Saya Endō

* Anime
* Manga

**Saya Endō** (遠藤 サヤ *Endō Saya*)is the one who looks out for and works as a barista in Cafe Endō (Saya's own family cafe) and a love interest to Kokonotsu Shikada.

## Appearance

Saya's official art of Season 1Saya's designs for Season 2Saya is a very cute girl with back-length golden hair that has bangs swept to the left with two grey hairpins on the left side, brown eyes that has small pupils and a particularly flat chest compared to Hotaru Shidare's large chest.

Saya's right ear is accessorized with two helix-stud piercings and a standard lobe piercing and her left ear has two helix ring-earrings and double lobe piercings.

## Personality

Saya is genuinely a kind person who is always willing to help out, but she is sometimes shy when put on the spot by Hotaru Shidare. Saya is a bit more like a typical girl when she does talks and socializes with her friends that she tends to blend in with the background and observe her friends and always think about the situations Hotaru drags her and Kokonotsu Shikada into.

As some people might know when Tō Endō (Saya's older brother) does something to her she shows a whole different side to her which is intimidating, (i.e. when Tō flipped up her skirt she punched him so hard, it threw him back several feet)

## Background

Saya was very close to Kokonotsu Shikada as a child, like best friends, and with Tō Endō (Saya's older brother) to the point where she can show a completely different side of her.

## Plot

### Childhood

Saya spent most of her time with Kokonotsu Shikada as children, when they used to play indoor games like doctor and was noticeably more assertive with Kokonotsu with her feelings but now is less active when approaching him. She also noticed that Kokonotsu back then was into dagashi more than anything else until the arrival of Hotaru Shidare.

#### Playing Doctor

The reason why she was close to Kokonotsu is when one day at Shikada Dagashi, Saya wanted to play with Kokonotsu Shikada and saw that he has a pack of Yogurette with him. He then talks about the dagashi and she commended his knowledge of it until he wanted to use it to play doctor with her. Saya was stunned and even though they don't want to play, she still insisted on doing so .

Saya played as the doctor while he is the patient wanting to check his temperature from her. When she checked his temperature, Kokonotsu noticed her hand was heating up instead of his forehead and she was falling down from the chair because of her nervousness. Kokonotsu then grabs her and both of their faces get closer towards each other and she thanked him .

### Bicycle Accident

Saya met Hotaru Shidare in an accident but she was already questioning about her personality with Hotaru asking her if she's alright. At Saya's home, she let Hotaru have a shower while she is finding clothes for Hotaru until Tō Endō saw Hotaru naked and she asked her if Tō did anything wrong to her. Saya then gave Hotaru a free cup of coffee and asked her why she came to town; although Hotaru gave a vague response, Saya thought that Hotaru was not a bad person at all.

At one point, she and Kokonotsu Shikada listened to Hotaru's lecture about Fue Ramune but did not get her message in the end.

## Relationships

### **Kokonotsu Shikada**

Saya has had a crush on Kokonotsu since they were little, but he hasn’t noticed due to Kokonotsu's density. Nevertheless, the two have been particularly close since childhood and enjoy a very stable relationship. Kokonotsu has always treated Saya with kindness, which is reciprocated by Saya, even if the latter might sometimes become bashfully elated by his kindess. While Saya was more assertive with trying get her feelings for Kokonotsu across during their childhood, she is not as active in the present. However, Saya still has a tendency of becoming jealous and sometimes angry whenever it appears that Kokonotsu may be showing an interest in another girl, which was demonstrated by her depressed and angry filling of his coffee when To suggested the new girl in town (Hotaru Shidare) had caught Kokonotsu’s interest. But for the most part, Saya is very cordial and patient with Kokonotsu, even if Kokonotsu remains oblivious of her feelings for him.

Additionally, Saya is always looking out for Kokonotsu’s well being, and will not hesitate to lend him a hand if he asks for it, or she believes it to be necessary. For example, after Hotaru had suddenly disappeared for an extended period of time, Saya noticed Kokonotsu’s sullen change in mood and readily assisted him (with To’s help) in cleaning up his candy store that had recently become run down. Another example is Saya initially suspecting Hajime of taking advantage of Kokonotsu after the latter’s father had been hospitalize from injuring himself. She then attempted to uncover Hajime’s true motives to ensure Kokonotsu’s safety. This may have been partially borne out of jealously because it initially appeared to Saya that Kokonotsu was interacting with a random woman, and Saya even express anger when she discovered that Kokonotsu had hired a female employee when he could've asked her for help. Nevertheless, this still demonstrates Saya’s love for Kokonotsu and her willingness to protect him.

Interestingly, whenever Saya’s feelings of Kokonotsu are brought up, she has a tendency of blushing and denying it, but usually in a rather bashful manner that barely hides her elation at the suggestion. Examples include when Hajime inquired whether Saya was Kokonostu’s girlfriend, and Saya somewhat denied this suggestion while gleefully asking Hajime if it seems like they’re in a relationship, which resulted in Saya being flattered into purchasing candy from the new part-timer, despite having stated a few seconds earlier that she didn’t come over to purchase candy. Additionally, whenever Kokonotsu compliments Saya for her kindess or her appearance, Saya is embarassed but never attempts to mask her happiness with impulsive rudeness. Instead, she composes herself the best she can and thanks Kokonotsu for his kind words or turns around to hide her obvious glee. In one instance, when Kokonostu accidently pressed his elbow against Saya’s chest while they hid under a box, the latter actually appeared to be happy (and embarassed) but did not attempt push him away and even told him it was alright when Kokonostu apologized.

While Kokonotsu has been described as being dense when it comes to Saya’s feelings for him, there have been instances that have suggested he may feel the same way. A prime example would be the time they spent together at the festival where Kokonotsu happily spent most of his free time with Saya exploring the festival, playing all the games, and even spending all his money (unsuccessfully) attempting to win a goldfish for her.

### **Hotaru Shidare**

Saya, at first, is unsure of Hotaru, but warms up to her when she learns that Hotaru wants Kokonotsu to inherit Shikada Dagashi. Saya realizes that this means that if Hotaru succeeds, then Kokonotsu won't possibly leave.

### **Tō Endō**

Saya often has to keep Tō in check because of his antics and if he talks about Saya's crush on Kokonotsu.

## Etymology

Her full name is a pun on "Saya-endō" (podded pea, 莢豌豆).

* The name **Saya** is written in katakana (サヤ), which has no special meaning.
* Saya's surname **Endō** means "distant, far" (遠) (**en**) and "wisteria" (藤) (**tō**/**dō**).

## Trivia

* Out of all characters, Saya is the most "normal" among them as her pupils are small that is similar to other characters.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 42 Manga: Volume 3
2. ↑ Chapter 8 Manga: Volume 1
3. ↑ Chapter 11 Manga: Volume 1