Kanade Miyako

**Kanade Miyako** (宮古 奏, *Miyako Kanade*) is supporting character of *Twinkle Stars*. He is the cousin of Sakuya Shiina and her guardian.

## Appearance

Kanade is of average build, tall with light brown hair, though sometimes it's shown as light grey. He has brown eyes and is often seen in casual clothing such as t-shirts and jeans or joggers.

## Personality

Kanade is a quiet man and is quite reserved. In the current timeline, he is shown to be struggling with getting a stable job and seems to be suffering from a depressive disorder.

## History

### Early Life

Before living with Sakuya, Kanade lived a stressful life under his parents' overbearing expectations. He was once revered a child prodigy due to his exceptional grades in elementary and middle school, however when he entered high school his grades started to slip. To counteract this, he studied even harder, entering after-school cram classes, only getting three hours of sleep per night and not making any friends. However none of this helped him and his grades continued to fail, causing his parents to question if he was actually putting in effort or hanging with the wrong crowd. Their pressure and expectations for his future suffocated him, to the point he was deathly afraid of disappointing them and being left behind.

He failed to get into his first choice college and was mentally and physically exhausted due to overwork. Even though Kanade was so drained and suffering from depression, his parents still pushed him further, pressuring him to retake exams or he'd be a laughing stock. When trying to speak out to his parents about the pain he was in and how he was trying his best, his father hit and berated him, telling him he'd never be forgiven unless he managed to show him an acceptance letter.

The mental pressure put on Kanade was so stifling it clouded his thoughts and caused him to attempt to hurt his father with a golf club while he was sleeping. After this his parents seemed to reel in their emotional abuse, but their damage was done as it left Kanade with depression, suicidal thoughts and scars from the years of stress and fear of failing.

After a year of isolating himself inside his room, his uncle, the father of Sakuya, prompted him to live with his daughter as he didn't want to be responsible for her anymore. Kanade agrees after realising his parents find him too bothersome to deal with.

## Relationships

### Sakuya Shiina

Kanade is the legal guardian of Sakuya and her cousin. He was asked to take care of her after she was neglected by her father and step-mother, and so as to also get away from his abusive parents he took up the offer and moved in with her at the start of her freshman year. However, they had their first meeting years prior at a distant relative's funeral where Kanade, feeling sick from overwork was placed in a room with Sakuya to rest. Sakuya offers to bring him water or a blanket but when he brushes her off, she instead asks him about stars, telling him how they seem to sing to her. Frustrated with the anger pent up within in due to his mentally abusive home life, he snaps at her, explaining how the reason for her thinking is probably why she's hated by her new mother. Once moved in together, their relationship is that of strangers. Kanade hides himself in his room and rarely shows his face to Sakuya, ignoring her efforts to make things between them more familial. At first, they used memos to talk to each other about meals and housework but as Kanade ventured out of his bedroom and saw how Sakuya was able to smile despite everything she had been through, they grew closer. Kanade considers Sakuya very dear to him, and even though he acknowledges that they were just lumped together and made outcasts of their families, he has shown to truly care for her wellbeing as does she for him.

## Etymology

* The name **Kanade** means "play music, complete" (奏).
* Kanade's surname **Miyako** means "temple, shrine, palace" (宮) (**miya**) and "old, antiquity, ancient time, used, secondhand" (古) (**ko**).