Mayuko Shiraki

A small beauty mark rests beneath her left eye, and her sharp, light brown gaze matches the long, straight hair of the same shade that falls in loose bangs across her brow. Tall and slender with fair skin, she reshapes the hair to suit the setting: a ponytail while teaching, loose or gathered into a partial bun at home. Late in the story she trims it to nape length. Buttoned shirts are her staple, though she leans casual in tops and jeans, saving dresses for special occasions.

Blunt, funny, and occasionally combative, Mayu keeps a strict, no-nonsense front with her class while still finding room to enjoy their company; she once cracked a book against Kyo Sohma to keep him from bolting and doused him and Haru mid-brawl with a bucket of water. Beneath the tough shell she is fiercely devoted, social, and quick to say what she thinks, standing up for her students when their parents treat them poorly. Her independence traces back to a hollow romance with Shigure that only deepened her loneliness, teaching her to choose her own happiness rather than surrender to isolation. Kana notes how readily Mayu smothers her own wants for others, which is exactly why she spent years denying her feelings for Hatori so the two could stay together.

Mayu and Kana Sohma have been inseparable since their college years, and it was Kana who introduced her to Hatori, whom Mayu loved at first sight. Certain the pair were a couple, she pushed her feelings down and simply wished them lasting happiness, growing into a casual friend who saw Hatori often at her family's shop and drank with him, Shigure, and Ayame. Shigure, sensing her heart, suggested he and Mayu date to ease their shared loneliness, but she ended it after two months, only lonelier for the emptiness of it. A tragedy then shattered Kana and Hatori; Kana sank into depression and had her memories of the relationship suppressed, and a grief-stricken Mayu withdrew from Hatori for two years rather than betray either friend. Years on, with Kana married and Shigure quietly engineering a reunion at the bookstore, Mayu finally faces Hatori again. When he insists happiness is not meant for him, she breaks down weeping on his behalf, and her tears move him to seek her out. They gradually become a couple, openly affectionate and planning trips together, and in Fruits Basket Another she has married Hatori and is raising their daughter, Kinu.