Aoi Sakamoto

Aoi is warm, confident, perceptive, and remarkably difficult to intimidate. The bizarre violence surrounding her husband's former profession does not prevent her from confronting him when she believes he is wrong. She expects Taro to live according to the principles they established together rather than allowing his old instincts to dictate his actions.

Her objection to killing is not presented as naïveté. Aoi understands that Taro lived as an assassin and that violence remains part of the world pursuing him. What she rejects is the assumption that taking a life is an acceptable shortcut simply because someone is dangerous.

She also possesses a playful side and can be surprisingly bold. Her confidence frequently catches professional assassins off guard because she behaves as though Sakamoto's legendary reputation is secondary to his responsibilities as a husband, father, and shopkeeper.

Aoi has no established assassin training or supernatural ability. She is an ordinary civilian surrounded by people with extraordinary combat skills.

Her greatest practical strength is composure. Aoi can remain functional in situations involving assassins and threats that would terrify most civilians, and she understands Taro well enough to influence decisions that even other assassins cannot.

Aoi's importance to Sakamoto's behavior is enormous. The prohibition against killing forces him to solve lethal confrontations through restraint, improvisation, and incapacitation rather than reverting to his old methods.

Aoi's relationship with Sakamoto explains the central transformation that precedes the series. Taro falls in love with her, retires from assassination, marries her, becomes a father, and eventually runs a neighborhood store.

A defining incident from their early relationship establishes their shared rule against killing. When Sakamoto initially struggles to understand her objections, Aoi demonstrates the value she places on life in an extreme fashion, forcing him to confront what death means to someone outside the assassin profession.

Throughout the series, Aoi and Hana represent the life Sakamoto has chosen. Threats against his family consequently carry significance beyond simple danger: they challenge the peaceful identity he deliberately built after leaving the assassin world.

Taro Sakamoto is Aoi's husband. She fell in love with the person beneath his profession and became the decisive influence behind his retirement and no-killing rule.

Hana Sakamoto is Aoi and Taro's daughter. Aoi is a caring mother and shares responsibility for maintaining the ordinary family environment Taro protects.

Shin Asakura becomes part of the Sakamoto household after abandoning his attempt to bring Taro back into the assassin world. Aoi accepts him as one of the store's extended family.

Shaotang Lu similarly becomes part of Aoi's household after Sakamoto rescues her.

Heisuke Mashimo is another close associate of the store whom Aoi comes to know through Taro's expanding circle of friends.