Mio Chibana

**Mio Chibana** *(知花 実央 Chibana Mio)* is the deuteragonist in Stranger by the Beach and its sequel Stranger in the Spring Breeze.

## Appearance

Mio is a male with a slim build and fair skin. He has shoulder-length black hair which he occasionally ties back into a ponytail. In the sequel, he has short hair at the beginning but grows it out for five years once he hears Shun likes his hair long. At its longest, his hair reaches his middle and he often wears his hair in a braid or tied up. When Shun asks Mio if his hair doesn't bother him, he admits it does and Shun cuts it for him until it almost reaches his shoulders. He has bangs that frame his face and reach his slate-grey eyes. His looks are noted as pretty by multiple people including Shun and Eri. Two white and red friendship bracelets are nearly always worn on his right wrist, one of them belonging to his late mother. He frequently borrows clothes from Shun, which results in them wearing the same jacket and pants. Mio seems to have a soft spot for patterned clothes with animals such as pandas and cats.

## Personality

Although Mio initially comes off as aloof and cold due to the death of his mother, time goes on and he eventually becomes more comfortable with himself. He is actually quite cheery and selfless. Mio dislikes being pitied by others, feeling as if they will never understand the extent of his emotions. However, causing unhappiness for others makes him anxious. He has a habit of apologizing for events outside of his control and tears up when feeling frustrated or cross. He loves food, especially curry, ever since he was young, and orders dishes in bulk every time he and Shun have an opportunity to eat out. He is bi/pansexual or unlabelled, saying he likes women and men, and sees no issue with that.

## Story

### The Stranger by the Beach

Umibe no Étranger begins with Mio leaving his foster parents' home to sit by the ocean. After Shun speaks with him, they have dinner together alongside Shun's grandmother, Eri, and Suzu.

Mio shares that he is leaving for an orphanage on the mainland in the morning but says he will keep in contact with Shun.

Three years later, Mio returns to the island. He and Eri have arranged for him to move into Shun's grandmother's house, and instantly he becomes happy when he sees Shun again. Feeling like an adult now where he can do what he wants, Mio is set on being with Shun and is confused regarding Shun's distantness.

With Sakurako having arrived on the island, Mio learns that she was the woman Shun was supposed to marry. He shows her around the island when she would like to talk. Later Mio shares the reason he's often seen staring out to sea. His father's boat capsized close to shore before he was born, and his mother would always bring him to the beach at night before passing away herself.

As Sakurako is departing the island, she requests a goodbye kiss from Shun. Mio gives it instead and is upset at Shun since Mio felt if he had not done so, Shun would have done it. Wanting to know why he accepted her right away, Mio says he is done with everything. He sulks in bed at home and is not hungry then shouts further that he will eat it later.

Despite the situation, Mio wants them to sleep together, so they do. After Shun decides he will also visit his family, Mio is by the bench facing the sea. Wondering what he thought when he decided to leave the island for three years, he is glad Shun found him then. Having a phone now Mio says he will call Shun and asks whether he is OK with that. Mio is asked by Shun to come with him to Hokkaido. Agreeing to do so since he wants to be with Shun, Mio spontaneously says for them to swim in the ocean because he is happy.

### Stranger in the Spring Breeze

At first excited to be on his first flight, Mio is quickly overcome by panic. He and Shun disembark to continue the rest of the journey by boat. Although he is happy to see a radio tower as Shun has to go to the bathroom whilst Mio focuses on the sights, his nervousness amongst crowds is agitated. As he is comforted, he overhears people commenting that he and Shun are holding hands, so he stops.

Both of them move to Shun's parents house. Mio loves spending time with Shun's adoptive 7 year old brother, Fumi. Because of Shun wanting more privacy for them, they move to a house Shun's parents owned. Mio celebrated his birthday with Shun's family. On Christmas when Shun was giving Mio a Christmas present. Fumi came to tell them about the gift Santa gave him ( Mio actually gave him the gift ) and saw what both of them were doing and was traumatized. Mio was frustrated and tried to convince Fumi that it was not what is looks like. But failed miserably. Shun bought Mio a guitar and he would play it a lot.

After a 5 year time skip, Mio has grown his hair long and keeps it braided. Mio seems to be doing all of the house work despite Shun's mother being present. Because of Shun being famous and Mio being busy both of them find it really hard to spend quality time. Mio now has to constantly put up with Fumi who is going through his rebellious phase.

## Relationships

### Shun

After Shun speaks with him, Mio made an effort to interact further. After kissing him goodbye, three years later, Mio returns and feels he is ready to be with Shun, as well as kiss and sleep with him. Living with him, Mio would encourage Shun with his writing but wondered whether Shun even liked him anymore as he barely contacted him in the three years Mio was gone. Mio and Shun are currently in both a sexual and romantic relationship.

### Eri

Whilst they got along well, Mio heard from Eri that he was messing with Shun's feelings by calling him.

### Sakurako

Learning that she was Shun's betrothed, Mio feels they are the same in that Shun is important to both of them.

## Trivia

* Mio adores meals with curry due to having fond memories of eating it with his mother, similarly with crab.
* He sometimes wears hats because the stares of strangers make him uncomfortable.
* Mio isn't particularly tech-oriented and doesn't own a phone with a touchscreen until Harukaze no Étranger.
* He often steals Shun's clothes. Since they came from a tropical area, he did not have many winter clothes, so Shun took him shopping after arriving at his parent's house.
* In the English dub, Mio was voiced by Justin Briner (known for voicing Izuku Midoriya in My Hero Academia)