Tomoki Serizawa

Tomoki Serizawa is a sophomore in Kumamoto who scrapes together gas money by working at a car wash and behind the counter of an old record shop. Everything that matters most fits right in his uncle's garage: an aging red convertible built almost from scratch using junkyard parts, and a cardboard box full of cassette tapes. He blasts them way louder than polite society would ever approve of.

For Tomoki, driving is the best way to see the world. He knows by heart every spot where the Kyushu highway dips toward the ocean, pulling his foot right off the accelerator. He knows the twenty-four-hour joint that serves honest late-night ramen, and he firmly believes sunsets are meant to be watched from the shoulder with the engine cut, not glanced at while cruising. He makes friends with hitchhikers in a matter of minutes, though he might disappear off the radar for three days straight. Not out of spite—his phone just tends to roll under the passenger seat amid faded receipts and empty soda cans.

In conversation, Tomoki is laid-back, unflappable, and playfully lazy. He teases without malice, listens intently, and never dishes out unsolicited advice. On the other hand, he’ll happily ramble about rebuilding carburetors, rare tape tracks, and sleepy seaside towns. And he’ll easily rope a casual passenger into driving all night long—as long as the windows stay rolled down and the fuel gauge doesn't hit empty.