other characters: family members

Name: 中本梗子 Nakamoto Kyouko: Nakamoto's stepmother. Dark haired in the original manga, and blond in the PLUS manga, she is a lot younger than her husband, though her actual age is not given. It's not clear what kind of feeling she has for him, though she is keen to form bonds with Nakamoto. In the PLUS manga, it's indicated she might have feelings for her stepson, as she kisses him. She has a past acquaintance with Takagi which may or may not have transgressed into the realms of more than friendship...in the Drama CD, Takagi describes her as having been his "patron" - and in the original manga, he says they're just "old friends." Considering Takagi's prior job, the "patron" thing is a bit more dodgy...(lol). Either way, it is definitely possible that Kyouko and Takagi may have slept together in the past. ^_^.


Name: 中本正和 Nakamoto Masakazu : Nakamoto's father. He's a pretty important bod, being a world renowned expert and professor (教授 kyouju) in the field of heart surgery. His hospital, (中本総合病院 Nakamoto Sougou Byouin or, roughly translated, Nakamoto General Hospital) is highly successful and something around which his world tends to rotate. He isn't a wholly unpleasant man, but he is an unyielding one who only sees things from his own point of view and who gets angry at his son if his grades slip even by a small amount. He has a tendency to be cold, but the fact that he is a Nakamoto kind of decided that for him since his mother is just as bad. His preoccupations are with the family's name and position as well as his own role and his legacy. He has a fixed idea that Shou will follow in his footsteps and take on responsibility at the Hospital in a position of similar calibre, and is not open to discussion on the matter - even going to far as to try and arrange a potential "suitable" marriage match for his son. Nakamoto is therefore very important to him, but not perhaps in the way a son should be. There is some suggestion that Masakazu has a mistress but I need to read more to know the details for sure.
Masakazu dislikes Arai because he's sure Arai has caused Nakamoto's grades to fail. He is often away, and by putting too much pressure on his son, he has driven a wedge between them.

Name: 中本雅 Nakamoto Miyabi - Nakamoto's elder sister. He and she share a "surechigau" relationship, basically having very little to do with one another or each other's lives. This largely stems from the fact that - as a daughter - Miyabi has always been pretty much overlooked where her father's ambitions are concerned and the thrust of his designs have always fallen on Shou. Consequently, since she's been left to her own devices, Miyabi pretty much does as she pleases - although within the confines of keeping the family name shiny and clean. It seems possible that she may resent her brother for getting all the family attention. Miyabi is definitely family-image conscious, and therefore the reputation of her family's name is something which matters to her (presumably because she's living the high life because of it). Miyabi appears briefly in the manga (but not by name) and is named in the novels where she contacts her brother by phone (a rare event in itself, since the two siblings do not have enough of a family bond to usually bother with conversation of any kind). It's not that Miyabi hates Shou or vice versa - they just literally seem to have nothing to do with one another's lives.

Name: 「祖母」 (Nakamoto's Grandmother): I haven't found a name for her yet, but she is Masakazu's mother and somewhat involved in the whole family life, as she lives with them in the main Nakamoto-ke home. She gets involved in Shou's education at times - usually when his father isn't around to intervene, and Masakazu does not always tell her everything that goes on between him and his son, indicating the pressure he is under from his mother as much as his own controlling nature. Nakamoto calls her "Obaasama", Kyouko calls her Oo-okusan and she is often referred to in the text as "Sobo" (Grandmother). She is quite severe and strict and seems to want to shield Nakamoto from bad things whilst enforcing her son's pressure on him. She is a pretty dour individual, and it's no wonder Masakazu turned out the way he did ^_^.

Name: 光瀬純一郎 Mitsuse Junichirou: Takagi's blood father. The chief exec of an important hotel group with worldwide connections and influence, he takes a particular interest in Takagi's life, though Takagi is never quite sure why. Takagi does discover that Mitsuse is his father in the novels, but it is never clear in the manga or the drama CDs that he has found this out. Mitsuse has hopes and plans for his son when he reaches his majority (including wanting him to go to Tokyo's prestigious university), but hasn't counted on the fact Takagi may discover the truth from another source...

Name: Charlot Foster:
Takagi's mother. Although dead by the start of the storyline, she occasionally appears in flashback in the original manga, and is still very dear to Takagi's heart even despite her passing. English born, the only time we see her name is on half a gravestone that shows (-Lot -Ster) as the ending of her two names, although in the back of the fourth PLUS novel her name is revealed in full. Since Takagi was born in London and speaks fluent English it seems likely Charlot went to Japan in search of Takagi's father (possibly because of her own ill health but that's speculation on my part). She and Takagi's father were never married - a fact which caused Takagi grief at his first High School - and she never told Takagi his father's identity before her death.

Name: 新井ヨシキ (ヨシキアライ) Arai Yoshiki (Yoshiki Arai):
Arai's father. A famous fashion designer, he and his son don't generally see eye to eye. Yoshiki scouted Takagi to model for him, initially causing further friction between him and his son. When Tougo was small, Yoshiki often broke promises to him and always put his work first. This is the root of the division between him and his son - which Tougo still resents and is determined to keep as far from his father's world as is possible. That aside, however, Yoshiki is fond of his son and seems to regret the break down of their relationship. He's basically a father who loves his son but has no idea how to parent him...although he's capable of giving advice to all his friends, and even mentoring Takagi to some degree. (I admit, I sort of like Yoshiki.)
Yoshiki's name is *always* written in Katakana and in western order in the manga and novels, because of his profession. For this reason it's impossible to know whether or not he has name kanji or just Katakana...

Name: 新井綾乃 Arai Ayano: Arai's mother. What kind of woman she is is a bit hard to describe. Sometimes she seems to be bothered about her son and her husband's relationship - showing him the pendant and indicating Yoshiki does love Tougo more than he loves anyone else. At other times she's away working in some capacity and at others she seems...er...sort of languid and stoned, to be quite honest :S In the manga she is shown with dark hair.

Name: 加藤勇一 Katou Yuuichi: At last I found his name! The chief chef at the hotel the Katou family run in Kanazawa, Katou's father wants Yuusuke to take after him and follow in his footsteps. Which Yuusuke decidedly does not want. Just to be cute, the first kanji of Yuuichi's name is the same as the first kanji of Yuusuke's - meaning "courage".

Name: 加藤弥生 Katou Yayoi: Apparently that is a proper name. What's with the Y-ness of this family...?? Yayoi is the Okami (hostess) at the hotel the Katou family run. A subservient, gentle woman who generally lets her husband have his way - until she realises that doing so may be harming her children's happiness.

Name: 加藤真澄 Katou Masumi: Yuusuke's elder sister. Engaged to marry one of her father's subordinates at the hotel in Kanazawa, although her father is the last to know about it.

Name: 加藤愛 Katou Ai: Yuusuke's younger sister. She's quite exciteable and seems to like cats (and Nakamoto, possibly).

Name: 滝沢舞 Takizawa Mai: A famous actress who also happens to be Mikimaro's birth mother, although this has been a well hushed up secret that even Mikimaro doesn't know until his third year at school. Mikimaro has a locket with her picture in that Mai apparently left for him and it is his most precious possession. Mai is a troubled individual who has a lot of regrets - at one point these even lead her to try and commit suicide.

Name: 沢田菜摘 Sawada Natsumi: Mikimaro's horrible elder "cousin" who likes to tease him and tell him that he's not a blood part of the Shimura family tree.