Ayako
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Class : Sophomore, Second Year, class 1
Position : Team Manager of Shohoku Basketball Team
Middle School : Tomigaoka
Nicknames : Miyagi calls her 'Aya-chan' *o*
Seiyuu : Hara Eriko
Ayako first came when she was late for practice. She introduced herself as the Manager of the team. Somehow the new members blushed. ^^ She was the one who taught Sakuragi the basics and hit him on the head if he does something wrong. She has a special weapon which appears when summoned. A Paper Fan. No one has ever escaped from that. (except for Akagi)
Mainly her job is to jot down every statistics in every of the match. Like, how much did Rukawa score, or how many fouls did Sakuragi made, how many assits did Miyagi made..etc..etc..
She also helps the team in case of an injury emergency. And she cares more about the health of each player than the game. Like the time when Akagi injured his ankle. Ayako advised him not to play on his sore ankle.
Probably the most touching thing she did was when she told Hanamichi that a player's backbone determaines his basketball life. Hanamichi had crashed into a table and he began to feel that his back aches after that. Ayako asked him if he's alright in which he replies it only hurt a little. She bombed him with the backbone thing. Hanamichi's eyes were wide open. But he went ahead and play.
Then his back fnally gives up and he couldn't stand anymore. Ayako aids him. Hanamichi's injury won't effect his basketball carrier but since Hanamichi only played basketball for 4 months he'll eventually will forget the game if he spends much time in and out of hospital.
Miyagi has a big crush on Ayako. But Ayako doesn't seem to have the same feelings. Or does she? But they look like best of friends. And she does help him during matches by giving words of encouragement.
She also made a banner to hang on the wall to put the spirit back into the team. She gets along with everyone, just fine. She continues as the team manager towards the end of the series along with Haruko.