Hanako Arasaka

Twenty-one year old Hanako Arasaka is Saburo Arasaka's youngest child, conceived when he was eighty, and the apple of his eye. Hanako was born to Saburo's third and last wife, Michiko, who died shortly thereafter due to complications caused by the birth.

Saburo was charmed by his little daughters stunning beauty, and he decided to raise her in the sheltered confines of the compound to protect her from the scarring traumas of life in the exterior world. Hanako received her schooling at the compound through trusted tutors. Although she is a grown woman now, Hanako still only leaves the compound about once a month, and then only under heavy escort. Cut off from the outside world, she learned how to travel and explore the Net instead. Saburo made sure that Hanako was never made aware of the darker side of the corporation, but, through her Net explorations, Hanako is just beginning to suspect the horrible truth.

Hanako is a sweet, intelligent woman. She has been chafing under her fathers well meaning restraint for several years, but she has not voiced her complaints. She knows that her father wants to arrange her marriage in order to solidify a corporate alliance, but she secretly dreads the day it happens. Hanako does not want to hurt her father, but she has sworn to live an independent life after he dies. Hanako relationship with Kei is