Characters/Sara Sakakibara

Sara Sakakibara

Personal Information
Surname Name	Sakakibara Sara
Birthday (Age)	July 6th (33)
Type of Character	Side
Additional Information
Hair Color	Dark Gray
Eye Color	Green
Height	5′ 4′′ (162cm)
Job(s)	Owner of Sakaki-Bar-a
Hobby(s)	Reading Romance novels Drinking
Like(s)	unknown
Dislike(s)	unknown
Family	Sana Sakakibara (Daughter) Unnamed Son † Unnamed Ex-Husband
Affiliation	unknown
First Appearance	Supermom
Notes	unknown

Sara Sakakibara is part of the Side Cast of in Lessons In Love. She is the owner of Sakaki-Bar-a and is both Sana’s mother and boss.

Background

Sara was born as the daughter of unnamed parents. Growing up, her parents raised her strictly, setting curfews and holding her to high academic standards. On top of this, they would regularly dish out physical abuse for any small infraction, which often lead her to act out more. In a desperate desire for stability and protection in her life, she started dating her freshmen teacher, hoping that a mature and experienced man could give her a chance to figure out what she needs to do. The two would continue dating, even after Sara graduated high school, leading to the two moving in together and having a son together. Shortly after giving birth to Sana, she discovered he'd been seeing other women, and he walked out on her shortly thereafter.

Despite this, she decided to raise her two children alone, doing her best to ensure they'd grow up with the exact opposite life she had. It was never easy, especially not once her son was abruptly murdered on a walk home. This event would permanently scar Sara, and for years she'd fall asleep in tears. As time went on, she was able to compose herself more and more, but never fully recovered from the event, still being unable to think about her son without bursting into tears.

At some point, she took over her family’s bar, Sakaki-Bar-a, and managed to keep it running for a few years without many problems. That changed when the Space War broke out and most men were drafted, causing the number of customers and her profits to fall dramatically, leaving her and the bar in an uncertain financial state.

Characteristics

Sara’s personality is the complete inverse of her daughter’s - She’s outspoken, sociable, confident, and openly flirtatious. She’s friendly with pretty much everyone she interacts with, though she is particularly friendly with Sensei, trying to flirt with him at every opportunity in an attempt to make him fall for her.

While she rarely shows it, the weight of her past, and the reality of her failing business affected her deeply. If Sensei chooses to get intimate with her, the true stress of these things can be seen, revealing how hard it is for her to even live with the knowledge that her business is failing. And, once she shares her past with Sensei, the lingering insecurities from her past shine through, revealing her doubts about her abilities as a parent and her fear that Sana will abandon her as everyone else in her life has. This persistent anxiety and fear cause her to overdrink, often to the point of blacking out.

Relationships

Sensei

Sara tries to have a deeper relationship with Sensei form the moment she met him, which is why she flirts with him a lot and tries her best to convince him to be with her. The player can decide if Sensei does enter a relationship with her, but so far it has no significant impact on their interactions. When Sensei decides to date her, their relationship gets more intimate and Sara tries her best to tie the knot on multiple occasions, and when he decides against it, they keep a friendly relationship as Sara accepts his decision, though she still flirts with him.

Due to her past, she assumes that Sensei is like her former teacher and has a deeper relationship with his students, but she has no evidence of it so far. She doesn’t seem to mind if he does, though, as long as he doesn’t make them live through the same experience she had to go through. She’s also aware of Sana’s feeling towards him and begs him to treat her kindly regardless of what might happen.

Sana

Sana is Sara’s daughter and second child. Sara loves her above everything else and always tries to encourage her in her actions and to protect her. She tries to give her the best life she can afford her, but is frustrated that she can’t give her the life she deserves. Sara is also aware of Sana’s feelings towards Sensei, but doesn’t do anything to prevent or encourage it, seemingly letting their relationship take its course and accepts whatever will happen, as long as Sana doesn’t end up like herself.

Sara's Son

Sara’s deceased son. While nothing about their relationship is known, it can be assumed that they had a positive relationship as she still thinks fondly of him in the few words she manages to speak about him and she is heavily affected by his loss to the point where bringing him up can cause her to have an emotional breakdown.

Maki

Sara and Maki don’t have a lot of interactions with each other, though both still have a friendly relationship and use the services of each others’ businesses.

Haruka

One of Sara’s few friends, the two knew each other from high school, though weren't in the same year. It was only after the two of them graduated and opened their businesses that they reunited. From then on, the two are close friends, often hanging out with each other and drinking during the holidays. They're also, potentially, comfortable being intimate with or near each other, though this is only seen if Sensei pursued a relationship with Sara and Haruka.

Memorable Quotes

• "Love me more or I hit you."
• “People leave me, Sensei. It’s what they do. Sometimes it’s purposefully, sometimes it’s not. But it happens.”