Mai, orphaned granddaughter of Kin'gyoku Academy's headmistress Ran Ookumo, recoils at Kabamaru’s crude manners and endless hunger, deeming him feral compared to her polished ideals embodied by student council president Shizune Mejiro—whose calculated charm she misreads as sincerity, oblivious to his manipulation of her lineage.

As a pragmatic first-year, she arbitrates classroom chaos with cutting critiques, her peacemaking efforts pushing her to challenge Ōgyoku School’s leaders—a gamble that backfires into captivity. Kabamaru’s intervention cracks her disdain, revealing glimmers of nobility beneath his roughness.

A mountain blizzard becomes their turning point when Kabamaru shields her in an isolated shack, his uncharacteristic compassion thawing her resistance. Defenses crumble into reciprocated affection, sealed by a vow to reconnect after his temporary return to ninja training.

Though bound to her eccentric grandmother by duty, Mai chafes at Ran’s decree framing Kabamaru as her sibling—a label her heart now rejects. Where once she bristled at Kabamaru’s wildness, she now meets it with unguarded warmth, her journey from contempt to tenderness defying prescribed roles.

Unaware of admirers like Shuu Maejima and Derek circling her orbit, Mai’s focus stays fixed on bridging school rivalries and decoding Kabamaru’s transformation from nuisance to necessary. Her journey crystallizes in a farewell vow, prejudice dissolved into purposeful vulnerability as she steps from critic to cornerstone of the academy’s beating heart.