Ai Taka

Ai Taka is one of Sorami Kimura's close friends and is a major character in the comic. She is a fifteen-year-old first year at Other Lives High School.

Appearance
Ai is a small-statured, thin girl who has the most child-like appearance among her friends. She has dark brown eyes and black hair and is described by her friends to have the most 'traditionally Japanese' features of their group.

She is often seen wearing the first year female school uniform, which consists of a desaturated red skirt, a white button-up blouse with desaturated red accents, a tan sweater vest, and a red bow as well as the school pin over her left breast. She individualizes her appearance by wearing a white cat-ear headband, white and pink polka-dotted socks, and black flats.

Outside of school, Ai dresses in a soft, girly fashion. She often wears pastel summer dresses in the warmer months and similarly colored, cute outfits during the fall and winter. She's never seen without her trademark cat ears.

Personality
Ai initially comes off as a shy and awkward girl. She is incredibly meek and soft-spoken around strangers. Despite this, however, Ai describes herself as an introvert. She says that she would love to be friends with anyone she meets, if only she could figure out how to talk to them without sounding like a fool.

Because of her goals to befriend the world, Ai strives to be kind and open minded to everyone she meets. She hates to see her friends in any kind of trouble and hopes to one day convince them that they can talk to her about anything. She looks up to Sora in that way.

However, this has a tendency to backfire as Ai has strong opinions and is incredibly stubborn. Rather than listening to her friends' problems, she tends to accidentally try to push solutions on to them, even if that's not what her friends want. Sometimes she can push a bit too far, and as a result she is sometimes described to be a bit insensitive.

Conversationally, Ai comes off as incredibly naive. She has a hard time reading a room, and although sometimes her bright and cheerful demeanor can be uplifting, it can also come off as annoying. She often speaks before thinking about repercussions, leading her to apologize often as well. She means well, but sometimes her bluntness is not required for a situation.

Backstory
(Will be added as revealed in the comic)

Friends
Kenta===== Kenta Akiyama ==== Ai and Kenta met when they were little, but they didn't become good friends until middle school because they went to separate elementary schools. Despite having incredibly different personalities, the two get along quite well. They often spend the night at each other's homes, and even when they don't, they stay up late at night texting or talking on the phone. Kenta is one of the few people who never seems to mind Ai's bluntness, which Ai is eternally grateful for. In return, Ai does her best to listen to Kenta's problems, even though the latter is uncomfortable with sharing such things. Riek, along with Hiro, was one of Ai's best friends when she was little. The three of them went to the same elementary school and quickly became quite close. They were known by the other students to be a close-knit trio, and they rarely spent time apart. Ai was often teased for hanging out with two boys, but they were both quick to defend her, so she did her best not to let it bother her.
 * -|Riek===== Riek Montagne ====

As they got into middle school and Ai and Hiro started dating, she and Riek drifted apart. It wasn't a conscious decision made by either of them, but as they aged they had more and more difficulties relating to each other as friends. Kenta ended up inevitably replacing Riek as Ai's best friend besides her boyfriend, although Ai never stopped thinking of Riek as her friend.

Now that they're in high school, Ai and Riek barely speak anymore. They're both part of different friend groups now, so they hardly get any opportunities to interact. Riek and Hiro are still best friends, however, so Ai does get to see him on the occasion. Even so, Ai worries that the friendship they had as children will never return.

Family
(Familial Relationships will be added as revealed in comic)

Kame===== Kame Taka ==== TBA TBA TBA
 * -|Mother===== Zuri Taka ====
 * -|Father===== Ryuunosuke Taka ====

Akihiro Shinda
Ai and Hiro have known each other since elementary school, and they have been dating since their third year of middle school. Ai and Hiro are that couple that make everyone nearby sick with how affectionate they are. They're also the couple who will take every opportunity to sneak off together. They both seem to light up in each others' presence, even if Hiro is too 'macho' to admit it.

Trivia

 * Ai originated as a fandom oc for the anime Fruits Basket
 * In her original design, she had a scar over her left eye, and the tips of her hair were dyed brown