Kikuta Akio

Kikuta Akio is a member of the Tribe and later the Master of the Kikuta family. The oldest nephew of Kikuta Kotaro, he has been trained as Kotaro's heir, which leads him to conflict with Otori Takeo when the latter is press-ganged into the Tribe. Akio reluctantly trains Takeo, though their mutual hostility (already prominent due to Takeo's rebellious nature and his having injured Akio's hand) deepens due to Takeo's relationship with Muto Yuki, whom Akio loves. During Takeo's final mission for the Tribe, Akio attempts to kill him, but Takeo overcomes him and escapes.

Akio is briefly married to Yuki, despite her pregnancy with Takeo's child. When the child is born, he poisons her to death on the orders of the Kikuta, an act which leads directly to the schism of the Tribe; the Muto defect to Takeo's faction, taking the Kuroda, Imai and Kudo families with them and leaving the Kikuta isolated. Akio becomes Master of the Kikuta family after Kotaro's death, and declares a permanent blood feud against Takeo and all those involved in his uncle's death. He raises Takeo and Yuki's son, Hisao, as his own, hoping to one day use him to assassinate Takeo.

When Hisao is nearing adulthood, Akio finally finds the opportunity for revenge after the death of Muto Kenji, Hisao's grandfather. He conspires with Arai Zenko (who hates Takeo and claims leadership of the Muto family through his mother's side) and plots to isolate Takeo by turning his wife Kaede against him. As they planned, Takeo flees to the temple at Terayama, where he vows not to use weapons again, leaving him vulnerable. Akio brings Hisao to the temple to kill Takeo with a firearm, but Hisao is ultimately unable to shoot his father. Impatient, Akio grabs the pistol and attempts to kill Takeo himself, but the interference of Takeo's daughter Maya causes it to misfire and explode, mortally wounding Akio. Cheated of his revenge, Akio dies moments before Takeo kills himself by a knife he places in Hisao's hands.

Across the Nightingale Floor
Akio participates in the abduction of Takeo in Inuyama, though Takeo deals a significant injury to his right hand in the process. He initially serves as one of Takeo's guards during his concealment, and stops Kenji from beating Takeo when Takeo spits at him. Though he only speaks to Takeo briefly- reprimanding him for his lack of self-control and obedience to the Tribe -- their mutual hostility is already obvious.

In contrast to the three members of the Muto family who assist Takeo in his rescue of Otori Shigeru (Kenji, Shizuka and Yuki) Akio doesn't participate in the fall of Inuyama, as the Kikuta family has no desire to see the Tohan clan fall from power. This gives him even more reason to dislike Takeo, as Takeo (supposedly) kills Iida Sadamu, the Lord of the Tohan.

Grass for His Pillow
Akio is present at the conference between the Tribe Masters at Yamagata, along with Takeo. He suggests that they assassinate Arai Daiichi due to his attempts to hunt for and destroy the Tribe, but Kotaro forbids it on the grounds that Daiichi's death would throw the Three Countries into an even greater state of chaos. Akio protests against the acceptance of Takeo into the Kikuta family, pointing out that his father deserted them, but Kotaro replies that Takeo is not his father, even if he does possess all of Isamu's gifts. Both Akio and Takeo are chagrined to learn that he is to be Takeo's teacher, but they accept it.

Shortly after Kotaro's departure, Takeo briefly escapes the Tribe compound and converses with the local outcast (and member of the Hidden) Jo-An, who is later captured by Arai troops. On Takeo's return, Akio subdues him and places him in confinement, while Muto Seiko orders him to find out what Jo-An reveals under torture. Seeking to harden Takeo's heart, Akio forces Takeo to listen to every detail of Jo-An's torment, though thankfully he never told the Arai about Takeo.

The Tribe members traveling northwest to Matsue (Akio, Yuki, Kazuo, Keiko and Takeo) take the role of roaming performers on the road; Takeo is cast in the role of Akio's younger brother Minoru, a juggler, and Akio trains him in this skill along the way. They are stopped by an Arai patrol on the border between the Eastern and Middle country, where Takeo is forced to demonstrate his juggling abilities when one of the soldiers almost recognizes him. When he briefly makes a mistake, Akio cuffs him around the head; as this is an unthinkable act to commit against a member of the warrior class, the Arai troops are satisfied and let them continue.

Akio continues to expand Takeo's skills considerably along their journey northwest, helping improve his endurance, reflexes, speed and strength. However, Takeo correctly perceives him as being jealous and hateful; Akio's skills are nearly all self-taught, whereas Takeo was born with most of his, so Akio holds him in contempt. In addition, Akio is resentful that Takeo may usurp his position as Kotaro's heir, even though Takeo has already stated that he does not want to take Akio's place. Akio's harsh training methods- often accompanied with humiliating blows to the face- initially drive Takeo to impulsive, enraged attacks, but each time he is quickly restrained by Akio and Yuki. Overtime, Takeo learns to control his temper, but Akio is still quick to find fault and discipline him for it. He also gives Take the derogatory nickname "the Dog" in reference to his enhanced hearing and subservient attitude.

However, the greatest source of emnity between them happens along the journey: Yuki becomes Takeo's lover. Akio was ordered by Kotaro to suggest to Yuki that she sleep with Takeo for three reasons: to bind him more closely to the Tribe, to learn more about his past, and to conceive a child which, if Takeo proved disloyal, could inherit his talents and be raised in his place if they had to kill him. Akio, who is Yuki's longtime friend and has been in love with her for years, was offended by the suggestion and worries that Yuki would be similarly offended, but he is hurt to discover that Yuki was already in love with Takeo and is eager to have a sexual relationship with him.

When they reach Matsue, Akio resumes his work with his merchant uncle (Kotaro's younger brother) Kikuta Gosaburo, teaching Takeo some of the trade. Eventually, they have Takeo carry out two assassinations, to ensure payment of loans and to prevent a protest against the local lords by farmers. When Takeo protests, saying that a dead man cannot pay his debts, Akio coldly replies that everyone else would.

After several months in Matsue, Kotaro visits. Akio implies to him that Takeo has caused trouble, but admitts his skills have developed and proved useful. Having learned through Yuki that Shigeru likely kept records on the Tribe, Kotaro demands to know why Takeo had not spoken of them. Takeo replies that he had never known of any records, to which Akio remarks that he will always be loyal to the Otori before the Tribe, sneering "A dog only has one master." As Takeo is the only one who has mastered crossing the Nightingale Floor at Shigeru's house, Kotaro orders him and Akio to go to Hagi, interrogate Shigeru's retainer Ichiro about the records, and take them if they are there. When Takeo defiantly meets Kotaro's eyes and accidentally uses the Kikuta gaze on him, Akio strikes him, enraged at his insolence.

Shorlty afterwards, Takeo and Akio travel to a Tribe safehouse near a Sumo stable, where they meet with a Tribe wrestler and cousin, Kikuta Hajime. Later that evening, Hajime and Akio, slightly drunk, begin discussing their journey, apparently forgetting that Takeo, with his enhanced hearing, can hear everything. Akio admits that Yuki is pregnant with Takeo's child, and was moved to a secret Kikuta village in the High Cloud Range (the mountainous eastern border of the Three Countries) a few weeks earlier. Expressing his anger and pain that Yuki actually wanted Takeo and had sought him "like a bitch in heat", Akio explains to Hajime how the Tribe Masters wanted to preserve Takeo's talents in the child if Takeo himself proved disloyal. Blaming Takeo's ancestry for his disobedience, Akio remarks that people of only partial Tribe blood sometimes have "rare talents, but they always seem to come with stupidity. And the only cure for stupidity is death." He also reveals to Hajime that Takeo's mission to Hagi is his last chance to prove his loyalty to the Kikuta, and implies that he is planning to kill Takeo whether he succeeds or not.

Akio's journey to Hagi with Takeo passes uneventfully, though he does briefly decline buying a starving man's daughter (apparently regretting it the next morning). On their arrival in Hagi, they are hidden by a local Muto merchant, who informs them that Arai's attempts to root out the Tribe has damaged their business somewhat. The next night, Akio sends Takeo into Shigeru's house and conceals himself near the river; unaware that Takeo is aware of his intentions, he plans to kill him when he returns, seize the records and drop his body in the river, then inform Kotaro that Takeo was "accidentally" killed by the guards. Noticing Takeo's second self, he realizes Takeo is attempting to escape and pursues him into a river boat. After a struggle, Akio manages to subdue Takeo and taunts him, but he once again underestimates Takeo's powers; wanting to see Takeo's face when he kills him, he accidentally makes eye contact and is rendered unconscious by the Kikuta gaze. As Takeo escapes into the mountains Akio falls into the freezing river, from which he is rescued the next morning, half- dead. Kotaro subsequently issued a death warrant againat Takeo for deserting the Tribe.

Brilliance of the Moon
Akio is unseen during the events of Brilliance of the Moon, although he is mentioned in conversations between Muto Kenji and his niece, Muto Shizuka. They discuss how Akio was apparently fished out of the river, half-frozen, after his fight with Takeo. He was taken to the Kikuta village beyond the border of the East Country to recover. While there, he was married to Yuki. However, despite his earlier infatuation with her, Akio refused to sleep with her while she was carrying Takeo's child.

When Kikuta Hajime is captured during an attempt to kill Takeo, he reveals to the latter that Yuki was forced to take poison after her and Takeo's son was born, that Akio has the boy, and that he intends to raise him to hate Takeo and one day kill him. It is not revealed to Takeo that Akio himself killed Yuki, something which apparently caused Akio great pain as, despite her relationship with Takeo, he still considered Yuki the only woman he ever loved. Yuki's death has serious consequences for both Akio and the Kikuta family; her father Kenji, enraged by her death, uses his influence to bring the other four Tribe families into alliance with Takeo, leaving the Kikuta dangerously isolated.

After Kotaro's death at the hands of Takeo and Muto Kenji, Akio, as Kotaro's nephew and heir, becomes the Kikuta Master. He declares a blood feud against both of them, as well as Muto Taku (who also helped them in their battle against Kotaro). However, with Takeo as the new ruler of the Three Countries and possessing Shigeru's records on the Tribe, Akio and his followers are forced to flee to their hidden village in the High Cloud Mountains.

The Harsh Cry of the Heron
In exile beyond the borders of the Three Countries, Akio devotes all the resources of the Kikuta family toward killing Takeo. He raises Hisao under the pretense that he is Akio's son. Perhaps out of lingering desire for Yuki, Akio occasionally molests him as the boy grows up; this is the only time Akio's shows Hisao anything remotely similar to affection. He puts Hisao through a brutal training regimen that grows more and more abusive when it becomes clear Hisao has inherited neither of his parents' Tribe powers.

Final Encounter with Takeo and Death
Akio's initial success is hampered by the fact that many of the Tribe were dismayed by Zenko's role in the murder of his brother Taku and his poor treatment of his mother Shizuka; many of the Muto family and some of the other families stay loyal to the Otori, and so the information network of both Takeo and Zenko's factions is incomplete. Therefore, Akio does not discover that Takeo has arrived at Terayama until several weeks have passed.

Obsessed with finally having his revenge against Takeo, Akio travels to Terayama immediately with Hisao, accompanied by a wolf-sized cat which (Akio does not realize) is Maya, trapped in her spirit form. They encounter Takeo, Kubo Makoto and Miki in the gardens of the temple. Referring to Takeo by his old nickname "the Dog", Akio screams at Hisao to kill him with his pistol. Takeo orders the monks not to stop Hisao, admits he is Hisao's father, and asks his forgiveness; Akio denies it, claiming he is Hisao's father. As Hisao hesitates, claiming Yuki "won't let him" kill Takeo, Akio impatiently grabs the gun away and aims it at Takeo himself. Maya jumps at him, latching onto his face with her claws as he tries to pull the trigger.

The pistol misfires and explodes, stunning Hisao, mortally injuring Maya and blowing both of Akio's hands off. He bleeds to death almost immediately, dying just moments before Takeo kills himself with a knife he places in Hisao's hands- thus depriving Akio of the revenge he devoted more than half his life to.

Personality
Akio has been raised for much of his life with the expectation that he would succeed Kotaro as head of the Kikuta family. This has made him fanatically loyal to the unquestioned laws of obedience within the Tribe, and to Kotaro in particular. Inflexible in his thinking, Akio is impatient, short-tempered and occasionally impulsive; in spite of his skill as an assassin, it is surprisingly easy to get under his guard emotionally, and in his youth he has a habit of underestimating his opponents, particularly Takeo.

Skills and abilities
Although an extremely dangerous fighter, Akio does not possess many of the more unusual Tribal abilities; his skills come more through rigorous self-training than through his bloodline. As he is of fully Kikuta ancestry on both sides, it may be that previous generations of inbreeding have stunted potential Tribal abilities in his gene-pool. Akio himself admitted that people of "mixed blood" (such as Takeo, who was only one-quarter Tribe ancestry) sometimes demonstrated immense talents, which seemed to be dying out among children of fully-Tribe ancestry.

While unable to turn invisible or project a "second self", he is able to distinguish the second self of others, and can perceive (to a certain degree) those who are invisible; his vision is also enhanced, comparable to a hawk. However, as Takeo proved, Akio is still vulnerable to the sleep-inducing "Kikuta gaze"; he is unable to use it himself, nor does he have their enhanced hearing. Like many other members of the Kikuta family, his hands bear a straight, horizontal line across the palm.

Akio's training has augmented his physical capabilities enormously; he is extremely strong and has lightning-quick reflexes, even when his hands are injured. His fighting style often involves striking decisive, crippling blows, then immobilizing the target to finish them, either by strangulation with his hands or with a knife. He maintains these reflexes with complex juggling exercises and hand-to-hand combat, at which he is very talented. His agility is also greatly enhanced, with Takeo claiming he is able to leap so far he seems to fly or glide short distances.

Akio usually carries a knife as his primary weapon, but he had reasonable skill with an arquebus (firearm), managing to shoot and kill Muto Taku with a single, long-distance shot while the latter was fleeing on horseback.