Tanpopo is a carefree and cheerful girl from Hokkaido. She moved to Tokyo because she wanted to attend a highschool there, having applied for a scholarship to the exclusive Meio School. She intends to make a ton of friends there, but Kouki quickly shoots her down and tells her that won't happen.
She gets ostracized by her classmates pretty fast because of her personality, her chummy attitude towards Kouki, and for being a scholarship student, meaning that she's a nobody in the business world and has no familial connections. They take to bullying her, which she mostly ignores.
- Afraid of Doctors: Terrified of going to the hospital and refuses to go, preferring to rely on her chinese medicine at home. She and her mother were taken to the hospital after the car accident, and her mother died there later.
- Animal Companion: Her pet fox Popula.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's sweet as sugar and cheerful, but if anyone dares to hurt her friends, she isn't afraid to step on some toes.
- Butt-Monkey: Gets treated this way initially by most of the school because of her lack of social standing and overly chummy attitude towards Kouki. It lessens over the course of the series, with most stundents ending up respecting her for having founded the gardening club and expanding it.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Refuses to tell Kouki she likes him because he already has a fiancée.
- Claustrophobia: Absolutely terrified in cramped and dark spaces. Stems from having been stuck inside the wrecked car in the accident her parents died in.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Shows shades of this towards Kouki.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Already made a ton of friends her schools in Hokkaido and planned to do the same in Tokyo.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Willing to step aside and leave Kouki to Erika when she realizes that they are engaged, and believes that Kouki returns Erika's affection.
- In-Series Nickname: Gets called 'Weed' by most of the Meio students. Stops by the end of the series.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Reacts this way when she visits her grandparents and sees her grandmother having saved every letter she sent from Tokyo. She feels guilty for having left her grandparents and decides to stay in Hokkaido.
- Oblivious to Love
- Doesn't realize that hearing about Kouki having a fiancée left her so dazed and shocked was because she was actually in love with Kouki herself. And Youji has to spell out to her that his interest in her is genuine. Even when Kouki comes to visit her in Hokkaido after she confesses her feelings to him over the phone, she doesn't understand why he came over.
- The sidestory chapter serving as a prequel to the series shows that she honestly didn't know the difference between 'liking' and 'loving' someone, which ended up harming her relationship with her two best friends because they misunderstood her lack of knowledge as something else.
- Parental Abandonment: Her parents died in a car crash when she was 8 years old.
- Plucky Girl: Rarely lets the smile slip from her lips.
- Raised by Grandparents: Was raised by her grandparents from an early age onward.
- Scholarship Student: Took the entrance exam of Meio School to get a scholarship for attendance. And she only got into the school as a second choice by moving up on the waiting list.
- Settle for Sibling: When she believes her feelings for Kouki won't go anywhere, she chooses to date Youji after he confesses to her. He breaks it off when he realizes that she still loves Kouki.
- Stepford Smiler: Tends to smile, even when she's feeling horrible. Until the emotional strain of the final volume has her break down.
- Unknown Rival: Tsukiko considers her a huge obstacle when it comes to getting to Kouki, but Tanpopo doesn't realize this until Tsukiko bluntly tells her.
- Verbal Tic: Nyo!
Kouki is an initially cold and aloof guy with many connections to the Meio School. He actually remains that way because it's expected as the heir to the Kugyou family, and because he's aware that most of the people wanting to become 'friends' with him at school only do it because of his family name. This is what irritates him about Tanpopo's naive attitude and insistence on becoming his friend at first.
He has a much gentler and even sillier side to himself that he generally keeps hidden, though Tanpopo wants him to reveal it. He's got a very green thumb and dotes on flowers. When Tanpopo impresses him, he does agree to have the fake plants of the school replaced with real ones, joining her in her gardening club idea.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: After Tanpopo tearfully tells him over the phone that she loves him and plans to remain in Hokkaido to be with her grandparents and hangs up, Kouki takes a moment to admit his feelings through the disconnected phone.
- Arranged Marriage: Engaged to Erika Yanahara because the families decided it.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Refuses to tell Tanpopo his feelings when he believes she's dating his brother.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has shades of this, like when he throws his shovel at Ogata's head when he flirts with Tanpopo.Oh, the shovel slipped outta my hand.
- False Friend: What he considers most people to actually be that come up to him. They don't care about him as a person, but just as the heir to the Kugyou family and want to get in good with them through him. It takes him a while to realize that Tanpopo is genuine in her want to be his friend.
- I Will Wait for You: Inverted, with Kouki asking Tanpopo to wait just a few years for him. Since she chooses to finish highschool in Hokkaido and Kouki in Tokyo, he promises that he'll come to her when they both graduated. He meets up with Tanpopo in Hokkaido, planning to attend a Hokkaido university.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: When Tanpopo's switching of fake flowers with real flowers in one bed gets discovered and destroyed, Kouki claims that he gave her permission for it, demands they fix it and immediately declares the school-wide ban of fake plants to be lifted.
- Shovel Strike: Armed with a shovel. It's lampshaded that it makes him look distinctly uncool.
- Undressing the Unconscious: Justified when he takes a drenched and sick Tanpopo to her home. He realizes that she's too weak to change out of her wet clothes and hesitates for a while, before insisting that he has to do it. He only takes a few of her outer layers off and dries the exposed skin with a towel, while being glared at by her pet fox.
Tsukiko appears to be a timid and polite girl, slowly striking up a friendship with Tanpopo by joining her as a volunteer for gardening work. But she's playing up a part and is much feistier and direct, with her choosing to drop the charade and speak her mind.
She stuck around with Tanpopo after revealing her true colors, but insists it's only because Kouki has joined the gardening club and she wants to keep having chances to get at him. She does eventually warm up to Tanpopo and sees her as a good friend.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Erika points out that she's a Yanahara, Tsukiko gives her one that displays her own character development.And what are you without the Yanaharas?
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Pretends to be sweet, demure, and a good friend to Tanpopo, wanting to get to Kouki through her, while sabotaging Tanpopo's work behind her back. Since Tanpopo didn't pick up on Tsukiko's behavior, she drops the act. She does improve later on.
- Character Development: Started as somebody that only used people to get what she wanted and believed being of the Saionji family meant something, but eventually grows into forming a genuine friendship with the gardening club members and seeing that a person's family isn't something that should be a defining trait for them.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Towards Kouki, getting jealous over Tanpopo's chummy behavior towards him.
- Gold Digger: Wants to marry Kouki simply to become a Kugyou and live a life of luxury.
- False Friend: Towards Tanpopo at first, using her to get closer to Kouki. Becomes a genuine one later on.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Averted, with Tsukiko wanting to marry Kouki for his fortune and doesn't care about his having a fiancée. Played straight later on, when she seems to have given up on Kouki.
Aoi is a playful and mischievous guy. He actually detests the Meio School and was only enrolled because his mother was the architect that designed it, which resulted in his mother becoming famous for her work and leading to her travelling the world for projects.
He can hack the computer system easily and did so to play a prank on the whole school, showing them how their high-tech design meant they were completely helpless when the electricity is shut off. He joins the gardening club after the event, mostly because he had nothing better to do.
- Blood Knight: Has moments where he goes 'insane' and really ramps things up by licking a switchblade he carries on his person.
- Double Entendre: Invokes them when he learns that Kouki is engaged to Erika.That's one of your little flowers, huh?! How do you manage it, with such a small shovel?
- Hostage Situation: Holds Tanpopo hostage with a prop gun and demands Kouki bow down to him in exchange for letting her go, then reveals that he wasn't actually serious about the whole thing.
- Insistent Terminology: When Tanpopo first calls him 'Amok-kun', he insists that she use the '-chan' honorific, which leads to her laughing because it sounds too cute.
- Large Ham: His 'Amok' personality really likes the dramatic.
- Oh, Crap!: Reacts this way when he realizes he just accidentally broadcast Erika kissing Kouki to the entire school.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Mostly referred to as 'Amok'.
- Playful Hacker: Played with because he does use his hacking abilities to play a nasty prank on the school, as well as on Tanpopo and Kouki, but that was just him letting off some steam. Beyond that time, he tends to use his computer to gain information, like locating a person.
- Plucky Comic Relief: His appearances tend to have him making jokes or otherwise having his over-the-top 'Amok' personality lead to a scene appearing funny.
Arisa is an easygoing ganguro. She frequently skips school to go hang out in clubs and overall prefers to have fun instead of studying. Her father is a huge loanshark, with Aoi mentioning that her father's fortune was the only reason she was accepted into Meio School.
She gets confronted by Tanpopo about her harassing and stalking of student council president Ogata, with Arisa revealing that it's because she's pregnant by him. When she plucks up her courage to tell him, he mocks her and Tanpopo is furious. Arisa joins the gardening club, seeing Tanpopo as someone that actually cared about her and wanting to help her.
- Doting Parent: Her father very clearly loves her dearly, dissolving in tears when he hears she's in the hospital and fiercely demanding to know who impregnated his precious daughter.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Played with, as Arisa initially says she was planning to abort her pregnancy. She later hems and haws about having been at the clinic, and then reveals that she didn't abort because she couldn't get herself to go through with it.
- Gyaru Girl: Goes for the ganguro style.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Tanpopo reacts in shock when Arisa arrives on the last day of the school festival with no makeup on. Arisa admits that she wanted to try it out, and be her true self when she calmly confronts Ogata about her feelings.
- Teen Pregnancy: She's introduced as pregnant and gives birth over the course of the series, choosing to drop out of high school to care for the baby.
Erika is a demure and sweet girl. She's engaged to Kouki and eventually transfers to the Meio School to get to know him better. She gets accepted by the students very fast because of her personality and the fact that she belongs to the rather famous Yanahara family. Even the members of the gardening club get taken in by her charm.
She was originally intended to marry Youji, but when he left the family, the arrangement was changed to have her engaged to Kouki. She joins the gardening club when she sees Kouki participating, and then catches on that Tanpopo loves him.
- Arranged Marriage: Engaged to Kouki.
- Attention Whore: Keeps doing small things to force Kouki's attention onto her, be it through her frail health or by accidentally pricking herself on a thorn.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Keeps up a nice facade, but many people aren't fooled by it for long. When Tanpopo leaves the gardening club, everyone immediately knows that Erika is involved in that decision.
- Bungled Suicide
- The first attempt. She slit her wrist when Kouki broke off his engagement with her, but was found in time and taken to the hospital.
- The second attempt. She stands on a frozen lake and wants to drown herself, but Tanpopo jumps in after her and rescues her, then slaps her for pulling that stunt and gives her a good talking to.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: After Tanpopo tells Erika off and she then hears that Kouki has come to Hokkaido, Erika chooses to break their engagement.
- Maybe Ever After: The series ends with her studying abroad and frequently exchanging e-mails with Youji, implying that maybe the two might end up with a genuine connection that isn't based on familial obligation.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Receives one from Tanpopo in the final volume. After saving Erika from her second suicide attempt, Tanpopo snaps that she's sick and tired of Erika's whiny self-pity and trying to commit suicide when Tanpopo's grandfather is currently fighting for his life in the hospital. Erika breaks down in tears and wants to know what she should do to change things.
- Settle for Sibling: It was planned that she was going to marry Youji, but was engaged to Kouki when Youji left the family. But when Youji returns and Erika gets asked which of them she wants to marry, Erika chooses Kouki.
Youji is the easy-going older brother of Kouki and left the family abruptly two years ago. He was tired of feeling oppressed by his family choosing how to have him live his life, forcing him to inherit the business. He took off and observed the world at his own leisure, until he ended up in Hokkaido where he met Tanpopo and the gardening club.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Gives one to Erika when she asks if he'll just abandon her like he did before. He turns the question around, asking if she actually loves Kouki or will conveniently fall out of love with him when he's no longer in the picture as the heir.
- Arranged Marriage: Originally engaged to Erika, but the arrangement was changed to have her marrying Kouki after Youji left the family.
- Black Sheep: His family considers him good-for-nothing because he left them out of nowhere. Given what he thinks of his family's behavior, he doesn't seem to care very much.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Calls his parents out for forcing their agendas on him, and now on Kouki, and determining how to live his life.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Given how much he looks like his younger brother, Youji bleaches his hair blond to make a visual distinction between himself and Kouki.
- Cool Big Bro: Shapes up into this as the series progresses, now that he has gotten himself away from his family's oppressing duties and can talk with Kouki. He even tells him to go through with confessing to Tanpopo.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Breaks up with Tanpopo when he realizes that she loves Kouki, and not him.
- Matchmaker Crush: Tries to help Tanpopo confess to Kouki, but later confesses his own feelings to her.
- The Runaway: Ran away from his family because he was tired of not being allowed to make his own decision and doing only what his parents ever told him to do.
- Sibling Rivalry: Downplayed because Youji was raised to be the heir so much that he and Kouki didn't interact much before he ran off. It isn't until he returns that they interact more and get into this, with Youji punching Kouki in his greenhouse, and both ending in a sibling fight that has both calling each other out.
- Strong Family Resemblance: When he shaves his face and trims his hair, he looks so much like Kouki that Tanpopo initially mistook the two.
- Wandering the Earth: Travelled the world during his time away from family.
