Maho Hiyajo

Maho Hiyajo (比屋定 真帆) is a member of the Brain Science Institute at Viktor Chondria University, one of the lead minds behind project Amadeus alongside Alexis Leskinen and Kurisu Makise's senior and friend.

Appearance
Due to her extremely short stature, she is often mistaken for a child despite being in her twenties. Despite this, Okabe note that she still possesses the curves developed through puberty. She has long, messy, black hair with a dark green tint and green eyes. She typically wears baggy clothing along with mismatched shoes.

Personality
Maho is an analytical, wary, sharp-minded and, sometimes, feisty young woman. Even though she is aware that she looks like a child, she still becomes annoyed every time other people, who are unaware of her true age and occupation, mistake her for one. Maho is also a very messy person. Within a day, any room she is staying in ends up as a disaster area.

Despite being a genius and Dr. Leskinen's right hand, Maho started developing self-confidence issues after Kurisu Makise appeared at the university, often considering herself the "Salieri" to Kurisu's "Amadeus". However, despite this, she highly values Kurisu as both a researcher and a friend and was devastated when she died. After Kurisu's death in Japan, Maho started to talk to Amadeus Kurisu more often, forming a solid and hurting relationship until she met Okabe and had to stop interacting with her.

After meeting Rintaro Okabe, the two quickly bond over Kurisu's death, with both Dr. Leskinen and Amadeus teasing her by implying that she has developed feelings for Okabe. Over the course of the story, she does end up gaining genuine romantic feeling for Okabe, but comes to terms with the fact that he is in love with Kurisu. She eventually gets over her self-doubt issues with encouragement from Okabe.

Throughout the Twin Automata route, Maho develops a deep friendship with Moeka, with both of them having similar (bad) cleaning habits and insecurities. Maho believes that even if there is someone better than you, then that is not a reason give up your place.

Background
Despite being born and raised in the United States, Maho is fully Japanese, with most of her relatives being from Okinawa. Maho was considered extremely intelligent from a young age, graduating highschool and college early before joining the Brain Science Institute at Viktor Chondria University. After Kurisu joined the Brain Science Institute and demonstrated genius surpassing her own, Maho considered herself as Kurisu's rival. Maho eventually uncovered Kurisu's @channel secret and the two bonded over their mutal love of Mozart, becoming best friends. They would eventually go on to develop Amadeus together with Pr. Leskinen.

Kurisu's death hit Maho especially hard, with Maho not only losing her best friend, but also coming to believe that she would never be able to surpass Kurisu. Following the funeral, Maho would keep in contact with Kurisu's mother, leading the two to become close. Kurisu's mother would go on to entrust Kurisu's laptop to her, though Maho was never able to unlock it. Maho would continue working with Amadeus, leading the two to develop a mother-daughter relationship.

Quotes

 * “If all things are decided like fate by some god, there's no point in our living, no point in our trying and no point in our choices.”
 * “If you give up on trying, it’s over. And then you’ll never win.”
 * “It doesn't matter how wonderful a diamond may be in the rough: it has no value until you polish it.”
 * “A scientist should never rule out any possibility, no matter how unlikely ... But we have a tendency to place too much faith in common sense and our own theories.”

Trivia

 * While Maho's field of study is neuroscience, she specializes in artificial intelligence.
 * As with other elements of Steins;Gate 0, Maho first appeared in the Epigraph Trilogy.
 * In the Epigraph Trilogy, Maho ends up wearing mismatched clothing after her belongings burn in a car crash in Epigraph of the Closed Curve.
 * Maho loves Okinawan dishes as depicted in the Pandemia of Artificial Machinery drama CD.
 * The name Hiyajou Maho appears on some papers that Kurisu Makise is studying in Steins;Gate: The Movie - Load Region of Déjà Vu.
 * Maho told Rintaro Okabe that her great grandparents were immigrants in Okinawa which explains that her grandparents and parents are Japanese and thus making her DNA fully Japanese. However, Maho was born and raised in America which made Okabe before slightly confused at her appearance.
 * Maho and Kurisu first met on September 5, 2009 as shown in the Blended Coffee Encounter drama CD.
 * Maho and Kurisu first met around 2006-2007 according to "Time Long Ago" special chapter from Eigou Kaiki no Pandora (manga).
 * She is very skilled at racing games.
 * She is a fan of Mozart.
 * She likes milk coffee.

Etymology

 * The name Maho means “true, reality, Buddhist sect” (真, ma) and “sail” (帆, ho); the two combined kanjis mean “spread-out sail, full sail, (sailing) downwind”.
 * Maho's surname Hiyajo means “compare, race, ratio, Philippines” (比, hi), “roof, house, shop, dealer, seller” (屋, ya) and “determine, fix, establish, decide” (定, jō).