Natsuyoshi Utsumi

**Natsuyoshi Utsumi** (内海 夏美, *Utsumi Natsuyoshi*) is a trans man. He is friends with Haruko Daichi. And together, they are members of Cat Clowder and frequent visitors of the Lounge.

## Appearance

Utsumi has short, dark hair and dark eyes. He is svelte and has broad shoulders. He is usually wearing sport-casual outfits, like button-ups and polo shirts.

## Personality

Utsumi is typically outgoing and friendly to everyone he meets, and he respects those around him. He is a loving friend, standing up for his friends and being there for them. He is also shown to be passive and easily forgiving when somebody is unintentionally demeaning in some way or another. However, it is shown that he keeps his true feelings hidden to not disturb the relationships he has with people who say well-meaning, yet hurtful things to him, like his former school classmate, Oyama Shoko.

## Plot

### *Volume 1*

**Chapter 1**

Utsumi is seen with Haruko, carrying things around from the Lounge to the house they are working on remodeling, when Tasuku first comes to the Lounge.

**Chapter 2**

When Tasuku comes back to the Lounge a second time after experiencing a very bad episode of homophobic discrimination at school, Utsumi offers him a bottle of water and lets him know that Anonymous will come back soon from their evening stroll. As Tasuku sits in a corner of the room, Utsumi chats with Haruko about the Lounge and how "it's too good to be true" that they can do whatever they want (within budget) regarding the construction plan, since Anonymous owns the place.

Later, when Anonymous comes back, Utsumi is shocked to see them inviting Tasuku to chat in their room, since they never let anyone enter. When Tasuku goes out from his talk with Anonymous, Utsumi lets him know that he will take him home, since he sees him very drained and exhausted.

**Chapter 3**

Utsumi is demolishing the abandoned building he is working on with Haruko, when she arrives with Tasuku, who she brought for help. Utsumi tells Tasyuku all about the work that he and Haruko do at Cat Clowder and invites him to volunteer over the summer if he wants. When he mentions that Anonymous owns the place, Tasuku asks him about Anonymous, but Utsumi replies that they do not even know their real name.

**Chapter 4**

Utsumi is seen walking alongside Haruko and Tasuku after another day of demolishing, and then chilling back at the Lounge.

### *Volume 2*

**Chapter 9**

Utsumi helps Misora with his hair, to get ready for the Summer Festival. And Misora compliments him for it.

**Chapter 10**

Utsumi suggests that the property in Nishitsuchido that he and Haruko were working on could be used as a workshop for grade schoolers to learn, for example, how to put in tiles for a walkway up to the front door or plaster walls.

### *Volume 3*

**Chapter 11**

Utsumi calls Tasuku one day to help with the grade schoolers workshop project they have in Cat Clowder, and he immediately goes to help. As they bring all the necessary materials up the stairs, since the place is on top of a hill, Utsumi tells Tasuku that he is glad he came by, as he had stopped coming by the lounge. Tasuku apologizes for neglecting Triangle Manor, but Utsumi reassures him that he can talk to him about it anytime. Then, he spends the afternoon managing the workshop, assisting with the cement-making. Until an old classmate from his school years, Shoko Oyama, approaches him and deadnames him.

She seems to be very enthusiastic about meeting Utsumi again, she even introduces her daughter Mai to him, but not only does she constantly misgenders him, but she also outs him without his consent to Tasuku and pretty much everyone else within hearing distance. Oyama is smiling so candidly, like she is genuinely happy to see her old classmate. And that is contrasted with Utsumi's shocked look and then forced and tired smile, remarking that Oyama has not changed her "energetic" attitude. When Utsumi sees that Tasuku overheard them, he gives Tasuku another forced smile.

**Chapter 12**

The next day, Oyama drops by the lounge, surprising everyone, but especially Utsumi. When Utsumi mentions how surprised he is to see her, she states that she wants to join Cat Clowder as a volunteer, which confuses Utsumi even more, as seen by him asking "huh?" Everyone is seen nervous and awkward after the announcement, so when Oyama mentions that she knows Utsumi is not the owner of the lounge, he and Haruko clumsily introduce Anonymous to her, by their name. This prompts another uncomfortable moment as Oyama starts prying for Anonymous "real name," already assuming they have one.

**Chapter 13**

Utsumi is seen cycling through the Onomichi bridge, alongside a friend that smiles at him saying that it is autumn already, to which Utsumi agrees with a smile as he rides away.

Later in the day, he is seen plastering walls at Triangle Manor, alongside regular members of the lounge, and now Oyama and her daughter. Haruko is visibly angry and annoyed by Oyama's presence in Cat Clowder. She wonders out loud about why she is making her way into it so casually, but Utsumi is quick to cut her off, saying, in the nicest way possible, that she is just his friend trying to help out. Haruko objects, very worried about her friend, and softly tells Utsumi that he is not "Natsumi-chan", which is the deadname that Oyama calls him by. Haruko affirms that Utsumi is "Utsumi Natsuyoshi-kun", and tells him that he should not try so hard to please people like Oyama.

Although Utsumi agrees with her, and he keeps on working, when he hears Oyama incessantly meddling in Tasuku's decision on what to do with Triangle Manor, Utsumi steps in between them, telling Oyama that what to do with it it is for Tasuku to decide, and to not meddle so much, since it takes time to think about various things. Oyama agrees with him, and as she deadnames him in the process, she tells Utsumi that he is more mature, and ironically, keeps asking about his time at school, and particularly if he ever had a crush on anyone. Utsumi fondly remembers that there was a girl in the class next door to theirs that he liked. This excites Oyama, who goes on a rant about how she "would have accepted" Utsumi, and that reminds her of the next school reunion with old classmates they will have, inviting Utsumi. He stops for a moment, frozen by the thought. Oyama insists that they will be shocked to see Utsumi, to which he says that it will not be such a big deal. But this leads Oyama to say some uncomfortably transphobic comments about Utsumi, also claiming that his attraction to girls is somehow "homosexual" and abnormal.

An uncomfortable silence lingers in Triangle Manor afterwards, but then Utsumi thanks her, puts on a forced smile, and states that he will tell them himself when he feels like talking to them. Obliviously ignoring what he just said, Oyama says she will be the one to tell their classmates about Utsumi, and that she will "make them accept him." This is the last straw for Haruko, who was holding her annoyance and anger in, so she punches a hole in one of the walls, with a blank expression on her face, which shocks the whole room, even scaring Oyama's daughter, who drops the tiles she was carrying, breaking them into little pieces. Oyama quickly apologizes to Utsumi for the tiles, to which he assures her that all that matters is that Mai did not get hurt, and they leave afterward, promising to meet Utsumi at the reunion.

Later in the afternoon, Utsumi goes cycling with Tasuku, to accompany as he takes photos around the bridge for his school project. Tasuku apologizes for "selfishly" tagging along with Utsumi's usual cycling routine, but he just compliments Tasuku's hard work and determination, mentioning how surprised to see he knew the the regional promotion section manager's son. He carefully asks if that is the guy Tasuku likes, which Tasuku replies with a blushing and shy "yes." Then, Tasuku wants to ask Utsumi a question, but stops himself from doing so. Utsumi understands him, and asks if he wants to know about what had just happened with Oyama. Utsumi tells him that it can be difficult to get along with her, that she is just someone with "unrestrained good intentions". And as he smiles, he says that he can not live getting so worked up if he wants people to accept his true self. When Tasuku asks him if he does not find her unpleasant, Utsumi kindly replies no, saying that she is a good person. As he cycles away from Tasuku, he tells him that he is not a good person, which leaves Tasuku dumbfounded. Utsumi cycles away even faster, with Tasuku unable to catch up with him. Suddenly, Utsumi curses out loud, letting out all the emotions he can not express.

Later, he just gives Tasuku his characteristic smile, and they meet up with some of Utsumi's cycling friends on the bridge. As Tasuku watches them talking lively, he thinks to himself that Utsumi is just "Utsumi-san", and not all of the things people want to label him as.

**Chapter 14**

Utsumi abruptly wakes up, after having a dream which was an old memory from school, where he approached a classmate that was being heavily bullied. As the kid was erasing the words "die" written on her desk, Utsumi approached her and offered to join her to play or watch others play. She begged Utsumi to stop making fun of her, which left Utsumi shocked. As he washes his face after waking up, Utsumi thinks of the fact that he probably just dug up an old traumatic event. And he reflects on the fact that coming out might be easy to do, but that you need to be prepared for both sides to get hurt.

In the end, Utsumi decides to go to the school reunion, as his friends back at the drop-in center cheer for him. At the beginning, he has a great time, reminiscing on his old times at the school volleyball club. But later, when he excuses himself to go to the bathroom, once he goes back, one of the old classmates respectfully asks him about which bathroom he goes to. Utsumi simply answers that he went to the men's, which makes all of them laugh at just how obvious the answer was and how they did not realize it before. All of them laugh, except for Oyama, who interrupts the funny moment they were having with Utsumi, to give her unsolicited opinion, and to scold the woman who asked because Oyama tells her that it was an "inappropriate" thing to say. She even goes as far as keeping the belief she has that Utsumi's identity is a disorder, and equates her question to asking someone about their illness. She embarasses the woman so much so that she quickly apologizes to Utsumi, despite the fact he never had a problem with the question to begin with. So despite the fact that Utsumi keeps telling Oyama that it is all fine, Oyama takes over, thinking that she is helping, as she keeps drowning out Utsumi's voice.

This reminds Utsumi of the girl he retrieved the memory of that same morning. He admits that although he had no malice in wanting to help her, she realized he just wanted to feel superior to her. So as Oyama keeps talking on behalf of Utsumi, and about how good of a person she is for wanting more kids at school to know about "people like" Utsumi, he gets up from the table they were all reunited at, thanking her, but stating that he is had enough. Utsumi leaves the reunion, with Oyama following him right behind, and begging him to understand she just wants him to speak at her daughter's school about the struggles of being trans, "for children's sake". He tells her that he does not feel the need to make everyone understand him, as he is simply content living as himself, and wants people to respect that. Despite the fact Utsumi is clear, several times, about not wanting to do it, Oyama insists. And as she keeps deadnaming him, she tells him that he "has" to do this, because he is somehow "better" than someone who is gay. All while saying this in front of Tasuku, who brought Mai back to Oyama after having taken care of her while Oyama was at the reunion.

Oyama hurting his friends is the last straw for Utsumi, and he makes that very clear to her.

❝
If you're gonna hurt my friends like that, I don't want to be the only one you'll understand. Oyama-san, I don't want you to belittle me or anyone else.

**Chapter 15**

Utsumi's words to Oyama were so influential to Tasuku, that he manages to muster the courage to stand up to Touma's queerphobic remarks, telling him that he does not want the guy he likes to hurt him or his friends anymore. Later that day at the lounge, as Tchaiko is putting some music on his record player for everyone to enjoy, Utsumi glances at Tasuku with a worried look, but when Tasuku gives him a soft smile, Utsumi warmly smiles back at him.

### *Volume 4*

**Chapter 16**

Utsumi is seen helping install some large furniture at Triangle Manor, in preparation for Haruko and Saki's wedding. And later, he is seen intently listening to Tchaiko's story about how he met his partner, and how he and his partner met Anonymous.

**Chapter 18**

Utsumi is at the drop-in center, alongside Tasuku, Touma and Mai, when he is shocked to see Tsubaki-san show up at the lounge.

**Chapter 19**

Turns out the reason why that man was there was because he wanted to apologize to Saki for forcibly outing her to her parents, without her consent. Despite him wanting that, he still does not acknowledge the severity of what he did. So when his son, Touma, gets mad at him and tells him that the right moment a person decides to come out it is not his decision to make, but theirs, Tsubaki-san starts bombarding him with questioning homophobic shouts, which leads Touma to grab his dad by the collar of his coat to stop him. This worries Utsumi, who rushes to stop the fight from worsening, alongside Tasuku.

**Chapter 20**

Utsumi proudly Tasuku standing up to Tsubaki-san, sharing a similar message to the one he wanted to convey to Oyama, that coming out is a really important, personal thing for LGBT+ people.

Later, he is seen saying goodbye to Mai as they both leave the drop-in center.

**Chapter 22**

On the day of Haruko and Saki's wedding, Utsumi is seen proudly and happily watching both of his friends get married.

**Chapter 23**

After spring ends, Utsumi is seen working with Haruko on yet another house remodelling for Cat Clowder.

## Etymology

* The name **Natsuyoshi** means "summer" (夏) (**natsu**) and "beautiful" (美) (**yoshi**).
* Natsuyoshi's surname **Utsumi** means "inland sea/Inland Sea, cove, bay, inlet, gulf, creek" (内海).