Miki Shirakawa

**Miki** **Shirakawa** (白川 美紀, *Shirakawa Miki*) is a minor character in *The Island of Giant Insects*.

## Appearance

Miki was a short young woman with short grey hair in a bob cut and grey eyes. She wore a long light grey jacket with a large collar, a brown button up knee length dress, knee high off-yellow socks, and brown slip on shoes. Her cheeks were round and her eyes created a resting melancholic expression, like a porcelain doll.

## Personality

Miki was very quiet, even in situations that put her in danger. She was even more reserved than Mami Miura was at first, often not even in frame with her peers and trailing at the very end of the group. When she was afraid, she didn't flock to others for protection or support, oftentimes just freezing in place and curling into a ball. She did occasionally offer a comforting embrace to some of the other girls, but it seems she does it mostly to console the other individual.

She only spoke up if she thought she could be useful.

## Background

Not much is known about Miki's past other than she was a 2nd year Houshou Private High School and had a diabetic grandmother that she would help care for, making her somewhat of a capable nurse to other injured students. She was also in the brass band club.

## Chronology

Sometime after washing up on Little East Island after the plane crash, Miki met up with Chitose Naruse, Atsushi Kamijo, Misuzu Jinno, Mami Miura, Kazuhiko Kai, Ai Ino, Satoshi Oda, and Hiroshi Tsuge.

When the group was walking on a path, Mami asks the others if they think they're the only survivors, to which Miki looks away. After Hiroshi and Kazuhiko break open a vending machine and distribute the drinks, Miki takes hers with a quiet "thank you". She's frozen in shock when she sees the giant Papilio maackii's, and when Chitose gets carried off by a giant Ammophila, Miki doesn't take part in the discussion about whether or not they should save her; ultimately, the group decides to save her since her phone has a waterproof case and they could use it to find the highest point on the island, which could allow them to survive the three days it'll take for rescue to come. Miki is placed in the middle of the group formation, since her time in the brass band club gave her excellent hearing. Miki helps gather detergents and water as part of Mutsumi Oribe's plan to save Chitose and Akira, and escapes while the wasps fight.

After taking a break, Miki notices a giant Ixodid clinging to Misuzu, and Mutsumi realizes they've entered a nest of ticks. When Ayumi proposed they go back the way they came, Miki chose to go with Mutsumi through the nest, since her knowledge could keep her safe. With everyone agreeing on a course, Mutsumi explained her plan for getting through the nest: everyone is to put their palms under their arms to muffle their heartbeat and walk slowly to avoid attracting the ticks. Also, someone is to pick up a pebble, warm it in their palm, and toss away from the group to lead away any nearby ticks. Atsushi and Ayumi, who are carrying Akira and Chitose respectively, will carry them on their backs. By doing so, the group is able to get through the nest with no problems until they encounter Ms. Nozawa, who's been swarmed by ticks, causing Mami to start screaming. With no other options, Mutsumi is forced to sacrifice Ms. Nozawa by knocking her down with a stick, causing her to be completely swarmed while the group escapes. Once the group reaches a beach, Mutsumi has them scrape off any ticks on their clothes and strip and enter the sea to drown any ticks on their bodies.

Eventually the group reaches the clinic, and are able to get inside thanks to Kazuhiko. When Mutsumi is unable to put the IV into Akira's vein, Miki volunteers to do so due to knowledge from treating her diabetic grandma. Sometime later, the group is startled by a loud buzzing, and seconds later, Akira shoots up, his eyes bug out of his skull on stalks, and he runs out of the clinic making loud noises, which is due to him having been infected by a giant Leucochloridium sometime after reaching the island. Akira is bisected by a giant giant protohermes grandis, and Misuzu and Atsushi lock the others out of the main building, with the excuse that they may be infected as well; when Ayumi Matsuoka tries to unsuccessfully break the door down with a stone, Miki is lifted into the air. Before she can properly process what's happening, the dobsonfly splits her in half, killing her nigh-instantly.

## Etymology

* The name **Miki** means "beautiful" (美) (**mi**) and "chronicle" (紀) (**ki**)
* Miki's surname **Shirakawa** means "white" (白) (**shira**) and "river, stream" (川) (**kawa**)

## Trivia

* Despite the anime covering Chapters 1-6, Miki does not appear at all.
	+ Because of this, she is one of five students who has yet to appear in the anime. The others being Kasumi Momosaki, Nozomi Aoyama, Ryou Usui, and Takeshi Minowa.