Shoko Makinohara

"What I think, Sakuta-Kun, is that life is here for us to become kinder. I live life every day hoping I was a slightly kinder person than I was the day before". An older Shoko to Sakuta Azusagawa about her reasons for her kindness.

Shoko Makinohara (牧之原 翔子, Makinohara Shōko) is one of the main protagonists of the Rascal does not dream of Bunny Girl Senpai series. After helping Sakuta Azusagawa deal with his sister, Kaede's, Adolescence Syndrome, a term used to describe abnormal experiences during adolescence as a result of sensitivity and instability, she became Sakuta's first crush until she suddenly disappeared.

Middle School
Shoko is a short young girl with long blue hair and light blue eyes. She wears a white and blue middle school uniform with a blue skirt and a red bow tie. band is usually seen holding an umbrella outside.

High School
The older Shoko has grown relatively taller. She is seen wearing the Minegahara High school uniform, and later a white dress.

Personality
Shoko is a kind and compassionate person as she voluntarily helped Sakuta Azusagawa and Kaede Azusagawa go through the hardships of Adolescence Syndrome and was also willing to adopt a cat left in the rain.

History
Shoko was born with poor health, and was hospitalized several times since beginning elementary school. Three years ago in fourth grade, Shoko's class was assigned to write down their plans for the future on a sheet of paper. While her classmates did so with ease, Shoko found herself unable to write down anything due to her heart disease.

Shoko was first found at Shichigahara Beach by Sakuta Azusagawa and listened to his story about his ordeal with Adolescence Syndrome. Sometime after their first meeting, Sakuta asked her why she chose to believe his story. Shoko replied that there were as many different worlds as there were people. After stating that it was fate that brought them together, Shoko told that she believed life was there to people to be kinder and that she lived hoping to be kinder the next day. Shoko approved his subsequent request to live like her, adding now that he knew pain others couldn't understand, he would become kinder than anyone else.

Plot
Shoko introduces herself to Sakuta and Mai On a rainy day, a girl with the same appearance and name as Shoko was found covering a kitten in a box with her umbrella by Sakuta Azusagawa and Mai Sakurajima. Upon being asked for her contact info so that she would adopt the cat after Sakuta did, Shoko introduced her name, which surprised the former. Afterwards, she began visiting Sakuta's house every now and then to check on the cat, now called 'Hayate'.

On October 16, Shoko was called by Sakuta to confirm if she had sent a letter to come meet at Shichirigahama Beach, to which she responded that she didn't. Shoko apologized for not visiting for some time, adding that she wasn't feeling well and she would come back once she did. "Shoko-san" arrives to help Sakuta once again On November 27, the older Shoko appeared in front of Sakuta Azusagawa while he was grieving the loss of Kaede Azusagawa's recent memories and after his scars reopened, and brought him to his home to treat his injuries. Outside his bathroom, Shoko read excerpts from Kaede's diary out loud, revealing that Kaede had expected her former memories to return and that Sakuta would blame himself; thus, she wanted to give Sakuta happy experiences so that he wouldn't have any regrets once she regained her former self. When Sakuta berated himself for crying, Shoko stated that his sadness showed how significant Kaede's existence was and that as her big brother, he had to embrace it all. The next day, Shoko left a note telling that she went home.

On December 7, the older Shoko suddenly arrived at Sakuta's apartment. When asked about her relation to the middle-school Shoko, the older Shoko claimed that they were both the same person and that she suddenly grows older from time to time. Much to Mai's and Sakuta's consternation, Shoko decides to live with Sakuta, as she has grown rather fond of him.

Two days later, the younger Shoko comes across Sakuta at the hospital. She tells him about her history with poor health, and how to her dismay, forces her parents to comply with anything she asks of them. She is then told by Sakuta to tell her parents that she loves them. Back at Sakuta's apartment, the older Shoko tells Mai and Sakuta that she had a heart disease, so she dreamed of living long enough to become an adult. Taking her existence into account, she muses that she could be a projection of her younger self's dream.

The next day, Shoko finds the future goals sheet she was assigned in fourth grade with plans written on it, despite not having written anything previously. When presents the sheet to Sakuta and his friend Rio Futuba when they visit, she notes that the goals are close to what she would write down today.

Trivia

 * The name Shoko means "clear" (彰, sho) and "child" (子, ko).
 * Shoko's surname, Makinohara, means "Shepard Field" (makino) and "field, plain" (原, hara).