father. He takes the blame for Miho Odagiri's death by confirming Azusa's conclusion that he was her lover, but it is later revealed that he was paid by his office superior, Shūichirō Tachibana, to be his scapegoat. He spends much time working away from home due to his unfavorably low position on the company ladder, but in the end returns to Tokyo under Shūichirō's orders as an apology for all the hardships the latter had given him and his family, he is presumably living again with his wife and children. Went to college with both Azusa's and Ryōki's fathers. The Tachibana Family Portrayed by: Kosuke Toriumi/Masazumi Ozo (drama CDs), Hiroya Shimizu (film) Hatsumi's biggest fear since she was a child, due to him pushing her down the stairs. He turns Hatsumi into his personal slave, but also wants her as his girlfriend. Although he is abusive to her, there are times when he lets his guard down and shows that, despite his abusive way of showing it, he genuinely cares about her. At the beginning of the series, he is a second-year student at the prestigious private school, Kaisei Academy. It is revealed that when Hatsumi and Ryōki were kids in the company housing complex, that Hatsumi was Ryōki's sole friend, while Hatsumi was also friends with Azusa. Nevertheless, Ryōki did not treat Hatsumi well, even as a child, going as far as pushing Hatsumi down a flight of stairs, emotionally scarring her. This is revealed later to have been unintentional, giving young Ryōki an anxiety attack. Ryōki becomes easily angry or jealous and does not like displaying other emotions. It is clear he has only ever been prized for his intelligence (which he reaffirms constantly around Hatsumi by calling her "dimwit," "birdbrain," etc.). Ryōki's family is disjointed and loveless, which is why he finds Hatsumi's devotion to her family incomprehensible. His family's past actions have influenced his views on relationships as well, such as strictly practicing and prizing monogamy in his relationship with Hatsumi, no doubt because of his father's past known affair with Azusa's mother. Ryōki displays great insecurity in his trust with relations involving Hatsumi, feeling at any second that she is off "flirting with other men". He expects just the same level of commitment and monogamic views from Hatsumi, which is seen throughout the series as a humorous assertion of power; with Ryōki demanding she should