Reimi Akizuki (秋月 怜美, Akizuki Reimi) is a minor character in The Garden of Words. The mother of Shōta Akizuki and Takao Akizuki, she is often at odds with her sons due to her romantic pursuits and alcoholism.
Background[]
During her days in school, she got into romantic relationships with many boys.
A 20-year-old Aikizuki was pregnant with Shōta Akizuki by a 5-year-older man named Takashi Fujisawa in November 1985. They married a year later and had a second child named Takao Akizuki in 1997. As Fujisawa had to work abroad more often, their marriage gradually collapsed, and they divorced when their second son entered the junior high school in 2010.
Since then, she has dated with 4 different men, including Kiyomizu. She currently works as an administrative worker at a university.
Personality[]
As a college girl, Reimi Akizuki considered herself a xenophile and dreamed to travel to a lot of places. Even when facing the oppositions of her family and friends to her pregnancy, she decided to keep the child. However, the hardship of life made her forget her initial dream, and as her sons grew more and more, she also fell into alcoholism.
Witnessing her second son's resolve to go to Italy, she is reminded of her old determination and realizes that it never vanished.
Despite of her questionable lifestyle, she is woman with tolerance and kindness.
In The Garden of Words[]
Upset by her first son's decision to move out with his girlfriend, she also ran away from home, and only returned occasionally to have or make a meal.
In The Garden of Words novel[]
In one afternoon before leaving work, she heared the receptionist Kobayashi having an argument with Momoka Nakajima, a student who came late to pay tuition. Realizing that Nakajima will be suspended if not paying before the next day, she willingly made an exception, and even leaned her some money, much to her colleague's objection. She later had a date with Kiyomizu who listened to her stories.
One and a half year later, Akizuki witnessed Nakajima becoming a promising student, while Kobayashi had became a conscientious administrative worker treating students with kindness. Aikizuki had also broken up with Kiyomizu and were preparing for her second son to study abroad in Italy. In the party hold for Takao, she met her first son's girlfriend, who she had not had a high opinion of, for the first time and saw that she was surprisingly approachable. Shōta also tried to reunite his mother with Kiyomizu by inviting him to the party.
Behind the Scenes[]
Etymology[]
- The name Reimi (怜美) means "cleverness, sagacity" (怜, rei) and "beauty" (美, mi).
- Reimi's surname Akizuki (秋月) means "autumn, fall" (秋, aki) and "moon" (月, zuki)”.