Nio Kuzunoha (葛葉 鳰; Kuzunoha Nio), most commonly known by her alias Nio Hashiri (走り 鳰; Hashiri Nio) throughout the series, is the secondary antagonist of the manga and anime series Akuma no Riddle. She was a student of Myōjō Academy's 10th year's Black Class. Unlike the other students, who were trying to kill Haru Ichinose to get their desires granted, Nio was the class arbitrator and overseer of the assassins, working directly under the chairwoman.
Appearance
Nio's character design
Nio has short blond hair and has big reddish-orange eyes. She is always seen wearing a school uniform just like all the other students outside of the Black Class. Her uniform consists of a black short sleeve blazer with yellow lining and she wears a white long sleeve button up shirt under her blazer with a red short skirt and a big red bow. She also wears high-thigh black socks and black shoes. Hidden under all of her clothing, she has bird-like tattoos that cover most of her body.
Plot
History
Nio is from a clan of legendary assassins known as the Kuzunoha. One of the Kuzunoha supposedly leased her services to Yuri. When she met Yuri Meichi, she was a roughshod child with a very bad vocabulary. She did not even have a name, stating that people simply called her "Chibi" (runt). Yuri is the one who gives her the name Nio, stating she would be "her Nio."
For the next several years, Yuri trains her with a riding crop and educates her language and etiquette, even giving her a uniform. Nio comes to admire Yuri and devotes herself to the Queen Bee. She even goes to get the tattoos typical for Kuzunoha despite having refused before, wanting to get stronger for the sake of serving Yuri. The tattooist who gives her the tattoos remarks that she began to smile as Yuri often does.
Shortly prior the events of the main story, Yuri informs Nio that she will be conducting the year's Black Class. She has Nio serve as the arbitrator. Upon seeing Tokaku's names among the participants, Nio decided she would disguise her name. She ends up changing her last name from "Kuzunoha" to "Hashiri" as an alias to hide her true bloodline relation from Tokaku.
- Nio chose the name "Hashiri" (走り, lit. "Fast", "Always in a hurry") as her fake last name since she would hurry anywhere for the chairwoman's sake
Black Class
Nio claims she is truly a student of Myojo, being the only one in the entire class who wears the school uniform in full. She serves as the judge of the assassination game, expelling students, taking note of their desires, and even spying on them through her tablet. She repeatedly hints to the other assassins of Haru's bloody past, all the while keeping the true meaning of the game a secret, claiming she is an underling who knows nothing.
When all the other assassins are eliminated, she takes Haru and Tokaku to the "true orientation," revealing the true intentions of the game. Afterward, she shows Haru to the graveyard under the school.
Assassination Attempt
She is the tenth assassin to attempt an attack to kill Haru. Unlike the previous assassins, she does not use an advance notice. As Tokaku was about to kill Haru, Nio disguised herself as Tokaku, then pretended to save Haru. The real Tokaku threw a knife at her, but missed, as Nio is shorter than Tokaku. Nio was exposed as the fake as Tokaku gains the upper hand in their combat. She tries to kill Haru herself, to fulfill what she said in the drama CD. However, Tokaku swiftly defeats her before she can hurt Haru. Tokaku stabs her in the chest and Nio collapses. Just before she seems to die from her wounds, Nio mocks Tokaku being the same as her, from the same "rotten sea" where sunlight cannot touch.
After Black Class
It is revealed that Nio survived her injuries after her attempt, claiming she is not that easy to kill. She is shown giving herself a white rose to commemorate graduation, while not attending the ceremony herself.
In the final chapter a scene is shown in one panel where Nio's introducing herself towards Myōjō Academy's new Black Class' students and informing them about their task and rules of the Black Class. It is implied she continues to faithfully serve Yuri as Black Class' arbitrator.
An undetermined time later, Haru becomes Queen Bee. Yuri departs from Myoujou, stating there is no need for two Queens in the same hive. Heartbroken, Nio states she will never acknowledge Haru and she can never change the world of assassins. She starts to cry, believing she will never see Yuri again and thus lose her queen. Yuri assures her that Nio is her protector, and thus she will be accompanying her departure. Nio instantly smiles and states she will go anywhere with her. They depart the school's roof by helicopter.
Manga-Anime Differences
In the manga, Nio's attempt to kill Haru fails when she is stabbed from behind, as opposed to the front.
Personality
Nio has a duplicitous personality, often being able to swap between smiling cheerily and sneering vindictively on the drop of a dime. At first glance, Nio appears to be a very cheerful and friendly girl with a gleeful disposition. However, her true self is quite more cruel. She is shown to mock ideas of love and friendship when in private or around Yuri, even if she acts friendly to her fellow classmates. Throughout the manga, she is shown to be adverse to shows of affection, even calling Chitaru and Kirigaya "gross" for kissing multiple times in the doujin. When describing her classmates in the drama CD, Nio has almost nothing good to say about any of them except Banba Mahiru and Shinya.
However, she is capable of showing genuine feelings to certain individuals. It is also worth noting that, despite her apparent disgust at love, she is shown to think of it often in chapter 1 of Koakuma no Riddle. She claims she deludes herself into believing it is disgusting and ignoring her true feelings. These feelings are directed towards the Chairwoman, but Nio claims this is in fact devotion that the Chairwoman mistakes for love. Nio is also seen genuinely blushing at times around the chairwoman, being embarrassed at reminders of her earlier days. Additionally, Nio says that she will not try to understand someone like Banba, but she does like her.
Earlier in her life, Nio is shown to be a brash and rough young youth given to Yuri by Lord Kuzunoha. She had little to no education and a rough tongue. Following Yuri's discipline over the years, Nio learned etiquette and came to see Yuri as her only "queen." Through this time, Nio learned how to smile by mimicking Yuri.
Skills and Abilities
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Tokaku's knife passes through Nio's illusion
It is revealed near the end of the series that she is a member of the Kuzunoha clan of the west. Unlike usual assassins like those of the Azuma, the Kuzunoha specialize in illusory techniques that befuddle their opponents. Nio reveals this to Haru while using Tokaku's form as a disguise. In practice, the clan techniques are close to hypnotism and suggestive manipulation. Nio is seen using this power to trick Haru and Tokaku in the manga. In the anime, she can make weapons appear and vanish. She was also able to subdue Takechi with these powers. Supposedly, members of this clan can take mental control of their target, steal their perceptions, and chase them to death, or even make them kill others.
Nio Tattoos
Trivia
- "Nio" is an old name for the grebes that lived in Lake Biwa.
- Her last name Kuzunoha means "leaf of kudzu".
- Kuzunoha is also the name of a legendary kitsune in Japanese folklore, the mother of famed exorcist Abe no Seimei. Kitsunes are known as deceptive creatures that can use many illusions, and may be a reference to Nio's talent.
- Her favorite food is melon bread and petit anpan (bread with red bean paste filling). She dislikes all types of vegetables.
- She is the heir of the Kuzunoha clan .
- Nio needs an average of 2 hours of sleep.
- She's born in Shiga (Otsu).
- From her, we know that Melon bun and Red Bean Bun are considered a delicacy of Myoujo Academy.
- Hashiri means running, and it’s written with the kanji running (走, hashi) and the hiragana ri (り). It’s a fake name Nio gave herself for Class Black, because she didn’t want Tokaku to know she was from the Kuzunoha clan, the rivals of the Azuma clan. She chose it because she will always be running for the chairwoman. Nio’s name is written with the sole kanji 鳰, which is an old name for the grebes that lived in Lake Biwa.