Awatsuki Maaya

Awatsuki Maaya (泡浮 万彬) is a side character introduced in Toaru Kagaku no Railgun. She is a Level 3 Academy City esper whose ability involves the manipulation of buoyancy. She is often seen together with her friend, Wannai Kinuho.

Appearance
She sports dark-bluish hair and eyes. Her bust size is large enough for Misaka Mikoto to be jealous over, though not larger than Kinuho's.

Personality
She is shown to be kind, and is also considerate and forgiving of other's flaws. She is also seen to be respectful towards a senpai. She also has diverse knowledge on swimsuits.

Background
She is a Tokiwadai Middle School student, and is part of the swimming team of her school along with her close friend Wannai Kinuho. She is also a classmate of Shirai Kuroko. She resides in the School Garden dormitory of Tokiwadai, just like Kinuho.

Level Upper Arc

 * Main article:Level Upper Arc

She appears alongside Kinuho, when Shirai Kuroko and Misaka Mikoto are forced to clean the empty pool as punishment. As members of the swimming team, they are supposed to check the pool's filtration system, where they meet Mikoto for the first time, and are excited by her presence. She later offers Mikoto a drink, which upsets Kuroko. They leave but return shortly, where they witness Mikoto electrocuting Kuroko for being perverted. After seeing the awkward situation, they leave once more.

In the manga adaptation, they appear the day after the AIM Burst is defeated; however, in the anime, they appear before the existence of the Level Upper is even confirmed by the city.

Both Maaya and Kinuho appear again in Episode 13 of the anime, where they recruit both Kuroko and Mikoto for a swimsuit modeling photo shoot. After many bizarre situations, they are given duties to cook curry; however, it's revealed that neither of them know how to cook curry. They later ask Kongou Mitsuko (who had lied to everyone that she can cook curry) to teach them. After suffering many inconveniences, Mitsuko finally tells them that she doesn't know how to cook curry either, but they are somehow forgiving of her, and later ask Konori Mii to help them. They are able to cook seafood curry, and are able to become friends with Mitsuko.

Poltergeist Arc

 * Main article:Poltergeist Arc

She and Kinuho reappear during the Tokiwadai Midsummer Festival, where it is revealed that they reside in the School Garden dormitory instead of the one where the festival is being held. They had been invited by Mitsuko to enjoy the festival. They later see Mikoto's violin performance.

Maaya later reappears during the swimming team's practice, giving Kinuho a towel. Both of them later state their desire to visit Mitsuko in the hospital she was in (as she had been injured by the Poltergeist occurences in the city).

They last appear in the epilogue of the anime, listening to how Mitsuko had apparently solved the Poltergeist Incidents.

Chronology (Toaru Majutsu no Index)
They appear in the Index manga during the morning of August 30, just after breakfast. Here, Maaya stops Kinuho from bothering Mikoto, as she sees Mikoto restless and in deep thought (but is actually thinking about the newest chapter of the manga she's following).

Ability
According to the booklet that comes with the 3rd Toaru Kagaku no Railgun DVD or Blu-Ray Disc, Maaya's ability is the same as Kinuho's and is called Hydro Hand. However, in the 5th booklet, it says that her ability is unknown.

During Baba Yoshio's initial analysis of her and Kinuho's abilities, he assumed it was a form of telekinesis whose limited destructive capability was offset when used alongside Kinuho's Hydro Hand. It is later revealed that her power is Float Dial (流体反発 (フロートダイヤル)), an ability that allows the manipulation of the buoyancy of the user and their surroundings. At Level 3, it allows her to lift heavy objects, walk on water without breaking its surface tension, and leap several feet into the air.

Trivia

 * Maaya's voice actress, Nanjou Yoshino, is also the vocalist of fripSide, who performs the opening themes of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun.

Quotes

 * "We didn't see anything." - Maaya, after witnessing Mikoto torturing Kuroko.