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Yoshida
- Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese), Alex Hom (English)
A 26-year-old salaryman who recently suffered from heartbreak due to his superior, Airi Gotou, rejecting his love confession. After a night of Drowning His Sorrows, he encounters a high school girl, whose name is later revealed to be Sayu Ogiwara, and decides to take her in with no strings attached simply to help her as much as he can.
- Above the Influence: He never wanted to have sex with Sayu despite being drunk at the moment.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Instead of chastising Sayu's mother for her horrible treatment of her daughter, he tries to reason with her that it's a parent's responsibility to keep their children away from harm, then prostrates himself before her, begging her to be a more responsible parent to Sayu. This spurs Issa to do the same thing, causing her to have a breakdown.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: In his own words:Yoshida: I only like older women with big tits.
- Chick Magnet: Sayu gains a crush on him after he lets her stay at his house, Gotou has feelings for him despite rejecting him at the beginning of the story, Mishima likes him, and even his ex-girlfriend Kanda falls for him again.
- Ephebophile: Played With. He does admit to finding Sayu attractive when she makes another, desperate attempt at seducing him. That being said, he has no intention of sleeping with her because of her being a high schooler, and simply because he doesn't see her in a romantic light.
- From Roommates to Romance: Defied, as he rejects Sayu's offer to pay with her body in exchange for letting her stay at his place.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Downplayed. Being the Nice Guy he is (not that he'd admit it though), he's unable to comprehend why Sayu's previous hosts took advantage of her the way they did.
- Has a Type: He explicitly prefers older women with big boobs. Gotou and Kanda fit both of these requirements, while Sayu only fits the latter.
- I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: Despite all the kindness, understanding and generosity he gives Sayu and the others, he insists that he isn't an especially nice guy and Sayu just needs to expect higher standards from others.
- Insecure Love Interest: He is noted by his first girlfriend Ao Kanda to having a very low self-esteem despite her constant affection to him during high school.
- Likes Older Women: Exemplified by how his current Love Interest Gotou being 2 years older than him and his first girlfriend Kanda being his senior in high school.
- Manly Tears: Him failing to appeal to Sayu's mother to do better as a parent upsets him to the point of shedding a couple of tears.
- Men Can't Keep House: Downplayed and ultimately subverted. His apartment isn't unusually messy at the start of the series, and he only makes Sayu cook and clean to give her something to do, so she doesn't feel like a Pretty Freeloader. He does seem to be something of a One Note Chef, however, and Sayu makes him a recipe book before going back to her hometown.
- Nice Guy: Despite being gruff as many people state, he's a caring man who does everything he can for Sayu's wellbeing after learning of her predicament.
- Only One Name: His first name isn't mentioned.
- Papa Wolf: In the words of Asami, "you lose every marble in your bag if there's even the chance of Sayu-chaso being in trouble". After seeing the truly terrible attitude of Sayu's mother, he basically her gives an ultimatum - be a proper mother to Sayu or allow him to adopt her.
- Parental Substitute: Sayu's elder brother comments that Yoshida plays this role to Sayu: looking after her, worrying about her and guiding her through a tough period in her life. Other characters note that he's basically Sayu's dad. He is, in fact, the only parential figure she's ever had, since her father abandoned the family and her mother blamed her for that.
- Tranquil Fury: When Sayu's mother claims that she'd be better off not conceiving her daughter at all, upsetting her greatly, Yoshida picks up his glass of tea and prepares to throw it at her, but he restrains himself and fully downs his drink before appealing to her to do better as a parent.
- Would Hit a Girl: Defied. Yoshida comes close to throwing a full glass of tea towards Sayu's mother in retaliation for her callous treatment towards her own daughter, but restrains himself and instead appeals to her to do better as a parent.
Sayu Ogiwara
- Voiced by: Kana Ichinose (TV anime, Japanese), Jill Harris (English), Saori Hayami (2018 commercial), Nao Tōyama (2019 commercial), Saori Onishi (audiobook)
A high school girl from Asahikawa, Hokkaido who has been running away from home for months before meeting Yoshida in Tokyo. Attractive and good at housework, she is very surprised that Yoshida decided to take her in without asking for sexual favors, unlike the many men she previously encountered.
- Action Survivor: She's about as physically competent as someone you’d expect to be on the run from a stifling household.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Sayu-chaso", given by Asami.
- Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: Sayu has tied her self-worth to sex, and can't believe that Yoshida doesn't want to have sex with her. In episode 3, she strips down and outright asks him to, but he refuses.
- Broken Bird: Her past and her time on the streets have been traumatic, and she's only able to start healing with the help of Yoshida.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She doesn't like seeing Yoshida around other women, made worse by how she believes he'll abandon her once he gets a girlfriend.
- Dark and Troubled Past: An extremely traumatic incident and its subsequent fallout end up driving her to run away from home. To elaborate, Sayu's best friend, Yuuko, committed suicide right in front of her due to incessant bullying from the other girls, who used the latter as a way to hurt the former emotionally. Yuuko's death attracted the mass media, due to Sayu being from a prominent, wealthy family. Sayu's mother blames all the stress from handling the mass media on her own daughter, even suspecting Sayu of murdering her own best friend. This caused Sayu, who had already not been on good terms with her mother to begin with, to snap and run away. Yoshida comments that the kind of thing she went through can break an adult, let alone a teenage girl.
- Good Bad Girl: Played With. Sayu is a good girl who has slept with multiple men, but she has her reasons to do this and doesn't do it out of pleasure.
- Grew a Spine: Her character development is about being able to stand up for herself and strengthening her resolve to confront the traumatic past she left behind.
- I Will Wait for You: Declares that she will find Yoshida again after she graduates. She eventually makes good on that promise in the epilogue.
- Nice Girl: For all her Dark and Troubled Past, Sayu is a kind and friendly girl who enjoys being helpful, especially in housework.
- Pretty Freeloader: She desperately tries to avoid becoming one. Both because she struggles with her own personal self-worth, but also because she is convinced through her past experiences such a thing doesn't exist and as soon as she stops being of use she'll be kicked out and abandoned.
- Questionable Consent: If the incident with Yaguchi and Sayu's words are any indication, she had been coerced into consent whenever a man took her in and gave her shelter, until she met Yoshida.
- The Runaway: She ran away from her family and life in Hokkaido because her mother accused her of murdering her only friend, whom Sayu watched committing suicide.
- Secretly Wealthy: Her family owns Ogiwara Foods, with her older brother being the current CEO.
- Sex for Services: She survived before meeting Yoshida by, in her own words, "using (her) body as credit card."
- Stepford Smiler: One of her defining character traits. Both Yoshida and Asami recognize very quickly that Sayu just puts on a fake smile and tells people what she thinks they want to hear. Even the ED is named "Plastic Smile." Part of her Character Development is growing out of this and starting to smile genuinely.
- Survivor Guilt: She feels entirely responsible for Yuuko's suicide, and can only come to terms with her guilt when Yoshida forces her to acknowledge that the situation was something she couldn't possibly have fixed, and that's okay.
- The Unfavorite: Sayu's mother has treated her poorly since childhood and unfavorably compared her to her elder brother.
- Unfocused During Intimacy: Sayu tended to do this, coupled with Dull Eyes of Unhappiness, before Yoshida took her in.
- Uptown Girl: Hails from a prominent family, but falls for the white-collar Salary Man Yoshida.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Inverted. She doesn't believe in the notion of unconditional kindness, feeling that every act of kindness towards her is the person attempting to get something out of her. This is why she's baffled by Yoshida not wanting compensation, namely sex like the previous people she stayed with, for taking her in, and feels compelled to try seducing him so she can "properly" repay him before he properly gets through to her that she doesn't have to.
Airi Gotou
- Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese), Sarah Roach (English)
Yoshida's superior at work and the woman he's had a crush on for some time.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She has an I-Cup, which Yoshida appreciates.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She's not happy with seeing Yoshida interact with Mishima, and even less so once Kanda joins the fray. Conversely, she is much less bothered by Yoshida's situation with Sayu.
- Cool Big Sis: She decides to play this role for Sayu after hearing about the latter's circumstances, and has a heart-to-heart chat with her.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: She claims that she has "hunches" at times regarding particular decisions, and that these hunches have panned out very well, with the implication that this is some kind of clairvoyance. Despite jumping for joy when Yoshida confesses love to her at the start of the series, her hunch screamed "NOT YET!", so she lied about already having a lover. Because she lied, she unknowingly created the situation where Yoshida could help Sayu.
- The Tease: She openly reveals her cup size to Yoshida and enjoys his reaction.
Yuzuha Mishima
- Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara (Japanese), Macy Anne Johnson (English)
Yoshida's junior at work, who loves watching movies and harbors a major crush on Yoshida.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Downplayed, but her conversation with Yoshida when Sayu and Gotou are at his home talking suggests she has a somewhat jaded view of love, not understanding why Yoshida doesn't hide or just kick out Sayu when she's, as long as she's living with him, an obstacle in him getting together with Gotou, concluding that he's not truly in love her based on this.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She's less than thrilled seeing Yoshida with Gotou, Sayu, or Kanda.
- Hopeless Suitor: In Episode 8, Mishima realizes that, despite her advances, Yoshida never looked at her the way he looks at Sayu.
Hashimoto
- Voiced by: Yūsuke Kobayashi (Japanese), Ben Balmaceda (English)
Yoshida's best friend at work.
- The Confidant: Hashimoto is this for Yoshida. Yoshida tells him about Sayu immediately (while trying to hide her existence from everybody else) and frequently goes to him for advice. He's the one person Yoshida trusts completely.
- Only One Name: Like Yoshida, only his last name is known.
Asami Yuuki
- Voiced by: Natsumi Kawaida (Japanese), Kelsey Maher (English)
An easygoing high school girl who works part-time at the same convenience store as Sayu.
- Big Sister Instinct: If Yoshida is Sayu's surrogate father, then she is the surrogate big sister. She tells Kyouya off for bothering Sayu (to put it mildly), has fun with her in their off hours, and they bond emotionally.
- Foil: To Sayu. They both have wealthy origins yet are unhappy with their lives and their relation with their parents. However, whereas Sayu's unhappiness has led to her unstable situation, Asami's unhappiness led to her turning her life around.
- Generation Xerox: Inverted, since it's just what Asami's mother wanted her to be. To the point where she flew off the handle when Asami simply mentioned wanting to study literature rather than law.
- Gyaru Girl: Asami shows some Gyaru traits, like tanned skin, blonde hair and calling Sayu "Sayu-chaso".note She ditches the look at the end of the story.
- Lonely Rich Kid: She admits to Sayu that her parents are rarely home, and she usually has the whole house to herself. She began dressing herself like a gyaru because she wanted her parents to notice and pay more attention to her.
- Secretly Wealthy: Her parents are a well-known politician and a lawyer, and her dwelling is rather fancy.
Kyouya Yaguchi (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
- Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka (Japanese), Ry McKeand (English)
One of the men who gave Sayu shelter in exchange for sex before the latter met Yoshida. He works in the same convenience store as Sayu and Asami.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: In similar way to how Yoshida can't understand why anyone would take advantage of Sayu, Kyouya can't understand why Yoshida hasn't, going as far as to think it makes him pathetic.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Despite the animosity between him and Sayu, he wastes no time in helping to cover for her when her brother shows up at their convenience store looking for her. The reason Kyouya did it is because he doesn't like people with large influence who use their power to control other people's lives.
- Hypocrite: He tries accusing Yoshida of having some kind of saviour complex for taking in Sayu with no strings attached, but Yoshida is quick to point out after he leaves that he's done nothing to help Sayu when she stayed with him, only making her issues worse. He also hides Sayu from her brother because he doesn't like it when people use their power over others, despite using the information he had on Sayu to pressure her into sex.
- I Gave My Word: Despite the fact that revealing they slept together before could have lessened Asami's wrath, he did promise Sayu that he wouldn't bring up their past if she took him over to her current place. One good thing to say about him at least...
- Pet the Dog: He's an overall creep and would-be rapist but when he saw just how upset Sayu was when her brother showed up at their place of employment, he had at least a little bit of humanity stirred up inside of him to understand what she was feeling and helped hide her and cover for her.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Between him dating multiple women and being unable to comprehend Yoshida raising Sayu to be a fine woman despite having no plans to sleep with her, it's clear he sees women as playthings more than anything.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Comes really close to outright raping Sayu, but narrowly avoids this because Sayu was coerced into consent due to not wanting to get Yoshida in trouble with the police.
- The Sociopath: He genuinely thinks there's nothing wrong with dating seven women at the same time and was confused that one of them got mad at him over it. He also has no qualms taking advantage of Sayu when she was vulnerable, then pressures her to have sex with him again simply because he can. When Yoshida calls him out on it, he smugly declares that by simply keeping Sayu around, Yoshida is no different from him.
- Trauma Button: Serves as one for Sayu because he is one of the men in the Sex for Services situation she was in before meeting Yoshida.
Issa Ogiwara (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
- Voiced by: Kosuke Toriumi (Japanese), Bradley Gareth (English)
Sayu's elder brother and the current CEO of Ogiwara Foods.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Following Yoshida's lead, he prostrates himself and begs his mother to be a more responsible parent to Sayu. He later laments that despite being Sayu's brother, he couldn't bring himself to do that before Yoshida did.
- Big Brother Instinct: He turns out to be quite a supportive big brother to Sayu. He let Sayu run away from home, realizing that she could not stay at home when her relationship with their mother was at the breaking point. He even took Sayu to the main station and gave her a large amount of money. When he finds Sayu again in Tokyo, he is willing to listen to what his sister and Yoshida have to say. After that, he gives Sayu a heart-to-heart talk and gives her a week to sort things out before going home.
- The Dutiful Son: The one who runs his family's company, gets preferential treatment from his mother and does things at her behest. She draws the line at him supporting Sayu, however, and verbally assaults him when he tries to speak up.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: After the initial misunderstanding is cleared up and he sees what a good man Yoshida is, Issa is perfectly fine with Sayu developing whatever sort of relationship she wants with him.
- Nice Guy: All of his actions in the story are out of concern for his sister, prioritizing Sayu's well-being above all else. He even apologizes to Yoshida after hearing the circumstances and helps him as much as he can when the latter decides to accompany Sayu to Hokkaido.
Sayu's mother (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
- Voiced by: Ryōka Yuzuki (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel (English)
- Abusive Mom: She does not get along with her daughter since the latter's childhood, having restricted Sayu's freedom and not letting her have a normal life. The straw that broke the camel's back is that instead of trying to be her daughter's emotional support, Mrs. Ogiwara blamed the stress caused by the mass media after Yuuko's death on her daughter, to the point of suspecting Sayu of killing her best friend. This made Sayu utterly despise her and run away from home. And when Sayu finally gets the courage to return home, the first thing she does upon seeing her again is to immediately shove her son aside and slap her, much to both Yoshida and Issa's shock. She also doesn't take too kindly at Issa defending Sayu's decision and insults and belittles him for it when he attempts to call her out on her poor choices.
- Big Bad: The most antagonistic character of the story, the primary cause of Sayu's suffering and the final obstacle she has to overcome after going back to her hometown.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When Sayu asks her if she remembers what she said that caused the former to run away note , she doesn't seem to recall any of it.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: The anime gives her a noticeably pale complexion compared to the other characters, making her look more intimidating.
- Evil Matriarch: Not so much evil as appearing to be a very proper lady who prioritizes her son and class over things like her daughter's happiness.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She has assumed the worst of Sayu her whole life, and is surprised at others seeing her value; she assumes Yoshida is being deceitful. When Yoshida and Issa kneel and plead for her to be a better and more affectionate parent to Sayu, it maddens her.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: She wears glasses and her first onscreen appearance is her acting extremely selfish and coldhearted towards her daughter, despite the latter going through a very traumatic experience.
- Freudian Excuse: Her poor treatment of Sayu is partially motivated by the fact that she sees her as a sign that her ex-husband no longer loved her, as she only had her despite his demand to abort her in hopes that it'd keep him from leaving, only for him to do it anyway.
- Hate Sink: She's a callous, selfish woman who despises her daughter, accuses her daughter of killing her Best Friend despite her being severely traumatized by her suicide, and when her daughter runs away and comes back, she slaps her and then gripes about how unsavory rumors has been popping up since Sayu's disappearance. She throws tantrums when confronted with difficult issues, and when she takes Sayu back it's implied to be only due to avoiding further trouble.
- It's All About Me: She sees her children as extensions of her, and never really allows them their own independence, only seeing them as reflecting her own success/failure.
- Jerkass Realization: When Sayu apologizes for running away, she denies it. Not out of spite, but because she came to the realization that Yoshida's words made her realize that she is indeed to blame for all of her daughter's troubles. After admitting all of this, she lets Sayu back in without any hostility.
- Kick the Dog: She flat-out tells her daughter that she should have never given birth to her, while also refusing to account for Sayu's individual circumstances that motivated her to run away from home in the first place.
- Lack of Empathy: She never attempts to understand Sayu, making everything out to be her fault while never taking the time to comfort her when something bad happens to her, such as when her friend committed suicide or when she came back from having to fend for herself.
- Never My Fault: She's hardly receptive to how her callous and selfish behaviour caused Sayu to leave, and when she returns, she goes out of her way to make everything sound like it's her daughter's fault. When Issa takes Sayu’s side and agrees that she is to blame, she turns on Issa too.
- Parents as People: She is primarily an ex-lover struggling with the end of her love affair, and as such is unwilling and unable to care for her children properly. She sees Sayu as a burden, and she favors Issa until he disagrees with her, causing her to treat him as badly as Sayu. She considers Sayu a burden rather than a child, as motivated by the unhappy circumstances of her birth.
- Parental Favoritism: Treats Sayu much worse than Issa, whom she views as The Dutiful Son. Though she's not above turning against him when he takes Sayu's side on the matter and attempts to pin the whole thing on her.
- The Resenter: She has always begrudged Sayu for being an unplanned and unwanted birth by her ex-husband.
- Rich Bitch: An extremely rude and abusive mother to Sayu.
- Slave to PR: It's her reputation and image that matters to her, she favours Issa as he's proven himself a success and she considers Sayu a burden and inconvenience to her for her problems.
- They Just Dont Get It: Her attitude towards her children is that they don't understand her or the situation that led to the story taking place. When Sayu returns, she states that she never tried to understand her children.
- Villainous Breakdown: She becomes overwhelmed after Yoshida and Issa prostrate themselves before her, begging her to be a more responsible parent to Sayu.
- Womanchild: She expects things to go her way and throws tantrums when called out for her own faults.
Yuuko Masaka (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
- Voiced by: Manaka Iwami (Japanese), Emily Fajardo (English)
Sayu's best friend before the start of the story. Her tragic death and its subsequent fallout made Sayu run away from home.
- Didn't Think This Through: After suffering severe bullying and realizing that it was all just to get at Sayu, she thought that the problem would be solved if she killed herself, thereby eliminating the means for the girls to get at her Best Friend. However, possibly due to her own inferiority complex, she never considered that maybe Sayu would be affected by her death to the point of trauma, or perhaps that going through with her suicide even when Sayu walks in on it and therefore becomes its only witness would make Sayu the subject of harassment by the media, which combined with a major falling out with her mother causes her to run away from home.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: She killed herself when she realized that she was being bullied to get at Sayu, apparently not considering that Sayu being upset that she's being bullied would also mean she'd be upset if she died.
- Driven to Suicide: Decided to jump off the school's rooftop after suffering incessant bullying from the other girls, believing that because the bullying was meant to hurt Sayu, killing herself would get rid of the problem. Her own crippling inferiority complex did not help.
- Only Friend: Was the only one to reach out to Sayu, and they became tight friends.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Only appears in a flashback, but her death is what kickstarts the story.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her suicide in front of Sayu was the start of Sayu's Trauma Conga Line, as it led to her falling out with her mother, her running away, and eventually having to get by in the city by sleeping with random guys in exchange for a roof over her head.
- Youthful Freckles: Which are probably meant to make her appearance more homely.
Ao Kanda (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Yoshida's senior and ex-girlfriend from his high school days, she has a chance reunion with him upon getting employed at the company he works for.
- Adapted Out: She only appears in one of Yoshida’s old photos in the anime.
- First Love: She was Yoshida's first girlfriend.
- Old Flame: Yoshida dated and even had sex with her back in high school, and though they broke up upon her graduation, she still shows interest in him after getting employed at the same company.
- The Tease: She has no issue telling Yoshida that her breasts have gone up a cup size since he last saw her, even posing in a way that better shows them off.
