Kaori Shirasaki/Relationships

Tomoichi Shirasaki & Kaoruko Shirasaki
Tomoichi and Kaoruko love their daughter very much and both treats her as the most important person in the world. Kaori loves her parents very much but she is antagonistic towards her father at times due to his hostile attitude towards Hajime, while her mother is more supportive of her relationship with Hajime.

Hajime Nagumo
Kaori developed an unbreakable love for Hajime since middle school when she witnessed his courage and kindness to protect a child and his grandmother from delinquents despite being weaker than them. Because of this, Kaori had spent a whole year desperately searching for Hajime again only in vain. When she met Hajime again by chance in high school, Kaori was extremely overjoyed and thus did everything she could to befriend Hajime much to his confusion. Kaori even became an Otaku due to Hajime's influence. However, Kaori only realized her love for Hajime after he fell into the abyss and was the only one out of his classmates who was convinced that he had survived.

In Volume 4, when Hajime came to save her and the Hero Party from Cattleya's ambush, Kaori was immensely overjoyed by their reunion but was completely shaken and sad when she saw that Hajime had become an unforgiving, sadistic, ruthless and cruel man, after coldly killed Cattleya despite Kouki's pleas, becoming worried at how Hajime had truly seemed to have abandoned most of his kindness and compassion. When Kouki criticized Hajime for killing the demon woman, Hajime replied that he will show no mercy to anyone who is his enemy and will kill him without any hesitation, as compassion for enemies is useless. Even if it´s one for your ex-colleagues, even proving his point by holding Kouki at gunpoint and unleashing a full blast of intimidation that terrified everyone, making Kaori extremely confused by how much the man she had loved changed, even thinking that he could be someone else.

But after witnessing the last and only fragment of Hajime's lost kindness in protecting Yue, Shea and Tio from thugs, she was determined to remain by his side no matter what the cost. Before Hajime continued on his journey, Kaori declared her love for him and asked to join him much to the despair of Kouki and the Bastard Four. She along with Yue, are the closest to Hajime due to madly falling in love with him since the beginning. She refused to give up on Hajime until she wins his heart at all costs, even if he is in a relationship with Yue. Though he did not openly express it at first, Hajime secretly reciprocated Kaori's love, as he was willing to save the Dukedom of Ankaji from a plague due to Kaori's desire to help them. During the journey, Hajime noticed that Kaori was feeling sad and depressed due to developing an inferiority complex compared to the other females in Hajime's Party, and gets the feeling that she was unhappy being in his group. Hajime offered her to return to her best friend Shizuku. But Kaori refused and still remained at his side no matter how harsh the journey became or how ruthless Hajime had become, especially after witnessing how much Hajime had actually cared for her when Kaori was possessed by an evil spirit.

Due to her love for Hajime, Kaori always believed everything that Hajime told her, including easily accepting the fact that Ehit was actually an Evil God who had summoned them to be pawns in his mad game of death but no matter what happens, Kaori will always stay by Hajime's side and turned against Ehit after being full aware of Ehit's manipulation, even if it means being considered a so-called "Heretic" by both the Holy Church or Garland, unlike most of her other classmates, especially Kouki.

In Volume 6, after Hiyama temporarily murdered Kaori, her death caused Hajime to fly into a silent berserk rage, as he brutally murdered Hiyama and threatened Eri. He even opted to chase Fried away instead of killing him immediately due to prioritizing saving Kaori at all cost. Hajime solemnly pleaded his comrades Yue and Tio to use Spirit Magic to revive Kaori after the Demon's Invasion of Heiligh Kingdom, which would take five days to do so, and reluctantly agreed to Kaori's decision to transfer her soul into Noint's body as a vessel, as Kaori wanted to become stronger so she could always stay by his side. Out of his hidden deep affections for Kaori, Hajime generously helped her closest friends on Kaori's behalf, such as secretly protecting Princess Liliana from being raped by Prince Baius, willingly using his limited Ambrosia supply to heal Kouki when he was badly injured and poisoned by Eri, and Shizuku when she nearly died fighting with her doppelganger in the Frost Caverns of Schnee Labyrinth.

When Kouki later became corrupted by his doppelganger and requested that Kaori return to the "Hero Party", she refused because she will never leave Hajime. After Kouki's failure in his weak attempt only to be easily defeated by Hajime, he chose not to kill Kouki for Kaori and Shizuku's sake, despite finally being fed up with Kouki's delusions. Hajime even silently accepted Shizuku's love confession due to Kaori encouraging him to do so. Hajime was forced to honestly admit to Tio that even Kaori had a chance to make him fall for her, especially after conquering the Haltina Labyrinth, due to consciously realizing how much his comrades meant to him after his deepest feelings about them were magically reversed due to magic. Hajime promised her that she would remain at his side forever when they returned to Japan as he swore to find a way to make all of his companions immortal so they could all live together forever. Before the final battle, Hajime finally confessed to Kaori that he loves her and thanked her for always staying at his side.

Yue
Kaori meets Yue during the ambush of the Hero party. While curious about her at first, Kaori becomes enraged when Yue implied that she is unworthy of Hajime due to being shaken by his transformation and unsuited to becoming her rival in love. She decided to prove Yue wrong and steal the position of Hajime's precious person from her. At first, Kaori harbored a inferiority complex towards Yue due to her strength, and the fact that she saved Hajime and obtain his affections. But after Kaori managed to get back her feelings at the Sunken Ruins of Melusine, Kaori acknowledged Yue as a friend and a love rival.

Kaori and Yue are normally seen arguing and fighting with each other over small things with most of their arguments revolving around Hajime or each of them trying to outdo the other. She's often told that they are really close to each other to the point of making Shea and Shizuku, their respective best friends feel envious toward their relationship. Despite her intense rivalry with Yue, the two they have been able to work well with each other in combat (though only if they have a common enemy or goal). Though more often then not, it ends with them back at each others throats, bickering over Hajime and other various things.

Kaori is the only person who can understand Yue's incomprehensible explanations about magic, as was shown when Yue taught Kaori how to use metamorphosis magic.

Shea Haulia
Kaori is close to Shea as one of Hajime's companions and they love the same person although Kaori often feels jealous of her being the second person that Hajime accept as "Special" beside Yue. Despite her jealousy, Kaori rarely quarrels with her unlike Yue, they're always friendly with each other. Kaori considered Shea as a person that gives her hope by proving that Hajime's heart is capable to accept another girl's feelings.

Tio Klarus
One of Kaori's companions. She shares the same opinion with everyone with regards of Tio being a pervert. Though Kaori is shown to also have some perverted qualities as well, she tries to hide behind Tio's antics while hoping that it would overshadow hers. After Hajime accepts Shea as a lover, Kaori and Tio constantly support each other in order for him to accept them as well.

Shizuku Yaegashi
Shizuku is Kaori's most beloved best friend. She's really caring towards Kaori and often supporting and helping her in getting along with Hajime. After Hajime fell into the Abyss and Kaori wanted to see his fate with her own eyes, Shizuku promised to help her despite not believing that Hajime had survived. In Volume 4, during the ambush of the "Hero Party" by Cattleya when it appeared that Shizuku would be killed, Kaori rushed to her side, stating that if she is to die then she would die by Shizuku's side. After Kaori made the decision to travel with Hajime, Shizuku was the main person to support her, even making Hajime promise to treat Kaori nicely by threatening to embarrass him by making up chunni nicknames for him.

In Volume 6, when Kaori is killed by Daisuke Hiyama during the Demon Invasion, Shizuku became devastated and almost broke down if Hajime had not consoled her. After Kaori is revived, Shizuku is extremely happy and hugged her while crying loudly. When Shizuku starts travelling with Kaori, she notices Shizuku's growing feelings for Hajime and subtly encourages her by telling Shizuku to be more honest with herself and that she needs to consider her own desires. Shizuku is very loyal to Kaori as seen on her attitude, that she refused to accept that she loves Hajime because that would mean that she betrayed Kaori and will make Kaori hate Shizuku. After Shizuku tells Kaori her feelings for Hajime, Kaori does not condemn her and instead asks her to team up with her against Yue and Shea along with her as comrades.

However, Shizuku becomes disturbed when Kaori starts displaying the qualities of a and a stalker. She even feels bad for Hajime when Kaori starts making plans to get closer to him after she falls for him.

Aiko Hatayama
She is her homeroom teacher.

Remia
Remia enjoys teasing Kaori over her relationship with Hajime.

Myu
A young Dagon girl that Hajime rescued and later becomes his foster daughter. They are shown to have a good relationship but Myu does not like it when Kaori and Yue bicker around her.

Liliana S. B. Heiligh
She is one of Kaori's best friends.

Daisuke Hiyama (Deceased)
Daisuke was deeply in love with Kaori. However, Kaori didn't hold the same feelings for him because she had already fallen in love with Hajime Nagumo. She was bothered by Daisuke's cruelty when he was bullying Hajime. She was unaware of Daisuke's betrayal until he murdered her to try to make her as his undead slave until Hajime foiled it. Her temporarily death has caused Hajime to brutality murdered Hiyama. After Hajime revived Kaori into a stronger body, Hajime revealed to Kaori of Daisuke's betrayal and he killed him, but that doesn’t bother her and she (like the others) already chose to never forgive him upon his death as well remembering him as a selfish, deluded traitor.

Eri Nakamura (Deceased)
Eri was one of Kaori's closest friends in high school, whom Kaori affectionately referred as Eri-chan which the latter also seemingly reciprocated by also addressing Kaori with the suffix chan and also offered any help and support she could give her after Hajime's supposed death, even strongly opposed to Suzu's suggestion to use necromancy to reanimate Hajime into Kaori's undead servant in case they had found his corpse out of consideration for Kaori. However, in reality Eri had never considered Kaori a friend, having been secretly and murderously jealous of her close friendship with Kouki, despite knowing that Hiyama was the one behind the misfired fireball that led to Hajime's supposed death. Because of this Eri chose to kept it a secret from Kaori, even one sidedly offered to Hiyama to force Kaori into becoming his personal slave with Soul Bind which Eri later did. This caused Hajime to be enraged and unleashed his true power. Eri cowardly begged Hajime to spare her life so that she can revive Kaori to be his slave which only angers Hajime furthermore. Despite this, Kaori held no grudge towards Eri for her involvement with her own death, even silently pleaded with Hajime to agree to Suzu's request to give Eri a chance for redemption.

Ehit (Deceased)
Kaori once respected Ehit while under the Hero Party. However, when she learned from Hajime of Ehit's true nature as an Evil "God" after they were being used as pawns of Ehit's "chessboard of life" like the rest of her classmates, Kaori lost all of her respects for Ehit and remained in Hajime's side of his journey to opposed Ehit's intention for them to be his pawns in order to return back to Japan even if it means to be a so called "heretic" by the Holy Church or Garland. Kaori's disgust of Ehit has increased even more after personally witnessing visions of his past atrocities of instigating his worshipers to fight brutal religious wars and sacrificing innocent people for his twisted entertainment in the Sunken Ruins of Melusine as well as learning from Liliana how Ehit had sent Noint to abduct her teacher Aiko and brainwashing King Eliheid and his ministers (before they were killed by Eri's undead soldiers).

Kouki Amanogawa
Kouki is one of Kaori's closest friends. Kaori has known him since elementary school along with Shizuku as the three of them were always together at the time. It is due to Kouki's presence that most boys that harbored crushes on Kaori didn't confess to her as they thought that they couldn't match up to Kouki. But in reality, unlike many other girls, Kaori is immune to Kouki's handsome looks and his charming personality as she knew how dense he was as well as his habit of interpreting things to his liking which prevented her from seeing him in a romantic light. Because of this he was incapable of noticing Kaori's romantic feelings and growing love towards Hajime. Kouki treasures her and believed that they would always be together, which is why he could not accept the fact that she wanted to join Hajime, even going as far as to try to force her to stay with him by challenging Hajime only to end up being easily defeated by him.

In Volume 9, during the trial in the Frost Cravens of Schnee, Kaori noticed and started worrying about Kouki's growing hostility to Hajime, as Kouki was proclaiming his desire to save Tortus from Ehit in a spiteful tone to Hajime. In Volume 10, when Kaori arrived to witness Kouki's fight with Hajime, she was shocked by Kouki's frenzied state as he attempted to kill Hajime while proclaiming his desire to reclaim Kaori and Shizuku for himself only for Kouki to be easily overpowered and defeated by Hajime without effort or sustains injuries. When Hajime was willing to kill Kouki for his insolence and to avoid something like this again, Kaori along with Shizuku managed to convince Hajime to spare Kouki's life. When Kouki insolently boasted that if he had fallen into the abyss instead of Hajime, it would be he who would have Kaori and Shizuku, she slapped him out of anger and sadness due to him disregarding how much that event caused her pain. She then begged him to not say such hurtful things as he was one of her precious friends.

In the After Story, she begged Hajime to rescue Kouki who was once again summoned to another world. After witnessing Kouki's growth and his developing relationship with Moana de Shelt Synclea, she became very happy due to Kouki finally accepting himself and finding love.

Ryutarou Sakagami
Ryutarou is one of Kaori's closest friends in high school. She is close to him and cares for him but is sometimes exasperated with his behavior. Due to being the party healer, she becomes irritated when Ryutarou foolishly charges ahead without planning or considering his actions, which results in him getting injured. Unlike Kouki, Ryutarou only considered Kaori as a friend as shown when he allowed her to be with Hajime just so he won't get involved into Hajime's bad side due to his newfound fears for him. In Volume 9, during the trial in the Frost Cravens of Schnee Labyrinth, Kaori became particularly irritated with him due to his recklessness in his fight with the Frost Golem, so much so that she asked if there is a healing magic that leaves pain in it's targets. Kaori also dislikes being accused of being as reckless as him.

Suzu Taniguchi
Suzu is one of Kaori's closest friends in high school, whom Kaori affectionately referred as Suzu-chan. Suzu did her best to support Kaori by cheering her up when she was traumatized by Hajime's supposed death. While Kaori decided to travel with Hajime, Suzu doesn't mind of letting her travel and wished her good luck in her journey with Hajime due to her fears for Hajime. After Eri's betrayal, Kaori attempted to help Suzu in reaching Eri by convincing Hajime to allow Suzu and the rest of the Hero party to travel with him. Kaori feels guilty whenever she accidentally causes Suzu to get depressed by mentioning Eri. After clearing the Frost Caverns of Schnee, Kaori promised to accompany Suzu to confront Eri and protect her if Eri attempts to harm her.

Lundel S. B. Heiligh
Kaori was Lundel's first love but is shattered when she chose to leave him to join the "Hero Party". He unsuccessfully tries everything he can to keep Kaori out of the fighting and be by his side, but Kaori mistakes Lundel's respect for one of the summoned heroes of Earth. Kaori confesses that he views Lundel as a younger brother much to his dismay.