Sayo

Sayo had short black hair cut in a blunt bob with a straight fringe. While living at the temple she usually wore a soft pink kimono decorated with small floral designs, and like the other children she went without shoes.

Details about Sayo are scarce, though she behaved much like a small child of her age. She showed notable warmth and selflessness, offering Gyomei her own fish at dinner after noticing he was not eating and fretting over how thin he looked, as seen in Episode 62.

Years later, with greater maturity, she came to understand that her broken account of the temple killings had caused Gyomei's arrest, and the realization filled her with lasting regret.

Orphaned young, Sayo was taken in by Gyomei and raised alongside eight other children, a found family bound by shared hardship as introduced in Chapter 135. One night Kaigaku, one of the children, slipped outside, encountered a demon, and to save himself snuffed out the protective wisteria incense and let the creature in. Four children were killed at once, and the rest died fleeing despite Gyomei's warnings.

Four-year-old Sayo was the only one left, hiding in a corner as Gyomei fought the demon until dawn. When help arrived, she cried out that a monster had killed everyone, meaning the demon, but with its remains burned away by sunlight the villagers blamed Gyomei. Too traumatized to explain clearly, she could not lift the suspicion, and Gyomei was imprisoned until Kagaya Ubuyashiki intervened to free him. Sayo never saw her caretaker again before he fell in the final battle, leaving her wish to apologize forever unfulfilled.