Appearance

She has straight black hair down to her shoulders and black eyes. She's quite plain looking actually.

Body

Hika is a short girl with youthful appearance. To her chagrin, she can pass as a highschooler or younger. She has a bit of a complex about her height. She doesn't have pronounced curves either. She could pass as a young boy if she really tried (she would not). Her skin is fair, but perhaps not because she's quite outdoorsy.

Backstory

Hika is a character I have been working on as Kiyoshi's future spouse. His life-long goal is to have children and now that he's back in Japan and his partner has settled into some form of familiarity (he was struggling with depression and suicidality the last few years of their college time). Kiyoshi decided to move forward and enter the dating scene. He tried a lot of methods to meet... women (gasp!). He really had so little experience so his early relationships did last long. He's also a hopeless romantic and got hit with the harsh reality of the modern dating scene. That's without even including his particular qualities, looking like a foreigner. I have also read that in Japan, there's no dual citizenship so perhaps Kiyoshi had to give up his Japanese citizenship to be able to study in the U.S but likely not because that would be really sad. I digress.

Anyways, Kiyoshi met Hikari a couple of years after he started looking for a wifey. In that time, he became burned out and decided to take a break. His anxiety got really bad; he's twenty eight and not getting any younger! I know there's the misogynistic idea of older women as partners is unappealing and somehow Kiyo applies that to himself. Plus, as a neurodivergent polyamourous person, finding someone who was okay with this sort of relationship and would like to build a family has been a bit of a challenge. Kiyo vs. Japanese mainstream dating scene. He didn't stand a chance dramatic sigh. The "failures" got to him so he decided to take a break.

A couple of months later, he catches the eye of a college student working on Tokyo's gay district, Usanami Hikari! She's young, she's peppy, she's idealistic and thinks Kiyoshi is cute as a button. Keima and Kiyoshi have been going to this bar for a bit. Kiyoshi really likes it because it has a nice cozy atmosphere and welcomes people of all genders. The owner is probably Gender X themselves!

So Kiyoshi catches Hikari's eye shoujo style. He's friendly during their first meeting. He stands out because he's a natural blond, and helps her out when she's in trouble. She's a bit clumsy and a new hire, you see.

So yeah! The manager notices her crush probs and helps her out. Keima and Kiyoshi probably look like a couple without being affectionate. Kiyoshi would like to but Keima fluctuates between enjoying holding hands in public and that other cute couple stuff. So cue shenanigans from the manager trying to learn whether they are a couple. The response would be... well yeah, they are. Obviously. I think the manager would be sympathetic to polyamory. Thus, Hika would know as well. She asks Kiyoshi out with that knowledge. It's a really cute scene were Kiyoshi is escorting Hika to the train station and they talk for a while. Kiyoshi really likes her! Platonically. He enjoys being around cheerful and positive people. Oh wait, Hika confesses and asks him out. Shocker!

Kiyoshi is a bit conflicted about it and asks some time to think about it. Probably not a good first impression if it were anyone else (y'know because it shows they're "indecisive" or smth). Kiyoshi is clear he wants to give her a proper answer. Hika really liked him so she was willing to wait.

Well, apart from his turbulent emotions, he also had to check in with his partner. I think Keima wasn't too hyped about it but he said yes because while he still has abandonment issues, he also wants Kiyoshi to be happy.

Thus, a romance out of a shoujo manga begins! This time, Hika is the protagonist.

Thoughts

I really like Hika. She's a-little-bit-of-everything kind of character. She displays a wide range of emotions and has various facets to her personality. I think it's because of her age and I really wanted to highlight the age difference for reasons I wont' get in this post.

One of the reasons why I like Hika as a potential partner for Kiyoshi is because she's everything Kiyoshi didn't envision as a one. She's short, not very feminine, a bit ditzy, young, doesn't have a career, did I mention she's younger than him?! This is really important because Kiyoshi doesn't like a age gaps where he's the older one. It's more of a mental scar thing than anything else, so the fact that Hika is younger and career-less is a huge downside. Should Kiyoshi stop scoring potential partners according to mainstream standards that aren't misogynistic? Maybe he should chill about finding the woman who checks most of the boxes. He has some really high standards which is something he has been working on. Thus, Hika is a challenge from the universe but can he take this chance? Hika knows what kind of relationship he's seeking. That's a huge benefit compared to his past relationships.

Kiyoshi's ideal was someone he could support. A sort of career woman who sought a partner that treated her as an equal. Someone two wanted to build a family and didn't prioritized his career above her. Kiyoshi has plenty of traits that would be appealing to women but he also has several tendencies that make him hard to live with. He's also pretty effeminate and sensitive. Apparently some straight women don't like that, go figure.

Meeting Hikari in an LBGT+ friendly space means there is a space for dialogue about things outside the mainstream. That's a pretty hard thing to find (or so I want to portray).

Thus, after a long night of using Keima as a soundboard, he accepts Hika's confession and they become a couple. He's pretty forefront about his lack of attraction towards her and that he will work hard at nurturing their relationship. All that good shoujo manga stuff.

One little thing about Hika's background. She has an older sister who is pretty queasy about LBGT stuff. She's pretty judgemental about Hika's workplace. While she helped her get the job through a friend, she didn't know it was a gay bar (or the equivalent of 'all gender welcome'). Perhaps her friend is the owner who isn't out to her so they said it was a girl's bar. This relationship is one place where Hika's insecurities comes from. She's looked down on because of her age, so she's rather timid around her loved ones and struggles with standing up for herself. But through the power of love she will become more confident :3.

Headcanons

Okay, I think I got the basics. Time for development. Non-canon stuff. I think Hika also falls somewhere on the LBGT umbrella in pretty much every aspect. She's the kind of person who treats everyone equally regardless of gender and never quite nailed down the romance thing. She loves her friends but doesn't have much confidence in herself so she let's other people make choices for her. She doesn't really know what she likes and what she doesn't. So developing feelings for Kiyoshi is huge for her. She has considered if she likes girls and when she learns about asexuality from Keima, she wonders if such a label describes her. Nothing set in stone so far.

Hika is also not a feminine person. She prefers comfy outfits and shorts where she can move freely. She's always been pretty active in sports and is very kinesthetic. (She's actually Kiyoshi's type.) She idealizes serious women with curvy bodies so she doesn't like her body very much (critique the way society teach girls to hate their bodies and strive for harmful standards, check!). Her body is quite androgynous tbh. I think being around Kiyoshi and learning about fashion will help her become more comfortable in her own skin.

Relationship with Keima

Another relationship she develops is with Kiyoshi's partner, Kirishima Keima. He's rather masculine and is uncomfortable about feminine people (read: girls in this situation) so it takes him a bit to warm up to her. He doesn't have anything against her and is keenly aware of his own insecurities. At first, he didn't want anything to do with her but Hika really wanted to get to know him because he's important to Kiyoshi. They actually hit it off and have a lot in common, aside from being completely head over heels from Kiyoshi (which they talk a lot about anyways). Hika doesn't see Keima as competition. After all, he's a great source of knowledge about the person she loves! She looks up to Keima like an older brother, a Kiyoshi expert. She calls him "Senpai" which kinda wins Keima over. Also, he ends up realizing that Hika's brand of femininity doesn't trigger him too much. Thus they became friendly after meeting a few times and Keima felt comfortable verbalizing his insecurities. He still doesn't wanna know the details about their outings and whatnot. He finds it both embarrassing to hear and makes him insecure (sad pup).

Hika learns about asexuality from Keima. He suggests that if she struggled with relating to romance and dating, then she might be on the spectrum at least. This makes Hika think about her feelings for Kiyoshi. She's in love with him, that's been established. She cares deeply about him and enjoys learning more about him. And also the romance stuff from blushing to rapid heartbeating to dreaming about him when they are apart. This brings up conversations about sexual intimacy.

Both Hika and Keima enjoy sports and physical activity. I don't think they work out or play together because they live far apart but they might watch sports matches or talk about training, something Kiyoshi has no interest in.

All in all, Hika is a character with a huge capacity for character development. If I were to write a fic, she would be the protagonist. It's her story. Okay, Kiyoshi's story is also pretty damn important and so are Keima's insecurities about the relationship but Hika is the shy shoujo manga protagonist whereas Kiyoshi is the love interest. Pretty wild. I love her so much. Never have I created this kind of character. I feel so comfortable thinking about her and I love making up ways her relationship with Keima and Kiyoshi develops. Baby girl has so much to learn about the world. The world is her oyster! (´ ∀ ` *)