Ayumi Matsuoka

**Ayumi Matsuoka** (松岡 あゆみ, *Matsuoka Ayumi*) is a major character in *The Island of Giant Insects*.

## Appearance

Ayumi was a fair skinned athletic young woman with short brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue tracksuit with white stripes, white and blue sneakers, and a white headband.

## Personality

A strong moral code lied at the foundation of Ayumi's character, which she stuck to no matter the situation. She was the only one who supported Mutsumi Oribe in her request to go rescue Chitose Naruse from the nest of a giant Ammophila, facing the self-proclaimed leader of the group Atsushi Kamijo in the process. She later also used Atsushi's obsession with leadership to manipulate him into agreeing with the plan as well.

She was very protective of other girls, especially ones younger than her. She became distressed when she felt she didn't do all she could to protect everyone.

## Background

Not much is known about Ayumi's past except that she was a 2nd year Houshou Private High School student, was the captain of softball team, and has a larger friend group than Mutsumi, whom she considered "quiet", "un-athletic" and not the type of girl Ayumi would get along with.

She was romantically and sexually interested in girls, but was never open about it.

## Chronology

Ayumi was the first to come across Mutsumi, when they were both by themselves after washing up on Little East Island after the plane crash. Together the two foraged for food and a handful of giant Barnacles after Mutsumi taught Ayumi how to use a coin as a convex lens and how to catch flies with chopsticks.

When walking through the forest, the pair heard Chitose scream and ran towards where they heard it from, only to find Chitose and a group of their other classmates being attacked by a group of giant Papilio maackii, which had already killed Ai Ino and Satoshi Oda. Some of the butterflies went after Mutsumi and Ayumi, who were sweating from running. After watching Hiroshi Tsuge get stabbed in the eye, Ayumi forces herself to move and tries to stab a butterfly with a knife she picked up, only for the knife to break on its exoskeleton; the butterfly then grabs onto Ayumi, planning on drinking her body fluids. Using a lighter and a can of hairspray, Mutsumi incinerated the butterfly, with the others fleeing due to the burning smell.

After Chitose was carried off by a giant Ammophila, Ayumi immediately said they had to save her, but was shot down by Misuzu Jinno and Atsushi Kamijo. Just as Ayumi and Atsushi were about to physically fight, Mutsumi came up with an idea; she says she's given up on Chitose but asks if anyone's phones are working, which they aren't due to them having fallen into the ocean during the crash. Since Chitose had a waterproof case, they could use it to check their current altitude and the weather, which would give them a chance to survive the three days it'll take for rescue to come. With the group in agreement, they set out to find where the wasp had taken the class president. Mutsumi has Ayumi walk in front of the group formation as she has the best kinetic vision and stamina. Eventually, they reached a group of private houses, which the wasps had turned into nests. Inside the first house, they found three people being eaten by larva; Ayumi questioned why they didn't try to escape, to which Mutsumi answered that the larva were administering a morphine-like chemical to make them forget pain and fear, thus keeping them alive and docile until they were nothing but bone. When Misuzu, Atsushi, and Kazuhiko Kai started killing the larva, Ayumi held Mutsumi back. After they were done, Ayumi briefly prayed for the people, since their injuries were so severe they had no chance of survival. Once outside, they heard another wasp coming and hid, only for Atsushi to run out into the open since the person the wasp had captured was his friend Akira. Before running into another nest to look for Chitose and Akira, Mutsumi wrote a list of detergents she wanted Ayumi and the others to find; they were to mix the detergents with water and throw the mixture over the entrance of the house if nothing happened, which they did. With the wasps overstimulated by the detergents and hairspray Mutsumi had used to daze one and fighting each other, the group was able to escape.

When Mutsumi was explaining what exactly happened, Miki Shirakawa noticed a giant Ixodid clinging to Misuzu's back, and Mutsumi realized the area of the forest they had entered was being used as a nest by the ticks. Ayumi proposed they go back the way they came and go around, but Mutsumi refused, since it would take days to walk all the way around the island and Chitose and Akira needed treatment as soon as possible. With everyone else electing to go with Mutsumi, Ayumi was forced to go with them as to not split up the group. With everyone agreeing on a course, Mutsumi explained her plan for getting through the nest: everyone is to put their palms under their arms to muffle their heartbeat and walk slowly to avoid attracting the ticks. Also, someone is to pick up a pebble, warm it in their palm, and toss it away from the group to lead away any nearby ticks. Atsushi and Ayumi, who are carrying Akira and Chitose respectively, will carry them on their backs. By doing so, the group is able to get through the nest with no problems until they encounter Ms. Nozawa, who's been swarmed by ticks, causing Mami Miura to start screaming. With no other options, Mutsumi is forced to sacrifice Ms. Nozawa by knocking her down with a stick, causing her to be completely swarmed while the group escapes. Once the group reaches a beach, Mutsumi has them scrape off any ticks on their clothes and strip and enter the sea to drown any ticks on their bodies. While doing so, Mami comes up to Ayumi and says she'll check her bodies for ticks; she begins fondling her and compliments her bravery. Ayumi tries to get her to stop by saying they're both girls, but Mami says she knows Ayumi's been staring at the other girls, asks Ayumi to protect her, and the pair have sex.

Eventually the group reaches the clinic. Ayumi doesn't do anything worth noting until the group hears something flying by, at which point Akira gets taken over by a giant leucochloridium and runs outside to attract whatevers flying by. The insect, which turns out to be a giant protohermes grandis, bisects the delinquent. Misuzu and Atsushi locks the others outside, with Misuzu claiming that they might have parasites in them as well. Ayumi tries to break the door down with a rock, but fails. After Miki gets bisected by the dobsonfly, Mami gets scared and lashes out at Ayumi, claiming that she's failing at protecting her. After Kazuhiko picklocks the doors to a separate building, Ayumi stays inside with Mami while Mutsumi enacts her plan to get rid of the dobsonfly, with Ayumi being the one to tell Kazuhiko when to max the output on the floodlights, frying the dobsonfly. After getting into the main clinic, the four find Misuzu, Chitose, and Atsushi being attacked by a group of giant portunus trituberculatus'. Mutsumi is able to disable one by wrapping it with plaster while Kazuhiko sprays water on the floor and drops a live cable, frying the crabs and overloading the generator.

With the bodies of the crabs and the dobsonfly bound to attract more insects, the group are forced to leave and decide to go to the shrine, since it's the highest point on the island. Despite Misuzu and Atsushi being responsible for Miki's death, Mutsumi convinces the others to bring them along since they're vital to their formation. On their way, they find Emiko Miyazono and Kayo Suzuki being attacked by a trio of swallowtails. Ayumi attempts to use the flamethrower trick, but it's initially unsuccessful due to the wind being produced by the butterflies wings; the butterflies are scared off when Ayumi changes her aim to under the wings, and the girls bring them to a house where their group has set up. Marika Chuujou, the de facto leader, scolds the others for tying up Atsushi and leaving the clinic and declares her intentions to take the students there, despite Mutsumi's protests. Ayumi stays at the house, while Mutsumi, Chitose, Atsushi, Misuzu, Emiko, Takeshi Minowa, and Kasumi Momosaki go back to scout the path. Sadly, all this trip succeeds in is getting Emiko killed, as she's dragged underground and eaten by a giant Tiger beetle larva. When Marika requests that they try again and Mutsumi refuses due to the numerous insect carcasses, Ayumi vouches for Marika to listen to her, since it's because of Mutsumi that any of them are still alive; convinced, Marika decides to go along with Mutsumi's plan to wait at the shrine.

During the trip, Mutsumi is almost raped by Ryou Usui, and Nozomi Aoyama slaps her for holding the group up, and this spirals into an argument about whether or not it was a good idea to leave the house; during this, Mami spots a light, and Ryou, believing it to be a survivor, runs towards it, only to realize the light was made by a group of giant firefly larva, which tear open his throat and eat him alive. With the group in a full blown panic, everyone runs off in different directions, with Ayumi chasing after Mami. The pair attempt to enter a shack, but are unable to due to Marika, Nozomi, and Kayo barricading the door and windows, with Nozomi saying she can't allow them to jeopardize Marika's life. With no way to get inside, the girls run off into the forest to find Mutsumi, with Ayumi declaring that once they get to the city, they'll eat ice cream and watch a movie together. Unfortunately, the pair get ambushed by a group of larva, and Ayumi is forced to fight them off herself; just as it seems like they'll die, Mutsumi saves them by using a flashlight to communicate with the larva to make them think there's danger nearby. Ayumi attempts to help with her light, but is unable to due to it being an LED and containing phototaxis that the larvae can't see. With a combination of flashlights and sharpened sticks, as well as a circle of ethyl acetate to protect Mami and Kasumi, the group is able to fend off the larva until dawn, much to their relief. Mami, delirious and exhausted from running all night, walks towards what she assumes to be the sun, only for it to actually be a clump of surviving larva. Ayumi pushes her out of the way, and the larva piles on top of her. The group fend off the larva, but they're too late and Ayumi is fatally injured. She apologizes to the group for not being able to keep their promise of getting off the island together, and has a daydream of her and Mami as a couple in the city before dying, much to the idols' anguish. With no time for a proper funeral, the group is only able to tie her headband to a stick and place it on a mound of dirt.

## Relationships

### Mutsumi Oribe

They never had the opportunity to talk at school and due to dissimilar interests never tried interacting. As survivors they quickly developed a mutual understanding and friendship. Mutsumi was extremely devastated when Ayumi died.

### Mami Miura

After escaping the ticks, Mami confesses to her that she knew she was into the other girls and she confessed she was also into girls and would like to be her girlfriend. This was more of a self preservation tactic to get closer to an athletic person who could protect her. However by the time of Ayumi's death they had genuinely grown close to each other.

## Etymology

* The name **Ayumi** is written in hiragana (あゆみ), which has no real meaning. However, when written in kanji (歩美), it means "walk, step" (歩) (**ayu**) and "beautiful" (美) (**mi**).
* Ayumi's surname **Matsuoka** means "pine tree, fir tree" (松) (**matsu**) and "ridge, hill" (岡) (**oka**).