Haruki Sagae

Haruki Sagae is one of the main characters of the manga and anime series Akuma no Riddle. She is a former student of the 10th year's Black Class at Myōjō Academy, who was in a competition with the other students who were trying to kill Haru Ichinose, with a reward of anything the successful assassin might wish for. She joined the Black Class because she needed money to support her siblings and her mother, who was hospitalized. The reward she requested for was for her family to be fed for the rest of their lives, even if she had died. Haruki has long, wavy, red hair tied up in a half ponytail, leaving her bangs over her eyes and the rest of her hair cascading down her back. Her bangs are held in place by tricolor barrettes. She has fair skin and topaz colored eyes that can range in hue from golden to golden brown based on the lighting. Her ears are pierced and she wears stud earrings. She is one of the tallest girls in the Black Class, with a lithe figure and good physique implied. She sometimes paints her nails pink and is usually seen with a stick of Pocky dangling from her lips. She usually wears a beige jacket with a dark blue flap collar over her school uniform, which is a white shirt, a red plaid bow, and a red plaid skirt. She wears short white socks with brown shoes. It is unclear if this school uniform is from her old school, as Haruki claims she never got the chance to attend high school. She usually wears a purple scrunchie on her right wrist. Her weapons of choice are armored gauntlets with a wire mechanism at the wrist and fingerless gloves. Her other outfits include her swimsuit, which is a two-piece tiger print with knotted portions; and her workman's outfit for construction, which is a blue body suit and hard hat. Haruki is a tomboyish yet fashionable girl who is always shown eating snacks, especially Pocky (disguised as "Rocky" in the anime). She is also the typical lazy student who sleeps during class, but is willing to help with school activities where she is able. She is very protective of her family and background details, going as far as kicking Nio down when the arbitrator pokes at her family. She is also friendly to most of her classmates and holds onto some protective instinct for them, as shown by her scolding of Takechi when the latter steals Banba's strap. She has a streak of strong determination, claiming that she will kill the target no matter what they have done or who they are. In addition to her protective nature for her family, she is driven to do anything she can for their sake. It is implied she made a promise to someone and will lay down her life to fulfill it. This determination and diehard attitude drives her to even attempt suicide for the sake of killing Haru when Tokaku overpowers her. When Haruki discusses luxury with Isuke after breaking a bottle of her nail polish, she claims that she is barred from a life of luxury due to her family circumstances. It is implied from the manga motif of the caged bird, as well as her ending in the anime, that she does have her own desires beneath her selfless motives. However, despite these implications of a troubled home and life, Haruki is seen smiling more often than not.