Character Profile: Hotaru Imai

Hotaru Imai is Mikan's best friend. She is extremely intelligent and rational. During the story, though she appears cold and indifferent on the surface, it is apparent that she genuinely cares for Mikan. Her keen observations of Mikan's mistakes and faults leaves others wondering if they are really best friends.

Although she was raised by her parents and is a super-genius, she is a bit mean, especially towards Mikan. She assumes a big-sister role to Mikan and is sometimes the voice of reason to her. Her Alice is that of Invention, and during her time at the country with Mikan and her grandfather, she created many strange but useful inventions, often made to look like animals.

She went to Alice Academy partly because they gave out money and she wanted to pay her old school's dues so it wouldn't be demolished. As an Alice, her parents were compelled to let her go to the Academy. So they probably got tired of evading the government, too. She wanted to go for the position of 'Honor Roll Student' so she could go home to visit Mikan and her parents.

She also tends bully Mikan, or punish others who bully her. She has some goofy points, though; her constant eating habits and her greedy side that causes her make inventions such as those that need a toll payment. Hotaru breaks the fourth wall by teaching the audience about her inventions. The other characters see her explaining her inventions to apparently no one.

She also has an older brother who is second-in-charge of the student council. She also knows that both Natsume and Ruka have crushes on Mikan. An enterprising student, she is not above blackmail, most particularly of Ruka -- she takes pictures of him showing his gentler side, probably to cater to the girls in the school, who would buy them. She is an unwilling member of the "3 geeky sisters" composed of Anna, Nonoko, and her.