Motomiya Erin || Akemi

Erin Motomiya
Akemi

PERSONALITY

Erin / Akemi is aloof and distant, sometimes seen as a cold person. She doesn't let others get close to her, and she can sometimes seem overly mean when all she's doing is trying to protect herself. In her mind, the weak won't survive this new SAO, and by distancing herself from others she is attempting to get them to realize the same thing. 

Truthfully, Akemi is a loyal, caring girl. She wants friends, but pushes people away because she doesn't want to get hurt. 

Sometimes, she lets her cold mask slip, and the real Erin / Akemi comes through. The warm, kind, loving girl she used to be, before her brother died. Occasionally, she smiles or laughs at something, and then her eyes shine and her face lights up. But those moments are few and far between, and they seem to be getting less frequent the more time passes. 

If someone were to be lucky enough to break through the mask she wears, that person would find the scared, lonely child hiding in the dark, waiting for the storm to pass. Reach that child, and you will find the real Erin / Akemi. The warm, loving, happy girl who was born to simply enjoy life. 

Each movement Erin / Akemi makes is purposeful, with no wasted energy. There is a natural grace about her that speaks of her high-class birth. She enjoys sitting outside and watching people pass by, or watching the stars at night. She is a good swimmer, and her natural grace seems to extend to the water as well. She enjoys music but is unable to really hold a tune of her own. 

And she secretly has a love of stuffed animals that nobody knows about.

HISTORY

Erin and her twin brother Haru lived pretty ordinary Japanese lives. They were in the same class at school every year, and up until almost fifth year elementary school did people keep getting them confused. They were surprisingly similar in physical appearance, for fraternal twins. They tried everything together, and rarely were they apart.

Being from a higher class family, she studied traditional Japanese arts. Tea ceremonies, Japanese dance, even the basics of ikebana. Her brother took tea ceremony lessons with her, and they both learned to swim together, but his lessons were different. This was one of the only thing the two of them did as children that was different. 

When they first heard about the full-dive technology of the Nerve Gear, they got excited. Since they were part of the higher class, the twins were surprised with the Nerve Gear on their eleventh birthday. They also got the new game Sword Art Online when it came out, both of them going into the game. They were still only eleven years old when they went into the game. They explored together, enjoying the early experiences. 

Then, everything changed. They didn't understand everything, but they did know that they were trapped in the game. They panicked a bit at first, then realized that panicking wasn't going to do any good. Together, they joined a Guild and worked to get stronger. They fought together, making an amazing team. For two years, they worked together to protect each other. 

A few days before Kirito cleared the game, however, Erin's life was turned upside-down. They were training on one of the higher-level unlocked floors when they were ambushed by a group of NPCs. Haru jumped between Erin and the attacking creature, sacrificing himself for her. As his game form dissipated in her arms, their Guild came to the rescue and defeated the NPCs. 

Erin was thirteen when she was released from the game. She went to her brother's funeral in a wheelchair because she was unable to walk. The last words anyone heard her say were right after, in front of Haru's gravestone. The words were, "I'm sorry. Thank you." She froze her heart after that, not wanting to get hurt again. She hasn't said a word since.

Time passed, and eventually Erin regained the strength she had before falling victim to SAO. She went to school with the other Survivors, but she kept her distance from them. She figured out that the Hero who released them all was the boy Kitigaya. She grew her hair even longer because she kept seeing Haru in her own reflection. She kept up with her archery training, becoming one of the best at the school. 

Five years after being released from the game, Erin graduated on schedule with the others, but before she could start at Tokyo University, the news alert came. More people trapped within the new SAO. She knew what she had to do. She returned to the world of Aincrad, but this time with a new character. She swore to help out where she can, without getting too close to anyone.