Kurumi Ebisuzawa

The School Living Club is formed by a small group of survivors, each coping with the apocalypse in a deeply personal way, and each bringing something essential to the group’s survival and emotional balance.

Yuki Takeya is the emotional core. She lives in a self-created illusion where school life continues normally, protecting herself from trauma. While it seems fragile, her optimism and innocence hold the group together, giving them a reason to keep going and a sense of normalcy they would otherwise lose.

Yuri Wakasa acts as the caretaker and moral anchor. Calm, nurturing, and responsible, she takes on a motherly role, managing food, routines, and emotional stability. She is the School Living Club's founder, which she came up with as a source of porpuse and motivation for all the club members and their unity. Beneath that, she carries intense anxiety and fear of losing the others, which she hides to stay strong for them.

Miki Naoki represents realism and growth. Initially more pragmatic and emotionally guarded due to her past experiences surviving with her friend Kei Shidou, she struggles to accept Yuki’s denial but eventually understands its purpose. She brings critical thinking and adaptability, helping the group face reality when needed.

Taromaru, the dog, is more than a pet, he’s a symbol of comfort and loyalty. His presence softens the harshness of their world, offering unconditional companionship. His fate deeply affects the group, highlighting the emotional cost of their situation.

Finally, Megumi Sakura, their teacher, continues to influence them even after her death. As a mentor and protector, she prepared the school as a refuge and guided them through crisis. Even as a zombie, she embodies the painful overlap between memory and reality, especially for Kurumi.

Together, they form a fragile but powerful dynamic: hope, care, realism, strength, and memory, each one incomplete alone, but meaningful together.

Megurigaoka High School stands as both a sanctuary and a fragile illusion of normal life. From the outside, the building shows clear signs of the apocalypse (windows shattered, walls stained, and the surrounding grounds overrun by zombies) but inside, parts of it are carefully maintained by the School Living Club to preserve a sense of routine and safety. The girls have barricaded entrances and hallways using desks, chairs, and debris, creating choke points that keep zombies from easily reaching their living spaces.

The group primarily occupies the clubroom, which serves as their central base. It’s kept clean, organized, and almost deceptively peaceful, contrasting with the danger outside. Nearby classrooms are repurposed for storage and daily activities, while the rooftop garden is one of the most vital areas. It provides a small but sustainable source of food and a rare open space untouched by immediate danger.

They sleep in one of the classrooms, arranged with futons and personal belongings to resemble a shared dorm-like space, reinforcing their attempt to maintain normal school life. Other key areas of the school include the teachers’ lounge, which holds important items and remnants of the past; and the broadcasting room. There’s also the music room, a quieter, emotional space that reflects what the world used to be, and storage rooms that hold tools, food, and emergency supplies.

Despite their efforts, the school is not truly safe, zombies still linger in unsecure areas, especially lower floors and hidden rooms, making exploration dangerous. The building itself becomes a constant reminder of their situation: a place meant for growth and normal life, now transformed into a fortified refuge where every hallway could mean survival or death.

Kurumi Ebisuzawa is a 17 years old teenage girl with a slim, athletic build, shaped by her background in track and constant physical activity. She has a naturally fit and agile body, built more for speed and endurance than brute strength, though she is still physically one of the strongest in her group. Her height is just the average height for a Japanese high school girl, neither particularly tall nor short.

Her most defining feature is her long, dark purple hair, which reaches down to her hips. She usually wears it in twin-tails, tied with reddish ribbons, giving her a youthful and energetic look. Occasionally, she lets it down, where it falls straight and emphasizes a softer, more vulnerable side of her appearance. In combat or practical situations, she may adjust it into more secure styles, like low buns, showing her adaptability.

Her eyes are magenta, slightly violet, and they stand out strongly against her pale skin. They often carry a mix of determination and emotional depth, capable of looking fierce in battle but also soft, even fragile, in quiet moments.

Kurumi has fair, light skin and a generally expressive face, often blushing easily, which contrasts with her tough role as the group’s fighter. A small but notable detail is her slightly sharp canine teeth, which subtly reinforce her tomboyish, spirited personality.

In terms of clothing, she is almost always seen wearing her school uniform, consisting of: · A white short-sleeved shirt, sometimes layered with a purple cardigan · A green skirt with decorative buttons · A green necktie with a red ribbon accent · Black socks and white shoes with green details

She adds practical and distinctive accessories that reflect her role: · A black choker, one of her signature features · Striped arm warmers (black and white) · Fingerless gloves · Knee pads with metal plating, emphasizing combat readiness

And most importantly, she is almost never seen without her shovel, which has become an extension of her identity

Kurumi Ebisuzawa’s dislikes are closely tied to both her moral boundaries and her grounded, realistic personality. She strongly resists ideas that make the situation feel more cruel or meaningless, such as the revelation that the outbreak may have been caused by a biological weapon, reacting with visible anger and frustration at the senselessness behind it. More personally, she cannot stand the thought that the zombies might still retain awareness, choosing to reject that possibility because it would make her actions emotionally unbearable; this reflects not ignorance, but a limit to what she is willing to accept in order to keep functioning. Kurumi also deeply dislikes being placed in situations where she must harm people she once cared about, as seen when she hesitates to attack Megumi Sakura after recalling their time together, showing that even with her resolve, there are emotional lines she struggles to cross. In a broader sense, she dislikes helplessness (both in herself and in others) often showing frustration when situations spiral beyond control or when others are unable to act in dangerous moments, not out of judgment but from the urgency she feels to survive. On a lighter level, she can become mildly annoyed by teasing, particularly from Yuki Takeya, especially when it touches on her seriousness or her reliance on the shovel, though these reactions are more playful than genuinely negative. Overall, Kurumi dislikes anything that forces her to confront emotional extremes she cannot reconcile, as well as situations that strip away control, fairness, or the ability to protect the people she cares about.

Kurumi Ebisuzawa’s tastes and interests reflect a balance between practicality and a surprisingly ordinary, hopeful outlook on life. Before and even during the outbreak, she shows an inclination toward physical activity and hands-on tasks, which aligns with her athletic ability and comfort using tools, most notably the shovel she consistently carries with her after the initial incident that forced her to rely on it. While the shovel becomes a symbol of survival, it also subtly connects to her grounded, action-oriented nature. In quieter moments, Kurumi enjoys participating in the School Living Club’s daily routines: cooking, cleaning, and maintaining their environment, finding a sense of stability in these simple, structured activities. She also shows interest in typical high school life and future aspirations; she's mentioned wanting to attend college or possibly get married, reacting with a soft, almost shy excitement that reveals her appreciation for normalcy and a peaceful future beyond survival. Sometimes having the hope that it's all just a dream and that tomorrow she'll wake up to her normal school life like before. There are hints that she considered pursuing a path related to physical or practical work, suggesting she values usefulness and capability. Overall, Kurumi’s interests are not extravagant but grounded. She finds comfort in routine, companionship, and the idea of a stable future, showing that even in extreme circumstances, she holds onto simple, human desires and the hope of returning to an ordinary life.

Kurumi Ebisuzawa experiences a constant tension between empathy and necessity, feeling deep sadness, fear, and lingering guilt from the outbreak and the people she has lost, especially after being forced to kill someone she cared about. Despite this, she chooses to frame her reality in a way she can endure, convincing herself that the zombies are no longer aware or truly the people they once were, not out of indifference but because accepting the alternative would be emotionally unbearable. This belief allows her to act, as she takes on the burden of killing them not out of aggression, but from a sense of duty, understanding that someone must protect the group. She cares deeply for all the School Living Club members, and much of what she does is driven by the desire to keep them safe and emotionally stable, even if it means carrying more pain herself. Rather than denying her feelings, Kurumi processes them internally, allowing herself moments of vulnerability, such as fear or grief, but not letting them paralyze her actions. She often seeks small forms of comfort, like staying close to others, to regain emotional balance, showing that her strength comes not from suppressing emotion but from managing it. Her mindset reflects a quiet resilience: she accepts that what she is doing is painful and morally heavy, yet continues forward, focusing on what needs to be done while holding onto her care for others as the reason to keep going.

Kurumi Ebisuzawa is characterized by a strong sense of responsibility, discipline, and quiet determination, often acting as the most physically reliable and action-oriented member of the School Living Club. She tends to take situations seriously and is usually the one to prioritize safety and practical decisions, especially when it comes to protecting the group from danger. Despite this, she is not cold or distant; around the School Living Club members, she shows a softer, more approachable side, engaging in light teasing, small jokes, and everyday conversations that help maintain a sense of normalcy. She often acts like an older sister figure, balancing firmness with care, and while she may scold or correct others when needed, it comes from genuine concern rather than harshness. Kurumi also demonstrates adaptability in her interactions, understanding Yuki’s fragile mental state and choosing to play along with the club’s routines rather than disrupt them. Even under constant pressure, she maintains composure in front of others, rarely allowing her struggles to affect the group dynamic, which makes her presence feel stabilizing and dependable. Her personality is a blend of grounded realism and subtle warmth, allowing her to support the group not only through action but also through the way she preserves their emotional balance in daily life.

Kurumi Ebisuzawa is a student at Megurigaoka High School and a core member of the School Living Club in Gakkou Gurashi!, a group formed to live full-time on campus after a sudden zombie outbreak isolates them from the outside world. Before the crisis, Kurumi was an ordinary, somewhat strict but dependable girl, known for her sense of responsibility and athletic ability. When the outbreak begins, she experiences one of her most defining traumas: she is forced to kill her upperclassman and crush after he turns into a zombie, an event that deeply scars her but also becomes the turning point that hardens her resolve to protect others. Alongside Yuki Takeya, who copes through denial, Yuri Wakasa, who acts as the group’s caretaker and emotional anchor, and later Miki Naoki, a survivor they rescue, Kurumi helps maintain their fragile daily life within the school. The club itself is both a survival strategy and a psychological shield, especially to preserve Yuki’s mental state. Under the guidance and eventual sacrifice of their teacher Megumi Sakura, who becomes infected and dies trying to protect them, the girls continue adapting to their situation. Kurumi takes on the role of frontline defender, repeatedly facing zombies with her shovel despite the emotional toll, suppressing her pain to ensure the group’s safety. By the time they'll prepare to leave the school, she has endured continuous loss, moral burden, and responsibility, shaping her into the group’s strongest protector while still carrying the weight of everything she has been forced to do.