Jirō Yakuin Husbando

Jiro Yakuin is the main male protagonist of More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers manga series. He is forced to pair up with Akari Watanabe in the couples training, and his main goal is to pair up with his childhood friend Shiori Sakurazaka that he will do anything to reach his goal, even acting as a newlywed with Akari. Prior to the main events of the series, Jiro used to be a cheerful and sociable boy in grade school with many friends. He was also more physically active and was considered to be one of the fastest runners in school. Although he initially replicated this behavior in middle school, Jiro slowly changed after string of a incidents involving his friend, Shiori Sakurazaka, which resulted in him becoming more meek, careful, and sensitive with regards to his actions. Finally, an unfortunate misunderstanding with Shiori during what was supposed to be a confession of love to her had completely shattered his self-esteem, which caused him to gradually retreat into the background and end up becoming unsociable. As noted by multiple characters including himself, he would often run away from the possibility of failure because he didn't want to embarrass himself. Around the time he reached high school, Jiro did not have many friends and is barely known by his fellow classmates. He would often spend his free time alone or with Sadaharu playing video games. The events from his middle school life and the subsequent lack of social interactions has caused Jiro to develop a notoriously high-strung personality. When interacting with acquaintances or people he barely knows, Jiro is often shown as nervous or even scared to some degree. This also applies to people he knows well such as Shiori and Akari as he would struggle to strike up a conversation with them without coming off as anxious or awkward. If caught in certain situations, Jiro would even display shocked or angry expressions that are considered amusing by some characters. For example, Akari would constantly tease Jiro because he would always overreact in response and she found it hilarious. Perhaps worst of all, Jiro's antisocial behavior has stunted his ability to interact with girls on a romantic level and despite his internal desire to have one, he never had a girlfriend in his entire life. Prior to the start of the series, Sadaharu appears to be the only person that Jiro can converse with comfortably. Although Jiro does gradually improve his ability to interact with others as time went on, he would still act anxious if he was forced to interact with acquaintances. Jiro lacks self-confidence and has an inferiority complex, often comparing himself unfavourably to other boys, particularly Minami. Jiro does not like being in predicaments where he will need to interact with others or be the center of attention for the fear that he may be judged. During his time working at the café, he preferred to work in the back as he did not want to interact with the customers. Jiro's perception of himself is so negative, that he even acts distant towards certain people out of fear that they will be judged for being around him. While this is not applicable to Sadaharu due to being longtime friends with him, this type of behavior is especially evident with Akari due to her reputation as a beautiful girl in and out of school. As a result, he would not call her by her first name in front of her friends and avoids being with her in public despite the fact that Akari has stated that she did not care what others think of her relationship with him. During his middle school years, Jiro also distanced himself from Shiori after overhearing his fellow students gossip over their relationship with each other. These fears began to fade after the sports festival, where he competed as a last-minute replacement for the injured Mei on the track team. Ironically, while Jiro is afraid to be judged, he himself has been prone to misjudge others and often jumps to the wrong conclusion about others' motives or backgrounds. Jiro's reclusive lifestyle and introverted personality has given him a reputation of being a slacker. Although not lazy in the traditional sense because he will do things when asked, Jiro is evidently not proactive as he would rather spend his days playing video games instead of doing something more productive. Consequently, some characters, including Jiro himself, find that he is the weaker link between himself and Akari as the latter is more experienced with cooking, thus leaving Jiro to do the more menial and less stressful chores. However, spending time with Akari has helped Jiro to become more proactive. After withdrawing from changing partners, Jiro promised himself that he would support Akari more as her "husband", after realizing that she had been doing most of the work alone, including cooking, housework, and gaining points. Among other things, Jiro started to learn how to cook. He became quite skilled at making omelettes, as acknowledged by Akari. While he lost most of his outgoing traits, Jiro's caring and kind nature has remained unchanged since his childhood. It especially resurfaces with Akari after he starts to warm up to her. This trait is why Shiori fell in love with him in grade school and why he has become a strong emotional support pillar for Akari. On top of his constant concern for the emotional well-being of his friends, Jiro is also helpful and is not one to normally refuse requests, no matter how ridiculous they may be. While Jiro's kindness is perhaps one of the most positive attributes of his personality, there are also times where this trait has acted as a hindrance. This is mostly shown in his desire to keep everyone happy if there is a dilemma that involves him having to make a difficult decision. When faced with a situation where no matter what choice he makes would cause emotional distress to someone he cares about, Jiro would rather be indecisive which would prolong the situation further. Additionally, Jiro appears to have a habit of accepting blame under circumstances where it is not his fault and he would profusely apologize for it because he believed it would be the quickest way to avoid making things worse.