Kakeru Manabe

Making his first appearance in Chapter 49 of the manga (Volume 9), Manabe appears at first as a rather lazy, yet outgoing and joyful young man, and has not changed since. Acting as Vice President of Kaibara High School's student council, Kakeru is "second-in-command of the School's Defense Force" and more than passionately works to be one of what he thinks is a Super Sentai type of job, often stating that he's "Black" (as in the black Goranger) while Yuki is "Red" (the leader).

Manabe can also be described as a younger version of Ayame Sohma (whom Manabe, upon meeting, immediately hugged and said no other person would be fit to be the Defence Force's commander), Yuki's older brother, and often is seen having striking similarities in personality. Yuki also compares him to Kyo with his ability to make friends. Though he might appear constantly happy and joyous on the outside, Manabe actually at times looks down on himself, and can often get serious if he sees the need to.

Manabe is always fascinated by the Sohma family's beauty, as he is occasionally seen asking different Sohma family members their secret to their handsomeness.

Manabe is also the half-brother of Machi Kuragi, the quiet and pensive treasurer. He is very protective of her and can often be seen ordering her around, though rather out of love than sibling superiority. They share the same father, but have different mothers. According to Kakeru, he is the illegitimate son of their father, but because he was older than Machi and the only son, their mothers got into a heated dispute as to who was to be their father's heir. Machi's mother was particularly hard on Machi, forcing her to be as perfect as possible, so that as the legitimate child of her father, she would become the family's heir over Kakeru.