Tori Meadows

Tori Meadows, known as Kotori Mizuki (, Mizuki Kotori) in the manga and Japanese version, is one of the main supporting characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL. She is Yuma Tsukumo's best friend since childhood and always travels with him wherever he goes throughout all his Duels despite the dangers. Due to her unyielding personality, she tends to tease Yuma for his mistakes; despite this, she still cares for him and never leaves his side. Tori isn't a Duelist for much of the series, but she is still a central character.

Appearance
Tori is a young girl with green hair and orange eyes. She also seems to look a lot like her mother. She wears a school girl outfit with a pink collar and skirt. When out of school, she mainly wears a white t-shirt with a yellow stripe decal, pink skirt, long black knee length socks and white shoes. Her secondary outfit is a pink and fuschia dress with her knee length socks and fuschia shoes. In her shopping attire, she wears a blue jacket over a white skirt and sandals. In the dub, she has a longer skirt than in the original. However, the "Characters" page for ZEXAL on the 4kids website shows Tori's skirt in its original size. She has also been noted to wear several different outfits when she goes out with Yuma. During the Heartland Academy fun fair, Tori wore a "Gagaga Girl" cosplay (in the dub, her cosplay was altered to have the International "Gagaga Girl" appearance).

During a shopping trip with Rio in Spartan City, Tori bought a new casual outfit consisting of a dark pink sleeveless shirt with frills over her shoulders, short white shorts and brown gladiator sandals.

Personality
Tori is a very cheerful girl with the ability to manipulate computers, as demonstrated when Flip framed Yuma and she discovered the whole fiasco. She is protective and fiercely loyal to Yuma, as shown in episode 5 when she believed in him despite the fact that there was "undeniable evidence" against him and how she never laughed at Yuma when he challenged the impossible; she admires his unwavering will and determination of constantly challenging himself. Despite the fact that Tori sometimes gets annoyed by Yuma's naivety and childish outbursts, she appears to harbor a deep crush on Yuma, evidenced by how she blushes and becomes slightly angered when Yuma talks about Cathy (as well as arguing with her over him) or when she smiles at Yuma's antics. Tori is also shown to worry about Yuma's safety when hearing that the "Number" cards are dangerous.

After Yuma starts to give up hope when the Emperor's Key is stolen, Tori is so worried about Yuma that she helps him get back to his senses by slapping him. This sense of worry increases greatly when she screams out Yuma's name in despair, thinking he didn't make it out of Kite's hideout when it exploded. When he appeared, she cycled through being happy and annoyed, tears in her eyes the whole time.

She also blushes when Yuma grabs her hand as the two of them run away from Anna, or when Anna talks about her feelings for Yuma. The latter is accompanied by the sound of a heavy heartbeat when Tori's shocked face is shown.

When Tombo Tillbitty said he wanted to make Tori the image girl of the tomato amusement park he wanted to create (an idea of which Tori clearly wasn't very fond of) Yuma stepped in and said he would not let that happen showing a hint of jealousy of Tombo's interest in her, making Tori blush and touched that he cares for her. When it turned out that he just had an extreme aversion to tomatoes, she was a bit disappointed. Also in the same episode, there are slight hints that Tori cooks meals for Yuma too, given from some of their conversations. In episode 51, she appears to have low tolerance for roller coasters, or at least moving on very high speeds indicated by how she was screaming during acceleration, holding on to Yuma's arm and telling him to slow down.

Tori is also shown to have an extremely strong resolve and can be unrelenting at times. One example of this is during Yuma's Duel with Fender, as she is knocked down several times as she tries to return the Emperor's Key to Yuma, however she always got back up again in order to help Yuma.

Like Yuma, she is very forgiving towards others, trying to reach out to Vector, and does not display anger even when Vector decieved them.

Abilities
After witnessing Vector's Duel against Yuma, Shark and Kite, Tori gained the ability to perceive Astral.

Etymology
Her Japanese name "Kotori" means "little bird" while her surname "Mizuki" could be derived from "beautiful moon" as well as "congratulations" and "hope", with the former perhaps tied to her role being Yuma's "cheerleader" and the latter perhaps tied to Yuma's ace monster "Number 39: Utopia" whose Japanese name is frequently abbreviated to "Hope".

Her English dub first name is shortened from her Japanese name but can also be derived from the name "Victoria" which means "victory" in Latin, also linking her to another of Yuma's monster "Number C39: Utopia Ray Victory", while her English dub last name is changed from "Mizuki" to "Meadows" and the name "Meadows" can also be derived from any name of a flower meadows or name of a female named Meadow but without the s at the end of the name. Her full English dub name can be seen as an allusion to Téa Gardner from the original series.

History
Currently, not much is known about Tori's past other than she went to the same school as Yuma and Bronk since she was young. She also valued them as her best friends and defended them at any cost.

Pre-World Duel Carnival
On the way to Heartland Middleschool, Tori and one of her friends saw Yuma screaming at a group of Litterbots that were calling his Deck various insults such as "trash". Tori's friend asked her if the person screaming at the robots was Yuma. Tori denied that she knew him, then called Yuma an idiot in her thoughts. During her time at school, Tori witnessed Yuma constantly fail within various tasks ranging from his "20 stack challenge" to swimming the length of the pool, underwater without coming up for air to which she always turned away and shook her head in embarrassment. During the school break, Tori and Yuma ran outside to Duel, but witnessed Bronk get defeated by Shark. She was shocked when Shark broke Yuma's pendant and took Bronk's Deck. The next day, she continuously tried to cheer Yuma up but failed. Bronk witnessed this and when Tori and Yuma were walking home, Bronk followed them on his skateboard and gave Yuma the piece which Shark had kicked into the bushes, making Tori smile as it cheered Yuma up and gave him confidence. The next day, Tori showed up at Yuma's Duel against Shark to support him along with Bronk. As the Duel went on, Bronk and Shark continuously corrected Yuma's mistakes, with Tori eventually joining in, even though she didn't know much about Dueling. She also shouted for Yuma in a worrying tone when Shark's "Number 17: Leviathan Dragon" destroyed "Gagaga Magician", knocking Yuma off his feet.

As Yuma's Duel with Shark continued, Astral appeared before Yuma, but as only he could see Astral, Tori was confused to who Yuma was talking to, Tori and Bronk were even more shocked and suspicious, even to the extent that Bronk thought that Yuma had gone crazy because he was getting defeated so badly. Despite this, Tori continued cheering Yuma on despite him being at a large disadvantage. When Yuma Summoned "Number 39: Utopia", Tori was shocked that Yuma had an Xyz Monster, as well as the fact that it was a "Number" as neither she or Bronk knew that Yuma owned one. After Yuma defeated Shark, Tori screamed for joy at his victory.

When the Crashbug Virus caused distress within Heartland City, Tori and Yuma were sent by Kari Tsukumo, Yuma's sister, to find who the culprit was after she found out that the Crashbug Virus was originally sent into the city's system via the middle school library. Tori and Yuma stayed in the library all day to find anyone who was behaving suspiciously. In the afternoon, they found out that it was Caswell, but it turned out that he was used by the real culprit. They found the location of the real criminal and it was revealed that it was Mr. Kay, their teacher, who was under the influence of "Number 34: Terror-Byte". Yuma challenged him to a Duel with Tori and Caswell cheering him on.

As Yuma's Duel with Mr. Kay continued, he kept shouting at Astral to which Caswell asked Tori about. She told him that it was part of Yuma's "feeling the flow" attitude, showcasing how she covered up Yuma's behavior like she did before although this time, Yuma was in the right. After Yuma defeated Mr. Kay, Tori asked him how to stop the virus and when he said he didn't know, she and the others were waiting for the city to go into "mass panic", but all Mr. Kay's "virus" did was make a giant Crashbug be projected from the Crashbug Stadium to bring happiness to the hearts of all Duelists, which Tori admired.

Flip, someone who Tori had known from a young age, began to cause distress within Heartland City such as causing a candy shopkeeper to lose a lot of money. When Flip was exiting the Heartland Shopping Mall, he caused Tori's and her friend's lollipops to turn upside down, annoying Tori enough to shout at Flip. During the next day, Flip began to prey on Yuma and tried to give him the "Baby Tiragon" card, but Tori and Bronk warned Yuma not to trust him as they had known him from a young age. Despite Tori and Bronk preventing Yuma from being near Flip, he managed to get Yuma to accept the "Tiragon" card. As well as this, he edited several photos of people in distress by adding Yuma to them, making him look like the person who caused them their pain. Tori, knowing this to be unlike Yuma, began to investigate. While she was doing this, Flip managed to succeed in his plans in separating Yuma from his friends so that he could Duel him with "Number 39: Utopia" as an ante.

Having found out that Flip had edited the images to contain Yuma, Tori and Bronk sought to locate Spencer, one of their classmates who Flip tricked. He was tricked into stacking dominoes in order to win an Xyz Monster. When Tori finally located him, she ended up making him knock over all of the dominoes he had to set up, forcing him to start over again. When Tori asked Spencer what he was doing, he explained that Flip told him to do it. Tori managed to piece the evidence together and she and Bronk looked for Yuma, now knowing that Flip was after him all along. When they finally located Yuma, they saw him Dueling against Flip and cheered him on until Yuma won, even though he was at an overwhelming disadvantage as Flip controlled Yuma's "Number" cards. After the Duel, Tori and Bronk became embarrassed as Yuma and Flip had an emotional moment and began to do various things such as cry, laugh and dance about, causing people in the shopping mall to stare at them oddly.

After finding out that Nelson Andrews, the child actor of "The Sparrow" was in Heartland City, Tori became very excited and dragged Yuma from Dueling to go and try to sneak into the Star Sparrow Studios. After Flip distracted the guard, Tori, Yuma and Bronk managed to get in and after Yuma destroyed the set, Nelson rescued him from the falling rubble. Having not known where Yuma had gone to, Tori came to the conclusion that he had been caught by the guards but it turned out that while he was with Nelson, he found out his true personality, which was that he was shy. The same night after Nelson was possessed by the "Number 83: Galaxy Queen" card, Tori and Yuma went looking for him but he managed to escape.

After going home, Tori was called by Yuma, who told her that he managed to corner Nelson into a Duel and that Tori should get Mrs. Andrews to come to the studios right away. Tori did so and watched Yuma Duel Nelson, along with Mrs. Andrews and Bronk. After the Duel, Tori asked Yuma why he didn't tell them about Nelson. Yuma said it would upset her if she knew he was a fake. A small blush appeared on her face and she said she knew that Yuma cared a little. Yuma however quickly denied this

One morning, Tori was discussing with Bronk about how strange things have been happening to Yuma. Suddenly he entered wearing a tiger-skin cape and leather trousers which shocked Tori. She then said that she had enough and told Yuma about the other strange things which have happened to him lately. Yuma told Tori that he had better taste than her in clothing. Tori challenged Yuma that she could find him a better outfit in the mall; Yuma accepted. On the way to meet Yuma, Tori was subdued by an army of cats sent by an unknown figure, who harbored hatred towards Tori because of the amount of attention she received from Yuma. Having found out that Tori was kidnapped by this mysterious figure via a cat bringing Yuma and invitation and Tori's hair bow, he ran to the location to find her. Yuma's concern for Tori was displayed in his Dueling technique, such as how he didn't require Astral's help and how he planned his moves. The mysterious figure turned out to be Cathy, a classmate of Tori's. After Yuma defeated her, he ran to find Tori playing hide-and-seek with Cathy's cat army, which shocked Yuma as he thought she was in danger. The next day, Yuma was angry at Tori for making him worry. When Cathy ran past after saying hello, Bronk wondered who she was. Tori called him rude for not knowing her. After Yuma stated who she was and showcased interest in her because she was a good Duelist, Tori got annoyed and started chasing Yuma.

The morning after Yuma's Duel with Nelson, Tori greeted him at school with Bronk and Caswell, who grabs Yuma's Deck to look at it for Yuma's "Numbers". When Yuma said that he only has them when "he" is with him, Tori instantly knew that Yuma was referring to Astral. Later, Tori went with with Yuma to find Shark after he declared that he wanted a rematch, but was cornered by Chills, Scorch and their goons. Shark however stepped in and told them to back off, leaving Tori and her friends alone. She was shocked when Shark said that he gave up on Dueling due to losing to Yuma. The next day, Bronk asked Tori where Yuma was; she responded that he went to look for Shark. Tori, Caswell and Bronk watched Yuma's and Shark's Duel. Tori was shocked at how Yuma backed out on his promise to not use his "Numbers" and was even more shocked when Shark defeated Yuma easily.

After his humiliating defeat, Yuma continued to have a cheery mood, annoying Bronk, who walked away after defeating Yuma several times. Tori followed him and asked him what was wrong. Bronk told her that Yuma's attitude toward Dueling was starting to get to him, to which Tori partially agreed to. Yuma, after much thought decided to ask Shark for another rematch, but Tori told him to stop getting involved with Shark and his business after Weasel told Yuma that Scorch and Chills were using him to commit crimes.

Tori convinced Bronk to forgive Yuma for lying about not Summoning his "Numbers" and persuaded him to watch Yuma's and Shark's Tag Duel against Scorch and Chills outside of the Heartland Museum. She and Bronk cheered when the brothers were defeated by Yuma and Shark's "Hope-Ray Lancer" combo, and they pulled faces as the brothers ran off after losing their "Numbers".

During an outing with Yuma to the Heartland Shopping Mall, a criminal took several people hostage. This scared Tori and she was shocked when Kari saw her and Yuma on the news and assigned them to get a scoop on what was going on. Yuma left Tori after he saw that the criminal was possessed by a "Number" card, leaving her worried. After an exhausting day at school, Bronk told Yuma and Tori about a tournament in a neighboring city, which they all attended. After the tournament, Tori mocked Yuma for losing so easily. On their way home, it started to rain heavily. Yuma and Tori started running home, but while crossing a road, a truck almost hit Tori. Seeing this, Yuma pushed Tori out of the way, and before the truck hit Yuma, Kite Tenjo paused time with Orbital 7. They then began a Duel with their "Numbers" on the line.

After being called away from the Duel due to his little brother falling ill, Kite unfroze time, causing the truck that almost hit Yuma and Tori to drive past, splashing water all over Yuma. Seeing this, Tori ran to his side and wondered what happened. Yuma fell to the ground, who began to cry out of anger of almost losing to Kite.

After Yuma fell into a state of depression, Tori and Bronk visited him to try and cheer him up by informing him about the new tournament occurring within Heartland, the World Duel Carnival. Despite this, Yuma and Astral remained in a state of shock due to their humiliating Duel against Kite. To improve Yuma's skill, Haru Tsukumo decided to send him to the Duel Sanctuary with Tori and Bronk in order to deliver food to her friend, Roku. While at the lodge, Tori, Bronk and Yuma carried out tasks for Roku. One night, Kaze, a former student of Roku, appeared before him and defeated him in a Duel. He burst into the lodge, shocking Tori as he attempted to attack a statue of "Blade Armor Ninja". She watched with her friends as Yuma Dueled Kaze to protect the lodge from harm.

As Yuma's Duel with Kaze continued, Haru and Kari show up in order to see how Yuma was doing. Seeing Kari shocked Tori, as she knew that she forbade Yuma from Dueling. Kari scolded Yuma for Dueling when he wasn't supposed to, but she was interrupted by Roku, who told her that Dueling was a way to let Yuma grow as a person. During a pinch in the Duel, Yuma fell to the floor as he had lost hope. Seeing this, Haru suggests that Yuma could do with a "Duel meal" and looked at Tori, who ran into Roku's kitchen to prepare him one. She gave it to Yuma, which improved his spirit and giving him the will to win the Duel. After the Duel, Roku gave Yuma a "secret lodge Deck" containing several rare cards.

Seeing how important the "Number" series was becoming in Yuma's life. Tori nd the rest of Yuma's friends decided to produce a group known as the Super Secret Number Card Investigation Club, which are dedicated to researching the "Numbers" for Yuma. Whilst investigating the Numbers, Shark told Tori that she shouldn't get involved with them because they are evil and do nothing but cause trouble. After an exhausting day of finding no information, Tori and her friends grouped together to discuss their findings, but luckily, Flip managed to find out that a fortune teller under the name of Fortuno knew about the "Numbers". Straight away, Tori and her friends visited the fabled fortuneteller, but it was all a trap as he managed to lure the club into his lair and trap them in order to lure Yuma into a Duel with his "Number" cards on the line. After falling into a pit, Tori awakened to find herself and the rest of the club trapped on top of a small rock surrounded by lava. During the Duel, Tori and the Number Club managed to see Astral for a brief moment and cheered Yuma on. After the Duel, they discovered that they were standing on top of a table all along. The Number Club congratulated Yuma and Astral on their victory.

After Shark's defeat at the hands of Kite, Tori and her friends visited him in the hospital and were shocked to find him comatose, as his soul was taken by Kite. Tori accompanied Yuma to visit Mr. Kay in order to find out where the Emperor's Key had been taken to. After finding out the location, Tori followed Yuma to Kite's laboratory and helped him get in with the assistance of their other friends. During this time, Yuma gave up and cried out of shame, causing Tori to snap him out of his depression by slapping him (Japanese version only) and tell him to get his act together. He then stood up, and with the assistance of Mr. Kay, managed to get in.

Tori and Bronk distracted Orbital 5 long enough for Yuma to locate where Astral was. During this time, the laboratory was on the verge of exploding, so they evacuated, much to Tori's protests as she didn't want to leave without Yuma. After getting outside of the laboratory, it exploded causing Tori and her friends to think Yuma died, causing her to scream his name out of despair. Much to her happiness, Yuma survived and climbed out of the rubble, making Tori shout at him for making her think such things. She and her friends watched Kite fly away on Orbital 7.

The day after Yuma rescued Astral from Kite, Tori was late for school but ran into Yuma and their other friends showcasing how Yuma's personality had influenced them all into behaving like him. As they talked, they heard the schools bells ring, causing them to run toward school. While running down a staircase, Flip and Caswell tripped over but time stopped due to Kite finding out what "Numbers" Yuma had obtained. When time restarted, Flip and Caswell fell down the stairs, shocking Tori, but she was more concerned towards where Yuma has disappeared to.

World Duel Carnival
On the day before the start of the World Duel Carnival, Tori was shocked to see at how many people within her class had entered the tournament. She was even more shocked at how Yuma was so clueless that he hadn't sent off for the application to enter the tournament. After Yuma ran from the class screaming as he couldn't apply for a Heart Piece, Tori followed him to the entrance of Heartland where he was causing all sorts of annoyance for the staff from playing dead to not letting go of their legs which shocked Tori and her friends. After managing to claim a Heart Piece from Mr. Heartland, Yuma told Tori about his reasons for entering the tournament, which caused her to praise him. On the opening day of the WDC, Tori traveled with Yuma and their friends and watched the virtual firework display before they split up to Duel. As Bronk and Flip split from the group, Striker kicked a ball into Yuma's face to challenge him to a Duel.

During Yuma's Duel with Striker, Tori was turned into a cheerleader with her friends from school appearing as holographic cheerleaders via Striker's Field Spell Card, "Stadium of Dreams". During the Duel, Tori and her holographic friends cheered Yuma on and when the Duel ended, the outfits and her friends disappeared.

Whilst venturing around Heartland with Yuma for opponents, Tori followed Yuma into a construction site despite her protests. As they were running through, a piece of metal fell from the site and before it crushed Tori, a stranger driving a construction vehicle managed to protect Tori. Despite Tori being safe, the construction vehicle continues to drive and when it crashed, the driver fell out. The driver turned out to be a small person, Cody Callus, who complained that his feet were too small to reach the pedals. After introducing themselves, Tori asked him if he was okay causing him to blush, showing that he fancied her. After watching Yuma and Cody Duel, Tori congratulated Yuma and told Cody that just because he's small, it doesn't mean he's useless, causing him to blush again. They were then shouted at by a Heartland construction worker, causing them to all exit the Heartland construction site quickly while apologizing.

After exiting the construction site, Tori and Yuma were pursued by a stranger who began to attack them with a rocket-launching, flying machine. After chasing them around all of Heartland, the stranger managed to corner Tori and Yuma and after identifying herself as Anna Kaboom, Tori knew who she is. While Anna and Yuma Dueled, Tori began to remember who Anna was, as she used to be a student at Tori's school when she was younger. After Yuma defeated Anna, Tori reminded her that the person she was after wasn't Yuma, but someone with a similar name, Kumo Tsuyuma which Anna remembered.

After the exhausting occurrence of being chased around Heartland by Anna, Tori and Yuma decided to stop for a snack. Yuma began to shove his Duel meals down without biting which Tori told him off for, but before he could eat his second rice ball, a passing bird stole it. Seeing this, a Duelist known as Tombo Tillbitty offered Yuma and Tori a cucumber to eat. Tori praised Tombo on how tasty his vegetables were, causing him to blush. This confused Tori and Yuma who ask him what was wrong. He then reveals that his true intention was to get Tori to be an "image girl" for his Tomatotopia, a theme park and city completely modeled after tomatoes. He revealed that this is his wish that Mr. Heartland would grant if he won the WDC. Yuma challenged him to a Duel, which Tori thought that he was defending her, but it turned out that he did it because he disliked tomatoes, angering her. She then threatened to force feed Yuma tomatoes if he lost the Duel for the rest of his life. Yuma won the Duel after eating Tombo's tomatoes, making Tori happy that she didn't have to be a tomato image girl.

On the evening of the first day of the WDC, Tori and Yuma were sent to find Charlie McCay by Kari. When they found him, he was challenged to a Duel by a WDC Duelist. After Charlie beat his opponent, the police arrived shocking Tori and Yuma. Charlie disappeared after using the powers of his "Number 7: Lucky Straight" to steal several nearby cards from other Duelists, including Yuma's "Number 11: Big Eye". Tori met up with Kari to discuss where he would have gone. After Astral stated that Charlie would have gone to the Heartland Subway Station, Tori and Yuma went there and managed to sneak onto a subway train that Charlie managed to escape on.

After Yuma challenged Charlie to a Duel on top of the train, Tori watched from one of the sunroofs of the cart they were on.

During the second day of the World Duel Carnival, Tori met Yuma at his house for another day of Duels, but heard Bronk and Caswell running past, excited. She and Yuma decided to follow them to an alley where the champion of the East, Quattro promised to meet them and sign their D-Pads. Quattro proposed a Duel with Bronk and Caswell, which Yuma and Tori watched. At first, Tori admired Quattro's friendly personality as he constantly complimented Bronk's and Caswell's moves, making her believe that Shark was mistaken for what happened to his sister in the hospital and what occurred at the nationals. This quickly changed as Quattro became more hostile, performing a One Turn Kill on both of her friends with his "Number 15: Gimmick Puppet Giant Grinder". Tori cringed as "Giant Grinder" destroyed Bronk's and Caswell's monsters and shot their remains at their owners. When the two were defeated, Tori ran to see if they were okay and noticed two tombstones with Bronk and Caswell's heads on them.

After Caswell and Bronk's defeat by Quattro, Tori assisted Bronk in carrying Caswell to hospital as he had suffered badly at the hands of Quattro's "Numbers". After Shark beat Trey, Tori called Yuma on his Duel Gazer in order to tell him that Caswell will be fine.

After Shark's Duel with Trey, Yuma became outraged with how Quattro has mistreated so many people and ended up lashing out at Tori, prompting her to leave him by himself. While venturing around Heartland, Tori stumbled upon a new attraction, a blimp that flew all over Heartland. Then, she noticed an old friend, Cameron Clix taking photos for people. Seeing this, she greeted him and asked him to take a photo of her going onto the blimp. Cameron accepted. Unbeknownst to Tori, Cameron was influenced by "Number 25: Force Focus" which caused negative things to happen to things he took photos of. This resulted in the blimp's engines failing, causing a future which he predicted to become true.

Finding out that Cameron was the cause of Tori's fated demise, Yuma challenged him to a Duel with their "Numbers" on the line. After Yuma defeated Cameron, he thought of a way to stop the blimp from crashing, but suddenly Kite appeared and managed to stop the blimp from crashing, surprising Tori and Yuma. However it turned out that Kite's real intention was that if the blimp had crashed, the large amount of deaths would have caused a mass panic, preventing the World Duel Carnival from progressing. Cameron appeared again, apologizing to Yuma and Tori for his actions and gave them a photo of them as a gift.

After the events of the blimp, Tori and Yuma stumbled upon Spencer, who was looking for Flip as he stole his Heart Pieces and replaced them with sweets that melted. After managing to find Flip, he was restrained by Nistro and Dextra who were going to punish him. Yuma stepped in and challenged them to a Duel to protect Flip, which Tori didn't agree with, but despite Tori's pleas, Yuma continued and began the Duel. Throughout the Duel, Yuma was cornered by Dextra's and Nistro's tag-team strategy, causing Tori to worry even further.

When Yuma lost his confidence, Tori shouted at him not to give up until the end which restored his faith in himself. With Astral's return, Yuma won the Duel.

Yuma, Astral and Tori ran into Hart by chance. They went to Yuma's home to eat dinner. When Hart wandered around the city, they went looking for him. After escaping Nistro, Yuma and Tori agreed to help Hart find Kite. When Hart lost control of his power, Yuma asked Tori for caramel to calm Hart down.

After Hart with taken by Quinton, Yuma and Tori ran into Nistro, who accused Yuma of kidnapping Hart, but Kite came and clarified everything. When Astral found Hart through his projection, Tori searched on her D-Pad for the exact description.

On the third day of the WDC she and Yuma and the rest of the Super Secret Number Card Investigation Club watched Sparrow's and Nistro's Duel. . She also watched Yuma Duel Shark, and was constantly worried when Yuma got hit by his attacks. After Yuma's stomach growled, she got upset and grabbed his ear. Like Yuma, she was surprised upon seeing Trey at Yuma's home.

As Yuma was about to take on Trey, she and the rest of their friends came to give Yuma their support, which made him happy. When Yuma lost his confidence due to Trey's crest, she wondered what happened. Once Astral had been killed by Trey, she yelled his name while in tears. Tori was also in tears and shouted Yuma's name after his memories were erased to help him remember things, which barely worked. She worried further when he almost fell off a bridge during the Duel. She teared when she saw Yuma scared, and on how that they couldn't help him after Trey used his power to seal them in a barrier preventing them from being heard. Unbeknownst to her, Yuma's father, who was within the Emperor's Key, shouted his name and released a beam of light out hitting Trey and Yuma. It helped him regain his "kattobingu". Later Tori screamed Yuma's name and returned his pendant, making her glad that Yuma regained his memories. Like Yuma, Tori was left in tears when Astral was revived. Yuma was able to make a desperate comeback to win the Duel and defeat Trey's "Number 6: Chronomaly Atlandis" with the power of Zexal and "Chaos Number 39: Utopia Ray".

World Duel Carnival Finals
After Yuma's Duel with Trey, Tori was initially a spectator in the crowd during the semi-finals, which was a Duel Coaster that would determine who would proceed to the finals. After accidentally leaving his Heart Piece at home, Kari and Yuma's friends helped him retrieve it. As Tori was delivering the completed Heart Piece to Yuma, she tripped and fell into the Duel Coaster, strapping her in just before it took off. Mr. Heartland allowed Tori to ride in the Duel Coaster with Yuma. She and Yuma were surrounded by the Triad of Terror, who Duel him in a 3-1 Duel. Before the Duel, Tori told Yuma to try and escape from them, but it failed, and Yuma was pulled into the Duel. After losing most of his Life Points, Yuma was aided by Anna and Nistro. After beating the Triad of Terror, Yuma and Tori headed into the Underground Tunnel where the Duels continued. As Duelists were eliminated, Tori consistently told Yuma to slow down due to the Traps set around the tracks. He ignored her, causing him to lose most of his Life Points in the process until he landed on "The Paths of Destiny". After saving Nistro from Quinton, Tori smiled, seemingly glad about Yuma helping out, but her smile was quickly wiped away when he ran into a Boxing Glove Trap again, which punched her instead of Yuma, angering her and making her shout his name.

Tori joined Yuma in watching Dextra's Duel with Vetrix, only to witness her loss and the taking of her memories of Kite. She and Yuma also watched Kite's Duel with Quinton and Shark's Duel with Quattro, which ended in the victories of Kite and Shark, respectively. Tori also watched part of Yuma's Duel with Nistro. On the second half of the Duel, Yuma asked Tori to stay behind, promising to return for her later. After the Duel, Tori was angry that Yuma forgot to come back for her. During Yuma's celebration on making it to the finals, she was still angry, but congratulated him nonetheless. She slightly argued with Cathy, only to then argue with Yuma, to which he constantly said sorry and was focused completely on the Duel. After a meal made by Yuma's grandmother, Yuma discovered his Deck his missing, and he and his friends hatched a plan to help Yuma reclaim his Deck, which was within Heartland. When Yuma, Tori and Bronk attempted to proceed further into Heartland, a robot stopped them. Tori and Bronk held off the robot as Yuma proceeded further. Throughout the finals, Tori and her friends cheered for Yuma within the stadium crowd. Tori worried for Yuma when he took "Chaos Number 32: Shark Drake Veiss" from Shark using "Rivals Unite", which released Shark from the influence of the "Number", but it began to take control of Yuma as well. During the Duel with Vetrix, she was worried for Yuma after he received a heavy blow from Vetrix's "Number 69: Heraldry Crest", which left him with only 500 Life Points. Also, just like everyone in the crowd, Tori was surprised when Yuma and Astral managed to use the power of Zexal on Earth, which he hadn't been able to achieve.

As the Duel between Yuma and Vetrix progressed, where Yuma was able to Summon "Utopia Ray" and was able to equip it with "ZW - Lightning Blade" and "ZW - Tornado Bringer", where they first proved powerless against Vetrix's "Heraldry Crest". As it ended, Tori silently muttered Yuma's name hoping for him to win. Yuma proved victorious in the Duel after Xyz Summoning "ZW - Leo Arms", allowing him to defeat Vetrix. She was the first to cheer on Yuma's victory, but the Sphere Field gathered enough power to keep it afloat without the tower, creating an outburst of electricity, thus destroying the Duel Tower. Seeing this, Tori and her friends ran to the tower, with her shouting Yuma's name. After the Duel, Tori, Shark, Kite and Orbital 7 tried to save both Yuma and Hart, but were confronted by Mr. Heartland, who was stopped by Orbital himself. Yuma was saved by Astral, who handed him "Number 39: Utopia" and "Number 32: Shark Drake"; Yuma gave the latter card to Shark. Tori witnessed Yuma, Shark and Kite challenging Dr. Faker to a Duel, with the three Duelists each holding up their ace cards in the air and the Duel that followed.

After the Duel with Vector, she was able to see Astral clearly, first demonstrating this when she cheered him and Yuma on when they Duel Kite.

Barian Invasion
Tori, Yuma and Shark visited Rio, who was still hospitalized. She was given the Emperor's Key by Yuma, who said that he did so to protect Astral and the "Numbers". Some time later, Astral managed to speak in Tori's mind, telling her that Yuma was in danger. She rushed to find Yuma. On the way, she tripped but immediately got back up saying "kattobingu". She later found Yuma and threw the Key to him. She then cheered him on in his Duel. One day at school, after Yuma was voted as the class Rep, Tori and her friends were accosted by Caswell for wearing short skirts, much to their embarrassment (in the dub, Caswell tells them "no gossiping"). Yuma later Dueled the president, who was apparently under Barian control. When Shark's sister Rio returned to school, Tori recognized her and they ate lunch together with Yuma and their friends. Tori was hypnotized into sleep along with her friends, except Yuma, Rio, and who was then Ray Shadows, by Lotus Hanazoe, president of the Floral Design Club. They woke up as soon as Lotus was beaten by Rio. Later, Yuma, Ray, and Girag, who was in his human form pretending to be a student, decided to host a Friendship Games, where Cathy and Tori were beaten at every game by Yuma and Shark's team and Rio's and Bronk's team. Before the final Sports Duel, Tori and Cathy were brainwashed by Girag and were forced to Duel Yuma for his Numbers, with Tori being given a "CXyz". In a Tag Duel with Girag as his partner, Yuma defeated them, releasing them from Girag's control. A few days later, while she was in the shower, Tori got a call from Yuma's grandmother saying the he was very worried about a dream he had involving a frightening dragon and was asked if she would stay with him at the Duel Sanctuary, which surprised her and made her bath towel fall off (this scene is cut from the dub). Later at the Duel Sanctuary, Yuma ran into the Red-Eyes Statue Dragon, which frightened him, so he decided to go off for a walk. Tori found him near a stream the next day and, in the light of day, managed ease his fears. On their way back to the Sanctuary, they witnessed the coming of another Barian Emperor, Mizar. He generated balls of energy that he used to attack Tori, but Yuma pushed her out of the way. Mizar activated a Barian Sphere Cube an the two Dueled as Tori looked on. She expressed concern for Astral, who appeared to be weakening in the Barian Sphere Field. With an attack from Mizar's newly Summoned ace card, "Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon", "Utopia" was destroyed and Yuma was knocked to Sphere Field, unconscious. Tori screamed Yuma's name, but was interrupted by the appearance of Kite, who took over the Duel. She was later distraught when Yuma and Shark fell down the cliff afterward.

When Girag brainwashed several students to attack Yuma and Ray, she was talking with Rio, who sensed the attack. As Yuma was to be overwhelmed, Alito appeared, and in a single turn, defeated all the brainwashed students in a Duel. He then revealed himself to be a Barian, and Dueled Yuma as Tori looked on. Tori and Bronk were with Yuma when Girag approached them, asking Yuma and Ray to meet him so that he could Duel them, stating that Ray had attacked Alito. Yuma asked them to conceal this from Ray, but Ray found out in the end and asked them to take him to where Yuma and Girag were meeting. When Astral is badly damaged by Girag's Barian Sphere Cube and Astral retreats into the Emperor's Key, Yuma gives it to Tori to safeguard. Tori and Ray witness Yuma disappear into the Key to Duel the Shadow Giant. When Orbital 7 developed a crush on Lily, after the end of his Duel with Yuma, she suggested that they become friends. When Flip and Caswell spread the rumor that Yuma and Rio are dating, Tori is visibly displeased and shocked by the rumor. After witnessing Shark and Rio's Duel, and Yuma asks why the two were Dueling, both she and Cathy pinched Yuma, telling him that he didn't need to know. During the Heartland School Fun Fair, Tori worked as a waitress in the Monster Cafe dressed up as "Gagaga Girl", and was interrupted when Anna Kaboom blasted her way through the wall. After Anna learned about the Couples Duel tournament and that she couldn't participate as she wasn't a student at the school, she stole Tori's uniform in order to pass as a student. Tori and Cathy found the note that Anna had left and quickly rushed to the Duel, watching it in worry. After Ray left to tail Vector, she and the Super Secret Number Card Investigation Club assisted Yuma on a patrol to find any Barian activity. Vector soon attacked them, and Dueled Yuma, with Tori and the others watching. She, along with Yuma, Kite, Shark, and the rest of the Numbers Club boarded the Different Dimension Airship in order to rescue Ray from the Barian World. She watched Yuma's, Shark's and Kite's Duels against Vector, Dumon and Mizar, respectively, from the Airship, and returned to the real world after Vector's defeat.

Mythyrian Numbers War
Tori, along with Yuma, Shark and Rio were brought aboard the Different Dimension Airship by Astral, who showed them a message from Kazuma Tsukumo to obtain the seven Mythyrian "Numbers". On the way to the first location, they crashed into Dumon, who was headed to the same location they were, teleporting them all to a jungle. Tori and Rio were separated from the rest of the group, having run into snakes at a temple, which were fended off by Yuma and Shark. She watched Yuma's Duel against Mach.

Tori also came to Number 65's Ruins, where she was trapped in a cage and watched Astral's Duel against Number 96. She escaped from the collapsing ruins with the help of Kite.

She also accompanied her friends to Spartan City, where she and Rio arrived from a shopping trip, annoying Yuma and Shark. Tori was fast asleep when the others heard a disturbance at Number 54's Ruins; as a result, she was left behind when her friends left to check it out. Later, Tori expressed annoyance at being left behind, along with Orbital 7.

Later, she waited at the bottom of the mountain leading to Number 46's Ruins with Rio as the boys climbed because they thought that mountain climbing wasn't "a girl thing." She began to worry about them, however Rio told her not to and offered her a lollipop.

When Yuma, Astral, and Shark pursued Rio to the bottom of the ocean Tori was left behind. When Dumon arrived on the Different Dimension Airship, Tori denied that she knew anything about the "Numbers," but informed him that Yuma, Shark and Rio were at the bottom of the ocean.

Later, Tori, along with Yuma, Shark, Astral and Kite, were pulled into an alternate dimension by Number 96, where she watched the Duel between Yuma and Number 96. She was greatly saddened by Astral leaving Yuma.

Upon seeing Yuma being depressed by the loss of Astral, Tori and the Super Secret Number Card Investigation Club offered to help him investigate the Barians' motives. However, they were later kidnapped by Erazor and had their memories of Yuma taken away from them. She was unconsciously cheering for Yuma during the Duel and her memories were restored following his defeat.

Barian Emperor Onslaught
After Yuma and Astral returned from the Astral World, Tori was overjoyed to see them again. Her joy was soon deterred, due to the arrival of the Seven Barian Emperors. She was hurt even more when she learned that Shark and Rio were Nash and Marin. She and Yuma tried to talk to them so that they would leave the Barians, but her efforts were futile. Tori helped Trey, Quinton and Quattro get Yuma to safety, and she rode with Yuma in the car that was taking him to safety. When Yuma woke up, Tori joined him on the Different Dimension Airship, as she was determined not to lose him again, so if he was going to the Barian World, she would go too.

Tori and Yuma watched as Trey, Quinton and Quattro were beaten and sent to the Barian World, and was especially upset by Nash and Marin's victories. When Alito attacked the airship, Tori and Yuma were both teleported to face him. Tori was imprisoned by Alito in a cage of thorny trunks, and she watched faithfully as usual while Yuma Dueled Alito, and was deeply upset when it looked like Yuma lost. Alito released her after regaining his true memories, but he continued the Duel. After the Duel, they both returned to the airship with Alito, after the latter agreed to assist them in stopping Don Thousand. Along the way the three ran into Girag, who attacked the ship with "Number 106: Giant Hand". Alito left the ship to face him, trying to save his friend. Yuma and Tori came and watched the Duel. After Girag won due to Alito's sacrifice, Tori watched in horror as Vector tried to absorb Yuma with "Number 43: High Manipulator of Chaos". She was both relieved and terrified when Girag took the hit for Yuma, and saw Girag, Alito, and Ponta be absorbed firsthand. After that horrible ordeal, the two continued to the Barian World on their own. Along the way, they also witnessed the Duel between Mizar and Kite. Whe was happy when Kite won, but became horrified by Kite's death. Right after the Duel ended, the ship entered the threshold of the Barian World, just as the Duel between Nash and Vector began. Tori cheered for Nash during this Duel because of the negative feelings that she had for Vector after the incident with Ray. Tori was diligent in watching this Duel and surprised by Vector's transformation, she was also seemingly upset that he had absorbed Rio's power, as the two were once friends. When Nash's "King Overfiend" destroyed "Masquerade", Tori observed Vector talking about his true memories, and fell for his trick just as everyone else did, but was not surprised when Vector revealed that his "reform" was a ruse, although she was happy when he appeared to have destroyed their main enemy, Don Thousand. After Nash won, Tori breathed a sigh of relief, until Vector overpowered the souls of those he killed in the past. She was further surprised to learn that Thousand survived, who reappeared and attempted to absorb Vector. Tori was also caught in the winds and had to hold on to a rock to avoid being absorbed by Thousand. When Yuma tried to save Vector, she tried to talk him out of it because she really cared for Yuma, and was relieved that Vector sacrifices himself to save Yuma. Throughout the Duel against Thousand she was confident that Yuma and Nash would win, even as Thousand Summoned "Number iC1000: Numeronius Numeronia". When Yuma Summoned "Number 100: Numeron Dragon", Tori saw Kite's spirit appear along with Yuma and Nash, and recalled their Duel against Dr. Faker. She cheered the three on as they defeated Thousand, though she was saddened when Kite disappeared. After the Duel, Tori was shocked by Nash forcibly absorbing Thousand's "Numbers", and then was horribly distraught when Nash challenged Yuma to another Duel. Tori cheered for Yuma during his Duel against Nash. After Nash was defeated, Tori and Yuma were saddened when he was about to disappear. Nash later told Tori to take care of Yuma and not take her eyes off of him for even one second before disappearing. When Nasch disappeared, everyone defeated, or affected from Barian World were revived, and reunited with Yuma, and Tori.

After the final Duel between Yuma and Astral, Tori joined Yuma and his friends on their journey to the Astral World to assist Astral. Tori held Yuma's hand and said that she loved Yuma's smile, which caused Yuma to look shocked and blush.

Manga biography


In the manga, Kotori has the same role as in the anime, being Yuma's important friend and main support.

Yuma Tsukumo
Tori has known Yuma since childhood and has a crush on him. She blushes whenever Yuma makes a friendly comment towards her and is often worried when Yuma gets into a dangerous situation, even when Dueling. When Yuma grabbed her hand while running from Anna, she blushed while looking at their hands. She also argued with Cathy over who gets to accompany Yuma to sneak into Heartland. Furthermore after winning the argument, she was about to express her excitement, but stopped herself. This along with her annoyance at Yuma's admiration of Cathy's Dueling skills (which she does not show when Yuma is impressed by male opponents) strongly suggests that she considers Cathy a rival for Yuma's affection. When Ray told her about Yuma and Alito's situation and she met up with Yuma, she clasped her hands while having a hopeful expresssion on her face as she said Yuma was fighting for her. When Ray suggested Tori should be the mascot for the Numbers club because of seeing the most numbers, and because she was Yuma's girlfriend, she blushed and tried to dismiss it, but she was clearly smiling and enjoying the idea of being his girlfriend. When Yuma's grandmother Haru Tsukumo suggested to Tori to go with Yuma to the Duel Sanctuary, Tori asked why she needed to go with him. Haru covered her mouth and laughed, which made Tori blush and become very much flustered while putting her hands to her cheeks. When Yuma asked Tori if she splashed him to try making him feel better, she blushes while trying to deny it (she also blushed before this when in the water looking at Yuma).

She shows concern for Yuma when Dueling the Triad of Terror, and also during the semi-finals in his Duel against Reginald Kastle, when Yuma is attacked repeatedly, and when he took control of Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss using "Rivals Unite" in an attempt to free "Shark" from the Number's control. During Yuma's Duel with Vetrix, Tori is distressed when Yuma is hit by Vetrix's Number 69: Heraldry Crest; even shedding a tear.

After the Duel with Astral, Tori told Yuma she loved his smile, causing him to blush as she clasped his hand tighter (in the dub, Tori's love for Yuma is more explicit; she told him that she is "Gagaga" for him).

Tori seems to be Yuma's overall best friend and most trusted ally throughout the series, similar to Tea's friendship with Yugi in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Alexis' friendship with Jaden in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Akiza's friendship with Yusei in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. She supports him at all times and is rarely ever seen without him.

Cathy Katherine
Cathy has a rivalry with Tori over Yuma's affection, often bickering. Cathy thinks of Tori as a sly person that is slowly grasping Yuma's heart. The two do not get along very well but do care a great deal for Yuma. The two's feelings for Yuma is slightly seen when they bicker over who should go with Yuma, in a recycle bin (each separately) to sneak into Heartland when Yuma had accidentally left his Dueling Deck within it.

However, that appeared to change within the Sport's Duel Tournament. At first, the two argued over the fact of which one would be the female mascot for the 'Super Secret Number's Investigation Club', and evidently showed detest when they found out they were to be in a tag team with each other, even arguing in the events. However, after they began to loose, the two girls grinned at each other, and apologized on how they were arguing. Their bond also allowed for good team work when Dueling, even under the influence of the Barian.

Astral
At first, she considered him a ghost and often thought his presence put Yuma in danger. However, she soon starts to develop a trust in Astral, demonstrated at the start of the World Duel Carnival, saying to Yuma that he has Astral with him, the aforementioned spirit blinking in astonishment. This is further shown when Tori cried when Astral supposedly died in Yuma's Duel with Trey, crying out his name in despair, and again calling out his name in happiness when he and Yuma returned from their Duel with Barian. Although Astral does not reference Tori much, he did seem to display genuine concern when Yuma lashed out at Tori, saying he knew how she felt. After the WDC, Tori's relationship with Astral is more developed and has his full trust.

Rio Kastle
Rio and Tori tend to have a basic girl relationship. The two talk on friendly terms and are shown to be kind to each other. Once Rio was out of the hospital, on her first day of school she ate lunch with Tori and her friends. She also tagged along with Tori when they attempted to travel to the Barian World and both cheered on their friends in their Duels. Rio is also shown to care about Tori, as Rio offered her a lollipop when she began to worry about Yuma, Shark and Kite, who left for Number 46's Ruins without them.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL II
Tori uses a Fairy Deck.