Rina Igarashi

Rina is born into a rather unremarkable family in the suburbs of Kanagawa. A few years later, her sister Yui is born. They have a fairly average childhood and Rina graduates from Ashigara High School. Interested in becoming a teacher, she is accepted into Rikkyo University and she moves away from her family to Toshima. She is able to afford a small, studio apartment near her school with the help of her parents and slowly adjusts to life in the city.

During Rina’s second year at university, Yui is hospitalized after her boyfriend is involved with a gang fight in Yokohama. Between tests and her part time job, Rina is only able to spare one weekend to return home and visit her sister to check on her condition. Worried, Rina’s parents encourage her to come home, away from the city and the rising violence. Rina refused, not able to reliably leave school in the middle of the semester. She also doesn't understand the urgency, as Yui's condition was improving quickly. This causes a rift between her and her family. A month later, her parents stop sending money that pays for schooling and rent. Rina deduces that she has enough money saved away to pay for the rest of the year, but that she will need another job to pay for herself, bitterly refusing to return home even further now and causing a permanent rift between her and her parents.

At the end of the month, Rina starts a job at Maid Dreams at Sunshine City. While not at all something she can imagine herself doing, she’s able to act the part and receives enough payment to survive. Living paycheck to paycheck, work taking up most of her free time, and the holidays without her family approaching, Rina’s mental health begins to drop. By the advice of one of the other girls at work, she takes to making an anonymous blog to get out her feelings. Sometimes it's only a journal of her day, while other times, her writing gets darker. After several entries, someone with the name Nakura finds her blog and begins commenting sympathetically on it. When they offer Rina someone to talk to, she hesitantly accepts and exchanges emails with them. Their exchanges are fine and a good way to vent until Nakura drops a bomb: "Would you end it all? I would do it with you."

Rina panics and completely drops contact.

A few months later, at what would have been the start of Rina’s third year at university, she receives a mysterious email with an invitation to join a forum called The Dollars. It looks local and peaks her interest, so she signs up. Surprisingly, she makes a number of friends across the site and the advice and positivity of the members helps her to feel less alone, bringing her out of her depression. Though, by the end of the year, Rina is promoted at work and picks up even more hours, limiting her time chatting online. As she drifts further away from the Dollars, she hears rumors of how they're becoming a dangerous gang and worries about what she was almost a part of.

Rina meets a few notable characters before the series starts, but only while using and keeping up the maid persona of "Rinako," while continuing work at Sunshine City. She wonders often if she needs to give up completely on her dreams of finishing school, and feels guilty when her thoughts drift to how it might not be that bad if she did.

Another year begins without Rina having signed up for classes, leaving her struggling with the fact that she may never return to her schooling. Her first appearance within the series is at work, serving regular customers Erika Karisawa and Walker Yumasaki. After they leave, Rina realizes one of them left their phone at the cafe and runs out after them to return it.

Two days later, while shopping for a birthday present for a coworker, Rina runs into the duo at a local bookstore. She tries to shop casually, not keen on running into customers out in public, but they find her picking out manga and start up enthusiastic conversation. They also seem to be none the wiser that she and “Rinako” are the same person, unlike their other friend, Kyouhei Kadota, who suggests she looks familiar.

With several manga suggestions, both for the gift and for Rina herself, she says thank you and goodbye. This time, Erika is the one rushing out behind her, asking to exchange contact information.

Later that week, Rina is stunned to receive an emergency email from the Dollars admin after her shift. She is part of the sea of Dollars members outside Tokyo Hand and witnesses the fabled Black Rider up close and personal. Stunned, she hangs around until the crowds dissipate and is surprisingly called out to by Erika. She joins and is introduced to another member of their crew, Saburo Togusa, as well as hesitantly admitting that, like them, she’s also a Dollar.

Over the summer, Rina finds herself being invited out to spend a lot of time with her new friends. In just a few months, she feels as though she’s seen more of Ikebukuro than she ever did in the past several years living there. After shifts at work, she tags along to shopping trips on Otome Road, Russia Sushi dinners, and late night patrols. The group attend Fukuro Matsuri, where she meets highschoolers Mikado Ryugamine, Anri Sonohara, and Masaomi Kida for the first time.

Rina accompanies Kyouhei to a museum for his birthday one-on-one after the rest of the group are inexplicably and suspiciously not able to make it. As he walks her home, the two run into one of Kyouhei’s old schoolmates, Izaya Orihara. While nothing but teasing pleasantries are exchanged, Orihara’s presence feels familiar and unnerves Rina in a way she can’t describe. Afterwards, as Kyouhei explains his insight and history with Izaya and warns her to steer clear, Rina gets the courage to ask him why he never usually opens up like this. He admits that he’d rather keep her at arm's length than have her end up getting hurt. Rina muses that that’s for her to worry about, not him, and he tells her that won’t stop him and leaves for the night.

Near the beginning of winter, while walking home one night, Rina senses someone following her. Only a few blocks from her apartment, she is cornered in an alley by a hooded, intimidating figure who seems to have glowing red eyes. Terrified at the end of a knife, she only makes her escape when a group of teenagers enter the alleyway as well, intending to harass both Rina and the red-eyed figure. When the mysterious being turns on the gang instead, Rina runs for it, making it to a kōban nearby. The police don’t provide much help besides taking her statement and offering an escort home. She also overhears that this is the third report of a Slasher that week.

Rina is shook up over this for some time. With much embarrassment, she asks the gang to come over for the night so that she’s not alone. There, Saburo says they should go out looking for this Slasher, Erika and Walker offer commentary on how Rina needs to “level up” first, and Kyouhei suggests maybe some formal training could do her good (instead of fighting slimes on the K-Books roof like the other two want.) Rina sits with the idea, thinking how she’s never been a fighter, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt, all things considered.

As attacks increase, including a member of the Dollars, the group spends more nights driving around searching for the Slasher or any victims. One night, Saburo and Kyouhei spot a man with red eyes stalking Anri Sonohara. They hit him with the van and Rina can deduce that this isn’t the same person who tried to hurt her all those months ago, though, the eyes are the same. The hit isn’t enough to stop his attacks; Kyouhei puts himself between the man and the group, but it’s ultimately the Headless Rider and Shizuo Heiwajima who put a stop to him.

The Headless Rider, who appears to be nothing but a woman in a biker’s getup, types an explanation on the so-called Demon Blade Saika and offers an awkward introduction as “Celty.” Kyouhei loads up the Slasher into the now doorless van. As they drive to the hospital, Rina quietly goes over all she saw that night. She feels helpless compared to all the terrifyingly strong (mentally and physically) people she’s come to know over the past year. She expresses this to the others before departing for the night, and thanks them for making her want to be better.

Days after Ripper Night appears in the news, Rina settles on taking self defense classes at Rakuei Gym. She feels silly being paired with mostly youths at her beginner stage, but the others are nothing but reassuring. The two rooting for her the most are junior high students Mairu and Kururi Orihara. Rina quickly finds out they have next to nothing in common with their brother and is happy to befriend them. Mairu specifically takes an interest in the young woman, asking her to call her “senpai” and trying to assign exercise homework on top of the coach’s already rigorous program. The training is rough but necessary and Rina works hard to get the hang of it all.

While Mikage Sharaku runs a tight ship, her brother and co-teacher, Eijirou, prefers to strike up conversation between the girls. On less intense training days, they speak casually and Rina learns about his short lived ring-fighting career. Surprisingly, Eijirou asks Rina out on a date and she takes the chance and accepts. They go to the sky deck on a cloudy day and their plans for dinner are interrupted by Rina receiving a Dollars admin alert and Eijirou picking a fight with a group of men wearing yellow bandanas. She tries to juggle both situations, but with the fight tuning her out, she runs off to follow the trail of messages and help the girl in the bunny costume nearby.

The following day, Rina fills Erika in on the less than successful date and Erika is pleased, saying she’s been shipping Rina and Dotachiin together recently. The topic is cut short when they notice the Dollars site offline, and the group meet up in the van to discuss. They discreetly discuss the past and their affiliation with a gang called the Blue Squares. When they begin planning an infiltration of the current Yellow Scarves hideout, Rina asserts that she wants to be a part of the plan, eager to prove herself and help her friends. Kyouhei shoots her down immediately, saying it’s not her fight. Despite assurance that Rina deserves to be there if they are from the others, Kyouhei’s say is final.

Rina heads home upset and feeling like an outsider among her closest friends. Though only training for a short while, she had been feeling more confident in herself, and through the Dollars, finally felt part of something bigger. After stewing in her bad mood for a few hours, she spitefully messages Kyouhei a curt “I’m in the Dollars for a reason.”

The van honks outside her door not long after. She dons a heavy jacket, packs a bag of first aid supplies (to fulfill Walker’s assignment of “healer of the party”), and obscures her face behind the yellow kerchief that’s given to her.

Rina survives the Yellow Scarves infiltration, fending off two opponents before getting overwhelmed by a third. She’s able to retreat back to the van with just a busted lip when they’re directed to take Masaomi to the hospital. She tends to Saburo’s wounds while the others spend the night at Raira General.

Kyouhei calls the next day to apologize, saying it’s not fair of him to make decisions like that for her. Rina accepts the apology but asks why it’s just her, prodding to see if there’s truth in Erika and Saburo’s past suggestions that he cares extra for her. She can hear his embarrassment over the phone as he doesn’t have a good reason, he just thinks she deserves better than to get involved in danger that revolves around him. Rina promises she can handle the bad if it means she can keep the good.

On one of her days off, Rina is hanging out with Kyouhei, Erika, and Walker before the latter two go meetup with Mikado. Their walk is interrupted when Rina notices Mairu and Kururi getting picked on by the Toramaru. Kyouhei takes it upon himself to interfere before Rina can inform him that they can probably handle themselves. He offers the girls a ride and ends up attracting more members of the biker gang, leading to a high speed chase. Along the way, Rina spots another group from the window, and Kyouhei jumps to rescue Mikado, Anri, and Aoba Kuronuma this time. She squeezes in the backseat as they make their escape, cramped and humored that the van has never held this many people before, especially this many high schoolers. Even Celty joins the chase, also running from her own batch of bōsōzoku. The large group escape unscathed as Celty defeats the bikers.

Later in the week, Rina misses an email from Celty asking if she has a talent for cooking. Before she can reply, Saburo is picking her up for a spontaneous hotpot party at Celty’s apartment. There, she sees many old faces and some new ones, including Tom Tanaka, Mika Harima, Seiji Yagiri, and Shinra’s stepmother, Emilia. Rina assists Mika in the kitchen and eats with the rest of the adults. She chokes on her food when Shizuo Heiwajima of all people asks how long she and Kyouhei have been together. She insists they’re just friends, despite that hurting a little.

That night, in the apartment hallway away from everyone else, Kyouhei asks Rina if she would want to try going out sometime. She, of course, says yes.

When reports come in about Kyouhei being spotted with the leader of Toramaru, Rina is unable to get ahold of Saburo for a ride and instead rushes to Raira’s Field Two on foot. Along the way, she sees a number of bikers starting fights, but knows she would be outnumbered if she intervened. Her sights are set on making it to Kyouhei, pushing through the unsettling feeling of Nakura’s name appearing on the BBS notifications.

Rina arrives at the fields and finds Kyouhei collapsed on a bench and his opponent out cold. She’s never seen him in this bad of shape before and tries to remain calm while tending to his wounds. Unlike previous times, he doesn’t have the energy to keep up the tough guy act. When the Toramaru’s leader, Chikage Rokujo, awakens, his first words are “Aw man, we could have avoided this whole thing if you told me you had a girl.” Kyouhei smartly replies, “Good thing you didn’t ask.”

When it sounds like the conflict between the two is over and they're now getting along, Rina offers to tend to Rocchi’s (he says to call him that) battle damage as well. Before she can, they’re interrupted by rogue Dollars members who are holding Chikage’s girlfriends hostage. Someone tries to ambush Rina as leverage as well, but she is able to maneuver away and take him down. In a second, another fight kicks off, as Walker, Erika, Saburo, and several others come to the rescue. Rina slips away to ensure the girls are all led to safety. Non laughs about the fact that their boyfriends are a pair of idiots and Rina refrains from correcting the title, instead listening to the girls’ laments of dating the leader of a gang.

Shizuo, once again, brings the fighting to an end. After the Toramaru disperse and the excitement winds down, the five go out for dinner with Anri in accompaniment. Her sword fighting skills are left as a mystery for now, despite Erika’s infatuation. Rina cleans up the blood and bandages Kyouhei’s injuries to the best of her ability, making him presentable enough to be seen in public, and he buys her dinner for the night.

Rina plans to spend the rest of Golden Week resting and relaxing, but instead she receives a call from her sister for the first time in two years. She had gotten a few texts on holidays or special occasions, but never a whole call. Yui sounds happy to hear her voice, and asks if they can meet up while she’s visiting Ikebukuro with her boyfriend. Rina invites her to stay at her place for the few days they’re in town. After the phone call, she struggles with how much guilt she feels for not reaching out sooner, having only been thinking about her own life until now. She thought Yui wouldn’t want anything to do with her, so had let the concept of maintaining a relationship slip away.

The following day, filled with anxiety, she meets Yui for coffee and is introduced to Touma, the long time boyfriend who once got Yui involved in the Yokohama gang incident. He looks the part, with dyed hair and a casual yankii style. While Yui chats and catches up like nothing ever happened, Touma apologizes profusely and seeks to clear the air about what happened all those years ago: Yui was visiting him in the city that weekend and got hit as collateral damage when someone from a rival gang was out to get him. She was only in the hospital for a day to get a cast for her arm, something, it turns out, her parents had greatly exaggerated.

With the emotions already raised from the story, Yui lets it spill that her parents had actually wanted Rina to move back home for more nefarious reasons. They had made some bad investments and wanted to use Rina to pay off bills, and more recently, when they could no longer manage payments, they turned to stealing from Yui’s savings. She was in the process of moving in with Touma now, but wasn’t sure how to tell her sister all of this and that she wasn’t wrong in staying away from the family.

After reconciling, Rina shows the pair around the city, paying more attention to her younger sister’s relationship than any of the sight seeing. Despite contrasting appearances, they seem perfect together, and it has Rina thinking about her own relationship (or lack thereof, she isn’t entirely sure.) Yui catches on and brings it up that night when Touma is asleep. Rina starts from the beginning, flipping back and forth between how much Kyouhei seems to care but also how closed off he can be. Yui says to go for it, so Rina tries.

The next day, after Yui and Touma catch the train back to Yokohama, Rina messages to ask if Kyouhei can meet her for an adventure that morning. She takes them to a Showa museum, an art museum, and a city garden. When Kyouhei jokes that he’s getting suspicious that Rina is up to something, she nervously confesses. She tells him how she’s admired him since they first met and how she can’t imagine having someone else for a friend and she wants him to stay by her side. She has more to say, but Kyouhei asks if he can kiss her instead.

Kururi and Mairu invite Rina to join a chatroom of their friends. She uses the same username as on the Dollars forums, Kintoki. She isn't able to come online too often, but takes the time to introduce herself and chats occasionally.

After an afternoon spent at the gym, Rina sees Izaya Orihara as she walks Akane Awakusu outside to get picked up. Izaya muses how it’s been a while since the two of them first met, and how he’d actually been wanting to talk to her. Rina politely walks in step with him on her way out, though she’d rather not. Rina asks him how he’s recovering from the stabbing but Izaya breezes past formalities, saying that a little birdie told him Rina had finished school. She corrects him that she wasn’t able to finish and was working full time, but it seemed like he already knew that. He goes on to say if she’s ever looking for extra hours on the side, he has a job for her, since she “knows the Dollar’s poster-boy so well.” She’s not interested. The offer still stands but Izaya changes the subject to ask if she has ever heard the name Ran Izumi before. He warns that she might be hearing it a lot more in the future. Rina does her best to wave off what sounds like a threat. Unimpressed with Izaya from all she’s heard from Kyouhei, Celty, and Shizuo, she finds the courage to ask about a shot in the dark thought she’d had before.

“Are you Nakura?”

Before he can respond, they’re interrupted by a flying kick from Mairu and then another by Eijirou. A fight ensues, but Izaya escapes before taking any damage or giving an answer. Eijirou scolds Rina for being alone with Izaya, the twins say not to listen to anything he said, and Mikage will barely talk to her from then on.

Later that evening, Rina asks Kyouhei if he knows anything about an Izumi. He gives her the full story of the group’s time in the Blue Squares, and tells her they better watch out if Izumi is back on the streets.

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