Mio Chibana

Mio Chibana (知花 実央 Chibana Mio) is the deuteragonist in Stranger by the Beach and its sequel Stranger in the Spring Breeze.

Mio Chibana
Relatives	Shun Hashimoto (boyfriend) Unnamed Mother (deceased) Unnamed Father (deceased)
Occupation	Car Repair Shop/Kyoritsu Motor Co, LTD (formerly) Waiter
Biographical information
Date of birth	December 25th 1994
Age	17 (part 1; chapter 1) 20 (part 1; after chapter 1) 26 (part 2)
Place of birth	Okinawa
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male

Appearance

Mio has black mid-length hair (his hair-style changed throughout the Volumes), which he often wears in a half-up, half-down hair-style. He has dark-grey colored eyes. Mio has a average build and is commonly seen wearing casual and comfy clothing.

He wears a red and black checkered shirt with a dark grey cardigan. He wears plain light-coloured trousers and his signature sandals. On his wrist, Mio wears the bracelets he and his mom used to make.

After the 5 years skip we see, that Mio has grown out his hair, due to Shun commenting early on in Volume 1 of L'étranger du Zéphyr, that he liked Mios hair longer. With his hair almost reaching his lower back he likes to wear it in a braid.

Personality

As a child Mio had a very warm and loving personality. He was a bubbly child which later transformed to him being a bubbly adult. After his mother’s loss, Mio isolated himself and didn’t talk much. He wasn’t interested in any social contact whatsoever. After meeting Shun, he slowly learns to open up again. After his 3 years absence he comes back with his original warm and bubbly personality. He doesn’t often think about the consequences of his actions. He tends to say what’s on his mind and is always open for new experiences.

Due to his early loss of both parents and hard work, Mio develops a good sense of responsibility, especially when he takes on the habit of doing all the chores around Shuns parents house in Volume 4 and 5. He often unconsciously tires himself out with balancing the household and his job.

Story

The Stranger by the Beach

Umibe no Étranger begins with Mio leaving his foster parents' home to sit by the ocean. After Shun speaks with him, they have dinner together alongside Shun's grandmother, Eri, and Suzu.

Mio shares that he is leaving for an orphanage on the mainland in the morning but says he will keep in contact with Shun.

Returning and abruptly sharing his feelings for Shun

Three years later, Mio returns to the island. He and Eri have arranged for him to move into Shun's grandmother's house, and instantly he becomes happy when he sees Shun again. Feeling like an adult now where he can do what he wants, Mio is set on being with Shun and is confused regarding Shun's distantness.

With Sakurako having arrived on the island, Mio learns that she was the woman Shun was supposed to marry. He shows her around the island when she would like to talk. Later Mio shares the reason he's often seen staring out to sea. His father's boat capsized close to shore before he was born, and his mother would always bring him to the beach at night before passing away herself.

As Sakurako is departing the island, she requests a goodbye kiss from Shun. Mio gives it instead and is upset at Shun since Mio felt if he had not done so, Shun would have done it. Wanting to know why he accepted her right away, Mio says he is done with everything. He sulks in bed at home and is not hungry then shouts further that he will eat it later.

Despite the situation, Mio wants them to sleep together, so they do. After Shun decides he will also visit his family, Mio is by the bench facing the sea. Wondering what he thought when he decided to leave the island for three years, he is glad Shun found him then. Having a phone now Mio says he will call Shun and asks whether he is OK with that. Mio is asked by Shun to come with him to Hokkaido. Agreeing to do so since he wants to be with Shun, Mio spontaneously says for them to swim in the ocean because he is happy.

Stranger in the Spring Breeze

At first excited to be on his first flight, Mio is quickly overcome by panic. He and Shun disembark to continue the rest of the journey by boat. Although he is happy to see a radio tower as Shun has to go to the bathroom whilst Mio focuses on the sights, his nervousness amongst crowds is agitated. As he is comforted, he overhears people commenting that he and Shun are holding hands, so he stops.

Both of them move to Shun's parents house. Mio loves spending time with Shun's adoptive 7 year old brother, Fumi. Because of Shun wanting more privacy for them, they move to a house Shun's parents owned. Mio celebrated his birthday with Shun's family. On Christmas when Shun was giving Mio a Christmas present. Fumi came to tell them about the gift Santa gave him ( Mio actually gave him the gift ) and saw what both of them were doing and was traumatized. Mio was frustrated and tried to convince Fumi that it was not what is looks like. But failed miserably. Shun bought Mio a guitar and he would play it a lot.

Mio after the 5 year time skip

After a 5 year time skip, Mio has grown his hair long and keeps it braided. Mio seems to be doing all of the house work despite Shun's mother being present. Because of Shun being famous and Mio being busy both of them find it really hard to spend quality time. Mio now has to constantly put up with Fumi who is going through his rebellious phase.

Relationships

Shun

After Shun speaks with him, Mio made an effort to interact further. After kissing him goodbye, three years later, Mio returns and feels he is ready to be with Shun, as well as kiss and sleep with him. Living with him, Mio would encourage Shun with his writing but wondered whether Shun even liked him anymore as he barely contacted him in the three years Mio was gone. Mio and Shun are currently in both a sexual and romantic relationship.

Eri

Whilst they got along well, Mio heard from Eri that he was messing with Shun's feelings by calling him.

Sakurako

Learning that she was Shun's betrothed, Mio feels they are the same in that Shun is important to both of them.

Trivia

• Mio adores meals with curry due to having fond memories of eating it with his mother, similarly with crab.
• He sometimes wears hats because the stares of strangers make him uncomfortable.
• Mio isn't particularly tech-oriented and doesn't own a phone with a touchscreen until Harukaze no Étranger.
• He often steals Shun's clothes. Since they came from a tropical area, he did not have many winter clothes, so Shun took him shopping after arriving at his parent's house.
• In the English dub, Mio was voiced by Justin Briner (known for voicing Izuku Midoriya in My Hero Academia)