Kiku Ukai

**"Insignificant being be gone!"**

**Kiku Ukai** (Japanese: **烏養 菊** *Ukai Kiku*) was previously a third-year at Izumite Junior High and the captain and wing spiker in the girls` volleyball team. The youngest of her siblings, Kiku was a natural prodigy who honed her skills in volleyball, trained by the retired Coach Ukai; her own grandfather. As of 2013, she is currently a first-year in High School with her elder brother being the only person that has yet to enter college. As of 2014, she is now a second-year in High School, and the current captain, wing spiker and opposite hitter of the girls` volleyball team. She would later lead them to nationals that year, winning against Shiratorizawa`s Girls` volleyball team.

## Appearance

   Kiku has long, wavy, white hair and dark-blue eyes. She is the average height for a female volleyball player, and has a pale-white complexion, often compared to the color of snow. She has one piercing, for both of her ears, and wears one of the standard school winter uniforms required by the school that students have to wear, consisting of a; white dress-shirt, black sweater-vest, white pants, and black slacks. At some point, she gets her hair cut so that it is no longer so long.

## Personality

Kiku is a stubborn but reliable teammate, often acting as a stern and strict person usually on the first-years. She is stated by her teammates to be a scary person and Hajime Iwaizumi`s female counterpart from Aobajohsai High. While extremely strict, Kiku is a compassionate and passionate volleyball team, often helping the first-years study if they have any trouble and taking them out to eat when they have a bad day. She often resorts to violence with her teammates whenever they tease her too much, and is stated to be a tsundere about her emotions much to her embarrassment. In many of her teammates` letters to her parents, she is described as the "Team Mom" of the Volleyball Team, with her vice-captain; Petra being dubbed the "Team Dad". Kiku is protective over former volleyball members of Karasuno High, her current teammates, her siblings, and her parents. Kiku`s firm-yet-caring attitude has led some members of the Karasuno team to look up to and respect her. Due to the Girls` Volleyball Team not wanting or needing a manager, Kiku is their unofficial manager and is often working later hours than the rest of the Volleyball Team which she seems not to mind. It is also seen through some extras by Furudate that while Kiku can be strong-willed and compassionate she also has quite the stoic side where she loves reading and silence.

## Background

Knowing Petra since early childhood, they both went to the same school, Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High and it's rumored that they've been in the same schools until high school. They were both bitter rivals of Wakatoshi Yura, although Petra didn't seem to take her as seriously as Kiku did. However, like Oikawa and Iwaizumi`s bitter rivalry with Wakatoshi Ushijima; they despise Yura and the very ground she stands on, to the extent of using a volleyball game to fight against her. Tobio Kageyama and Hinata Shoyou even commented that their rivalry with Wakatoshi Yura scares them to a little degree, as the two are seen constantly fighting with Yura. They all went to the same Junior High, and were enemies as they hated each other`s guts. Kiku, Yura, and Petra later attended Karasuno High together, becoming Captain, Ace, and Vice-Captain respectively by their second year.

## Plot

### **Interhigh**

In the Interhigh preliminaries, Kiku`s team faced off against Aobajohsai High. In the end, Karasuno advanced, but lost to Shiratorizawa Academy after managing to grab the first set from the other school. Her skills and expertise with volleyball would garner her the attention of U-19 athletes including Wakatoshi Yura which would start their rivalry.

### Stats

 Stamina
 Game Sense
 Technique
 Speed