Rinsuke

He appears in Book Four, when Sakon gets transported back in time to the Edo Period. Rinsuke is a brash young man who has a secret crush on his very close female friend, Haruka. Sakon must help them solve the very strange death of Haruka's arranged fiance. (Don't worry, his death isn't a big loss. He was cruel, and looked like a gorrilla-fish.) Rinsuke does develop a close friendship with Sakon, but they are only friends. Gomen ne, Yaoi fans! At the end, Rinsuke is wounded and admits his feelings for Haruka while Sakon holds him. He then tears off a piece of his clothing and says "If you are the Left, then I must be the Right..." He scrolls the name "Ukon" on the fabric and suggests that it would be a good name for a puppet with a bad ass attitude. Rinsuke then runs away and Sakon finds himself back in the present.

Haruka

A female puppet-builder in the Edo Period, she is the daughter of a Master Puppet-builder, Unosuke Koizumi III. Though she is very good, she lacks self-confidence. Rinsuke has faith in her abilities and tells her so...but puppeteers can be stubborn. :) After the murder of her gorilla-fish fiance, Rinsuke is blamed and jailed. Together he and Sakon solve the case and they (with Haruka) confront the real murderer. The bad guy pulls a gun and a stuggle ensues. Two shots are fired. The second was by Haruka, as she killed the murderer. The first hit Rinsuke (see Rinsuke's profile). Here we learn that Ukon was actually a masterpiece made by Haruka, as a tribute to Rinsuke (although the credit went to her famous father). When she built him, she slipped the piece of fabric bearing the name Ukon into the puppet's arm. Just like Rinsuke, Ukon is brash--a guy with a bad ass attitude...