Naohito Sakuragi

Naohito is of average build but conspicuously short, a fact he is deeply self-conscious about. He is never seen smiling, wearing a near-constant frown that makes him look perpetually irritated. His straight, light-brown hair falls to his nape with loose bangs, above eyes of the same brown.

Blunt and quick to anger, Naohito has almost no tolerance for nonsense and is regularly driven to exasperation by the goofing off of fellow secretary Kimi Toudou and vice-president Kakeru Manabe. Beneath the brisk, prickly exterior he embarrasses easily and carries a distinctly tsundere streak, prone to fleeing situations that overwhelm him. His feelings for Motoko reveal the kinder side of him, one that places the happiness of those he cares about above his own.

The story tells little of Naohito beyond his quiet devotion to Motoko Minagawa, whom he has long admired from a distance. In contrast to his hot temper, he turns genuine and bashful around her. After she confesses to Yuki and is turned down, Naohito gently tells her that he hopes she keeps smiling, reasoning that fresh encounters always follow goodbyes. He comes from a middle-class household and has two older sisters, and he bristles whenever Kakeru and Kimi tease him with nicknames poking at his short stature.