Akira Tachibana

Akira Tachibana (橘 あきら Tachibana Akira) is the main protagonist in After the Rain. She is a young 17-year-old high school sophomore who attends Kazamizawa High School where she works at the restaurant, Garden and the childhood friend of Haruka Kiyan.

Appearance
Akira is a beautiful teenage slim girl of above average height with mid-back length black hair that has straight bangs covering her eyebrows, purple eyes and she has a sharp, piercing expression.

She is normally seen in her school uniform with a short skirt or waitress attire.

Personality
Akira is a quiet and reserved girl who only speaks up when needed and she is lost in her inner thoughts most of the time. She also often appears to be fierce which makes her friends wary and confused on how to react. She tends to have strong emotions and values on what is right and wrong, which sometimes releases as an outburst when opposed. As such, her strong personality makes her prone to making blunt and honest comments.

Despite her cold personality, she is still considered to be as attractive by others such as Takashi Yoshizawa. She is fond of cute items and fashion magazines, making her a feminine character albeit the harshness on the surface. She is also diligent and goal-oriented in sports and love. She is athletic and a fast runner.

History
Akira lives with her single mother who visits her father from time to time, although such meetings involving her relatives as well turned out to be distant.

She is considered as a promising top athlete in the women's Track team at her school, but due to an Achilles tendon injury during a race, she was forced to give it up. She harbors vague regret and bitterness about leaving the track and field club, therefore she consciously tries to avoid anything related to it, including her teammates. This spirals into a mild depression as she finds her sense of purpose and future to be in a fog. After an appointment with her doctor, the rain started pouring and she sought out shelter at the café restaurant, Garden. The restaurant manager, Masami Kondou noticed her sitting by the window, gazing outside and lost in her thoughts, and offers her a coffee on the house which he presented with a magic trick. Akira, surprised by both the trick and his kindness, finds her weariness immensely lifted and she inexplicably becomes attracted to him.

After that, she decided to work part-time as a waitress at Garden, all in an effort to distract herself from her present situation. She becomes buddies with Yui Nishida at work. Eventually, Takashi Yoshizawa joins as a kitchen crew, acting on his infatuation with Akira. At first, Akira learns that Kondo is married and has a son from the assistant manager, Kobo to her dismay, but then immediately it was revealed that he is in fact, a divorced man.

One day, a customer left his handphone behind and she decides to chase after him, which made Kondo in awe of her running speed. This reactivates her old injury though, and the anxious Kondo comically prays beside her, stating that he bears no intention of sexual harassment and wraps his arm around Akira's waist to help her up. He drives her to her regular clinic. Akira is embarrassed by Kondo's concerned scrutiny on her foot when she had to remove her socks for the doctor's inspection, and she blushes, promptly asking Kondo if he was needed at the restaurant instead. Then, Kondo mentions that she probably needed her uniform afterwards and would entrust it to Yoshizawa, as he believed him to be her boyfriend. Akira becomes infuriated and angrily breaks the misunderstanding.

A few days later, Akira is still recuperating and bored of having nothing to do, she goes out for a walk in crutches. Coincidentally, she encounters Kondo along the way. He is happy to meet her en route to paying Akira's mother a visit to apologize for the injury, as he is bad with directions. They decide to relax at a nearby cafe, and Akira blushes hard on spending time with him. As Kondo returns from getting some drinks, he notices the image of Akira sitting by the window to be familiar in his memory, and points it out to Akira while brushing it off. In a turn of events, Akira confesses to him that she likes him. Kondo is astounded and shocked by her sudden confession, and not suspecting it to be romantic in nature at all, he laughs in a joyful mood and thanks her for her words.

The next morning, Akira lies on her bed with a fierce expression as Kondo's reaction in her mind all day. Her confusion leads her to somewhat seek advice from her close friends at school, though she stops herself from doing so to their disappointment. Ironically, she becomes more positive after answering her own question herself afterwards. Later on, Akira finds herself alone with Kondo in the staff room at work and she confesses again to him.

Etymology

 * Akira's surname Tachibana means "orange, tangerine" (橘).

Trivia

 * Akira is voiced by Sayumi Watabe in the anime.
 * A Japanese actress named Nana Komatsu will be playing Akira in the live action film