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The only accurate word to describe Yasutomo Arakita in my opinion would be punk. He’s incredibly foul-mouthed, rude, and before he even got into biking he was a socially inept delinquent. In fact, when you actually first see Arakita the first few words out of his mouth is a complaint about having to take time out of his schedule to sit down and do an interview. He complains all the time about having to do more than he has to, and not wanting to do it because he’s either tired or feeling overworked. In a way this can kind paint him as being lazy? But he is far from it, Arakita is the last person on the Hakone team who should ever be called lazy. (Despite the well known fact that he likes to complain about everything.) When he joined the cycling team he knew absolutely nothing about biking. Hell he thought his little vespa could have gone faster than bike. But when he looses against Fukutomi the first time he becomes obsessed with trying to be better than him. When he finally joins the team he practices countlessly just so he can be able to actually race with Fukutomi, but even then he has to continuously work hard so he can be able to actually compete with the other racers in the team. Hakone is well known for it’s cycling club and the fact that each team member who is allowed to race in a match is considered an ace. He’s the type of racer who will push himself to the point that he passes out. Well… okay the only area he’s considered extremely lazy in is when it pertains to his schoolwork. He is oftentimes seen coping his teammates homework, and is seen taking as many shortcuts as he can.

Before he was ever on the cycling team, he was a baseball player with a bright future ahead of him. However, due to an unfortunate accident he had to give up his dreams ever coming true on the field. Since he didn’t have anything to devote to, his life sort of became complacent. And that complacency led to not caring, and that attitude led to a sort of cynicism. Which is why he chose to attend Hakone because it was one of the schools that didn’t have a baseball club. If it was out of sight then it was out of mind and he didn’t have to keep reliving the moment where his dreams died. This was a dark time for Arakita because he frankly did not care for shit about anything. He would cut class constantly and even donned a hairstyle that was more rebel. In a sense he was also kind of a bully because he didn’t know how to really talk to a person. He once forced someone to get him a drink, and then later got mad at them because it wasn’t his favorite brand. Hell he even takes Fukutomi’s bike from him to practice on so he can beat the guy and show him that he’s better than the other. …He returns it later, so it’s not like he’s a complete jerk.

He is a jerk, but a jerk with a heart of gold. He tries to give off the impression that he just doesn’t care about people, but on the inside he does. He makes it known with how he addresses a person and the kind of nickname he gives to a person. After his fallout with baseball he sort of lost touch with a bunch of friends and that kind of stunted him. So when he joins this new cycling team he’s not entirely sure what to do. He went a long portion of his time not really having a great support group, and because of that he thought that the people who did reach out to him were only doing it out of some kind of team obligation. He even tried to push everyone away from him at one point, it didn’t work obviously, but it was one of his defense mechanisms that sort of happened whenever he felt like he was getting closer to someone. Steadily he becomes to open up to his team and learn that it’s okay to take their support, that they’re not just doing this to see him fail. And in return he learns that it’s okay to support everyone again.

Overall he’s very stubborn and doesn’t really take losing gracefully. He’s dedicated and will pour his entire being into cycling. If he didn’t like a person he would make it obvious, he’s not the type to sugar coat anything or hide or downplay the fact that he doesn’t like you. However, if he does come to respect someone he usually adds the -chan suffix to their name. Take his relationship with Fukutomi, when he first took interest in cycling he called him a multitude of things, stone-face, iron mask, etc; but the moment Fukutomi actually took an earnest chance with him and gave him a more friendlier nickname. When he first meets Toudou he instantly dislikes the other and calls him names, but as the two grew closer (and as Toudou helped crack Arakita’s tough exterior) he grew to respect the other. They still bicker the same amount as they did when they first met, but it’s not much friendlier than it was before. His relationship with Shinkai is pretty much the same as it was when he first met him… Meaning that Arakita insults and complains about a lot of things to Shinkai while the other just takes it in jest. But while he does this he’s still quick to support Shinkai through the anxiety he has when it comes to passing on the left, and offered to help him become the best at passing on the right instead.

Arakita has a strange fondness for cats. There is a cat that doesn’t live too far from his dorm he goes out to feed everyday, and he often times complains to Toudou by his cat handling skills. Cats, unfortunately, don’t seem to have a fondness for him as they oftentimes run away from him. He also extremely dislikes people who cheer from the sidelines.

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Other than being able to actually sense a person by their smell and actually be able to locate the finish line, he’s pretty normal. He’s also really reckless when it comes to biking, and doesn’t really care about the damage he sustains so long as he’s able to lead the team to victory. He can also do backflips, and is really good at making scrambled eggs.

YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES AND THE GLORY FADES.