THE GOD - Sohma Akito

Akito is not only the head of the Sohma family, but represents the figure of god to the animals in the zodiac story. While she plays an important role in Kyo's life, the two don't have much interaction with each other as Kyo is considered an outsider due to his status as the cat. Akito is generally feared and disliked by the zodiac members and treats everyone cruelly because of her own mistreatment by her mother.

When Kyo and Akito are both young, Akito sees Kyo's true form for the first time and is absolutely repulsed. She calls him misshapen and comments that he smells like he was rotting; a true monster.

After Kyo returns from his four-month training trip to the mountains after Kyoko's death, Akito is furious that Kyo would disappear without her permission. Akito offers a deal to Kyo: if he can win against Yuki by the time they graduate from high school, Akito will allow Kyo to become a part of the zodiac and will stop calling him a monster. If he can't win, he'll be locked away for the rest of his life. Kyo accepts the deal and immediately leaves to find Yuki.

Over a year later, many of the zodiac members bring Tohru to a private villa on the seaside. When Akito learns that everyone is there, she decides to also attend and stays in a separate guest house. For the first few days, she calls away all the zodiac members to join her which leaves Kyo alone with Tohru… but this is not enough for Akito; she wants Tohru to know that she cannot take her place and invites Kyo one day as well. When Kyo goes to speak to Akito alone, she asks him how their wager is going. She knows that Kyo hasn't managed to beat Yuki yet and begins to taunt him about how impossible it is because it's fate bound by their zodiac spirits.

Kyo tries to tell Akito that there is still time to win against Yuki and Akito loses her temper, hitting him in the face with a wind chime she ripped from the window. She asks Kyo why he doesn't understand and why he doesn't accept that he's a monster -- a monster who killed his own mother. She tells Kyo that it was better if he had never been born at all, asking him if he never thought about killing himself to make everyone happy. Kyo begs her to stop, clearly suffering emotionally from Akito's harsh words.

Akito cruelly decides to move the topic to Tohru, asking Kyo if she's been encouraging his delusions of beating Yuki and becoming a true member of the zodiac. She reveals to Kyo that she knows all about Tohru seeing and accepting his true form, thinking that Tohru must be a monster herself. After all, a normal person who sees Kyo's true form would just run away. Kyo becomes angry and says that Akito didn't see Tohru at that time, saying she was really scared; she was shaking like a leaf and she was pale… but she still grabbed onto him and never ran away. Kyo says that if she didn't grab his hand like she did, he probably would have run away and never returned.

It is at this point that Kyo realises that he has fallen in love with Tohru and as he thinks about her, he begins to cry. Akito asks why he's crying and starts laughing, musing how funny it would be if Kyo actually loved Tohru -- a monster loving a monster. When she sees Kyo's face, she slaps him hard and says Tohru has no business butting into their lives. Angry, Kyo takes Akito by the collar and demands to know that if Tohru pisses Akito off so much, why did she allow her to live in Shigure's home in the first place? Akito becomes suspicious that Kyo actually does love Tohru and screams at him, calling him a fool. Akito accuses Kyo of daring to love someone after what he did to his mother… Kyo, feeling that he doesn't want Tohru to get involved, is forced to deny his love for Tohru and tells Akito that someone like him can't love at all.

Akito seems satisfied that Kyo is not in love, telling him that there's no reason for him to fall in love anyway; Kyo's confinement is already decided. Akito says she feels sorry for anyone who is close to Kyo, telling him that it's better this way. She then consoles Kyo, saying that she will come visit him during his confinement. While hugging him, Akito calls Kyo pitiful and tells him the time he lives outside won't last much longer. Once Kyo is gone, Akito is neurotically washing her hands, believing that she can still smell Kyo on herself.

This incident with Akito crushes Kyo and he wonders why his mother didn't just kill him instead of herself. However, it has also left him with a better understanding of his feelings for Tohru and he resolves that even if he will be locked away in a year's time, he can at least still enjoy his time by Tohru's side until that day arrives.

Akito's threat of locking Kyo away in solitary confinement looms over his head for the next year. Since he knows that he will be unable to see anyone, he feels obligated not to tell Tohru about his true feelings for her. When Tohru is unable to take it anymore and confesses to him, he tells her that she's delusional and she runs off into the forest where she meets a crazed, knife-wielding Akito. Tohru is able to talk Akito down and Akito has a complete change of heart… she decides to free Kyo from his bonds and orders that the room he was to be imprisoned in be destroyed.

After Akito visits Tohru in the hospital, she makes her way to Kazuma's house. Kyo catches her leaving and asks what she's doing there… Akito brushes him off, saying they have nothing to talk about and tells Kyo he is free to live his life as he wants. Kyo is confused until Kazuma comes out and tells him that Akito heard about Kyo going to his father's house and ordered that the cat's room be torn down. Kyo is absolutely shocked by this good news.

Later, when Kyo confronts Tohru about his feelings for her, he asks permission to hug her. When they realise he hasn't transformed into a cat, Kyo senses that Akito is saying goodbye. He looks at his bracelet and tears it off, finally free from the torment he's had to endure to this point.

In her final act as god, Akito invites all of the members of the zodiac to a final banquet. She appears to them dressed in an elegant kimono, finally revealing her true gender. She tries to apologise to them all but ends up feeling that it's impossible to put it into words… instead, she tells them that they are all finally free to live the way they want to.

OPINION

Akito is a major influence in Kyo's life, as she is for all of the zodiac members. She's an object of fear for Kyo, as she has never treated him kindly in any way at all. As he is cursed with the cat and is seen as being no better than garbage, Akito treats him as such. She's so repulsed by Kyo that she will neurotically wash herself after coming in contact with him.

Akito is one of the two people in Kyo's life that has caused him an incredible amount of psychological guilt and pain. She taunts him about being locked away for life, about being responsible for his mother's death and for being looked down upon by all the other zodiac members. Kyo has absolutely no love for Akito at all but like the other accursed, he is unable to disobey Akito. He's still tied to her through the bond made by their spirits centuries ago.

Although Akito has done horrible things to Kyo, Kyo himself has grown by the end of the series and I think that he is able to understand that Akito has had troubles of her own that forced her to play such a cruel role. I don't think that he would ever become friendly towards Akito -- it seems as if Akito has no desire to be friendly towards Kyo either -- but at least he can understand, forgive and move on.