Kaoru Sakurayashiki

Appearance

Kaoru is a pale-skinned young man of reasonable height and stature who's often acknowledged for his beauty by the onlookers of "S". He has long, sakura-colored hair, which he usually wears loosely tied back by a yellow string over his left shoulder; long bangs falling in waves over the right side of his face, and golden eyes. Outside of "S", his usual attire consists of a plain navy-blue kimono with a gray and yellow obi and white tabi socks with zori sandals on his feet. His usual accessories are what appears to be a simple purple band on his left wrist, which he uses to communicate with Carla, and a pair of silver-framed glasses; he is also often seen carrying a fan, which he tends to hold up close to his face when he's observing people or thinking.

Personality

Kaoru is a calm intellectual who is well-known even outside of "S" as a famous and successful AI calligrapher. He's been shown to treat clients and strangers with polite respect , but he is often prickly towards those closest to him, most prominently his fellow "S" member and childhood friend Kojiro Nanjo. Kaoru often loses composure when dealing with Kojiro, perhaps due to their contrasting personalities, and the two usually end up bickering and calling each other names whenever they disagree on something. Kaoru is also notably competitive when skateboarding, always wanting to beat Kojiro during races and beefs and even getting Carla to record his time during the tournament preliminaries to see how it measures up to Adam's. However, despite his prickly, cold exterior, he does truly trust and care for those whom he considers his friends. When Reki Kyan is worried about Langa Hasegawa's upcoming beef against Adam and seeks out Kaoru for advice, he's more than happy to help them, even getting Kojiro to assist him. He also knows to rely on his friends when he needs to, and is seen inviting himself to Kojiro's restaurant on multiple occasions so the two can discuss their concerns, once even sneaking out of hospital to do so. Kaoru dislikes the idea of merging his "S" self with his outside self to the point that he gets pretty violent when someone slips up about it, as seen when he angrily kicks Joe in the back after the latter uses his real name (Kaoru) while they are at "S" [8] and when he slaps Reki for calling out to him using his "S" alias (Cherry) during one of his public calligraphy showcases before telling him off that "Cherry Blossom only exists on that mountain." (""Cherry blossom" is my name reserved just for that place!" in the English Sub) while outside the mine. This shows that he has a definitive streak of professionalism and doesn't like to openly admit his other side to either party, perhaps because of his famous status both inside of "S" and out.

Background

Kaoru has been skateboarding ever since he was a teenager alongside Kojiro Nanjo, during which time he appeared to be much less polite and proper than he later becomes as an adult. He and Kojiro met Adam when Kaoru challenged Adam to a beef, and the three soon became inseparable friends, with Adam even telling the two that they were special and different to everyone else he knew. At some point, they formed "S" together. It was during his time with the pair that Adam began to spiral out of control, which concerned Kaoru as he and Kojiro kept stumbling across him injuring other skaters during beefs. Adam then suddenly left for America, abandoning Kaoru, which affected him and Kojiro a lot. This is the reason for Kaoru's bad blood with Adam and the explanation for why he wants to beef against him so badly: he feels betrayed by his former friend and wants to prove that he is still worth as much as he was back when they were friends. At some point, Kaoru grows up to become a professional AI calligrapher, but still dedicates a lot of his time to skating alongside Kojiro with his new AI skateboard Carla. He is among the top contestants of the "S" skateboarding race.

Age

26