Karen Hakuba

Karen Hakuba *(白馬かれん Hakuba Karen) ,*also known as *Haku (白),* is SHSL Private Investigator at the rebuilt Kibougamine Academy. She works as an in-man for Future Foundation and is the girlfriend of Yoshito Matsuo.

## Appearance

Karen is of average-height for her age, has pale skin, black hair and dark eyes. As a child she was overweight due to her tendency to binge-eat. During the Tragedy, and as she got older, Karen lost a significant amount of weight.

Prior to and during some of her attendance at Kibougamine, Karen had no interest in maintaining her appearance; not even having used so much as a hairbrush before. After revealing to *Kaoru Akita* that she only had a total of three outfits, he took her out and greatly expanded on her wardrobe.

After this, Karen began taking further pride in her appearance out of a desire to appeal to Yoshito. Karen prefers to wear black leather and dark-coloured outfits.

## Personality

Karen has a very guarded disposition and often reacts stiffly to extemporary conversation. This often contrasts her talent, as the ability to blend in with any environment should be a trait of any Private Investigator.

The exclusion to her discomfort with casual interaction, is her attitude toward her parents; *Sachiko Nohara* and *Eisuke Hakuba*. She clashes badly with them in conversation and often ends up yelling at them when they interact.

When Karen needs something for an investigation, she does not hesitate to pursue it. She is notorious for her cold nature, especially when befriending people. She is known to betray people she cares about in order to finish a case, as she has done so on multiple occasions. Unlike her half-brother, *Hiro*, however, her efforts on cases are not out of spite, but clear enjoyment of her work. It consumes her life, and she sees nothing else in her future.

## History

At a very young age, Karen was trained as a detective from her mother's side of the family, and solved her first case against her aunt, *Rikako Nohara,* who had murdered her two older brothers when she was just seven years old. Her mother saw this as an act of betrayal against their family, and acted coldly to Karen from that point; even going so far as to have her other children compete against Karen. Prior to everything, when Karen was a young girl, was often neglected by her father, who left her in bars with strangers for days at a time.

Karen grew up competing against her half-siblings and cousins.

During the Tragedy, Karen branched off and away from her family, and traveled with *Sumi Tanaka,* an older friend she had made while still in elementary school. She kept an eye on her, documented everything that she did for survival, and sold her out to the Future Foundation during the *Recovery Period,* resulting in Sumi's arrest. Because of this, the Future Foundation held great interest in her investigative skill and trained her to eventually infiltrate their newly built Kibougamine Academy from the inside.

After the Tragedy, Karen took advantage of new laws in Japan and had herself legally emancipated, separating herself from her parents and living independently.

## Relationships

### Hiro Nohara

Hiro is Karen's half-brother and self-proclaimed rival. Despite Karen wanting nothing to do with him, Hiro insists on boasting his achievements against her and putting down her every emotion, seeing each one as 'weak'. Despite Karen's annoyance, however, Hiro has an obsession with competing against her.

## Stats

* 1 - 3 Low - Average
* 4 - 6 Above Average - High
* 7 - 10 Extremely High - Perfect

Strength

## Quotes

* (*To Kita*) *"Even though it's said that a P.I. is only as good as their last case... that is not how I gauge my self-worth or self-satisfaction. The thing that appeases me most of all is uncovering the truth... It gives me internal bliss."*
* (*To Yoshito) "Trust in people as much as you want to... but also be prepared to take care of yourself in case you have nobody left to fall back on. To survive, you need to see the shades of grey. You need to accept that nobody is all good, nor all bad, and that means not expecting that others will always pick you above anything else."*
* (*Drunk) I'm such... a **bitch.***

## Trivia

* The name Haku (*白) means 'white' and Hakuba means 'white horse', written '*白馬''
* Karen's birth name is *Evening.*
* Karen's blood type is O+
* Her hobby is *photography.*
* Her favourite food is *miso ramen*, while her least favourite food is *lobster.*
* Karen likes *investigating* and *binge eating*, and dislikes *heights* and *her parents.*
* Her most treasured item is her *motorbike*, passed down from *Eisuke.*