Tatsuhito Ikoma

"Dude, it's tuna! And it's a cutlet! In a bowl of rice! No way it ain't tastin' good, dammit!"

- Tatsuhito Ikoma to Kōji Oki

Tatsuhito Ikoma is the no. 6 Attacker and the captain of Ikoma Unit.

Appearance
Ikoma is a light-skinned young man of average build. He has broad shoulders, green eyes, an aquiline nose, and a square jaw. He wears his messy, medium-length black hair slicked back.

Ikoma's uniform is comprised of a vermillion, white-zipped jacket. A horizontal white line runs across the chest portion roughly at the height of his armpits, whereas on the back it bends into a flat V-shape pointing downwards, with an ornamental button right above the tip. On the left breast, the white line encircles Border's logo, above which is emblazoned the B-rank emblem. Everything above the white line is black in color, including the high collar, which Ikoma keeps open to reveal a round-collared undershirt; the only exception are the vermillion plain button epaulets. The sleeves are also black until roughly halfway through the humerus, after which they turn vermillion, and disappear into Ikoma's thick gloves about an inch past the elbow. The gloves are black with a gray palm and a thin brown buckle that encircles them near the cuff. The black portion of the sleeves and the collar bear a square motif that suggests padding. The uniform is completed by black pants with front and back pockets, gray-brown boots that reach halfway up Ikoma's calves, and a pair of rectangular goggles with protruding lenses and a vermillion strap which he wears at all times during combat.

Personality
Ikoma has a very quirky personality, surprising even his teammates with his penchant for focusing on details that most find irrelevant. Despite rarely emoting, he gets thrilled about mundane events, which he is fond of sharing in the form of pointless anecdotes. This excitement can cause him to appear like an airhead or an outright weirdo when coupled with some of his his laid-back attitude. Although he cares about the outcome of rank battles, he does not strategize ahead of a match, but uses that time to chat with his teammates about whatever random subject elicited his interest. Nonetheless, he studies the logs of his upcoming enemies and is generally passionate about fighting powerful opponents and watching exceptional feats of skill. He can be surprisingly serious when it comes to combat, apologizing to his opponent and his friends after inadvertently breaking the rules of a solo battle.

Ikoma is prone to fooling around when hanging out with his friends, and he seems to enjoy teasing them with a straight face. His wish to be popular, especially with girls, has driven him to learn to play guitar and to consider switching to cooking after finding it difficult to casually mention his musical skills during a conversation. A similar desire may be at the root of his habit of posing for the camera after defeating an opponent. His unwillingness to damage his image led him to insist that Oki be the one to take out Chika Amatori in round six, on account of his superior looks. According to his teammate, whenever a girl is mentioned, Ikoma will remark that she is cute.

Satoshi Mizukami
Ikoma and Mizukami appear to be friends. Despite his pragmatism, the Shooter listens to Ikoma's rambling anecdotes attentively, often providing humorous commentary on or a grounded reaction to them and his outlandish behavior. Despite being the captain, Ikoma relies on Mizukami's tactical insight during rank battles, although when multiple paths are open the Shooter lets the Attacker decide which one to pick before focusing on how to achieve it himself. Mizukami addresses Ikoma by his nickname, to which he happens the honorific -san.

Kōji Oki
Ikoma and Oki appear to be on friendly terms. The Sniper is amused by his captain's puzzling anecdotes and makes light-hearted remarks on them, or, more precisely, on Ikoma's choice of subject and storytelling habits. Ikoma often comments on Oki's popularity with girls despite the latter's denial, even using his good looks as an argument to get him to shoot Chika, to Oki's embarrassment. There might be a shade of envy to his teasing. Ikoma believes his professed reluctance to snipe young girls to be no more than an act to support his "good guy" façade. He addresses Oki by his surname, without honorifics, while the Sniper uses his nickname followed by the honorific -san.

Maori Hosoi
Ikoma's nonchalance before a rank battle can unnerve for Hosoi, as instead of strategizing he ends up sharing rambling anecdotes whose pointlessness can leave her astonished to this day. Despite doing so for all girls, Ikoma had never called Hosoi cute until Oki pointed it out, prompting the Attacker to rectify his omission multiple times, to her embarrassment. he calls her by her nickname, to which he appends the suffix -chan.

Kai Minamisawa
Minamisawa appears to greatly admire Ikoma or anyway to seek to win his approval, as many of his excessive shows of enthusiasm follow one of the captain's statements. Ikoma appears to be his only teammate who does not react to them coldly. He refers to Minamisawa by his first name, without honorifics.

Yūichi Jin
Ikoma and Jin are of an age and part of a group of 19-year-old agents who hang out together. Ikoma is awed by Jin's combat ability and jumps at the chance to spar with him, watching his matches when he is already fighting someone else. Ikoma refers to Jin by his surname without honorifics, whereas Jin uses the diminutive nickname "Ikomacchi".

Jun Arashiyama and Kuniharu Kakizaki
Ikoma is of an age with Arashiyama, Jin, and Kakizaki, and they regularly end out together. Like Jin, Ikoma has a tendency to be irresponsible on their outings, and the two prompt Arashiyama to goof around with them, forcing Kakizaki into the role of the voice of reason.

Shinnosuke Tsuji
Ikoma holds Tsuji's combat prowess in high esteem. Since the latter does not appear to be bothered by Ikoma referring to him by his surname followed by the diminutive suffix -chan, the two are presumably on good terms.

Noboru Koarai
Koarai and Ikoma are presumanly on good terms, with Koarai feeling entitled to bemoan Ikoma's involuntary foul when he sparred with Hyuse. Koarai addresses Ikoma by shortening his surname and appending the honorific -san, while Ikoma uses Koarai's nickname and no honorifics.

Yūma Kuga
Ikoma is deeply impressed with Yūma's combat prowess, and particularly with his victory against Kō Murakami in round three. Yūma has complimented Ikoma's skill after being defeated by him in round six.

Hyuse
Ikoma is impressed with Hyuse's swordsmanship and was thrilled at the prospect of challenging him. His admiration has only grown over time. He apologized to him after unwittingly breaking the rules in their match and contributed to Hyuse's maturing respect for Border's swift progress. Hyuse refers to Ikoma by his surname, without honorifics, while Ikoma uses his first name, also without honorifics, although it is unknown if, as part of the Neighbor's cover, it was made into his first or family name.

Quotes

 * (To his teammates) "Tamakoma Second is super crazy. Crazy, right? Y'know? This white-haired kid is bad news."
 * (To his teammates) "We gotta keep an eye on the last one... the chick from Tamakoma Second. She's small and cute."
 * (To Maori Hosoi) "Mario, you're cute too!"
 * (To Kōji Oki) "Dude, it's tuna! And it's a cutlet! In a bowl of rice! No way it ain't tastin' good, dammit!"
 * (To his teammates) "Come on, dude... We can't be the first to lose like this. Our selling point is that we're a four-man squad. If we lose a dude, we've got nothin' but Oki's popularity with girls!"
 * (To Yūma Kuga and Ōji Unit) "Huh? How the heck're y'all still in one piece?"
 * (To Satoshi Mizukami) "Wait... I think someone just praised me."
 * (To Kōji Oki) "Idiot! Do I look like the kind of guy who can get away with cutting down little girls? You're the super handsome one. You can get away with anything!"
 * (To Yūma, then Mizukami) "That ain't gonna work! I've seen that move in the logs thousands of times-- Oh! No, wait...! Hold on...! This ain't good. He's gotten way faster than I saw in the logs."
 * "No more Sniper fire coming means I can cut down all the houses, right?"
 * (To Yūma) "That move won't work on me."
 * (To his teammates) "Wait, is there really no rule like the last point counts for three or somethin'?"
 * (To Noboru Koarai) "I am really, truly sorry about that. It's just a habit..."
 * (To Maori Hosoi) "Well, this one time, I thought the wind was blowing something fierce, but it was just my own nose-breathing. How's that for a story?"
 * (To the reader) "Stay tuned for the final round."

Trivia

 * "Tatsuhito" (達人) literally means "expert, master, adept", while "Ikoma" (生駒) means "raw piece".
 * Like the rest of his teammates (with the exception of Minamisawa), he speaks in.
 * He likes girls, new menu in the cafeteria, soccer, and eggplant curry. He took up guitar as a hobby to impress girls, but, due to the difficulty of bringing it up casually, he has considered switching to baking.
 * A recurring gag has Ikoma break the fourth wall:
 * in Chapter 150 he is shown repeatedly looking into the camera when defeating his opponents, although there are no visible recording devices in rank battles;
 * in Chapter 154 he is convinced that someone praised him, which Yuu Kunichika had just done in her commentary of the match;
 * in Chapter 184 he addresses the reader directly.
 * The icon Haya Kittaka designed for him appears to be a homage to Star Platinum.
 * The author wrote in Ikoma's profile that he comes "straight from Naniwa", the old name of the city of, before clarifying that he is actually from Kyōto.