Nakihara Asami

"I think it just happens to you. One day you just care. And then you'll be surprised by what you notice. That's what they say, anyway. Hasn't happened to me."

Chapter 16

Nakihara Asami

Name	Nakihara Asami (♀)
Age	14
Occupation	Ch. 13-24: Magical Girl, Training (Rank: 2LT) Ch. 21-57: Magical Girl, Active Service (Rank: 2LT) Ch. 57-??: Magical Girl, Active Service (Rank: 1LT)
Special Comments	Girlfriend of Shizuki Ryouko
Soul Gem Placement	Base of the neck
Soul Gem Color	Purple
Weapon	Black Hole
Classification	Gravity Manipulator

A meek and unassertive girl, she has the interesting quality of having a build and height very similar to Ryouko, easing Ryouko’s insecurities about the issue. Contracted in the same week as Ryouko, they land in the same training cohort on New Athens, (as opposed to the other possibility: Mars) and appear to have become bosom friends (and, in Asami's case, something more) over the course of training simulations. She is currently part of the Magi Cæli.

Asami dreamt of being a xenobiologist and shares several personality traits (lack of satisfaction on earth, ambitious dreams, and urge to visit the colonies) with Ryouko, but instead spent her wish repairing discord between her parents, for the sake of her younger brother (she also has a much older brother). Asami has gravity-related powers, can sense gravitational shifts, and wears her hair in an unbraided ponytail. It may be that low gravity environments intoxicate her. Who knows?

Although Asami at first expressed a disinterest in romance, she began (awkwardly) dropping hints about her growing affections to Ryouko during their training, and finally confessed her love at an Acheron hot spring.

Story[edit]

She participated in the Kepler-37 Offensive, defending Pollux shipyard on the planet Apollo from Cephalopod forces. As a result, her body was lost and her Soul Gem was recovered by a MedEvac drone. When her body was recovered, she heard the news that Ryouko was speculated dead, and as a result started to fall into despair, which prompted her body to be ejected by the MedEvac drone. Asami's Soul Gem was brought back to Earth, where it was integrated into her backup clone, whose growth was accelerated by the inclusion of body parts recovered from her original body.

She is surprised by Ryouko's attendance to her resurrection and desperately holds onto her, as it becomes increasingly clear that she might not have any home to return to. She is delighted however when Ryouko agrees to be her girlfriend and when Ryouko brings the two to visit the Ribbon, the Goddess gives her direct relationship advice.

Asami would later be an integral part of X-25 and the Pulsar Mission

Following Ryouko stranding at the Pulsar site and with her considered MIA or outright dead, Asami is devastated. Clarisse Van Rossum tries to get her to do something other than grieving and convinces her to at least try talking to Simona. Though Simona's declaration of Ryouko's survival initially seems nonsensical, Van Rossum suggests confirming her delusions at the Ribbon, with Simona stressing the need go past any jealousy and focus on saving Ryouko.

"Jealousy? Yeah, I'm jealous you got her killed, you bitch! Don't you have a fucking court‐martial to be at?"

—Chapter 65

Ryouko's survival was indeed confirmed at the Ribbon. After informing Ryouko's parents, Asami was recruited to be part of the team investigating the TCF Conspiracy.