Chika Amabe

Chika Amabe is a cheerful girl living in Ehime Prefecture, specifically in Niihama City.

She runs errands on a small motorbike and helps her family operate a seaside guesthouse called “Minshuku Amabe.”

She is the same age as Suzume Iwato, and they quickly become friends after a chance roadside encounter involving a spilled load of mandarin oranges.

Despite knowing almost nothing about Suzume at first, Chika senses that Suzume is on an important mission and chooses to support her without demanding explanations.

Chika has short, neatly cut light-brown hair in a bob that ends just below her ears, giving her a fresh and brisk look.

Her large, round eyes are accentuated with noticeable makeup, and her glossy lips show that she pays attention to her appearance.

In her daily school life, she wears a white and navy sailor-style school uniform.

When she rides her motorbike to carry goods such as mandarin oranges, she changes into a red school tracksuit and wears a helmet for practicality.

While helping at the family inn, she appears in a traditional inn attendant outfit, serving guests and carrying meal trays.

Her different outfits underline her roles as student, worker, and energetic local girl.

Chika’s personality is as bright and open as her appearance suggests.

She is frank, friendly, and talkative, quickly breaking the ice and bonding with Suzume despite meeting her for the first time.

She has a natural tendency to help others and does so without expecting anything in return.

Her generosity is shown in how she supports Suzume’s journey with food, lodging, clothes, and a ride, all offered casually and wholeheartedly.

Chika is also warm and a bit playful, teasing and chatting about romance, and sometimes acting like an older sister to Suzume.

She can complain about boys in a joking way, saying that they are often more trouble than they are worth, yet she clearly enjoys talking about her own love life.

Chika lives with her family in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture.

Her family runs a small, family-operated inn called “Minshuku Amabe,” with most of the work covered by Chika, her parents, and her younger brother, plus a few hired staff.

During busy times, Chika dresses as an inn attendant and helps with serving guests, carrying trays, and handling basic chores.

She also takes on practical tasks such as loading mandarin oranges onto the back of her small motorbike and delivering them around town.

The inn’s meals are hearty and carefully prepared, featuring dishes such as salted grilled cutlassfish, yellowtail sashimi, vegetable-rich white miso soup, and local specialties like taro hot pot.

Dessert often includes mandarin jelly, tying into the region’s famous citrus produce.

When Suzume stays at the inn, the quality and warmth of the meal deeply move her.

Having been on the road and eating poorly, Suzume is so touched by the “truly delicious” home-cooked food that she ends up crying as she eats.

Chika once attended a local middle school that became a key setting in Suzume’s story.

Years before the main events, a landslide struck the area, leading to the abandonment of the entire settlement and the closure of the school.

The school building where Suzume and Souta Munakata (in his chair form) later close a supernatural door is this very middle school.

After visiting the site again with Suzume in the car, Chika later reflects while they lie wrapped in blankets together that “today I went back there for the first time in a long while, thanks to you.”

Chika has recently started dating a boyfriend.

She describes him affectionately yet playfully, complaining that he gets jealous easily and says he wants to go to places where the two of them can be alone.

While talking with Suzume, she jokes about boys and romance, remarking that “boys are no good” in a half-serious, half-laughing way.

These conversations show her as a typical, modern high school girl who enjoys gossiping about relationships.

Chika also shows off a slightly precocious side when giving Suzume romantic “tips.”

For example, she confidently claims that the best way to wake a grumpy partner in the morning is with a kiss, presenting it as a tried-and-true trick.

Chika and Suzume meet when Chika is driving her small motorbike up a slope to deliver mandarin oranges as part of her family’s business.

Hit by a bump, the bike jolts and the crates of oranges spill onto the road.

Suzume reacts quickly, grabbing a net lying by the roadside and spreading it to catch the rolling oranges before they tumble away.

Impressed by Suzume’s reflexes and quick thinking, Chika exclaims in disbelief and then immediately thanks her, shaking her hand enthusiastically.

The two girls sit together by the roadside, sharing the oranges that are no longer good enough to sell.

As they talk, Chika learns that Suzume has come all the way from Kyushu to search for a cat, which astonishes her and makes Suzume seem mysterious and intriguing.

The calm moment ends abruptly when Suzume senses a supernatural disturbance and suddenly rushes off.

Chika is left behind, confused by the sudden farewell and by Suzume’s refusal to explain what is going on.

Realizing that Suzume must be in a hurry and facing something serious, Chika jumps on her motorbike and races after her.

She catches up, offers Suzume a ride, and, without fully understanding the situation, tells her that she can at least get her as close to her destination as possible.

Chika drives at full speed, but the road ahead is partially cut off, so she cannot take Suzume all the way.

Trusting Suzume to return, Chika waits in the evening gloom for her to come back.

When Suzume finally returns, covered in mud and clearly exhausted from closing the door at the abandoned school, Chika does not press her for explanations.

Instead, she naturally invites Suzume to stay at her family’s inn, offering a hot meal, a bath, and help with cleaning her uniform.

At Minshuku Amabe, Chika looks after Suzume like family.

She arranges for her to eat with them, wash up, and rest properly, and the two share friendly conversations and late-night chats as they lie down to sleep.

During their talks, Chika openly treats Suzume as a peer and close friend, calling her “Suzume” without formality.

Suzume addresses her simply as “Chika,” and their easy, equal way of speaking shows how quickly they have bonded.

As they get to know each other, Chika senses that Suzume is carrying a heavy, secretive responsibility.

She jokingly calls Suzume a “magician” for keeping so many secrets, but at the same time, she sincerely tells her that it feels like she is doing something truly important.

When they part, Chika continues to support Suzume in practical and emotional ways.

She even gives Suzume some of her own casual clothes, explaining that Suzume’s school uniform would stand out too much and attract unwanted attention as she continues her journey.

Chika’s role in Suzume’s story is to embody the kindness and energy of local Japan.

She becomes a brief but powerful ally to Suzume, offering trust, help, and friendship without asking for anything in return, and pushing her gently onward on her path.