Akeno Tsugikuni

**Akeno Tsugikuni** (継国 朱乃, *Tsugikuni Akeno*?) was the mother of Michikatsu and Yoriichi Tsugikuni. She also was the creator of the hanafuda earrings that Tanjiro Kamado currently wears.

## Appearance

Akeno was a young woman with a petite build and fair skin. She has black waist-length hair tied parted apart on top of her forehead with a bow at the bottom of her back along with two bangs that reach her eyes.

She wore a magenta kimono with a white juban under it. Over this, Akeno wore incredibly long formal clothing that could possibly be or inspired by Jūnihitoe with multiple thin overlapping white crescent moons with polka-dots above them, reaching past her bare feet being dragged along the floor.

## Personality

Akeno was described as a very religious and pure-hearted woman, always praying to the god of the sun for little to no disaster in the world along with her constantly worrying for Yoriichi and Michikatsu. She was noted to be a very calm and quiet person, with people describing her demeanour as doll-like. Despite this, she also possesses a fierce love for the two, as shown when she accosts her husband for considering killing Yoriichi. Despite her protective constitution, she doesn't complain to being helped as seen when Yoriichi as a child would always support and carry her impaired side due to her terminal sickness.

## History

Akeno lived during the Sengoku period of Japan, nearly five centuries before the Taisho era. She gave birth to twin boys in a time it was thought to be a bad omen, as twins would have fought to be the family's rightful heir. In particular, the younger twin had a large and strange looking mark on the upper-left side of his head. This caused her husband to consider killing the boy just after his birth. At this, Akeno became furious and angrily grabbed her husband's kimono, needing to be restrained by two servants. She vouched for his survival and he eventually relented, deciding the boy would live in the temples when old enough. Of her two boys, the older one was named Michikatsu and the younger twin was named Yoriichi.

Due to her husband's dislike of Yoriichi, Akeno constantly fought with him. Their clashes would even include Michikatsu when he attempted to play with his brother, resulting in his father beating him. She also battled an illness that slowly affected her entire body. Yoriichi, due to his mark giving him supernatural abilities, would constantly be seen supporting the left side of her body; unfortunately, this kind action inadvertedly caused Michikatsu to consider him weak and pathetic, developing a disgust for Yoriichi. Since Yoriichi initially never spoke, Akeno tried to help this by making Hanafuda-charm earrings for him and praying to the gods to bless and cure his deafness.

Akeno would write her experiences and thoughts in a diary until her condition eventually killed her. The morning of her passing, Yoriichi informed Michikatsu about their mother's death, before leaving the Tsugikuni household. Later, Michikatsu would read her diary and was shocked to learn about her illness and Yoriichi's attempts to aid her, causing him immense envy at the fact that Yoriichi was special. Her demise also came as a great shock to her husband, who had never known about her condition. Her will gave a final instruction to her husband to live with her two sons as a happy family. To support Akeno's wishes, he tried to find Yoriichi at the temples he believed him to be at but was unsuccessful. Despite the two constantly being at odds, Akeno was sorely missed by her husband and he never remarried again after her death.

## Trivia

* The Sun deity that she prays to everyday is more than likely the Shintō deity Amaterasu Ōmikami, since during the Sengoku period, multiple clans prayed to the kami for good fortune during warfare.
	+ Because of this, it's possible that Akeno represents the legendary "Himiko (Pimiku)" (卑弥呼, *Pimiku*?) also known as "Shinwei Waō" (親魏倭王, ***"Shinwei Waō"***?), the first queen (if not ruler) of all of ancient Japan (known as "Wa" (倭, ***"Wa"***?)) in the Yayoi period. This is due to Pimiku being believed in records of the Kojiki or Nihon Shoki to be the daughter of the sun deity Amaterasu, and lived within Japan's first written record warring period. This likely references back to the wars of the Sengoku period that Akeno faced through along with her devotion to the sun diety.
* Her terminal illness was not known by any individual prior to her death besides herself and Yoriichi. The latter due to him having access to the Transparent World.
* Because of her quiet demeanor, it startled many people when she angrily confronted her husband for wanting to kill Yoriichi.
* Akeno was the first person Yoriichi ever spoke to.

## Relatives

* *The story does not indicate which child of Michikatsu carries on the lineage nor the quantity of generations that follow*.