Kurumi Ebisuzawa

**Kurumi Ebisuzawa** (恵飛須沢 胡桃, *Ebisuzawa Kurumi*?) is one of the main characters of the *Gakkou Gurashi!* series. She is a former student at Megurigaoka Private High School and the primary "zombie killer"/strategist of the School Life Club, where her abilities prove invaluable.

## Appearance

Kurumi is a fair light-skinned teenage girl that is prone to blushing with straight hip-length dark purple hair that is tied in a twin-tail fashion with violet ribbons on each side (Sometimes, she wears her hair loose, and it extends to her hips. When in combat situations, Kurumi often wears her twin tails in low buns instead) and magenta-colored eyes (violet eyes in the anime).

She is usually seen with her black choker collar and her school uniform, which consists of a short-sleeved white shirt (that she sometimes wears with a purple cardigan), a green necktie with a red ribbon hanging from it, and a green skirt with yellow buttons on the area around her stomach. To finish the look, Kurumi wears black socks with white shoes that are green at the tip.

Though not part of the uniform, she wears black and white striped arm-warmers and green knee-pads with large silver plates on them. In addition to this, she is usually (if not always) seen carrying her shovel by her side. Because of this, Yuki calls her weapon "Shovel-kun".

## Personality

Kurumi is, physically speaking, the most capable in the School Life Club and is always helping out. Although she looks innocent, she is by far the strongest member of the Club and has killed multiple zombies without a scratch, which is why she is often sent out on more dangerous missions. Although she is good at it, Kurumi is not fond of zombie hunting and sometimes her reaction time suffers because of this. She expresses genuine empathy, sympathy and is prone to acting on her emotions. This is demonstrated that she will balk at killing a zombie if she is reminded of its former humanity: she pauses before an easy kill because she sees the zombie's phone, with a picture of a girl and her senpai on it. She feels guilty after fighting the zombies off and has suffered trauma and constant nightmares of it, often about the day she killed her beloved senpai. She is shown tending to her shovel when anxious and even sleeps with it by her side at night.

Kurumi is overall an energetic, feisty, and cheerful girl. She is also shown to be a very passionate and hardworking person, especially when doing things that require physical activity. Despite her strong sense of responsibility, she enjoys fooling around with Yuki and enjoys teasing her sometimes. She also likes to play video games and was very surprised to see that Saint Isidore University had games and even a television. As so, she is seen to be quite mischievous and naive sometimes. Despite her mischievous and teasing streak, she is very friendly and welcoming, as she cares for her friends deeply and is incredibly loyal and protective of them. She is also very lively, determined and straightforward, and quite confident in her own abilities. Although Kurumi is viewed as an athletic, thickheaded, reckless, and strong-willed tomboy, she also has certain girly interests, like boys and getting married someday. When talking about 'girlish' things, she tends to become quite flustered and embarrassed, showcasing that she embraces her tomboy side more openly.

Kurumi sometimes plays up her gutsy personality to keep up the group's morale. In the manga, she manages to return to her home, only to find the house abandoned - except for one room that's bloody and shows signs of a struggle. When she reunites with the group, she acts as nothing had happened. She also seems to value the human life a lot, being very saddened that Radio DJ died before she could rescue her.

She takes care of Yuki and remains supportive of Yuuri and Miki while living in the school, being remarkably calm in difficult situations. She usually handles the zombies herself since she doesn't want to put her friends in danger. While in zombie-populated areas, she usually carries a level-headed demeanor and has a leader-like role with the others following her. However, as shown when she snapped on Miki upon finding the Emergency Response Manual, Kurumi can be impulsive and violent if the situation hits close to home.

Despite her kind nature, she takes advantage of the fact that zombies ignore her. She even made the zombies kill Takashige because he had hit and tried to kill her and kept trying to kill her despite verbal warnings and Kurumi retreating, although she also did this because she didn't want to risk him telling anyone about her health. However, Kurumi was seen breaking down in tears and felt extremely guilty about this, indicating that she would never want to kill someone else. Ever since she has been "cured", Kurumi has remained worried and unsure about herself. On the other hand, she still displays a positive demeanor around others. Later in the series, Kurumi distances herself from everyone, since her slowly worsening zombification and the fact that she killed Takashige in self-defense begin to overwhelm her to the point where she wanders off on her own, aimlessly wandering amongst the zombie horde waiting for her impending demise. However, Yuki manages to find her and snap her out of it.

## History

Before the outbreak, Kurumi lived a normal life with her parents. She seemed to be quite close with her parents, but their current status is unknown. While still a student and Megurigaoka Private High School, Kurumi was in the track and field club and it's manager. Though she didn't dislike running, she only joined the club because she was after her senpai (先輩?, upperclassman). Despite being a manager, she said the role didn't fit her.

She liked her senpai a lot. Her friends were also aware of her crush and supported Kurumi. It is also stated in the anime that Kurumi said that she would enroll at the same college as he would, and when being with him, she wanted that those beautiful days without any worries would go on forever.

When the outbreak occurred, her senpai was already infected as he was being carried to the rooftop by Kurumi. As the girls (Megumi, Yuki, and Yuuri) barricaded the door, her infected senpai then rose up and proceeded to attack. To defend herself, Kurumi stabs her senpai multiple times using a nearby shovel, explaining her weapon of choice.

## Story

Introduction and the School Life Club
     After Yuki enters the School Life Club room, Kurumi gets introduced. Yuki wonders why Kurumi had always carried a shovel around the school. Kurumi then explains that it was the most lethal weapon of them all. While she was explaining, Yuki starts twirling her shovel around, not paying attention. Later, the two heads to the roof and starts the garden work. During a break, Kurumi and Yuki got themselves into a water fight. With Kurumi the winner, Yuki runs off to change and Kurumi asked Yuuri (preferably called "Rii-san") if she'll be alright on her own.

Chapter 2

> On the school roof, Kurumi and another boy, soon discovered to be her beloved senpai (先輩?, upperclassman). Kurumi explains that she had joined the Track and Sports club for a sole reason, but it was very impure. While looking down at the field, from the roof, Kurumi's senpai held out his hand...
>
>

Waking up, she notices that Yuki was still asleep and starts waking her up. Later, the two heads off into the School Life Club room to eat breakfast, curry! Yuki, noticing that Kurumi had quickly devoured her breakfast, tells her that she might gain some weight. Yuki then asks if the School Life Club was more like the Track and Sports club, considering that they've been doing these "chores," as Kurumi called them. Luckily, the School Life Club's second article prevents these "club activities" from being called "chores." Afterwards, Yuki heads out for a one-on-one study session with Megu-nee and Rii-san shoves Kurumi telling her that it was too close. After that, Kurumi states that she shall brace herself for a morning patrol and walks off. Walking down the stairs, Kurumi inspects some desks, acting as a barricade, tapping on the desks, she approves and climbs up. Upon reaching the top, she looks over, spotting a zombie. Wondering if she could take out the zombie, solo, she jumps over and takes the first strike. Raising her arms up to take the final strike, she crushes the zombie.

On the rooftop, Kurumi was cleaning off her shovel, Rii-san approaches, telling her that she mustn't make attack solo, considering that just the morning patol is enough. Kurumi counters that saying that she had a perfect spot to attack. Rii-san reinstates that she was their club president, while Kurumi just walks that off. Looking over the ledge, Kurumi spots a few zombies. She then asks Rii-san if she recalled Yuki spotting those baseball players retreating from the rain. Then asks if a zombie is possibly running the track. Back inside the School Life Club, Kurumi was helping Rii-san prep for their dinner, okonomiyaki. On the topic of math, Rii-san suggested that Yuki and Kurumi should study with her, for the sake of graduating together. ...Reaching out to his hand, Kurumi was called out, looking over at Yuki, Rii-san, and Megu-nee (which were holding the roof door shut), Rii-san tells Kurumi to take a closer look at him, she looks back at her senpai and realizes that he was now zombified. Getting shoved to the ground, Kurumi looks over and spots a garden shovel, screaming, she strikes... Waking up, she looks over and spots Yuki, fixing her covers, she holds her hand against Yuki's and falls back to sleep, again.

The Test of Courage
     Rii-san tells Kurumi that they are running low on supplies. Kurumi makes sense of this because it had rained quite often. Yuki runs in to suggest about a Test of Courage! Kurumi didn't want to go but Yuki giggled because she was probably too scared of ghosts. Kurumi grabs Yuki in an attempt to mute her, but Rii-san agrees and Yuki runs off to tell Megu-nee. Night time falls and the School Life Club members walk down a corridor. While Yuki chants "Test of Courage~", Kurumi tells her to tense up a bit. Yuki reasons that she shouldn't have to because no one is inside the school, thus they may roam freely without anyone catching them. Rii-san adds onto that by telling them that she's right, that no one *should* be inside the school at this time, but what if there was anyways. Scaring Yuki and Kurumi, Rii-san places down and turns on the radio. From there, their Test of Courage starts... after walking down a corridor to the stairs. At the stairwell, Megu-nee meets up with them and has a little discussion with Megu-nee. After defining the rules, the group heads off to the school store. At the school store, Kurumi looks at some tools. Yuki picks up some snacks, as well as some balloons. Next up was the library; Kurumi decides to keep watch while Rii-san and Yuki looks around. Sometime later, Yuki was hiding from *something*, that was, until Kurumi had found her.

Chapter 4

>      Yuki tells Kurumi that it was raining. Thinking about it, the two just remembered something... the laundry! On the school roof, the two meet up with Rii-san. The three start collecting the laundry; Yuki, as childish as she can be, equips Rii-san's bra and calls out to Kurumi. Kurumi wonders if Yuki was a grade schooler and Rii-san takes her bra back from Yuki. Lunch time, the group begins to eat hardtacks. Yuki explains that she loved blackouts but didn't take into account that there was no hot water from this. From this, Yuki wanted the group to go camping! The group decides that it was a good idea and Kurumi begins to look for a tent. Night time, Kurumi, Yuki, and Rii-san are inside the tent, camping. Yuki starts the conversation by saying that the atmosphere had changed. However, Rii-san had wanted to tell scary stories, like one that had happened on a rainy day like so. Kurumi, scared already, chops Rii-san to stop. Shifting the conversation, Kurumi wanted to move onto their love lives. Yuki interrupts, realizing that their going to graduate soon. And because of this, Megu-nee will be left behind. Soon after, Yuki heard Megu-nee walking in and quickly hides underneath the her covers; the other two follows. Megu-nee walks in, talks for a brief moment, then walks out. The three get out from their covers and laugh.
>
>

Chapter 5
     After Yuki enters the School Life Club room, she asks Kurumi about Megu-nee. Kurumi tells her that Megu-nee was in the teachers' room. From there, Yuki had to go to the restroom. Kurumi gets up, telling her to wait for that she had to get ready to go. Yuki complains that Kurumi is too "over-protective" and that she could go by herself. Kurumi tells Yuki to shuddup because going out on your own is against the rules. Rii-san barges in and prompts the two what the third article of the School Life Club was. The two answer and off the two go to the restroom. While walking to the restrooms, Kurumi notes that it was still raining. Getting closer, the two discovers a zombie walking around. After a little discussion, Kurumi has decided that they shall make a break for it into the restrooms and so they do. Inside, Kurumi was going to deal with that "delinquent." Yuki tries to hold Kurumi back as that would be against the rules. Kurumi avoids this by telling her that she'll be back soon. Yuki enters a stall and Kurumi pulls up her hair and departs. Outside of the restrooms, Kurumi realizes that their were more zombies than she had anticipated. Recalling from the previous chapter, Yuki had said that everyone was trying to shelter themselves from the rain. Realizing that was what Yuki had meant, she shouts and starts attacking. Striking the Zombies down one at a time, it so seems that more of them keeps reappearing. Kurumi noticed Rii-san looking out and tries to call for her to help. Rii-san responds by closing the door. Kurumi was beginning to assume that it was her end. As the zombies were approaching Kurumi, the PA system went off, stating that school was closed and that everyone must head home. From this, the zombies stopped and began to walk away. Saved by Rii-san, the two go to the restrooms to find Yuki. Kurumi opens the door to the stall Yuki was in and Yuki runs out to hug her. Yuki then began to ask where Megu-nee was. Then makes a break for it towards the door. Being restrained by Kurumi and Rii-san, Yuki, suddenly, collapses.

Chapter 6

Come back later when it's done!

Kurumi was surprised that Yuki had woken up. A moment later and Yuki begins to question Megumi's whereabouts. Kurumi and Rii-san look at each other but before they could answer, Yuki greets her.

## Abilities

Kurumi is the "strategist" of the team, as she has great abilities to defeat zombies. That being: either running past them, or killing them with her shovel. Since she was in the Track and Field club before, Yuuri has stated that Kurumi is very fast and has great stamina; and she is physically adept. She (aside from Sino) is the only character in the series to wipe out more than one zombie. As Kurumi is the one who defeats the zombies most of the time, she is very used to it and doesn't seem to be scared and guilty doing it anymore, though in reality, she actually feels like she *is* guilty and has nightmares of it.

Kurumi is level headed, clever, and intelligent, especially when it comes down to fighting. She also comes up with plans and has a special technique to defeat the zombies.

Kurumi is probably the strongest among the School Living Club members. She can swing her shovel easily, and seems to be good at handling it as Miki said that the shovel is heavy. She is also shown to have quick reflexes when she defended Yuuri and Ruu Wakasa from a quick crossbow attack from Kougami, as she tossed her shovel and stopped the attack.

Long after her infection, Kurumi no longer has the ability to feel pain from any sort of injury. Due to her infection, the zombies will ignore her as long as she doesn't loudly call out to them. This can be used to her advantage in various scenarios, but is damaging to her psychologically because it is a constant reminder of what she is slowly becoming. It is eventually revealed that, due to having undergone treatment, Kurumi is suffering from the mutant strain of the infection. Because of this, both Shiiko Aosoi and Randall Corporation consider her key to develop a possible cure. However, her infection is also causing her body to slowly break down.

## Appellation

* Main Characters
* Supporting Characters

* Kurumi-senpai
 Yuki Takeya | * Yuki
 Yuuri Wakasa | * Rii-san

* Arnault Hatonishiki (manga)
* Arnault Hatonishiki II (anime)
* Hatoko-chan
* Sakura-sensei (rarely)
 Taromaru | * Taromaru
* Touko-san

## Relationships

### Yuki Takeya

Kurumi and Yuki are on good terms as Kurumi considers Yuki as one of her closest friends. Kurumi worries about Yuki quite a lot due her air-headed nature, and she is also aware of the "delusions" but chooses to play along. Kurumi also likes to tease her sometimes, and same with Yuki, as she sometimes makes fun of Kurumi because she is afraid of ghosts, much to Kurumi's chagrin. Yuki also relies on Kurumi's strength in the school, as Kurumi often accompanies Yuki when she has to go somewhere. Kurumi feels that Yuki's cheerfulness and positivism has saved her (and Yuuri) many times and gave them feeling of warmth because she was very stressed a short while after the outbreak started. Kurumi wants nothing else but for Yuki to be happy and therefore chooses to play along with her "illusions" so she can remain happy and cheerful. Kurumi sees Yuki as someone she needs to protect, and she also feels at ease around Yuki and she cares for her deeply, and vice-versa, as Yuki didn't want to leave Kurumi's side when she was infected and in pain, as she un cuffed her hands even though Yuuri told her to stay away since it could be dangerous. They both share a very close bond as they have known each other for a long time.

### Yuuri Wakasa

Yuuri and Kurumi get along very well, and they understand and respect each other. They are aware of Yuki's "delusions" and understands them well. They also care and help each other out, and though Yuuri isn't experienced in fighting the zombies like Kurumi, she still tries to help Kurumi out by distracting them, so they have a good teamwork. They can talk seriously with each other, as Kurumi asked Yuuri to end her if she became infected. Before however, Yuki stated that Kurumi and Yuuri sometimes fight late at night, and when Yuki asked what was wrong, they would always reply with "nothing", which is why Yuki created her illusions, to make them smile more, because they always seemed stressed. Yuuri cares for Kurumi's well-being as she doesn't want her to push herself to hard when fighting the zombies. Kurumi also cares for Yuuri and her well-being.
Yuuri became very stressed and slightly depressed as she was seen breaking down when she was unable to end Kurumi, even though she promised Kurumi that she would when the time came. When Kurumi recovered, Yuuri became very joyful, relieved and even shed tears, as Kurumi is a very important friend to her. After leaving the school, they aren't seen interacting with each other like before, but they still have an unbreakable bond of trust and friendship between them.

### Miki Naoki

Unlike Yuuri, Kurumi didn't have anything against Miki even though she didn't understand Yuki's "illusions", though she became very upset with Miki when they found the emergency response manual and Kurumi said that Miki talked like she "knew everything". However, Kurumi came to respect her and consider her as a close friend later on, and they both care for each other deeply. Miki was even willing to get the antidote all by herself in order to cure Kurumi when she became infected, even though the risks; showing that Miki cares for her well-being very much. After leaving the school, the two becomes much closer and often talk about various topics both late at night and day. Miki came to care for Kurumi a lot, as she became very worried when she walked past some zombies, even shouting for her even if it attracted attention.

     When Miki thought that the medicine didn't work, she seemed really sad but Kurumi reassured that it did work, as she wouldn't be here otherwise. Miki also doesn't want Kurumi to leave, to which Kurumi said that she wouldn't, since Miki is very precious to her and promised to not leave her side. They can talk with each other seriously and they are also seen supporting each other, as Miki has helped Kurumi in combat before and regards her as the one she goes to when she needs help. When Kurumi thinks Miki looks down, she always picks up on her and tries to cheer her up. After coming to Isidore University, they are often being together and talking late at night at the school roof. The two are on good terms and though they sometimes tease each other in a friendly way, they are very confident within each other's abilities, so they share a very close bond of trust and friendship, demonstrated by their actions, especially after leaving the school.

### Megumi Sakura

Megumi would blame herself because Kurumi always did the hard job in the school (fighting off zombies). Before the outbreak, Kurumi felt like Megumi was the only person she can talk about her feelings. Right of way, questioning "*Or why I feel the way I do around him?*"

Due to her fondness of Megumi as a kind teacher, Kurumi was unable to kill her when she met Megumi in the school's basement due to the close bond they had in the past. Kurumi also tended to visit Megumi's grave quite often and often prayed and asked her to keep her, along with the others, safe.

### Touko Deguchi

Kurumi and Touko became fast friends as they both started to play games without even introducing each other. After getting to know each other better, they became good friends and they are seen playing games while talking quite often, as Touko told Kurumi about her meeting about the Melee Fight Crew. Kurumi enjoys being in the Fallen Crew, and when she asked Touko if they were bothering them, Touko denied that and said that they enjoyed Kurumi, and as well the others company. They both call each other by first name, and when Kurumi calls her "Touko-san", Touko insists that she should call her Touko instead, as formal language was unneeded since they were already good friends.

## Quotes

“*Ebisuzawa Kurumi, shall brace herself and go on a morning patrol, ma'am.*”—To Yuuri, Chapter 2
“*Now, let's roll...*”—Kurumi, Chapter 2
“*Teachers can't graduate from school, you know?*”—To Yuki
“*We were very lucky.*”—To Yuuri, Chapter 12
“*I mean, Yuki always says something weird, but it always turns out to be something fun.*”—To Miki, Chapter 14
“*Take it easy, It's gonna be fine.*”—To Yuuri, Chapter 15
“*See? There's nothing to worry about.*”—To Yuuri, Chapter 17
“*Don't talk... As you know everything!*”—To Miki, Chapter 18
“*I messed up...*”—Kurumi talking to Yuuri; after she got bitten, Chapter 19
“*That's why, you know, we should just do everything we can together.*”—To Yuuri and Miki, Chapter 23
“*Does it look like it can connect to the 'net?*”—Kurumi to Yuki, instagramming with a polaroid camera, Chapter 25 (page 7)
“*There's always that one in a million chance. I'm counting on that.*”—To Miki
“*Those fun-filled days of ours... Were over...*”—Kurumi
“*"They say for every meeting... ...There's always a good-bye.*”—To Miki, Chapter 42

## Etymology

* The name **Kurumi** means "walnut" (胡桃).
* Kurumi's surname **Ebisuzawa** means "favor, benefit" (恵) (**e**), "to fly" (飛) (**bi**), "ought, by all means, necessarily" (須) (**su**) and "marsh" (沢) (**sawa**/**zawa**).

## Trivia

* Kurumi's birthday is August 7th.
* Although Kurumi is the one who usually fights the zombies, she is ironically afraid of ghosts.
* Kurumi is the first character known to have recovered and survive from immediate infection.
* Kurumi had said that she wants to be a cute bride.
* Kurumi stated that she was in class 3-B.
* Kurumi is the first person in the series to drive a vehicle without a license.
* Kurumi resembles Rize Tedeza from Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu Ka?, in terms of appearance and personality. While Kurumi is seen with a shovel, Rize is seen with a gun.

## Gallery

*For all images with **Kurumi Ebisuzawa** in them, see Category:Kurumi Ebisuzawa*

### Video

SCHOOL-LIVE! Cast Reveal Kurumi Ebisuzawa

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 23, page 4
2. ↑ Chapter 18, pages 7 and 10
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 46, pages 23, 26-27
4. ↑ Chapter 45, page 10
5. ↑ Chapter 2, page 25
6. ↑ Chapter 37, page 3
7. ↑ Chapter 5, page 5
8. ↑ Chapter 20, pages 17-20
9. ↑ Episode 11
10. ↑ Chapter 21, pages 24-25
11. ↑ Chapter 18, pages 7 & 9-10
12. ↑ Chapter 33, page 20
13. ↑ Chapter 42, pages 21-23
14. ↑ Episode 3
15. ↑ Chapter 40, page 17
16. ↑ Chapter 40, page 25
17. ↑ Chapter 23 (page 4)
18. ↑ Episode 9