Shiki Sohma

Shiki is a young boy of average build and fairly tall stature who looks almost exactly like his mother, down to the shape of his face and eyes. His straight black hair reaches the nape, with long bangs framing his features and hiding much of his forehead, above a pair of drowsy black eyes. Sawa Mitoma remarks on how pale and beautiful he is.

Reserved, shy, and physically delicate, Shiki can seem a little out of step with ordinary daily life. He usually holds a calm, neutral expression and conceals his reactions well, once dropping a bucket of Go stones while keeping an utterly straight face, though he smiles now and then and blushes around Sawa. Honest and forthright about what is on his mind, he can still turn awkward when trying to voice his own feelings. He is quick to read people and situations, catching Mutsuki's slyness even if he judges it milder than his father's, yet he guards himself closely and rarely opens up. For all that, his politeness and steady concern for others' happiness make him well loved by those close to him.

As the sole child of Akito and Shigure, Shiki grows up cherished, his mother learning hand games for his sake while his parents read bedtime stories and take him to new places. As a boy he once spots a young Sawa standing alone and weeping for hours; returning to check on her, he finds her unconscious in the snow at the foot of a staircase, and he gently reassures her before his father summons help. Sawa's mother twists the accident into a lawsuit claiming he pushed her, but with no witnesses the case is quietly resolved, and Shiki carries the memory of her ever after. His childhood darkens when Ren's relatives flood him with threatening notes degrading him and Akito; the abuse escalates until Ren, enraged by his resemblance to her daughter, tries to stab him, only for Akito to shield him and take the wound. Afterward Akito confides her past sins to him, and Shiki, surrounded by hostile relatives, begins living as if apologizing for his own existence and withdraws from family gatherings. Meeting Sawa again turns that around; through visits, a summer at the cottage, and heartfelt talks in which they trade apologies over their shared past, the two grow close and edge toward romance.