Masami Kugimiya is a male professional ballroom dancer who serves as a rival and occasional training partner to the protagonist Tatara Fujita. He is partnered with Tamie Idogawa, and his dancing style is characterized as elegant, strict, traditional, and old‑fashioned, often described as possessing a refined beauty. His technique was shaped under the early mentorship of Kunieda Tadashi, who instilled a rigid, perfectionist approach, and later under Marisa Hyodo following a car accident that altered his training path. Despite his composed and contained outward demeanor, Kugimiya is deeply insecure, anxious, sensitive, overthinking, and short‑tempered. He is a pessimist with a fragile sense of self‑worth, and he often struggles with feelings of inadequacy and frustration over his inability to win major competitions. This inner turmoil drives him to push himself relentlessly yet also makes him prone to self‑doubt and irritability. As a dance leader, he is forceful and sometimes rude to his partner, but he is technically skilled and commands the floor with a strong presence. His role in the story is to act as a foil to Tatara, representing a dancer burdened by high expectations and past disappointments, while also serving as a benchmark of technical proficiency. Key relationships include his rivalry with Tatara, his partnership with Tamie Idogawa, and the formative bond with his former master Kunieda. His development arc centers on confronting his inner demons, learning to find joy in dance beyond mere victory, and eventually growing from an embittered competitor into someone who can appreciate the artistry and connection of ballroom dancing.