Aru Akise

Aru Akise is a student at Raizen High School who seems to share a past with Ria Maaka. He is known as the "Writing Prodigy" because of his insatiable abilities to write amazing romantic novels.

Appearance
Aru appears to be a relatively short young high school-aged teenager with grayish-black hair and gray eyes.

Personality
Aru is intellectually gifted, yet he has problems in social behavior. It's been stated that he either never learned or never bothered to learn social skills. He even considers himself a 'gloomy outcast', often deciding to distance himself from others.

Due to the constant bullying he faced as a child, Aru is highly suspicious of other people, frequently accusing them of thinking bad things about him. He expresses his opinions freely and extremely, which can come across as mean and often rubs people the wrong way, though he claims he is just being honest. He has an unusually quick tendency to self-victimize and he refuses to believe compliments from other people. He also is very self-conscious about his body and tends to think that other people consider him ugly. At times, he tries to appear as young as possible and he is paranoid that others might consider him "an old hag." However, he is also offended if his body is not considered attractive and adult-like.

Aru can often be seen stalking Ria Maaka, seeing her as the “ideal girlfriend”, behaving submissively toward her and calling her "mistress". After revealing his alternate identity, Genocide Jack, Aru's crush on Ria took on a more distinctively sexual undertone, and he was capable of neither proper judgment, nor control over his perverse fantasies. It's confirmed that he's a masochist, though he also seems to have sadistic fantasies about Ria. Ironically, he has a tendency to scold other people for being indecent, sometimes with no good reason. Due to his paranoia, he easily assumes that girls have bad intentions if they wish to spend time alone with him.

Aru is also extremely afraid of blood and the dark due to very traumatic experiences. He also strongly dislikes bathing, to the point of fear, which might also be a result of an unknown trauma.

In the end of the manga, Aru revealed a slightly kinder and more caring side of himself. Though he remained rather pessimistic and gloomy, he was more mature and stronger. He forced himself to be strong and believed that fighting against all odds is the only way out, often echoing Ria's sentiments and begrudgingly crediting her with the courage he had gained.

Aru also became easily frustrated by people who give up and make excuses, calling them cowards. He accuses them of not being prepared to stand up for themselves, something that reminded him of his past self. He also took a stand in challenging his own fears; he no longer faints at the sight of blood, having taken Ria's advice about growing up. However, he still remained extremely disgusted at the sight of large amounts of blood.

Writing
Aru possesses extreme writing skills. The first time he knew that he has a talent for writing was when one of his teachers in elementary school found his love letter and later supported him to keep writing and expand his knowledge about literature.

One of his romance novels 'So Lingers the Ocean' was extremely popular. Even at his young age, he received many awards.

Background
At the hospital where Aru was born, a baby born at the same time died in a medical accident. It was unclear which mother's child was the dead baby. Both mothers refused to test their blood, as they both wanted their child to die. Around the child's accidental death, it became clear that the two women slept with the same man.

Aru lived with one father and two mothers. Though the circumstances are a bit unclear, it's been confirmed that he was mistreated as a child. He was once locked into a closet and forced to stay there for three days without food. This traumatic experience resulted in him developing a pathological fear of the dark. He experienced severe psychological pressure and at some point turned to novels for comfort, but his negative feelings were too strong. This childhood trauma caused Genocide Jack to split off. Jack killed several young men; the people on the Internet, unaware of is gender, started to call him Genocide Jack. Aru blamed his mothers for Genocide Jack's creation.

On top of it all, Aru didn't have friends and was bullied in school. When he was in third grade, someone's lunch money was stolen and it was found in his desk. Aru was blamed for the theft, and his classmates tied him up to the jungle gym with a garden hose.

Aru became extremely close to his pet stink bug, Kameko. He believed that Kameko was a special insect that could understand his feelings.

Aru's first love was a girl who he had been friends with in elementary school. When he found out she was moving away to Shikoku, he realized that he was indeed in love with her. Being too shy to tell her in person, he instead wrote her a letter. The next day, Aru found that the girl had pinned his letter on the bulletin board as a way of mocking him. Genocide Jack reacted by following the girl to Shikoku and killing her.

In Aru's eighth grade year, a girl from the neighboring class asked him out on a date completely out of the blue. He then spent three days and three nights planning the date. Aru eventually decided to go see an action movie. Halfway through it, his date disappeared. He later discovered that the girl had only asked him out because she'd lost a bet with her friends, causing him great emotional trauma.

However, the letter Aru wrote for his first love was read by his teacher. The teacher told him he had a way with words, which started Aru's career as a writer. One of his romance novels, 'So Lingers the Ocean', was a huge hit that managed to shoot fishermen to the top of all the "Hottest Men" polls. Despite his young age, Aru won several awards and was constantly on the top-selling list.

Genocide Jack
Aru dislikes Jack because they share the same body, and he could be accused for Jack's murderous actions. He blames Jack for his isolation from his peers and their uncleanness. He will do anything to keep Jack concealed to prevent him from getting out and killing people. The two share certain traits, such as their obsession with Ria.

Kameko
Kameko was Aru's pet stink bug, and was the one he cared about most, which is shown when she became his Captive. Aru was also the only one who could stand Kameko's stench.

When Kameko's "Hit List" entry is discussed with Hiroko, Aru gets unusually emotional, showing just how strongly he cared for the bug. He is offended when Kameko is called a bug and he calls Kameko his dear insect friend, "a friendsect". He believes that Kameko is a special insect that can understand his feelings, but Hiroko and Komaru make her realize that Kameko is just a normal bug. Nevertheless, Aru misses her pet dearly and wishes to see her again.

Ria Maaka
Aru has a one way obsession with Ria. Ria does not reciprocate his feelings and is annoyed by his behavior. She often commands Aru to do a variety of tasks, which he blindly carries out. He entrusted his secret of Genocide Jack with Aru, who traitorously revealed his secret to the students at Raizen High School. Despite this, he remained madly in love with her. He defends her if he feels that anyone is insulting her, even when that is obviously not the case.

Even after Ria becomes slightly nicer, she continues to treat Aru harshly, as he continues to give her unwanted attention. Aru begins to visualize Ria being shirtless and imagines his fantasy of being with her as a couple which Ria sensed it and feels grossed out.

It is later revealed that his attraction to her is so psychotic, he, very openly, stated that he was turned on by the thought of being her doormat.

Trivia

 * Aru suffers from a pathological fear of the dark, blood, and ghosts.
 * Aru had one father and two mothers that he lived with before the events of the anime.
 * It can be assumed about Aru's two mothers that one is Japanese while the other might be from a western country.
 * The most common cause for Dissociative identity disorder (abbreviated 'DID') is severe psychological trauma or stress experienced during early childhood.
 * The reason for his fear of the dark strongly insinuates he was mistreated as a child.
 * It is implied that Aru does not take showers often. He even appears to be afraid of bathing. His pet stink bug obviously doesn't help the matter.