:: Umehito Nekozawa ::

Umehito Nekozawa (猫澤 梅人 Nekozawa Umehito?) is depicted as a hooded figure holding a cat puppet named Belzeneff (also spelled Beelzenef). Umehito has a disease that causes him to collapse (and, according to him, die) in any kind of direct light; he tends to refer to anyone who drags him into lights as 'murderers'. As the Black Magic Club’s president, he tries to get people to join his club, though is not too successful. However, anyone who joins gets a free "Belzeneff" doll. Umehito has one as a puppet, but it is also available as a wooden voodoo doll. Nekozawa claims that if you write the name of the person you hate on the back of the doll, the person will be showered with misfortunes. Tamaki, especially, is superstitious about Nekozawa's curses due to having experienced them first-hand, or so he believes.

Umehito is actually very handsome under his hood, although he wears a black - dark green in the anime - wig over his naturally blond hair (according to his maid, even his hair can't be exposed to the light) and bright blue eyes. He has a child sister named Kirimi who is afraid of the dark and is under the impression that he is a "monster" due to his dark clothing. As a result, the two siblings were not able to be around one another until Tamaki and the Host Club got involved and prompted Umehito to adjust to light and display his more heroic and princely side. In the end, it is Umehito's love for and desire to protect his little sister that endears him to her, despite his disease; he braves daylight to save Kirimi. Granted, he collapses right afterwards from exposure to sunshine, but Kirimi finds a place in her heart for his willingness to brave that which he loathes so much to protect her. At the end of volume 8 of the manga, it is shown that Kirimi has turned into a nearly identical darkness fanatic. Both sport dark cloaks and have their features covered, but Kirimi carries a giant plush bunny instead of a Beelzenef puppet. Despite the Host Club's efforts to help him brave the sun, he is still just as obsessed with his occult passions. In the Halloween episode, he appears before Tamaki (from a coffin no less) and offers his services in helping scare the student body.

In Volume 3 of the manga, the Host Club actually stay at Umehito's private beach and mansion, not Kyoya's, though Umehito does not attend dinner because Haruhi switched the lights on and caused him to go into shock. The Host Club (Mori, Honey, the twins, and Haruhi) also see Umehito without his cloak and wig for the first time as he comes out to see what's wrong when Haruhi is being taken to the bathroom. It is unclear if he has realized that Haruhi is a girl, but seeing as she spent the whole vacation in a dress instead of her typical boyish clothes it's very possible he knows her secret and just doesn't care about it.

The Nekozawa family traces their heritage to the Tokarev Dynasty in Russia, suggesting that Nekozawa family may work with gun manufacturing companies (a firearm even appears in the manga).

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+ Athena updated @ 8:51 AM

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