Mei Aihara



Mei Aihara is the supporting protagonist of the controversial manga Citrus and its 2018 manga adaptation.

Citrus
Mei is a 16-year-old student at the Aihara Academy, an all-girls school as well as the Student Council President. Upon Yuzu arriving to the school due to her mother remarrying, she immediately came into conflict with Yuzu over her violating the dress code established by the school. When she ordered Yuzu to hand over her cell phone, Mei proceeds to physically grope the phone out of her hands. Eventually, it is revealed that because of her mother remarrying, Mei was now her stepsister by law. While initially shocked by the news, Yuzu initially tries to make a good first impression, but she only recieves silence from Mei. As a way of getting her to talk, Yuzu brings up the kiss that Mei had with the homeroom teacher (who was also her fiance), claiming that it must've felt alluring since there was the likelihood that she could get caught for it. In response, Mei walks over to Yuzu and pushes her to the ground, forcefully holding her down as she kissed her. After finishing, Mei informs her that was what a kiss was like.

Throughout her time living with Yuzu and her mother, Mei has engaged in actions that could easily be construed as predatory in nature. For instance, there is one moment where she forcefully kisses Yuzu whilst bathing with her, and explaining it off as Yuzu wanting her to touch her. Mei had also had the habit of manipulating Yuzu's emotions for a duration of the time that she lived with her, often resorting to using forceful kisses to shut Yuzu up. It is later revealed that the reason behind her behavior is because she had personal issues that manifested sometime after her father left. Her father was originally a strict man who she aspired to be like. However, one day, he felt unhappy with his life, and he left the school. It is also explained later on in the manga that Mei had tried to shut her heart out from accepting love because she could get hurt easily. Despite that, she had attempted to find love in her own way through botched research, and other misunderstandings. With Yuzu, Mei had esentially tried to use her as an emotional crutch for her personal problems, but whenever she became emotionally distressed, she attempts to force herself onto Yuzu for solace. In one instance of this, when Mei realized that her father was not intending on returning to the school, she attempts to have her way with Yuzu, exploiting the fact that Yuzu would truly want that. However, Yuzu instead slaps her, informing her that she was family and not some toy she could confide in.

As such, Mei had gradually improved as a character. After Yuzu helped her to make good terms with her father, Mei engages in a kiss, this time out of her own volition, thus marking the moment that she truly began to fall in love with her stepsister.