Akio used to be a bright kid put rightfully into college, but Akio lacked any real plan as to who he wanted to be, so he opted to drop out in his third year of attendance. He moved out of his dorm to live with his dad, of whom he had (and has) a complicated relationship with. Akio tried to keep things amicable by getting a job to lift his weight, but during his stay Akio's father revealed to him his superhuman nature.
Having no solid plans for his future, Akio initially agreed to being a crystal farm to generate a sizable income for both him and his father. Doing so left Akio immobile or otherwise unable to leave the house. Akio tolerated this for about 3 months before he brought up the idea of discontinuing the crystal business, to which his father disagreed. Akio continued pushing until he could afford a month all for himself.
During this time, Akio reached out to the friends he still had around and purchased a van. Aware that he couldn't take everything without his father outright noticing, when the van was fully purchased, Akio requested his friends only take his most valuable items to the van before moving himself in too. Within the month he had off he was ready to leave his house, where would he go after that? He'd linger within his homestate for a little while, but with the feeling his father would come looking for him, Akio took things a step further and drive out of the state.
On the way to the next state, Akio decided to embrace his aimless nature and travel the country, one state at a time. As to what he'd do in each state or how long was something for him to think about once he got there. Within the decade this journey took (and continues) Akio had made several friends, enemies, and lovers, of whom he often lost touch with after he had left the state he was currently. At the age of 31, his journey finally brought him to Olympus.
Of all the Californian ciites to visit, Olympus was of highest interest to Akio due to its population of supers. While Akio had been aware of his powers for years at this point, he had never actually used them aside from using them behind doors to generate some sort of income. The idea of using his powers for more useful work was also something he'd entertain, as he never had many opportunities to experiment with his powers before then.