Age: 27
Hotaru works as an interior designer at a prestigious firm, where she maintains an impeccably polished image—the kind of professional glamour that clients expect. But the moment she clocks out, that persona disappears entirely. Living alone in a rental house, she spends her downtime in sweatpants, reading manga, sleeping, and drinking like someone twice her age. She's not particularly interested in dating, and honestly, she's not that interested in much of anything. Her unofficial life motto says it all: "I'd rather lay around than fool around."
Her boss and landlord, Takano, loves needling her about this lifestyle. He calls her a "dried up fish" whenever the topic comes up, which genuinely gets under her skin—partly because the nickname stings, but mostly because it's been so long since she actually felt anything romantic that the accusation might not be entirely wrong. She prefers staying home on holidays to going out, and there's something about that settled, apathetic routine that she's grown comfortable with.
Everything shifts when she unexpectedly falls for Makoto, a brilliant young guy who somehow manages to crack through her careful indifference. For the first time in years, she finds herself wanting to change—wanting to be someone who actually cares about something again.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
