Yo Utsurogi

"I said I won't, that means I'll never, ever eat it!"

- Yo Utsurogi

Yo Utsurogi is a primary ally featured in Gleanings of Paradise, a short story that is part of the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan: Short Story Collection. She is the daughter of Toshiya Utsurogi and has a wheat allergy.

She accompanies her father and Rohan Kishibe to a village where her father's best friend from university cultivates a legendary wheat called the Gleanings of Paradise, which could apparently cure Yo's allergy.

Appearance
Yo is a young girl who Rohan thinks appears to be only five years old. She is extremely thin, and her head seems swollen due to her stubbornly curled, frizzy hair.

Rohan later gives her his neck gaiter for her to wear to shield her from the cold weather.

Personality
Yo is a shy, sweet girl who always accompanies her father to work and stays calm. She is a picky eater due to her allergy to wheat as she fears that something would happen to her. She analyzes her food even after her father claims it's safe to eat, takes only one bite, and then passes the rest off to him. Despite her thin constitution, she has the energy to dutifully keep up with Rohan when they are hiking up the mountain.

Yo demonstrates her love for her father through her actions. She tugs on Rohan's sleeve to get him to slow down when Utsurogi struggles to walk, and desperately tries to get him to turn back to normal after he transforms into a bull hybrid, even going as far as attempting to eat the wheat porridge he vomited out, before Utsurogi regains his free will and manages to stop her.

She is also clever, as she uses her small and slim body to her advantage. When she and Rohan are trying to leave the hut with guards standing nearby outside, Yo opens the door very lightly and slips her hand through to throw pieces of leftover bread made from the Gleanings of Paradise. This lures the villagers away from the hut, allowing her and Rohan to escape.

After seeing an allergy specialist, Yo starts eating more meals, finding the thrill in eating just like her father.

Background
At some point, Yo develops a wheat allergy. Her parents get divorced because her mother is unable to handle the burden of managing Yo's allergy. Her father's best friend from university, Shozo Yaginuma, tries genetically modifying wheat for Utsurogi and Yo's sake.

Yaginuma later quit his job and founded a village where he became the chief. He invites Utsurogi and Yo to his village to try the Gleanings of Paradise he cultivated. It was a rare species of wheat considered legendary in the food industry, and Yaginuma claimed it could treat Yo's allergy to wheat. Utsurogi mentions Rohan to Yaginuma, so Yaginuma agrees to have Rohan join them as well for an interview.

Meeting Rohan
Utsurogi books a private room at a recently-opened French restaurant in Morioh to discuss a job proposal with Rohan Kishibe, bringing Yo with him. Rohan asks Utsurogi who the child with him is, so Utsurogi introduces his daughter, promising that she'll stay calm while they discuss work. Utsurogi thoroughly inspects the meals that arrive before giving some to Yo, though Yo would take one bite and give the rest to him. When the main dish arrives, Rohan notices Yo only taking one bite of the meat, making an expression as if her food was poisoned, and then giving the rest of her plate to her father. Rohan complains about her attitude and manners, but Utsurogi apologizes and divulges that his daughter is allergic to wheat so she must be careful since most food contains it in some way. Rohan feels a bit embarrassed about his reaction and silently finishes his meal.

Utsurogi eventually explains about Yaginuma inviting them to his village and how the Gleanings of Paradise can change one's constitution when they eat it, triggering Rohan's curiosity. Rohan agrees to go with him and Yo to the village.

Hiking to the Village
Rohan, Utsurogi, and Yo trek for almost half a day to reach the village, located on the rocky summit of a mountain in the Kanto region. Utsurogi has difficulty walking so far, so they have to take several breaks. Yo would share her food with him, which she barely touched. Whenever Utsurogi seemed as if he would collapse, Yo would tug on Rohan's sleeve to tell him to stop. Finally, they reach the village as night approaches. While Yaginuma talks to Rohan, Utsurogi catches up and hugs his friend, as the two are happy to see each other again after a long time. Yo is also happy to see Yaginuma. The group heads into the village, where Rohan asks about the wheat's powers. Yaginuma confirms that it is capable of transforming people, but it depends on their own temperament. He offers them a taste of the freshly ground Gleanings of Paradise, which Rohan and Utsurogi naturally accept.

Bullish Transformation
Yaginuma serves Rohan, Utsurogi, and Yo the bread he cooks using the freshly ground wheat at his house. Yo doesn't eat it, but the bread's allure is so strong that Utsurogi finds it hard to stop eating. His stomach swells and he begins acting like a cow, but both Utsurogi and Rohan really love the taste. Utsurogi asks if it's really safe for Yo to eat it as well. Yaginuma had previously assured Utsurogi that consuming this special wheat would cure Yo's allergy. However, in a sudden and unexpected turn, he initially refuses to let Yo eat the bread, causing tension and confusion.

Yo's father and Yaginuma have a heated exchange, during which Yaginuma seems to momentarily lose himself. He is about to reveal something, but takes a loaf of bread from Utsurogi and eats it, coming back to his senses. He reassures Yo, promising her that she will indeed be safe eating the Gleanings of Paradise, which he plans to give her after the harvest on the following day.

The next day, Rohan, Utsurogi, Yo, and Yaginuma, gather around a pot set over a fire as they prepare to cook the wheat into a porridge. When it's Yo's turn to eat, tension arises. She is hesitant and declares that she'll never eat it. Utsurogi, seemingly under the influence of the wheat, tries to force-feed her, leading to an intervention by Rohan, who tosses away the bowl from Yo's hand. He wedges himself between Yo and Utsurogi to protect her, suspecting that the wheat might be altering the personalities of those who consume it, drawing parallels to ergot-infected rye which can cause hallucinations and other symptoms. Utsurogi's behavior becomes even more erratic, as he starts consuming spilled porridge from the ground, behaving more like a wild animal than a human. Rohan continues sheltering Yo, who tightly clutches onto Rohan's clothes, paralyzed in fear. Rohan uses Heaven's Door on Yaginuma to determine whether he's a threat or not, but finds that he has no ill intentions toward them. Utsurogi, still under the influence of the wheat, repeatedly murmurs about its deliciousness as he slowly walks back to the hut with Yo.

Later in the middle of the night, Rohan and Yo are awakened by a strong animal musk that fills their hut. They notice villagers standing guard outside, so Yo uses her thin constitution to her advantage, slipping her arm through a narrow crack in the door and throwing pieces of bread into the faraway grass to lure the villagers away. She and Rohan manage to escape the hut thanks to her plan and they eventually find a hidden stable on the edge of the settlement. Inside, they discover Utsurogi, who has been transformed into a monstrous bull-like creature. They sneak inside after Yaginuma leaves the stable. Yo runs to her father, but the giant cow hybrid nearly crushes her with his weight. Rohan uses Heaven's Door to force Utsurogi to get away from Yo, and tries to revert him back to his human state, but the transformation seems irreversible. His book's pages are being modified at an incredible pace, making it impossible for Rohan to write anything as they would get overwritten by some other consciousness. Rohan realizes from this, and from how Yaginuma was acting earlier, that Yaginuma appears to be using the wheat to turn humans into livestock-like slaves to cultivate more of the crop. Suddenly, Yaginuma and all of the other villagers holding torches surround the stable, trapping Rohan and Yo.

Escaping the Cursed Fields
Yaginuma orders the transformed Utsurogi to seize Rohan and Yo. He manages to grab Yo, and carries her toward Yaginuma. Yaginuma reveals that he wants Rohan to use his manga to extol the virtues of the Gleanings of Paradise wheat. Yaginuma believes that once Rohan consumes the wheat, he will be compelled to promote it willingly. Suddenly, Yaginuma slaps Utsurogi on his back, making him vomit out a porridge of the Gleanings of Paradise. Yaginuma demands that Rohan should eat it, so Utsurogi lets go of Yo to grab Rohan instead. Feeling nauseous that they were about to force him to eat such a thing, Rohan tries using Heaven's Door again even though he knows it wouldn't help. However, Yo comes between them and desperate to save her father from his transformed state, attempts to eat the wheat herself while crying. Utsurogi, in a fleeting moment of paternal instinct, stops her by scooping up the wheat and consuming it himself. He sends Yaginuma flying with one hit, then turns around and violently vomits all of the Gleanings of Paradise he ate. After expelling all the wheat from his body, he reverts to a slightly more human-like form, albeit with horns.

Rohan calls Utsurogi toward him and Yo, asking him to protect Yo while Rohan looks for a path. By using Heaven's Door on Yaginuma again, Rohan learns that it isn't Yaginuma who's controlling the village, but the wheat itself. The situation becomes increasingly dire as the villagers, under the malevolent influence of the wheat, start to converge on Rohan, Yo, and Utsurogi. Recognizing the immediate threat, Rohan determines that their best strategy is to retreat and devise a plan later. Utsurogi, with Yo safely in his arms, uses his formidable strength to bulldoze through the encircling villagers, creating a path for their escape. Rohan follows closely behind, and together, they dash into the safety of the night, evading the clutches of the wheat-controlled villagers.

Rohan, Yo, and Utsurogi find themselves at the edge of a cliff, surrounded by the wheat fields of the Gleanings of Paradise. As they stand amidst the wheat, Rohan reassures Yo that the wheat itself is harmless unless consumed. As they're surrounded by Yaginuma and the villagers again, Rohan uses Heaven's Door on them to force them into burning the fields of wheat with their torches. The villagers, torn between their duty to the wheat and Rohan's command, scramble to extinguish the flames. This diversion allows Rohan, Yo, and Utsurogi to slip past Yaginuma and the villagers, making a daring descent down the mountain.

Aftermath
Utsurogi was given treatment and recovered from his transformation, becoming a normal human again. He and his daughter Yo were placed in a safe house arranged by Rohan.

A month after the incident, Rohan meets with Utsurogi and Yo at the same French restaurant in Morioh. As they dine, Utsurogi indulges in a lavish meal, while Rohan and Yo discuss the events of the past month. Utsurogi's memory of the events was vague, but Yo, who hadn't consumed the wheat, remembers everything. Rohan smiles when seeing Yo eat her food happily, causing Utsurogi to wonder when Rohan got so close to his daughter. Yo discloses how she's been seeing an allergy specialist who started a treatment where she eats food she's allergic to in small amounts in order to desensitize her body. The chef then presents them with a basket of freshly baked bread made from a new variety of wheat called the Gleanings of Paradise. Both Rohan and Utsurogi are alarmed, as Utsurogi has a strange feeling that he shouldn't eat it. Rohan wonders if it's a different, safer variety having the same name, or if a seed had been carried by the wind and dispersed, propagating in a different land. Not understanding the situation, Yo reaches out to try the bread, but both men instinctively stop her, leading to a humorous back-and-forth about who should taste it first.