Saki

**Saki** (早輝) is a regular at the Lounge. Her parents own a bar and she lives with Haruko Daichi, who she met through an LGBT+ community on Twitter. Although queer marriages are still not recognized legally in Japan, Saki and Haruko are married.

## Appearance

Saki has dark hair, styled in a bob and brown eyes. She dresses in a cute and comfortable clothing.

## Personality

Opposite to her wife, Saki is usually more reserved and polite. She sometimes has issues with confronting her problems, and does not openly talk about her sexuality to people she does not know or trust.

## Plot

### *Volume 1*

**Chapter 3**

Saki brings her wife, Haruko, some refreshments to help her stay hydrated as he works in the demolition of yet another project for Cat Clowder, alongside Utsumi, and Tasuku Kaname, who recently joined them at the lounge. As Haruko is advising Saki to not be so nice to people she does not know well, especially old men, Haruko gently tucks a strand of Saki's hair behind her ear, as Tasuku watches them, intrigued. After Saki leaves, Tasuku asks Haruko if Saki is her little sister, Haruko bluntly replies that Saki is her wife. This shocks Tasuku, who later reveals to Haruko that he thinks she is very lucky to have Saki. Their affection towards each other makes Tasuku realize his feelings for his classmate, Touma Tsubaki.

**Chapter 4**

At their house, Haruko starts talking with Saki about her conversation with Tasuku the day before, but is interrupted when Saki gets upset with her for telling "some kid she just met" about their relationship, in the spur of the moment.

Later, when she walks in on Tasuku and Haruko talking, there is another tense moment between them when Haruko says being open about her sexuality is just her "being nice to [herself]". Saki interprets this as Haruko criticizing her for not being comfortable enough being out as a lesbian.

**Chapter 5**

Saki tells Haruko that she is content with the way things are, and that she does not consider herself as strong as Haruko. She turns to Tasuku and asks him if he understands where she is coming from, implying they are in the same situation since he is "gay, too." This makes Tasuku anxious, since he very recently was struggling with his identity, so he decides to stand up and leave the Drop-in center.

The next day, at the observatory, Saki offers Tasuku hassaku soft serve ice cream and tells him that her and Haruko always make up at that spot, while eating that. As they enjoy the ice cream, Saki apologizes to Tasuku for putting him on the spot. And she confesses to Haruko that she wants to come out to her parents as a lesbian, and to tell them that Haruko is her significant other, but that she is scared to do it because her parents are very "old-fashioned." So Saki asks Haruko to wait for her, until she gathers enough money and courage for her to come out, because she really wants to get married to Haruko. Saki's confession of her feelings makes Haruko blush. And then she jumps to hug her suddenly. As the two of them happily smile at each other and touch their foreheads together, Tasuku is so moved by this, that he clutches his chest, thinking that all he wants is to be as happy as Saki and Haruko are.

### *Volume 2*

**Chapter 7**

Saki brings the okonomiyaki from her family's bar to the drop-in center, for her friends to enjoy. As they all eat, Haruko reflects on the sudden visit of Tsubaki-san to the place, to demand things from them, since he sees Cat Clowder as a business, when it is not. Seeing her lover so conflicted by this, Saki invites her some okonomiyaki, feeding it to her. This does cheer Haruko up, which makes Saki laugh, and she even gets some praise for the meal from Utsumi.

**Chapter 9**

Saki compliments Misora's yukata for the summer festival. And when Misora decides to go outside wearing it, Saki is seen being worried about it at first, but later on waving goodbye to him with a smile, alongside Haruko.

### *Volume 3*

**Chapter 13**

Saki is working on Cat Clowder, right next to Haruko, who is visibly uncomfortable by Utsumi's old classmate, Oyama Shoko, making transphobic remarks. Later on, after hearing Oyama's constant uncomfortable transphobic comments about Utsumi, misgendering him and using his deadname, very fed up by the way her friend is being treated, Haruko punches a hole in one of Cat Clowder's walls. The whole room is shocked, even Oyama's daughter, who gets scared and drops the tiles she was carrying. After Oyama leaves with her daughter, Saki takes a picture of the punch left on the wall by her wife.

**Chapter 14**
While Utsumi goes to the school reunion Oyama invited him to, Oyama's daughter stays at the Lounge to be taken care of for a few hours. As soon as she enters the lounge, Oyama's daughter, Mai, clings to Tasuku and hides behind him, afraid of Haruko due to what happened at Cat Clowder. So Saki apologizes to her, telling her that Haruko can get like that sometimes. Haruko smiles at her and apologizes too. So Saki spends some time playing ping pong with Mai, and complimenting her skill, which makes Mai very happy.

When Utsumi goes to his class' reunion, Haruko is very worried about Utsumi getting hurt. So her wife, Saki, hugs her from behind the couch Haruko is sitting on and reassures her that Utsumi decided to go on his own, so they should just relax while they wait for him.

When she hears Haruko talking with Tasuku about how worried she is about Utsumi getting hurt at the reunion, Saki hugs her from behind the couch Haruko is sitting on and reassures her that Utsumi decided to go on his own, so they should just relax while they wait for him. After some loving teasing by Haruko, Saki gently pulls Tchaiko, Tasuku, Haruko and Mai into a group hug, cheering for Utsumi.

### *Volume 4*

**Chapter 16**

Saki is finishing her shift at her parents' bar, as Haruko waits for her. When she is done and they are ready to go, Saki's dad starts talking to Haruko, and grabbing Saki by the shoulders, he asks Haruko to introduce "smart, upstanding" men to his daughter, Saki, since he says he is worried about her since she never gets to meet anyone while working at the bar. Haruko seems deeply affected by this, but she deflects the request by saying that she can not "just hand over a girl as nice" as Saki to any man. Haruko puts on a fake smile that fades away as soon as she leaves the bar with Saki. Outside, the both of them stand still and Saki stares at Haruko, worried for her as she walks away. And as Haruko thinks about marriage again, Saki grabs her from behind, in a soft, intimate moment.

Later in the day, she goes to help out in Triangle Manor with Haruko, and is also seen intently and attentively listening to Tchaiko's stories of how he and his partner met, and also about how they met Anonymous. In the night, Haruko finds Saki admiring Triangle Manor. And when Haruko asks her if they will get married there as soon as possible, Saki, getting close to her and softly playing with Haruko's hair, tells her that she is been thinking about their future, and realized that she has to make a decision to marry her sooner or later.

**Chapter 17**

As the holiday season is approaching, Saki is helping at the lounge with holiday decorations, alongside Haruko. When Touma says that his father is looking for a bar to host a year-end party for his coworkers, Haruko asks Saki about her family's bar, to see if they are fully booked. This surprises Saki, and as she hides behind the Christmas tree, she seems nervous and unsure to give a definitive answer, considering the fact that Touma's dad has made some homophobic remarks the last time he was at the drop-in center.

**Chapter 18**

Unfortunately, Saki's fear manifests when that man goes by her family's bar and ends up forcibly outing her to her own family. At night, when Haruko comes home, she finds Saki lying on a beanbag, with her face hidden against it, in complete darkness. Haruko turns on the light and starts getting worried thinking she is sick. However, Saki shows Haruko the text messages that her father has been sending her, and tells her that her father found out she is a lesbian before she could tell him, crying uncontrollably. Desperately, she asks Haruko what she should do.

**Chapter 19**

On Christmas' day, both of them decide to go to Saki's parent's bar, to talk directly with them. After hearing Saki's dad's feelings on the matter, and how he did not want to admit his daughter was gay at first, he tells them that whatever they want to do, he will support them. Saki is stunned after hearing this, so Haruko softly grabs her hand from under the table and she firmly tells her parents that she is going to get married to Haruko. Haruko then tells them that she wants to be Saki's partner forever. As Saki's dad shares his feelings about not wanting to be the type of dad that gets in the way of who Saki dates, her mom interrupts him and tells them both how relieved she is that he did not say anything, otherwise she would have reacted badly. Saki is shocked by her reaction, so she asks her mom if she has any questions for her, to which she simply says that she kind of knew about it already. And as she stands up, she thanks the both of them for trusting them enough to tell them about their relationship, sharing a soft, love-filled look with her daughter, Saki.

**Chapter 20**

Later that day, Haruko calls Tasuku after she heard from Utsumi about what happened when Tsubaki-san came in to the lounge and he stood up to him. Tasuku asks about how Saki is, so Haruko informs him that she is more than all right, chewing on some dried squid. As Haruko thanks Tasuku for the wedding ceremony, as it was his decision to use Triangle Manor as the place where the wedding ceremony would be held, Saki approaches Haruko from behind and smiles at her words.

Later that day, she spends Christmas night with Haruko, at their home.

**Chapter 22**

On the morning of the day of the wedding, Saki goes to Triangle Manor with Haruko to get ready for the wedding. And later, when all the guests are already at the place, and everyone is ready, the two of them appear hand-in-hand, with their beautiful dresses, with flowers adorning their hair and with smiles on their faces.

## Etymology

* The name **Saki** means "already, now, fast, early" (早) (**sa**) and "brightness, radiance, shine, sparkle, gleam, twinkle" (輝) (**ki**)