Takada Youko

Takada Youko (鷹田杳子) is a minor character introduced in the Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator anime. She is part of a group which attempts to steal Accelerator's genetic information.

Appearance
She has long red hair, red eyes and freckles on her face. Despite being a high school student like her accomplices, she is considerably shorter than both of them. When using the weapon she stole, she wears a black and reddish-purple body suit. She also wears ear piercing.

Personality
Speaking with a -like tone, she has a tendency for using yabai (ヤバい) and variants of it in her speech.

Background
At some point in the past, she along with her friends, Minori and Hiromi, mistook Esther for the Stripping Lady while they were in pursuit of the Urban Legend in Children's Park 5, School District 14. She felt frustrated after knowing the truth.

Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator
Early one September morning, Takada Youko, Kidera Minori and Nakahara Hiromi broke into the Atmospheric Continuum Mechanics Research Facility and stole a weapon which was being secretly developed for use against Accelerator. Using the weapon to cut through the floor and escape underground before Anti-Skill's arrival, the trio planned to target Accelerator and obtain a sample of his genetic material to sell for profit.

Later in the day, they attacked the hospital where Accelerator was being treated after his brain injury, with Youko using the weapon and clashing with Yomikawa Aiho's Anti-Skill unit. This battle was interrupted by Accelerator himself, who entered by breaking through a wall, knocking out Hiromi in the process. When Accelerator's wound opened up while saving Last Order from falling debris, some blood fell on the bag of cookies which Last Order had been carrying. Seeing the opportunity, Youko snatched the bag and escaped with Minori.

As they were escaping via an underground drainage channel, Minori voiced concern for Hiromi while Youko was planting explosives on the pillars to delay any pursuers. Youko was not concerned, telling Minori that if they sold the genetic material she was carrying to a lab, they would be rich and be able to figure out a backdoor way to get him out of jail. When Accelerator announced his presence, Youko detonated the explosives to fell the pillars and crush him, but was shocked to see him unscathed afterwards. Swiftly grabbing and then knocking Youko down, Accelerator detailed the mechanisms behind Youko's weapon and Minori's ability before reclaiming the bag.

Not willing to give up, Youko tried to attack Accelerator to get some more of his blood, but he easily manipulated the high pressure blade and dismantled the weapon before getting in close and knocking her out with a kick. Despite being scared, Minori stood in Accelerator's way to protect Youko, but he let her off with a flick to the head and told her as he walked away that if she cared enough to risk her, she should have stopped Youko before it got to that point. The two girls were subsequently apprehended by Anti-Skill.

Abilities
During her attempt to steal Accelerator's genetic information, Youko used equipment stolen from the Atmospheric Continuum Mechanics Research Facility which was secretly developed for use against Accelerator. It consists of a protector suit with two weapons worn on the arms and a curved magazine of nitrogen blocks worn on the back.

The weapons are Ultra-High Pressure Water Cutters (超高圧ウォーターカッター) which use the melting of solid nitrogen (frozen solid at under -210 degrees), fired in a high-pressure stream which acts as a cutting blade. It can also launch nitrogen-based explosives which can be detonated remotely via a button on the grip. While the cutting stream and explosives are destructive, the hidden aspect of the weapon is the unseen scattering of the nitrogen resulting from its usage, which causes oxygen deprivation for those close-by.

The nitrogen, stored in blocks in the rear magazine, can also be circulated through the protector, in order to freeze and neutralize bullets.