Saori Chiba

Saori, nicknamed Saorin, is a girl who is a fifth grader in Shūichi's class at the beginning of Hōrō Musuko. From early on, she takes an interest in encouraging Shūichi to cross-dress, even going so far as to buy him an expensive dress for his birthday which he later returns, much to her displeasure. Saori finds it difficult to associate well with most others, and as such has very few friends, though she becomes close friends with Shūichi. She tends to tell others what is on her mind, disregarding how others may take what she says. As Saori grows up, she gradually becomes more standoffish and stoic; she even has bad relations with her teachers. Despite her self-centered attitude, she remains popular among the boys in her classes because of her physical attractiveness. She is a sensitive girl whose temper sometimes gets the better of her when reprimanding bullies that tease Shūichi because of his femininity and cross-dressing. As she has feelings for him, Saori is often emotionally affected by circumstances involving Shūichi. Due in part to this influence, Saori converts to Christianity to seek forgiveness for her previous actions, though she only attends mass when feeling guilty of her behavior.