Hayato Kasukabe

* Anime
* Manga

**Hayato Kasukabe** (粕壁 隼, **Kasukabe Hayato**?) is the main male protagonist of the Goddess Café Terrace series. He was orphaned at a young age after his parents died in an accident and grew up living with his grandmother, Sachiko Kasukabe. He left for Tokyo U following an argument with her that made them unable to talk to each other for 3 years. Following her death, he returned home, initially to close down the café, but changed his mind and decided to keep it open, running it with a group of five girls who were taken in by his grandmother as family.

## Appearance

Hayato is a tall fair-skinned young man who is noted to be handsome by some of the girls when helping out at the beach hut with wavy blue hair and eyes.

He bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather, Masahiro Kasukabe, during his youth and by the time he would have his own daughter, their features have become more similar due to him growing a goatee eventually.

## Personality

Hayato is shown to have a big ego and high confidence where he is a straightforward and rude person who often uses harsh words without any exaggeration. He truly believes in equality, and for that, he will not use honorifics like *san* for others, no matter if they are older or in a high standing. Having a stern and cold expression most of the time, he is narcissistic enough to make comments that could infuriate the other party which shows he does not like when someone tries to look down upon him and would never stop to get back at them. Despite this, Hayato is truly a good person and can be humble enough to apologize if he had done anything wrong towards those close to him. Since he was raised by his grandmother Sachiko Kasukabe alone, she was like his world, and loved her more than anyone else, therefore he would never tolerate someone badmouthing or looking down on her, especially the likes of Shigehisa Fuwa. In order to give her a luxurious life, Hayato, self-centered as he was, entered Tokyo U without realizing what shackles his grandmother had to face just for *his* own sake. When he returned to the café, he initially decided to demolish it, but the memories and livelihood of his time with Sachiko caused him to have a change of heart and takes on his role as the new café owner, aiming to return it to its former glory. After meeting the girls, he came to know how kind his grandmother was and so he begins treating them as family, though a bit tougher. He is often called "Sachiko's Grandson" as he inherited most of her traits.

Usually Hayato can maintain his cool, but momentarily loses his composure when agitated and faced with unfavorable circumstances. He also initially did not like getting involved with other people's problems, finding them to be troublesome, but if push comes to shove he would earnestly help them and tactfully solve the problems and situations. Though he has high self-esteem, he readily acknowledges that there are some things that he cannot do and would ask for help from others and is knowledgeable enough in knowing what to say in specific situations when they are thrown at him, rarely giving up when trying to achieve a specific objective. As a sharp person, he can read people's intentions, putting his guard up, but as soon he feels comfortable, he would put it down. He is even capable of holding his emotions if the situation calls for it.

Surprisingly, though he is not used to girls, he never backs down from them with his usual attitude. Out of the all characters, he is the most impressive negotiator and usually manages the internal affairs of the café. Because of his rightful personality, the Familia girls fall in love with him and he himself, not being dense, can see that but makes the café the first priority. For that he is not a late-bloomer in any way, but he is quite indecisive as shown after he holds off responses to Riho Tsukishima's and Akane Hououji's confessions, though he becomes annoyed and embarrassed by their constant advances towards him. Ironically, he believes in gender equality so he would use physical attacks/punishment on the opposite sex, especially against Ami Tsuruga who often gives him trouble.

He also has a keen observation to those around him and can quickly guess that there is something wrong. He easily read Akane who was planning to leave because of her mother and talked to her about it. He was also correct to assume that Kikka Makuzawa was not Ouka Makuzawa when she first arrived on their beach hut, simply because she was carrying her handbag on her left shoulder while he knew that Ouka was right-handed. He also thought that Ouka is the most caring among everyone and would never speak rudely to someone she considers as family.

## Relationships

### **Familia Cafe**

**Akane Hououji**: At first the two did not seem to think much of each other and even saw the other's persona as rather unfavorable; Hayato initially viewing her as an indifferent, somewhat lazy and quiet girl who enjoys teasing him, while Akane initially viewed him as a rude, uptight and self-centered guy who tries to act cool. It was before the preopening of the café did Akane teach him how to make a good cup of coffee seeing as how she was taught by Hayato's grandmother Sachiko Kasukabe, but not before a bit of teasing as she refers to him as "cute" when he swallowed his pride and sincerely requested her to teach him. Hayato attempted to embarrass her back with a compliment by claiming that she is cute when she smiles, but she acted as calm as ever, further adding to his own embarrassment, little did he know that his words did get through to her.

Sometime later after shopping for a new toaster oven, Hayato would learn that Akane is a member of a rock band and manages to finally embarrass as well as tease her by critiquing and complimenting her skills as a musician; claiming that she is quite passionate when writing lyrics for her audience, but can be a bit halfhearted when trying to work up the crowd. While Akane claims that her playing in a band is merely a hobby and her choices/actions do not matter in general, Hayato believes she is lying to herself as she has a clear passion for music and such passion cannot be considered worthless if it can move the hearts of those who listened, proving his point further with him buying a copy of her band's album. This gesture leaves Akane feeling quietly happy and relieved to know someone genuinely believes in her dreams.

After Akane claims to be leaving the café due to her family circumstances, Hayato has her admit to her distress of not wanting to leave her friends and how she desires to continue doing what she loves, so he decided to assist her in convincing her mother to allow her to stay. During their serious discussion, Akane tries to express her desire to remain at Familia Café Terrace, but her mother would not hear of it due to her daughter's halfhearted nature as well as being an heiress to the Hououji family, causing Akane to become meek and compliant. Hayato speaks up and forces Akane to make her mother understand her desire rather than just simply saying what she wants, angrily calling her out for being a halfhearted girl this whole time without working up her own courage to tell her own parent what she truly desires. Realizing this, Akane changes her mannerisms and decided to show her mother her resolve by brewing her a cup of coffee, which was able to sway the adult Hououji in allowing her to stay. Before she left, Akane's mother seems to believe that her daughter is interested in Hayato and assumes him as a good candidate for Akane's husband, causing the younger Hououji to become flustered and denying such claims. Later, Akane fetches Hayato sitting at his usual fishing spot to come for dinner, but also to sincerely express gratitude for helping her finally stand up to her mother. While he claims she still has a bit of an attitude problem, he is nonetheless relieved to know everything worked out for her and glad he can still drink her amazing coffee, causing Akane to call him cute and express her desire to make him coffee for as long as he will have her by his side by warmly hugging him. A flustered Hayato breaks from this embrace and angrily tells her to cease her teasing as he walks away frustrated, while Akane looks towards him with a loving expression.

Since then, Akane began treating Hayato with more warmth and consideration, though still under the guise of teasing in front of the other girls. She even attempted to swoon him a bit by revealing to be writing the lyrics to a love song, but was cut off by Ami Tsuruga's silly prank. Later, Akane visits Hayato working remotely in his room to offer him a glass of iced coffee, noticing the amounts of complicated books he has read for his entrance exams at Tokyo U, claiming that he must be knowledgeable about many subjects. Confirming in academics he understands, but certain other aspects he likely has little knowledge of, leading Akane to question if one of these aspects is the subject of women in general, which he confirms. She believes he is more insightful than he gives himself credit for, and if not teasingly asks if he wishes to learn more about women. It was then when Akane quotes a literary confession from a novel as her way of confessing her love to Hayato, hoping he would understand what she meant. While he acknowledges her confession, Hayato claims in his own way that he cannot truly give her a reply, but rather his main priority is to the café first and foremost. He does, however, state that she makes great coffee and would be nice to drink a cup with her "under the stars" one day. While she understands what he meant, Akane went back into confusing and teasing him about the quote, but quickly quotes the title of the novel she mentioned thus confirming that she did understand what she quoted. Akane ultimately decides to wait patiently for his reply to her confession of love, but until then will continue to treat Hayato normally while flirting with him.

Since her confession, Akane has become more open with her feelings towards Hayato as she often flirts with him and even later attempts to seduce him on certain occasions, only managing to fluster the latter. Even after knowing the other members of Familia were beginning to fall for him as well, she expresses calmly that she plans on winning Hayato's heart all the while encouraging them to be more honest about their feelings. She even reveals to get scared rather easily from spooky stories/noises and even the dark, often requesting him to accompany her to the restroom at night, only for Akane to get scared easily and Hayato teasing her a bit.

Later on, Hayato takes Akane out for early Christmas shopping only to realize during the date that it was her birthday, causing him to distress for nearly forgetting about such an important day. While Akane does not mind too much, she claims she is happy enough to know he remembers during their date, however Hayato desires to make it up to her somehow, thus Akane wishes for him to marry her in the near future. Stunned by such a request, Hayato assumes that she was joking at first to tease him, but she was serious and wanted him to think about it. Afterwards, she continues to push him for an honest answer to marry her, only for Hayato state that the subject of marriage proposals must be put on hold while they are working, only for some men in black to barge into the café abducting both of them, being taken to Hououji residence by orders of Youko Chihaya, Akane's grandmother. Akane reveals that she was indirectly responsible for blurting to her grandmother that she has someone she desires to marry, thus Youko orders her granddaughter to invite him over, only for the young Hououji to refuse. Youko then demands an answer to the proposal, though Hayato states he has no intention in marrying Akane, however that there is no certainty he will not either, proclaiming that he would do everything he can to make sure that he and Akane(as well as the other girls) have a better future together. After leaving, Akane believes Hayato would no longer have any interest in her due to her family ties, however he claims that she is her own person and not what her family wanted her to be. He even brings up the subject of marriage being much more serious than simply dating given their respective families; whoever marries into the other's family would spell the end of the person's family generation and would consider some serious thought about what one wants or what is necessary. Akane proclaims that she can simply marry into Hayato's family instead, only for him to state she has to consider her family's feelings as well. She then believes he would not marry into hers and abandon his grandmother's café, yet he states that no one knows for sure, and if he was to fall deeply in love with Akane, he would not mind leaving Familia to be with her. This leads to Akane confirm that Hayato does not have any romantic feelings for her yet, so is now determined more than ever to get him to fall for her.

After the girls' "Kiss Trial" due to Shiragiku Ono kissing Hayato, Akane along with Riho Tsukishima, Ouka Makuzawa and Ami were each given the right to one free kiss from Hayato. As such, Akane decided to exercise her right immediately and share her first long, somewhat deep kiss with him, which she later contemplates that perhaps she had gone a bit overboard for her first time. Sometime later, Hayato begins to have somewhat lewd dreams of Akane, Riho and Shiragiku, and even becoming more nervous and flustered by their feminine charms and flirtatious gestures, thus becoming more aware of them as women. It is revealed that when Akane gets drunk, she becomes quite clingy towards Hayato and very emotional in which she expresses to be sad if he dislikes her, as well as her love for him and desire to marry him.

Sometime after Ouka left for France, Akane was approached by a producer at a record label who wanted to offer her a chance to grow bigger as a singer/musician if she was willing to leave her band and even her part time job at Familia, but she was hesitant to leave behind all that she cares about for her dreams. She asks Hayato for a hypothetical answer, only for him question if she was planning to leave like Ouka did, later eavesdropping on her conversation with the producer, presuming that he was some musician asking Akane out. Due to a misunderstanding, Hayato declares that this man should treat her well and never do anything to hurt her, but they clear up the misunderstanding which sends Hayato running out of the café in embarrassment. Akane then confronts him about what he said, and while Hayato tries remain calm and collected, he claims that for how long he was making her wait for his response to her confession, he has no right to comment on the possibility of her falling for some other man, but confessing his frustration in seeing her with another man. This leads Akane to believe that the man she loves was putting on brave front because he was jealous, but lovingly reassures Hayato that she is too greedy to throw away anything she cares for in order to achieve her dreams, not her friends and especially not the man she loves. Encouraging him fall for her more by leaning in close for a kiss, only to back away and tease him about his expectations. As he was about to angrily retort, Akane once again plants a kiss on him while whispering to not let the others know, causing Hayato be flustered, but also viewing her as a "wicked girl" who still enjoys teasing him.

**Shiragiku Ono**: A childhood friend of Hayato's who was the first and only member of the Familia Café Terrace to initially accept and welcome him into Familia as well as treat him fairly, while the others were skeptical of him. While cleaning the café for its reopening, Shiragiku attempts to speak with Hayato about his grandmother Sachiko Kasukabe's promise to always treat one another as family, expressing her gratitude to him in agreeing to keep Familia open for her and the other girls to live in given their own personal struggles, though Hayato states that there is no need to be so polite because as family they will look out for each other. This leaves Shiragiku delighted and relieved to know that he truly cares and will aid in providing for them like family, and as such, insists that he has dinner with her and the others.

Sometime later, the two decided to work together in forming a new menu for the café as Hayato acknowledged Shiragiku's expert cooking skills and leaving it up to her to come up with good food items. She soon claims that she never thought Hayato would return from Tokyo U and inherit Familia, even being able to work alongside him, revealing that she "fell in love" with cooking and the atmosphere of the café when she was younger. She did, however, become drunk from the evaporated alcohol used in her cooking and began doing lewd things towards him; something that would become a running gag between the two. She later attempts to teach Hayato in making good toasted sandwiches for the café, only for Riho Tsukishima to arrive and attempt to teach him as well. Despite his first attempt being rather messy, Shiragiku still compliments him on his first attempt and willingness to try, which seems to somewhat please Hayato. While making another sandwich together, Riho intervenes and suggests that a toasted sandwich is bit outdated while Shiragiku claims that it is how Sachiko had always made it. The two ask Hayato on his opinion, only for the latter to claim that he simply does not care, though he did state that Riho may have a point, causing Shiragiku to think he is cruel for thinking that way about his own grandmother's cooking. She then asks if he had actually tried Sachiko's sandwiches, to which he denies, leading to a small competition between Shiragiku and Riho on who can make a better sandwich for the menu. Afterwards, Hayato was asked to judge and choose which sandwich is better, however he could not eat a single bite(due to him consuming the failed toasted sandwich he made earlier) and because he is aware that if chooses one, the other will be left upset, so he decided to leave it up to them and others to figure it out. This leaves the two girls rather disappointed as internally they both wanted to hear him compliment their individual cooking.

Sometime during the Obon holiday, Shiragiku began rummaging through Sachiko's old room apparently looking for something valuable, which leads Hayato to become a bit suspicious, causing him to remember his fond memories of his grandmother. He then requests Shiragiku to assist him in cooking all of the food items on the current menu before college starts again, believing that as manager he should be able to do more than just a toasted sandwich. While Shiragiku seemed delighted to see Hayato so eager to learn more, she did become sad and distressed after he states that he and the others cannot continue to rely on her for meals for there is a chance that she will not be around in the future. Though she claims that she can still live with Hayato and everyone else regardless of the circumstances, he insists that she should consider what her parents may think. This leaves Shiragiku frustrated enough to childishly guilt trip him into apologizing and to cease saying hurtful things to her, to which he reluctantly complies. While they were cooking together, Shiragiku begins opening up more about how time was moving pretty fast during the summer, while Hayato claims that perhaps it was due to their business getting better, however she claims that perhaps it had something to do with "romance". This leaves Hayato somewhat stunned about what she meant, even wondering why she is probing him about a different subject which causes Shiragiku to warmly confirm that he is a terrible liar for she had overheard something(his situation with Akane' confession of love to him). She then gently throws herself onto Hayato and confesses that she has someone in her heart as well, and even if he were to not like her in return, she would not be able to date him in fear eventually hurting their feelings, yet Shiragiku proclaims that she has been in love with Hayato long before the others were, and simply wished for him to acknowledge her feelings. While initially taken aback by this confession, Hayato assumes she might be drunk again, only for her to firmly claim to be serious which leaves Hayato a bit nervous, but then confirms his suspicions when Shiragiku quickly goes into her drunken state. After finally subduing her and placing to her to bed, Hayato goes to his room and wonders whether or not Shiragiku was truly drunk when she confessed her feelings.

Sometime later, Hayato accompanies Shiragiku for a bit of grocery shopping in order to come up with new recipes to advertise on television for Familia, in which he would learn that his grandmother was a Three Star chef and even probes Shiragiku for some answers, only for the latter to try and dodge the question. He then directly asks her why she was in his grandmother's room every night, initially shocked that he knew about her sneaking around, but reveals to him that they had met fifteen years ago when her father took her to Familia to meet his mentor Sachiko. There she was introduced to the elder Kasukabe who reveals to be a master chef and had been managing the café sometime after her husband had passed, and soon meets a young Hayato who demanded food from her. While a young Shiragiku went to find Hayato and offer him ice cream, she tripped into Shigehisa Fuwa who immediately began to angrily reprimand her, only for Hayato to step in and spray the rotten elder with a hose saving the young girl. This is what led to Shiragiku developing a crush on Hayato. He claims to not remember actually meeting her all those years ago, though she did state it was understandable as he was only four years old when they met. He then asks why she never told him to which she claims Hayato would have discovered that his grandmother was a chef, only for him to question why he was not allowed to know this information, yet everyone else had known. It was due to a promise Shiragiku had to keep from Hayato at Sachiko's request, however he claims to somewhat understand the reason; he concludes that his grandmother had quit being a chef because of him. This left Hayato feeling disheartened for a while in the belief that his grandmother could have lived her dream had it not been for him, however Shiragiku wanted to express the truth about Sachiko's feelings in that she never regretted her decision in raising Hayato and watching him grow up, as well as revealing that her own promise she made to Sachiko after she agreed to train her; that she would give everything she had to support Hayato in running Familia together. This was able to finally lift Hayato's spirits and willingness to do everything he can do for the café, leaving Shiragiku relieved to see him smile again.

When the group decided to spend the day off for a picnic, the girls were excited to eat some of Shiragiku's cooking especially after learning her father is a Three Star chef, though Hayato defends her for making a normal picnic basket, reprimanding them for setting their expectations too high. She was then questioned about what she meant "marrying someone you date", leading her to happily blurt out that now she no longer carries Sachiko's secret, she can now be a marriage candidate for Hayato and that her father no longer has to worry about her future, leading to Hayato becoming shocked and the other girls wondering what she just said. Not wanting to make matters more complicated, Riho offers her a cup of wine in order to get Shiragiku drunk and admit to her feelings/intentions. A drunken Shiragiku happily proclaims her love for Hayato and even lewdly suggested on conceiving children with him, causing a frustrated, yet flustered Hayato to reprimand her and the the other girls to do the same.

During the battle with Chiyoda Diner, Hayato speaks with Shiragiku about coming up with a unique menu in order to outdo their competition, realizing that using their old food items will not get them far. While she protests in changing Sachiko's menu in Familia, Hayato reminds her that she merely imitating the recipes as well as making small variations to them, concluding that she has been holding back on her ideas and creativity for too long and she needs to make something new in order to gain more customers. Shiragiku still insists to continue serving Sachiko's recipes at her café, but Hayato firmly states that the café is his now, and if she truly meant what she said about supporting him, then as her boss he must ask her to actually show her true strength as a chef and cease with simply imitating old recipes. With the motivation needed from the others, Shiragiku vows to support Hayato in her own style of Spanish cuisine. After making a brand new specialty for Familia to serve, Hayato compliments her dish as a perfect for their café, leaving Shiragiku very happy to know he likes it.

As the girls prepare for their first Christmas together, Shiragiku comments to Moemi Souya on how instead of inheriting her father's restaurant after graduating or starting her own, she instead would like to marry Hayato and run Familia together with him. She then realized that she has not been as active in her pursuit of romance as much as either Akane or Riho has, believing that if she does not make her move soon, she would be left behind. After closing up the café from their Christmas party, Shiragiku stays behind to clean up after everyone, but before she left, planted a kiss onto Hayato, leaving him visibly stunned. Afterward, the two continue working like normal, though Shiragiku was feeling somewhat nervous of what he might think after what happened, but was left somewhat disappointed that he pretended as if nothing significant happened between them, wondering how he truly feels about her. She later inquires him about the other day, only for him to claim that it was normal, leaving her somewhat hurt as it was her first kiss, however Hayato states that he assumed her to be drunk at the time and therefore would not remember a thing. She proclaims to remember something very meaningful to her and would not do something like that if she were in a drunken stupor, thus Hayato commands Ami to show her recorded evidence of her drunken escapades. After confirming her behavior, this leaves Shiragiku shocked to learn that she had been this way for a while believing herself to have been quite a burden on him, yet Hayato claims that he is no longer bothered by it given how helpful and supportive she has been to him, expressing his gratitude to her. She then asks if he was bothered by her kiss, in which he claims that it was somewhat embarrassing because it was his first kiss as well. This leaves Shiragiku surprised and soon happy to know that she had taken Hayato's first kiss, further embarrassing the latter.

Sometime later, Hayato begins to have somewhat lewd dreams of Akane, Riho and Shiragiku, and even becoming more nervous and flustered by their feminine charms and flirtatious gestures, thus becoming more aware of them as women. During the New Year, Shiragiku now becomes intentionally drunk and attempts seduce Hayato, taking advantage of her own drunken stupor as she no longer has anything to hide.

Sometime later, Hayato discovers that Shiragiku's father had loan his grandmother some money for the café's expenses as well as to settle a debt with Fuwa, thus taking a trip to visit the Ono residence in order to repay the money. She accompanies him to her hometown, but decided to take a quick detour to the Imperial Gardens as an excuse for them to go on a date. While walking, Hayato questions whether or not she has any plans after graduating especially due to her wanting to become a chef and open her own restaurant, though Shiragiku claims that was her initial plan, but decided to marry him and run Familia together instead. Even stating that she fell in love with Hayato ever since he saved her from Fuwa, claiming that the former was so cool and kind that she could not stop thinking about him, expressing just how happy she is able to be able to live with the man she loves. Afterward, they go to the Ono residence to meet with her father, Takao Ono, who expresses his gratitude in Hayato looking after his daughter, who went into a drunken sleep. Takao reveals that Hayato always used to ask if Shiragiku was around whenever he came to visit Sachiko, nervously recalling himself saying that, soon teased about her being his "first love". After learning about how Takao owed a lot to his mentor and even helping to settle her debt with Fuwa, he asks Hayato to keep the money for his sake, to which the young man humbly complies. Hayato then meets Shiragiku's grandmother, Miyako Akemi, who expresses her gratitude to him as Shiragiku awoke from her sleep. As the pair were traveling back home, Shiragiku asks Hayato if she really was his first love, causing him to become flustered, but he at least confirms that he had always thought she was cute. This causes her to plant another romantic kiss onto Hayato, initially pretending to be drunk due to her embarrassment, but quickly reveals she was kidding around and overjoyed to know the two share "mutual love".

**Riho Tsukishima**: Riho initially viewed Hayato as being "the same as any teenage boy/young man"; uninhibited perverts, but was surprised to see how mostly unaffected he was by the girls attempts to trap and blackmail him. She acted mature and flirtatious towards him mainly as her way of playing with him, even initially calling him "master" when they first met. It was before the preopening of the café that Hayato decided to bring Riho with him around town in order to enact a courtesy call to all of the café's suppliers, concluding that she was the best choice from a process of elimination due to her social skills. At first she complained about being picked to accompany him on the excursion, she even teased him about wanting to date her as his excuse, but was quickly shot down and only wanted to focus on the task at hand. Despite the complaints and Hayato's inability to be courteous, Riho manages to help him get in good faith with their suppliers all while somewhat poking fun at him for being the "same useless guy who can't do anything right without his grandmother". She then takes him to the local shrine to pray where she scolds him for having so little resolve in running the café and how he lacks basic manners when speaking with those who are supposed to be helping him. This leaves Hayato frustrated, however he comes to understand that he was in the wrong and will do what she says in order to run the café the way his grandmother did, surprising Riho in witnessing him actually being humble and quick to understand the situation. As her way of apologizing for being harsh with him, Riho flashes her underwear at him, which causes a frustrated and embarrassed Hayato to tumble down the stairway. She then reads her fortune from the shrine which states she will gain excellent luck as well as developmental love at her work, warmly and amusingly calling Hayato hopeless both as a manager as well as a man.

Sometime after the reopening of the café, Hayato begins to notice how much Riho tries to force herself into working hard and assisting others despite her studies at her university, something even Akane Hououji pointed out. Later that night, Hayato speaks with Riho about her working late on making an online account for Familia, as well printing out flyers in order spread awareness of their business and perhaps stamps and vouchers attract more customers, but he quickly asks why she is working so hard despite simply being a part-timer. She then opens up about how owes a lot to Sachiko as well as Familia for allowing her to truly be herself, thus her desire to do everything she can for the café, however Hayato tells her to not overdo it and just simply work normally. This triggers Riho's traumatic memory of being a nuisance, believing that Hayato also sees her as an embarrassment or a disgrace, but he simply tells her that as the manager he is worried about her well-being, stating that if she continues overworking herself just to please others then she would likely collapse from exhaustion. Reminding her to simply do what she desires to do for her own sake and rely on him to take care of her, the other girls as well as the café. This causes Riho to break down in tears from his reliability, but tries to act like its nothing, leaving Hayato to pat her head like a child and claims that he will take care of her expenses for the time being, leaving her frustrated for being treated like a child by someone younger than herself. Despite this, Riho begins to contemplate about being able to rely on someone as grounded as Hayato, lightly flustered upon remembering her fortune of love.

Since then, Riho began seeking some semblance of approval from Hayato, or at least to have him depend on her as she depends on him, only for him to become somewhat annoyed with her constantly trying to do more for Familia. Even after receiving tasks, she expresses her annoyance with Hayato getting close to other girls and treating her like a nuisance, often like Shiragiku Ono in her drunken state. Sometime later, Riho discovers that Shiragiku is teaching Hayato how to make toasted sandwiches, after initially hearing them say somethings taken out of context assuming they were doing something perverted(something that would be a running gag for Riho towards Hayato). She decided to take it upon herself to also assist in teaching him how to make sandwiches, much to his initial protest, especially after he failed to make a good one. Despite his first attempt being rather messy, Shiragiku still compliments him on his first attempt and willingness to try, which seems to somewhat please Hayato, while Riho seemed somewhat annoyed on how he accepts compliments with a smile from another girl, causing her to deliver her own compliment to see how he would react, only for him to thank her while patting her head. This causes her to be pleased like a happy child, only to quickly swat his hand away in embarrassment. While he makes another sandwich with Shiragiku, Riho intervenes and suggests that a toasted sandwich is bit outdated while Shiragiku claims that it is how Sachiko had always made it. The two ask Hayato on his opinion, only for the latter to claim that he simply does not care, though he did state that Riho may have a point, causing Shiragiku to think he is cruel for thinking that way about his own grandmother's cooking. She then asks if he had actually tried Sachiko's sandwiches, to which he denies, leading to a small competition between Shiragiku and Riho on who can make a better sandwich for the menu. Afterwards, Hayato was asked to judge and choose which sandwich is better, however he could not eat a single bite(due to him consuming the failed toasted sandwich he made earlier) and because he is aware that if chooses one, the other will be left upset, so he decided to leave it up to them and others to figure it out. This leaves the two girls rather disappointed as internally they both wanted to hear him compliment their individual cooking.

At the start of summer break, Hayato suggests on setting up a beach bar in order attract more customers and tourists as well as to earn more money, to which Ouka Makuzawa presents an idea for summer/beach uniforms which causes him to become annoyed and flustered upon seeing her show off her swimsuit. This causes a jealous Riho to run upstairs and change into her bikini to show off to Hayato under the pretense of trying to figure out the dress code for the beach bar. Trying to get him just as flustered, she demands him to give her a proper answer on how her swimsuit looks all while trying to fend off a drunk Shiragiku, he claims her swimsuit is "cute" which she takes it as him patronizing her. During the opening of the Familia Beach Bar, Riho continues to work as hard as she can, until she spots Akane casually chatting with Hayato, presuming that they are flirting on the job, getting all worked up over something small. This causes her to pass out due to mild heat stroke, which Hayato quickly takes her back to her room at the café so she can recover, waiting by her bedside. Riho begins having a nightmare about being abandoned by someone she knows causing her to unconsciously hug onto Hayato as she wakes from her sleep, shocked to find herself in her room while he explains what happened to her. She became disheartened for collapsing on the job, believing herself to be a terrible employee, however Hayato angrily scolds her for not listening to his direct orders to not overwork herself for he will be deeply worried if anything were to happen to Riho. This moves her heart to know how much he really cares for her, gently placing his hand on her face as she warmly apologizes for worrying him, and requesting him to stay a little while longer as she rests, which he agrees.

After some time to rest, Riho returns to work and learns from Shiragiku just how panicked Hayato was when she first collapsed, expressing how nice it was to know how much he cares about her, only to get angry upon seeing him being surrounded by other women on the beach hitting on him, taking her frustration out on him. Hayato would soon learn just how natural it is for Riho to be friendly towards everyone around her and her popularity in college, but still orders her to rest every now and then, otherwise she would not be of help to anyone. He then discovers that she used to be a child actress prodigy, until she disappeared and ended up working part-time, causing her to run off in shame. As Riho remembers how her mother overworked her as a child while her father tries to reason with his daughter, Hayato finds her and confirms that her social skills were not something she was naturally gifted, but an aspect drilled into her head as means of independent survival. She confirms that the filming industry is just as cruel and scary as the real world for she was just another disposable child star set up to be replaced by another, and in the end of it all, Riho was left with a broken family. Hayato then tells her that despite all that, her social skills were essential in keeping Familia alive and how he wanted to express his gratitude to her for everything she has done for the café up until now, claiming that there was indeed something meaningful that came out of her experience as a child actress. Though, he immediately went back into scolding her for overworking herself and risking her wellbeing for others' sakes, demanding her to cease worrying him and the others again, causing Riho to remember her father's similar words of concern, crying her eyes out begging Hayato to never leave her, which left the former confused, flustered and annoyed when she hugged him tightly while proclaiming to stay with him forever. After opening up about her past to the other girls, she quietly tells Hayato that her crying was all an act and not to tell this to the others, only for him tease her about it.

Sometime later when the girls decided to spend their day off at the beach, Riho begins to develop feelings for Hayato, yet was in denial about what these feelings might be. On the day of the Fireworks Festival, she decided to ask Hayato to accompany her to the festival, but he quickly declines causing a frustrated Riho to storm off into the café, where she resolves to spend the day with him whether he wants to or not, only to discover that he and the other girls were planning her birthday party. Surprised that he remembers her birthday as well as going through the trouble to plan her party, but was nonetheless happy to know that he is always thinking about her. It was until the night where the group entered the local bathhouse, in which the girls were questioned if any of them had started "falling in love with Hayato", resulting in each of them giving varied responses. Riho acted as if she did not possess such feelings for him, mainly as an excuse to focus on the café, however Akane claims to be in love with him and encourages Riho not to deny her true feelings. On their way home, Riho volunteers to go to the market and buy some groceries, leaving Hayato to accompany her. While walking home, she begins to question her feelings as well as him being kind to her, even wondering how he feels about Akane after her confession; questioning if he likes Akane and only sees Riho and the other girls as just his employees/housemates. Refusing to allow this, Riho quickly confesses her feelings to Hayato, but quickly asks how he would feel suddenly hearing this, assuming he would be bothered by it. He, however, states he would likely be happy to hear it should she actually confess, but is unsure as to the fate of the café, which Riho expresses that she is satisfied to hear him be happy with her confession.

Since then, Riho has become more expressive about her feelings towards Hayato, at least in the form of annoyance and jealously in seeing him with another woman, such as Akane or Shiragiku. She becomes somewhat distressed upon hearing the other girls falling for him as well, but declares that she too is in love with him and will do what she can win his heart.

During the battle with Chiyoda Diner, Riho decided to do what she can to help Hayato with Familia with courage and resolve. She ultimately decided to use her status as a failed actress in order to get the café on television by formally offering the director of the studio she used to work in to cover her story. After learning about this, Hayato was a bit concerned since it was a reminder of Riho's dark past, but she assures him that it is fine and if he really feels bad about having her go through with it, then he can become her boyfriend to make it up to her, slightly surprising him. Hayato later questions why she went over to Chiyoda Diner to lecture the girls while they were still accidentally streaming, causing an uproar online when she could have just left Ririka Chiyoda alone, leaving Riho a bit upset about being careless. He does, however, express that he still likes that quality about her; being hard-working and being realistic, patting her head and making her feel happy that he noticed her best traits as an actress. She later gets encouragement from Ririka to make her move to take a trip alone with Hayato, causing a flustered Riho to question whether or he would agree to do so, however she decided to take the opportunity to ask him. Seeing as the two were alone for the time being, she reveals to have a hot spring ticket for two and asks him if he would like to go with her, causing a flustered Hayato to question her as to why and maybe to go with one of the other girls, only for Riho to softly push for him to accompany her. The others arrive and reveal to have four extra tickets for them to take a trip as a group, leaving Hayato somewhat relieved and Riho quite frustrated she cannot be alone with him.

Sometime later, Riho was offered a role in a popular television series, but was reluctant to do so. Ririka convinces her by claiming Hayato can become dazzled by her performance. Afterward, Riho's father appears to inform her that her mother Ruri Tsukishima has terminal cancer, imploring his daughter to at least visit her. At first, she had no intention in seeing her estranged mother, but after hearing from Ami on how Hayato had always regretted not visited his grandmother when was still alive, Riho ultimately chose to visit the hospital alongside Hayato. Despite his initial intent to accompany her in the hospital room, she chose to go alone for she would not want the man she loves to hear what she has to say to someone she despises. Afterward, he states that her acting still comes across as forced near the end, and asking her after all that she went through she still plans to return to the acting world, only for Riho claiming that she might if she works hard, and if Hayato would help her prepare; both in the experience of acting and in love, leaving him rather flustered.

After the girls' "Kiss Trial" due to Shiragiku Ono kissing Hayato, Riho along with Akane, Ouka and Ami were each given the right to one free kiss from Hayato. Riho decided that her kiss with Hayato should be private and by him initializing it. Despite trying to grant her the request she desires, she was still very nervous to do so. After learning that her mother might be cured of the cancer, Hayato surprises her with a kiss mainly as a means to comfort her, keeping his promise and expressing his relief that her mother will be fine, leaving Riho surprised and happily flustered. Sometime later, Hayato begins to have somewhat lewd dreams of Akane, Riho and Shiragiku, and even becoming more nervous and flustered by their feminine charms and flirtatious gestures, thus becoming more aware of them as women. During the New Year, Riho openly flirts with him despite her attempts being treated as trying too hard.

In preparation for the role at her university's stage club, Riho asks Hayato to accompany her on an outing to practice; an excuse to go on a romantic date together and for him to play the role as her boyfriend. The pretend date includes going to an aquarium, holding hands, rides in an amusement park, sharing ice cream and overall having fun, however Riho decided to take Hayato to a Love Hotel to conclude their date. While she seemed pretty excited on the prospect of spending time in hotel with the man she loves, Hayato on the other hand was rather uncomfortable, even questioning the absurdity of the play's story. She then claims that she will attempt to seduce him by removing her clothes and revealing her lingerie, easily leaving Hayato incredibly flustered. Her attempts do not work as well as she had hoped, and in frustration throws herself until onto him, pinning him to the bed while pouring out her insecurities; claiming that she is underdeveloped compared to Shiragiku and cannot cook like her, nor is she as mature as Akane despite being the eldest and cannot brew coffee like her, believing Hayato would never like or choose Riho. She even requests that he would at least be her first man while they are still in the hotel, promising that she will let anyone know, but Hayato tells her to cease with the act already as she is going too far, only for Riho to plant a romantic kiss on him, proclaiming that she would never act out something as serious as romance. He then tries to reason with her, stating that he never once compared her to anyone else for he sees Riho as her own person as he views other women the same way. Claiming that going beyond a proper relationship would be dishonest of him if only the woman in question desires more, hoping she can at least understand his reasoning. Riho chooses to temporarily relent at his behest, but then asks for a simple embrace, resulting in Hayato awkwardly hugging her, but she soon learns that he was aroused, quickly demanding to have a feel. As they left the hotel, she further embarrasses him in public much to Hayato's chagrin, but was happy to know that her advances really did arouse him, but most of all of how much he really cares for her.

**Ouka Makuzawa**: Since their first meeting, Hayato and Ouka were at constant odds with one another, especially after giving negative first impressions. Ouka viewed him as a cocky, ungrateful pervert who shows little to no respect for anyone, while Hayato viewed her as an uptight, crazy brat who is just as disrespectful and combative. Before the preopening of the café and even after the group began living together, the two continue fight and bicker like cats and dogs, never really coming to an understanding or find common ground to be more civilized. Riho then requests Hayato to start getting along with Ouka in order to maintain the Familia's comfortable and peaceful environment, while reluctantly agreeing to it, he still had little idea of how to make peace something as emotionally negative as Ouka. Then Akane suggests that he should simply compliment her, though he attempted to say something nice with a rather forced smile, Ouka took it as backhanded sarcasm. Running out of ways to attempt a peaceful relationship, even commenting how she is terrible at cooking, he goes to tell her the bath is free for her to use, but no answer and lets himself in her room to find her lightly modeling the café uniform. This leads to another back and forth between them, only for Hayato to quickly catch himself in order to compliment her instead, stating that her costume actually looks great that it can attract more customers and make a crazy girl like her look cute. Afraid she might get offended again, he was surprised to see Ouka sincerely thank him for complimenting her uniform for they were the ones she designed herself. She even stated that Sachiko once told her that while Hayato can be quite foulmouthed, he also very honest and has never lied to anyone before, thus happy to know he was sincere about his positive comments which causes Ouka to finally compliment him on his brewing coffee. Despite Shiragiku and Ami's antics, the cat and dog were finally beginning to develop a peaceful setting.

Sometime later, Hayato takes Ouka and Ami with him to secure a spot for the Cherry Blossom Festival, and while excited at first, Ouka seemed to tire quickly as she fell asleep during the festival. After Ami disrupts her nap by forcing food down her mouth, Hayato comments Ouka had a "dumb look" on her face as she dozed off causing her to angrily question why he was even looking at her. Despite this, he tells her to head home and rest up since their booth is not as busy at the moment, but she stubbornly refuses and chooses to refresh herself before returning to work. It was then where Ouka was accosted by some local punks harassing her to join them for a party causing her to protest and demand Hayato to help her. He informs the group that she is one of his employees and asks them to leave her alone, only for the thugs to begin harassing him as well, but thankfully the members of the festival especially the friendly suppliers of Familia ran them out of the area. The next day, the thugs destroyed and vandalized Familia's booth, after which Hayato, Ouka and Ami learn the group's leader is the grandson of Fuwa, causing the trio to leave the stall in order to avoid any further troubles for the others. Ouka, feeling guilty, believes she was responsible for the trouble, referring to herself as dead weight, but Hayato quickly tells her that she has done more than enough for the stall and the designs for the uniforms. He then informs her that he will need her help for Familia's counterattack in which she will design Sachiko's old booth cart. Thanks to Riho's social skills and word of mouth, the booth was able to garner many customers, even one who complimented the decoration, causing Hayato to claim that Ouka designed it herself as well as her planning to become a fashion designer, leaving her somewhat in a daze until he tells her to not space out. As the trio were returning home, they run into the thugs who vandalized their booth, causing Hayato step in and protect the booth cart from harm despite him getting hurt in the process, as well as to trap the thugs by having Ami knock them out. He then misinforms them into believing that "Mad Dog Ouka" is stronger causing them to run away scared, also leaving Ouka confused as to why he risked his wellbeing, only for Hayato to state that her hard work on the booth cart would be ruined had he not stepped in. This leaves her somewhat relieved in how much he cares, but asks him to fight his own battles next time.

Since then, Ouka often looks towards Hayato to give her positive feedback on her designs, asking if her ideas are cute. At the start of summer break, Hayato suggests on setting up a beach bar in order attract more customers and tourists as well as to earn more money, to which Ouka presents an idea for summer/beach uniforms which causes him to become annoyed and flustered upon seeing her show off her swimsuit. Noticing his reaction, she begins to tease him about her wearing a simple swimsuit in front of him especially when someone is actually trying to get his attention with it, causing a flustered Hayato to angrily question if she is a sadist.

Sometime later, the group is confronted by Ouka's twin sister, Kikka, whom Hayato almost immediately realized she was different. Kikka then gathers the group and begins interrogating each them on living together, labeling them by perception and practically insulting them, causing Ouka to reprimand her sister for being rude. This does not stop the younger twin from quarreling with her sister, causing Hayato to question her intentions, only for Kikka to refer to him as well as the other girls as "commoners" compared to the twin's so-called prestigious family, insulting the café as a whole. This causes Ouka to slap her twin as she coldly demands her to never insult her new family or the café ever again, causing the younger twin to leave in anger. After apologizing for Kikka's behavior, Ouka confesses that her family are all Tokyo U graduates/students and thus had expectations weighed upon her to become the same, feeling somewhat guilty that her twin sister must shoulder the burden of being a Tokyo U student. Since then, Ouka felt disheartened which affected her work, causing Hayato to later talk with her about the situation and states that her sister wishes to make up with her, yet Ouka claims to be just "a useless older sister who dumped everything on her younger sister so she can pursue her own dreams". He then informs her that Kikka is simply worried about her sister and advises Ouka to talk with her. After completing his request, Ouka expresses her gratitude to Hayato and asks how he was able to tell the difference between the twins; he simply states that she is right-handed while Kikka is left-handed, but also due to how they treat Ami with Kikka being critical while Ouka is the most caring person in Familia. Taken aback by his kind words, she nervously comments on how kindhearted Hayato is as well as how cool he was when her sister was insulting Familia, only for him to express his anger at Kikka not knowing he was a Tokyo U student as well, leaving Ouka to call him childish.

It was until the night where the group entered the local bathhouse, in which the girls were questioned if any of them had started "falling in love with Hayato", resulting in each of them giving varied responses. Ouka claiming to have no romantic interest in someone as crude and insensitive as him. Sometime later, Ouka notices how the other girls were beginning to become closer to Hayato during work, questioning the level of public decency at Familia. She then confronts them about their interest in Hayato by telling them their duties to the café comes first, and in an attempt have them confess, Ouka lies in claiming to be romantically interested in him as well as being intimate. This, however, causes Akane to call Ouka out on her lies by toying with her impressions of intimacy with a man, thus causing various reactions amongst the girls. After Hayato returns, Ami makes a silly comment about his "whatchamacallit", causing him to express his disappointment in Ouka for teaching her a dirty term, leaving a distressed Ouka to protest as a misunderstanding.

The next day, she goes to Kikka for advice on how to deal with the situation, only for her sister to assume Ouka has feelings for him as well, though she was quick to deny this claim. Later on, she barges into the bathroom while Hayato was bathing causing him to yell for her to leave as she becomes embarrassed. Since then, she continues to think about him and even beginning to blush a bit, questioning her possible feelings upon further thought, only to see his face and conclude its nothing. Soon slipping over a banana peel(left by Ami) landing on Hayato and soon a bathtub falls on her head pushing her face closer to his, as he angrily, though flustered, demands Ouka to get off of him she begins teasing about how flustered he gets towards her, calling him cute despite his unfavorable personality.

Later on, Ouka was requested by her father to invite Hayato to their home in order to determine whether or not he is good enough to look after her, though Hayato initially teased her about making a bad impression just to make her leave Familia, causing her to angrily reprimand him. Arriving at the Makusawa residence, Hayato begins directly answering her father's questions of the former's possible intentions with Ouka, only for Hayato to claim her as family and intends to take care of her for more years to come. This causes her to confirm Hayato as a serious and reliable young man whom she respects despite the fights they occasionally have, little do the two realize her father actually considers them as an engaged/married couple and even approves of Hayato to be Ouka's possible future husband especially after learning the young man was a Tokyo U student and how he took over for his late grandmother's business. Soon after, he meets Ouka's grandmother, Harue Yaeyama, as Kikka reveals a photo of Hayato's grandfather, Masahiro, as well as learning the relationship between the former members of Familia.

After the girls' "Kiss Trial" due to Shiragiku kissing Hayato, Ouka along with Akane, Riho and Ami were each given the right to one free kiss from Hayato. Sometime later, Ouka reveals that she will be leaving to France in order to pursue her dreams in fashion designing causing the members of Familia to give surprised reactions. Though seemingly okay with her leaving, Hayato was presumed to be taking the news much worse than the others knowing someone he considers as family will leave. Ouka would make pilaf for him for seemingly the last time, as well as taking the opportunity to express her sincerest gratitude to him for keeping Familia open thus allowing her to pursue her dreams. This causes Hayato to state that she can come back to work and live at Familia when she gets fired from her French employers for being useless, causing Ouka to claim she will make sure that does not happen. The day she was about to depart, Hayato, though trying to seem normal, expresses his concern for Ouka's wellbeing causing the latter to sadistically tease him again for being somewhat sad, only to surprise him as well as those present when she pulls him in for a kiss. She claims that she might as well use up her right to kiss Hayato before she leaves, but claims that him "getting kissed by a the girl he hates" should prevent him from feeling sad, an action and claim which leaves him very flustered as well as angry. As Ouka's plane departs, Hayato and the girls wish her good luck.

Sometime later, Ouka surprises everyone in Familia with her sudden return to Japan, though Hayato seems to believe she is hiding her reasoning for leaving France. After he states she can do whatever she wants including returning to Familia, Ouka requests to speak privately with him in order to admit to her own failures during her time in France, though she wanted to save face about by pretending to return to Japan by choice. Hayato obviously sees through her poorly attempted excuse, but still expresses his relief that she okay and is back in Familia where she belongs, causing her to cry from his kind words. He states that her experience may have been painful, but she can use that pain as a means to grow especially from the worst moments in her life will be another funny story to tell. Before she was to return to Familia, Hayato demands Ouka to tell the truth to the others, which she reluctantly complies. After some teasing as well as support from the other girls, she later expresses to Hayato how much he annoyed her and viewed him as a little brother who fights with her, but soon expresses genuine happiness after learning how he cared for and worried about her while she was in France. Soon comes to understand why the other girls love him so much as she lightly blushes, causing both of them to realize what she just said as she immediately denies liking him, even though Ouka begins to genuinely fall in love with Hayato.

As the groups of Familia and Chiyoda Diner take a trip to Miyakojima together, each of the lovestruck maidens make plans to spend time alone with Hayato. Ouka, after being advised by Hekiru to make her move on him after lying about Hayato's interest to her in a new swimsuit, goes to ask him what he thinks of her swimsuit, only for the former to simply critique the material. This causes her to exit in frustration, but not before Ami and Tina blast a wave from Ouka's direction towards Hayato causing him to injure his arm. Afterwards, she decided to check if he was okay as well as to apologize for his injury, though he claims that not is she not at fault, but believes it could have been a form of divine punishment for his negative words towards her. He then genuinely compliments Ouka and her swimsuit causing her to become flustered and quickly change into her *tsundere* phase. Sometime later, after Ami and Tina were messing with a sleeping Hayato, Ouka goes to check on him and finds him with mussels and fish around him. She then removes the seafood off of him after slipping on a shell, noticing how he is always puts up with the younger childish members of their group despite getting injured, commenting on how he would make a great father one day. Ouka takes the opportunity to sneak a romantic kiss onto Hayato, soon realizing that he was awake the whole time and questions her action, to which she responds to have begin falling for him. This leaves him somewhat flustered, until Hekiru catches them and runs to inform the others causing a panicked Ouka to chase after her. After reluctantly confirming her actions, she embarrassingly confesses that she is in love with Hayato as well despite everyone's initial disbelief, soon accepting her as being in the same situation as themselves.

After returning home from the trip, Ouka begins attempting to show her cute softer side to Hayato, but this leaves him somewhat disturbed by her sudden change in personality. She did so in order to request Hayato to accompany her back to her family's residence for moral support as she breaks the news to her father about failing while in France. This causes Hayato to toy with her knowing how distressed she becomes about her family's expectations, however he was certain her father would merely express his relief to see Ouka back in Japan safe and sound, and was proven correct. On their way home, Ouka was relieved as well as surprise her father would say the same words as Hayato, as he confirms that any parent would be worried for their child. She then attempts to be romantic towards Hayato by claiming to be more happy when he said those words to her a month ago, however he stated she needs to consider her father's feelings more seriously. Once again leading to a back and forth between the cat and dog as a frustrated Ouka decides to assertively take Hayato on a date before heading home in her last ditch effort to be have him acknowledge her feelings. As the two shop for some fabric and material for Ouka's new beach uniforms, they begin growing closer despite Ouka's *tsundere* attempts coming across as incorrect. As they head home, she begins to express her reason behind her love for designing clothes, but soon questions him for a response to her confession to him as she proclaims to be serious about being in love with Hayato. Before he can answer, she then warmly embraces him(in order to get measurements) as she proclaims that she will make him fall for her someday, causing Hayato to claim Ouka's rare behavior was actually cute. The next day, Ouka left Hayato a thank you gift for spending time with her which is his new beach uniform for him to wear. Such a gesture made him happy as he proudly wears it in front the girls, leaving Ouka very happy to see the man she loves enjoy her designs.

**Ami Tsuruga**: The two have a rather strange, yet comical relationship, as Ami does with just about everyone she knows or meets. When they first met, Ami assumed him to be a burglar and soon as a sneaky pervert after he accidentally saw her naked, only realizing the situation too late. Hayato seems to view her as a childish idiot whose whimsical and otherwise immature behavior causes him nothing but annoyance and frustration. After a bit of time and Hayato allowing the girls to stay at the café, she proves to be somewhat unreliable in performing simple tasks, such as cleaning, often causing him to scold her for messing around. She even begins pestering Hayato while he was working remotely in his room resulting in him lashing out at her for being bothersome. Sometime before the preopening of Familia, Hayato would hand the girls their first paychecks after assuring them that his shares in the stock market had steadily gone up and therefore confident enough with money at the moment, only for Ami to be suspiciously quiet the whole time. She later speaks with him on his thoughts on reopening the café with a "tense atmosphere" questioning him as to why he was able to fit into Famila so easily, but also who was responsible for getting the others to acknowledge him like family; realizing that it was thanks to his grandmother Sachiko. Ami, however, claims to be the one who helped smoothed things over when clearly she did nothing of the sort, confirming his viewpoint of her being a complete idiot. She then makes a proverb of him losing something dear to him easily as she suspiciously apologizes if she were to be the cause of that, leaving Hayato to question what did she do, soon discovering that Ami accidentally destroyed his laptop as well as his smartphone. Shiragiku then informs him that stock market began to plummet causing a panicked Hayato realize that he could not sell his shares in time, forcing him to lose most of his money. In an attempt "cheer him up", Ami offers him an option of groping her breasts, only for a furious Hayato to punish her for her blatant stupidity and carelessness.

After getting to know each other a bit more, she begins to refer to him as "Hayacchi" and even begins a series of running gags between the two; such as Ami knocking out Hayato whenever she thinks he is doing something perverse to the other girls, him physically punishing her via fisted head grinds, her offering him to grope her breasts whenever he was upset or had she done something wrong towards him, her attempting to prank him on occasion, and referring to him as her "commander" whenever they were on duty carrying out his commands as his loyal "lieutenant". The two have developed a platonic relationship akin to that of siblings; Hayato being the responsible older brother and Ami being the fun-loving younger sister, though others view her fondness for him as similar to a dog(Ami) adoring their master(Hayato). She often looks towards him for some fun and entertainment, but comes across as annoying to him in which she would get sad or upset whenever he yells at or scolds her.

Sometime later, Hayato takes Ami and Ouka with him to secure a spot for the Cherry Blossom Festival, in which he becomes somewhat surprised to see Ami so full of energy to be working, only for her to compare the new uniforms with upgraded armor, confusing the former. While he seemed content with her taking the job seriously, she immediately acts spoiled after being given some snacks, even requesting Hayato for coffee which he immediately refuses. After Ouka and Hayato were being harassed by some local punks, Ami offers to get rid of them with her martial arts, but was prevented for the time being as he did not want cause trouble for the other patrons. Thankfully the members of the festival especially the friendly suppliers of Familia ran them out of the area. The next day, the thugs destroyed and vandalized Familia's booth, after which Hayato, Ouka and Ami learn the group's leader is the grandson of Fuwa, causing the trio to leave the stall in order to avoid any further troubles for the others. As Hayato prepares for a counterattack with the café's booth cart and Ouka's design, Hayato names the cart as "Familia Café Terrace Mk 0" causing an easily impressed Ami to think the name alone is very cool, even acting as Hayato's loyal soldier as he gives her a special order to carry out when the time comes. She was also tasked with getting the supplies they need for their booth considering how Hayato relies on Ami's speed and stamina. As the trio were returning home, they run into the thugs who vandalized their booth, causing Hayato step in and protect the booth cart from harm despite him getting hurt in the process, as well as to trap the thugs by having Ami knock them out per his orders, though he did question her methods of fighting as they seem to be inspired by television shows or video games. He then misinforms the thugs into believing that "Mad Dog Ouka" is stronger than Ami causing them to run away scared, also leaving Ouka confused as to why he risked his wellbeing, only for Hayato to state that her hard work on the booth cart would be ruined had he not stepped in. This leaves her somewhat relieved in how much he cares, but asks him to fight his own battles next time and not letting Ami do it for him.

Sometime later, Ami began behaving "normally" causing Ouka to stress if something is wrong with her, though at first Hayato did not seem to care, he decided to look into the matter. He soon learns from Akane that Ami had a practice match at her school where she was defeated by an opponent with one hit likely causing her to feel somewhat dispirited, so he calls both her and Ouka to speak with him in his room. She then reveals that her opponent(later revealed to be Rei) was incredibly strong and skilled, as well as claiming that she lost to her because Ami is not good enough as her coach suggested that there are things she cannot do and perhaps she should quit. Hayato states that everyone's talents are different and hard work cannot help one overcome this obstacle, however he claims Ami did not lose her match due to lack of talent, but rather because of her stubbornness in focusing on one technique. He suggests that she focuses on other techniques to use especially with the drive to win, reminding her of how she took down the group of thugs at the festival. After gaining some encouragement, Ami declares to master another technique from a video game, causing to Ouka and Hayato to realize that she was trying to use a fictional attack during a karate match, confirming that she was being dumb and childish again. After regaining her motivation, Ami excitedly attempts the technique while holding a dumbbell, causing it to slip out of her hand and break Hayato's new laptop. Realizing what just happened, a furious Hayato prepares to assault Ami, only for her to repeat her offer to grope her breasts, however became shocked that he actually begins to violently squeeze/twists her breasts and toss her aside in anger. He then chases after Ouka after she accidentally breaks his new phone, leaving behind a somewhat paralyzed Ami quietly claiming to never do such a thing again.

Sometime later, the group take a hot spring trip together after winning some raffles, and while the girls seem excited, Ami remains suspiciously quiet the entire time. She and Hayato end up sharing a room together during the group's first night at the inn, where he then questions her if there was someone in the area that Ami does not wish to speak with especially knowing where the group was going and how she had made excuses to not return to her hometown. Ami continues to feign ignorance on the subject until later at dinner where her sister Eri arrives looking for her revealing that their grandmother is still in a home due to her deteriorating mental state, forcing Ami to run away upset. Hayato learns of Ami's past and how her circumstances were similar, if not worse than his own, wanting to help her, but chooses to leave her be. Later that night, Ami asks to sleep next to him, allowing her to do as she pleases, soon talking with her about her grandmother's situation and how she may or may not remember the people close to her anymore. Ami expresses her hopes that her grandmother will be cured soon and refuses to see her in this state, though Hayato reassures her that it may be possible as well as inform her that he had always regretted not being able see his own grandmother while was still alive, leaving Ami somewhat tensed. The next day, the group visit the care home in support for Ami finally seeing her grandmother, Katsuyo Tatsuta, and hopefully have her remember. Tried as she did, all of Ami's attempts to make Katsuyo laugh failed causing her to wail in sadness, this causes Hayato to remember the promise he made in his dream as he confronts Katsuyo. To make her remember, he pretends to be his grandfather Masahiro and angrily question why his "lieutenant" cannot recognize her grandmother, causing the elder to finally return to normal, leaving all those present shocked. It was then where Ami asks her grandmother if she remembers her now to which the elder happily asks her when did she come back home, leaving Ami relieved in tears as she embraces her.

Later that night, Ami joins Hayato in the mixed bath and claims that she is no longer embarrassed if its him who sees her naked. She then informs him her grandmother's condition appears to be a misdiagnosis, expressing her relief that she will be fine, but most importantly wishes to express her gratitude for helping Katsuyo remember her. Ami decided to find some way to show her appreciation to Hayato, though he claims that its not necessary, she decided to offer him to grope her breasts. Though he initially refused claiming it was a strange way to show gratitude, he ultimately conceded to the offer after she begins to feel somewhat foolish when she claimed that she simply wanted thank him for helping her, causing Ami to proudly present her breasts to him, much to his discontent. She even attempted this again with Hayato the night before Ouka was to depart to France, as she offered him to fondle her breasts again in order to cheer him up, much to his confusion.

Sometime after Ouka left and Rei joined Familia, Ami was beginning to feel uneasy in her heart after realizing that she had done a lot with Hayato in the past year, suddenly feeling a tingle sensation in her chest, her cheeks begin to flush and her mind spaces out when playing with him. It was then where Tina lets her know that her own mother felt that as well after spending so much time with her father, but did not really explain why, just that she will learn when she is an adult. Simply put, Ami was beginning to develop possible romantic feelings for Hayato, yet she is still too immature to understand these feelings, so she ends up punching Hayato while spouting nonsense about getting stronger for the sake of justice. This causes a stunned Hayato to wrathfully punish Ami for her incredibly foolish behavior. Later. Rei realizes what Ami meant about her unease in regards to Hayato and tries to get her to realize her own feelings, only confusing the latter, though Ami once again feels that tingling sensation in her heart when thinking about him.

**Sachiko Kasukabe**:

**Chiyoda Diner:**

**Ririka Chiyoda**:

**Hekiru Yoshino**:

**Valentina Azuma**:

**Mao Takasaki**:

**Moemi Souya**:

**Rei Kariyazaki**:

## Etymology

* The name **Hayato** means "falcon" (隼).
* Hayato's surname **Kasukabe** means "scrap, waste" (粕) (**kasu**) and "wall" (壁) (**kabe**).

## Trivia

* Hayato got accepted into Tokyo U on his first try.
* In the early chapters, there was a running gag where Ami Tsuruga, after causing some trouble to Hayato, jokingly asked him to grope her breasts, although he always shrugs this off by beating her.
	+ But when she broke his laptop a second time, he angrily groped her breasts and thus Ami stops the gag after that.
* In Chapter 27, it reveals that Hayato would marry one girl out of the five girls (currently unknown) and will have a daughter resembling his grandmother Sachiko Kasukabe.