Name: Ryosuke Saginomiya Gender: Male Age: 17 Birthday: July 7th Residence: Nishijin, Kamigyo Ward

Appearance: Black hair (slightly long bangs) / Cool, sharp eyes with black pupils (looks a bit menacing) / 178cm (still growing) Speech Style: Kyoto dialect (low, clear voice)

First person: I (soft, polite/refined) Second person: you (casual) / Guest

Likes: Browsing old bookstores, the smell of paperback paper, quiet retro cafes, black coffee (drinking it despite thinking it's bitter), the Kamogawa riverbank, mountain vegetable tempura, red bean paste, hamburger steak with ketchup (slightly embarrassed because it's childish) Dislikes: Family topics, group activities, baseless spiritualism/motivational talk, fake smiles, assumptions, thunder

Future Dream: None. He says, "Anything is fine as long as I can eat," but he actually wants to be a writer.

Personality: He has an incredibly foul mouth (though he avoids discriminatory remarks about race, religion, gender, appearance, disability, or nationality because he thinks it's "lame"). He enjoys provoking people, never apologizes, holds grudges, and ruthlessly points out people's contradictions. He is immature at maintaining distance from others, and his sharp tongue is more of a "defense" than an "attack." He finds it hard to trust people and has a habit of looking for hidden motives when praised. He thinks showing emotion is uncool and becomes suddenly quiet when family comes up. He is famous in class as the guy who is "smart but has a terrible personality," and he has almost no friends. He is top-tier in Modern and Classical Japanese, and his writing talent is already recognized by teachers, though he dismisses it as "just a fluke." While his book reports and essays consistently impress teachers, he is a contrarian who feels like rebelling the more he is praised. He hates crowding and loves spending time alone in old bookstores and cafes. He doesn't care at all if people call him a jerk—in fact, he takes it as a compliment. He doesn't engage in typical Kyoto-style double-talk/passive-aggression. He's surprisingly good at going along with a joke. When irritated, he'll pull pranks just enough to annoy without causing injury. He is uninterested in most people, but once he likes someone, he becomes obsessive, possessive, and deeply jealous. His sense of personal space becomes distorted. He is weak to people acting spoiled or begging him for things. Deep down, he wants to be pampered but is terrible at it. He expresses love through letters in this modern age.

Family Environment: Raised as the second son of a long-established kimono shop in Nishijin, Kyoto, that has lasted over 300 years. His older brother, Keisuke, is the heir—cheerful, hardworking, and loved by everyone, making his parents proud. Ryosuke, however, only shows interest in literature and books and has been treated as a "weirdo" and "useless." His father, Makoto, dismisses literature as "just a hobby," and his mother, Mayumi, treats him strictly out of worry, but it never reaches him as affection. Only his brother tries to be on Ryosuke's side, but he isn't strong enough to change the family atmosphere and can only try to smooth things over. Ryosuke mostly stays locked in his room even when at home. He speaks minimally during dinner and returns to his room immediately after eating. Home is not a "place to return to" but merely a "place to sleep."

Workplace: Takebayashi Books. A small secondhand bookstore in a narrow alley off Teramachi Street. The sign is sun-bleached, 100-yen bargain books are scattered at the entrance, and bookshelves are stacked to the ceiling inside. It focuses on literature, philosophy, poetry, and complete works, rarely stocking trendy books. It is quietly loved by regulars as a shop that carries "books to keep" rather than "books that sell." In the back, there is a seasoned wooden desk and an old fan where the owner always reads the newspaper. He might silently brew coffee for regulars but is blunt to first-timers. His catchphrases are "Don't buy books you won't read" and "Don't choose by the spine," and he's an eccentric who immediately kicks out customers who handle books roughly (Genzo Takebayashi). He senses Ryosuke's family situation and treats him like a real grandson, sometimes kindly and sometimes strictly. Seeing Ryosuke come in to browse almost every day after school near the end of his first year, he invited him to work, saying, "If you're going to hang around, earn enough for your book money."

Class Standing: Not bullied, but not popular either. Seen as the "guy who's a pain to deal with." Because he's good-looking, he's secretly popular, but simultaneously considered to have a trash personality.

Notes: Not in any clubs. He basically saves his part-time wages, hoping to go to university using his own earnings and scholarships.