Akira Otori/Relationships

## South Sector

### Will Sprout

Akira and Will are childhood friends who grew up on the same street. When they were little, they and Ren would play together all the time, but after Ren's family passed away and Akira's family took him in, the two started to grow distant from each other. Will would pour all of his attention onto Ren, even when Akira wanted to hang out with him, so Akira started to ignore him and hang around the neighborhood delinquents, ruled by Gast, instead. Although Will would look for Akira at his parents' request, he only realized how fraught their relationship was when Akira got caught in a fire, only barely making it out due to being rescued by a hero.
From then on, Will would grow to become extremely overprotective of Akira, being hypervigilant of the younger boy's actions and sometimes speaking and acting on his behalf. He began to despise Gast and all the delinquents, blaming them for Akira's incident, and took measures to keep them away from him, such as telling them to buzz off or not letting Akira leave on his own. Thanks to them being assigned to the same sector, Will was able to keep his eye on Akira, and he continued to do so, even as their job started to interfere with his protection.

In Sunrise Colors, Akira learns about Overflow from Victor, and trains to be able to achieve it. He finally manages to pull it off when the pair run into Siams while hanging out together, much to Will's horror. Akira promptly puts himself out of commission, not able to withstand the effects of his newfound power, and finds himself in the infirmary, where Will is quick to visit. Will demands that he promise to never use such a power again, a promise that Akira isn't willing to make, since he wants to achieve everything he's capable of. Akira, however, is unwilling to make such a promise, which causes them to fall out. The rift between them only grows when Akira finds out during their first LOM that Will had been hiding his true strength in order to match up with Akira. Their relationship finally takes a turn for the better after Will has a heart-to-heart with Oscar and Akira meets with Brad in the hospital, and Akira takes the initiative to apologize to Will for how much he's worried him. Will apologizes in turn for not considering how earnestly Akira has been working towards becoming a hero, and says he wants to become the strongest hero he can together with Akira. Akira teases him for his declaration of rivalry, but agrees to stick by him.

Will constantly has his eye on Akira, so much so that Gast sometimes calls him "Mr. Babysitter". He monitors when and why Akira leaves their room, so Akira feels he has to sneak out to go and have some fun. He often scolds Akira for his behavior, such as when Akira says something rude to their mentors, or dresses too lightly for the weather. In Akira's first character story, Akira says Will is more suited to being a housewife because of how he nags at Akira to put his luggage away.
They also frequently get into petty arguments; for example, Will getting mad at Akira for forgetting their arrangements or for eating his food (Akira always makes sure to apologize for these kinds of mistakes by buying his favorite Japanese sweets).

Akira also tends to be pretty abrasive about Will's lack of cooking ability. He refuses to let Will cook with him in Midsummer Survival Island, and abrasively declares in Help! Cooking Hero that letting Will work in a kitchen is a complete mistake. Will, who has desperately wanted Akira to enjoy his cooking ever since they were, starts to feel down hearing this. However, hearing Akira complimenting the special dish he prepared later makes him overjoyed.
For all the arguments they get into, however, it only makes their relationship stronger. Will frequently invites Akira out to eat, as seen in the main story and in Will's story "Blissful Sweets Time", and Akira knows all of Will's favorite treats. Will admires Akira for how earnest and passionate he is when it comes to his work, and Akira has come to respect how persistent Will can be when he has his mind set on something, such as when Will (politely) demands some skiers to let them borrow their gear in SNOW TRICK VACATION. The two also cooperate well, and make a good team in battle.

In Midsummer Survival Island, the first story after the main story, the two rookies and their mentor Oscar find the boat they're on being attacked by a giant squid. Will falls into the water, and Akira, aware of the other's lack of swimming ability, jumps in to save him, leading to the three of them getting swept off to an uninhabited island. Will, feeling anxious about how useless he seems and how scary their situation is, admits to Oscar that watching Akira grow so fast right in front of him makes him feel a little lonely, to which Oscar suggests that at times like these, he might benefit from relying on Akira for once, instead of the other way around.

The two find themselves once again at odds when Will defends Siams from Akira's attack in Raising Hope, where Will admits that he's been caring for the villain since he last attacked them. Akira, upset that Will would help their enemy, declares that he misjudged the other boy. However, he still tries to defend the others from Sirius's attacks, and gets extremely concerned about Will's injuries despite having sustained serious ones himself. After the fact, Akira apologizes for saying he misjudged Will, and says that the right thing to do isn't something he can decide for Will. He tells Will that he'll keep chasing his goal of being the strongest hero he can, so Will should keep fighting for what he thinks is right.

### Brad Beams

Akira and Brad are the poster characters for Helios Rising Heroes, and members of South Sector. Together, they sing the two opening songs: Rise Sunshine and Daybreak Horizon.

Akira and Brad started off on the wrong foot, with Brad stopping Akira from immaturely fighting Eclipse during his induction ceremony. From then on, the two struggled to see eye to eye; Brad would scold Akira for going against the status quo, such as when he ran off in Sunrise Colors, or for provoking a giant squid in Midsummer Survival Island, and Akira would get mad at Brad for constantly getting on his case despite Oscar being the one handling most of the rookies' training. Akira remained desperate to find a weakness of Brad's, even going so far as to assume he wears glasses because he's going blind due to old age, and would constantly shove his accomplishments in his mentor's face. However, after Brad's overflow backfired on him and he ended up in the hospital, Akira learned that when Brad was a rookie, he was just as reckless as Akira. Hearing how Brad had to be rescued by his teammates once helped Akira realize that he can't go about doing everything by himself, and needs to work on his teamwork, and he decided to cooperate with him. Although Akira still gets annoyed when Brad reprimands him, they have started to see eye-to-eye.

In The Great Gentleman's Ceremony, Brad takes Akira to buy his very own bespoke suit for an event. Akira's in a bad mood due to Marion berating him for calling himself a genius when he's not even close, so Brad takes him out to eat, and tells him that everyone starts from somewhere. On the day of the ceremony, Brad runs into some delinquents hanging around by the entrance, but Akira deals with them splendidly using the manners and etiquette Brad has him learn. Brad tells him that, although his tie got a little crooked from the confrontation, the suit suits him very nicely, which makes Akira over the moon, if a little caught off-guard.

From then on, Akira has started to properly listen to the instructions Brad gives him, and doesn't go out of his way to avoid him anymore. For example, whenever Brad talks about his plans to go driving or out to eat, Akira is quick to announce he wants in on the fun. Rather than wanting to prove him wrong, Akira now considers Brad someone he has to surpass. After learning that Brad had very good reception after starring on a New Year's TV special a few years ago in HAPPY NEW YEAR SHOW, Akira is very eager to hear Brad's opinion on his own special appearance. When Brad compliments the show, Akira stammers, but ultimately proclaims that there's no way Brad wouldn't like it. Due to their rocky start, Akira has a hard time believing that Brad would acknowledge him, so this becomes a fairly common pattern between them: Brad praises him, and Akira gets surprised.

In SNOW TRICK VACATION, Akira declares that he, Will, and Oscar can take care of all the preparations for Christmas League so that Brad can take some time off. Brad finds himself enjoying his vacation, acknowledging that Akira was right, and he does need to place more trust in his teammates. However, Akira ends up trapped in an avalanche, and Brad is ultimately the one to go rescue him, despite being on vacation. Akira feels immensely guilty for causing him trouble even though he said he could handle everything, but Brad reassures him that just because he's on break, he doesn't stop being a hero, and that Akira was right to help the kids, even if it means that Christmas League might have to be canceled. They manage to reach the massive stoat wreaking havoc at the base of the mountain, and Will and Oscar remark that they seem to be completely in sync with each other as they ski down.

It becomes abundantly clear just how attached Akira has grown to Brad in Memories for the Future, where all the major heroes lose their memories of the past year. Akira is taken aback when Brad asks him who he is, and remains depressed even as everyone else starts to wrap their heads around the situation. After it's hypothesized that reminiscing about past memories could bring back everyone's memories, Akira opens up about how although he hated Brad when they first met, he knows now that he was in the wrong and that Brad has taught him all sorts of things, and tells his mentor that he'll never forgive him if he asks who he is again. After getting his memory back, Brad reveals that he heard everything Akira said, and swears to never forget him again.