Aoi Tsubaki is a headstrong university student with the ability to see Ayakashi, who finds herself working in the Hidden Realm to pay off her grandfather's massive debt through her exceptional cooking skills.
Age: University sophomore
Hobbies: Cooking and eating
Aoi is a brave and outspoken young woman who is not easily intimidated, even when facing powerful Ayakashi. She is known to talk back and stand her ground firmly.
She has a deep passion for all things related to food, loving both the act of cooking and the joy of eating. This interest is so profound that Oryou jokingly calls her a "Cook-Cook-Fiend."
Despite her tough exterior, Aoi is incredibly kind and cannot bear to see anyone go hungry, whether they are human or Ayakashi. This compassion stems from her own traumatic childhood experiences.
Due to being abandoned and nearly starving to death in a storm, she has a strong fear of thunder and hunger.
She has a complicated view of her late grandfather, Shirou, bluntly calling him a "scumbag" for his irresponsible behavior but still holding onto the cooking skills he taught her.
Aoi was neglected as a young child and eventually abandoned by her mother.
Left to starve to death during a thunderstorm, she was miraculously saved by a mysterious Ayakashi wearing a white Noh mask. This being gave her a "food that changes fate," altering her destiny and allowing her to live.
After this encounter, she was found by child welfare services and placed in a care facility. She was later adopted by her grandfather, Shirou Tsubaki, who taught her how to cook.
Upon Shirou's death, Aoi was left completely alone in the world.
Aoi possesses the rare ability to see Ayakashi, a power she has had since she was a child.
She is an incredibly talented chef, a skill she inherited and learned from her grandfather, Shirou.
Shirou Tsubaki
Aoi's late grandfather. She has mixed feelings about him, calling him a "scumbag" for his massive debt and lecherous habits, but she is also sometimes praised for having inherited his bold nature.
Odanna
The powerful ogre master of the Tenjin-ya inn. He claims Aoi as his bride to settle Shirou's 100-million-yen debt, leading to her being known as the "Ogre Bride." Aoi secretly wonders if he might be the masked Ayakashi who saved her as a child.
Ginji
The nine-tailed fox young master of Tenjin-ya. He is the first to support Aoi and helps her open her small eatery, "Yugao." Aoi also considers that he might be her childhood savior, as he seems to know about her past.
Other Ayakashi
Initially, many Ayakashi dislike Aoi because she is Shirou's granddaughter. However, some, like the Tengu chief Matsuba and the Jorōgumo Suzuran, were helped by Shirou in the past and see his admirable traits reflected in Aoi.
Abduction to the Hidden Realm
After her grandfather's death, Aoi is suddenly spirited away to the Hidden Realm by Odanna. He informs her that she must marry him to pay off the 100-million-yen debt her grandfather, Shirou, left behind.
A New Beginning
Aoi flatly refuses the marriage proposal and declares that she will work to pay back the debt on her own terms. However, she is unable to find employment at Tenjin-ya due to her being Shirou's granddaughter and Odanna's human fiancée.
Wandering through the inn, she discovers a small, unused restaurant. After serving a delicious meal to Ginji, she gains his support to reopen the eatery, which she names "Yugao."
The Search for a Savior
Aoi remains determined to find the identity of the masked Ayakashi who saved her from starvation as a child. She suspects it could be Odanna, but also considers the possibility that it was Ginji, given his kindness and mysterious knowledge of her past.
Her obsession with food is so great that she once considered using a precious Tengu fan she received from Matsuba as a simple placemat for fish.
Her voice actress, Nao Toyama, also voices a character named Aoi Sakamoto, who shares her first name and is also known as a fierce "ogre bride."
She shares a similar backstory with Natsume Takashi from *Natsume's Book of Friends*, who also inherited a burden from a deceased relative. The voice actor for her grandfather, Shirou, also voices Natsume's "useless bodyguard."
Her situation is similar to the Master from *Restaurant to Another World*, who also runs an eatery for otherworldly beings due to his late grandfather. Both of their grandfathers share the same voice actor.
Voice Actor: Nao Toyama
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