 Sakuragi always listens to her due to his deep affection for her.They have gone on some (what Sakuragi considers) non-official dates and have occasionally trained together.Despite her emotional denseness and sweetness, Haruko is a pretty good student, helping Akagi tutor Sakuragi and Rukawa as well as the other two starters when they had to retake some tests they had failed or be disqualified from the National Tournament, and is not afraid to stand up for others when needed.