kushida and he had known about it since the second day of the test, leaving Suzune and Yōsuke flabbergasted. He mocked her for being over-confident about her victory that she looked down on others, assuming no one would get the answer right and that's why he just went along with it until the end. Yōsuke asked him how he figured it out, and Ryūen simply answered it involved Suzune. He further explained that he knew everything by watching her eyes and mouth movements, breathing, behaviour, and tone. When Suzune tried to deny that, Ryūen said that he understood if Suzune didn't want to admit that she was the most incompetent person in the group. He assured her not to beat herself up since she merely just chose the wrong opponent, and this exam was supposed to be pure chaos. He also added that Class A was in for an especially rude awakening, implying his involvement in the four betrayal emails.

A mail came in at 11:00 PM and they all checked the results, except Ryūen. When they saw Class C came out on top, Ryūen grinned and thanked Suzune that because of her blunder, the Dragon group managed to clear the test with Outcome #1 and all the classes should receive a boost in points. He then placed his phone on the table, which showed the list of VIP students from class A in three groups, only targeting Class A after understanding the root of the test and succeed to clear it without focusing on Class B or D at all. He also told Suzune that she was his next target and wouldn't stop until he tore her to shreds, both in mind and body. Because of this exam, Class C had gained an overwhelming lead after obtaining such a huge number of points. Ryūen eventually walked away with satisfaction after saying that he's looking forward to the next semester.

In the light novels, Kakeru thought that someone else besides Suzune Horikita is pulling the strings for D-Class. Catching on to the recent rumors on Honami, Kakeru decided to play along in order to find the true mastermind of D-Class.

In Volume 7, Kakeru had his gang take Kei Karuizawa to the roof to lure out her class mastermind. The person who arrived was Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, who revealed himself as D-Class' mastermind to Kakeru and his gang. Kakeru recognized as the person always near Suzune, while his gang are unable to believe Kiyotaka's claims. All doubts were relieved after he gave them enough evidence, something that caused Kakeru to realize he was using Suzune as a scapegoat. Kakeru then his pawn attacked Kiyotaka, but they were easily defeated and Kiyotaka broke Kakeru physically and mentally, beating him up and leaving him terrified. Thus concluded the conflict between the two classes.

Afterwards, in the days after the confrontation, Kakeru decided to withdraw from the school because he felt that he couldn't go on. However, he was surprised to discover that Kiyotaka covered for Kakeru and his followers by taking partial credit for their vandalism when they took Kei and not launching a complaint against them. Kiyotaka even informed Mio Ibuki, Albert Yamada and Daichi Ishizaki about Kakeru's possible plan to drop out, which led them to nearly do the same.

Kakeru ultimately rescinded his intentions to leave and rumors spread of Kakeru giving up his leadership of Class C and isolating himself from his gang.

In volume 7.5 Kiyotaka called Kakeru to talk with him about some of the plans he has. Kakeru said Kiyotaka is really a piece of work, he was surprised how KIyotaka will go just to screw with people, Kakeru thought that was his specialty but Kiyotaka put him out of business. Kiyotaka said somethings about plans and said he plans to expell kikyo which caused Kakeru to laugh. Later Manabu come and they talked about some details.

After that Kakeru stopped being leader of the class, but durning expelling exam Kiyotaka helped to save him and Shiho got expelled.

In volume 11, Kakeru returned to his job as the leader of class C.

In 2nd year volume 6, when Daichi heard that Kakeru and Kiyotaka have the same birthday day, Daichi said can they celebrate together to which Kei said Kakeru should apolgized to her. When Daichi asked Kakeru about it, Kakeru hit Daichi.

In 2nd year volume 7, Kakeru revealed he know about Maid cafe and they made one too much to anger of Kiyotaka's class. Kakeru later brought two of his classmates and two of the teachers into student council room and exposed Takuya as the culprit who hit his two classmates. Kakeru catched Takuya's bangs and said he would normally give him a strong injury but since they are infront of Sensei he will let him go and just get expelled. Takuya then started attacking, Kakeru wanted to fight but Some adults come and took Takuya away. It was later revealed that Kiyotaka's class and Kakeru's class have been working together.

In 2nd year volume 8, Kakeru went to Hokkaido with all other students of school, Kakeru and Kito had a pillow fight. Kakeru and Kito raced with each other on ski. They were close to hitting each other when Kiyotaka passed between them. Kakeru asked Kiyotaka did he lie that Kiyotaka is just a beginner. Later Kakeru talked with Kikyo as Kikyo asked him to end their work, but Kakeru wanted to use Kikyo. When Kakeru saw Kiyotaka's angry face the same one he showed in volume 7 when they took Kei, Kakeru was afraid. Kakeru gave up and left.

Abilities
Kakeru is an infamous hooligan who has gathered many followers and as the representative of his class, he is the leader of his class ruling them not by loyalty but fear.

Intellectual Abilities
In spite of his regular violent actions and tenancies, Kakeru is shown to be someone who is very intelligent as he successfully persuaded and forged an alliance with Kōhei Katsuragi to aid him in the survival test. He also planted spies in the respective camps of classes 1-B and 1-D in order to learn the identities of the leaders to gather points for his own class without the respective class leaders finding out. He did this in a way to garner more points, due to the contract with Kōhei. His plan was able to outplay Suzune Horikita and would have been successful had he not been outsmarted by Kiyotaka Ayanokōji intervening. Eventually, he was able to convince Kohei to join his class and leave Class A by appealing to his complicated history with Arisu Sakayanagi. It is said that his leadership and presence in his class is the only reason they are able to remain competitive with the other classes and without him, his class would have would be in constant pandemonium.

Physical Abilities
Kakeru is shown to be very strong, as he was able to intimidate and have complete dominion over Daichi Ishizaki, who was a notorious delinquent in middle school who has seen his fair share of fights. He is also not afraid to pick fights and was able to terrify Ken, another delinquent. He is also seen being capable of physically harming Mio Ibuki, and overpowering her relatively easily, despite her knowledge of several martial arts skills and being stated to be the strongest second year girl. For instance, he didn't even flinch when she attempted to kick him.

During his brawl with Kiyotaka Ayanokōji in Volume 7, Kakeru simulated techniques and moves mixed from various martial styles. The former noted that the latter must have self-taught himself to have mastery in his combative skills. Despite his prowess, he was shown to be no match for Kiyotaka's power who easily threw him to the ground and violently attacked him. Kiyotaka remarked that he shouldn’t have been able to gain the loyalty of someone like Albert Yamada through normal means, hinting his manipulative talents while also implying that he is not as physically capable as Albert.

He is also not above losing as long as it comes with a price, such as when he agreed to lose in an exam after Sakayanagi agreed that she owed him a debt if he acquiesce her request, after knowing of her desire to protect Kiyotaka. He was also able to stall Kazuomi Hōsen for some time, which was stated to be someone on the tier of Albert.

Name Etymology

 * The name Kakeru consists of kanji that mean "soar, fly" (翔).
 * Kakeru's surname Ryūen consists of kanjis that mean "dragon" (龍) (ryū) and "garden" (園) (en).

Trivia

 * Kakeru shares the same birthday with Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.
 * Kakeru ranks #17 in "Male Character" category in the 2021 edition of 's  guidebook.
 * For the 2nd Year arc, when asked about his aspirations for the next year, he answered  'To crush Ichinose class and Sakayanagi's class. If anyone from the 1st year or the 3rd year interferes, I'll crush them too. That's all.'
 * His OAA in the first year would be:
 * Academic Ability: C- (42)
 * Physical Ability: B (69)
 * Adaptability: B (76)
 * Social Contribution: E- (01)
 * Overall Ability: C (54)
 * Other details included in OAA
 * Specialties: Fighting
 * Hobbies: Dominance
 * Favorite foods: Carbonated water
 * Dislikes: Shellfish