Ritsuka Aoyagi is a twelve-year-old protagonist with the true name "Loveless." Two years ago, he experienced a sudden shift in personality, becoming the opposite of who he once was. Previously, he was a well-liked student with average grades; now, he excels academically but struggles to connect with his peers. Along with this personality change, he lost all his memories. The cause of these drastic changes remains unknown, though he regularly attends therapy sessions to uncover the reasons.
On his first day at a new school, Ritsuka meets Soubi Agatsuma, who confuses him with his unexpected closeness and claims of being Seimei's fighter. As Ritsuka learns, Seimei's will states that Soubi should "belong to Ritsuka" upon his death. Ritsuka had deeply admired and idolized Seimei, so discovering that many secrets were kept from him came as a great shock, further complicating his ability to trust others, especially Soubi.
Despite his young age and memory loss, Ritsuka is highly intelligent and approaches situations with surprising maturity. His life experiences have stripped away much of his innocence, though there are moments that reveal his underlying naivety, particularly regarding romantic love and dating. He holds firm opinions on these subjects, which often clash with adults and authority figures around him, notably Soubi. Ritsuka is a pacifist and strongly opposes violence under any circumstances. While Soubi has been mostly silent on the issue, he seems to accept pain and punishment under certain conditions.
Love is an uncomfortable topic for Ritsuka. He is wary of compliments and dislikes hearing phrases like "I like you." Early in the series, Soubi frequently says "I love you," which Ritsuka initially dismisses as untrue. Due to Ritsuka's cynical reaction, Soubi stops saying it after the second volume of the manga. Nevertheless, Ritsuka's internal struggle over whether to believe Soubi becomes a significant source of tension and bitterness in their relationship.
Recent developments in the series revealed that Soubi is the BELOVED imposter. Even after learning this, Ritsuka insists on remaining Soubi's sacrifice. He mentions that he had always suspected as much, given Soubi's reluctance to share information about himself and Seimei.
