History Characters / KaguyaSamaLoveIsWarSecondYears

* SmallRoleBigImpact: In spite of having relatively less exposure in the story than the main characters, Hayasaka's positive influence on Kaguya has led the latter to become closer to Shirogane.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: She doesn't get a lot of screen time, but she's the one who convinced Shirogane to adopt his "Mr. Perfect" persona to win Kaguya over.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: While both of them know that Hayasaka has a job that keeps her from hanging out with them after school, neither of them is aware that she's Kaguya's valet. One of them even compliments Hayasaka on her maid "[[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself cosplay]]" during the culture festival.

* ObliviousToLove: Erika takes this one step further. She's completely clueless about anything related to love, whether it be Kazamatsuri flirting with her, Maki's crush on Tsubasa, or Kaguya and Shirogane's mutual attraction.
* OddFriendship: She's become rather friendly with the Tabletop Gaming club by winter break, even helping them assemble pieces for a game they were planning to sell.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: He is an [[PennyAmongDiamonds impure]] who entered Shuchi'in in order to find information about his missing older brother. He's also the assistant to a famous detective and helped solve multiple cases. This is only ever mentioned in the Volume 10 extras.

* ICallItVera: Chapter 172 reveals that she has a taser for self defense which is apparently named "Zappy-kun".

* TaremeEyes: One of Nagisa's notable features to show that she is a NiceGirl.

'''Second-Years'''-]]]]]

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Played with. She's a ShipperOnDeck for Shirogane/Kaguya because she witnessed firsthand that Shirogane brought colors back into Kaguya's life when they met, Kaguya being the person who is dearest to her. Ever since then, Hayasaka has done everything in her power, and then some more, for Kaguya to be with Shirogane.

* SatelliteCharacter: The two of them almost exclusively interact with or talk about Hayasaka, though chapter 153 of ''We Want to Talk About Kaguya'' implies that Mirin is also friends with Erika offscreen.

* GirlsAreReallyScaredOfHorrorMovies: Like her relative Kaguya, she can't handle spooky stuff.

* GirlsAreReallyScaredOfHorrorMovies: Zigzagged. She doesn't have any problem with horror movies and will happily munch down on popcorn during a movie marathon to help build up Erika's resistance, but she is terrified of haunted houses.

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Like father, like grandfather, like son, Tsubasa ended up getting Kashiwagi pregnant at the age of 17 (three months before his 18th birthday). Which he doesn't mind as Tsubasa is over the moon at having a child. Promotional artwork depicting the cast as adults also show that they go on to have at least one other child.]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SaoriHayami (Japanese)

* ShipperOnDeck: She is shown encouraging Ishigami to confess to Tsubame during the Culture Festival arc, though beyond that she doesn't seem to have any particular investment in them becoming a couple as the series never focuses on her feelings on the matter after that point. [[[spoiler:That being said, she isn't ''too'' unhappy about Kaguya dating Shirogane, though it did take time for her to adjust.]]

* WhyCantIHateYou: Maki is very upset that her friend, Kashiwagi, got together with the boy she was interested in first. However, she also admits that Kashiwagi is the one person she just can't hate, because [[spoiler:Kashiwagi views Maki as the person she loves the most. This leads to Maki forbidding her from breaking up with Tsubasa just to make her happy.]

* SenpaiKohai: She becomes a borderline CoolBigSis for Ishigami by the time of the Culture Festival arc, much like his relationship with Kaguya.

* LeaveTheTwoLovebirdsAlone: In Chapter 156, she quickly ducks into a nearby empty classroom so the two can have some privacy while conversing with Ishigami when Tsubame shows up to talk to him. She also admonishes Iino for not doing the same.

* LeaveTheTwoLovebirdsAlone: In Chapter 156, she's in the middle of a converstion with Ishigami, but when Tsubame shows up to talk to him she quickly ducks into a nearby empty classroom so the two can have some privacy. She also admonishes Iino for not doing the same.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted. Another Maki appears as a jock's girlfriend in Chapter 26 and the president of the Tabletop Gaming Club usually goes by the nickname Makki-senhai. Another Maki is also mentioned during a FlashForward, though in this case the overlap is justified since [[spoiler:it's perfectly in character for Kashiwagi to name her firstborn son after her best friend.]]

* DudeShesLikeInAComa: Gender inverted. She thinks that Kaguya should've taken advantage of Shirogane's sleep to kiss him.

* NotSoDifferent: Ignoring her physical differences and her sarcastic snarkiness, Hayasaka as her true self could easily be mistaken for a second Kaguya, especially given how she reacts when trying to seduce Shirogane.

* BeneathTheMask: [[invoked]]. [[WordOfGod Extras]] states that she has many modes like gal and maid mode, but her real personality is actually similar to Kaguya's in that she gets scared a lot and cries easily. This was shown in Chapter 42 when she realizes that she wants to be in love too with the biggest blush on her face. Shown again in Chapter 58 when she starts crying out of frustration for failing to [[ItMakesSenseInContext seduce Shirogane]]. The rap battle chapter has Hayasaka (as Haasaka-kun) rap to Kaguya about how she's frustrated with putting on all of her personas for the latter's sake, and how she wants to find love and act for herself for once, putting all of her previous grievances into the limelight for the first time. [[spoiler:On a more serious note, it's revealed in Chapter 179 and several chapters afterwards that she utterly loathes herself and believes she's a terrible person for spying on Kaguya.]]

* AmbiguouslyBi: While she has stated a desire for a boyfriend a few times, later chapters start teasing the possibility of attaction between her and [[spoiler:Fujiwara]]. While it's mostly played as a joke, [[spoiler:a FlashForward during her final chapter includes her cuddling with Fujiwara and mentioning how she occasionally lives in her house. Even if it's purely taken as a dream she's having, her sleeping face specifically shows that she's enjoying it.]]

* BeneathTheMask: [[invoked]][[WordOfGod Extras]] states that she has many modes like gal and maid mode, but her real personality is actually similar to Kaguya's in that she gets scared a lot and cries easily. This was shown in Chapter 42 when she realizes that she wants to be in love too with the biggest blush on her face. Shown again in Chapter 58 when she starts crying out of frustration for failing to [[ItMakesSenseInContext seduce Shirogane]]. The rap battle chapter has Hayasaka (as Haasaka-kun) rap to Kaguya about how she's frustrated with putting on all of her personas for the latter's sake, and how she wants to find love and act for herself for once, putting all of her previous grievances into the limelight for the first time. [[spoiler:On a more serious note, it's revealed in Chapter 179 and several chapters afterwards that she utterly loathes herself and believes she's a terrible person for spying on Kaguya.]]

** For all the grief she gives Kaguya over her inability to just confess to Shirogane, she has her own unhealthy view on romance. She thinks that to get someone to love you, you have to put on a facade. Shirogane calls her out for hiding behind masks, despite him also doing his best to keep up the image of the perfect student and council president.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: {{Invoked}} and {{subverted}}. She's a massive DeadpanSnarker and is absolutely able to put on different acts: a cheerful teenage girl in front of her friends (the "Gal mode"), a level-headed maid who carries out duties flawlessly and occasionally gives her mistress grief over her absurd demands, and an anti-Miyuki version, Haysaca-chan, a maneater who picks up men in Roppongi and Azabu and leads them around by the nose. That said, Ai is not actually nasty and is in reality a genuinely kind person who loves Kaguya and would do anything for her.
* TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: In Chapter 177, Kaguya asks Hayasaka what place and activities she would recommend on a first date for Ishigami. While Kaguya is initially impressed with Hayasaka's plan, she eventually finds out that Hayasaka was just fantasizing about what her ideal date would look like. Kaguya, feeling sorry for asking Hayasaka for advice and then acting insensitive about it, nonetheless presents the plan to Ishigami. He likes parts of the plan, but in his usual BrutallyHonest way, he points out several logistical flaws in it and can't help but comment that "this plan radiates thirst" because it's built around visiting a famous make-out spot. This earns him a volleyball in his face from an eavesdropping Hayasaka.

* ButNotTooForeign: She's a quarter Irish, implying that unlike the rest of the main cast, the color of her eyes and hair is not cosmetic to fit the manga, as the early chapters point out.

* CoolBigSis: She's the only person in Kaguya's life who resembles family and takes care of her most personal needs. She even admits to viewing Kaguya as a little sister in Chapter 75.
* CosmicMotifs: She has a subtle stellar motif, with her nails, Line ID, and phone case all having a star pattern. It's symbolic of her devotion to Kaguya, since the moon is almost always accompanied by stars.

* CovertPervert: The first thing she does upon finding out that [[spoiler:Kaguya and Shirogane kissed]] is asking Kaguya what it was like, despite there having been far more important questions at the time.

* EntertaininglyWrong: She initially misinterprets Karen's shipping tendencies as her being a StalkerWithoutACrush towards Kaguya and inserts herself into her and Erika's social circle to keep an eye on her. By the time she realizes that Karen is just a harmless idiot, it's far to late to come up with a plausible excuse to separate herself from them.

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: [[spoiler:Chapter 187 has her shortening her hair to a shoulder-length bobcut after she's officially no longer Kaguya's maid. Combine that with her wearing the proper Shuchi'in uniform and she almost looks like a different person.]]

* FirstNameBasis: [[spoiler:Kaguya starts to call her by her first name "Ai" in Chapter 187, now that she's no longer her maid and is just her friend. This is especially unusual for Kaguya, since she typically refers to everyone else by their last name or title, even the student council.]]

* TheGlassesGottaGo: Implied. She is incredibly nearsighted, but is only shown wearing her glasses while going through her morning routine, and instead wears contacts in her day-to-day life. While it isn't specified if she does so because it's more fashionable, it wouldn't exactly be out of character if that was the case.

* HereditaryHairstyle: [[spoiler:After her ImportantHaircut in Chapter 186, she styles it into a bob that was clearly inspired by her mother (though her mother's hair lacks the single large fringe). It's also later revealed that her Hayasaka-kun apperance is modeled after her father.]]

* HiredHelpAsFamily: Hayasaka's family has a long running LegacyOfService with the the Shinomiya family, and she in particular is shown to have a close sisterly bond with Kaguya despite technically being her valet.
* HypercompetentSidekick: To Kaguya. Hayasaka is a master multi-tasker, capable of pulling off miracles for the sake of Kaguya, and without all the neuroticism that her dear friend and employer has.

* IJustWantToBeFree: She was born into servitude, which has robbed her of a normal childhood. [[spoiler:While being treated as a joke, when she mentioned that she wants to switch jobs, she was serious. Not only is her job full-time with next to no time for any hobbies or proper sleep (for the last ten years), she also has to constantly lie and report on her best friend and honorary sister. At the end of the Kyoto trip, she finally is relieved of her duties and can properly be friends with Kaguya.]]

* IJustWantToBeNormal: She really wishes she didn't have to juggle around several identities and have a boyfriend of her own. Too bad babysitting [[RichInDollarsPoorInSense Kaguya]] is a full-time job on its own.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Hayasaka spends most of her time attending Kaguya and watching over her. While she does have friends in school, she doesn't show anyone but Kaguya and her mother what she's really like in the manga. She eventually lets out her frustrations in a rap battle with Kaguya, angrily declaring that she doesn't want to hide who she is and that she also wants (male) friends and date someone.
* ImportantHairAccessory: She wears a blue scrunchie to hold up her hair that was a gift from Kaguya when they were children, and represents their friendship. [[ShoePhone She also installed a phone in it]], and (in the anime) it blinks with red lights when Kaguya needs her help. [[spoiler:After having to cut her hair during the Class Trip arc, she stops wearing it in her hair and instead uses a [[CosmicMotifs star and crescent moon]] hairpin (which represents the same thing but is far more up front about its meaning due to them no longer hiding their relationship). She still has the scrunchie, but it's now used as a wristband.]]

* ManipulativeBastard: Not in a bad sense, but she is absolutely capable of being manipulative, and knows to anticipate people's thoughts and use to her advantage during her missions. Fujiwara is the only exception.

* {{Meido}}: She wears a maid outfit at home, but her tasks are much more varied then simply taking care of Kaguya.

** Fujiwara believes that the Hayasaka she knows from school is gay, after Hayasaka gave Fujiwara a ForcefulKiss in a moment of weakness.

** During the class trip in Kyoto, Hayasaka's friends assume she is in love with Shirogane after seeing them together from afar, which prompts Kaguya to [[ClingyJealousGirl react accordingly]]. In truth, Hayasaka sought his help.
** Later chapters shows that [[SustainedMisunderstanding the misunderstanding followed them back to Shuchi'in]], where Hayasaka's [[spoiler:ImportantHaircut and her personality seemingly becoming more sullen overnight (she actually just dropped her [[GyaruGirl kogal persona]] because she doesn't need it anymore)]] are mistaken for obvious signs of heartbreak.

* NotHerself: Subverted. Post class trip [[spoiler:(now released from her service to the Shinomiya family), Hayasaka behaves harsher and more distant in school, which is actually truer to how she usually behaves. Her GyaruGirl friends in school assume it's how she copes with [[MistakenForRomance having her heart broken by Shirogane]].]]

** She's considerably embarrassed when Kaguya makes her try to seduce Shirogane... and in turn Hayasaka starts falling for his courtesies. She's so mad that Kaguya has to apologize to her, though this makes her see why Kaguya fell for the guy.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: She has always placed at ''exactly'' 114th place in all of the end of semester exams. Considering that she got a similar education and lives with the best possible study partner in the school (and already has stable employment that would cancel out the need for her to get into a good college), it's clear that she's doing it on purpose. It's also implied that she's lowering the bar intentionally so that this doesn't become an additional burden for her, as she's busy enough as it is. [[spoiler:The Volume 20 extras reveal that, now that she no longer has to maintain her dumb GyaruGirl persona and can focus more on her studies, she got 20th in the latest exam.]]

* PrettyFreeloader: [[spoiler: Her final chapter hints at, and the volume bonus out right says, that she becomes a NEET after graduating, since she has a sizable savings and feels no hurry to get back into the work force she alternates from living with Fujiwara (Kaguya kicked her out after three days) and traveling around the world.]]

* ProperlyParanoid: When Shirogane asks why she doesn't ask the Shinomiya Family for protection from people who want to know what she knows about the Shinomiya Family, she admits she trusts them least of all. Considering one of Kaguya's brothers is there at Kyoto specifically for that information, she's right not to go for them.

* SecretlyWealthy: In terms of personal weath, she is the independently wealthiest character among the teenaged cast with over 40 million yen in savings thanks to having served as Kaguya's maid for a decade [[labelnote:(!)]]$360k USD or €321k; to put it into context, without raises, she's been making about $150 USD/€133.75 per day, but her schedule is pretty much 24/7, so she doesn't have the time to spend any money; on the plus side, she doesn't have bills to pay on her own[[/labelnote]].

* SignificantBirthDate: Played with. Her birthday is listed as April 2 (public) in the official fanbook. While the date itself isn't significant, the fact that it's listed as public means that she was probably born sometime in March and the official date was changed so she and Kaguya would be in the same grade.

* WrenchWench: While it's not a major part of her character, she has a passion for computer engineering. Kaguya reveals that she built her own mini computer and based on the image we saw, she really enjoyed it. She also geeks out when reading all of the special features that Kaguya's new smartphone has and constructed several {{Shoe Phone}}s for her job as Kaguya's valet.

%%* AlliterativeName: Suruga.
* AlternateCharacterReading: Mirin's name in kanji can also be read as Misuzu. In Chapter 211, furigana are given that make it clear her name is to be read as Mirin.
* EntertaininglyWrong: Due to being LockedOutOfTheLoop about Hayasaka's true profession and relationship with Kaguya, they consistently draw the wrong conclusion. They believe Hayasaka is [[MistakenForRomance pining for Shirogane]], seeing how close they seemingly are. Based off of [[ClingyJealousGirl Kaguya's reaction]] to their assumption, they also believe that a LoveTriangle is going on. [[spoiler:After Hayasaka goes through an ImportantHaircut and starts acting more like her [[DeadpanSnarker usual self]] (and not like her usual ditzy GenkiGirl gyaru persona in school), they assume it's because she had her heart broken at the end of the class trip and that Kaguya won the LoveTriangle.]]

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: While both of them know that Hayasaka has a job that keeps her from hanging out with them after school, neither of them are aware that she's Kaguya's valet. One of them even compliments Hayasaka on her maid "[[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself cosplay]]" during the culture festival.
* NoNameGiven: Neither of their names were revealed up until an omake in Volume 18. And even then it never specified who is who until Volume 19.

* AmbiguouslyBi: There have been a few points that suggest that she might have actually have a crush on Maki, like the fact that she constantly imitates her, asked to dance with her during the bonfire, and blushed when thinking about how much Kaguya resembles her. She also explicitly tells Hayasaka and Fujiwara that she finds them attractive and wouldn't mind kissing either of them (although it's possible that she just said that to keep them away from the student council room). What's less ambiguous is her having a dreamy look when [[ThatCameOutWrong Iino asks to teach her about kissing]] (in order to tie a cherry stem). Fujiwara even comments on it.
* AudienceSurrogate: Many of her thoughts and reactions resemble those that readers would have in regards to the student council's antics.
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Kashiwagi and Tsubasa ended up having a baby together by the end of Chapter 274. Promotional artwork depicting the cast as adults also shows that they go on to have at least one other child.]]

* ChildhoodFriends: She's been best friends with Maki since elementarty school. It's implied that [[ChildhoodFriendRomance it may actually be romantic on her part]], though nothing concrete is stated ([[AmbiguouslyBi much like with her sexuality]]).

* IJustWantToBeYou: According to her profile in the Volume 17 extras, she has an unhealthy desire to ''be'' Maki, which puts all her imitation of her in a very different perspective.

* ShadowArchetype: What Maki is to Kaguya, Kashiwagi is to Fujiwara. Friends for a long time and genuinely close, but she ends up dating her best friend's crush without knowing about said crush. And while both are intelligent, Kashiwagi can feign ignorance while Fujiwara is a full blown GeniusDitz.

* SickeninglySweethearts: How the student council view her and her boyfriend.

* TeenGenius: She is shown to consistently place in the top 10 test scores of her class. Under her tutelage, her boyfriend also managed to remarkably increase his score ranking from 139th to 84th.

* TooMuchInformation: Kashiwagi has a bad habit to sharing a bit too much details about her love life with Tsubasa, to the point that Maki has to block it out.
* UnknownRival: She is completely oblivious to the fact that Maki considers her a rival for Tsubasa's affection.

A male student in the same year as Kaguya, Shirogane, and Fujiwara. He constantly asks Shirogane and the Student council for love advice, but more often than not ends up inadvertently messing with them in some way. Despite this, he has a (mostly) healthy relationship with Kashiwagi. Due to his plain looks and personality (and the fact that they don't quite care about him), the student council members don't learn his name until Chapter 109, so they mostly referred to him as "Kashiwagi's Boyfriend".

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Like father, like grandfather, like son, Tsubasa ended up getting Kashiwagi pregnant at the age of 17 (three months before his 18th birthday). Which he doesn't mind as Tsubasa is over the moon at having a child. Promotional artwork depicting the cast as adults also shows that they go on to have at least one other child.]]

* TheGenericGuy: This was his primary characteristic early on. He had average grades, average looks, little to no personality to speak of, and wasn't even referred to by name until 103 chapters after his introduction (the student council literally just referred to him as "Kashiwagi's Boyfriend"). Although he did start getting better grades thanks to his girfriend's tutoring, and he started dyeing his hair after summer break.
* GivenNameReveal: It took 103 chapters from his introduction before his name was revealed. Before that, he was just referred to as "Kashiwagi's boyfriend". This is lampshaded by Shirogane, Ishigami, ''and'' the narration. His last name was only confirmed via [[https://twitter.com/kaguya_comic/status/1165536001554411520 a tweet by the author]] almost 4 years after his introduction, and is never actually spoken in-series (though it is used in Kashiwagi's character profile and a caption in Chapter 180).

* ItRunsInTheFamily: Chapter 147 reveals that his grandfather and father both got a girl pregnant when they were 17 [[spoiler:While he initially seems to have avoided following in their footsteps by the time of his 18th birthday, Kashiwagi turns out to be 3 months pregnant shortly afterwards.]]
* LoveMakesYouDumb: Inverted due to dating Kashiwagi, as she regularly tutors him and his grades jumped up from 139th position to 34th by two semesters.

* AloneAmongTheCouples: In the wrap up for the culture festival, she finds herself surrounded by various couples dancing around the bonfire.

* TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: In Chapter 144, Shirogane comes to her for love advice. She points out that she is probably the worst person he could ask, since she is very unlucky in terms of love and ''she'' is usually the one who comes to Shirogane or Ishigami for advice. However, since Shirogane would like her opinion on [[spoiler:Ice Kaguya's behavior, and because of their similarities, Maki can actually perfectly empathize with Kaguya.]]

* BrokenAce: Maki is Kaguya's intellectual equal, beautiful, rich, has a circle of close friends and a loving family. The only thing that deeply upsets her is her unlucky love life, where her crush and her best friend are dating, and she can't give up on them.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: It's revealed near the end of the series that she's been in love with Tsubasa for a ''long'' time. It's not clear exactly how long, though from Kaguya's estimation they would have been around 10 since it had to have been at a time when the Shijos were still going to the Tanuma family hospital.

* FirstNameBasis: One of the biggest differences between her and Kaguya is that she almost always adresses people she's close to by their given names, [[LastNameBasis something that Kaguya never does]]. When she does this with Hayasaka, she admits that that she only does this with those who she considers her equals.
* GirlishPigtails: She styles her hair this way currently. It's unknown when she started doing so, as flashbacks to the beginning of freshman year shows that she used to let her hair hang loose with a small hairpin (which inspired Kashiwagi's current hairstyle).

* HopelessSuitor: It has been noted that she doesn't really have any chance getting together with Tsubasa due to how far his relationship with Kashiwagi has developed.

* ItAmusedMe: [[spoiler:When her brother transfers to Shuchi'in Academy at the beginning of senior year, she tries to get him involved in Karen and Erika's antics (since they think he's a fellow fan of Kaguya) for no other reason than because she found the whole thing hilarious.]]
* ItRunsInTheFamily: Being distantly related to Kaguya, Maki is also very intelligent, scoring only a point below Kaguya in exams. She also switches between displaying arrogance and cuteness just as easily (with the exact same facial expressions, no less) and is sensitive to loud noises. When Shirogane comes to her for advice, she is able to understand Kaguya's point of view and sympathizes with it immediately. She figures out who Shirogane was talking about just from how alike she and Kaguya are. Amusingly, they're also both [[ACuptAngst conscious about their breast sizes]] when pressed.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Her sense of honour doesn't allow her to disrupt an happy couple such as Tsubasa and Kashiwagi. Not only that, but she also wants everyone (Ishigami, Shirogane, Kaguya…) to be happy in love even if she cannot be.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She can be pretty rude, ill-tempered, has frequent temptations over how she wants to break Kashiwagi and Tsubasa apart, and has a knack for bullying her younger brother for the pettiest of grievances, but is ultimately one of the most caring characters in the series who puts her friends before herself. Even when Ishigami and Shirogane casually suggested that she should steal Tsubasa from Kashiwagi, she never does so because she still loves them too much for her to do that. [[spoiler:She even develops a protective streak towards Kaguya when their relationship becomes more amicable following the events of Chapter 168.]]

* MoodSwinger: She constantly switches between being smug, depressed and acting [[{{Tsundere}} hot and cold]] towards others, just like her relative Kaguya.

* NoNameGiven: {{Played With}}. Technically, her name appears as early as Chapter 31 (in the exam results). However, it's not made clear that she's the same character as the UnluckyExtra occasionally seen following Kashiwagi until Chapter 61. She ''finally'' introduces herself by name properly in Chapter 98.
* OddFriendship: Maki initially only went to Shirogane and Ishigami to vent to them over her frustrations of her unrequited feelings for Tsubasa, but over time develops an actual friendship with them and considers them her equals.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted. Another Maki appears as a jock's girlfriend in Chapter 26 and president of the Tabletop Gaming Club usually goes by the nickname Makki-senhai. Another Maki is also mentioned during a FlashForward, though in this case the overlap is justified since [[spoiler:it's perfectly in character for Kashiwagi to name her firstborn son after her best friend.]]
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Maki tends to rub off the wrong way on people that she meets because she cannot help but express herself contentiously, as if she was looking for a fight. Kashiwagi knows that her intentions are always less belligerent than what she shows, but she's not shy in telling Maki to just be sincere and not seek a quarrel all the time.

** Being only a point below Kaguya herself, she's her academic rival off screen and they are fully aware of each other. Makes even more sense when it is revealed they are actually distant relatives.
** She thinks herself one for Kashiwagi when it comes for Tsubasa, but cannot bring herself to actually act upon it because she cares about Kashiwagi too much to do anything. As it turns out, [[spoiler:Kashiwagi tells her that she likes her more than she likes Tsubasa.]]

* SingleTargetSexuality: She only has her eyes for Tsubasa, even after he started dated Kashiwagi and the latter confessing to Maki that she prefers her best friend a lot more than her boyfriend. When Shirogane suggested that she move on and find someone else in Chapter 193, she flat out declare that she's not content on giving up her crush. [[spoiler: Chapter 273 reveals she had a crush on him for ''seven years''. Despite this, she outright forbids Kashiwagi from breaking up with him just to make her happy.]]
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Despite Ishigami pointing out that Tsubasa is just an ExtremeDoormat, Maki is quick to defend her crush, adding that Tsubasa is someone that she's comfortable talking with.

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Shirogane and Ishigami notice that Maki and Kaguya share a great deal of mannerisms and attitudes as a result of being brought up in the same way.

* KidDetective: He's the assistant of the famous detective named Hajime Echizen and the two have apparantly solved many cases together, including the disappearance of his older brother.

* MistakenForGay: Karen spent months thinking that he's in love with Shirogane due some out of context remarks by Fujiwara. The misunderstanding wouldn't be cleared up until during winter break.

* ReformedBully: He tried to sabatoge Shirogane's grades in the past, but now he competes with him fairly.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Karen almost certainly has a crush on Shirogane, though she also constanly fawns over Kaguya (as well as Fujiwara in the OVA). And that's not even getting into her PseudoRomanticFriendship with Erika.

* AudienceSurrogate: She's essentially the embodiment of the entire Kaguya/Shirogane shipping fandom incarnate. Her [[{{Squee}} reaction]] [[spoiler:after luckily spotting Kaguya and Shirogane kissing on the rooftop during the Festival arc]] is almost exactly how the fans reacted out of universe to the same event.

** In ''We Want To Talk About Kaguya'' Chapter 84 (which is set directly some time after Chapter 96 of the main manga), in spite of always being RightForTheWrongReasons with regards to Kaguya and Shirogane, Karen actually hits the bullseye this time in correctly identifying Kaguya's reasons for making Oyster Fried Rice in the fried rice contest from that chapter (that it was because oysters were Shirogane's favourite food) and that the one ingredient she and Erika lacked in their version of oyster fried rice was the love Kaguya put into it for Shirogane. Too bad Fujiwara shoots her down immediately both times despite being on-point.

** Karen was also correct that the reason Kaguya went to the hostipal because she was "lovesick," something that brings back embarrassing memories for Hayasaka.

* DitzyGenius: Karen might be a fangirl who has shipping on the brain 90% of the time, but she still regularly scores among the top 30 of her class during the end of semester exams. Even whe she neglected her studies, she still placed 40th.

** She and Erika reason that Ishigami is a good guy because they trust Kaguya and Shirogane's judgement over the first years' gossip.

** Despite her penchant for writing doujinshi featuring Kaguya and Shirogane getting entangled in various romantic scenarios she comes up with with each other, she draws the line at coming up with R-18 fantasies involving them since they're still actual people she knows and that thinking up of such things with this in mind goes ''beyond'' weird and creepy for her.

* FriendshipDenial: Karen regularly interacts with Ishigami in ''We Want to Talk About Kaguya'', and looks on happily when he's being comforted by the Cheer Team during the sports festival, but she states that they have a strict business relationship when Erika asks if they're friends (he acts as the editor for her Kaguya/Shirogane doujinshi). This denial is probably for continuity purposes, since Maki is established in the main series to be the first girl to consider him a friend. Due to OutOfContextEavesdropping, Ishigami understands she doesn't want to be associated with him, but in context, Karen mainly said she's not close enough to Ishigami to ask for another favor, since she's already the one "indebted" to him.

* GoneHorriblyWrong: Not only was she the one responsible for having Kashiwagi ask Tsubasa if he had a girlfriend, she was the one who suggested that Tsubasa go to Shirogane for love advice. All this while trying to hook him up with Maki.

* HeroicBSOD: Seeing [[spoiler:Kaguya and Shirogane's RelationshipUpgrade]] causes her brain to temporarily burn out because she can't reconcile it with every past bit of information she gathered that pointed to [[spoiler:the two of them already being a couple.]]

* HypocriticalHumor: In ''We Want To Talk About Kaguya'' Chapter 156, she claims that shipping wars surrounding people you know are pointless and people shouldn't force those opinions on others. When Erika asks how that's any different from her constant Shirogane/Kaguya fantasies, she claims that she's merely "spreading the word".

* LoopholeAbuse: Both her and Erika manage to get unbanned from the Mass Media Club by stating they could call Shirogane president because everyone still refers to him that way despite his term ending, as they could see it as a nickname akin of a prince.
* LoveIsLikeReligion: Taken rather literally. She is such a rabid Kaguya/Shirogane shipper that she routinely compares their assumed love for each other to an act of God, even claiming that the idea of one of them going out with somebody else to be blasphemy. She goes so far as to directly quote the bible whenever she sees them engaged in a particularly romantic activity like holding hands during the fireworks festival or [[spoiler:their FirstKiss.]]

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: She's named after Ki no Tsurayuki, a Heian era poet.

** Her general reaction when the topic of real life doujins comes up out of fear of something finding out her hobby.
* ProperlyParanoid: Karen the only person (aside from Hayasaka, Maki, and Kashiwagi that is) to discover Shirogane and Kaguya [[spoiler:sharing their kiss]] during the end of Culture Festival, but prefers keeping this a secret from both Erika and Fujiwara due to their disapproval of [[spoiler:Kaguya dating someone else]] (as seen back in Chapter 84 of the ''We Want to Talk About Kaguya''). [[spoiler:Considering how Fujiwara [[ShippingTorpedo didn't take the couple's relationship well]] in Chapter 223 of the main series, Karen made the right call]].

* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: A very mild, PlayedForLaughs example. Normally she and Erika are completely dismissive or oblivious in regards to Toyosaki and Kazamatsuri's advances, but when the guys decide to spend time with a different duo of girls Karen is immediately pissed off.

* CutenessOverload: Just making eye contact with Kaguya can cause Erika to pass out from joy. It ended up causing a rumor among the student body that Kaguya could kill someone by looking at them. That said, she does eventually reach the point where she can carry out an extended coversation without collapsing, [[spoiler:which is good, since Kaguya never would have been able to learn photography from her otherwise.]]

* DeliberateUnderPerformance: She deliberately tries to get 3rd place on the end of semester exams so her name will be listed right after Kaguya's on the class ranking (she gets 50th instead).

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Parodied. [[spoiler:She spends the timeframe of "The First Kiss Never Ends" arc with her hair down soley to imitate Kaguya. The second she sees that Kaguya has reverted to her normal hairstyle, she goes right back to normal.]]

* {{Irony}}: Early on in ''We Want to Talk About Kaguya'', she expresses a desire for a boyfriend so Kaguya will come to her for relationship advice, despite her being the least quilified person to talk about such things due to a combination of her general cluelessness towards love and the implication that [[AmbiguouslyGay she has no interest in men]]. [[spoiler:Once it's revealed that Kaguya desires to be a photographer, Erika becomes the ''most'' qualified person in the cast to give her advice due to her role in the Mass Media Club.]]

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: She's named after Kose no Oumi, a Heian era painter.

* ObliviousToLove: Erika takes this one step further. She's completely clueless to anything related to love, whether it be Kazamatsuri flirting with her, Maki's crush on Tsubasa, or Kaguya and Shirogane's mutual attraction.

* PastimesProvePersonality: Averted. Most characters are in clubs that reflect their personalities or family businesses. Erika is obsessed with Kaguya and comes from a family that produces miso paste, but she is neither in the Japanese Archery club nor the Home Economics club. In the case of the former she compares it like being too close to the sun, and the latter is because she's bad at sewing.

* SecretSecretKeeper: [[spoiler:She finds out that Kaguya and Shirogane are dating during the final day of the class trip, when she and Karen (who already knew) catch a sight of the two of them together.]]

* UptownGirl: While it's never directly addressed by the narritive and [[ObliviousToLove she's oblivious to his advances]], there is a significant wealth gap between her and Kazamatsuri. [[spoiler:Chapter 192 of ''We Want to Talk About Kaguya'' implies that the two marry at some point in the future.]]
* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Played With. When she overhears Ishigami calling Karen "Namamono[[note]] A slang term for someone who makes doujinshi of real-world individuals[[/note]]-senpai," Karen covers her tracks by telling Erika "[[BlatantLies all living things are namamono]]", only for this to backfire when Erika starts casually flinging the word around. Since Karen can't correct this without causing embarrasment, she's reduced to shouting at Erika not to use words she's only just learned.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[NoodleIncident Something]] happened to her in the past that nearly resulted in her dropping out of school. While the exact details haven't been given, it's implied that she was a victim of bullying.

* {{Foil}}: To Ishigami, of all people, as she is basically his female counterpart. Both of them are gamers, served as the student council treasurer, and are shown to have a belligerent relationship with a specific authority figure. Although the two never met, [[spoiler:Ryuju is the first person to agree in Tsubame's plan on vindicating Ishigami from his status as a pariah in chapter 201]].

* InconsistentColoring: Her initial cameo appearance in Season 1 depicts her with dark brown hair. Come her proper appearance in Season 3 and it's now electric blue. Her hat also goes from brown to white.
* InformedAttractiveness: While she isn't drawn ugly, the reader learns in Chapter 166 that she is said to be one of the four "Impossible Girls", the four most beautiful girls in Shuchi'in High School (excluding the student council) who are impossible to approach and date.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: She doesn't get a lot of screentime, but she's the one who convinced Shirogane to adopt his "Mr. Perfect" persona to win Kaguya over.

* ButtMonkey: From what little is shown, nothing goes right for him. He tries to run for student council president which ends with him dropping out after Kaguya scares him shitless, and his attempt to court Shuchi'in High's most beautiful girls earns them the title of being "Impossible Girls".