Haruhiko Kikkawa is a student from class 2-D at Shun Takahata's high school who becomes a participant in the deadly games of Daruma ga Koronda. His background involves personal loss and family restructuring; his birth father died from an illness when Kikkawa was three years old. Two years later, his mother remarried, and he formed a bond with his stepfather through playing a game where the boy pretended to be a horse. These childhood memories represent a period of normalcy and connection before his worldview shifted.

At the age of seven, Kikkawa came to understand the unfairness of the world, a realization that shaped his character. This understanding likely stemmed from his struggles with basketball, a sport that enchanted him without any clear reason. He dedicated himself to practicing daily, particularly focusing on his three-point shots. However, he was born with a short stature, which became a significant obstacle. While he could play matches at the local junior high level, school teams would not acknowledge him based solely on his three-point shooting ability. This limitation in a sport he loved appears to have reinforced his sense of the world's inherent unfairness.

In the story, Kikkawa is a survivor of the first round of Daruma ga Koronda, demonstrating his ability to navigate immediate danger. When the second game involving the Maneki-neko begins, he distinguishes himself by refusing to put on the mouse outfit that other players were instructed to wear. This act of defiance highlights a core aspect of his personality: a refusal to comply with absurd or demeaning demands, even in a life-or-death situation. His motivation in this game stems from his past as a basketball player. He attempts to use his specialized skill by trying to fit the cat's bell into the basket, essentially turning the deadly game into a basketball free-throw challenge. This strategy represents an attempt to impose his own rules and expertise onto the chaotic and lethal environment, perhaps as a way to regain a sense of control.

Key relationships are not extensively detailed, but his connection to his stepfather, with whom he played horse, is noted as a formative childhood memory. His relationship with basketball, despite its ultimate rejection of his abilities, is central to his identity and actions. His role in the story is ultimately tragic. Despite his clever attempt to clear the challenge by making the shot, the Maneki-neko catches the basketball and throws it back with tremendous force. The bell, or the ball itself, passes straight through Kikkawa's body, leading to his immediate death. His development is thus cut short; he remains a figure of a skilled individual whose past expertise could not save him in a game where the rules are controlled by a divine, cruel, and unpredictable force. His notable ability is his three-point shooting accuracy, a talent honed from years of practice that he tries to leverage in the face of death.