Akihito Narukaze is a forty-year-old history professor residing in Kazane City, where he dedicates himself to unraveling the town’s enigmatic past, including unsolved murders, mysterious disappearances, and supernatural phenomena. His research focuses on ancient rituals and curses believed to be connected to the unexplained abilities possessed by some residents, such as wind manipulation, healing, and his own mysterious capacity to control smoke, though the source of his power remains unknown. Akihito combines rigorous academic methods with hands-on investigation, meticulously documenting his findings. Beyond his scholarly work, he has exceptional culinary skills and is a former smoker who gave up the habit after getting married. His relentless quest to break the cycle of violence in Kazane is driven by personal tragedy: the unresolved disappearances of his wife, Kotoha Fujimi, and the parents of his friend Makoto. He is the biological father of Minamo and the adoptive father of Hinata and Wakaba, and shares a deep bond with Makoto’s family, forged through his friendship with Makoto’s late parents, Shinya and Yuka. His investigations reveal a dark sacrificial system requiring a cursed priestess to perpetuate killings for balance, bringing him into direct conflict with Hikari Tsukishiro, the ritual’s current inheritor. In some narratives, his attempts to expose this truth lead to his death at Hikari’s hands, an event that forces others to confront the town’s cursed legacy. Akihito acts as a mentor to Makoto and other characters, helping decipher supernatural events such as a sleeping disease, and his meticulously uncovered clues continue to shape the choices of others long after his absence.