Hajime Hinata

Hajime Hinata (日向 創 Hinata Hajime) is the main protagonist of Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

Hajime originally had no talent, entering Hope's Peak Academy as a reserve course student, but he eventually earned the title of Ultimate Hope after participating in Izuru Kamukura Project - a brain alteration/augmentation program named after the school's founder designed to "create a genius out of the ordinary" - in which his original memories were erased. During this time, he was known as Izuru Kamukura.

At the end of the game, Hajime and the other survivors managed to escape to the real world, and remained stay at Jabberwock Island.

Appearance
Hajime has short, spiky brown hair with an ahoge that moves according to his emotions. He wears a simple white shirt with the emblem of his previous high school embroidered on the hem. He wears a green tie which also bears the same emblem. He has blue jeans and red-and-white sneakers.

Hajime's eyes have a straight line running across his pupil. Although his eye colours are normally green, his eyes turned red and shaped like a generic crosshair when he lived as Izuru Kamukura.

Although Hajime's appearance does not change much when he becomes “Awakened”, his hair turns white and his eyes become just like those of Izuru Kamukura. In addition, he is completely enveloped in a lightning-like aura.

Personality
Hajime is seemingly cynical due to how he behaves, but it would be better describe him as a realist. He is quite skeptical and tends to worry more than the other students, but his worries are very justified and understandable. He is a logical and smart person and he is annoyed by the idea of not being able to understand someone or something at all. He tends to be quite serious, but he does joke around occasionally and often goes along with his classmates' eccentric hobbies.

Hajime tends to snark at his classmates in his thoughts and he can be blunt at times, though he means well and he's more frank than sarcastic or mean-spirited. Though insecure about his lack of talent and sometimes a bit submissive, he is not afraid to speak his mind. He is sometimes a bit short-tempered and can snap at others, especially when he's tired or under pressure.

Hajime is generally pleasant and easily exhibits kindness and thoughtfulness to others around him and he genuinely cares about everyone. Although he may have trouble understanding or relating to his classmates, he is tolerant of everyone's eccentric personalities and quirks and is always willing to listen and give advice. The official artbook reinforces this by stating that he spends his time talking with everyone and gets along great with both the girls and the guys. In Free Time Events, he makes even the most antisocial characters feel more relaxed and they often reveal things about themselves they wouldn't tell anyone else. Due to this particular trait, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu thinks that Hajime's talent might be Ultimate Conselour and Nagito Komaeda calls him Ultimate Serenity. Though he is glad to help, Hajime feels that a talent like Ultimate Conselour would be stressful.

It's heavily implied that Hajime is romantically inexperienced, appearing somewhat shy and even naive about the topic and mentioning that he hasn't really thought about it. However, during Free Time Events and especially the Island Mode, several characters appear to have romantic interest in Hajime and he sometimes responds by flirting, dating or even forming actual (non-canon) relationships with them.

Though a bit paranoid in the start of the game and not having much interest in friendship, Hajime later really wants to believe in his classmates and feels bad about doubting them during the class trials, but he understands it's necessary. He sometimes regrets exposing the murderers, as shown after singling out the murderer in chapter 3.

After Hajime awakens from the Neo World Program, he preserves his memories as Hajime Hinata. However, because the shutdown sequence didn't overwrite his memories, he also maintains the memories of his life as Izuru Kamukura and Ultimate Despair. Still, he chooses to live as Hajime Hinata.

At this point it's still unknown how his memories as Izuru may have changed or influenced Hajime's personality.

History
[Warning: Several spoilers follow this section!]

Prior to the Tragedy
Hajime enrolled into Hope's Peak Academy because of his adulation of the prestigious school. However, as a talentless reserve course student, he often felt like he was not good enough and wanted to become someone he could be proud of.

This resentment towards Hajime's own incapability led to a strong desire to become a main course student, eventually culminating in his participation in Izuru Kamukura Project, undergoing numerous operations to enhance his abilities. What he didn't expect, was the inhumane experiments that were conducted on him, or for his memories of his life up until that point to be erased.

Hope's Peak Academy exploited Hajime's feelings of admiration toward hope and talent just to use him as a lab rat. All of his senses, emotions, thoughts, and hobbies that could interfere with acquiring talent were excised. All of his memories of the past were forcefully suppressed into the darkest recesses of his mind. By directly interfering with his brain, the academy transformed Hajime into a completely different person whose specialty is talent itself. He was meant to be the fruit of all the research, a genius among geniuses possessing various talents, and he was named Izuru Kamukura after the academy's founder.

Izuru was known as the symbol of mankind's hope and he was given the title of Ultimate Hope. To protect such rare talent, the academy completely concealed all evidence of Izuru's origins and identity.

Izuru was later influenced greatly by Junko Enoshima and he subsequently became a member of Ultimate Despair.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
After the death of Junko, Izuru agreed with the other Remnants of Despair to a plan to allow AI Junko to take over their bodies through the Neo World Program. The program's original purpose was to undo Junko's influence, but Izuru downloaded AI Junko in it.

After Izuru entered the Neo World Program, the program dug up the memories of Hajime and rebuilt his old personality from data from the past.

Prologue - Welcome to Dangan Island! Panic at the Heart-Throbbing School Trip!?
Hajime is first seen in front of the building of Hope's Peak Academy. He introduced the Hope's Peak Academy and himself to the player. As he enters the entrance hall, his words when he introduces himself become random, he feels dizzy and loses consciousness.

When he wakes up, Hajime found himself in front of a door which led him to meet his classmates. As they realized that the door has been locked, they try to opened it until Usami's coming. Usami then transports them to a tropical island with her magical stick, the name of the island is Jabberwock Island.

Hajime and his classmates began panicking at first, but when Usami tried to calm them down, Hajime loses consciousness. Nagito, one of his group that was transported to the island wakes him up.

After Hajime wakes up, Nagito suggested that he should introduce himself to the other students that were trapped on the island. Along with Nagito, Hajime explored the First, and the central island of Jabberwock Island, while introducing himself to his classmates.

Before starting to explore the island, Hajime introduced himself to Nagito at the sandy beach on the first island, then he and Nagito, met Gundham Tanaka and Kazuichi Soda at the Airport, Mikan Tsumiki and Ibuki Mioda at the Rocketpunch Market, Mahiru Koizumi, Fuyuhiko, and Nekomaru Nidai around the Hotel Mirai, Chiaki Nanami and Peko Pekoyama at Hotel Lobby, Sonia Nevermind and Teruteru Hanamura at the Hotel Restaurant.

When Hajime and Nagito reached the farm (Usami Corral), Usami suddenly appears to showing her magical stick's power, that it is able to change a chicken into a cow. Hajime refuses to belief that Usami does have magical powers. He then introduces himself to Akane Owari and Hiyoko Saionji. At the central island, Hajime discovered locked bridges that connected every island that makes up Jabberwock Island. Later, he met with Byakuya Togami at the Jabberwock Park.

Done with the introduction, Usami congratulates everyone because all of them have managed to gather their first set of Hope Fragments. Usami tells them that she has a present for everyone on the sandy beach at the first island. Hajime and Nagito arrived late when Byakuya asks all of them to share their investigation. However, none of their reports make Byakuya satisfied, which caused Byakuya to tell them an important matter, that they're on a famous tropical island, Jabberwock Island.

Everyone started to panic again and thought of some ways to escape from the island. But when Mahiru suggested they cut down the trees and make a raft, Usami appears and tells them to not break her rules. Usami gave them the first present, called, “Usami Charms” that can speak if they push the belly, but everyone thought it was just garbage. Compared to Usami Charms, Usami had prepared a motive for everyone to became friends.

Usami told them to have fun together at the beach, she had prepared swimsuits for Hajime and everyone. Some joined, while some did not, including Hajime. But after he saw some of his friends swimming and playing at the beach, and convinced by Usami, Hajime realized that they can have fun as they like, then Hajime joined the welcoming party. But before he could do anything, suddenly the sky became dark and the weather became worse.

Usami told Hajime that she is not doing anything, and yet, she's panicked by the weather changing so suddenly. While she's still panicked, someone talked and ordered the students to come to the Jabberwock park at the central island. Usami recognized something and disappeared in order to stop this certain someone. Hajime and the other students had no choice but to go to the Park so they won't miss something.

When Hajime arrived at the Jabberwock Park, he saw Usami was waiting for someone by calling “his” name. Then, Monokuma, the headmaster of the Hope's Peak Academy, appeared in front of the students, Hajime and Usami. Usami had predicted that Monokuma would appear at the island. Everyone, such as Byakuya and Fuyuhiko, was confused by the sudden appearance of the new talking stuffed-doll. Usami forced them to step away from him, but before she does anything, Monokuma puts her in a fight and breaks her magical stick, and for a final touch, Monokuma changes Usami appearance, and renamed her as “Monomi”, Monokuma little sister.

Refusing to believe that Monokuma is her big brother, she tries to convince Monokuma to change her back to the old “Usami”, but she got a punch to her face in the end. After seeing what Monokuma did to Monomi, everybody was panicking, because of the other appearance of stuffed-toy, which resisted by Monokuma.

Monokuma, changed the fun, changing the friends field trip, into “Field Trip of Mutual Killing”, and he explained the new rules of the field trip. And to complete the eerie atmosphere, and to prevent Akane from assailing him, Monokuma changed the Jabberwock statue, into “Monobeast” that are packed with many weaponary that can slaughter Monomi, who tried to protect her students, at the end, Hajime and the others are aware to protect themselves from any students, and from the mutual killing.

Daily Life
After Monokuma arrival and Usami's execution, Hajime came to the pool near the cottage, and looked up at his e-Handbook, and found that some rules were added by Monokuma. Hajime pondered about everything that he just experienced, Hajime looked up at the night sky that was filled with beautiful stars, but it was just a reminder of how far everyone'd including Hajime had been taken from what should they have been for their lives.

Hajime returns to his room when Monokuma broadcasts his Nighttime Announcement, frustrated, he kept yelling to himself, why he must accept such a grevious fate. He choses to have a light sleep, to have a break and to clear his mind, as well as to prepare everything for tomorrow.

On the next day, after the Morning announcement, Monokuma entered Hajime's cottage, shocking him. Monokuma than explains to him that he hid Monokuma figures scattered around the island, if Hajime could found any, he could exchange the coins for some items at the beach and in Rocketpunch Market. Monokuma then disappeared once he was done explaining.

Later, Hajime bumped twice in that morning, the second is caused by Kazuichi, who just exited his cottage just like Hajime did. However, Kazuichi still can't clear his mind, and refers to Monobeast as a monster, this causes Monokuma to appear again and explain “that Monobeast is not a monster, they're monobeast, the guardian of Jabberwock Island”. Just when Kazuichi wants to run away, Peko approached Hajime and Kazuichi, to tell them that the group having a meeting at the hotel restaurant. Hajime's left Kazuichi, who still hold fast to his founding.

Hajime who came late to the restaurant, was asked by Byakuya why Hajime didn't come along with Kazuichi. Hajime told Byakuya that Kazuichi ran off somewhere. Byakuya, who held the meeting won't start the meeting until everyone's has come, losing her patience, Mahiru volunteered to drag Kazuichi to the hotel restaurant.

Byakuya commanded the groups to eat before Mahiru and Kazuichi arrived, they enjoy their breakfast until Mahiru drags Kazucihi to the hotel restaurant, and Mikan accidentally slipped in an awkward pose. Hajime who saw all of his friends weirdness can only tolerate their act.

Just when the meeting began, Byakuya declares that he'll became the leader of the group, stating that he'll not allow a single victim to fall. Hajime and the others thought that Byakuya is rather aggressive, but they finally accept Byakuya as their new leader.

At night, Monokuma through the surveillance camera that spread all over in the island, told the students to go to the Jabberwock Park. Hajime, went to the park as he knew that opposing Monokuma would be bad for him and the others. After he arrived Monokuma and Monomi appeared on a stage that they set and began the event, called by Monokuma as “Monokuma Big Laugh Manzai Live Show”.

Just as Monokuma bullying Monomi for the most, Monokuma said that Monomi's erased the students memory. Monomi, stayed to keep shut her mouth, and Monokuma told to the students that there is a “traitor” among their numbers. Monokuma also gave them a “motive”, to get their memories of their previous school life. Byakuya as the leader, ordered them to abandon this motive and move forward, and also ordered them to take a rest. When he arrived at his cottage, Hajime still was thinking about the traitor, but he discarded many speculations in his head, and collapsed onto the bed.

Hajime woke up after the Morning announcement on the next day, confirmed that he's more fit than last night. He headed to the hotel restaurant to attend the meeting just like yesterday, but Fuyuhiko seems to not be coming, Hiyoko thought that he has been killed, but Peko said that she saw Fuyuhiko, who told her that he was not coming. Understanding Fuyuhiko's kind of man, Byakuya decided not to call him and started the discussion about his plan to throw a party that night, all the way until morning and none of them were allowed to take absence.

Everyone thought that day was not a perfect time to throw a party, but after several discussions, they finally set up the party location at the old lodge, and were granted permission to used it by Monomi. Nagito suggested one of them cleaned the Lodge, by drawing lots that he just prepared, which make Hajime thought that Nagito maybe imagined that would happen.

But Nagito himself got the red mark chopstick and it was settled that Nagito was going to cleaned the Lodge, “So much for Ultimate Lucky Student” Hajime said to him. Beside that, Teruteru, was willing to cook the party food, and Peko would invite Fuyuhiko to come to the party, then everyone dispersed, including Hajime, agreeing that they would meet at the old lodge after Monokuma's evening announcement.

Just after finishing some Free Time Events in the game, Hajime returned to his cottage at 10 pm, the time when Monokuma made his evening announcement, signalling the students including to attend the Party that they had planned that morning.

As Hajime entered the old lodge, he met by Byakuya who forced Hajime to be body checked by him. Hajime also noticed two duralumin cases that Byakuya brought, one to secure dangerous weapons, and the other to be used when in trouble. Later after being body checked by Byakuya, Hajime came to the main hall and was welcomed by Nagito who already attended to the main hall and finished cleaning the Lodge.

Everyone excluding Fuyuhiko (not coming) and Teruteru (in the kitchen, serving the party food) was already in the main hall. Surprisingly, Byakuya with a flash waste grilled meats that he stated “dangerous” because its attached to skewers and as the person in charge, he responsible to confiscated it. Not long after that, Teruteru came to the main hall and was flustered when he saw that Byakuya was already eating. Byakuya believed that Teruteru still had some dangerous weapons, and he wanted Hajime to accompanied him to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, both Hajime and Byakuya found an equipment list for the kitchen, there are:

Fork x 20, Knife x 20, Spoon x 20, Skewer x 5, Frying Pan x 3, Wine glass x 20, and in addition there was a barbecue griddle and a portable stove for hot pots. The griddle and portable stove are found by Byakuya on a shelf and seem in excellent condition. Certainly very much usable. Hajime then found a pack of knives, and kept safe in the Byakuya Duralumin case. Beside knives, Hajime and Byakuya found all kind of dishes in a staggering variety of cuisines, and there's even a humongous meat on a bone, and Byakuya thought that the cuisines doesn't dangerous.

Done with the kitchen equipment, Hajime asked Byakuya if keeping the dangerous items really necessary. Byakuya answered that the reason to do it is to fulfil his promise there'll be not a single victim, but not just that, Byakuya suspecting everything and everyone has been second nature to him. This discussion led Byakuya to share his past to Hajime a little.

Byakuya had a secret past, and thats the reason he became so prone to suspicion, he said “There were people I couldn't trust... and people who couldn't trust me. My life was like a nightmare... It is only natural to my personality would be affected. Nevertheless, I believe my nature is going to come in handy in our current situation. To survive in a situation like this... one must suspect everyone”. It is hinted that he doesn't have a nature personality, and because of that, he choose to acted as certain someone.

Just as when Hajime and Byakuya ended the discussion, Teruteru broke into the kitchen and was flustered when Hajime and Byakuya confiscated the cooking utensils. Byakuya asked Teruteru that there is still one steel skewers missing, but Teruteru stated that the skewer was already gone since he first came to the kitchen.

Afterwards, Hajime, Byakuya and Teruteru returned to the main hall where everyone was waiting. However, before he opened the party, he needed to keep the duralumin case with the dangerous items safe somewhere. But none of the place that Byakuya thought of would be safe for the cases to be kept, so Peko, volunteered to guard the case in the Lodge Office, even so, she brought her food portion along with the case. And the other case was kept by Byakuya in the main hall. Not done, Byakuya still had an issue that someone has to keep Monokuma away from the party. Chiaki, volunteered herself along with Monomi to stand guard in front of the old lodge. And thus the party began.

Everyone enjoyed the party, from Akane who couldn't stop eating, and Mahiru who decided to took some photos, Nekomaru who attempted to left the party because of needs to void, Gundham who lost his earring, until Teruteru who're still serve the food from the kitchen and busy explaining how beautiful and delicious the foods that he made were. Hajime's thought that there was no need to worry, until suddenly a black out occurred.

Everyone excluding Hajime panicked, refusing to just wait until the power came back, Kazuichi decided to go to the power outage. But before he did anything, the lights and electricity came back. Just after that, Mikan fell in a messed up figure again, success to ease the panicked students. Hajime, noticed something, that Byakuya has just disappeared from the main hall.

The students searched everywhere, Hajime even asked Chiaki, and she stated that there was no one going outside during the black out, so Hajime and the others returned to the main hall. Surprisingly, Akane smells blood from the table near the lamp cord, so Hajime nervously reached under the table, and he swore that he will never forget the sight when he lifted the tablecloth, the dead body of Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny.

Deadly Life
Hajime stand firm right in front of the tablecloth, still confused why one of his friends dead in such a way. Mahiru and the others started to panicked and screaming, until Monokuma showed up, explained that he will held a School Trial, to facilitate the students, Monokuma give them “Monokuma File 1”. Monomi who doesn't agree with Monokuma's idea to hold a school trial get punched and dragged by Monokuma to nowhere, left the students who were have no choice to started the investigation if they were not wanted to be executed.

Before Hajime started the investigation, he checked the Monokuma File 1, and the information showed were : After that, Hajime checked the table where the murder took place. However, the only significant thing on top of the table is just a tablelamp who its power cord is attached to an outlet in the wall. Then he encouraged himself to investigate Byakuya's body under the table. Hajime found Byakuya's blood flowing out and has formed into a pool under the table, but there's no trace of a trail of blood anywhere. Beside Byakuya's body, Hajime found a night vision goggles, who according to Nagito was originally from the supermarket. There is also a knife who covered in the packing tape, and the glow in the dark packing tape itself stuck under the table.
 * The victim's body was discovered in the main hall of Hotel Mirai's old lodge.
 * The time of death was around 11:30 p.m
 * The cause of death was stabbing with a sharp object. The victim was stabbed multiple times in the region beetwen the abdomen and throat again and again. There are no other wounds on the body, nor any traces of poison or other drugs.

After done investigating under the table, Hajime trying to calming down Mikan who panicked caused of Monokuma who forced them to investigate Byakuya's death. Mikan tells to Hajime that she panicked during the black out, and her foot got caught on the edge of the carpet and when she tried to get loose she ended falling in an embarassing pose. Hajime also tried to calming down Mahiru, who blame Byakuya's death to herself.

Mahiru then helped Hajime by showed to him the photo's she took before the blackout. Suddenly Mahiru notice that Byakuya standing quite a distance from the murder took place. After succeed calming the girls down, Hajime got Gundham who lost his “Devildog Earring”. When Hajime asked about it, he ended told the story how he get the Devildog Earring. Hajime noticed a gaps on the floor, so when Gundham look at it, his earring was there, he then choose to find a way to get his earring back.

Done with everyones at the main hall, Hajime looked up at Byakuya's duralumin case which he carrying himself during the party. Surprisingly, it's opened, there's a nightstick inside and a can of tear gas and some other unsettling items and a strange empty hard plastic case. Beside everything, Hajime found a key to the other duralumin case that filled with dangerous weapon. Hajime conclude that the other case can't be opened, and the weapon inside it have nothing to do with Byakuya's murder.

Done with the case, Hajime found an air conditioner and its timer. Strangely, the timer is set to 11:30, the same time Byakuya was killed, which means the mechanical beep was from the air conditioner who turning on. After feel that he has done investigate everything at the main hall, Hajime accompanied by Nagito to investigate the other room in Old Lodge.

Hajime first encountered Ibuki in front of the main hall's door. Ibuki said that she can remember everyone's conversation during the blackout. After talking with Ibuki, Hajime and Nagito asked Nekomaru about his problem during the party. He said that he wanted to used the only toilet in the Old Lodge, but it was locked, probably because someone was using it during the party. Hajime and Nagito also found a fire door which could be sealed to stop fire from spreading and giving everyone a better chance to escape.

In the kitchen, they interrogated Teruteru about his food and found the other kitchen equipment. In the warehouse, Hajime and Nagito were able to discover a bloody tablecloth and some powered on irons. Finally, in the Office Room, they found the circuit breakers of the Lodge, but its location was too high to reach. Somehow, Monokuma was the only one who could have flipped the circuit breakers.

Kazuichi declared Peko as the culprit, because she was not in the office room during the blackout. He also suspected Peko because she felt unwell when she left the office room. Hajime and Nagito found that the duralumin case which Peko bought to the office room was still locked and when they check, the content was still okay. After finishing the investigation in the Old Lodge, both of them decided to investigate Byakuya's cottage.

However, before Hajime and Nagito could go further, they discovered Chiaki and Gundham investigating space under the floors from the outside. Gundham was still busy to search for his earring, and Chiaki stated that the truth behind Byakuya's murder hinges on whether space under the floors is accessible or not. Later, Chiaki said something interesting about Fuyuhiko who just passing by the lodge during the party held. Then Hajime and Nagito encountered with Fuyuhiko who said same thing with Chiaki, Hajime wonders it's just a coincidence or Fuyuhiko who wanted to join the party.

Daily Life
After waking up, he recalled the events of the previous night in which Byakuya was murdered by Teruteru who was executed for his crime. Feeling sluggish still, he proceeded to meet with everyone at the hotel's restaurant where he discovered not only that Hiyoko refused to shower due to being unable to dress herself in her kimono properly, but that Nagito, who he thought was a kind individual until it was revealed otherwise during the first Class Trial, was missing. After discussing the two events, Monokuma arrived and asked the group where one of his Monobeasts was. Since they didn't have the answer, Monokuma left, allowing Monomi to arrive and admit that she defeated the missing Monobeast, allowing the group to go to the second island and explore.

Upon exploring the second island, the students found that it had a library, a diner with a beach house not far off from it, a drug store with many types of prescription medications, and a mysterious ruin that looked much like Hope's Peak Academy. The group explored this ruin and found the front door was seal and had the Japanese word for 'future' written on it. Monokuma then arrived and told them about the mysterious World Ender organization that intends to end the world, while also revealing that Monomi and himself cannot go into this ruin. After a while, Hajime returned to his cabin for the day.

The next day, Hajime found out the truth of Nagito's whereabouts the last few days: he was tied up in the dinner hall where Byakuya was murdered by Teruteru by Kazuichi and Nekomaru, stating that it would be better if 'the traitor' was tied up so as not to disturb the rest of their trip. After hanging with his friends, at night, the class received a summons from Monokuma asking everyone to report to the Center Island. There, Monokuma showed them what would be the second motive for his sick game: a video game of a long forgotten game franchise brought back to life by Monokuma - Twilight Syndrome Murder Case. He stressed that the key to this game was a 'missing link' and proceeded on his way while telling everyone to play it, otherwise someone else may play it and take advantage of it's secrets to commit a murder. The group unanimously agreed to not play it, but once told not to do something, it becomes hard to not do.

A few days passed and Hajime runs into Fuyuhiko carrying a strange envelope. Despite his inquire, Fuyuhiko told Hajime off and he proceeded to the restaurant to meet with everyone. Upon arriving, Mahiru asked Hajime to take some bread and milk to Nagito since she felt uncomfortable doing it herself. When he arrived, he was shocked to see the state Nagito was in, but was still creeped out by his demeanor. It was then that Nagito revealed that he knew of the new motive and asked why he and the other Ultimates were ignoring the threat. Hajime took this to heart and decided that he would play the game so as to understand what he may encounter soon enough. However, upon completing the game, Hajime was disgusted by the confusing ending and decided to dismiss the game entirely, going back to bed.

The next day, Kazuichi invited him to the supermarket where he explained that the girls were planning to go swimming together at the beach near the diner. Wanting to make it look like a coincidence, he instructed Hajime to be at the diner by 3:00 PM and wait for the girls to arrive. While waiting, they ran into Fuyuhiko who immediately dismissed them once Mikan and Ibuki showed up. While waiting to go to the beach, the group saw Hyoko running from the beach, seemingly in tears. Eventually Chiaki, Akane, Peko, and Sonia arrived at the diner and the group headed for the beach. However, the body discovery announcement was made, causing Hajime to panic & overheard Kazuichi screaming. He went into the bathhouse, hoping that it was a lie, only to see something that reaffirmed that hope on the island was false, and that the only thing that was there was despair: Mahiru, the Ultimate Photographer, dead on the bathhouse floor.

Chapter 6 - This is the End Goodbye Academy of Despair
After witnessing his friends fall one by one, Hajime vowed to stay alive. This conviction was made even stronger as Nagito released a time-locked video that basically stated his intentions.

Although Hajime and the remnants of the still-unaware "former" members of Ultimate Despair were led through a series of verbal traps disguised as "truth exposes", that nearly played into AI Junko's hands, Hajime was eventually able to expose AI Junko with help arriving from unlikely sources. However, in the process, they had to come to terms with the fact that they were members of a terrible organization that brought about The Tragedy, especially Hajime, who realized that he was "Izuru Kamukura" of the Hope Cultivation Project - the person who murdered the entire Student Council, and a major conduit for the Tragedy. The overload of information meant that AI Junko was constantly on the upper hand of a battle to break their minds.

At the conclusion of a finale which culminated in three former participants entering the fray to save the remaining students, Hajime and a regenerated Chiaki - revealed to be a student observer, one of two AIs responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the Neo World Program - defeated AI Junko in a final Machinegun Talk Battle which brought the remaining students to their senses, allowing him to convince his fellow students to go along with Makoto Naegi's suggestion to initiate a forced shutdown of the Program.

The Force Shutdown allowed Usami to emerge and eventually erase AI Junko from the Neo World Program.

Afterwards, the world around Hajime and co. began to glitch out, but he was able to clear his lingering regrets with Chiaki - specifically, not thanking her - before the Neo World Program shut down entirely.

After the defeat of AI Junko, Hajime and former Ultimate Despair members opted to stay on the Jabberwock Islands, possibly in hopes that they could do something to help their comatose friends, acknowledging his past but choosing to live on as Hajime Hinata.

Execution
Scratch de Hinata - Hajime is printed on a scratch paper. Monokuma picks up a coin and starts to scrape the paper while Hajime remains helpless. After Hajime is completely scraped, the words “Try Again” are revealed. Disappointed, Monokuma throws the paper onto the ground. Hajime’s existence is disappearing once again and he dies. This execution is only shown in the Official Fanbook.

Chiaki Nanami
Hajime is shown to be close to Chiaki over the course of the story. Hajime and Chiaki are frequently shown to be together in cutscenes and events. Their relationship progresses to a point where they can understand each other's expressions and wishes, even without the other speaking. However, it took him some time to warm up to her. As in Chapter 2, he thought of her behaviour as "annoying."

Chiaki prevented Hajime from going to the Final Dead Room when he was stressed out because everyone suspected him to be the traitor, and she also assisted him greatly during trials and investigations. It was briefly indicated before the all-girls beach party in chapter 2 that he was attracted to Chiaki in her swimsuit. It is especially prevalent in chapter 4 that the two are considerably close throughout most of the chapter.

During the fifth trial, Hajime was the most devastated when he found out that Chiaki was the "traitor" and was executed. It was also Chiaki who begged for Hajime to both claim and prove she was this alleged traitor, trusting his ability to see past words and lies Monokuma created and into the hope she sees in him.

In chapter 6, Chiaki was the one who guided Hajime to see the reality that whether or not he had a talent was irrelevant. It was largely due to her support and encouragement that he was finally able to overcome despair. Before she was shutdown along with the program, he thanked her for her help and promised never to forget her.

Throughout the free time events, and in Chiaki's final island event, it is heavily implied that Hajime and Chiaki's relationship extends beyond the regular friendship Hajime and the others hold to a deep, everlasting friendship. The talks the two have progress from mere small talk to friendlier and playful yet also serious and consoling (usually from Chiaki to Hajime).

When Chiaki mysteriously reappears to Hajime, it is shown that when he refutes everyone's statements in the final Endless Debate that everyone saw a vision of the closest person to them, further showing Chiaki is the closest person to Hajime. Hajime insists on her person-ness, even after discovering her nature as an AI. When Hajime finally gets to tell her "Thank you", which is in turn responded in kind, it is implied that both their words carry deeper meaning.

Nagito Komaeda
Nagito was the first student Hajime encountered on the island. He was the only one to stay with unconscious Hajime and escorted him to introduce himself to the other students. He also helped Hajime during most investigations. Though sometimes annoyed by Nagito, Hajime felt more relaxed around the other boy and believed that he's a kind person, though maybe not the most reliable.

After learning about Nagito's twisted way of thinking, Hajime felt betrayed and scorned; during his Free Time Events, however, Hajime would keep attempting to understand Nagito's mindset. There are several moments in the game where Hajime comes very close to understanding Nagito's thinking, but then abandons the thought as he feels he's just over-thinking. It was Hajime's understanding of Nagito that ultimately thwarted his plan in Chapter 5.

According to Nagito, Hajime was the first person in his life to take an actual interest in him. This is further proven by how he questions himself why he worries about someone like Nagito during the despair disease of Chapter 3. Hajime expresses curiosity to see what Nagito would do if he one day achieved the hope he claims to be pining after, saying that he felt a 'strange connection' to him, though his confusion and uncertainty of him remain; however this leads to his wishing to understand Nagito in order to protect everyone else on the island from the malice he senses from Nagito.

In Nagito's Island Mode ending, when Nagito hesitantly asks for Hajime's friendship, Hajime was surprised but accepted without much consideration. The wording seemed to start as a love confession, which caught Hajime by surprise.

Quotes

 * “Whoa!”
 * “NO, THAT'S WRONG!”
 * “I SEE!”
 * “I AGREE WITH THAT!”
 * “THAT MUST BE IT!”
 * “I CAN PROVE IT WITH THIS!”
 * “HERE!”
 * “HERE'S EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THIS CASE!”
 * “THAT'S IT!”
 * “There's no way I'll back out now!”
 * “ALLOW ME TO CUT THROUGH THOSE WORDS!”
 * “I'LL SHOOT THROUGH THAT CONTRADICTION!”
 * “YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE!”
 * “THIS IS MY ANSWER”
 * “I GOT IT!”
 * “THIS IS THE END!”
 * “IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER!”
 * “TSK”
 * “EVEN SO...”
 * “THAT'S PROBABLY TRUE...!” (Only in the Japanese version)
 * “THIS WORLD...!”
 * “Make something... up?”
 * “Even so...!”
 * “EVEN SO, I...!”
 * “I'm... not Izuru Kamukura... I'm Hajime Hinata!”
 * “I'LL NEVER LET ANYONE CHOOSE AGAIN!”
 * “It won't be just hope... There's a lot of despair out there, too... And I don't know what kind of future it'll become... But our future is ours! We're not going to leave it in anyone else's hands anymore!”
 * “NO, THAT'S WRONG!”
 * “His personality is so overwhelming...” (thought about Byakuya Togami)
 * “He was being pretty condescending, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy...” (thought about Byakuya)
 * “I...I'm definitely fine with who I am. Right now, I'm more focused on what I'm supposed to do.”
 * “I definitely consider you a friend, and there's no way I could ever imitate your leadership... The truth is...I think you're amazing.” (to Byakuya)
 * “The only Byakuya Togami I know is the person standing right in front of me.”
 * “The Byakuya I know always says “you” in a condescending way, right?”
 * “He sure has amazing confidence.” (thought about Teruteru Hanamura)
 * “...Why do I need to be ready to eat something?”
 * “Steamy potatoes that fall apart so delicately... Carrots seeping with such gentle flavor... Onions that had nearly melted... Tender meat with the perfect amount of fat clinging to it... Everything had combined to form such perfect harmony...!” (describing Teruteru's cooking masterpiece, “Versailles-style Meat and Potato Stew queue de boeuf”)
 * “Mahiru seems like a pretty solid person.” (thought about Mahiru Koizumi)
 * “It's like I'm being yelled at by my mom or something.” (thought about Mahiru, after being scolded by her)
 * “Even thought she complains about it, she's really good at taking care of people.” (thought about Mahiru)
 * “Peko's stare is really intense...” (thought about Peko Pekoyama)
 * “Don't people normally aim for that kind of advancement?”
 * “I see... Peko isn't just a typical kendo athlete. She truly is the Ultimate Swordswoman... ”
 * “I...don't really know much about kendo. But I think you're really cool. You're kind of like a samurai.” (to Peko)
 * “Peko gave me a terse stare, and I couldn't help feeling a tingle run up my spine.”
 * “I don't intend to fight my friends at all. I definitely don't want to do that..”
 * “Let me help you until you can finally smile on your own. Isn't it too early to give up now?” (to Peko)
 * “Y-you spoiled little brat...! There's no way you can get those kinds of traditional candies here...” (thought about Hiyoko Saionji)
 * “If she didn't have her foul moth and rotten attitude, she'd look perfect standing next to flowers.” (thought about Hiyoko Saionji)
 * “I mean, I can imagine Akane doing that, but...it doesn't change the fact that this kid is a rotten jerk...”
 * “...But the more I get to know her, the more fearful I become.”
 * “If you're the one doing the dancing, I'll make sure to stay awake.” (to Hiyoko)
 * “Jeez... When she's not being an unbearable brat, she can be pretty adorable...”
 * “Once Ibuki starts talking, it seems like she'll never stop...”
 * “I can totally tell she puts her heart into making her clothes so they're not just another commercial product.” (thought about Ibuki)
 * “I won't give up. I'll definitely leave this island...with everyone.”
 * “Somehow...I feel like I did something bad to her even though I know I didn't do anything...” (thought about Mikan Tsumiki)
 * “She's not a bad person, but...I don't really know how to communicate with her that well.”
 * “How...can you be smiling when you were forced to do stuff like that...?” (to Mikan)
 * “Thank you for...caring about me.” (to Mikan)
 * “If I show her any weakness, it'll be the end of me...”
 * “Asking someone if they want to talk is totally normal...”
 * “She's pretty perceptive... Changing the subject probably won't work on her.”
 * “Thanks to this irrational, hopeless, dangerous situation...? I never thought I'd meet someone who actually thought about our situation like that.”
 * “Maybe...what scares Mikan the most isn't violence or being hated... Maybe it's when nobody is interested in her at all...”
 * “Hey Mikan... Of course everyone cares about you. Because...you're uniquely you. Stop looking at people's faces all the time, and try looking at yourself more. Take a step back and pay more attention to your surroundings, and to yourself. Because you’re just like everyone else. You're...our friend.” (to Mikan)
 * “I know it's difficult to change all at once...but I really want her to change little by little. That's what I felt when I looked at Mikan's smile.”
 * “He's got a lot of confidence. How proud he must to be a team manager.” (thought about Nekomaru Nidai)
 * “I undertand how important you are to your athletes.” (to Nekomaru)
 * “You seem very calm. Even in this situation, it’s like you have this unwavering presence of mind...”
 * “We will definite escape from here...all of us.”
 * “Gundham is hard to understand sometimes, but I do understand the intent behind his words.” (thought about Gundham Tanaka)
 * “Listening to Gundham makes me rethink how much of a responsibility it is to raise pets.”
 * “I feel like I got a glimpose of the deep affection Gundham feels toward all animals, not just hamsters...”
 * “Gundham understands the feelings of animals...”
 * “Gundham seems different from usual when he talks about animals. Somehow, his face seems gentler. He must...really love animals.”
 * “You're actually a really kind guy.” (to Gundham)
 * “As long as you're my friend... I have no desire to take anything away from you and try to force you to change.” (to Gundham)
 * “Hmm, I don't know when people suddenly decide they're friends or not... But since we seem to have the same goal, maybe we can at least call each other comrades?” (to Kazuichi Soda)
 * “But...despite his looks, Kazuichi seems like a pretty normal guy...”
 * “Oh...so there are time when even the Ultimate Mechanic can't fix something.”
 * “C'mon, you know what they: "Where there's a will, there's a way," right?” (to Kazuichi by using a quote from a manga, "Radio-Combattler 4WD Tarou")
 * “He sure recovers quickly...”
 * “The Kazuichi I know is a confident, happy-go-lucky guy who gets a little carried away sometimes... But maybe he's just been pretending to be like that.”
 * “She's pretty crazy, but I'm a little jeaolus of how cheerful she is.” (thought about Akane Owari)
 * “Akane's eyes lit up from being surrounded by food. She sort of looked like a little kid. When she looks this happy, it's hard for me to want to stop her...”
 * “People feel hesitant or uneasy...and sometimes you just need to vent about it.” (to Akane)
 * “What's...wrong with being weak...? It's normal to be weak... Humans feel overwhelmed sometimes...and even cry... I know I do, so what's wrong with that?”
 * “I don't think real strength means you don't accept your weaknesses... I think real strength means you overcome them.”
 * “You're not weak at all, Akane. You don't need to try so hard by yourself. Especially in this situation, we should all work together and do our best. Right?”
 * “That's right...we're not alone. We can move forward and overcome our worries and hesitations.”
 * “What she's saying sounds odd but she certainly looks the part... Typical of a princess, I guess.” (thought about Sonia Nevermind)
 * “It seems the Novoselic Kingdom is filled with more mysteries than I thought...”
 * “Wow... she smells nice...”
 * “Her people must believe she's a wonderful princess if she actually thinks of them like that... ”
 * “In my eyes, Sonia and the Novoselic Kingdom are just full of mysteries...”
 * “But even so...you're still a regular girl to me. I mean, I'm not a citizen of your country. I'm not even one of your vassals. So...when it comes to myself and the others, you're just our classmate. You're a regular girl... You don't need to try so hard.” (to Sonia)
 * “I'm sure everyone else won't feel like their usual selves if they don't see Sonia's smile.”
 * “This guy has always known violence and death... I see... He's used to it...” (thought about Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu)
 * “Th-That's a...pretty outrageous home life. The worlds we both live in couldn't be more different. ” (to Fuyuhiko)
 * “Um... Sweet things calm your nerves, and they also nourish your brain...”
 * “This is bad... His eyes look real intense... I've never seen anyone get so mad over milk.”
 * “At least this place has soft beds, a beautiful ocean, and entertainment...”
 * “I'm just trying to endure everything the best I can.”
 * “And that's when I realized. This wasn't the same Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu I met when we first arrived at this island... This is a man who has overcome great hardships.”
 * “Seeing him laugh like that was enough to distract me from my worries.” (Hajime's first thought about Nagito Komaeda)
 * “What should I do? Can I even hang out with someone like Nagito...?” (Hajime's response to Nagito after the events of the first trial)
 * “What in the world is this hope you keep talking about...?” (to Nagito)
 * “It doesn't seem he's trying to trick or trap anyone for the sake of his selfish desires. That's why...this is especially troubling.”
 * “For someone who's lucky, you still got dragged into this mess. Doesn't that seem ironic to you?”
 * “...Don't get the wrong Idea. I'm...just a coward... I'm scared to leave someone like you alone when I don't understand you at all.”
 * “No matter what his reasons were, I couldn't forgive all the things Nagito had done. That's...what I'd been believing.”
 * “While you were standing? Impressive.” (talking about Chiaki Nanami being able to sleep while standing)
 * “It doesn't mean games always have to have happy endings, but you should get something out of beating them.”
 * “I took Chiaki back to her room, otherwise she'd just find a random place to fall asleep if I let her be...”
 * “Every single time... I can't believe how quickly she falls asleep in such a short time.”
 * “Were you playing a video game in your dream, too?” (to Chiaki)
 * “Is she...relying on me? If so, that makes me happy.”
 * “Why are there so many things she doesn't know...? As usual, Chiaki is full of mysteries.”
 * “Nah, I'm not that good at using my brain.”
 * “I will definitely get out of here...and take Chiaki to a lot of different places...”
 * “Because that unique way of falling is not something one can forget so easily.” (thought about Mikan falling)
 * “I don't want anyone else...to be a sacrifice.”
 * “Only one word could explain our situation. Despair... We couldn't find a more suitable word than that.”
 * “No good... I can't understand what this guy's saying after all. But even so, there's one thing I can say. It's that he's not deceiving or manipulating people for the sake of his own selfish desires. Which... makes it even more troubling.” (to Nagito)
 * “It's just as Kazuichi said... Nagito's the kind of guy who'll just confuse us and make matters worse...” (talking about Nagito)
 * “Wh-What warm up!? This isn't a game, you know!” (to Nagito)
 * “Nagito Komaeda... You're definitely someone I shouldn't underestimate.”
 * “I suspect them because I want to believe in them!”
 * “I need to...make up my mind. I'm the one who has to do it...! I'm the one who's going to finish this...!”
 * “Like a house of cards collapsing in an instant... In the end, our friend we thought we knew ended up showing us a completely different side of herself... Then she vanished from our sight, leaving behind only her malice toward us.” (thinking about Mikan)
 * “You don't have to worry, Sonia... I'm sure your feelings are reaching them...” (In response to Sonia's mourn)
 * “I completely understimated his capacity for malice.” (thinking about Nagito)
 * “A mind-boggling malice that threatens us even after he's died... That's the form his malice took.”
 * “I'm hoping that Chiaki says “Just kidding!” with her usual tone of voice... But that... It's just my selfish desire...! Chiaki isn't wishing for that!” (thought about Chiaki)
 * “It doesn't matter who the traitor is... Even if Chiaki is the traitor, that's not the Chiaki I know. I believe in...the Chiaki who's been with us this whole time. That Chiaki is saying she wants to protect us with her life! So the only thing we can do is believe her! If we don’t...nobody’s going to be saved!”
 * “...It's not fair. I...feel the same as everyone else. There's no way I can agree to this...! Emptiness. Loneliness. Sadness. But most of all...I'm ashamed of my weakness. But... Even so... I have to move forward.”
 * “If we believe in the person who's urging to us forward... then we have to start walking. And believe...with as much hope as possible in what lies ahead...”
 * “For someone like me...it;s impossible... I can't choose the future...!”
 * “Hope...despair...do whatever you want! It's not my problem!”
 * “My hope...the world's hope...which one should I choose?”
 * “There won't just be hope... There will probably be a lot of despair too... I don't know what kind of future awaits us... but our futures are ours! I won't let anyone take them!”
 * “I will fight for my future! I will fight alongside the future that everyone created for me! It's not for anyone else's sake but my own!”
 * “I...am not Izuru Kamukura... I am Hajime Hinata!”
 * “Let's leave this place with confidence, and from there we can just create it on our own... The future that we want!”
 * “This isn't a game! We can change the future as much as we want!”
 * “We believe in our future... That's what makes us different from you...” (to Junko Enoshima)
 * “We believe that if we try new things, even difficult things, that everything will turn out okay.”
 * “We believe we can even create our own futures!”
 * “So this is the end... But...it's just the beginning... Isn't that right? It doesn't change how scared I am... I can't help feeling scared...so scared, but... Thank you... Thank you, Chiaki... Phew...I finally said it.”
 * “The future isn't a path, it's like an endless sea... You can try to go anywhere... But it doesn't mean you'll get there.”
 * “Even so, I will keep on living. I will keep on living as Hajime Hinata. My future...lies here.”

Trivia

 * Hajime's e-Handbook states that:
 * He likes kusamochi, but dislikes sakuramochi,
 * His bloodtype is A,
 * His chest size is 36 in.
 * Hajime's first name (創) means “beginning”, while "Hinata" (日向) means “a sunny place” or “to face the sun”. His full name can altogether translate as “to face a new day”.
 * The names "Hajime" and "Hinata" are very common names in Japan, with either having many written forms (e.g. Hajime can be written as 始, 治, 初, 一, 元, 肇, 創, 甫, 基, 哉, 啓, 本, 源, 東, 大, 孟, 祝...). Hinata itself is both a surname and a given name. This 'common' quality of his names is parallel to how Hajime was a common student with no extraordinary talent.
 * Matching the meaning of his given name, Hajime's birthday is January 1st, the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
 * During Nonstop Debates, Hajime uses the phrase それは違うぞ (sore wa chigau zo; lit. "That's wrong"), while Makoto says それは違うよ (sore wa chigau yo; lit. "That's wrong"). Using よ yo in the end of a sentence is much more polite than using ぞ zo, which is perceived as impolite and more masculine. This is one of several nuances which show Hajime's personality to be blunter than that of Makoto. Another example of this is how he uses the word 俺 (ore) to refer himself while Makoto uses the word 僕 (boku). The usage of ore is considered more masculine and boastful, unlike boku, which is more polite.
 * Hajime's alternate identity is foreshadowed during one of Gundham's free time events, where Gundham asks Hajime to reveal his “true name”.
 * Hajime's temporary transition into his “Awakened Form" is similar to Kiyotaka Ishimaru's transformation into “Kiyondo”. Both of them acquired the transformation by keeping someone in their memories (In Hajime's case, he kept Chiaki and Izuru in mind as he finished off AI Junko), and had their naturally dark hair color turn completely white.
 * Due to dissatisfaction with Hajime not having an original title at the beginning, some have taken to calling him, pre-“Awakening”, by the title of Ultimate Preppy or Ultimate Prep-Schooler.