This context is crucial. Unlike the confident harem protagonists who stumble into love, Wakana doesn’t believe he is worthy of a first relationship. When Kitagawa Marin—the "gyaru" (gal) who sits behind him—discovers his secret sewing skills, his first reaction isn't hope; it's pure, unadulterated terror.
Wakana herself admits to this transactional history with chilling pragmatism. She has learned to dissociate affection from physical intimacy. For her, a “relationship” means giving up her body to avoid sleeping on the cold asphalt. This pattern forms her baseline: love equals a roof. There is no conversation about feelings, no hand-holding in a park, no shared dreams. Her first romantic storylines are, in truth, a series of desperate contracts. They have taught her that her only worth is her availability, and that any kindness from a man inevitably comes with a price. This warped foundation is the lens through which she initially views all men, including the one who will finally refuse her.
Why? Because his logical brain cannot reconcile a popular, beautiful, extroverted girl falling for a "plain, boring" doll artisan.
His primary romantic arc begins when he meets Marin Kitagawa
is one of the five leads in Tari Tari , but her story is primarily a rather than a romance.
