Akuji Hasegawa

**Warning**

This page contains triggering elements that may not be suited for those who are easily triggered. Topics being mentioned can range from abuse, torture, neglect, and many more crude topics this article touches on. If you cannot stomach any graphic topics mentioned, it is advised you click off and read another page.

**Thank you so much to Phxcon for drawing him!**

## Akuji Hasegawa

* Drawing
* Gacha Club
* Child

## Physical Information

### Nicknames / Aliases

Aku (By everyone)
 Bastard (By Ashton)
Filthy Dog (By Cassian)
Scar face (derogatorily, by Cassian)
Whore (derogatorily)

### Age

22 (currently)
18 (When meeting Ashton)

## Personal Information

### Residence

Ilya, Lyakon
Estelar, Lyakon (formerly)

### Relatives

Unnamed Mother
Unnamed Father
Three unnamed siblings

### Allies

Caius Astrada, Cassian Packard, Ashton Khanh (formerly)

### Enemies

Locaster Helios, Ashton Khanh, Shay Hanamura, Yuna Hanamura, Damion Halloreen, Fēng Xu, Hideko Inazuma, Hikage Ishuko, Veena Lu, Nabi Haluška, Shizuka Ikami, Cherry Amana, Windflower Amana

## Portrayal

### Voice Claim

Tohru Adachi (Johnny Yong Bosch)

**Akuji Hasegawa** is a major antagonist in *Challenge of The Shadows.* He is a bounty hunter that works for the National Army of Lyakon in the enhanced division and is Caius' righthand man, as he is mainly sent out for missions very frequently, usually to capture defectors and deport them to Lyakon or hunt down hybrids for the black market economy of Lyakon. Because of his enhanced skills, he is listed as both a fine soldier and an extreme fanatic to the Astrada Clan.

Akuji is later on revealed to be the person responsible for blackmailing Ashton into the army, saying he would out him as a demon if he did not join and was his trainer at some point, though was exceedingly harsh on him and abused him for four years after seeing how Ashton reminded him of himself when he was in his youth, envying him eternally. After he escaped, he was sent to capture him and return him back to Lyakon.

## History

Akuji was the oldest of three siblings, and grew up in the same district of Lyakon as Ashton. He worked as a thief in order to support his family due to Estelar's extreme famine and lack of funding from the capital. He often had to work long hours to get the supplies his family needed and deeply cared for his parents and three siblings by prioritizing them over himself. Even when they had food, Akuji would give larger portions for his family instead of himself. Being the only one in the family that is physically fit, he usually was seen as the breadwinner of his family because of him being able to steal an abundant amount of food with little to no effort, and managed to keep his family afloat by stealing what he could to ensure survival for him and his family.

While returning home after stealing, he had gotten into a fight with a group children from the second division of Lyakon, but he had quickly overpowered them after nearly being assaulted and almost had his food taken away. Being beaten by a third division individual, The fight had resulted in him getting followed home without his knowledge after they had tipped the soldiers of Lyakon about him stealing as an enactment of revenge.

When he was fourteen, Akuji came home from stealing and gave his family food when soldiers who were following him from the army showed up to take and draft him into the military. Despite his attempts of refusal for the sake of his siblings and family, they proceeded to drag Akuji out of his home, ignoring his pleas to release him. Even though he resisted, he was still heavily outnumbered, and was taken away from his family, and his struggling was intense enough to a point where the soldiers had to sedate him. Afterward, he was sent to the Lyakonian army base to train to be a soldier, permanently separated from his family and unsure of when he can see them again.

At the base, Akuji was both physically and psychologically abused by his trainers, specifically Cassian, who often berated him harshly for mistakes he would often make and was constantly overworked. His trainers would often beat him with a stick to force him into submission if he ever attempted to fight back or when he did not give a satisfactory performance. He was forced to go on long shifts without breaks and often was exhausted from all the shifts he had to take on. He was taunted and beaten by older soldiers, despite being a child at the time. Because of the harsh environment, Akuji attempted suicide by overdosing on morphine via consuming Opium plants. His suicide attempt failed after he was found lying on the grass and taken into an apothecary to recover. Realizing his attempt failed, he decided to endure the abuse because of his failed attempt.

Akuji reminisced of reuniting with his family and often wept for them whenever he was by himself, thinking about their difficulty in surviving. He was both constantly stressed and homeless, as he would often have to sleep in a tree when his shifts were over, though at times they wouldn't be over until the morning. With his trainers harsh words towards him, Akuji started to question his validation and started to crave it from those around him for someone to see him as valid and talented for what he is. The soldiers around him often shunned and outcasted him for his acerbic behavior. Additionally, Akuji became depressed and psychologically exhausted from Cassian's abuse and adapted to it quickly.

At some point, Akuji had became the favorite of Caius for a brief period of time, always standing by the throne and often sent out on missions on his behalf. Akuji was seen as an object of Caius and wanted to do nothing more but possess him unbeknownst to him and treated him differently from other soldiers by sending him on missions under his name. Akuji alluded to be "more than a favorite" of Caius, implying sexual abuse. He was blackmailed by Caius to silence him with the threat of being murdered and had full control over him and was forced into sexual slavery at only fourteen, causing his mental state to deteriorate slowly.

Additionally, Caius threatened he would track the rest of his family and murder them if he told anyone about the abuse, coercing him into doing his bidding against his will. He sent soldiers to spy on him to assure that he was not giving any information about Caius' abuse and controlled every aspect of his life by emotionally manipulating him for loyalty and gaslighting him into thinking the behavior being done to him was normal. As he was being abused, his outlook on human life became dense and saw humanity as evil because of the crimes done against him and other people.

Being abused and held captive by a higher figure in authority, Akuji turned to substances and smoking in order to cope and process what had happened to him, mainly to a mixture of cocaine and Xanax to alleviate his stress. It is noted by Ashton that he would often smoke in order to alleviate his recurring flashbacks he would sometimes have, coming back with "red and puffy" eyes, likely due to the amount of drugs he took. When attempting to escape the kingdom in order to seek sanctuary in Azuren, he was caught and was given the punishment of getting a scar on his eye, to where Cassian would make three vertical slits on his eye with a machete, permanently disfiguring his face and being taught that the punishment he was given was a norm to keep the soldiers "civilized."

Because of all the stress and abuse he faced, his personality slowly shifted into a rather cold and malevolent one and started to take pride in his job, despite knowing how wrong being a soldier was as a child. He stopped seeing the good in others and became entirely apathetic because of all the strain and abuse that was lashed out onto him for simply making mistakes in training and adapted to this behavior that was viewed as normal. He quickly became Caius' right hand man and started to become overconfident of his position while still fearing Caius due to him being under his control because of his blackmail holding him back from ever leaving. When he was older, parts of his former self fully diminished and gained his psychopathic demeanor, beginning to take pride in his job and blinded by the false narrative of demons and hybrids overall because of the influence the kingdom was having on him. When he was eighteen, Akuji's former self permanently diminished and became colder, crueler and pessimistic.

Akuji was sent to hunt hybrids down and eventually found Ashton Khanh, who was attempting to hunt down a bird. He recruited him via blackmail by forcing him to join or he would out him as a demon. After bringing him in and sending him to get cleaned up, Akuji viewed Ashton as himself when he was younger: kind, gentle, and always seeing the good in others with an innocent youth he once had. Because of the immense flashbacks of his former self and envy, he treated him the exact same way he was treated when being forced into the military, abusing him in order to carve him into a dutiful soldier and ensuring he would be the one in charge of him.

His personality further took a shift as he started to physically, emotionally and verbally abuse Ashton and frequently took his rage and anger out on him without showing it on his face. As a result of his abuse, Ashton started to grow a fear of Akuji in his later years. The two were still partnered up together despite of Ashton's fear, and Akuji would often pressure him into killing the innocent by using coercion to do so. He often resorted to canning him if he did not excel in his training and forced him to hold boulders on his shoulders for hours on end in order to make him miserable. Akuji had also killed a girl that Ashton had feelings for all for the sake of making him lonely and without anyone that can help him.

As Akuji's behavior began to escalate, Ashton developed an extreme fear of being near him whenever having to do partner work or simply training with one another. With his arbitrarily cruel behavior towards Ashton, he shows to hold an extreme envy for him due to being surpassed by someone younger than him. He would force him to carry large boulders on his back because of a mistake and would refuse to take them off until he was about to fall. Akuji mainly beat Ashton for minor mistakes, canning him for accidentally misusing his sword and cutting part of his cheek, along with hitting his wrist with a metal stick for making a mistake in combat.

Akuji would force him to run through a flock of bullets so he could attempt to kill him, but realizing that he kept his promise to him in joining the army, he held back on killing him. As Ashton managed to gain the title of an advanced soldier within six months, Akuji both spited and envied him for his natural talents and that he still saw good in him, despite all of the abuse he put him through, reminding him of himself when he was younger and more susceptible to seeing good in others: Additionally, Akuji loathed Ashton's innocence and confusion, reminiscing about how he too was once like Ashton when he was younger before it was taken away from him. To cope, he would often take his anger out on Ashton and used him as his punching bag.

When Ashton "replaced" Akuji, it drove his envy further and abused him in a severe manner out of rage, and eventually notices Ashton caught Caius' eye.

## Appearance

Akuji is a tall man of Japanese descent with gray skin and white eyes. He has long, raven black hair that goes down to his back tied in a braid and a dark blue musketeer had that is slightly tilted. Underneath his left eye is a beauty mark and his right eye has three vertical scars that expand on his face after Cassian slashed through his face with a machete.

Akuji wears a typical mercenary outfit. He is mostly seen with a gray bodysuit-like shirt with rolled up sleeves and a green cape that had two black pieces of fabric that dangle in the front, a belt with two leather straps curled, black military pants and gray boots with light blue decals. On the left side of his waist, he wears a gun holster that holds a double barrel gun inside.

As a child, Akuji's hair was down and rather messy and the scar on his right eye is absent. He wears a tan shirt with ripped up gray pants, bandages around his arm and brown boots.

## Personality

Though appearing rather smooth-talking and polite on the surface, Akuji is an apathetic and condescending individual, having little to no attachment to anyone around him and has a hard time forming bonds, only seeing them as a role to merely fulfill. When on duty, he often displays a peppy, yet playful demeanor, but often teases his targets and can be rather sadistic when doing so, taunting Locaster about killing Soul Kawasaki after ripping off his wings without any qualms. Being the king's right hand man, Akuji is a swift and agile individual, having the ability to kill targets without any hardship or difficulty and is heavily favored by the king, being able to say what he pleases to Cassian and other high ranking officials in the kingdom. It is noted by Ashton that Akuji is often polite and charming whenever around other people, though often does this if he wants someone or something from them.

According to Ashton, Akuji is both intimidating and ruthless, often displaying abusive behavior towards other people and viewing his vile behavior as normal. Since Akuji abused Ashton during their time training, he finds satisfaction for mercilessly taunting and teasing Ashton in a crude, yet playful manner about personal events he had gone through and showed little empathy towards him. Akuji is a psychopath and did harmful actions to others simply for the reaction, taking Cassian's earring in order to anger him just to see if his reaction was worth seeing, even going as far into killing a girl Ashton had liked solely to see his reaction and make him miserable.

Akuji has shown to be less prone for when people attempt to expose him for his actions, slapping Ashton across the face after he had confronted him on his abusive behavior and how he did not help him after a certain event, leading him to often use threats and his physical prowess in order to scare them into submission. Along with his intimidating appearance, his choice of words are described as harsh, bordering on cruelty, often using profanity without any restraint and can come off as severe.

Akuji has shown to be delighted whenever he has opponents, praising Locaster for his use of his dark magic, complimenting Ashton on his improved technique and going as far into sparing him because he views Ashton as a "fun opponent." However, this side of him is hardly shown, as he banters about how he was able to kill many demons without having to fight them because of his prowess. Because of his thrill for seeing other's upset reactions, it is implied Akuji is a psychopath, making extreme remarks without any remorse and is often satisfied when hurting someone else for his own bidding.

Akuji is both arbitrarily cruel and harsh and shows little to no concern for those who do not abide by Lyakon's rule. He perceives newer recruits to the army as weak with no potential whatsoever due to his superiority complex of being stronger than others. With his superiority complex comes with his behavior towards others, as he switches his personality depending on the person he is around, whether it is for deception or to have a simple conversation with, seen when he speaks in a more respectful, firm tone around Caius and, sometimes, around Cassian. Akuji is also rather disrespectful, taunting Cassian about his fear of landmines and making crude remarks about his fathers death, but can only be respectful if he is threatened or is near someone higher in command.

As a child, however, his personality was the exact opposite of the cruel and rather harsh persona he now adapts: When he was younger, Akuji would always put others above himself and was described to be sweet, helpful and very protective of his family, going to the extremes to ensure their survival and does not take care of himself because of him caring for other people around him. He was described by Hideko during their brief conversation as children as generous and caring to those around him before being dragged into the army, and often stole food and water so he could give it to others around him.

Early on, Akuji is shown to be a drug addict and is dependent on them for functioning. As a result of being sexually abused, Akuji turned to substances such as cocaine and Xanax to alleviate his stress and is sometimes seen taking ecstasy during the limited time he has off duty to simply receive a euphoric feeling from the drug. According to Cassian, Akuji is sometimes seen in a dazed state after overdosing and acts erratic when in battle after taking drugs, supposedly being used to enhance his abilities and ensure he does not receive his flashbacks. Because of his addiction, he is seen as unapproachable and unlikeable, resulting in him often spending time by himself. Additionally, Akuji is a heavy smoker and smokes cannabis on a daily basis to reduce flashbacks from his past.

## Abilities

**Overall Abilites:** As a soldier, Akuji is a very powerful, yet dangerous combatant. It has been stated by both Ashton and Locaster that he is one of the more stronger opponents the both of them have faced. He was able to withhold many attacks from Hideko and Ashton as the both of them attempted to surprise attack him but failing, He was able to put up a fight with all members of the group without difficulty. His combination of both his skilled use in weaponry and combat makes him one of the more larger threats the group had faced, the second big threat being Crow. He, at first, does not fight seriously in order to ease his opponents in and only gets serious when his opponent is fooled.

**Deception:** Being trained in a harsh environment, Akuji has incredible deception skills, having the ability to fool others around him by displaying a friendly, smooth-talking facade that is able to fool all but the more keen observants. Ashton and Hideko were quickly able to see through his facade, the other members following up. His ability to deceive becomes an advantage he often uses because of how he gained the trust of many other individuals before killing them of. This was shown when Akuji had managed to fool Locaster into eating a drug-laced brownie in order to save Ashton from being executed and his secret of being a quarter of a demon come out.

**Enhanced Speed & Reflexes:** As a soldier for one of the largest armies, Akuji is extremely fast, being able to catch up to Ashton effortlessly and outpacing Shizuka in her tracks; His speed is sometimes described as being inhuman-like, sometimes being fast enough it appears he teleported. His impeccable speed was further exemplified when he managed to catch up to Ashton and nearly slam him into the ground. His reflexes are also equally as fast, dodging many of Locaster's powerful spells and attacks and managing to evade Shay's many ambushes, despite him being a Lieutenant.

**Enhanced Strength:** As a soldier in the National Army of Lyakon, Akuji possesses incredible and nearly inhuman-like strength. This is shown when he manages to punch down Ashton and nearly knock down Shay with only a simple kick. According to Yuna, Akuji's strength is on the caliber of a demons and nearly surpasses Ashton in strength because of Akuji being in the military for a longer time than him. Even when he was a child, his strength has been described to be unmatched, so much so that he was able to save himself from getting beaten by upper rank children. He was also strong enough to rip Locaster's wings out of his back without difficulty.

**Enhanced Durability:** Akuji has proven to have an incredibly durable body. This is shown when Cassian nearly smothers him for taking his earring, but still remained unfazed. This is further proven when Hideko had attempted to shoot his arm with the bullet, cutting his skin and creating a huge dent, but proved to not flinch when being faced with this. His durability is further proven when Ashton used his metal pipe to nearly break his wrist, but managed to resist the pain that came with it.

**Menacing Aura:** Akuji has demonstrated to have a menacing and rather overwhelming presence, managing to scare Locaster into taking his drug-laced brownie in order to save Ashton from both being outed as a demon and being killed. His aura is further exemplified when Hideko, one of the more brash members, falls into silence when he gets punched in the stomach by him during their awaiting trials.

**Keen Intellect:** Being both harshly trained and carefully educated by both Cassian and Caius, Akuji has demonstrated to be incredibly intelligent. He was able to ambush the group with ease by carefully preparing and planning out how they were going to send Ashton back by making a mass ambush. He has also proven to be knowledgable in combat, as seen where he correctly predicts every move from Damion. He was also aware that he was a former Founding Demon, and while not being a shard user, possesses knowledge on some of the demon gems.

**Enhanced Stamina & Endurance:** Akuji has proven on several occasions to have inhuman-like stamina and endurance, shown when going one on one with Ashton and not showing an inch of exhaustion or being tired. This is proven during his one on one battle with Ashton, nearly knocking him to the ground and nearly pouncing on him when he realized he was overusing his abilities and barely flinched when Ashton and Damion used more of their larger spells on him, continuing to fight in a nonchalant manner.

## Equipment

**Double Barreled Shotgun:** Akuji's main weapon of choice is a double barreled shotgun, used for hunting down hybrids and designed to be used at further distances, as shown when he was able to shoot Damion through the shoulder from a faraway angle. He has also used his gun multiple time around Ashton during his training by making him run through a forest and shooting him at far distances so he can attempt to avoid the many bullets flying at him.

## Weaknesses

**Reliance:** Akuji's main weakness is reliance on his weapon, as he is more experienced with weapon-to-weapon combat instead of hand-to-hand, despite being efficient in the two. This results in him having to rely on his gun too much. Without his gun or being out of bullets, he is considered much weaker.

**Expose:** Akuji is not prone to being called out for his actions. If called out, he will ultimately lash out and use physical violence as a threat or as a way to keep things on the low. This is seen when Ashton calls Akuji out on not trying to help him, but he had eventually slapped Ashton across the face due to him calling Akuji out for his abusive and crude behavior.

**Hand-to-hand Combat:** Though exceeding in this category of combat, Akuji has proven to lack some skill in hand-to-hand combat, easily being knocked down by Ashton due to not having his gun and thrown down by Shizuka while she distracted him. While he still exceeds, this type of combat can greatly hinder his ability to fight because of his weak hand muscles.

**Underestimation:** Having a superiority complex, Akuji mostly undermines the individuals he fights because of his view on being the superior out of all soldiers. He is seen underestimating Ashton by taunting him before he nearly lands a hit on him, cutting him with his sword. Because of his underestimation of individuals, it can greatly weaken him, especially when challenging proficient fighters.

## Relationships

### Ashton Khanh

Being Ashton's trainer under his wing, Akuji has a very strained and hostile relationship with him. As he blackmailed Ashton into joining the army in order to not get killed and sold off, Akuji physically and emotionally abused him from when he was fourteen up until he was seventeen, beating him for not achieving the above perfection standard that was common in the military. Because of the abuse, Ashton harbors an immense amount of hatred towards him, while Akuji harbors both envy and hatred. His envy can stem from when he was able to surpass him in talent and combat because of his naturally advanced physiology.

As a result of Akuji's abuse, Ashton exhibits an extreme fear of him and often freezes whenever he is near or even in close sights. Akuji finds this as a normal reaction because he is supposed to be scared of him. Akuji often taunts Ashton about memories he wanted to forget and traumatic moments in order to psyche him out and put him in a more vulnerable position to ultimately weaken him. When he was younger, he would often beat Ashton as a way to force him into submission whenever the two had an argument or a conflict with one another.

### Cassian Packard

Akuji was Cassian's trainee who works under his fleet. When first being introduced to him, Akuji was frightened of him because of his abusive behavior, but was also fascinated by him because of his many talents, such as having the ability to train soldiers effortlessly. Even though he does have a sense of hostility towards him, he perceives Cassian as a puppet he can manipulate because of his vulnerabilities. He enjoys seeing him in a frustrated or agitated state, such as when he took off one of his earrings and made him fight for it back until Akuji was nearly smothered by him or intentionally taunting him for not having a father.

Taunting him about his father's death, Cassian harbors an immense hatred for him, but cannot retaliate due to Akuji being Caius' right-hand man. He is frequently seen with Akuji because of him being sent on missions the most on Caius' behalf.

### Locaster Helios

Though their interactions are fairly limited, Akuji demonstrates to show a disdain for him. He taunted him about Soul's death, bragging how his body parts sold for "a good million runes" and dropping his mask on the floor. However, despite his hatred for him, he shows a particular interest in Locaster because of his empathy and selflessness, taking advantage of it and giving him a drug-laced brownie instead of killing him in order to see how far he would go to save a person. He envies Locaster for his innocence and how he still desires to save others and not saving himself from dangerous scenarios.

### Caius Astrada

Caius Astrada is the current ruler of Lyakon. Being his right-hand man, he shows to maintain a business partner-like relationship with him, often being sent on missions under his name. It is noted by Ashton that Akuji and Caius' relationship is seen as odd by both soldiers and politicians alike because of how they act more like close acquaintances than just a soldier and a king. He is almost always seen standing by his throne and often displays cruel behavior towards fugitives and prisoners without him retaliating, though secretly despises him.

Akuji demonstrates to have a fear of Caius showing a scared expression when Caius tells him to "cut it out" after he kicked Ashton in the stomach. Because of his blackmail towards Akuji if he ever told anyone about his abuse, he is forced to stay and work for him because of the threat of getting killed or shunned by others. His fear is further displayed when Akuji taunts him about his brother, Silas, whom he overthrew; Caius chokes him and warns Akuji to not mention the overthrow, otherwise he would be canned to death.

### Shizuka Ikami

Little is known about Akuji's interactions with Shizuka. However, Shizuka recalled seeing him as a child, describing him as "so sweet, yet so pessimistic," and did not interact with him much during their times in the slums, since he was much closer to Hideko in regards of relationships. Akuji described her as "cute" but also unstable due to her depleting psychological state as a child. He belittled her and bragged about being more advanced than her within the military, peeving her, but also proving him wrong. Shizuka mostly uses insults at his age, calling him an "old sack of shit." As he proceeds to call her the same name, Shizuka deflects by saying she is three years younger than him and further insults him after he makes fun of her prosthetic by pointing out the scar on his eye, further diminishing their obscure relationship with one another.

## Trivia

* Akuji is one of three characters with a braid, the other two being Misaya Myat and Cassian Packard.
* Akuji's name in Japanese (あくじ) can mean "evil deed, wrongdoing, crime" and "misfortune, calamity."
* His surname contains the kanji of "gallop, run" (馳 *hase*) and "river, stream" (河 *kawa/gawa*).
* Despite forgetting his old self, Akuji remembers his family vaguely and has not seen them in over four years, but hopes to visit them.
* Akuji's hatred for Ashton was caused by envy and pure spite: As he saw Ashton improve and surpass him, his envy grew to a point where he made it a goal to make Ashton miserable in any given moment because of his deep envy for him.
* Akuji is one of the tallest members outside of Locaster's group, being around 6'1 and Cassian being around 6'2.
* He has a skin condition known as argyria, where instead of his skin being pale like most of his family, his skin is an off gray tone, caused by people who ingest silver. Unlike his family members, Akuji's is the least severe from them.
* Many soldiers despise him for not only his talents but also his personality.
* As Akuji is proficient in weapon-to-weapon combat, he was able to kill as many as thirteen people with his shotgun alone.
* Akuji's favorite foods are fried squid and daifuku, along with spicy foods. He, however, is not used to sour or overly-sweet foods.
* Akuji likes hunting, feeling superior among others and hot springs, but he dislikes Ashton, people that claim to be superior and bugs.
* According to Cassian, he finds Akuji "stupid" because of his superiority complex.