Akane

Akane is a nightmare painter from Kilahito on Komashi. She lives in an apartment across the hallway from Nikaro who she treats amiably despite their falling out after upper school. When Yumi came to Kilahito, Akane took it upon herself to befriend and help her.
==Appearance and Personality==
Akane is an attractive woman with lustrous black hair, and is approximately twenty years old. She likes to dress fashionably, usually in skirts and blouses, and wear makeup when off duty. Nikaro thinks that her work outfits tend to be somewhat dressed down.
Akane is a friendly person who is particularly good at making friends, and bringing different people together. Yumi describes Akane as tender and helpful, because of the ways she thoughtfully helped Yumi with her clothing needs. She is very skilled at bringing different people together and helping them to make connections and feel comfortable.
Her capstone painting is of a large flower.
==History==
In upper school, studying to become a nightmare painter, Akane was the core of a group of friends that included Nikaro, Tojin, Masaka, and Izzy. She came to believe that Nikaro would join the Dreamwatch and that she would be one of his companions. Though her friendship with Nikaro fell apart after this was found to be a lie, she was still friendly towards him. After graduating, she became a painter and primarily worked as partners with Tojin.
When Yumi arrived in Kilahito, the two first met in the shared hallway of their apartment building. Akane first assumed that Yumi is sexually involved with Nikaro, until she was given the lie that Yumi is his sister. The conversation ended abruptly, with Akane upset about the things Painter told Yumi about her. Later, they met again outside the apartment building, and Akane observed that Yumi seemed to be having difficulty adjusting to the city, and Yumi shared that her luggage was lost. Akane stopped Yumi from continuing into the building and offered to take her shopping, which Yumi adamantly thanked her for. They proceeded to visit a shopping center where Akane helped Yumi navigate the overwhelming selections and pick several outfits to purchase. Akane paid for the outfits, saying she will make Nikaro repay her later. After the shopping trip, Akane invited Yumi to join her at the Noodle Pupil with Tojin, Izzy, and Masaka. She introduced Yumi to each of them, though Yumi spent most of her time there at the bar with Design and Nikaro. In the weeks that followed she continued reaching out to Yumi, who claimed she was busy studying for exams. Eventually, Akane had the entire group "stage an intervention" and they convinced Yumi to come eat dinner. Yumi got to know each of them better, with Akane making sure to keep the attention on others besides Yumi for her sake.
Later, when Yumi and Nikaro attempted to go hunting for the stable nightmare, Akane and Tojin caught Yumi. They brought her to the Noodle Pupil and tried to impress on her the dangers of what she was doing. They also shared with her the truth about Nikaro's past. When Yumi returned home to Nikaro's apartment, Akane believed that she would have enough sense to stay there. Tojin convinced Akane that she might go back out, and so the pair followed her discreetly. They lost track of her in the carnival but found her again after the stable nightmare attacked. When they encountered the nightmare, Tojin fell and Akane tried to help him up so that they could run, but Nikaro scared off the nightmare first. Afterward they took Yumi back to the Noodle Pupil, where Akane stayed with her to comfort her and help her recover.
Before returning to her world for the last time, Yumi approached Akane and the others to tell them goodbye. She chastised them for their treatment of Painter, and Akane resisted the strongest to her accusations. Later she encountered Nikaro at the edge of the shroud and expressed worry over what had happened to Yumi, but Nikaro ran away. When Nikaro came asking for help for support for an impending nightmare attack, Akane was resistant at first, but after Tojin agreed to help Akane began coordinating with other painters. She also convinced Nikaro to seek help if his claims about the attack proved to be a delusion. Akane fought at the battle of Kilahito, and afterwards Nikaro used her ink to help anchor Yumi's soul.
==Relationships==
;Tojin
:Akane is very good friends with Tojin and typically partners with him on their daily rounds. Though the two are not known by their friends to be in a romantic relationship, Yumi observes that Akane appears to be attracted to him.
;Nikaro
:Though Akane's friendship with Nikaro was severely damaged by his lies concerning the Dreamwatch, she continued to make attempts to preserve a relationship with the man in the years that followed. Their relationship is further undermined by Akane's misunderstandings regarding Nikaro's actions while he is bonded with Yumi. Though Nikaro is attracted to her, Akane does not show any signs of returning those feelings.
== Notes ==
es:Akane