Yamadori

To Akira, one of the things most important to him in a person is their integrity. He values people that say the things that they mean, and do what they say they will. That said, while he does appreciate honesty, it's less important to him than the notion of a person sticking by their own principles. Though they may have individual times that they waver, it's something that he admires amongst his fellow Phantom Thieves. It's also something he respects in people like Akechi or Sae, even if both of them have moments of taking it to an extreme degree - they're both people who strive to carry out their own personal justice, regardless of what's said by their peers or the roadblocks life places in front of them.

Another thing that means a lot to him is kindness. To those who show it to him in a way that's genuine and not superficial, Akira will slowly open up and let down a few of his masks. It can throw him for a loop to the point of making him nervous or even a little embarrassed, such as the jubilant affection he receives from Yoshizawa or the more subtle praise that sneaks up on him from Sojiro, but he treasures all of it the same. In his initial interactions with others, his mind is analytic enough to first jump to what they can do for him or what he can do for them, but he still regards someone being kind as a very precious and important thing.

It's hard to really place this, as Akira doesn't really show any direct indications of disliking things about himself - if anything, he sometimes displays the complete opposite, seeming fairly content in who he is as a person. However, a case can probably be made for one thing in particular - one thing he cannot stand is when he lets someone down, wondering about it in circles what he could've done better. Not having enough power to prevent something from going wrong, or not being there to support someone when they needed it... To Akira, one of his greatest drives is to be what people need, so it can probably be said that what he dislikes in himself is when he isn't enough.

Akira presents as a boy that's quiet and polite, demurely keeping his head down and deferring to higher authority. Whether or not he was this way during childhood, it's been the face he's shown to the world since his probation began. Even the choice to wear his fake glasses is one made to appear more unassuming to people. Some of these down-to-earth facets are even a part of his inner self, too.

But those masks are in place to keep so much more under lock and key. Inside, Akira is someone full of daring, that feels rage at the injustices against the downtrodden, and has a mind that's very careful and calculating. When he's alone amongst the Phantom Thieves, and especially when he gets to walk through the Metaverse as Joker, all of those things get to come out to play - whether that's living life on the edge, fighting against those that abuse their power, or putting his mind to coming up with an efficient strategy. There are few places where he can be quite so bold, so he must choose them wisely.

Maruki Takuto: While Sojiro is the gateway to trusting other adults, Maruki is the one amongst them that treats Akira as an equal. Rather quickly, he becomes a person that Akira trusts very much and speaks with more candidly than he does with even the Phantom Thieves. In Maruki is a kindred spirit, one of the first people in Tokyo that ever tries to earnestly understand him, and with him he shares more of his heart than most people ever get to hear. Perhaps this is part of why he's one of the only people in the world that can cause Akira to bend his morals for the sake of everyone's happiness. It's also, of course, for keeping two of the people he cares about most alive and well (alive in Akechi's case, and well in Sumire's) - but that also requires Akira putting his full trust in Maruki to do what he says he will. No one else is able to cause such an about-face in him, and it speaks to how deep their bond goes.

Akechi Goro: To Akira, he's many things - a rival, an opponent, his match in almost every way, and sometimes almost a friend. Akechi is what Akira could've been, if only the pieces of his life shifted just a little bit to the left... and for that reason, no matter what pretenses or falsehoods they use with each other, they both understand each other better than anyone else. The impact he has on Akira's life is threefold; the first is Akechi is a challenge, a duel promised in the depths of the collective unconscious of Tokyo, someone that pushes him to the heights and extremes that he's hungry for. The second impact is to reinforce Akira's own justice. The same man, Masayoshi Shido, ruined both of their lives, driving them to seek their own separate but sometimes misguided forms of justice... What Shido cost Akechi was the greatest thing of all, though - his mother - and when Akira changes Shido's heart, it's for the sake of carrying out Akechi's will as well. The third and last influence Akechi leaves is both the simplest and most complex - his bond with him is so great that Akira's willing to consider the warping of reality and his own morals just to spare his life. Their relationship has many layers to it, but Akechi is someone Akira is willing to give up the entire world for.

Akira can get excited about any assortment of things, from the mundane to the quirky. From seeing the neighborhood cats to getting high scores in a video game; from trying weird novelty flavors to seeing if he can catch the biggest fish at the pond at absurd hours of the day. There's an entire variety of life and color and culture in Tokyo, and Akira finds plenty of things to be excited about in the bustle of it all.

What's less expected of a good honor student that's supposedly on his best behavior, however, is the thrill of a good battle. Akira loves to be challenged; in the Metaverse is where he thrives, pitted against foes many times his size and putting his life in peril should he make even one misstep. Even with the rest of his team who also constantly throw themselves into the fray for the greater good, they're regularly astonished by the complicated physical maneuvers he pulls off or the situations he puts himself in without any thought to his own safety. In the Other World that allows him to don one mask while shirking off several others, Akira is allowed to indulge in what's the biggest rush for him.

Akira has a tendency to miss what's right in front of him. While he does tend to be a more detail-oriented person when it comes to scheduling and work, the issues that he struggles with the most are those of a more interpersonal nature (notable examples of these would be missing how Morgana is bothered right before the Hawaii trip, or looking the other way from any doubts he might've had about Igor). It seems contradictory when he's also a person that spends a lot of time listening to others and being very observant of them, but enough details can distract him from something that's about to become a big problem.

Most likely, it would be something along the lines of: "Your family isn't determined by your blood. Hang on a little longer til you can meet more of them."

Little is known about Akira's family or upbringing, nor any friends that he may have left behind in the countryside - and it's a blank that probably shouldn't be wholly filled in case new material changes that one day. That said, there's some minor inferences to be made, and that's in the lack of any of their significant presences during the actual storyline of Persona 5 Royal. One of the only instances that Akira's parents are mentioned is to note that "they're acquainted with one of Sojiro's customers", since that's how Akira ends up in Tokyo in the first place. But there's never any known attempts for them or any other acquaintances to contact Akira.

It's a stark contrast to the relationship that we do see that forms between him and Sojiro, which starts out very brusque on the latter's part before blossoming into a real guardianship. What we know are the people he meets in Tokyo, whether they're the Phantom Thieves or the adults that he learns to have some trust for, that end up holding a place in his heart so dear that he'd do anything for them. Perhaps the clearest illustration, though, is during the third semester's bad ending - when offered the opportunity, it's shown that one of Akira's greatest desires is to not return home and keep living with Sojiro at Leblanc.

It's not quite revealed if Akira has any resentment or lingering negative feelings towards the home that let him down, but what is very clear is the family that he found during his stay at Tokyo. If given the chance, what he'd want to pass onto his younger self is the encouragement to hang on, even through the arrest that turned his life upside down, because he'll get something irreplaceable at the end of it all.

"Tonight I hope, as small as I am, that maybe someday I can be that light for someone else."

Akira doesn't have the hugest hopes for being remembered, nor does he really mind if he's forgotten. What matters much more to him is the effect that he has on people's lives. The name "Akira Kurusu" or "Leader of The Phantom Thieves" or even "Joker" don't need to linger in the lives of others, so long as he can make a difference for them. Whether that's in offering a comforting smile to those whose hearts are hurt, or listening to the troubles of whoever has no one to hear them, or bringing justice to people who lord their power over the weak. He doesn't care one way or another if he's remembered as "himself", so long as he can just be thought of as a light that left people's lives even a little bit brighter.

Third Eye: An ability received from Igor, this allows Akira to scan the area around him for things that are out of place. It gives a glow to things that are of notice, such as searchable objects, gaps that can be jumped across, dangerous or interactable areas (pitfalls for the former or vent openings for the latter), or how dangerous an enemy may be. It also seems to have an effect on certain activities, such as slowing down shots in baseball for better timed hits, indicating different breeds of fish with one of the aforementioned glows, or improving accuracy while playing darts.

Persona: Throughout the Persona series (that for the most part isn't connected outside of being years apart in mostly the same universe), Personas themselves are generally beings that are a person's personality and feelings given form, but each one manifests a little bit differently throughout the games. In Persona 5/Royal, Personas users harness the painful feelings of being taken advantage of, or of others or themselves being wronged, and rebel against it - that form is their "rebellious heart", so to speak. Akira is a unique Persona user because he's a "Wild Card", capable of using multiple Personas (unlike most, who are only capable of using one). However this ability is usually only capable of being used in the Metaverse, the cognitive world that is projected onto the real world and can be visited through the use of a special app that Akira and the rest of his group have on their cell phones. If he does regain his powers, I'd prefer for him to only have Arsène, whose page I've linked and whose skills I'll briefly list below:

Eiha: Light curse damage to one target.

Cleave: Light Physical damage to one target (but injures himself slightly to use).

Sukunda: Decrease Agility of to one target for a short time.

Dream Needle: Light Gun damage and a medium chance to inflict Sleep on one target (but injures himself slight to use; more damaging than Cleave).

Adverse Resolve: Increases Critical rate when surrounded.

• Silver Dagger: A silver blade resplendent in its ornamentation.
• Tkachev: Model gun typically seen in mafia films.
• Cellphone: A cellular phone with a silver, diamond-patterned case.
• Lockpick: A tool that can open one locked treasure chest.
• Akechi's Glove: A challenge that was accepted.

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