Shouta Kazehaya

Name
Japanese	風早 翔太
Rōmaji	Kazehaya Shōta
English	Shouta Kazehaya
Personal Information
Birthday	May 15
Sign	Taurus
Age	16 (Debut) 18 (Timeskip)
Gender	Male
Height	177 cm (5'9)
Weight	60 kg (132 lbs)
Blood Type	O
Relatives	Touta Kazehaya (Younger Brother) Sawako Kuronuma (Wife) Kitao Kuronuma (Father-in-law) Youko Kuronuma (Mother-in-law) Eiji Akahoshi (Cousin-in-law)
Motto	"Believe in and pursue the truth"
Professional Status
Occupation	Student
Affiliation	Kitahoro High School
First Appearance
Manga	Volume 1 Chapter 0
Anime	Episode 1 Prologue
Voiced by
Japanese	Daisuke Namikawa
English	Khoi Dao
French	Damien Laquet (Black Box), Arthur Raynal (Netflix)
Latin-American Spanish	José Luis Piedra
Portrayed by
Movie	Haruma Miura
TV series	Ouji Suzuka

"Deep down, I'm pretty selfish, controlling, and like things my way. That's why I'm just about out of patience. I know it may be difficult to do... but I want to stop beating around the bush."

- Kazehaya asserting his candid personality to Ryu Sanada

Shouta Kazehaya (風早 翔太 Kazehaya Shōta) is the deuteragonist of Kimi ni Todoke. He is Sawako Kuronuma's friendly and outgoing classmate, and later her boyfriend. Born and brought up in the town of Kitahoro, his family owns a sportswear shop, and his father is a baseball coach. Kazehaya was on his father's baseball league team ever since he was a young boy, and played baseball along with his best friend Ryu Sanada in Kitahoro Middle School. He quit baseball in high school due to his strained relationship with his father and mother's failing health, though he still attends his homeroom teacher Pin's morning baseball practices.

In Kitahoro High School, Shouta is very popular for his friendliness, truthfulness, and willingness to put aside all bias against everyone he meets. Even popular among girls, the "Kazehaya is Everyone's" alliance was unanimously formed to maintain some level of peace among his admirers. But the moment he meets Sawako, this alliance is set up to be ruined. For not only does she begin to open up socially and form relationships with her classmates, but he also begins to fall in love with her.

Appearance

Shouta has a tall, good-looking figure. He is described to have a baby face by Pin. He is seen to have brown blackish hair, big brown eyes and is known for having a bright smile, which is something a lot of people like about him. He is considered to be quite good looking.

He usually wears different variations of his Kitahoro school uniform, but usually only wears a tie during days with ceremonies. In summer, he just wears a buttoned shirt, in spring and fall he wears a long sleeved buttoned shirt with a blue vest over it, and in winter wears a beige vest with a blue jacket over it.

When he goes out, he usually wears casual clothing like most other guys, and wears a green jacket with a fur hoodie during winter.

Personality

All around, Shouta is known by his classmates as a lively and outgoing person. Always making the extra effort to greet everyone around him with a refreshing smile, no matter what their background was, he quickly stood out in a positive way. Upon meeting him, Sawako stated herself that she felt Shouta was made out of cheerfulness itself.

Generally broad-minded, Shouta is straightforward and despite these good traits, he is known for having many bad traits which he himself notes. He has admitted to Sawako himself that he is a selfish person, although she said she did not mind. When talking with Ryu, he admits that he's a selfish person who wants everything his way, and was jealous of those who were near Sawako, and Ryu also notes he has a short- temper. He describes himself as someone who always does what he wants.

He is shown to be a bit oblivious at times, as at first he thought Sawako's admiration was feelings of love until he realized after, leaving him to be embarassed at himself. He also thought Kurumi actually liked Pin, but finds out Kurumi's true feelings. He also does not realize Sawako actually loves him, as he thought Sawako just didn't hate him, until he starts to think he is an annoyance to Sawako, only hurting her more. He is also shown to be dedicated to Sawako, as he rejected Kurumi when she confessed her feelings to him, admitting he was truly in love with someone, which was Sawako.

Relationships

Sawako Kuronuma

His relationship with Sawako is one of the main forces that drives the series. Shouta has always been interested in Sawako since the first day of school after seeing her smile, since he never saw it again. He began to fall in love with Sawako after the Courage Test, and starts to talk to her more. He helps her many times, giving her new opportunities, and is troubled when Sawako begins to avoid him, until he finds out it is because of the rumors. He is not afraid to scold Sawako, in order to make her understand that avoiding him wasn't right, and that he talked to her because he wanted to. He figures out later on that Sawako isn't the type who thinks about dating at first, and decided to hold off for a while. He's admitted to Sawako that he's selfish and may not be able to be there for her at times, but she says it was fine, which left him a bit happy. Shouta is the type of person who wants to be there for Sawako no matter what, and be there to protect her, as seen when Ryu catches a ball that almost hits Sawako, leaving Shouta to tell Ryu he wished he was the one who "saved her". He also threatened Kento when he thought Kento had made Sawako cry, leading Sawako to cry even more.

He has always been cheerful and energetic around Sawako, as he wanted to see her smile again and was interested in her, not realizing it was out of feelings of love. He even admitted he had acted however he wanted around Sawako at first.

Shouta has thought Sawako as being pretty many times, but really feels she's prettier than usual during their date on New Years. He is always someone who affects Sawako greatly, and admits Sawako affects him as well. Shouta has gotten jealous over situations involving Sawako many times, as seen when he takes Sawako by the hand away from Ryu, and when he stood up in panic after Kento started getting closer to Sawako. After Sawako doesn't give him chocolates on Valentine's Day, he becomes more troubled by what Sawako feels, and how he wants to tell Sawako his feelings. In the end, when he does get the courage to confess to Sawako, it ends up badly, with both of them thinking they'd been rejected. Later on, even though Pin "tells" Shouta to give up, Shouta decides he can't give up on his feelings for Sawako, since she has always tried hard no matter what, and he wants to do the same. He admires Sawako for this, and is inspired to keep trying, as he feels Sawako has misunderstood him. After they both confess their feelings to one another, they finally get together, but Shouta finally asks Sawako out, after being unsure of how their relationship was.

Later on, during their first date, Shouta finally gets the Christmas present that Sawako wanted to give him, and the chocolates she was too nervous to give. After Shouta finds out what had truly happened, he is left happy , and comforts Sawako after she wishes time would pass by quickly so being together was normal, and admitting he thought he was the only one who loved her, and wasn't being loved back. Shouta continues to give compliments to Sawako on how she looks after they get together, leaving Sawako flustered but happy. Shouta admits how he could never hate Sawako no matter what, and truly cares about her. Their date ends shortly afterwards. Despite getting to know each others' parents, both Sawako and Shouta continue to feel awkward around each other, unable to hold hands and kiss. Ayane walked in on their attempt to kiss during the Okinawa field trip, and later on, Shouta's miscommunications cause them to not look at each other during the Christmas party. Only after the party does Sawako call Shouta out on this, clearly visibly upset, and at this point, Shouta kisses Sawako. Their relationship is salvaged after another 45 minutes of serious conversation, and afterwards, they are able to hold hands and kiss without any problems. Sawako also gets more involved with Shouta's own family issues, giving Shouta the courage to make a decision over his future as well as get his parents to accept his relationship with Sawako.

Ryu Sanada

Ryu is a good friend of Shouta's who he has known since junior high. They were both on the baseball team, which is how they met. Shouta and Ryu usually talk to one another, and Ryu is one of Shouta's closest friends, as he is one of the few guys who knows Shouta's true personality and feelings. Shouta is also there for Ryu, as seen when Chizuru was rejected by Toru, leaving Ryu troubled as well. Shouta values his friendship with Ryu highly, as he has confided to Ryu about his feelings about Sawako many times.

Kazuichi "Pin" Arai

Pin has known Shouta since he was a kid, and knows about the many embarrassing things Shouta has done, like wetting his bed, much to Shouta's displeasure. Shouta and Pin usually have a relentless teasing relationship at one another, but Shouta has admitted Pin has made him think a few times. Pin helps Shouta realize that he has to tell feelings or else nothing will happen, and provoked Shouta to think more about his feelings for Sawako after telling Shouta to 'give up'. Pin still continues to make fun of Shouta, and Shouta has to face it, but does appreciate Pin's advice at times. However, he was jealous of Pin at one point when he had gotten chocolates from Sawako, leading him to give Pin a painful massage.

Ume 'Kurumi' Kurumizawa

Shouta has known Kurumi since junior high. At one time, he comforted Kurumi when she was alone in the classroom and he visited just to retrieve his baseball kit. Kurumi had been hearing rumors about herself being spread by others, and was left upset by them. After that, Kurumi started developing feelings for Shouta, which the latter never acknowledged until Kurumi finally confessed. By then, it was too late as Shouta admitted to liking someone else. In fact, it was due to seeing Shouta with Sawako that Kurumi began to spread rumors about Sawako and her friends, despite knowing that Shouta does not like people who spread rumors.

Kurumi finally acknowledges Sawako's relationship with Shouta, in front of Shouta himself at the start of the third year upon seeing both of them together at the library. After graduation, Kurumi admits to Shouta that he helped her become friends with Sawako.

Quotes

• "Back then... That feeling I felt back then... This feeling, which has since then continued to grow... I wonder if it'll reach you someday." - Shouta's thoughts at the end of episode 1
• "At that time, I didn't know that I had fallen in love. I didn't know that every time I learned something about you, I would find out something new about myself. You have an inner strength. You're strong and sweet. I want to be as close to you as possible. That's how I feel." - Shouta's thoughts at the end of his recollection in chapter 44
• "Dear Kuronuma... This letter is a reply to the letter you gave me on my last birthday. After getting to know you, my world changed. I'm impatient. I'm always in a rush for some reason. But being with you, I've learned to enjoy going slow. Four years in university will be longer than the time we've spent together. I might worry and get sad sometimes, but when I feel that way, I'll email you or call you. I'll report the fun stuff too, and I'll make sure I get to see your face. I'll visit you. The distance and the time, it will all be gone when I see your face. I can even enjoy the uncertainty, as long as I'm with you. I love you." - Shouta's letter to Sawako Kuronuma on the day she leaves for university, chapter 123.

Etymology

• The name Shouta means "soar, glide, fly" (翔) (shou) and "thick, big, great" (太) (ta).
• Shouta's surname Kazehaya means "wind, breeze, way, manner, blaster, gale, gust, sirocco, method" (風) (kaze) and "already, now, fast, early" (早) (haya).