Youko Nogami

Youko Nogami (野上 葉子 Nogami Yōko) is a classmate of Ryuuka Shimizudani, Toki Onjouji as well as her friend Ayumi Shinji and the self-proclaimed best friend of Ryuuka.

Appearance
Youko has long curly black hair and brown eyes.

Personality
Youko appears to be a "popular girl" who is good at nearly everything she does. She is obsessed with being friends with Ryuuka and also with Ryuuka having good things, like good friends such as herself. However, underneath that colder, controlled exterior shows a much more kind and caring side. Once she begins playing mahjong with Toki, despite being much better than her, Youko begins to regain to feeling of fun while watching Toki. She also ends up caring for Toki similarly to Ryuuka due to Toki's weak constitution.

Introduction Arc (Toki manga)
She invites Ryuuka over to her house to look at a magazine but she declines. The next day Ayumi confronts Toki about spending so much time with Ryuuka but Youko tells her not to use violence. She introduces herself and then apologizes for Ayumi but says it is Toki's fault. When Ryuuka intervenes, Youko cries and says that she wants to play with her too and that Toki just isn't right for her. Youko then receives a challenge from Toki to play mahjong.

Youko then accepts the challenge on the condition that the loser will have to stop being friends with Ryuuka. After Ryuuka and Ayumi decide to participate as well, Youko tells her to let them know the time and date. She then says to herself that the right person to sit next to Ryuuka is not Toki.

Showdown Arc
With the match finally upon them, Youko praises Toki for not running away and the match begins. Throughout the match Youko was in control. It wasn't until Toki hit with a baiman did she take the lead. However, she encouraged Ryuuka to win and she ended up winning the match. Youko and Ayumi told her that playing mahjong was fun and the president even invited them to the club to play.

When Toki tells her that she stopped being friends with Ryuuka, she yells furiously at her. She then says that she would like to be real friends with Ryuuka but doesn't know if she can. Youko then starts yelling at her again and convinces Toki to meet up with Ryuuka afterschool.

The next day she sees that Toki and Ryuuka made up and joins with them. She then tells Ayumi that she enjoyed playing mahjong with them and her and that they should join the mahjong club.

Izumi Challenge Arc
She joins with the mahjong club with Toki, Ryuuka and Ayumi. Their schedual of activities works with her other club the hadicrafts club. After a few conversations and activities, the girls split into groups and play three player mahjong. Youko is paired with Toki and Yayoi Yokeguchi. She doesn't know how to play three player very well so Yayoi helps her out a bit. After a game, Yayoi praises Youko for her defense and reading of discards. After a few games and having fun, she leaves with her friends.

When Ryuuka notices Toki being depressed, she asks Youko and she explains that there is no club activities is why. Ryuuka then invites the girls to her place. Ryuuka has a pool and the girls get changed to go swimming. Toki asks about her swimsuit and she begins to panic and think something is wrong with it. Ayumi says she looks good in it. Toki then asks if they've been to the pool together before but she says its the first time. They all play together in the pool.

Walking home with her friends Ryuuka is suddenly shot with a water gun. A young girl appears and appologizes then takes the girls to her "friends" place. The girl introduces herself as Izumi Nijou and the place is a mahjong parlor. Toki is excited but Ayumi informs everyone that Izumi did all this on purpose to get them there. Izumi locks the door and challenges them to a game. Youko starts the game with a riichi and says she will show no mercy. Izumi soon declares riichi herself. Izumi wins the hand and insults Toki. This makes Ryuuka mad and she wins the next two hands. Toki wins the next hand. She notices Toki spacing out and asks if she is okay. Ryuuka is worried about her and tries to leave. Toki convinces her to stay and resume the match. Youko takes notice of how Toki is acting and says no matter how many times they play, mahjong with Toki is fun. She also says she's been rooting for Toki before she knew it. Toki and Ryuuka win the next few hands ending the game. The girls leave shortly after.

Practice Game Arc
On Open Day for the class, Youko explains that her parents work in the medical field so they cannot come on a Saturday. She then says coming to school on a weekend is so unusual that it makes her excited. Later when Toki points out her mom, Youko says that she looks serious and is very pretty.

Back at Ryuuka's grandmother's, Youko tries to help out making the curry with everyone. She then spots Ryuuka's grandma and apologizes that all of them came suddenly. She says it is fine and she's just like Ryuuka and not to worry. They all start to eat the curry they made.

The mahjong club take a hike up a mountain for special training. Youko is amazed at the waterfall spot. During this trip Yayoi informs the girls they will have a practice game.Yayoi tells them that they will be playing against the Malefic Star. On the way home, the girls talk about their opponent and say they have one week to get stronger.

During the practice game, Youko is paired with Izumi, Ayumi, and Chie/Tae. When Ayumi tries to get out of the table, Youko is one of the girls who convince her to stay. While playing one of their hands, Chie and Tae try to teach Youko bad words but Ayumi tries to put a stop to it. Not much of their game is shown. After the matches, they thank each other for the games and the girls leave. When Yayoi explained everything she did to get the match, Ryuuka was feeling guilty but Youko cheers her up.

Confrontation Arc
Toki tells the girls about her bath water being on the fritz and splashing herself with cold water. When she says she'll have to go to the public bath till it's fixed, Youko suggests that Toki go over Ryuuka's and bathe there.

After school, everyone gathers at the mahjong club after school at Toki's request. Toki decides to play a game with Ryuuka to sort out their emotions. Toki says the rules of the game are the same as the first time they all played. Toki wins the first hand off of Youko. She then says that if Ryuuka didn't get what she meant, she'd be forced to say "If you lose this match, we aren't friends!" This stuns Youko and she wonders what is going on. Ryuuka is frustrated and doesn't understand. Youko thinks Ryuuka is so kind and thinks back to when they first met. Here she was being bullied by some girls because of her accent and Ryuuka puts a stop to it. Ryuuka then takes her to a beautiful place and tells her not to hate Osaka. Youko says she won't. Back in the present she says that Ryuuka has helped her so much and she wants to be helpful to her. Youko then hits Ryuuka for 7,700 and tells her they can be proper opponents for her. Ryuuka then activates her ability and Youko notices something has changed with her. Unfazed, Youko declares riichi. Ryuuka then hits with a tsumo yakuman but everyone will not give up. Toki wins the next hand with a tsumo victory. Toki tells her that she doesn't need to hold back and that she underestimated her if she thinks she'd hate Ryuuka if she had won. Ryuuka gets up crying and apologizes to everyone.

Outdoor Class Arc
During class, Youko informs the others girls on the health rep's advice for the outdoors class.

Youko and the girls are seen making their way up a mountain during the class. The class then stops for lunch. When Ryuuka starts fussing over Toki, Youko agrees with Ryuuka and tries to assist her. Toki then apologizes to everyone and Mr. Higashi appears from nowhere and takes her photo. Youko laughs and says that Umeda Higashi is in charge of taking photos for the class. They go to the temple after lunch. They then go to the aquarium and then the hotel. Toki says she's tired and takes a small nap. When she wakes up and stares at the ceiling she comments that the stain there looks like a human hand. This freaks Ayumi out. Youko then plays along with Toki on scaring Ayumi. When they leave their room, Ayumi is seen still scared and holding Youko's hand.

In the flash forward, Youko is present in the photo album. Starting middle school, she and Ayumi are not in the same class as Toki and Ryuuka.

Finding Fujishiro Arc
She briefly appears in a Sera flashback. She explains to Sera how much Ryuuka has changed since meeting Toki.

Playing Style/Abilities
Youko likes to use flow control and psychological warfare against her opponents. Her use of double riichi is to put pressure on the table so that it will put fear into others and leave the flow to come natural to her. She also likes dora single waits and tends to pick them when declaring riichi if she has a choice.

Etymology

 * The name Youko means "leaf" (葉) (you) and "child" (子) (ko).
 * Youko's surname Nogami means "field, wilderness" (野) (no) and "above, top, upper" (上) (kami/gami).