Minamoto Teru/Relationships

Background
Minamoto Teru is a second-year high schooler attending Kamome Gakuen. He is the current Student Council president alongside vice president, Aoi Akane. He is reputable for his outstanding intellect, kind-hearted nature, and good looks. He is also the older brother of Minamoto Kou and Minamoto Tiara, both of which have spiritual power that has yet to reach his level of skill in the Minamoto clan. Not only does he have exceptional academic standing and reputation, but he is also adept at exorcism and other tactics used to defeat supernaturals.

He has been known to be the crush and role model for his classmates, including Yashiro Nene, who initially wished for him to notice her through Hanako. Although he has no weaknesses in terms of academics, he is disastrous when it comes to cooking. This is exemplified when he and Kou attempt to make donuts, only to have caused a fire, poisonous donuts as noted by the Mokke, and a mess in the Home Economics classroom. In rare occasions, he has a sadistic attitude when it comes to offering challenges and enforcing punishments on Akane. However, in the case of supernaturals, he holds an intense dislike towards them and sets out to eliminate them. On the other hand, he holds a deep affection for his little brother and sister, even feeling a bit worried that Kou won't rely on him as much anymore; in addition, he purified a Mokke as a pet for Tiara.

Hanako
Teru is the subject of Nene's initial wish to Hanako, though they do not really meet until the Young Exorcist arc.

As Hanako is one of (and even the boss of) the 7 mysteries, Teru intends to exorcise him. However, he decided to leave the case to Kou.

In Chapter 10, due to Kou hesitating to exorcise Hanako, he immediately took the case to himself and tried to exorcise him.

Like other supernatural, Teru sees Hanako with hatred, even go as far as to describe him as "self-serving and violent". After Kou's persuasion, however, he stopped attempting to exorcise him, leaving his case entirely to his brother.

Hanako is clearly afraid of him from that memory, which is shown when he avoids older Kou in volume 6 due to him having similar looks to Teru.

Yashiro Nene
At the start of the series, Teru's relationship with Nene is a purely one-sided crush from her, and he is the target of various love strategies, though he does not know Nene is behind them. Teru also helped pick up Nene's pencil case prior to her summoning Hanako, though Teru does not appear to remember this interaction when he introduces himself later and thanks Nene for taking care of Kou.

Despite being infatuated with him, Nene did not even know his name. As such, she did not realise his given name was Teru until chapter 9 or that Kou was his younger brother.

Teru is kind towards her, like how he would towards anyone else. Nene herself seems to have witnessed a little of Teru's sadistic side, though she seems to still admire Teru as usual.

Despite Teru's hatred of supernaturals and intent to exorcise Hanako, Teru does not appear to oppose Nene's involvement with Hanako. When Akane points this out, Teru explains that there's no way to protect Nene, suggesting that he had already known about her impending death.

Minamoto Kou
Teru cares deeply for his younger brother Kou, and is almost always supportive of him, tasking him to exorcise the Seven Mysteries so that Kou could grow as an exorcist. This was the case even when they were younger, as shown in a flashback during the Young Exorcist Arc, where Teru told Kou to stay home as it was dangerous to follow him, and encouraged Kou in his wish to become stronger. Teru is willing to do what Kou asks him to, including buying ingredients and making donuts together (though it results in a toxic mess), and helping to gather insects during their lunch break. He also sometimes teases Kou, such as asking whether he likes Nene, and telling him to close his eyes if he's scared before they jump off the roof during Mokke of the Dead. Despite their increasing differences, Teru clearly wants to maintain this good relationship between them, as seen when he decides to leave Hanako's exorcism to Kou so that Kou won't hate him, and when he initially hid his responsibility in causing the Mokke of the Dead incident.

Their main point of conflict is their different perceptions of supernaturals: Teru firmly believes that there are no good supernaturals, while Kou disagrees after coming to know Hanako. This is most apparent in the Young Exorcist Arc, when Teru finally binds Kou with the bracelet after he refuses to move away from Hanako, and tells Kou that he doesn't need to think about unnecessary things. However, Teru is still visibly shocked and concerned when Kou gets injured pulling the sword out of Hanako, and eventually agrees not to exorcise Hanako because he does not want to be hated by Kou. When Akane asks about it later, Teru says that his actions were also meant to teach Kou, in addition to keeping things in check.

On the other hand, Kou looks up to his elder brother as a skilled exorcist, and wants to become as strong or even stronger than Teru someday. His idealised image of Teru is somewhat broken through the incident with Hanako, when he finally sees the true expression of disgust and hatred that Teru directs towards supernaturals. Kou is now clearly aware of Teru's dislike for supernaturals, as shown when he decided not to tell Teru that the donuts were made for Hanako, and by his concern for Akane when Teru dragged him away after the Clock Keepers Arc.

As the Minamoto parents are never shown, Teru and Kou along with their younger sister Tiara appear to be the only ones in the Minamoto household, and Teru relies on Kou to do all the household chores. Teru likes Kou's cooking, happily eating donuts (despite Kou stuffing them in his mouth mid-sentence), asking for seconds during their dinners at home, and looking disappointed when Kou revokes his post-dinner dessert for causing the candy zombie outbreak. They also occasionally spend time together even in school (in fact, Kou's first appearance is him walking beside Teru in Chapter 1, when Hanako is planning for Nene to run into Teru), and are shown walking home together after the Mokke of the Dead incident..

Aoi Akane
As a half-supernatural who regularly works with Teru in the Student Council, Akane often bears the brunt of Teru's hatred for supernaturals, especially after the Clock Keeper Arc. Though Teru was previously lenient towards Akane as he is still human, Teru binds him (using the bracelet) in a fixed kneeling position for his part in the Clock Keeper incident, and zaps him with spirit lightning for being disrespectful. In return, Akane often tells Teru to stop this behaviour, even going so far as planning to do Kou a favour (by freezing Kou while Kako turns back time) so that he can lessen Teru's harsh treatment of him.



However, their relationship is not purely antagonistic, and they work together as president and vice-president of the Student Council. Teru also appears to acknowledge that Akane did not voluntarily become a supernatural but was instead half-forced into it. When Akane said that he wanted to continue living a normal life after becoming a Clock Keeper, Teru specially enchanted a pair of glasses to lower Akane's spiritual energy to that of a regular person. During the candy zombie infestation, Teru is with Akane when they find Kou and Nene (suggesting that they had been working together, though Akane had been searching for Aoi instead), but Teru does not seem concerned when Kou knocks Akane unconscious twice.

In a flashback during the Clock Keepers Arc, Teru describes Akane as someone who is obedient and serious, but easily turns reckless when it comes to his childhood friend (Aoi), warning Kou to stay away from him.

Mokke
Though Teru generally hates supernaturals, he tolerates the Mokke because his younger sister Tiara likes them, and even agrees to help purify an infected Mokke that Tiara found so that she can keep it as a pet. When Teru binds Akane in a bowing position due to his responsibility for the Clock Keepers incident, the Mokke surround Akane as well, though it's unclear whether this was on Teru's instructions or not.

Minamoto Tiara
Teru greatly treasures Tiara, calling her "princess" and seating her on his lap during mealtimes at home, instead of in her own chair. At her request, Teru also helps purify a Mokke to keep as her pet (which he even brings home in a wicker basket decorated with a bow), contrary to his usual negative attitude towards supernaturals..

Mitsuba Sousuke
Mitsuba encounters Teru once after becoming No.3, and Teru showed clear dislike for him, saying that there is no place for supernaturals in this world and intending to exorcise Mitsuba (before Natsuhiko rescued him).

Akane Aoi
Both Aoi and Teru are often depicted as King and Queen of Popularity by Nene. It is unclear on the nature of their relationship, but as shown in Chapter 58, they seem to know each other.

Other Characters
Teru appears to be friendly with several of his classmates, including a boy who teases him about the bento that Nene leaves on his desk, and a girl who confesses to him.

In response to a confession, Teru has said that there's someone he's liked for a very long time, though it's not known whether this is true or merely a polite rejection.