Makoto Kisaragi is the protagonist of the story, a fifteen-year-old high school freshman who has grown up in the shadow of her older sister Rika, a famous magazine model. From a young age, Makoto has been constantly compared to her beautiful and charismatic sister, which has given her a deep inferiority complex and very low self-esteem. She is a pessimistic and self-critical girl, often prone to negative, delusional thinking and a so-called persecution complex. Because of her lack of confidence, she rejected a confession from a boy named Tomoya Watase during middle school, hurting him in the process, and carries that bitter experience with her. Even after entering high school, most of her classmates only see her as the little sister of a famous model, and only her childhood friend Uki Morinaga truly understands her.

Makoto’s primary motivation is to change herself and become more confident and cute, stepping out of her sister’s shadow and making her own high school debut. She decides to befriend the most popular boy in her class, Shun Iriya, but unlike others, Iriya does not know about her famous sister and sees her simply as Makoto Kisaragi, a girl who tries her best despite being clumsy. His kind and unprejudiced treatment of her leads her to gradually develop romantic feelings for him. As the story progresses, Makoto learns about Iriya’s own troubled past—he was neglected and abandoned by his biological mother and now lives with his aunt—and this knowledge deepens her resolve to become stronger for both of them. After confronting and making peace with her past rejection of Watase, she and Iriya become a couple, sharing their first kiss on Christmas Day.

Makoto’s key relationships include her loving but overshadowing sister Rika, who dotes on her despite being the source of her complexes; her supportive childhood friend Uki, who understands her without judgment; and her eccentric friend Nanami Shirayuki, who offers advice from her own experiences. She also has a volatile early interaction with Issei Yusa, Iriya’s protective friend, who initially treats her harshly but later grudgingly accepts their relationship. Through these connections and her growing bond with Iriya, Makoto experiences notable character development, gradually shedding her pessimism and learning to trust in her own worth and abilities. While she does not possess any supernatural or combat abilities, her notable trait is her determined, albeit often clumsy, effort to improve herself and to face her insecurities head-on.