Sawa Mitoma

Small and slight, Sawa is a petite teenager of modest height with maroon eyes. Her straight, chocolate-brown hair reaches the shoulders and shifts between styles across the story, worn loose, in two soft pigtails, or in a low ponytail; as she loosens her mother's grip on her life, she increasingly leaves it down. Bangs cover most of her forehead and a small cowlick pops up at the crown. She appears most often in the navy sailor-style school uniform, though blouses and shorts suit her too.

Sawa is deeply fragile, second-guessing her every move and wishing above all to go unnoticed. Convinced she is worthless and a nuisance, she loathes asking for help, apologizes constantly, and stammers when she speaks, always bracing for the worst outcome and even blaming herself for her mother's cruelty. Warmth from the Sohmas and a couple of classmates begins to change that, teaching her to apologize less and give thanks more, to smile, and to enjoy a life she once felt unworthy of. Beneath the awkwardness she is remarkably kind, polite, and unable to stand by while someone suffers; Shiki notes how much she resembles Tohru Honda. Over time she grows more open and honest, and having received so much support, she comes to want to cherish the people who cherish her and give back as much as she takes.

Sawa's parents split when she is small, leaving her mother to raise her while lavishing attention instead on work and a string of lovers. One day her mother promises a rare outing together, then abandons her near a staircase to meet a boyfriend; after roughly six hours of waiting and crying, Sawa slips down the steps, breaking an arm and a leg. A young Shiki Sohma finds her unconscious in the snow and gently reassures her before fetching help. Her mother seizes on the accident to sue the Sohmas for money, falsely claiming Shiki pushed her, but with no witnesses and Sawa unable to recall the fall, the matter is quietly settled; Shiki never forgets her. Years earlier at grade school, Sawa's friends abruptly cast her aside as a burden, an event that scars her, though she never learns that her own mother drove them off with cruel words. From then on she avoids people, and the ongoing neglect and abuse deepen her wounds. Her fortunes turn when Mutsuki Sohma helps her onto the student council and the family's kindness draws her out of her shell, a summer at the beach house and an aquarium visit with Shiki blossoming into romance.