Kyōko Takimoto is a high school student and the best friend of Sakura Yamauchi in I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. She has a slim build and a strong-willed, no-nonsense personality. Kyōko is fiercely loyal and protective of Sakura, which leads her to be deeply suspicious of Haruki Shiga, the reserved classmate who suddenly becomes close to Sakura. She disapproves of their growing relationship, interpreting it as a romantic pursuit that she feels threatens the place she holds in Sakura’s life. Kyōko’s protective stance is driven by her ignorance of Sakura’s terminal pancreatic illness; because Sakura chooses to keep her condition secret from her best friend, Kyōko cannot understand why Sakura would confide in an outsider like Haruki. Throughout the main story, Kyōko serves as a counterpoint to Haruki, embodying the deep, traditional bonds of friendship that Sakura is terrified of hurting with the truth. Despite her sharp exterior, Kyōko is also a deeply emotional person—Sakura privately describes her as a crybaby, revealing the tender vulnerability beneath her defensiveness. After Sakura’s sudden death, Kyōko struggles with denial and grief. She initially directs her anger at Haruki, but her perspective begins to shift when he shares Sakura’s secret journal with her. In the aftermath, Kyōko undergoes a significant personal development: she moves past her hostility and, honoring Sakura’s final wish, forms a tentative friendship with Haruki. Her most notable quality is her capacity for fierce, unwavering loyalty, which defines her actions and ultimately allows her to grow beyond her grief. Kyōko is a character whose emotional depth and protectiveness make her a key figure in Sakura’s life and a catalyst for Haruki’s eventual understanding of loss and connection.