Notes: Kiriya Kyousuke is an interesting character, if an immensely irritating one. In his first episode, he’s correcting the teacher, racing Asumu, and having catered sushi (much to the horror of what seems to be the class rep). He’s immensely selfish and he can’t stand not being the best. In his mind, he has to be the best. But by the end of his time, even if he’s still the kind of guy who would put you down for your choices, he’s at least willing to save your life just before or just after doing it.
Worthier Than Thou
by Estirose
1: Better Than That
Episode 30: Kiriya is better than everybody. Especially Adachi Asumu.
I can’t believe this school. I can’t believe my mother, either. Really, who does she think she is, spilling all my weaknesses to Adachi? She’ll make me seem weak in front of him, and I can’t afford that. And if Adachi knows, he’ll probably tell the whole school. He’s weak like that, really weak. He never spits out what he’s saying and he’s really unsure of himself. But at least he knows his place. He knows I’m better than he is and always will be.
I suppose I have to take pity on him. He’s a nice guy, after all. And I guess that at least I can put up with him. Because as bland and as boring as he may be, at least he’s around, unlike everybody else. Maybe he won’t say anything about me being ‘selfish’ or anything like that, because he knows his betters. He knows I’m his better. And so I’ll always win. Against him. Against everyone.
Because I’m better than they are, and they know it.
2: Worthier Than Thou
Episode 37: Kiriya has the drive to be an Oni as nobody else does.
He was worthier than either of them, and once they both saw it everyone would be better off for it.
Amami and Adachi both wanted to be Oni, but they didn’t have the dedication. If they really wanted to be Oni, then they’d do nothing other than train. But Amami insisted on going to school, and Adachi couldn’t even make up his mind on whether he wanted to be one! He could see what the Oni needed, and it wasn’t either of them.
Not that Amami had relented, at first, but he could see what he said affecting her. All he’d had to do was say the right things and her beliefs had started to crumble. Adachi, too. He wasn’t sure what Hibiki-san saw in Adachi, but then again, he was sure that he was better than Hibiki-san, or he would be someday. All he needed to do was show Hibiki-san how good he was, and the Oni would take him on as an apprentice.
After all, he had no doubts. He had the drive, and. the ability, and he would win in the end.
3: Questioning the Fatalistic
Episode 39: Kiriya will be an Oni, even if he doesn’t understand why Hibiki does things.
“Why do you want to be an Oni?”
Hibiki-san’s question echoes in my head after he’s gone after that Makamou. I answered him truthfully. I want to surpass my father, and this is the best way to do it. Sure, I might not have the Onsa mastered yet, but I will in time!
But the rest is really weird to me. Hibiki-san seems foolish, to go into a fight he has no chance to win. To go because somebody expects him to be there. Not for any other reason, but because he has to be. I mean, he could be dead and my chance at being an Oni with him, unless I convince one of the others. I swear, when I become an Oni – because I will – I will surpass him and my father, and be a true Oni.
I swear it.
4: The Angle Unseen
Episode 40: Hibiki and Todoroki might have said no, but there’s one person that Kiriya can convince easily.
I’m not giving up.
I don’t know why Hibiki-san is saying no, that being an Oni is tougher than it looks. Go home and study, indeed! Who does he think I am, Adachi?
It’s stupid that he’s not giving me a chance, not that I’m telling him. I’m not stupid. I’m not going to get on his bad side.
But I’m not going home. I’m not studying. I am going to find a way and I am going to be an Oni.
It doesn’t matter if he turns me down. It doesn’t matter if that new Oni turned me down.
I’ll find someone.
I run across Adachi and Amami, talking about Oni things. It doesn’t matter now if they do; Adachi will never be an Oni - I can tell from what he’s saying to Amami - and Amami….
Amami knows. She knows about Oni training. She… I can convince her. She’s the kind to never say no, no matter what I’ve said to her in the past. I’ll use her… and then when she’s gone, I’ll present myself to Hibiki or one of the others.
And of course, she easily agrees. I cheer. Amami might be the weakest of the bunch, but she knows her place. She realizes what I can be. Of course, Adachi has to ask too, but I know he’ll fail. So it’s no skin off my nose as she takes him on, too.
I smile.
5: Standing and Standing
Episode 41: Kiriya and the others might be in trouble, but he’s still Akira’s disciple.
We’re in trouble. And of course, it’s all Amami’s fault. Adachi’s whining about how he hurt Hibiki-san’s feelings and how maybe it was a bad thing to do what we did, but I don’t agree. Adachi has been the way he is ever since I met him and beat him on my bike. But I know that I’ve got their attention now, and eventually, they’ll have to let me be an Oni.
Although Hibiki-san’s the weirdest person ever. Adachi asks him if he’s mad, and he makes us copy his salute!
Then he asks us if we want to be his disciples. Adachi’s ‘yes’ is just like everything else he says, like he’s going to get in trouble for breathing.
Of course, Hibiki-san tells us to forget being disciples, to forget about the Oni and everything. I’m sure Adachi will go along with it, good boy that he is, but I’m not going to. I’m not going to let Hibiki-san tell me to go away.
If he won’t let me, then I’ll follow Amami until I’ve learned everything from her. Then I’ll really be an Oni, no matter what they say!
Of course, Amami can be maddening in her own way. What she says about guiding, about flexibility, about stupid kids… it doesn’t make sense to me.
Even with that, I’m the best. I don’t run away from my training. I don’t run away or even stand still when one of the kids gets almost run over by the truck.
And someday, someone besides Amami and Adachi will see that too.
6: Hiding His Weaknesses
Episode 42: Kiriya knows that if he’s to remain an Oni disciple, he cannot seem weak.
I’m not going to let this stop me!
Yeah, Adachi can swim better than I can - not that I’ll let Hibiki-san know this, because that would make me weak. Same thing for the bars and the steps. I can’t seem weak, because I know he wants to eliminate one of us, and I can bet it’s not going to be Adachi, everybody’s favorite.
And Hibiki-san continues to spout nonsense. Oni training is jumping stone steps? Of course, I can’t really complain, because he’s starting to see my weakness and I can’t allow that. I can’t allow Adachi to win. I can’t allow anybody else to win.
I have to admit that being left behind is a sort of relief.
7: Not Foolish, Not Stupid
Episode 43: Kiriya is neither foolish nor stupid, and he’s not going to take Hibiki’s abuse anymore.
I quit!
I’ve been drowned, fallen, been made to clean the toilets - though that’s only because Hibiki-san caught me - and told to climb a gravelly hillside, twice! Hibiki-san says it’s “testing our physical conditioning” and that being in bad shape is nothing to be ashamed of, but that’s because he wants me to fall for his trap. He wants me to look foolish and stupid so that nobody questions him when he eliminates me.
And all that crap about forgetting my past - well, I’m not going to do it! I’m not going to go through all this so that he can just step on me and then put a hand on Adachi’s shoulder and forget about me. I’m sure the only reason he did this was to ‘humor’ Adachi. Well, he’s not going to get a good disciple, because I’m not going to take this anymore.
There are better ways to surpass my father than putting up with this. And I swear I’ll find them.
8: The Offcast Betrayal
Episode 44: Kiriya is finding that quitting discipleship is not as easy as he thinks.
I definitely didn’t ask for this. Adachi knows the truth, that Hibiki-san favors him over me. But of course he can’t let go. He’s too much of a follower; too kind, too giving. I’m sure he’s the one who called Hibiki-san after I got into the fight with the two losers from my old school. Fortunately, Adachi’s bought into Hibiki-san’s sayings, so he really doesn’t care about whether I have good reflexes or not.
It’s just… I don’t need Hibiki-san being my babysitter. I’ve quit! What part of that doesn’t he understand? He’s got Adachi, who will follow him like a sheep just like Adachi did with me. And I wish them the best of each other, because they surely deserve it. Hibiki-san the stupid mysterious guy, and Adachi, the faithful puppy.
I’m not going to deal with them anymore! I’m not!
9: Confessing and Going On
Episode 45: Sometimes confessing is a good thing.
I just confessed things to Adachi. Is it weird that I seem so relieved? I want to impress Hibiki-san, that’s true, but it’s always because I want to surpass my father.
And I know now that I want to surpass my father by saving lives. It’s because nobody will know that it’s important that Hibiki-san knows. And Adachi, because I have to have someone to brag to.
Maybe he’s useful, after all.
But I still have to prove that I’m the better oni student. I still have to convince Hibiki-san to keep me instead of Adachi. I’m now determined more than ever to keep going. I have to, I must.
For my sake.
10: Have to Risk 46: Kiriya knows the answer to Hibiki’s question.
Hibiki-san talked to us about dying. He asked if we were prepared, if we could die without regrets. I, of course, knew the answer. Adachi sidestepped it, much to my relief. There’s a lot I still have to do to convince Hibiki-san to keep me and let Adachi go.
Seriously, as Hibiki-san pointed out, we could die any moment from an attack! Or anything else. And being a hero means you have to risk yourself for people who might never know who you are. That’s what my father did, and that’s what I’m going to do.
If they give me a chance, that is. If Hibiki-san doesn’t choose Adachi over me. But I’m just going to keep proving my worth as long as I need to.
I’m going to be an Oni if it kills me.
11: Facing Your Fears
47: Kiriya finally understands what it means to be Oni.
I think I understand what it means to be Oni, more than Adachi does. Hibiki-san constantly fights his fears, and I don’t have that many. But Adachi wallows in his instead of striding ahead and fighting.
This is why I’m gonna be the oni and not Adachi. Adachi has no chance now; it’s his own problems that undid him, not anything I did.
I guess that’s why Hibiki-san didn’t mind that I couldn’t swim; it was getting rid of the fear of swimming that was more important than being able to swim laps. He was always testing us, looking at our ability to overcome fear.
I can be an Oni! I’m going to be an Oni. Because I can overcome what few fears I have.
12: Remaining One
48: Kiria wishes Asumu hadn’t dropped out of training.
I was serious about what I said to Adachi. He’s as able to face his fears as I am, he just has more of them, and it’s taking him longer. So, he shouldn’t have dropped out of Oni training.
Not that he’ll be the best Oni ever, but he should be one. He should be with me, fighting Makamou.
He never gave up on me being an Oni. And I kind of appreciate that now. He should have had the drive to keep going no matter what Hibiki said.
Adachi shouldn’t have left me alone with the adults, and that’s that.
I suppose I should try to get him back. But I can’t force him to be Oni. I just have to convince him to keep trying. It’s weird, but I owe him that much, him and Amami-san.
I’m still going to be the greatest Oni ever, surpass Hibiki-san and my father and everybody else. But there are others that should be great in their own way, and I know now that I am meant to make that happen.
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