Kira Aso

"'All I can do is to hope Rei can keep smiling...'"Kira Aso (麻生 キラ) is the main protagonist of Mars. She is the wife of Rei Kashino and the daughter of Mrs. Aso and Kira's father. At the beginning of the series and in Mars: A Horse With No Name, she is shy, cold, and does not want any contact with men. After meeting Rei during the spring break of sophomore year, she slowly became more open and accepting. She enjoys drawing and painting. At the end of the manga, Kira is extremely honest, not being afraid to tell people what she thinks. However, she is still extremely caring, worrying about Rei whenever he does something dangerous like racing motorcycles and still being kind to and checking on Masao after he tried to murder her and Rei.

Biography
Kira was born to Mrs. Aso and Kira's father. While Kira was in grade school, her father died in a car accident caused by a motorcycle gang. Sometime after the death of her husband, Mrs. Aso married Mr. Aso, who then became Kira's stepfather. Kira attended middle school with Tatsuya, who had a crush on her but was too afraid to tell her. Kira was sociable in middle school, until Mr. Aso began raping her, which caused her to become shy, emotionless and afraid of contact with men. While she was in middle school, Tatsuya briefly grazed her hand on accident, and Kira pulled her hand back in disgust. Some time prior to the events of the series, Mrs. Aso forced Mr. Aso to leave home. During her freshman year, Kira first encountered Rei, with him fishing her key out of the gutter.

While Kira knew of Rei before, hating him due to his playboy personality, Kira and Rei first met the day before school resumed from spring break during sophomore year. Kira gave Rei a map to where the hospital was without even talking to him, not knowing she drew it on a sketch of a mother and child. Rei really liked said sketch, and the two began talking to each other. After saving Kira from being sexually assaulted by Mr. Yoshioka, Rei started to protect Kira in exchange for her being able to paint him. After seeing him kiss a statue of Mars, Kira fell in love with Rei. A former lover of Rei, Harumi, got angry at Kira for, in her opinion, stealing Rei from her, but after Rei saved Kira from being killed by her, Harumi and Kira became friends. Kira began to learn more about Rei's past, most notably about his twin brother Sei. The two also began dating. Following the return of one of Rei's old friends, Shiori, Kira lets Rei be with Shiori. After Rei tells Shiori to leave, the two get back together.

Shortly after she and Rei get back together, a new student, Masao comes to the school. Masao has a crush on both Rei and Kira, but Rei is unusually hostile to him. It is revealed that Masao is a sociopath, and he tries to kill both her and Rei repeatedly throughout the manga. After he causes a lot of people to get hurt, Masao is sent to a trauma center, and Kira sometimes visits him. Also during this, Mr. Aso returns, claiming to have changed. Kira does not believe him and goes to live with Rei. After it is revealed he has not changed, Rei tries to attack Mr. Aso, which makes Mr. Aso leave. Kira begins to live with Rei's father Takayuki, where she learns even more about Rei's past, including his deceased mother Shoko and the truth about Sei. When she and Rei turn 18, they get married.

Rei Kashino
Kira and Rei, being husband and wife, are extremely close. Kira cares for Rei, helping him when he is injured and buying him various things for his apartment when she stayed with him. She recognized that Rei needed closure with Shiori, so temporarily let her have Rei for a bit. Kira likes painting Rei because of the emotions he gives off.

Masao Kirishima
Kira and Masao have a rough relationship. Kira feels bad for Masao, and tries to help him and checks on him both while he is in the Trauma Center and after. She does recognize that Masao is dangerous and has tried to murder both her and Rei. Kira once tried to paint Masao, but could not find any colors to portray him due to how cold he is. She got angry at Rei when he called Masao a slur.

Tatsuya Kida
Kira and Tatsuya are friends, and Kira asks him for advice, mostly about Rei. Tatsuya had a crush on Kira in middle school, but due to her trauma and aversion to men in general, she did not notice. Before he and Kira started dating, Rei tried to set her and Tatsuya up.

Harumi Sugihara
Kira and Harumi are best friends. Harumi at first hated Kira, and attempted to kill Kira for, in her opinion, trying to take Rei from her. After realizing she didn't have a chance with him in the first place, the two became friends. Kira and Harumi regularly hang out, sometimes with their boyfriends Rei and Tatsuya, and the two help each other with their problems.

Violet
Kira and Violet were friends before Kira and Rei moved out of their apartment. Violet gave Kira clothes when she came to Rei's apartment, and Violet styled Kira's hair while she was there.

Takemura Shuichi
Out of Rei's former friends, Kira is closest to Takemura. Takemura recognizes how emotionally unstable Shiori is, and tries to explain to Kira why she's like that. Kira met up with Takemura shortly before she and Rei married and the two talked for a while, so it can be assumed they are at least friends.

Gallery
For more images, see Kira Aso/Gallery.