Akane Kurashiki

Akane Kurashiki, also known by her codename June or her nickname Kanny, is a central character in the Zero Escape series, appearing as a key character in all three games. She is a participant in and survivor of four of the life-or-death games. She is the childhood friend of Junpei Tenmyouji, whom she calls Jumpy throughout Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, in which she serves as the deuteragonist. She claims she was kidnapped by Zero and forced to play the Nonary Game with everyone else. In the game, her bracelet number appears to be 6, which is why she is given the nickname June by Junpei, as June is the sixth month of the year. In reality, her bracelet is likely 0. This is because Akane, having pretended to have been unwillingly kidnapped during the game, is in reality the calculating, conniving and determined mastermind behind the Second Nonary Game, Zero. She was assisted by her older brother, Aoi. She engineered the game in order to save her life from the First Nonary Game in the past, using Junpei's help, so as to avoid a paradox and ensure her own existence. In Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, Akane is often described as "the old woman" in the Yellow/Magenta routes of the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition, in which she is the corpse found in one of the AB Rooms right before the first round. Alternatively, during the Cyan routes, Akane impersonates Kyle Klim in his armor. She is briefly seen at age 22 during the End or Beginning? ending. In Virtue's Last Reward, it is revealed that Akane is an opponent of Free the Soul, a religious death cult with mass influence planning the apocalypse in the year 2029 at the Mars Mission Test Site. In Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma, Akane reappears as a participant in the Decision Game. She is a member of Team C, which also consists of Carlos and Junpei. She must work alongside her friend and new ally to determine the fate of humanity. Zero Time Dilemma also reveals that the Akane (and Tenmyouji) in Virtue's Last Reward is actually from another timeline, brought to that timeline by the Transporter, with the original Akane from that timeline being deceased. At the end of the game, Akane and Junpei plan on marriage once their work is complete; Junpei joins Akane's organization Crash Keys and both of them plan on locating a religious fanatic who plans on eliminating all life.