Ichiro Yagami

Ichiro Yagami is a character in High School Life of Hell. He holds the title of ​Super High School Level Chess Master . His parents pushed him to be as good as his brother from birth, and this eventually led to him pursuing his title.

Appearance
Ichiro is a some-what short, slim young man who usually wears formal dress clothes. He wears a pair of simple black-framed glasses and has short, messy black hair and salmon-pink eyes. He usually maintains a serious expression and often is seen with arrogant posture, such as crossed arms or a smirk. He almost never smiles, unless it is at someone else's expense.

Personality
Ichiro is a very arrogant, prideful, and, at times, blunt young man. He knows of his intelligence and skill, and makes it a point that others do, as well. He enjoys showing said level of expertise in as many fields as possible, and often makes it a point to let others ‘know their place’ below him. He has almost a royalty syndrome, and would love it if people bowed down to him in any type of situation.

He is very intelligent, despite his very negative attitude, and finds it easy to solve riddles or find easy solutions for usually difficult tasks. However, his arrogance often times makes him hard to work with, and he, nine times out of ten, would rather have others ‘stay out of his way’ than help or get involved with him. He would even rather watch them suffer than help out sometimes, and appears to be sadistic to an extent in doing so. It amuses him to watch other fumble around to find answers or solutions that he had already seen long ago.

His bluntness comes out in snarky comments, and more than often is followed with his usual smirk or arm crossing. He always finds it entertaining to test other’s skills, and does not take false accusations or insults well. Due to not usually being insulted, they usually hit his pride hard, often times catching him off guard. His insults are usually very cruel, and even an out-right attack will not make him stop. He loves to mess with others, and getting a reaction out of them is more than enough to stroke his ego and make him grin maliciously.

There have only been a few cases in which Ichiro's cold and cruel nature have broken. When he saw Yoshi crying and acting out of character during Charline's trial, he actually seemed to falter and looked genuinely surprised and concerned for him. This suggests that their may be more to him under his harsh shell, but that, in truth, is yet to be seen.

Pre-Imprisonment
Ichiro was born into an upper class family, and has lived in Japan his entire life. Having been born into a life of wealth, he had only the finest tutors and was destined to be an intelligent young man from the beginning of his life. However, his older brother was the heir to their family fortune, and an unsaid rivalry consisted between them. He could never beat his brother, and his parents preached about how he should be more like him. This spurred a hate in his heart for him, and fueled his desire to grow more capable.

He attended private schools from junior high onward, excelling in all of his studies with ease. He, however, was both envied and hated by his fellow students due to his wealth and intelligence, which forced him to become his own person very early on in life. He had no real friends, and grew hardened and used to being alone. Due to this, he never really learned how to deal with decent human beings, and simply learned to dish the first insult rather than wait for it to come to him from envious peers.

He learned of his advanced skill in chess upon being challenged by the school’s leading player at the time, out of spite for his intelligence, and completely blowing him out of the water.. He took his place, taking over the team and going on the compete in various competitions around the country. This only strengthened his ego, and hardened his already loner soul, but he did not mind at all.

Upon being invited to Heaven’s Summit, he accepted, simply stating that he was growing bored of his old school’s ‘idiots’ anyway. He left to attend the academy at the age of 16, hoping its residents wouldn't be as incompetent.

High School Life of Hell
He immediately became suspicious of the school when he found it was bolted down from the outside world. When Monokuma told everyone of the mutual killing, he was the first to think bluntly, stating that anyone could be planning a murder even then. He didn't waste a minute trying to get to know the others, not trusting them at all. He became a bit of a recluse, avoiding any and all other students.

He stayed away from everyone else, trying to keep himself safe from any potential murderers. When Daichi was found dead, he had joked that it was 'only a matter of time', much to the annoyance and exasperation of the others. He proved to be a skilled investigator and interrogator during the trial, although he seemed to enjoy antagonizing the others too much for anyone's own good; his sadism seems to leak out of him when pressing down on his classmates.

He seemed unaffected by the execution, other than the keen look of fright he tried to hide in his gaze. He also made snarky comments about Nobu and Shiori's deaths, and even stayed away from the others when they held the pool party in the first place, claiming it was idiotic and too obvious of a likely trap for him to attend. He seemed to only have himself in mind, as always. He has also proven to find Arianna's advances as annoying, ignoring the girl completely most of the time.

When Tsubaki was found guilty and executed, he seemed to almost mock her motives, comments as devilish as always. However, his rude remarks earned him a slap from Hana the next day, something that seemed to heavily bother and anger him. He stormed out, Arianna following him, her crush on the chess player still evident.

He did not reappear until the fire was set that night, seeming annoyed more than worried about the flames in the dance hall. Hana's murder did seem to be a rather large shock to him, but he seemed to not be too awfully affected. He helped with the investigation, but sparingly so. The trial was not much different than usual for him, and he seemed to claim he knew who the murderer was from the start.

The most notable thing to occur with Ichiro during this trial was his actual concern for Yoshi once he was upset. He even rudely claimed he should stop covering for Charline, seeming somehow defensive of the poet. He was noted to actually look worried after the trial was finished and the artist was executed, a nervous look on his face as he watched Yoshi cry.

The following day, after seeing Yoshi was visibly upset, Ichiro seemed oddly vacant himself. He got up and left the room right after Yoshi did, but he seemed bothered, and not like his usual self. After that, he was very violent, even more so than usual. He talked poorly of Yoshi after his absence was noted by the other survivors, and Katsuro tried to slap him. Seeing this, he grabbed her wrist and threatened her, reminding the female that their was a traitor among them, and she should be careful. Konan threatened him with his kunai, and he released her, snickering as he left. He did not explore the fourth floor with the others.

The next day, after Monokuma revealed the motive and Yoshi left, Ichiro moved to leave the room, as well. Arianna confronted him this time, asking him why he was leaving. She pleaded with him to just work with the others to escape, but he simply claimed he was certain a murder would be committed, and then left. He was not seen again until that night, when Katsuro went to the kitchen for a glass of milk.

He seemed to be gathering a tray full of food, with more than one cup. Katsuro was quiet, but he snapped at her, and then tormented her once he realized she was crying, threatening her with closeness. However, he then burst out laughing, claimed she wasn't "his type", and left the room with his food. Katsuro had noted he was acting strangely, and even this seemed out of character for the chess master. At the end of the chapter, a figure is noted to be holding a photograph of his scene in the kitchen with Katsuro, and one of him kissing Yoshi.

Arianna Whitelock
Arianna is a huge fan of Ichiro. As a paparazzi member, she has followed his career as a chess master since the beginning, and claims to have a huge collection of photos and articles about him. She seems to be a 'super fan' of the male, and he finds it, and her very obvious and admitted crush towards him, nothing but annoying. She is a nuisance to him, in his eyes, and her stalker-level behavior concerning him keeps him on edge and irritated. He wishes she would leave him alone, even if she is genuinely concerned and hopeful about him.

Arianna has tried countless times to persuade Ichiro to work with the others, but he has openly disagreed every time. In Chapter 14, she physically stopped him for the first time, but he shrugged her off, claiming she was a stalker and that he wanted nothing to do with any of them. She followed him anyway.

Yoshi Matsumoto
Ichiro and Yoshi have been at each other's throats since the beginning of their imprisonment together. They both harbor a rude nature, and this has clashed many times throughout their time locked in the school. Insults and death threats are a common subject matter between them, and they seem to truly harbor anger towards one another. However, their have been instants that suggest something more, most notably during Charline's trial.

Yoshi started to cry, and Ichiro was actually concerned, and claimed to look very worried and nervous for him, even trying to talk him out of taking the fall for Charline. What could this be suggesting about them? The following days made Ichiro's interactions also odd. He left the room right after Yoshi did on both occasions he appeared following the trial in the cafeteria. At the end of Chapter 14, a figure is seen holding a photo of Yoshi and Ichiro kissing. It is unsure what their true relationship is at this point.

Katsuro Yukimura
Katsuro and Ichiro, at first, were rather like-minded individuals. They were both intelligent, cold, and not very keen on interacting with the others in the school. However, Katsuro opened up with time, whereas Ichiro did not. This made their mutual respect for one another decline, and Katsuro now sees Ichiro in a negative light, his comments scathing her. Ichiro sees her as almost a rival, but seems to have fun poking fun at her for not finding clues as fast as himself.

In Chapter 14, Ichiro became more violent with Katsuro. He pinned her wrist in front of everyone and threatened her, and then, the next day, pinned her against the counter in the kitchen. He claimed she was not his type after intimidating her, suggesting he is not romantically interested in her. However, the truth behind this is unknown. Katsuro now hates him with a burning passion, even more so than before. However, he makes her want to keep hope even more than ever, given his actions.

Hana Inoue
Hana and Ichiro were more enemies than anything. Until after Tsubaki's trial, only a few insults were thrown in between them, but the hostility was obvious. Hana even slapped him after he made sarcastic comments about their future being lost and them just needing to face facts, angering the chess master and furthering their hate for one another. He seemed to not care at all when she was killed, and almost glad.