"Didn't I tell you? I'm Santa Claus. It's time for me to go make a wish come true."
— Aoi, to the other players before leaving the Incinerator, and his final words before disappearing in 999

Aoi Kurashiki (倉式 葵 Kurashiki Aoi), also known by his codename Santa, is one of the nine players in the Nonary Game masterminded by Zero in Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. He claims he was kidnapped just like everyone else. Throughout the game, Aoi presents himself as a cocky, edgy, wild and indifferent young punk.

In reality, Aoi is the co-mastermind of the game, working alongside his sister, Akane Kurashiki. His bracelet number appears to be 3, although its value is most likely 9. Question 66 in the 999 Q and A implies its value could be thought of as 9, though in game, Snake speculates that Aoi's bracelet is 0. 9 and 0 have no effect on digital roots however. This also applies to Akane's bracelet.

Appearance

Aoi has white spiky hair adorned with two black headbands, blue eyes, and a slim build. It is possible he dyes/bleaches his hair white like Phi and that his natural hair color may be black or brown.

He wears a thin black scarf, white tank top, black pants, black arm warmers, and brand new black and silver boots. Like the other players, he wears a bracelet on his left wrist.

In the past, a 15-year-old Aoi wore a dark private school uniform with a blue scarf, black pants, brown shoes, and a white messenger bag.

Personality

"The most dangerous. Like a lone wolf, he has no spirit of cooperation. Self-righteously does what he wants. As long as he's okay, that's all that matters to him; he doesn't care what happens to everyone else. He often is the voice of dissent, starting arguments and causing cracks in the tenuous group peace. However, because he is so rebellious, I'm sure once you get him on your side, he will be a great ally. If you are able to get him to be frank, you may even be able to find out about his secret past."
— Kotaro Uchikoshi

Although Aoi is usually rude, smug, arrogant, and cocky, he tends to be sarcastic and mysterious as well. When extremely agitated, he has the tendency to use profanity. This doesn't necessarily mean he lacks empathy or is cold, however. He keeps pushing forward and doesn't like dealing with indecisiveness. Aoi is also the most profane character in the game, and is second only to Dio in the series.

He is a lone wolf, and he has no spirit of cooperation, preferring to work by himself. He was very suspicious of the other players and didn't trust anyone, other than himself. At one point in the Nonary Game, he even advised Junpei to not trust the others in any circumstances whatsoever, saying that anyone could deceive him. Depending on the doors chosen, he strikes a small "friendship" during his nine hours with Junpei, presumably because he knows that Junpei will be the one to save his sister, and even gives Junpei a bookmark. Aoi is very prone to fall for confrontation, both physically or verbally and he is able to take advantage of his speed and physique, thought he can be defeated by stronger people like Ace or Seven. Whenever Junpei goes for a door he was not supposed to, Aoi is seem to be furious and he will do anything to prevent it since it would ruin his plans.

He describes himself as a "21st century guy" and says he has no reason to live by old-fashioned 20th century standards.

Aoi is intelligent, having knowledge about quite a bit of science, as exhibited during the kitchen investigation room. He also knows about temperature, which is shown on the showers.

Aoi is based on the "Enthusiasm" Enneagram of Personality. Its fear is based on being trapped in pain and deprivation and its desire is to be satisfied and content, much like how Aoi fears losing his sister.

It is not exactly clear how much of Aoi's smug and arrogant personality is a facade designed to conform to the vision Akane foresaw. However, he does show a similar personality in the flashbacks to 9 years prior.

Background
Childhood

Aoi was born into the Kurashiki family, which included his parents and sister Akane. His father had dual nationality and went back and forth between Japan and America frequently because of his work.

Aoi's parents died when he was about 8 years old in 2011. His father was sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit — the murder of a woman who was heavily implied to be Eric's mother (it is heavily implied that the true killer was Mira). In grief, his mother killed herself, leaving her children behind. Aoi was instead told that his parents died in an "accident" (possibly a car crash, but this is unconfirmed) and the two became orphans. This was all the result of a snail which indirectly killed Aoi's parents, as well as a taxi driver, a surgeon, and a young boy named Sean who a robot would be named after. It's possible that Aoi actually knew the truth of how their parents died but maintained the lie in an attempt to preserve Akane's innocence.

Since Aoi and Akane had no relatives to turn to in Japan, he became a guardian for his younger sister Akane and the two lived happily together. Aoi cared deeply for her and tried to give her the world, even if it meant he got nothing in return. Though the two were financially poor, they were happy together. Every year for Christmas, he would tell his sister to write a letter to Santa Claus asking for a gift or two that she wanted and he would send it to a fake address located in Europe. Before she could go to the mailbox to send it, Aoi would take the letter that came back marked "Unknown address" and read the list she wrote to Santa Claus that year. Using the money that he had saved up over the year, Aoi would use it to buy the present Akane had asked for. However, one year, Akane wrote that she wanted to have "things stay the way they are now", because she was happy.

First Nonary Game

Unfortunately for the two of them, shortly after receiving her letter, they were chosen and kidnapped by Cradle Pharmaceutical to participate in the First Nonary Game for scientific purposes after they passed a Ganzfeld Experiment test in one of Cradle's hospitals. Due to the fact that both he and Akane are wearing school uniforms in the First Nonary Game, it can be reasonably assumed that they were kidnapped either on their way to or from school. However, Akane was accidentally put on the Gigantic when she was supposed to go to Building Q in Nevada. During the First Nonary Game, he and the rest of the players received a four-leaf clover from a blind boy.

Although Aoi put in a lot of effort to ensure he and Akane survived the First Nonary game, it was in vain. In an incinerator, they were rescued by a detective who who found a vent and made a rope of bedsheets. After escaping and going back for a present she had received from Junpei, Akane was caught and thrown into the incinerator by Gentarou Hongou. The incinerator was launched into emergency mode, forcing Akane to ask for the future Junpei's help. These events nine years prior to the start of the Second Nonary Game would contribute to its creation. In the timeline in which Akane did not survive, Aoi saw her remains laying on the ground and screamed in grief.

After Akane was able to escape in another timeline, she reunited with her brother and proceeded to escape along with the other kids on the ship. Because Akane was only able to escape by enabling the Second Nonary Game, he agreed to help plan it to save his sister and avoid a time paradox.

Crash Keys

Sometime between 2018 and 2022, Akane got her brother Aoi to take stock from Cradle Pharmaceutical. Due to being an esper who saw through the eyes of Junpei 9 years in the future that Cradle Pharmaceutical would suddenly become a huge company, she told Aoi to buy stock in Cradle Pharmaceutical when they were cheap, so they made a t