Manabu Horikita

Manabu Horikita is a student of class 3-A and the former president of the Student Council. He is the older brother of Suzune Horikita.

Background
Not much is known about Manabu, besides the fact that he entered Advanced Nurturing High School where he would rise through the ranks and become one of its most respected and well-known students. At some point, he became the student council president gaining him more respect from the student body.

Manabu's younger sister Suzune Horikita, who had always admired his academic prowess, would enrol in his school but her inability to associate with others nor change her ways would cause her to placed in Class D. Manabu was greatly angered by this as his sister's failure would jeopardise the reputation he worked so hard to build.

Appearance
Manabu is a well built young man of average height with a short gray hair and violet colored eyes.

He wears the standard school uniform along with a pair of glasses. He has also been seen wearing swim trunks like at the pool.

Personality
Manabu is a vastly intelligent and serious man who was very dedicated to his duty as student council president. He has much attachment to the role as he believes his reputation would be tarnished if it was discovered that his younger sister was in D-Class, the lowest class.

He does not tolerate excuses as he couldn't believe nor accept his sister's words that her placement in the class wasn't her own fault. With no remorse, he almost went as far as trying to assault his own sister, showcasing his violent side, before Kiyotaka Ayanokōji intervened. He quickly tried to take his fury out on him but his strikes were easily brushed off by the latter. After the skirmish, rather than apologize to his sister, he simply reprimanded her anti-social nature and told her to work harder if she didn't want to be in the lower classes of the school.

He appears to enjoy situations that catch his interest as shown when he smirked at the complaint against Ken Sudō and when he informed Sae Chabashira why he was present. Despite his serious outlook and reputation, he is not above giving praise to those who impress him as shown when he spoke with Arisu Sakayanagi and Kōhei Katsuragi about their success on test as well when he complimented Kiyotaka Ayanokōji after he held his own in a skirmish with him. He appears to have developed respect towards Ayanokōji as his actions have caught his interest which is seen when he hinted that Ayanokōji intentionally entered Class D believing he is hiding what he is capable of. He was disappointed when Ayanokōji does something that doesn't live up to his expectations such as with Sudō's hearing. However, he was willing to let Ayanokōji become part of the student council as he seems to admire his talents and even when his offer was turned down, did not give up on trying to recruit Ayanokōji.

Abilities
As student council president, Manabu had great authority over the students, especially shown when he intimidated Kakeru Ryūen, a delinquent with high influence. He is the only known person to able to bring out the fear in Suzune Horikita who usually remains unmoving in most matters.

He is very proficient in fighting as he holds a 5th-Dan in and a 4th-Dan in. Some of his martial arts skill was shown in Episode 2 when he took a jab at Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, although Kiyotaka avoided being hit with relative ease, much to his surprise.

He has an perceptive side as he was able to recognize the talents of Ayanokōji from their brief skirmish and identify him as the student who scored the same grades throughout his entrance exams. This was seen again as he could tell that Ayanokōji had some role in the dismal of the complaint from Class C.

In the light novels, he is an incredibly fast runner, and seemingly excels in athleticism, well enough to run at an incredible equal speed as Kiyotaka, who is incredible fast in his own right, as seen in a race, despite Kiyotaka losing in the end by an unexpectedly changing track.

Plot
He is first seen giving a speech to the first years telling them to prepare for the new year in school.

Manabu is next seen observing Class D from his office before talking with Arisu Sakayanagi and Kōhei Katsuragi, praising their recent test scores. He later met with his sister who he was quite annoyed to see. Suzune attempts to plea to her brother about how she changed but he doesn't accept it as her placement in the lowest class at the school will ruin his stature. He demands that she leave the school to avoid further disgrace to his name, though she refused, stating that no matter what she will make it to class A. Hearing this, Manabu pushes her to a wall berating her for her shameful actions and is about to attack her when Kiyotaka Ayanokōji intervenes, having witnessed everything and admonishes Manabu for his actions as he told him to release her.

Suzune begged Ayanokōji to stop as it wasn't his concern, when Ayanokōji complied Manabu attacked him but he nimbly avoided and dodged Manabu's other strikes. Manabu was impressed by this display asking Ayanokōji if he studied martial arts as the latter gives him a vague answer. Manabu soon recognized him as the student who scored fifties on all his entrance exams and a recent quiz. He inquired on this even hinting that Ayanokōji is hiding his intelligence on purpose but the latter shrugs this off. Manabu leaves though not before expressing surprise that his sister made a friend but she disregards it as he chides her telling her she needs to acknowledge her shortcomings.

Manabu then receives a complaint from Class C, regarding an attack by Ken Sudō of Class 1-D. Manabu called the news interesting and held the hearing for the students.

He resided over the meeting telling Sae Chabashira that his busy schedule caused him to attend. His presence caused Suzune to become nervous and scared until Ayanokōji brought her back to her senses and she gives a speech that doubted Class C's version of how the fight went down before having the only witness, Airi Sakura, come out. Sakura provided proof that she was present using a photo from her camera which caused Manabu to point out to Kazuma Sakagami, the skeptical teacher of Class C of a unique photo which was one of Sudō and the boys from Class C fighting in the background. The evidence is considered minor as it simply proved Sakura was there but not who initiated the fight and this causes Class C to suggest on a suitable punishment. Suzune rebuked this, leading to an argument between them that is silenced by Manabu, calling it a waste of time and tells them that he'll make a decision the next day and if nobody came forward there would be expulsion on the table.

Afterwards, he leaves the office with Akane Tachibana to find Sakura and Ayanokōji, he voices his disappointment as he stated that when he saw Ayanokōji present he assumed there was a strategy involved but Ayanokōji disregarded this as it was Suzune's actions. Manabu then questioned whether Suzune really did so by herself as Ayanokōji confirms it, causing him to wonder. He turned his attention to Sakura about her presence in the hearing stating if she couldn't prove it then it was a lie. He causes her to get nervous but Ayanokōji defends her, while in response Manabu attempted to attack Ayanokōji again as the latter dodges his strike and Manabu questioned as to whether he has something planned but got another vague answer.

Sometime later, the students of Class C withdrew their complaint and he accepted though pondered why they did so, suspecting Ayanokōji was involved. While he and Tachibana were walking, they met Ayanokōji in the hallway. Manabu explains the recent events and asks if this proved Sakura was telling the truth before he congratulated him on his victory, but Ayanokōji once again gives Suzune all credit for the act. Glaring at Ayanokōji, Manabu had asked Tachibana if they had an opening for a Secretary on the Student Council, to which she confirms. Manabu offers the position to Ayanokōji, while Tachibana questioned his intentions only to be silenced by a gaze from him. He repeated this offer for Ayanokōji to join the council however Ayanokōji rejected it in favor of living a regular school life. Manabu accepted this choice for now but told Ayanokōji not to disappoint him as he and Tachibana walked off.

At the pool, when students of Classes A and C try to get Ken Sudō to move and almost fight, Manabu arrives. After jumping off the top floor, he let everybody know that even though they are engaging in leisurely activities they are still on school grounds. He soon bore witness to his sister's speech of how its possible for Class D to reach Class A and his only reaction was a glare at his sister who responded in the same way.

Trivia

 * He is the first person to recognize Ayanokōji's talents which would become a recurring theme.