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Spoiler Alert: This page contains spoilers. Read at your own risk. |
| Introduction |
Kuroba Ayako (黒羽 亜夜子) is a member of the Kuroba Family, a branch family of the Yotsuba Clan. She is also a second cousin to the Shiba siblings. Excluding the short cameo during the Reminiscence Chapter, she first appears in Volume 11 as Yotsuba Maya's representative during her talk with Colonel Balance and another time when negotiating with Kudou Retsu.
She has a younger twin brother, Fumiya (文弥), who is one of the candidates to succeed the Yotsuba head position, alongside Miyuki.
Appearance[]
When Ayako was younger, in her brief appearance in Volume 8 of the light novel, Miyuki described her as someone whose dress was abundantly adorned with ribbons, trims, and decorative buttons. Even her above knee socks had ruffles with ribbons on them. Her hair is prettily arranged in curls, and a fringe had been added to her hair band.
Doing her missions, Ayako ties a portion her hair in a twin tails style, wears a black and red dress also adorn with red and white ribbons that reveals her shoulders, a pair of black fingerless gloves that covers most of her arms with matching dark stockings and boots where she is referred to by her codename: "Yoru".[1]
Personality[]
For some unconfirmed reason (presumably for Tatsuya's affection and her brothers' clan successor candidate issue), Ayako is said to have a blatant rivalry with Miyuki. She takes great pleasure in making Miyuki displeased, for instance stating the fact that her magic abilities can aid Tatsuya with the information gained by her when Miyuki herself was unable to assist.[2]
On the twins' brief appearance, Ayako had exhibited an attitude slightly akin to tsundere [3] characteristics. Similar to her twin, she is someone who has a strong affection towards Tatsuya despite his position in the family.
Fulfilling her duty as a member of Kuroba family of Yotsuba which acts as the intelligence network branch of the clan, Ayako herself has a calm demeanor and high skills in handling negotiations and other official duties on behalf of the Yotsuba as shown in the series. She is quite charismatic and able to make the other side flustered by her words and actions alone.[1]
Background[]
Ayako was born in June 2080 and is the daughter of Kuroba Mitsugu, Yotsuba Maya's cousin and the twin sister of Fumiya.
As a member of the Kuroba Family who are in charge of Yotsuba Family's Intelligence and Information gathering, Ayako would work as a messenger on behalf of the Yotsuba Family a number of times to establish a new contact[4] or conduct negotiations on behalf of Yotsuba Maya[5]. This also includes commanding their operations on the field with her brother ever since she was a junior high school student.[1]
History with the Shiba Siblings[]
Childhood (Mentioned in the Steeplechase Chapter)[]
Tatsuya was the one who taught Ayako to use her Perfect Diffusion magic, which he taught her while he was still undergoing training at the Yotsuba main house in elementary school. He had already mastered Decomposition and Self- Restoration magics and was completing his training along with the adults. It was usual practice for a Kuroba Magician to spar with him. So he showed Ayako, who at the time still did not know her own innate spell and was undergoing training with her father's lackey, an easily comprehensible demonstration of Decomposition and bestowed her the knowledge.
He knew from his Elemental Sight that she possessed a similar magic special ability as his own. And so a still-young Tatsuya, intending to make his own ally and friend in her, showed to Ayako how to cast a variant of Perfect Diffusion which was based from his own Decomposition.
Since then, Ayako's use of Perfect Diffusion is similar to the variant that Tatsuya had taught to her. And because of Tatsuya, it's no overstatement that she established her name, Kuroba Ayako, as a distinguished Magician among the Yotsuba.
Therefore, Ayako never looked down on Tatsuya as a mere Guardian or as someone who has no power in their family. At the same time, this became one of the reasons for the Kuroba twins to constantly overestimate him and praise him. She has immense respect for him and whenever he is around, she would do her best to satisfy and make his life enjoyable. She always present him with her best self and is happy whenever he praises her and have talks with her.
Reminiscence Chapter[]
Ayako and Fumiya talking to Tatsuya
Unlike the other members of the Yotsuba, she views Tatsuya as someone worthy of her respect and admiration. She was excited to see him and rushed over to him after noticing him. She dislikes that her father views Tatsuya as only a mere Guardian and not as their relative.
She has a strong sense of rivalry with Miyuki.
Double Seven Chapter[]
Ayako and Fumiya visits the Shiba Sibling's home for the first time and reports the activities of the Humanists they recently captured. Tatsuya commends Fumiya on his skills in utilizing the Kuroba's intelligence network causing Fumiya to get flustered and Ayako teases him for it. Tatsuya and Miyuki watches them banter, having thoughts that they are close siblings. After giving a more detailed report, Tatsuya wanted to tell them to stay over night since its already late but in the end chose not to do so. [6]
Ayako contacts Tatsuya and is happy to see him, referring to him as "Tatsuya-san". She seems to know him quite well, enough so to know about his rather twisted thought process. She wished to chat casually with him, but was cut short as she was there to inform Tatsuya of Congressman Kanda's activities and looks forward to what he is planning. She was incredibly pleased when he praised her.
Her sense of rivalry with Miyuki has continued to attain Tatsuya attention.
Steeplechase Chapter[]
In order to establish the fact that the twins and the Shiba Siblings were complete strangers, they introduced themselves publicly during the 2096 Nine Schools Competition, calling him "Shiba-senpai" and asking for guidance for Magic Engineering later in order to set up an excuse to meet and talk with him. She ignored Miyuki when introducing herself to Tatsuya.
Later that night, Fumiya and Ayako investigate the area of the Steeplechase Event, continuing their mission to investigate the parasite use in the competition. As they survey the area, Tatsuya calls out to them. Both were surprised by this then Fumiya greets him while Ayako is upset that Tatsuya scared her and they continue their discussion on how to proceed. After deciding not to proceed for now, Tatsuya tells them that the mission concerning the parasites will be handled by him and that they should concentrate on the Nine Schools Competition which is another mission from Maya for the Kuroba twins to draw attention to themselves. While their stance as a Kuroba magicians believe that this is an unacceptable request, but since it's Tatsuya they accept it. [7]
During the Mirage Bat Event, Tatsuya fiercely debated against having the Saegusa twins face off against Ayako causing Izumi and Kasumi to believe that Tatsuya knew Ayako will win by a huge margin. The Kuroba twins on the other hand feels the need to meet Tatsuya's expectations and to win in an overwhelming manner in order to show how correct he is. [8]
Ancient City Insurrection Chapter[]
Ayako and Fumiya once again visits the Shiba Residence and personally delivers the letter from Maya that contains a "request" that Tatsuya joins in the search and capture of Zhou Gongjin that Tatsuya accepts and asks the Kuroba Twins to pass the message to Maya that he accepts the request. On their way back, Ayako consoles Fumiya who is upset that they were also ordered to let the Traditionalists tail them to the Shiba Residence.[9]
Yotsuba Succession Chapter[]
Kuroba Mitsugu visits Tatsuya to tell him not to attend the Yotsuba New Year Gathering and also tells him that he will not be taking any actions against him out of consideration for Ayako and Fumiya being close to him and do not wish to make them sad.[10]
After Maya announced the engagement between Tatsuya and Miyuki at the family gathering, Ayako is apparently isn't feeling well and is taken to another room so she can rest.
She suspects that Maya is using Miyuki to free Tatsuya from the guardian role and ensure his place among the Yotsuba.[11]
Master Clan Conference Chapter[]
Ayako and Fumiya are on a mission with Tatsuya at Zama Base where Gu Jie is hiding. Since the engagement, Ayako has been acting less reserved with Tatsuya as a way of accepting the reality of the situation. Ayako secures the retreat, Fumiya guards her and Tatsuya secures Gu Jie alone. [12]
Ayako and Fumiya are made temporary bodyguards of Miyuki while Tatsuya is on a mission to capture Gu Jie. When Tatsuya returns being unable to complete the mission, the three consoles him. Ayako and Fumiya would later accompany the Shiba siblings to a meeting with Maya. [13]
Isolation Chapter[]
| Spoiler |
|---|
| Ayako informs Miyuki that the National Defense Force is going to abduct Tatsuya and the Yotsuba Clan will not assist him as ordered by Maya. Miyuki is upset and her magic causes the room temperature to suddenly drop and despite Ayako using defense magic, her hair and clothes were frozen. Ayako also says that Miyuki is the only one that can help out Tatsuya this time. The next day, Ayako emails Miyuki of the National Defense Force's plan. [14] |
Escape Chapter[]
| Spoiler |
|---|
| Ayako brings Lina to the Shiba Siblings' Residence who just returned to Japan in the aftermath of the Stars Rebellion and is placed under the protection of the Yotsuba Clan. Maya assigns Tatsuya to serve as Lina's guide to Miyaki Island where she will reside for the time being. Tatsuya offers to have a talk with Ayako at another time causing her to smile while Miyuki thanks Ayako for bringing Lina. [15] |
Magian Company[]
| Spoiler |
|---|
| Ayako and Fumiya lives one block away from Tatsuya's current home and also studies in the Magic University. Ayako and Izumi has become rivals ever since the last Nine Schools Competition. [16]
After the opening party for the Stellar Generator, Ayako informs Tatsuya Miyuki and Lina that Tookami Ryousuke is a member of FEHR and gives a recording of his call to Lena she acquired using her Perfect Diffusion including the intruders he was pursuing are members of Janus. Miyuki and Lina immediately say that Ryousuke should be removed from the Magian Company but Ayako points out that Janus is the problem right now since they sell black market information for a profit and Tatsuya deduces that Janus' next target will be the Relic in Four Leaves Technology. [17] Ayako and Fumiya are monitoring the activities of the Janus members. Fumiya feels that Tatsuya is using Janus to see if Ryousuke is trustworty, Ayako thinks to that Fumiya’s line of thinking is starting to resemble Tatsuya’s. [18] Ayako and Fumiya are members of a "research club" with Tatsuya. On their club meeting, Tatsuya informs them of Tookami Ryousuke admits being part of FEHR and gives them the information on FAIR and the relics. Although they agree to Tatsuya's plan to work with FEHR in the future, Ayako still doesn't trust Ryousuke. [19] Ayako and Fumiya reports to Tatsuya that they were able to capture over twenty Advancement of Humanity Front members who were attempting to steal a relic at an excavation site. Due to the Humanity Front leader Kurenai Anzu being sheltered by the Izayoi Family who are both protected by a Senate Elder Kashiwa Kazutaka, Tatsuya suggests to consult with Toudou Aoba before capturing Kurenai. [20] Ayako, Fumiya, Miyuki and Lina are watching the recording of Humanity Front's attempt to abduct Saegusa Mayumi and Ryousuke fighting off five of the assailants. Afterwards, they have dinner at a VIP restaurant because Miyuki and Ayako couldn’t agree on who was going to cook for Tatsuya for this particular gathering. They go over the recording on the abduction attempt on Mayumi again. While Tatsuya and Fumiya believe they can trust Ryousuke, the others were still skeptical. [21] |
Abilities[]
Ayako specializes in Convergence Magic and is able to speak fluent English for negotiations which also gives an impression that she is no ordinary girl.
Perception Abilities[]
Like Fumiya, Ayako has Perception Abilities that allows her to provide immediate intel while on the field like monitoring the activities of Yami and to provide an immediate retreat as needed[22] or monitor the targets to assess their next course of action.[23]
Magic Abilities[]
As a member of the Yotsuba Family and the twin sister of one of the candidates to become the next head, she is incredibly skilled in the use of magic. Her strength lies not in the activation speed, or power of her Zone Interference, but in the scale and range of her spell. It is because of this power that she is able to use her signature spells and consider herself (and to be considered) a rival to Miyuki. Her magics are more suitable for intelligence gathering.[24]
Systematic Magic[]
Like Miyuki and most powerful modern Magicians, Ayako is presumably talented in all forms of Systematic Magic. Ayako specializes in Convergence-Type and Dispersion-Type Magic.
Ayako's magic activation speed and interference strength are inferior compared to Miyuki's. However, she could spread out event interference zones larger than Miyuki's, and is praised as having the Yotsuba's greatest ability in this.[25]
- Perfect Diffusion (aka Perfect Darkness)
Ayako's unique magic is Perfect Diffusion, also known as Perfect Darkness. It is a magic that levels out the target area's gaseous, fluid, and physical energy distributions to the point of non-detection. It is a convergence-type magic. Because it can be recorded into an activation sequence, it is a normal kind of magic. However, it was safe to say that ordinary magicians could only use the weaker version of the spell Diffusion, and only with difficulty. Realistically, only Ayako can use this spell.
For example, if sound is to be levelled off, it is only reduced into white noise where it's impossible to decode their meanings at the level of Diffusion. For Perfect Diffusion, the levelling off reaches the point the sound ceases to exist entirely, and cannot be detected at all.[26]
- A simple, yet multi-system spell that utilizes Weight-Type, two layers of Convergence-Type, and Move-Type Magic. This spell removes an object’s inertia (including the human body), surrounds it with a cocoon of air, and creates an even larger tunnel of vacuum around it to move the object through that tunnel. Despite the multi-system nature of this technique, it only uses four basic processes and isn't too much of a complicated spell. There are some disadvantages, however, as the users needs to scout out the destination prior to forming the surrounding air currents that buffered the tunnel of vacuum. If someone had the ability to repeatedly leap into the air while using this ability, they might even be able to continuously use this ability to confuse their opponent. However, this technique was fundamentally incompatible with attacking and was more suited for fleeing.
Ultimate Scattering is a convergence type magic that diffuses vapor, energy, and the like, evenly to the point where they could barely be recognized anymore.[27]
- Anti-Object Physical Barrier - Even though, her barrier is a single layer anti-object barrier, it has more than sufficient strength to withstand a barrage of bullets from High Powered Rifles.[28]
Equipment[]
Head Mount Display[]
During her missions, Ayako occasionally wears an "eye patch"-like item that is actually an HMD (Head Mount Display). The exact functions of this head mount display are unknown, but the HMD appears important enough for Ayako to wear it even though it causes her some discomfort.[29] In the Anime, the Head Mount Display has Tracking functions on the target Ayako locks on to that shows its coordinates and also has Infra Red Search functions to detect weapons on their targets which is more or less similar to Elemental Sight. This allows Ayako to assess the threat her target poses and takes the appropriate course of action on the spot.[30]
CAD[]
Ayako's CAD
Ayako's CAD is a bracelet with 16 buttons situated below her palm to assist her in casting Perfect Diffusion and Mock Teleportation
Trivia[]
- Ayako and Fumiya are the second pair of twins featured in the series, other than the twins Miya and Maya, Kasumi and Izumi, and Miguel and Antonio.
- Ayako's codename "Yoru" is taken from her name's second kanji character "夜" which means night[29]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://mahouka.jp/3rd/character/detail/?chara=20
- ↑ Volume 13, Chapter 4
- ↑ an anime/manga slang for a character who says the opposite of what she really means
- ↑ Volume 11, Chapter 15
- ↑ Volume 11, Chapter 17
- ↑ Volume 12, Chapter 9
- ↑ Kuroba Twin's Story: Mission to Draw Attention, Chapter 2
- ↑ Kuroba Twin's Story: Mission to Draw Attention, Chapter 3
- ↑ Volume 14, Chapter 1
- ↑ Volume 16, Chapter 2
- ↑ Volume 16, Chapter 7
- ↑ Master Clans Conference Chapter II, Chapter 8
- ↑ Master Clans Conference Chapter III, Chapter 14
- ↑ Isolation Chapter, Chapter 7
- ↑ Escape Chapter II, Chapter 9
- ↑ Magian Company Chapter I, Chapter 3
- ↑ Magian Company Chapter I, Chapter 6
- ↑ Magian Company Chapter I, Chapter 7
- ↑ Magian Company Chapter II, Chapter 9
- ↑ Magian Company Chapter II, Chapter 12
- ↑ Magian Company Chapter II, Chapter 13
- ↑ Visitor Arc XII (Anime)
- ↑ Ancient City Insurrection V
- ↑ Volume 13, Chapter 4
- ↑ Steeplechase Chapter, Chapter 5
- ↑ Steeplechase Chapter, Chapter 5
- ↑ Volume 13, Chapter 6
- ↑ Volume 18
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Volume 12, Chapter 4
- ↑ Double Seven I