Akane Nishimura gets bullied relentlessly by most of her classmates, though she keeps her head down and doesn't show much reaction to it. The real problem is that she's completely withdrawn from everyone—she's built walls around herself as a defense mechanism. So when Takada starts showing genuine interest in her, she tries to push him away, partly because of the harsh nickname her classmates have given her.
But Takada won't give up. His persistent attempts at friendship eventually crack through her defenses, and she gradually starts opening up to him and a few other kids in class who weren't part of the bullying crowd. At some point, she picks up a black kitten and names it Kuro, which becomes another small sign of her warming up to the world around her.
There's a tragic reason behind that nickname—her mother died shortly after she was born, and it's common knowledge around school. Fans often speculate that's where the "reaper" reputation comes from, since people tend to make cruel associations with that kind of loss. But through Takada's kindness and her own slow journey, Akane starts to become more than just the rumor attached to her name.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
