Mako Hitomi is the Operator of Azuma Squad within Border, the organization dedicated to defending Earth from the Neighbors. She is a light-skinned young woman of average build and height, with big gray-blue eyes and medium-length gray-brown hair that is cut slightly shorter on the right side, with a fringe usually covering her left eye. Hitomi joined Border after the First Large-Scale Invasion, a tragedy in which her grandfather gave his life to protect her. That sacrifice prompted her to reflect on what she wanted to do with her life and ultimately led her to enlist. As the operator of a top-tier B-rank unit, she is a competent multi-tasker who assists Azuma by finding lines of fire on anti-sniper maps and programming Dummy Beacons. She is someone Azuma can rely on both in battle and outside of it, and they address each other by surname. Hitomi acts as a big sister figure to her teammates Noboru Koarai and Tsutomu Okudera, who joined Border at the same time she did, and she sometimes intervenes to cool down their debates when they turn into ego battles. She and Okudera are neighbors, and he has harbored a secret crush on her since childhood, a fact that even Koarai has not noticed. Outside of her squad, she maintains friendships from her school days with Rin Kagami, Yuka Kon, and Hiro Kitazoe. Hitomi has a mild, somewhat quirky personality that shows in quieter moments; she enjoys watching horror movies in the dark in the strategy room, often giggling at them, which still startles Azuma whenever he walks in on her. Her calm, reliable presence and technical proficiency make her a steadying force within Azuma Squad.