Harunobu Nikaidou

Harunobu Nikaidou (二海堂 晴信 Nikaidō Harunobu) is Rei Kiriyama's friend and main rival in shōgi.

Appearance
Nikaidou has straight brown hair, black eyes, often flushed pale skin and a short, chubby build.

He is seen wearing a polo shirt and slacks, or a button-down shirt with a sweater vest. When it's cold, he wears a coat over his vest. At more formal events, he wears a suit with a tie or bow-tie.

Personality
Despite the disease that plagued his childhood, Nikaidou has an earnest personality, along with a cheerful outlook towards life. He's described as persistent and stubborn when it comes to his rivalry in shōgi with Rei Kiriyama. He gets emotional over his losses, but does his best to keep a strong front while in public. He doesn't give up and even with his illness, he lets Shogi Become his life.

Background
Nikaidou comes from a wealthy family, but he was born with an incurable disease. He met Rei Kiriyama a long time ago at a children's shōgi tournament. He sees Rei as his best friend and rival in Shōgi.

Etymology

 * The name Harunobu means "clear weather" (晴) (haru) and "trust, believe" (信) (nobu).
 * Harunobu's surname Nikaidou means "two" (二) (ni), "sea, ocean" (海) (kai) and "hall" (堂) (dou), which translates to "a large river".