Tohru Honda  is an orphaned high school student who, at the start of the story, begins living with Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo Soma in exchange for housekeeping. She loves to cook, describes herself as an excellent housekeeper, and has an after-school job as an office janitor to pay her tuition fees to avoid being a burden on her grandfather. She is depicted as polite, optimistic, extremely kind, and selfless several other characters, including Kyo, Rin, and Saki tell her she needs to look out for herself and not shoulder everyone else's burdens.