Aki Matsui

"Help me!"

- Aki Matsui begs Kouichi Sakakibara for help before her death

Aki Matsui (松井 亜紀 Matsui Aki) was a student in 9th Grade Class 3 in 1998 who sits behind Megumi Tatara and in front of Kyouko Kaneki in the classroom.

Appearance
Aki has chin-length dark brown hair that has bangs hanging over her eyebrows and dark brown eyes.

She typically wears the standard female school uniform.

Personality
Aki is shown to be a shy and humble girl who is frequently seen with Kyouko Kaneki (Aki's best friend). Aki is apparently prone to emotional outbursts, as can be seen during the fire at the inn, when Kyouko held her to keep her calm. Aki enjoys playing sports.

Plot
Aki wasn't a fixture of class 3-3 like many of her classmates, not taking an active role in events, instead preferring the company of her best friend, Kyouko. The two's first chronological appearance is in "The Other," spending the day at the same amusement park as Mei and her sister.

Aki was among the students who went on the class trip to the shrine, where she shared a room with Kyouko. In "Makeup" she and Kyouko heard Takako's broadcast, but unlike most of her peers, she did not actively seek Mei out, instead preferring to flee the now burning inn with Kyouko.

At some point in "Stand By Oneself", Aki suffered a breakdown, as when she and Kyouko are shown, Kyouko can be seen protectively wrapping her arms around Aki, apparently in an attempt to calm her. Unfortunately, the two encountered Tomohiko Kazami, who had come to the same conclusion as Takako, albeit with a much more bloodthirsty approach. Tomohiko stabbed Kyouko in the spine with a knife he'd stolen from the inn's kitchen, before attacking Aki, the knife still dripping with her friend's blood. Horrified for her life, Aki fled, encountering Kouichi. Sobbing and frightened out of her whits, Aki begged Kouichi to protect her, but before he could react, Tomohiko hurled his knife into the base of her neck. Aki died in Kouichi's arms, a look of agony on her face.

Removing the knife from his classmate's still warm body, Tomohiko nonchalantly asked Kouichi if he "remembered this girl." Furious, Kouichi replied that he did. Unperturbed and realizing neither girl was the extra, Tomohiko attacked Kouichi next, only to be killed in turn by a vengeful Izumi, who beat him to death with an iron bar. Izumi coldly taunted Tomohiko for his foolish belief in Kouichi being the extra student, before promising to help Tomohiko die, as he'd murdered two people and didn't deserve to live.

Etymology

 * The name Aki means "second, Asia" (亜) (a) and "hope" (紀) (ki).
 * Aki's surname Matsui means "pine tree, fir tree" (松) (matsu) and "well, mine shaft, pit" (井) (i).

Trivia

 * Aki and Kyouko Kaneki are seen together in the introduction.
 * Aki is ranked A in Another characters ranking.
 * Aki's home address is 8-2 Asamida Yomiyama City.
 * In the Japanese dub, Aki is half cut when she asks for help from Kouichi Sakakibara.
 * But in the English dub, she fully says Help me! to Kouichi before she gets killed by Tomohiko Kazami.
 * Aki, accompanied with Kyouko Kaneki, have a brief appearance in chapter 0 (OVA) in the amusement park.

Gallery
Main article: Aki Matsui/Image Gallery