Kozue Amano (天野こずえ Amano Kozue) is a female Japanese manga artist. She is widely known as the creator of Aria, which proved to be a best-selling hit, and was adapted into an anime television series consisting of 3 seasons and an OVA.
Aika getting nervous that she's too much like her mentor Akira, including the likelihood of her being left in the dust compared to her peers Akari/Alicia and Alice/Athena, was so sad. But I love how the two of them support each other and it was such a sweet chapter. And that final chapter, with Alice and Athena on a gondola ride, was beautiful. What a way to cap off the penultimate volume as our characters approach the end of this story!