Akio

"Hey, I'm working hard to get those extra hours of sleep in. Just wish I was getting good overtime pay."
Akio is a Reaper and Shopkeeper from Week 14 of The Reaper's Game. He transferred from Kyoto, having arrived shortly after the end of Week 13.
He currently lives with fiance Cheer and workmate Shiori. He sometimes works at Riverbend, a cafe run by his RG younger brother Hayato.
==Appearance==
Akio is average height and a little on the skinny side, though these both tend to be masked somewhat by his less-than-stellar posture and baggy clothing. His complexion is slightly tanned. He sports an undercut, with the dusty brown hair on top hanging forward over his forehead. His eyes are a deep brown.
When he's not working at the shop his clothing is generally sloppy, low-effort and lacking in tasteful colour coordination. He doesn't appear particularly well-groomed in general, often having messy hair and a tired, vacant expression.
==Personality==
Akio's outward demeanour is typically calm and mild-mannered. He rarely makes a fuss over anything that inconveniences him, preferring to go with the flow. However, he's not often seen getting excited over things that do please him, either - a notable exception being his brother Hayato, who he often speaks highly of. It's not impossible to break through his calm exterior; any excessive poking and prying will leave him a little rattled. He's also pretty weak to receiving care and affection, which will quickly fluster him.
Though not unfriendly, he is rather unsociable, spending much of his time at home and not participating much in conversations unless prompted. He is patient and polite, and enjoys listening to people. He won't talk over people and will often redirect a conversation to someone else if he becomes the centre of attention. He will readily do most things that are asked of him - though you would usually need to ask him, as he will rarely volunteer.
He jokes around when comfortable doing so, though his jokes are often self-deprecating, and he doesn't laugh much. He hardly ever speaks highly of himself.
==History==
===Pre-Game===
(***CONTENT WARNINGS*** for depression and suicide, pls stay safe folks)
The early parts of Akio's life were largely unremarkable. He was a quiet kid, but usually cheerful and easy to get along with. He and his brother Hayato helped out a bit at the family cafe in Kyoto, where Hayato would come to hone his barista talents. Akio was not talented like his brother, but he was a good student who got decent grades and had a modest group of friends.
Akio felt his life start to shift during his mid-teens. Whatever motivation he had to do basic tasks, like getting out of bed and going to school, started to slip away. He skipped more and more classes, and his grades plummeted. Even photography club, which was usually the highlight of his week, began to feel like it wasn't worth the effort. His family noticed something was strange and expressed their concerns, but he didn't know what to say to them, other than that he was fine. It wasn't true, but he couldn't tell them that. He couldn't expect them to understand when he didn't even understand it himself.
The only person he spoke with frequently at this stage was Hayato, and Akio was not inclined to accept his help, if he had any to offer. Akio loved his brother dearly, and saw no reason to burden Hayato - the good, responsible child - with his problems. Would Hayato even care? It was not in his nature to be gentle or to openly show compassion. He might not have even noticed the way that working at the cafe only made Akio weary, while Hayato worked so hard and was so full of energy. Akio hated that he was doubting his brother, but he couldn't help but wonder.
It was around the time of his graduation from high school when Akio first attempted suicide. Only Hayato found out, and Akio made him swear to tell no one. Hayato begrudgingly agreed, and Akio knew that if he was going to try this again, he'd have to do it somewhere he wouldn't be found. A few months later, Akio quietly made the trip to the outskirts of the city for his second attempt. He succeeded.
===Kyoto's Game===
The offer of a second chance at life took Akio off-guard, and he might not have accepted it if there weren't another person's life also at stake. His entry fee for the Game was his ability to hide his feelings. With his guard torn down, he was forced to open up - often excessively - to the people around him, which was distracting at best and a serious liability at worst. His partner had to bail him out multiple times after he got too emotional during fights, and this only heightened his feelings of inadequacy. The Reapers outright told him that without her, he likely would not have survived the early days of the Game.
It was only once he was forced to save his partner from erasure that he gained some confidence in his own skills, and together they powered through to the end of the Game. His "guard" was returned to him, and after seven tiring and stressful days of being an open book he clung to it once more. Reluctant to return home to his family, he became a Reaper so he would have an excuse to continue staying away from home. He doesn't recall what happened to his partner. She didn't stick around long.
===Kyoto to Shibuya===
His time as a Support Reaper in Kyoto lasted about a year. He was just good enough at the job to survive while still staying more or less under the radar, but he had little passion for luring innocent Players into death traps. As he isolated himself further from Reapers and Players alike, he knew the job wasn't going to work out. He was exhausted, again, and didn't even have his brother to talk to this time. The realisation that he missed his family nagged at him for several months until he finally mustered the courage to return home.
His family welcomed him back, concerned but relieved, but he didn't stay long. Desperate to escape Kyoto's Reaper's Game, he convinced Hayato to set up shop somewhere bigger, to attract more business. After some further persuasion Hayato eventually accepted, and Akio made the transfer to Shibuya. He has yet to inform Hayato of his death, or anything concerning The Reaper's Game, and is determined to keep it from him as long as possible. The need to lie to his brother is added pressure on Akio's already strained mental state, but since moving to Shibuya he has found himself coping a little better than he used to - being a little more active, a little happier, and trying a little harder not to shut people out.
=== Week 14 ===
Despite having been there for more than half a year already, this was Akio's first time working as a Reaper in Shibuya. He also worked at Riverbend during the week, mostly to keep an eye on Hayato while Players were allowed in the shop. While he doesn't entirely regret his decision, it has definitely been exhausting.
Day 0 was, uh... at least it was short? He got to watch two Players get pummeled by a bear, so uh, that happened.
Akio was already tired by the time Day 1 rolled around and he'd barely even worked yet. Tired enough that he asked the Players at his wall to sing lullabies to him. They didn't work too well, but it's the thought that counts, right?
He spent that evening at Jean's bunny cafe... he didn't pat all that many bunnies, mostly just had a feelings jam with Jean and Uso. He also reached out to Nathan, a fellow Reaper who was struggling to get used to Shibuya's Game. He wasn't entirely sure how Nathan felt about his offer to help, but uh... thought that counts??
Also, Cheer wrote him a poem Shinken wrote him a poem Shinken edited the poem that Cheer wrote for him. Yes. This is definitely what happened.
Day 2 could have been better, honestly. He watched Sunao, a Reaper that he was already a bit wary of, harassing Naoki (who was having a meltdown) to the point where Jean had to step in and stop the fight. He later watched Uso take her own pent-up anger out on a pair of Players. Both events weighed heavily on his mind. At least he got a balloon from a nice clown.
His wall for the day involved the Players writing poems for their partners. He might have still been thinking about Cheer's poem from the previous day. He's gay.
Day 3 was another emotionally trying day. Uso egged Yuji on to the point of mindless fury, and Sunao had a long and drawn-out heart-to-heart with Yamahana during battle. Couldn't these harriers just have a little harmless fun, please?
Akio was exhausted by this point. He was starting to feel rather guilty for skipping out of work at Riverbend so much during the week. He was also starting to miss Cheer, a lot.
He had the Players take photos of their partners that day. That was nice.
In addition to a grueling session of jankenpon (dear god, why so many ties), Day 4 saw the first set of erasures for the week: Hotaru and Mika. Akio didn't take it very well - he hadn't forgotten Hotaru's little gesture of kindness from earlier in the week, and he was genuinely upset to see her go. What a good clown...
Should he be feeling like this after two years as a Reaper? He felt like he probably shouldn't be. Cheer warned him against befriending more Players... it wasn't like he was trying to get attached. What was he doing wrong?
Day 5 was... well, it could have been worse. The pair of erasures that day didn't hit Akio as hard as the previous... he barely knew either of the Players in question. After sitting through another long fight between Sunao and Yamahana, he was starting to get very tired.
Almost as tired as Jean must have been, at his wall that day. Wake up, Jean.
It was early in the morning of Day 6 when Nue entered Riverbend, bleeding and with some static around the edges. Akio was understandably concerned. A friendly spar indeed.
It was also early in the morning when he spoke to Shinken. The Player clearly had plans - grand plans, that he seemed to want Akio to be a part of. Akio didn't know what he expected to accomplish with this, but he passed his concerns on to Haozi regardless... he sort of regretted that, after Haozi went on to have Shinken erased later that day. Akio wished he'd at least warned him.
Also, he got to punch out a Conductor. Goddamn highlight of the week, man.
The last day went... alright??? No one was erased except for Sai, except he wasn't erased and was actually a foreign Conductor along with half the goddamn district, apparently and things got weird, honestly. Did Clair even make it out of her deal okay? He was too tired to keep track at this point. At least he survived, and could now maybe get some sleep.
Good god, there were a lot of new baby Reapers around. Shibuya felt a lot busier, suddenly. Good thing he was off to France soon.
=== Post Week 14 ===
Hahaha fuck. Never mind.
What should have been a relaxing post-Game vacation in Paris was rudely interrupted by worries over the dysfunctional and dangerous new Reapers back at home. Also by Cheer's sister Coûteux, who unbeknownst to him actually existed and was a Composer. She didn't take too kindly to Cheer's refusal to stay in Paris with her and promptly kidnapped them both, forcing Jean to come and rescue them. Coûteux was forcibly demoted and deported to Kyoto, and Akio has been scared shitless of her ever since.
The six month period leading up to Week 15 was both eventful and emotionally draining. Composer Kei's sudden departure and the panic that followed it punctuated the messy relationship struggles between Akio and Cheer (and Jean), though at least on Akio's side things have (kinda) been sorted out by now. He also regained contact with old partner Yuki, so all in all it wasn't a total wash.
Honestly, regarding the upcoming Game, Akio was far more concerned for Cheer than for himself. He knew Cheer was concerned about his first Game in Shibuya, and didn't entirely know how to act around Players. On top of that, Cheer was determined to erase one Player in particular - Satsuki, who had made a deal with Jean - and Akio was unable to talk him out of it. And with GM Hawk talking about full erasure... it was hard to know if everything was going to be okay.
=== Week 15 ===
A hero... what did it mean to be a hero? Akio was hearing a lot of that, even before the Game started. Taiki gifted him a "hero badge" (in the form of a small rock) and Shino, at least, seemed certain that Reapers could be heroes too. The question was stuck in his mind throughout the week.
Well, the week started off lighthearted enough, at least. Day 0 had the Players uniting to form their own Team Skull, and Akio invited Cheer to join in the fun with some good ol' cosplaying. uhn uhn, s k u l l
His wall for the day had some Players show off their new pins in a selfie. Because hey, why not have some fun before the Game starts for real?
Day 1 was, uh... well, Akio was expecting some violence this week, but not between the Players. Punching was the theme of the day, apparently? They're out of control??? Well, Akio decided to continue the trend by having some of them punch down his wall. Well, really, he was the one in control of bringing the wall down, but-- whatever, it was fun.
Things started getting serious early into Day 2. Manami and Rikuto, for god knew what reason, challenged Hawk prematurely, and were punished for their lapse in judgement with erasure. The mood remained pretty heavy after that. Akio asked the Players to pitch in and buy him a coffee to help him deal with it. Man, he kinda liked those kids, too...
- To Akio,
Thank you for being kind to me and trying to help. I hope the rest of the game goes okay for you!
➸ ManamiAkio doesn't remember much of what happened on Day 3, because he was a little preoccupied by Cheer LITERALLY PROPOSING?? IN FRONT OF ALL THE PLAYERS?? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL HIM???
He said yes, obviously - not that he'd been given much time to think about this decision.
Day 4 was long and tiring, which wasn't helped by Ryely and Corona's erasures. There was a lot of ill will from the Players towards Cheer for his actions; while he and Akio tried to reassure each other that the decision was not wrong, Akio was still left wondering if they'd done the right thing.
At-- at least we still have anime, right?? Akio felt inspired to have the Players belt out their favourite anime tunes. Hopefully it helped lift their spirits.
Day 5, at least for the mission, was smoother sailing. At least, if you don't count Akio's game of ~Guess the Noise Form~ going awry and finding out that Cheer devoured Jean's tomato wife. This is fine.
Later on, though... Akio didn't find out until later, but Shino had been erased - by Hawk, no less. Akio had no idea what Shino could have done to piss Hawk off that badly, but... it must have been bad, right? Was all his talk of "being a hero" just lies? Were their efforts futile? Akio wasn't sure.
His uncertainties grew in the early morning of Day 6 when Ayumu managed to piss off Uso... and he and his partner were promptly erased by Uso and Orion. It was hard to watch. Akio had caught the two Players fighting each other earlier in the week, but since then it had seemed like their relationship had grown stronger... Was that just a lie, too? The way they bickered, during their final fight... it was awful. What happened to them?
Shockingly, they were the only erasures that day, though it wasn't for lack of trying. Runa, having still not obtained her erasure for the week, reached her limit fighting Kou and Taiki. It was tense, but everyone made it out alive. But for how much longer...?
At the very least, the Plaid Pals gained a new recruit - Kazunori - as Akio had requested at his wall that day.
It also turned out that Akio was getting pretty good with his new yoyo, as demonstrated with the all-versus-Jean brawl early on Day 7. He felt a little bad, honestly. Jean looked pretty messed up.
Akio didn't know exactly what to expect from the GM fight that day. There were still a lot of Players left. Was Hawk going through with the full erasure? Apparently the answer was no - there wasn't a single erasure that day, in fact. Fourteen winners was highly unusual, but... good, right? This was fine, right...? At least most of them chose to reincarnate instead of becoming Reapers this time, jeez.
Oh, yeah, and Hawk got his arm chopped off for some reason. Uurgh.
=== Post Week 15 ===
The reincarnation ceremony for Satsuki (and her two sisters, as per the deal) was held a few days later. Cheer had not erased her as planned, and seemed to thoroughly regret his actions. It could have turned out a lot worse.
The newly engaged pair went on a brief vacation after the week had wound down, and without the Game on their minds it was quickly becoming apparent that they were not ready to get married in the near future. At least, Akio wasn't ready to get married. They both agreed to allow themselves some more time.
The June following Week 15 marked the third anniversary of Akio's death, and this one was particularly hard on him - since it also meant the end of his allowed three-year Kyoto RG visiting period as determined by Conductor Masumi. A healthy and sensible person would probably have gone to pay one last visit to their parents in Kyoto... Akio, however, was entirely too miserable for that. And he'd just recently reconnected with his parents, too...
==Relationships==
=== Hayato ===
Akio's brother. Despite being about two years Akio's junior he has always proven himself to be very capable and independent, something that Akio is both proud and jealous of. Akio cares deeply for his brother and loves spending time with him, but he hates having to lie to him about being dead. He knows Hayato is going to find out eventually, but he's trying to be the best brother he can, in the meantime.
=== Cheer ===
Akio's fiance. Though the two of them both hail from Kyoto they only met after transferring to Shibuya, and it wasn't until months later that they would start dating, though it wasn't exactly a serious relationship at first. They got together For Real on Akio's birthday and despite the many issues that have come between them, they both love each other dearly and are slowly but surely working to understand each other. Cheer proposed to him during Week 15, but the two of them don't yet know when they will both be ready to tie the knot.
=== Yuki ===
Akio's partner while working in Kyoto. The two of them got pretty close during Akio's year in the district, but they broke off contact when he left for Shibuya. At least, until Yuki messaged him out of the blue about a year later. Their relationship nowadays is a little complicated due to Akio's Kyoto-related emotional baggage, but he's happy to have Yuki in his life again.
=== Shiori ===
Despite Cheer's primary roommate being about as much of a shut-in as Akio himself, the two still get to interact from time to time. Akio at least trusted him enough to convince Hayato to offer him a job at the cafe - he's been working there ever since, and Akio is pleased that Shiori and Hayato are getting along well in the workplace.
=== Jean ===
Akio gets along well with Shibuya's Conductor (briefly Composer), and he's more than a little bit thankful that Jean is a very different man than Kyoto's Conductor. Jean has repeatedly offered a friendly helping hand (including saving his life from a shrieking harpy of a Composer) and Akio tries to return that kindness whenever he can. Their friendship has been strained a little by issues regarding Cheer's romantic feelings for Jean, but ultimately Akio trusts Jean and really just wants everyone to be friends again.
=== Charles ===
Akio isn't entirely sure how he managed to earn Charles' trust, but at any rate he was one of the first people that Charles chose to divulge his true identity to. Despite his clear dislike of Akio's significant other, Charles quickly became a reliable friend willing to lend an ear to Akio's problems. They hang out on occasion to watch anime and play Animal Crossing.
=== Nora ===
Akio has spent enough time at Taboo to call Nora a friend - and one he has a lot of respect for, as he feels like she'd helped him a lot. They both share Kyoto heritage and are both hiding their Reaperdom from their RG families, so he knows that she understands some of his struggles.
=== Meira ===
The resident sentient maze of Taboo Sweets quickly took a liking to Akio for reasons he can't entirely fathom. It seemed that she mostly enjoyed teasing him to start with, but as Meira's personality developed they gained something closer to an actual friendship and Akio now has the (involuntary) role of #1 Babysitter. She's kind of exhausting (especially when she calls him at 3am) but Akio humours her nonetheless.
=== Uso ===
Akio got to know Uso shortly before they worked together in Week 14. He admires her childish enthusiasm, though kind of worries for her - it's clear that she has been through a lot, and has a lot of emotional baggage. He wants to help her in any way he can. The number one Plaid Pal.
=== Haozi ===
A frequent early-morning companion of Akio during Week 14. While sitting at The Bench™ the two of them have had varied discussions about the Game and related matters, and Akio appreciates their general bounciness and willingness to share an outside perspective. He's grateful for the help they've given him. Maybe he'll come visit them in Canada sometime?
==Trivia==
*His noise form, Neo Rockadillo, is a small armadillo. Small ball.
*He owns two cats, Rin and Hime. Rin was a stray that Akio took in before his death. Hime was an anniversary gift from Cheer.
*He prefers tea over coffee, but drinks a lot of both. He blames Hayato.
*He always gets extra cheese on his pizza.
*His wardrobe is roughly 50% plaid and 50% stupid cat shirts. He will not hear a word against galaxy pizza cat.
*His current weapon is a shiny red yoyo that Jean got him for Christmas.
==Gallery==
the ichikawas.png|Akio with his brother (and cat)
akio new wings.png|Akio with his Kyoto-style wings
neo rockadillo.png|Akio's Noise form, Neo Rockadillo
akio by dei.png|a sad boy (by dei)
GALAXY PIZZA CAT by nessa.png|GALAXY PIZZA CAT (by Nessa)
Shicheerio - hakei art.png|the gang's all here (by Hakei)
Halloween.png|Cheer and Akio on Halloween '16
W15 riverbend advertisement.png|Ad for W15 of TRG, with Akio and co. at Riverbend
Cheerio by ghost.png|~battle couple~ (by Ghost)
W15 cosplays.png|Team Skull cosplay from W15 Day 0
mini crown.png|Akio sporting his mini-crown from W14/15
birthiversary.png|Happy birthiversary!
Category:Reapers
Category:Support Reaper
Category:Week 14
Category:Week 15
Category:Shopkeeper