Minor Characters

Minor characters mentioned in Rieko Yoshihara's yaoi novel Ai no Kusabi.

## Aaron

Aaron (アーロン, Āron) was Iason’s pet before he brought Riki to Eos. He was Iason’s pet for 6 months until his disposal at age 13. During Daryl’s tenure as furniture, Aaron was kept around longer than any other pet, apart from Riki. He was an Academy bred pureblood, as was expected of a Blondy pet. Even so, in Iason's chambers, purebred pets were never anything more than consumables.

At 13, Aaron was immature and voiced his displeasure clearly in his high, unbroken voice. When dissatisfied, he took it out on Daryl, whose name he didn’t even know.

Aaron usually attended parties every three days or so, but in the last month as Iason’s pet, even that was neglected by his master and he wasn’t allowed to go out for weeks. Probably feeling ashamed of the fact that he wasn’t seen at mating parties and had no kiss marks to show, he stopped going out to the pet salon altogether and mostly wallowed in his bed.

Subsequently, when Iason decided to take Riki as his pet, Aaron’s disposal was ordered and he was removed from Eos. At that point, he was no longer referred to as Aaron, but by his serial number: AL-313078.

## Airé

Airé (アイレ, Aire) was one of Riki's seven childhood "comrades" from before they were relocated to Guardian. Riki had made it clear that she wasn't a close friend (友達, tomodachi) but a comrade (仲間, nakama). She was 3 years his senior. Airé was considered very beautiful and had the nickname "Angel". She had curly, platinum blonde hair, cherry-pink lips and large, emerald eyes.

She was the one who imparted the wisdom that Riki took to heart for the rest of his life:

> You've only got two hands to hold onto the most important things, so no matter how much you may loath it, the third one's got to go.
>
>

## Barth

Barth (バース, Bāsu) is a slum mongrel in Ceres.

## Berne

Berne (ベルネ, Berune) was the man who sold Guy the explosives used at Dana-Burn.

## Buczka

Buczka (ブチカ, Buchika) was an old information dealer in the slums. In his heyday he was known as “The Alda Garé” or Living Compendium, of Ceres, but that title and his knowledge were by now mostly forgotten.

Buczka was old, disabled and suffered chronic pain in his right leg. Although his health was fragile and his body disabled, his mind was still sharp, and his memory probably better than the minds of the booze and drug-addled youngsters. Because of that, the gap between the ever-sharp mind and the deteriorating body was all the more painful.

Because of his age and bad leg, he mostly stayed in his rocking chair, which he equipped with the speaker module for voice communication, as well as remote door controls, so he wouldn’t need to get up and open the door himself.

He was accustomed to loneliness, and no one seemed to pay him any respect anymore, most of the time not even calling him by his name, but simply “old man”, so when Guy came to him for information, his politeness and good manners peaked Buczka’s interest. He procured the architectural blueprints of Dana-Burn for him in exchange for a bottle of liquor.

## Cat

Cat (キャット, Kyatto) was a Black Market surgeon who operated on Riki at Guy's behest.

## Cyrus

Cyrus (サイラス, Sairasu) was a slum mongrel that occasionally went joyriding into Midas with his partner. The two were known as the redhead and brunet duo. During one of these rides, they reportedly saw Riki in Apatia. Eventually the rumor reached Norris who brought it to the rest of Bison.

## Eliphas

Eliphas (エリファス, Erifasu) was an Onyx who had a Vardia pet that he spent a lot of money on, in a seeming attempt to show off his material wealth.

His pet was around 10 years old when he came to Eos, and had pale blue eyes and blond hair.

## Elisha

Elisha (エリシァ, Erisha) was Raoul’s pet, which he acquired after Mimea.

## Ghil

Ghil (ギル, Giru) was one of Riki's seven childhood "comrades" from before they were relocated to Guardian. He had unblemished white hair and scarlet eyes. Unfortunately, due to the stress resulting from the drastic environment change, Ghil eventually passed away while in Guardian. He was the last of the boys to pass and although he tried his best to hang on, he died in his sleep.

## Hal

Hal (ハル, Haru) was a databroker in Ceres that Guy sought information on Dana-Burn from. Guy chose not to hire Robby for this job because of his vested interest in Riki, and so he turned to Hal instead. However, Hal couldn’t help either, so he referred him to Buczka.

Hal was a dark haired youth with square-rimmed glasses. He looked like he was soft, but there was no end to the stories of him taking down drunks with one arm, or rapists with one kick. He compensated for the size difference with his self-defense skills. He smoked and carried his terminal with him for work. Hal seemed friendly and casual in his dealings with Guy, the complete opposite of Robby.

## Heath

Heath (ヒース, Hīsu) was one of Riki's seven childhood "comrades" from before they were relocated to Guardian. Hehad straight, honey blonde hair and brown eyes and was around 3 years older than Riki. Unfortunately, due to the stress resulting from the drastic environment change, Heath eventually passed away while in Guardian. He was the first one of the boys to pass.

## Jena

Jena (ジェナ, Jena) is a pet chosen by Raoul as the breeding partner for his pet Mimea. While he has good genes, Mimea describes him as perverted and is very perturbed by her Master’s decision.

## Jigg

Jigg (ジグ, Jigu) is a slum mongrel in Ceres.

## Lean

Lean (リーン, Rīn) was one of Riki's seven childhood "comrades" from before they were relocated to Guardian. She had dark blue hair and ice blue eyes.

## Luther

Luther (ルーサ, Rūsa) was a pet in Eos that regularly taunted Riki about his slum background out of jealousy.

## Narith

Narith (ナリス. Narisu) was one of Riki's seven childhood "comrades" from before they were relocated to Guardian. She had purplish-blue hair and pale purple eyes.

## Oskar

Oskar (オスカー, Osukā) was the furniture belonging to an unnamed Platina. While he was walking a new female pet, the pair stumbled on a grotesque scene involving Riki and the furniture Simon. He gave Riki the pet’s hair ribbon to stop the bleeding in his arm. Upon Riki’s request, he didn’t immediately call security as is the protocol, but instead called the floor leader in charge of all furniture, Tomass. Stuck between the orders of a pet, and the chastising of his senior for not immediately calling the security, Oskar ended up making the call and then focusing on comforting his terrified pet.

He also testified that when he found the injured Riki and the unconscious Simon, the furniture had clear finger-shaped choke marks on the neck. But after Tomass testified to the opposite, the issue was dismissed Oskar’s confusion in the face of such trauma.

## Raven

Raven (レビィン, Rebyin) was one of Riki's seven childhood "comrades" from before they were relocated to Guardian. He had silver hair and silvery ash-gray eyes. Unfortunately, due to the stress resulting from the drastic environment change, Ghil eventually passed away while in Guardian. He was the second one of the boys to pass.

## Ray

Ray (レイ, Rei) was Raoul’s furniture at the time of the Mimea incident. He was 18 years old at the time. He was described as more slender than Daryl, but most strong-willed of all Blondy furniture.

## Schell

Schell (シェール, シェール) was on the same block as Riki, but a year younger. He was autistic and had a weak constitution and several physical ailments, which made him look much younger than his actual age. Schell could see and hear things that the other kids couldn't, and the Guardian staff explained it by calling them hallucinations brought on by his illness(es).

Robby was very attached to him, but he passed away shortly after Riki left Guardian.

## Sheila

Sheila (シーラ, Shīra) was one of Riki's seven childhood "comrades" from before they were relocated to Guardian. She had fiery red hair and amber eyes.

## Sohya

Sohya (ソーヤ, Sōya) was Gilbert Domina’s pet during Riki’s second stint in Eos. He was an Academy purebred pet and was always the top rank at the sex soirees, at least according to himself. At the time, he was 15 years old, with honey blond hair and pale green eyes which made him stand out from the crowd.

While working at the Black Market, Riki came by a crio container headed to Raoul’s Keeler lab with pets slotted for disposal, and one of the pets was Sohya, whom he recognised. Riki was shocked to find out that even Academy purebreds could end up like this.

## Tom

Tom (タム, Tamu) from Creutz is a slum mongrel who is rumored to want to take Kirie up on his offer to hook him up with an elite. The rumor has it that he got so invested in it, that he skulked around every day, trying to find Kirie.

## Zach

Zach (ザック, Zakku) worked as a fence in Ceres and resold the cash cards that mongrels stole in Midas. He was an off-worlder who settled in Midas for unknown reasons. No one knew exactly why or when he opened up his fencing business in Ceres. But although he was a sinker, he seemed to have done quite well for himself and didn't fall into despair which was common for others in his situation.

Zach was tall and muscular, with brown skin and closely cropped white hair which made his sharp ears stand out. He wasn’t a resident of the slums, but he fit in so perfectly among the slum mongrels that, despite his obviously foreign looks, everyone forgot his origins.

He stood out for treating slum mongrels just like any other customer, never looking down on them or refusing to work with them. A businessman through and through, his unusual nature was his calling card and everyone in the slums knew who he was.

Zach didn’t seem beholden to what passed for "common sense" in the world and had no qualms working with slum mongrels. That wasn’t to say that he was unprofessional, quite the contrary. He was competent enough to be one of Katze’s underlings.

He fenced the stolen goods to the Black Market via Katze, and was also sent by him to recruit Riki into their ranks, a job that was highly sensitive and important at the time.

Him and Riki weren’t close, but they had mutual respect for each other. Even so, when Riki considered letting him fence the Aurora coin he got from Iason, he hesitated because he didn't want its origins being pried into by Zach's discerning eyes.

In the English translation of the novel, his name is incorrectly translated as Zach Rayburn, but if he has a surname, it is not indicated.

Appearance: Paperback Volume 2, Chapter 3.

## Mistranslations

Sometimes, words that aren't names were translated as names.

### Yori

Volume 1 talks about a supposed lover Guy used to have - Yori, but Yori here is a verb - ヨリを戻す (yori wo modoru) and means to get back with an old partner. So Guy didn't have anyone in the meantime, they were just speculating about whether Guy and Riki broke up or got back together. The correct translations are:

* "Since Riki's return, I haven't heard any talk of them getting back together."
* "Whether they'd broken up for certain or whether they got back together, it was all beside the point."

### Guillory

Similarly, Guillory is not a name, but an adverb, ギロリ (girori) which means glaring/staring. thus "Luke scowled at Guillory and Sid. "I'm being serious."" should be

* Sid scowled and glared at Luke, who said. "I'm being serious."