Taro Sasaga'e

""This is bad, JinJin... THIS SORTA QUALITY IS REALLY EXPENSIVE RIGHT?!""

Taro Sasaga'e (タロ＝ササガエ) is a close friend of Mai Natsume, Jin Kisaragi, and Akane Teruhiko. He was Jin's bodyguard during his days at the Military Academy, and is a member of the Mutsuki family. He fights using Ars Magus threads, and has defected from the Novus Orbis Librarium to protect Mai.

Appearance
Taro is a tall young man with dark skin, red eyes, and messy black hair. He wears an olive green jacket over his shoulders, never wearing it properly, and has a white shirt with numerous patterns near the collar. Taro also wears jeans, standard shoes, and black gloves with which he controls his Ars Magus threads.

In the Military Academy, Taro dressed nearly identically, except he wore his uniform over his shoulders and had a striped belt. He wore numerous white shirts with different logos on the front.

Personality
Initially, Taro may seem naive and slightly dim-witted, but he has a gentle heart. Taro cares for everyone around him, and will do anything to protect them. He can get easily distracted, however, and has been known to feign ignorance, being much smarter than what others may credit him with.

He cares greatly for Jin and especially Mai. It's heavily implied that he has romantic feelings towards the latter.

Powers and Abilities
Taro is extremely gifted in the use of Ars Magus threads, using them to ensnare opponents; in order to use them, he has to wear special gloves. His fighting skills are enough that he managed to protect Jin from numerous assassins from his time in the Academy without either him or Akane properly noticing. He also knows an Ars that allows him to erase a person's weight so he can carry them long distances.

Although he is gifted in the Ars' that he deploys, Taro can be naive and doesn't know some simple Ars, like one used to open sealed letters.

Taro
''A mentor to Noel and Makoto at the Military Academy, who also happens to be Jin's roommate. His full name is Taro Sasaga'e, and he used to call Jin by the nickname, Jinny.