Hotaru Imai

Imai Hotaru (今井 蛍^?) Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (anime), Miyuki Sawashiro (Gakuen Alice Drama CD--only released bundled with a copy of Hana to Yume magazine)

- Other name: Wakamurasaki no kimi.

- Age: 10 (debut), 12 (current)

- D.O.B: October 25

- Relatives: Mother, Father, Subaru Imai (older brother).

- Alice: Invention.

- Class: Technical Ability Class.

Hotaru is intelligent, rational, and aloof. She is Mikan's best friend and the reason why Mikan came to the academy. She is considered geeky and more than a little strange because of her personality. She often punishes Mikan by hitting her with her inventions. Despite this, Hotaru deeply cares for Mikan, such as when she knocked their math teacher, Jinno-sensei, unconscious, when he was punishing Mikan. She also tends to hog food and take money (a large portion of it came from lending money to Mikan and putting her in debt) for herself. When encouraging Mikan to leave with her mother she says that the bond they had built will continue growing no matter where they are and "if it's them they'll be okay." Hotaru regrets not being able to tell her older brother, Subaru, anything, and "wants her brother back" so she can learn everything about him.^[3] Despite her somewhat aloof and distant attitude, she truly cares about her friends and is willing to sacrifice herself to save Mikan and others. Her relation with her brother may seem cool on the outside, as they often insult each other and try to see who is more intelligent, but Hotaru has missed her brother all the years when he was in the academy, and later recognizes the fact that he always loved his family and wants to be closer to her. Mikan inserted a Stealing alice stone into her body at the end of chapter 125.

She belongs to the Technical Class and is a Triple Star. She is often viewed as a genius, and her Invention Alice gains her a lot of respect from others. Her inventions are based on and look similar to animals. Hotaru, despite her young age, has already received support from major companies, and she is offered the chance of going to study abroad. Her name means "Firefly". Hotaru at times calls Mikan an idiot or dummy but that's most of the time. Despite how she treats her, Hotaru loves Mikan as a sister. She also enjoys teasing, or accurately torturing, Mikan's admirers (Natsume and Ruka). In chapter 175, she and Subaru sacrifices their lives to save Natsume and Nodacchi after changing Natsume's fate. She does this because she truly believes that it is Mikan and Natsume's destiny to be together forever.