Masaaki

"What was that place called again? Mexican Mountain?"
Masaaki is a Player from Week 8 of The Reaper's Game. He is the most average Joe ever.
==Appearance==
Not a particularly striking individual, Masaaki stands at 5'6" with a relatively average build. He carries a small amount of extra weight due to the fact he isn't the most active of people, but otherwise looks indistinguishable from most, especially under the baggier clothes he tends to wear. He is Japanese, and has a medium-dark Asiatic complexion. His eyes are brown, and appear closer to hazel under good lighting. Upon his head rests a mop of thick, almost wiry hair, which he has dyed to a redder shade of bistre. 
The sort of person who shops at UNIQLO, Masaaki's sense of fashion is mostly nondescript, but is in no way unfashionable. Often porting white, gray, black or muted colours (especially in teal, green or burgundy), he opts for casual, but well presenting outfits. 
His standard outfit during Week 8 was a teal and light blue hoodie, white skinny jeans, a dark green crew neck cable sweater, and a pair of black leather ankle boots. He also had his black earbuds coming out of his hoodie pocket, attached to his phone (where he keeps his tunes).
==Personality==
Masaaki is what one might call a straight-up "good guy". Nice almost to a fault, he blends in to the crowd, doing his best to make sure everyone is fairly placated. He is a well-rounded guy, not afraid to try something at least once. He is flexible, too, not hard pressed to stick to any particular morals other than "try your best to be nice". Honest and humble, he is pretty transparent, not liking to hide anything from anyone.
Masaaki finds enjoyment in the general pop culture of the nation; music being something of which he is particularly fond. His favourite music generally depends upon its position in the Oricon charts, generally liking that which reaches the top of the charts. As such, he spends a fair amount of time in Shibuya; AMX and Towa Records being places of particular interest to him. One can often find him listening to music, earbuds always close by.
If one were to peg Masaaki with being good at anything, one might say that he is quite capable at making friends. Although he is rather incapable of making close friends, as the "everyman" kind of person, it is extremely difficult to dislike him. That, combined with his general amicability, makes for very good friend material.
==History==
===Pre-Game===
Living an extraordinarily ordinary life, Masaaki lived day to day like the most average of average citizens. He grew up in an average family home out in Setagaya, one of the more suburban areas of Tokyo. He did decently in all of his classes, never doing poorly, but never doing all that well, either. He would complete his homework on time, and spent his Saturday mornings at cram school, but he lacked the drive to really allow that to improve him. Once able, he joined the baseball club, but never played in any inter-school games. He was friends with all of his classmates, but never close enough to anyone to have any particularly life-altering experiences. He did not aim to become anything more than a salaryman once he left school, figuring that was a comfortable way to live life, and all that someone of his ability was able to achieve.
Having had hung out with his group of friends on the day of his death, Masaaki had stayed behind in Shibuya to check out Towa Records before he headed back to the train, unwilling to miss a chance at checking out any of the new releases. On his way to the store, Masaaki was not paying full attention as he went to cross the road. A car was speeding down the way, which he noticed just in time. Able to dodge the car, Masaaki's luck was short-lived, for he subsequently lost his footing and tripped, smacking his head against the curb. The blow was enough to cause significant brain trauma, resulting in his death shortly after.
===Week 8===
Despite being very confused regarding his circumstances at the beginning of the week, Masaaki surprisingly didn't suck at the Game. It took him a while to get the hang of things, but once he knew what to do he was surprisingly competent. This sense of competency was something before which he had never understood, and following Takashi's Reaperdom, had him contemplate what it might be like to be a Reaper. 
Upon discovery of what his "special talent" (his entry fee) was following the GM battle, Masaaki was close to spiraling into despair, realising that he had no talent in the world of the living. However, as this was also shortly following the death of his partner at the end of the final battle, he felt severely conflicted, for the Composer graciously decided to save him from erasure moments prior. Struck with the fact that the chance to be reborn and carry on the will of another was something which very few were able to receive, he felt the obligation to live on, and chose to be reincarnated.
===Post-Game===
Once he came back to life, Masaaki made it his mission to find Mitty's sister and carry on his wish. Determined to succeed in school, Masaaki began studying intently, putting in full effort so that he could get into university for Literature and Writing, as story-telling was always Mitty's dream. 
In his spare time, Masaaki volunteers at various hospitals, telling stories to children. He initially started doing this in order to find Mitty's sister, but eventually found that it gave him a sense of peace and purpose. He also offers his services as a tutor, teaching kids how to study, so that they may reach their potential on their own, even if they do not possess any in-born talent.
==Relationships==
===Mitty===
His partner. Although he did not seem much of him over the week, the time they did spend together was invaluable. Masaaki now feels an obligation to his deceased partner, hoping to protect in life what he could not in death. 
===Nate===
A Player friend. Nate was the person Masaaki was closest with in the week, often hanging around him and his girlfriend of the time, Paige. He as a deep appreciation for this guy, feeling he is one of the closer friends he has ever had.
===Vanille===
A Player friend. After having bonded over a disastrous battle earlier on in the week, Masaaki grew closer to Vanille. Unsure of how to act around her following her confession to him, he thinks she is a good person. 
===Risaku===
A Reaper friend. One of the only Reapers to take an invested interest in Masaaki, Masaaki found Risaku to be a fun, interesting guy. A lot of the reason Masaaki was not intimidated by the other Reapers was because of Risaku's influence. 
==Trivia==
*A roleplay blog for Masaaki can be found here.
*The kanji for 古林雅映 (Kobayashi Masaaki) reads as "old grove of a graceful reflection".
*Spetember 9th, Masaaki's birthday, is one of the most common days to have a birthday in Japan. 
*Masaaki cannot draw to save his life. Well, actually, he can save his life with his drawings, but they're still horrific. 
*Masaaki never called Reapers "Reapers". He generally called them some variation of "wall dude", because he never knew their actual name for the longest time, and only knew them as people who administered walls and ordained battles. 
*Masaaki is bad at remembering names in general. He had an infamous moment where he called Spain Hill "Mexican Mountain" and it was hilarious. 
*On Day 7, it was revealed that Masaaki wore Chococat boxers. That caught the attention of certain individuals (coughNatecough), enough to cause nosebleeds, in fact.
==Gallery==
Masaaki.png|Masaaki's full body reference.
Category:Players
Category:Week 8