Ayu Mayu

Ayu Mayu (あゆまゆ) is a Japanese manga series written by Shiotarō and illustrated by Tetsuji Suzuno. The story revolves around a boy named Yousuke as he tries to find his sister, who was adopted ten years prior to the start of the story. As of April 2009, five tankōbon have been released in Japan.

Plot
Yousuke and his sister were orphaned at a young age. Yousuke's sister was adopted ten years before the start of the story, and ever since, Yousuke has been looking for her. One day Yousuke found the couple that adopted his sister. The problem is that they have two daughters, Ayu and Mayu, both of which were adopted from the same orphanage and are roughly the same age. Both Ayu and Mayu had an older brother before being adopted. Things get more complicated when Yousuke learns that the orphanage where he previously lived was burned down a year earlier, destroying all the records, and that the couple's own records have disappeared. Yousuke must figure out which one of the girls is in fact his sister. It is revealed thet Ayu was Yousuke's sister, so he started dating Mayu. Then it was discovered that the 2nd pendant had the name Nayu written on it. Nayu then shows up and becomes the 3rd candidate as Yousuke's sister, even though she is always saying that she is not related to Yousuke, and is in fact in love with him.

Characters

 * Yousuke Toyokawa
 * The main character of the story. He spent the last several years trying to locate his beloved sister, until he found her (sort of). The biggest clues he has when questioned about his sister's identity is a charm necklace he gave her and a drawing she made with her name on it. Ayu and Mayu both remember having a brother, but they can't remember their brothers appearance. And half the name was torn off the drawing. As the story progresses, he finds himself liking both Ayu and Mayu, wishing they both were his younger sisters. At one point during chapter one he tries to convince the girls' father that he just remembered having two sisters. He also tries to get more involved with Ayu and Mayu's lives by getting interested in their hobbies. At the end of Volume one, they found an identical necklace on Ayu's envelope, but at the end of Volume two it seems the name Nayu was written on the necklace. Yousoke is also very hardworking and sometimes takes part-time jobs to support his financial and in the latest chapters he managed to obtain three vacation tickets for Ayu, Mayu and himself. Recently, he has seen the photo of Mayu with her pendant, but nevertheless, he still loves her more than a sister. At the end of the manga, it is revealed that Ayu is in fact his younger sister and Mayu becomes his girlfriend.


 * A running gag in the series has it that Yousuke seems to be able to perform superhuman feats whenever he is worked up in a tight situation, when he is on his way to helping his "sisters" (often portrayed comically). Among of his supernatural feats include running very fast on water, and chopping a tree down with only his bare hands as displayed in chapter 13. As of chapter 16, it is also shown that he can even transfer fevers to himself, as how he performed it on Ayu and in chapter 23 can connect with a satellite to find Nayu.


 * Mayu Anjou
 * One of the two girls who could have been Yousuke's sister. She is skilled at the violin and plays it at a professional level (seen in chapter three). She is really close to Ayu and likes that Yousuke tries to be a big brother to her. Of the two girls, she is the only one that calls Yousuke "Onii-chan" (lit. "big brother"). The manga also shows that she is more caring than Ayu towards Yousuke. This is shown more in chapter 7 when she plans Yousuke's birthday party. In Chapter 8 Yousuke tells Mayu of his unbrotherly feelings toward her and he feels he has been rejected and suddenly she invites him to go on a beach trip over summer break. She gives him a test of his feelings and they end up together and sharing their first kiss. But when Ayu finds out that the necklace has "Nayu" engraved in it thy are back to square one and Mayu didn't seem to mind it at all. Mayu's older brother is found at the end of the manga and they reunite. The manga ends with Ayu and Mayu fighting over Yousuke.


 * From a picture contained in a photo album that Yousuke has obtained and later was taken away by Takuji to Mrs. Anjou, it was discovered that Mayu is the one who was wearing the pendant from a picture from when they were children. She has seen this photo, but still loves Yousuke more than a brother.


 * Ayu Anjou
 * The second girl who could be Yousuke's sister. Compared to Mayu, she is only a few months younger. She is a tomboy and a basketball player. Ayu is also very protective of Mayu, her father remarking "She is more of a watchdog than a sister" upon Yousuke getting introduced to her. She also can't fall asleep unless with Mayu. Although she is kind towards Yousuke, she does not hesitate to attack him when she thinks he is being a pervert. In chapter two, she reveals that Yousuke is just like her brother at the orphanage, but she doubts that he really is. By the end of Volume one (in chapter 5), Ayu, Mayu and Yousuke found an identical necklace (the same as the one Yousuke has) in Ayu's envelop. The end of volume 2 shows the necklace has the word "Nayu" written on it.


 * Ayu also found out that she is in love with Yousuke. This first was seen when Yousuke and her were stuck on an island and they ate the "True Thoughts" mushroom. Then she confirmed her feelings when she went on a date with Jun, and she tries to forget Yousuke but fails. When she is about to kiss Jun she cries and then at the end of the chapter Yousuke chases Jun away and he tells her that he followed them. When she sighs he asks if she loves Jun and she says there's only one person she loves. After he asks who she kisses him and then comments "it's a secret". When she caught Yousuke and Mayu kissing, she ran away because she couldn't face the fact that she was losing the two people she loves, believing her sister is taking Yousuke away from her as much as she sees Yousuke taking her sister away from her. Although Ayu initially thought of Yousuke as a pervert and an annoying person, throughout the manga he seemed to grow on her. When she is finally revealed to be his younger sister, Yousuke begins to date Mayu. The manga ends with Ayu (who seems to have developed a huge brother complex) and Mayu (who is dating Yousuke) fighting over Yousuke.


 * Katsutaka Anjou
 * The foster father of both Ayu and Mayu. He is a wealthy man and the dean of the school Yousuke will start attending. He knows that either one of his daughters could be the sister of Yousuke, and "tries" to help him figure it out. He is also constantly trying to make Yousuke do ridiculous tasks to earn his stay which usually must be accomplished in a week. Yousuke has a habit of calling him "dad", but he always responds by saying "I'm not your father" and then punishes him in some comical way, so eventually Yousuke started calling him Uncle.


 * Mrs. Anjou
 * Katsutaka Anjou's wife and possibly the only one trying to help Yousuke figure out who his sister is. However, she at the same time is also preventing the discovery by hiding important information as she appears to enjoy watching the children trying to find out. She, from the beginning has know that Ayu was always Yousuke's sister but wanted to find Mayu's brother before telling them the truth. When Yousuke fails a task, she always tries to help him out. She has a habit of covering her mouth with her sleeve, something of an old-fashioned Japanese value (such as ladies covering their mouths to hide exposed teeth during actions such as laughter).


 * Takuji
 * The Anjou family dog who is always getting Yousuke into trouble. One example of this is in chapter 5, when Takuji stole Mrs. Anjou's panties. Yousuke found them and was instantly attacked by Ayu thinking he was the one that stole them. When Yousuke tried to explain what happened, Takuji started acting innocent. Commonly referred to as Niku (meat) by Yousuke, meaning he plans to eat him one day. However, when Takuji and Yousuke are after the same goal (helping out Ayu for example), Takuji will go out of his way to help Yousuke.


 * Ayu and Mayu's friends
 * First appearing in chapter 3, they are school friends of Ayu and Mayu. There are two girls (Yume and Kaede) and one boy (Jun). Upon their introduction, an embarrassed Ayu tried to bury Yousuke so that they wouldn't find out, but Mayu revealed the truth anyway.  The two girls were happy for Ayu and Mayu, while the boy was skeptical, saying that Yousuke might be a freeloader playing on their emotions. Yume has light hair and Kaede has darker hair.  Kaede is also shown to be more dim than the other characters and will state comments bluntly. She is also never seen not laughing.


 * Nayu Komaki
 * A third girl who appears in chapter 11 as a name on the pendant, and in chapter 15 in person. She calls Yousuke Onii-chan, but she says she is not his sister and they went to the same orphange, where everyone else called him onii-chan. In chapter 15, she kissed him. At the end of the chapter she plans to go to the same school as him so she can be with him. She got into the school and now has a "possessed" cat which can speak. She is rather bold and is always flirting with Yousuke (for which Ayu hits him). She has confessed her love to Yousuke, only to have her heart broken after he said Mayu while kissing Nayu. It was never stated what happened to her after that chapter.


 * Shibata
 * Ayu and Mayu's personal swim instructor. He has a crush on Ayu and will do what ever it takes to please her. Because of this, he has a rivalry with Yousuke. He dreams that Ayu will call him Onii-chan (big brother) as seen in chapter 13. However ever since then he has not been seen.


 * Neko
 * A white talking cat that lives in Nayu's room. She calls him Neko-san, and he thinks that she and Yousuke are his Master.