Aki Hoshinomiya

## Signature

> ***"Surely one day... We'll find what 'ambition' means, won't we?"***
>
>

**Aki Hoshinomiya** is a first-year student at Hanasakigawa Girls' High School and the keyboardist of AMBiTiON. She is also the band's main composer.

## Background

Being the daughter to two pragmatic businesspeople, Aki has lived her life meeting their expectations to do well in school and to eventually enter their line of work. She has thus become a perfect honor student with top grades and a great reputation. However, her perfectness makes her seem inapproachable to fellow students. As well, because of her parents' expectation for her to take on their business in adulthood, Aki feels trapped by her limited future.

Due to her parents' pursuit of the self-owned clothing brand called Sailing Star, they are frequently not at home, leaving Aki to do housework and schoolwork on her own. She has developed a mild bitterness towards her parents because of this neglect.

## Appearance

Aki has slightly wavy indigo-purple hair, and she has bangs, swept to the side. She sports a high ponytail, held by a white scrunchy. Her eyes are crystal blue.

Her voice is delicate and sweet. While speaking, she sounds like she is smiling. When especially excited, she speaks with a Kansai dialect (translated into a southern accent).

Her casual outfit is simple, involving a cropped, light blue hoodie with a basic three-color graphic, ripped denim shorts, white crew socks, and red sneakers.

## Personality

Aki is friendly, kind, and naturally talented. She is very empathetic and seeks to support others where she can. However, she also has a strong sense of guilt, and the fact that she was born with so many good traits and such great luck upsets her.

Her sense of regret has led her to having a mindset of self-loathing. Aki believes that, as someone who was born into success without effort, she does not deserve anything she has achieved in her life. For this, she believes she is an intrinsically bad person who deserves to experience suffering.  She also desires suffering because she wants to justify the pain she feels. However, in the end, Aki feels guilty over this desire, sometimes thinking she should also suffer for these thoughts, spiralling herself into a cycle of guilt. At times, Aki muses on what it is like to be hurt.

Aki is incredibly caring towards others, always trying to help people when she gets the chance. Though, partly, she feels obligated to do so because she believes she has wronged the world by being too naturally skilled. Thus, her helpfulness is her way of repaying them.

Along with her caring nature, she is conscientious and has a strong work ethic. This is partly for the same reason as above - as a form of repayment - but she also works hard as she has always been more capable than others, and she now feels a natural responsibility to continue as such.

In spite of her clever exterior, Aki can become unexpectedly impulsive and airheaded. While she can play the role of the reliable, level-headed mediator, she can also act quite peppy and lively with her catchphrase, "Poyo-yan!"

## Relationships

Chihiro Satou: Fellow band member and classmate. Originally interested in her after believing she saw Aki as normal, Aki is quite fond of Chihiro and wishes deeply to help her grow into a better, more confident person. While Aki chides her gently in this effort, she mostly indulges her with compliments instead, often calling her "cute".

Izumi Takimoto: Fellow band member. They are amicable and have fun with one another's playfulness. Aki is slightly curious about Izumi's secretive nature, but doesn't know enough to intervene.

Sorae Ishizawa: Fellow band member and schoolmate. Aki is supportive and friendly with her, often encouraging her to be social. After a chance encounter, Aki was the one to invite her to the band.

Mai Moriuchi: Fellow band member. While Aki admires Mai's responsibility and willingness to learn, she also thinks Mai is too harsh and wants to help her develop a less self-detrimental perspective.

Sugar✧Rush: Schoolmates and old friends since junior high. Having always felt a gap in their friendship with Aki, they temporarily cut ties in high school.

## Etymology

* **Aki** (明) means "bright". Phonetic similarities to **Akiru** (飽きる) meaning "to get bored of", and **Akirameru** (諦める) meaning "to give up".
* **Hoshinomiya** (星ノ宮): **Hoshi** (星) means "star" and **Miya** (宮) means "shrine".

## Trivia

* In the early stages of Summery/AMBiTiON's conception, Aki was a cool, tomboyish, and sisterly character who struggled under the pressure of other people's expectations of her as a reliable person, always available to help.
* In the Original Version of the Summery Project, Aki's surname was Hoshime (星目).
	+ Her surname has been changed to follow Japanese surname conventions more closely, to reflect her character more faithfully, and to more effectively work as a contrast to Chihiro's surname.
	+ This makes Aki and Sorae the only characters to have had a name change in development.
		- This also makes Aki the only character in the project to have had three seperate names: "Aki Hoshikawa" in Beta; "Aki Hoshime" in Original; "Aki Hoshinomiya" in Modern.
* Aki is a member of Hanasakigawa's Volleyball Club.
* Aki has played the flute, violin, and piano in the past.
* Aki can like people of any gender.
* Aki is an only child.
	+ She is envious of Sorae's multiple siblings, as Aki feels lonely at home.
* Aki was partly designed after the Mary Sue character archetype.

## References

1. ↑ AMBiTiON/Story/Ch. 16
2. ↑ AMBiTiON/Story/Ch. 16
3. ↑ Chapter 16, as said by Aki: "You know how it's always like, bad people get rewarded, and good people suffer? Don't you think that means... I'm a bad person?"
4. ↑ Chapter 16, as said by Aki: "I'm not trying to find a way out. I'm trying to get a taste of real suffering, so that maybe, I'll learn what it means."
5. ↑ Chapter 15, as said by Aki: "You wanna come to Volleyball Club with me today? Since I have practice on Wednesdays."
6. ↑  Chapter 2, as said by Aki: "Hrm, I've played the flute, the violin, the piano..."
7. ↑ Chapter 16, as said by Chihiro and Aki: "... Are you coming onto me? Do you swing that way?" "Huh? Well, I swing all ways, but-- H-Hold on!"
8. ↑ Chapter 5, as said by Sorae and Aki: "[I have] [t-t]wo [brothers], actually. [...]" "Eh~, I'm kinda jealous. I'm an only child, so it gets a little lonely, y'know~?"