The eldest son of Yji Hanabishi, the head of the Hanabishi Zaibatsu, Kaoru Hanabishi, a university student, was scheduled to take over the zaibatsu after his father retired. Kumi Honj, his mother, and his father never married, which made life difficult for him and his mother. When Kaoru was five years old, his father died. Following that, Yji's father, Gen'ichiro Hanabishi, took Kaoru under his wing and began schooling him in preparation for his eventual succession. Kaoru, on the other hand, never felt at ease in the Hanabishi household and exiled himself when his mother died. Day by day, he felt alone, as if life was dragging him along for no apparent reason.