Ayumu Narumi

Ayumu Narumi (鳴海歩 Narumi Ayumu) is the main protagonist of the series and the "little brother" of Kiyotaka Narumi. In the anime, he is voiced by Kenichi Suzumara in the Japanese version, and Daniel Katsük in the English Dub. (Birthday: December 1th-Sagittarius)

Personality
Ayumu is stoic, carefree and intelligent, however he is also introverted and has a lot of self-doubt. He fears that he cannot surpass his older brother, and therefore doubts himself to the extent where he believes he can do nothing but act like his brother. When Hiyono tries to cheer him up or talk to him, he usually ignores her. Ayumu confesses to Hizumi that he forgets Hiyono's name at times, but is shown later to remember it when important. He also cares for and worries about Madoka a lot. He is a lot more violent in manga as he has shown no problem using guns on others like Eyes and Kanone

Appearance
Ayumu has spiky brown hair and a piercing in his right ear. He is often seen in his blue school uniform and has green eyes in the manga and brown in the anime. Ayumu looks like a younger version of Kiyotaka. He doesn't show it but Ayumu has a tattoo of a puzzle piece on his forearm. In the finals chapter, he was shown to have rash-like markings around one of his ears, most likely as a result of his body failing.

Background
Ayumu was alienated by his parents. He was a clone created for Kiyotaka as a type of "insurance" by his parents after Kiyotaka started playing piano, so if anything bad were to happen to Kiyotaka, Ayumu would be used as a "guinea pig" and undergo treatment to find what was suitable for Kiyotaka's body. However, once Kiyotaka announced that he was quitting piano, his parents found no use for Ayumu and was often ignored.

Story
Ayumu was originally created as a type of "insurance" for his older brother, Kiyotaka Narumi. Two years ago, his brother disappeared without a trace, and his only clue is the phrase "Blade Children", the only words that Ayumu could make out of his brother's last phone call. Now in highschool, he becomes involved in solving a series of murders and other incidents, all relating to the Blade Children. Together with his school's journalist, Hiyono Yuizaki, and the unwilling assistance of his sister-in-law, Madoka Narumi, Ayumu tries to figure out who the Blade Children are and what their goals are.

Anime: After being wrongly accused of pushing a girl off a building, Ayumu soon learns of the Blade Children group from the real culprit whom he exposes. With the assistance of Hiyono, he is subjected to various death games at the hands of the Blade Children Kosuke and Rio. After proving his worth he tries to stop the Hunters, a group set out to kill the Blade Children, and save the Blade Children from a gruesome fate. The Anime ends with him having a Picnic with Hiyono.

Manga: Ayumu later has a death battle with Kanone in which he, Madoka, Rio, Kouske, Ryoko, and Hiyono sustain multiple injuries, including gunshot wounds, before emerging Victorius. Ayumu later meets Hizumi and learns of his destined battle to fight and kill Hizumi but opts not to and defy destiny. It is later revealed he is a clone of his brother Kiyotaka. He was created by their mother as a Guinea pig for medical research in the event Kiyotaka fell ill. After Kiyotaka quit piano, his mother shunned Ayumu, seeing no further use for the clone. After various battles with the Blade Children, Hunters, and Hizumi, his body begins to die and he is hospitalized to prolong his death after his left arm is completely paralyzed. Ayumu also learns Hiyono is a secret agent for Kiyotaka, which nearly sends him on a murderous frenzy against his brother but decided to spare him, leading him to finally best his brother. He reconciles with "Hiyono" and gives him his earring before being hospitalized and asks to see her again after her mission, to which she agrees. Depite being hospitalized and losing the use of his left arm, Ayumu began writing sheet music to compensate for his physical hinderences, which he refers to as his own style of music. He is last shown playing the piano for Hiyono after teasing her.

Abilities
Narumi has all the abilities of his original (Kiyotaka). His detective skills are so great that he bested Madoka at being a detective. Ayumu is also a great cook and piano player. He eventually manage to not only match Kiyotaka, but also surpass even his Logic as seen in their final confrontation (Ayumu anticipated almost every trial Kiyotaka set forth). In the manga he has great skills with handguns. Ayumu is also a highly skilled fighter as seen where he managed to outmaneuver and incapacitate Eyes.

Mrs. Narumi (Mother)
Mrs. Narumi was a pianist before suffering an accident that resulted in the loss of function of her fingers. She tried numerous chemicals and treatments in an effort to regain the use of her fingers, which eventually lead to them becoming almost entirely useless. When Kiyotaka became a pianist, she decided to create Ayumu, so that if anything were to happen to Kiyotaka, Ayumu could be experimented on to find the correct treatment to any injury that Kiyotaka had. However, she found no use for Ayumu once Kiyotaka gave up piano, and ignored him almost completely.

Kiyotaka Narumi
Main Article:Kiyotaka Narumi

Ayumu's "original". For most of his life, he believed that Kiyotaka his older brother, but in fact Ayumu is a clone of his so-called brother, and was made for Kiyotaka's mother's own uses. Ayumu always feels inferior to Kiyotaka, as whatever Ayumu can do, he believes Kiyotaka can do better. Kiyotaka has high expectations for his clone and sees him as the true savior of the Blade Children. However, even he was surprised that Ayumu chose to spare him instead of shooting him for all the grief and betrayals he set forth for the clone. Kiyotaka seems to truly love Ayumu as his younger brother as shown by how he provides for all his medical needs and had Madoka promise to offer guidance to Ayumu should he ever have difficulties.

Hiyono Yuizaki
Main Article:Hiyono Yuizaki

She is Ayumu's partner when it comes to mystery solving. She is the president of their school's Newspaper Club and has all sorts of data regarding the school, teachers, students, and other related persons. She's a great help when gathering data about the case(s). Her snippy attitude is really helpful during those situations. Ayumu really cares about her especially in dangerous situations or when her life is on the line. While believed to be Ayumu's partner, she was actually Kiyotaka's secret agent. But Hiyono really does care about Ayumu. At the end of the manga, Ayumu gave one of his earrings to her and said that she could return it once they met again in the near future.

Madoka Narumi
Main Article: Madoka Narumi

His sister-in-law and the wife of Kiyotaka Narumi, Madoka was Ayumu's first love before his brother married her. He is shown to still have lingering feeling for her in the way he worries about her and at some point confessed his feelings for her.

Blade Children
Main Article: Blade Children

Kiyotaka made Ayumu the savior of the Blade Children and is called "Narumi's Little Brother" (Narumi-ototo) by them.

Notes and Trivia

 * Narumi can mean narcissism, which is not how Ayumu usually acts.
 * Ayumu has a liking for older women, although in the manga he later on decided that he needs a woman he can rely on (implying Hiyono)
 * Ayumu means "Walk, Dream, Vision" in Japanese, and is commonly given to girls.
 * Due to being a clone, Ayumu will die at a young age (his early twenties at most).