Ayu Ayukawa

Ayu Ayukawa ( アユ Ayukawa Ayu) is a character of the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. She is one of the six students at You Show Duel School and treats Yuzu like an older sister. She is friends with Futoshi and Tatsuya.

Appearance
Ayu is a red-headed girl with fair skin, golden eyes and a large multi-colored headband. She wears a short cream t-shirt with a striped pink and red long t-shirt. Ayu's attire also consists of a red skirt and long black socks. She wears brown shoes and has a blue bracelet.

Pre-Maiami Championship
Ayu was first seen with Futoshi in a crowd, watching Yūya Sakaki Dueling Strong Ishijima. She was happy when her fellow You Show Duel School classmate won his Duel. After that, she watched Yūya Duel and lose against Yuzu Hīragi. When a group of fans left in disappointment, Ayu did not believe their words and signed up for You Show with Futoshi and Tatsuya. Ayu and the other You Show students took a trip to LDS. She was fascinated by Shingo's state of the art school and soon got captured by Shingo's companions. Ayu watched Yūya Duel and defeat Shingo. The building where she was put on collapsed, but she was rescued by "Timegazer Magician" and "Stargazer Magician". After Sora Shiun'in knocked out Shingo and his lackeys, he introduced himself to Ayu and the others. Sora went to You Show to Duel Yūya for the chance to be his apprentice. Ayu was impressed by the cuteness of Sora's "Furnimal" monsters, but was scared by "Death-Toy Scissors Bear". She was happy when Yūya won and when Sora enrolled at You Show.

Ayu took a walk with Yuzu and bought ice cream for the boys, but Yuzu left Ayu behind after seeing Shingo plan a scheme to defeat Yūya. Yuzu told Ayu to call Shūzō Hīragi for help and she complied. After the masked Duelist defeated Shingo, Ayu received the news that Yūya apparently attacked Shingo. Ayu didn't believe it and watched Yūya, Yuzu, and Gongenzaka fight against the LDS students. She later watched Yūya Duel Reiji Akaba and Shūzō.

Ayu and the other children watched Yūya Duel and defeat Michio Mokota. They also watched Yūya Duel Eita Kyuando on TV. Ayu was impressed with Eita's intelligence, while having the opposite reaction for Yūya, due to him answering the questions incorrectly. Nevertheless, she was glad that Yūya won. Ayu and the boys watched Yūya and Shūzō lamenting over their difficulties, and they noted that Yuzu was training with Sora again. They later watched Yūya's Duel with Mieru Hōchun, and Ayu was fearful for Yūya's safety after Mieru's prediction. Fortunately, Yūya was able to win the Duel. Nico Smiley later approached Ayu and her friends and requested that they withhold their presence from Yūya during his final qualification Duel with Gongenzaka. Ayu and the group agreed, but they eventually caved near the end of the Duel and supported Yūya, though Yūya didn't notice them until he had won, at which point Ayu explained what Nico had done.

Maiami Championship
Having qualified for the Maiami Championship before Yūya, Ayu and the other You Show students received a pep talk from Shūzō and boarded the van to go to the Championship, but they were surprised to find Yūya missing. Yūya later showed up after they had looked for him. After the opening ceremony, Ayu learned that she would be Dueling Reira Akaba from LDS that afternoon. She watched Futoshi's Duel with Takeshi Shimizu and congratulated him for winning. Ayu began her Duel with Reira not long afterwards, cheered on by her friends and family. She was surprised by Reira's non-responsive attitude during the Duel. Ayu started strong after a slight mishap of forgetting that she couldn't attack on the first turn, but Reira turned her "Aquarium" Continuous Magic Cards against her and then Fusion Summoned "CCC Water Sword the Embodiment of Valiant Fused Arms" to win the Duel. Ayu was depressed at her loss, despite reassurances from her friends.

Ayu continued to watch her friends Duel in the Championship. She witnessed Yuzu settling her rivalry with Masumi Kōtsu after her Duel, and on the second day of the tournament watched Gongenzaka's Duel with Gen Ankokuji and Yūya's rematch with Shingo Sawatari. The tournament took a darker turn after Sora's Duel with Shun Kurosaki, which left Sora badly injured. In the period of the tournament after Yūya fell into a coma and Sora disappeared, Ayu witnessed the rest of the first round of the Junior Championship and the second round of the Youth Championship, in which Reira defeated Futoshi. When she heard that Yūya had woken up, Ayu hurried to the stadium with Tatsuya and Futoshi, but thought she saw Yuzu across the street. After the person vanished, Ayu wondered what she had seen. She then witnessed the brutal Duel between Isao Kachidoki and Yaiba Tōdō, which left Yaiba hospitalized, and Ayu was shocked to learn that Yūya was Dueling Isao next. As she had worried, the Duel with Isao went badly for Yūya until he abruptly changed his manner and swiftly defeated Isao with "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon".

Ayu watched her Junior classmates participate in the Battle Royal, but Yuzu and Yūya soon disappeared when their camera feeds were cut for maintenance. Frustrated with not knowing what was going on and enduring Yōko Sakaki's strange antics, Ayu led the kids in a dash to the city, but they were informed that they couldn't return to their homes while the ARC System was active in Maiami City. Ayu later informed Tatsuya that Reira had won his semi-final Duel, which meant that he would be Tatsuya's opponent in the final. She later warned Tatsuya to be careful before his Duel with Reira, reminding him that Reira used Fusion Summoning.

Synchro Dimension
After Yūya returned to the stadium with Yuzu, Ayu learned about the invasion of the Obelisk Force from the Fusion Dimension. Ayu was initially in denial, but she later learned from Yūya that this was indeed true and who Ayu had thought to be Yuzu was actually someone named Serena. Ayu watched the Duel between Yūya and his mother, and bid him goodbye after the Duel, as he departed for the Synchro Dimension.

Deck
Ayu uses an "Aquaactress" Deck, based around quickly swarming the field and adding cards from her Deck to her hand while using a variety of Magic and Traps to protect and increase the ATK of her otherwise weak monsters.