Mizuki Ashiya

Mizuki Ashiya (芦屋 瑞希 Ashiya Mizuki) is the heroine in the shōjo manga Hana-Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e), by manga-ka Hisaya Nakajo.

Mizuki Ashiya, who was born in California to Japanese-born parents, is the heroine of the story. She spontaneously moved from California to Japan and enrolled into an all boys school (Osaka Gakuen) because her idol, Sano Izumi, who’s a top high jumper and the same age as her, attends the school. To look like a boy, she keeps her hair short and ruffled and wears a tight demin vest to hide her chest. In many ways, it’s good that she has a pretty flat chest, but she wants more cleavage between them. She’s a very fast runner (due to her mother’s athleticism), but is very clumsy at times (due to her father’s clumsiness). She is fluent in English and spoken Japanese, but her knowledge of written Japanese is initially below that of native Japanese her age. Mizuki loves all kinds of food, especially sweet things, which is a strong contrast to Izumi's dislike of them. Also, she can be quite stingy when it comes to sharing her food. She’s also a lover of animals, as one can see when she’s with Yujirou, Sano’s dog.

While in Japan, she lives in the same dorm room as Sano. There, she meets Shuichi Nakatsu, a talented soccer player who becomes her friend and later falls in love with her feminine side, leading him to think that he is gay. Other friends of hers are Senri Nakao, a "cute" boy (bishōnen) with a crush on the dorm leader, Minami Nanba, Sekime and Noe, two girl-obsessed, but good-hearted boys, Kayashima, a yoga-practicing boy with extra-sensory perception who can see ghosts and spirits, and Hokuto Umeda, the homosexual school doctor who helps her out. He knows that Mizuki is a girl but he helps her out on her love problems as well.

Even though Mizuki puts forth much effort to hide her female identity, Dr. Umeda and Sano separately discover her secret soon after she begins attending Osaka Gakuen. However, neither report her; Dr. Umeda judges her reasons as acceptable, and Sano conceals his knowledge for the sake of keeping Mizuki at the school. Although Nakatsu never gains the knowledge that Mizuki is female until the secret's out in the open, he perceives her femininity and becomes attracted to her, instead thinking that he himself is gay.

However, towards the end of her second year (and the series), the three student heads of the dormitories found out about her true identity. Although they tried to suppress the news themselves, in the end, Mizuki decided to leave Osaka. All was not lost though; during their university days, Sano finally proposed to her, and she accepted.

Family and Friends in America
Mizuki has an older brother, Shizuki Ashiya, from her father's previous marriage (Shizuki's mother died when he was young). He is overprotective of her, trying to force her to come home when he discovers she attends an all-boys school.

Her best friend, Julia, comes to Japan for a time as an exchange student. Finding all is well with Mizuki and Sano, she comes back after her month-long exchange.

Gilbert is another one of her friends and is possibly her first crush. He's about three years older than her. She met him after running away from home due to peer pressure, staying in his home for a time.

Characters who discovered Mizuki's true gender
This list is arranged according to order and occasion.
 * 1) Taiki Kayashima - Through his ESP powers, he knew that Mizuki was a girl right away. However, this is not revealed until much later.
 * 2) Izumi Sano - He found out early in the story when he carried Mizuki after she fell unconscious after playing soccer with Nakatsu.
 * 3) Hokuto Umeda - Being  gay and a doctor, he knew her identity straight away.
 * 4) Io Nanba - Umeda's sister realized that Mizuki was a girl during her time at her summer job.
 * 5) Akiha Hara - He figured it out by looking at Mizuki's pictures and watching Sano's reactions to her.
 * 6) Shuichi Nakatsu - He figured it out when Mizuki fell off the ladder during the photo book making project, when he loosened up her clothes and saw her vest.

Trivia

 * Being a firm fan of Izumi, Mizuki has a photo album on him. She also has a picture of him as Yang Guifei (Youkihi).
 * In the series, Mizuki was disturbed by spirits twice.
 * In the manga, the spirit of a young boy mistook her for a boy he loved, and possessed Nakatsu in order to express his love.
 * In the first drama CD, the ghost of a young man, Yamato, mistook her for his sweetheart and possessed Sano in order to express his love.
 * When Mizuki was in America her name was "Mickey". But she took on a Japanese name instead.
 * Just as a side note, many people that come from Asia will take on an American name for public use, or vice versa for Americans in Asia. Their real name is usually only used by family.