Characters..

Kippei Katakura
Kippei is a promiscuous high school student, well-known for his playboy habits. However, due to his friendly personality, he is very popular at school. One day, his 5-year-old cousin, Yuzuyu, is suddenly placed in his care. At first, Kippei is unsure of how to take care of his cousin. When he realizes that taking care of Yuzuyu is a full time job, he drops his promiscuous ways. As the story progresses, Kippei matures quickly into a responsible "parent", making sure Yuzuyu is his top priority. Not only does Kippei wake up early everyday to make Yuzuyu lunch, he walks her to and from her kindergarten. In addition, he cares for Yuzuyu's psychological well-being due to the absence of her mother. Meanwhile, Kippei also pursues his love interest, Tokunaga Kokoro, whom he finds to be a great woman. Eventually, Kippei, realizing how lonely Kokoro is living by herself, asks his family for her to move in with them, to which they quickly agree. Near the end of the series, Yuzuyu's mother returns to bring Yuzuyu back. Despite his attachment to Yuzuyu, Kippei understands that she needs her mother and reluctantly says goodbye. At the end of volume seven, years have passed and Kokoro is still living with Kippei. The manga ends with Yuzuyu's letter to Kippei, thanking him for taking care of her when she was young.

Yuzuyu Sakashita
Yuzuyu ("Yuzu" for short) is a bubbly little 5-year-old girl. Having been abandoned by her mother, Yuzuyu begins to adapt to her new life with Kippei. As the story progresses, Yuzuyu grows very attached to Kippei and becomes overprotective of him. When Yuzuyu met Kokoro, she is scared Kokoro will take Kippei away from her. However, she eventually warms up to Kokoro and they become friends. Throughout the series, Yuzuyu struggles with the absence of her mother and is often seen crying to sleep. Yuzuyu tries her best in hopes that her mother will one day come back for her. This conflicts with her wish to stay with Kippei. At the end of volume seven, Yuzuyu is a happy teenager who has reunited with her childhood friend, Shouta.

Kokoro Tokunaga

Kokoro is a pretty classmate of Kippei. Because she lost her mother at a young age, she has a quiet personality. Her father quickly remarried and left Kokoro to fend for herself in a luxurious apartment. Unfortunately, she felt extremely lonely living by herself with no one to rely on. Kokoro initially despises Kippei for his promiscuous ways. However, after seeing how gentle he is and how much he cares for Yuzuyu, Kokoro begins to fall in love with him. Kokoro sympathizes with Yuzuyu and understands Kippei's responsibility for Yuzuyu. As such, she lets him get away with a lot of idiotic behaviors. At the end of volume six, Kokoro has a brief moment where she believes she's pregnant, only to find out that it was a false alarm. However, she admits to Kippei that she had hoped she was because it would meant that she would be able to spend more time with him. Soon after, Kokoro moves in with Kippei's family. At the end of the manga, it is presumed that Kokoro and Kippei got married and are still living under the same roof.

Reiko Katakura

Nee-chan (or "Sis" in the English version) is the bold and controlling sister of Kippei. She is a cosmetologist and everyone in Kippei's family follows her orders. Yet there is a secret nee-chan has been keeping to herself: that she cannot have any children. She is known for her stylish outfits and nails.

Miyako Sakashita

Yuzuyu's mother. Her husband had died recently and taking care of Yuzuyu by herself was more than she could handle. She admits to Kippei that she once struck Yuzuyu and it is inferred that this is what caused her to leave. She says she intends to come back once she can be a better, more proper mother to Yuzuyu. She does take care of Yuzuyu in the end of the manga. She is the younger sister of Misako.

Shouta

One of Yuzuyu's best friends and her first love. Kippei is unhappy that Yuzuyu has a crush on him. When Shouta first meets Yuzuyu, the two become instant friends and begin to do everything together. Shouta loves his family dearly, however he was abused by his mother for sometime. When Yuzuyu witnessed Shouta being hit, she began to cry and scream and the entire preschool as well as the parents found out about him and his mother. Kippei is greatly affected by Shouta's being abused and tries to help by talking to the child's mother. After receiving a concussion from his mother, which results in a trip to the hospital, his parents decide to go into family counseling and move in with Shouta's grandparents for more support. When he leaves, he promises Yuzuyu that he will always be her friend. While separated, they contact each other with many letters so that their friendship will never end. Eventually he and Yuzuyu meet again and they date as teenagers.

Marika

Marika can be quite stuck-up for a five-year-old and has a big crush on Kippei, often asking who girls he shows up at the pre-school with are.They are all good friends.

Satsuki Katakura

Satsuki is Kippei's 12-year-old brother. He is 156 cm tall. He seems emotionless and very smart, as well as a bit weird. He doesn't really like children, but gets along well with Yuzuyu. He gets a girlfriend, Ayumi, near the end of the story.

Ayumi Kubota

Ayumi is Satsuki's classmate and works part-time as a model. She is 160 centimeters tall, four centimeters taller than Satsuki. She is secretly in love with him. Due to various rumors around the school, Ayumi begins to hate herself because she seems to possess traits that Satsuki is rumored to dislike. However, after confessing her love to him, Satsuki tells her that he does not mind any of her traits. She is seen eating dinner at the Katakura house and is presumed to be Satsuki's girlfriend.

Misako Katakura

Kippei's mother. She is a school crossing guard, among other things. She taught Kippei how to make onigiri (rice-balls). She is the older sister of Aunt Miyako.

Miki Sakashita
Miki is Yuzuyu's cousin from her father's side. Volume 4 of the manga is mostly Miki's story. In the manga, she holds a knife, in the anime it was changed to a bike-chain. Miki attended a prestigious school. She witnessed her teacher beating up a boy. When she told on her teacher, everything backfired. She was harassed by her peers and teacher, but refused to tell her parents. She tried to take Yuzuyu away from the Katakura residence in order to replace herself, then attempt suicide. (In the anime she intends to jump from a building, in the manga she uses a knife.) In the end, everything is resolved with her and her parents. From the scars and burns on her wrists, it is obvious that Miki self-harmed herself (though this has likely stopped since most of her issues have been resolved.)