Kumatsuka Yayoi

Yayoi Kumatsuka is the mother of Kirin and the wife of Kumatsuka Satoru. She teaches drama at Morinomiya Academy.

In the Manga
Yayoi is taller than the other female teachers and has longer-than-shoulder-length-hair with straight bangs that cover her eyebrows. She has a signature trademark which involves frequently having a loose single strand of hair hanging in front of her face as well as a beauty mark beneath her left eye. She has both dark colored eyes and hair which causes her to have a ghostly aura, accompanied by her taste in dark clothing. However, despite her vacant expression, she is known to smile in a friendly manner from time to time as well as fulfill the role of a loving mother towards her daughter.

In the Anime
Yayoi identically resembles her manga counterpart in a physical aspect, except with a few slight differences. When she first appears, her hair differs from the pitch black tone to a forest green color as well as showcasing grey eyes instead of the dark hue displayed in the manga.

Personality
She is fairly quiet and soft-spoken, made especially obvious next to her more extroverted daughter and husband. Her incredibly calm composure tends to come off as eerie to Ryuuichi at times. Though she seems to be emotionless and cold, she shows incredible displays of emotion when she instructs the students in the drama club. This is especially prevalent during drama camps when there are upcoming events, where Yayoi's instruction is passionate and harsh. She demands nothing short of the best from her students, who both fear and respect her for it.

When it comes to her family, Yayoi is maternal and warm. She cares for Kirin and her husband Satoru very much and feels bad for leaving Kirin in Ryuuichi's care for a week. She is gentle and very close to her daughter.

History
She is dedicated to the drama club, leading to multiple attempts of persuading Ryuuichi and the rest to join. On one occasion, she hands over Kirin to the club for a week (with Ryuuichi responsible for her overnight care as well) because she needed to help her drama students practice for the Morinomiya Drama Festival.

Yayoi first met her husband Satoru when she was playing the lead role in a play while attending Morinomiya University. It is said by her classmates during this time that Yayoi was being scouted by movie directors to become an actress in films, though Yayoi wanted to pursue a career in education. Backstage, an acquaintance of Satoru took him to find a subject for his photography entry, in which Satoru began to berate Yayoi saying that her acting wasn't good at all that that other than the fact that she was " a little pretty" there was nothing special about her at all and began to flirt with other female members of the cast. Though troubled by his words, Yayoi performed for the three last days of the play and noticed that Satoru, on every one of those days, was in attendance in the back, watching. When he finally clapped for her at the end of her performance, Yayoi was so overcome with happiness that she began to smile, shocking Satoru and making him bashful in her presence. Sometime after, she ended up marrying Satoru and had their daughter Kirin.

Kumatsuka Kirin
Yayoi strives to ensure her daughter's adoration of her isn't misplaced. She feels immense guilt that the job she dedicates herself to leaves her with little time to spend with her daughter. On one occasion, Yayoi was forced to break a promise to come home in time for them to go to the Petite Pois event together due to one of her students getting injured. Kirin was so upset that she told Yayoi she hated her, and ran off to sulk. Fortunately, Ryuu was there to help mend the relationship by getting the two to say the Petite Pois catchphrase together.

When it comes to make-believe things Kirin thinks are real, Yayoi tries not to dispel her worldview. Other than the time when she told an upset Kirin that the dog that got hurt on TV was just acting, Yayoi thinks it best that Kirin holds tight to her beliefs for a while longer.

Kumatsuka Satoru
When she isn't forced to get him to calm down, Yayoi acts quite dismissive towards her excitable husband's behavior. She sees his habit of flattering other women as one of his good points, since she personally experienced great joy when he applauded her performance for he first time (and sadness when he stopped).

She relies on him from to tend to Kirin when she's the one busy with work. Knowing how he feels about their daughter being near boys, she tried to disguise the babysitters as girls to appease him during his first visit to the daycare. Though that only worked briefly, she generally trusts him not to make too big of a scene when she's not around.

Notes & Trivia

 * Yayoi frequently tries to get boys, especially, Ryuu, to dress up as girls. At first she claimed it was to convince her husband to not to protest Kirin spending time around boys, but the ruse was quickly discovered. It's later revealed that she makes boy cross-dress simply because she enjoys doing so, and will take just about any excuse to try.