Kiyotaka Ayanokoji
Kiyotaka Ayanokōji (綾あやの小こう路じ 清きよ隆たか, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka) is the main protagonist of the You-Zitsu series. He is currently a second-year student of Advanced Nurturing High School. Following the entrance exam in which he scored precisely 50 points in every subject, he was placed in D-Class. In the anime adaptation, he sits at the rear left corner of the class seat next to Suzune Horikita.
Appearance
Kiyotaka's appearance in the light novel.
Kiyotaka is a tall and lean young man with brown hair, brown eyes, and a fair complexion. He is usually seen wearing a standard school uniform. Outside of school, he wears a white hoodie covering a green shirt with an orange stripe along with brown pants. He is also seen wearing a blue vest over a white shirt and brown pants. He has grown taller since his first arrival at the school.
He is considered to be very handsome, as was mentioned in the light novels, by Kikyō Kushida, that he ranked 5th in ikemen amongst the first-year boys. This is somewhat confirmed as he has attracted the attention of many girls in his class, some of whom are even very popular. Kei, before she officially started dating him, said he is considered to be in the top 10 of the hottest boys in the entire school. Satō finds him hotter than even Yōsuke Hirata despite being rejected by Kiyotaka.
He also has an incredibly well-built body, which was pointed out by Suzune Horikita at the swimming pool. She noticed the immense muscular structure of his body and his arms, particularly his lower arms, and questioned if he did sports, to which he adamantly denied. The reason for this is most likely due to the extensive training he went through as a child in the White Room. Most of the time, he is shown to express a lackadaisical and idle look, which gives off an unconcerned attitude. This can be interpreted as indifference or a relatively passive demeanor to his peers. It is shown in a flashback, that even as a child he possessed a similar unmoving expression that he would keep until adolescence. Many see him as someone who is devoid of emotions as he has never once cried or smiled in their presence calling him abnormal.
In contrast to the anime, the light novel depicts (to an extent) Kiyotaka with more dynamic facial expressions.
Personality
Kiyotaka is an inconspicuous and unobtrusive student, and while his grades are average (on purpose), he possesses a sagacious ability to read the emotions of people around him with pinpoint accuracy and either helps or destroys them. Despite his apparent laziness and lack of interest about everything and everyone, Kiyotaka is actually a highly intelligent individual, often pulling the strings behind the scenes.
He is well-versed in history as he has quoted many historical figures who are all well known for their intelligence. He tends to come up with ingenious and imaginative plans such as using the school rules so that he could obtain old test questions from an older D-Class student by paying him 15,000 points. He also used the rules and the purpose of points to bribe his teacher into stopping the expulsion of Ken Sudō. In fact, it is hinted by a select few that he could have easily been placed in a higher class like A-Class if he actually applied himself.
He is somewhat socially awkward, as he is terrible at communicating with people and fails at correctly associating with them. As a result, he speaks in a very monotonous way (in the anime) and tends to isolate himself from his peers, not getting involved with social activities. These traits tend to leave an impression on others that he is cunning, uncaring, breezy, and carefree, while also hinting at aloofness, latency, or generally a sense of apathy towards anything besides issues that specifically concern him. That is why some people in his class still finds him to be an enigmatic presence despite having been with him for over a year.
However, he is shown to be capable of sustaining some conversations, though in a somewhat dull and monotonous fashion, as shown in his interactions with Kikyō Kushida and his other classmates. Though he does put more effort in conversing with those he is truly close with and deep-down cares for them surreptitiously.
He appears to keep his word as he promised Airi Sakura that he would come to her aid when she needed it, a promise well-kept as he rescued her from a pedophilic stalker. He also promised Suzune that he would get her to get to A-Class even though it was forced. Kiyotaka put his plan into action by assisting Suzune which in turn sheds some of her cold nature and allow her to open up to others, which had partially worked as he helped her get mass popularity after the island survival test.
Kiyotaka saving Suzune from her brother.
Kiyotaka has voiced intentions of making friends, but his emotionless attitude tends to leave him exempted from such matters. However, he has formed associations with others and seems to leave an impact on them. This was seen when he stopped Suzune from being assaulted by her brother, though he had no reason for getting involved. Whether he is simply going with the flow or genuinely looking out for Suzune is unknown, as both patterns are plausible. He appeared to show this caring side again after sacrificing 50,000 of his points so Ken Sudō wouldn't be expelled after the latter failed the recent exams, though he only did so as there might be repercussions to losing a classmate, affecting his chances of getting to Class A. He also had no problem referring to himself as a friend to Honami Ichinose of B-Class (even though they had just met) when she reached out to him for help. Though whether this was a ploy on his part to ease her or a genuine display of consideration for her is unknown, it seems in their later interactions suggested a deeper kind of friendship. When Airi contacted him for aid, as a crazed stalker nearly assaulted her, he quickly came to save her and comforted her after the attack.
He does not like drawing attention to himself as after purchasing answers from old tests; he had Kikyō take full credit even though he invested a lot of money to get them. This was seen again when he gave full credit to Suzune for stopping Ken's expulsion after failing a test despite it being his plan and Kikyō hinting it was him. He also allowed Ken to believe Suzune planned the events that stopped his case after he was accused of hurting three students. In that time, he denied his involvement in stopping it several times in the events of Ken's case, despite Honami, Manabu Horikita, and Sae Chabashira all hinting that he was the orchestrator for saving Ken. He appears not to enjoy showing off his talents, which was the main reason for concealing himself from unwarranted attention. It's unknown why he hides his intellect, but it is shown in a flashback that a mysterious man, later revealed to be his father, informed him that those who would hide their talent are fools. From this event, it could be that he does so to prove that he can do something without revealing what he is truly capable of.
He does not seem to want to extend his energy unnecessarily in other matters. This was shown when he refused to become a secretary of the Student Council, despite directly being offered the position by the Student Council president.
It appears that part of his aloof and standoffish personality stems from his mysterious past that he doesn't speak to people about. He gives vague answers about the matter and shows a dislike for people who ask about it, seemingly getting angry after they ask. In his anger, he is more serious in his tone of speech as shown when he sternly told Suzune not to pry into his personal history.
Kiyotaka threatening Sae Chabashira.
In his anger, Kiyotaka is not above threatening people as he refused to comply with Sae Chabashira's order for him to aim for A-Class after stating to have been asked to expel him at the request of an unknown person later revealed to be his father. During this moment, he said his dislike of being manipulated as he even resorted to threatening her and grabbing her by the collar, unafraid that she was a teacher who could have expelled him for assault.
Kiyotaka's real mindset.
Due to the upbringing in the White Room, he has come to see everyone around him as a tool and is only intent on winning above everything else. He does not mind manipulating others nor concerning himself with sacrificing a pawn as long as they help obtain his goal. Because of this mindset and his actions, it is unknown whether he really cares for those he has befriended or if he just gained their trust to use them. It has been shown that he didn't have any emotions to begin with, as he had an untouched heartbeat during a fight with multiple fighters or while receiving praise by his father. His tendency to feed his intellectual curiosity, leads to apathy towards the feelings of other people, as he believes it is irrelevant to his learning and his self.
Kiyotaka showing his true nature to Kei
In the light novels, his personality is somewhat different as he displays more emotion even having comedic fashions though he appears to still carry on a serious mindset. He has an extreme sense of unflappability and is sangfroid during difficult times. He has never shown to be under any distress when faced with threat or danger but once, he was blatantly angry at Kakeru after his deplorable acts against Kei. He is the most astute student in his class, crafting plans even Horikita wouldn’t be able to. Despite his abilities being leagues above others, he has no hubris but is lackadaisical about them.
It is shown that Kiyotaka can be very cruel for his personal gains, like when he set up Kei Karuizawa, in the Basement of the Cruise Ship, to be tormented by Manabe and her group, just so Kei would breakdown and become a pawn for him to use. Still, he is stalwart as he eventually did rescue her and made plans to comfort her after the ordeal as a learning point for her.
He is shown to be cautious of others as he doesn't fully trust Suzune, even making plans for her possible betrayal. Despite that he still associates with her. Also, he decided to challenge Manabu to a race where he chooses to reveal some of his talents. In a conversation with Chiaki Matsushita, he reveals that he hides his talents to avoid bringing any unnecessary attention to himself.
After the race, he is surprised to see he has gained new popularity and is depicted as a little more social as he made more acquaintances and bonded with them to use their first names. However, he sees some of them as pawns, but he seems to genuinely care about a few of the people he has befriended, meaning he may not be too entirely jaded in his views.
Kiyotaka attacking Kakeru in a rage.
This appears to be the case, since there are some of his classmates he refuses to manipulate for his own purposes, showcasing his moral side. The most prominent display of his care for his friends was when he got angry and attacked Kakeru Ryūen for bullying Kei Karuizawa. At this moment, Kiyotaka was truly enraged which is a contrast to his usual calm behavior and his anger even scared the usual conceited Kakeru and his followers. He also showed care to Honami Ichinose by comforting her, by telling her that he was always on her side after her history was revealed, and to Arisu Sakayanagi by catching her fall when Tsukishiro interrupted their secret meeting and kicked her cane in the Special Building.
When he was blackmailed by his teacher with expulsion, he actually tried to put in the effort to reach A-Class. However, when he discovered that neither his teacher nor father have any leverage to use against him to for expulsion, he gave up trying to advance to that class while ignoring the vehement protest of his teacher.
