Takumi Hijirihara

Takumi Hijirihara (聖原 拓実 Hijirihara Takumi) is the main protagonist of Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer, a spin-off manga connected to Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy.

He is a member of Future Foundation and is part of the 6th Division’s Special Case Bureau as an investigator. His partner is Misaki Asano.

His alternative title is Killer Killer (キラーキラー Kirā Kirā), a mysterious, bizarrely polite serial killer who exclusively targets murderers. In chapter 10 of Danganronpa Gaiden, it was revealed that Takumi is the second person who earned the title Killer Killer, with his childhood friend as the first and official Killer Killer, Shūji Fujigawa.

Appearance
Takumi is tall with an average build and a bored expression. He has short black hair with a noticeable ahoge, and dark red eyes. He wears the standard Future Foundation suit-and-tie uniform. His uniform and hair are disheveled, causing Misaki to label him as a slob.

While he was younger, his eyes were yellow.

Personality
Takumi is sullen and eccentric. He enjoys hiding in dark and confined spaces, as he finds the atmosphere relaxing. In addition to his strangeness, he is also, outwardly, very lazy and frequently attempts to have Misaki do the investigation work for the both of them. Despite this, he has strong deduction skills and is very observant. It is also revealed during the second case that Takumi falls in love very easily, which can cause him to lose his regular composure and become distracted by that person.

Despite being an investigator tasked with catching criminals, Takumi has a very strong appreciation for murderers and killings, which may have transpired from the traumatic experience of the Giboura Massacre. He studies murderers and even goes as far as to rate their crimes. Takumi's ultimate resolution is to emulate the killer he narrowly escaped from as a child.

He gets extreme enjoyment out of killing, as he feels that is the fundamental trait that murderers should posses. When he kills, his true feelings are reflected as his shadow becomes more demonic and his face briefly mirrors Monokuma. Although this may or may not be a reference to him having fallen to despair, later in Chapter 6, Juzo Sakakura clarified that Takumi has no possibility of despair.

Ordinary morality does not in any way matter to Takumi. Surprisingly he feels disdain for perpetrators who have no regard for human life.

Prior to the Tragedy
Takumi was a student at Giboura Middle School during the incident of the Giboura Middle School Massacre. He was the sole survivor of the event because he had hidden in the cleaning closet. This event had a psychologically damaging effect on Takumi, which led to his near-obsessive love for serial murderers, as well as the gory and grotesque.

Takumi stated that he had lived in Spain for several years (though, it is not known if it was before the incident or after.) As such, he has learned to speak Spanish.

Chapter 1 - Murder for Murder
Takumi is first seen hiding in an empty locker, scaring Misaki when she opens it. Ikue Dogami informs her that Takumi will be her partner, and several coworkers express how bad they feel for the newbie to be stuck with him. Chief Dogami gives them an assignment to protect the "Monk Idol," Momomichi Ito, at his live event. Takumi ignores the majority of it and tells Misaki she can go on without him. He attempts to make an excuse and tells Misaki that he can't go outside because of an illness that causes him to age when he steps into sunlight.

Once there, Takumi hides in the temple's offering box with a cup of ramen and eventually falls asleep. He wakes up again after several corpses are revealed. At first he appears angry, but his behavior suddenly becomes more erratic as he latches onto one of the corpses and complains about being thirsty.

The two gather everyone who had access to the backstage during the concert, including Itou and his staff. Misaki concluded that someone must have slipped through their perimeter and had gotten away, but Takumi whispers to her that the culprit is still on site. When she asks him to tell the suspects this himself he answers that it’s too scary to talk to strangers. The two bicker for a moment, causing Takumi to go on a tangent about his grandfather. Now newly confident, Misaki believed that she had it all figured out when Takumi suddenly leaves. She yells at him to tell her who it was, and he replies that when his grandfather was on his deathbed, he was convinced he was Kindaichi.

Back at HQ, Misaki complains about Takumi and his bizarre behavior. Chief Dogami reminds her of the Giboura Middle School Massacre, and reveals that Takumi was the only survivor of that event. He had hidden in a closet in the back of the classroom, which led to his love of small spaces. Because of this, he feels more strongly about murders than the average person.

During that time, Takumi called Ito to the temple. He pops out of the donation box and accuses him of committing the murder. When asked for proof, Takumi admits he doesn’t have any. The only 'proof' he has is his own feelings; because, when it comes to bizarre murderers and crimes, Takumi loves them more than anything else, so he feels very sure of his gut instinct. He explains how he can determine things about a murderer based on how they choose to kill their victims, which is how he was able to determine Ito's intent and motive. He rates Ito's murders with a score of 20/100. He comments that Itou's disgustingly beautiful skin was preserved by drinking the blood of his victims, and that it was his only goal.

He is disappointed, saying that Ito only committed murder as a "desperate alternative," and that he didn't "love" it. When attacked, Takumi dices Ito to pieces with a small blade. Takumi then reflects on his childhood memory of the Giboura School Massacre and the day that he had made the resolution to become a "cool mass murderer," just like the man he so narrowly escaped from. He leaves a note at the scene and heads back to HQ to rest under a counter. He invites Misaki to join him and he's surprised to see she does so. Misaki admits that it is relaxing, and Takumi is pleased with this.

Chapter 2 - Symbiotic Hospital
Takumi is relaxing underneath the counter of the sink in Future Foundation's break room. He once again surprises Misaki, who trips. Takumi pointed out that he could see her panties, which causes her to become angry and leave. Later, he finds and carries Mekuru Katsuragi towards the others in the meeting room. The two appear close, as Mekuru address Takumi by a nickname, and mentions that they've known each other for a long time.

Misaki and Takumi go to Ongou hospital to investigate another strange murder. Takumi lays down in the corpse's hospital bed and begins muttering to her. When Misaki tries to get him to follow her, he doesn't want to because he finds the woman too comfortable. Misaki goes to interrogate Shinya Ikemoto, a surgeon, while Takumi hides in a locker and comments on the situation. A nurse named Rei Shimizu stumbles into the room and Takumi becomes so excited with her that he collapses from a heart attack.

Takumi wakes up in a hospital room with Misaki by the bedside, and immediately leaves the room to continue investigating. Rei finds him in an adjacent room, and he begins to exhibit nervous and love-stuck behaviors once again. After returning to HQ, he is preoccupied by thoughts of Rei, and even ignores Misaki and Mekuru when Mekuru finds a lead. He returns to the hospital sometime later and confesses his love to Rei. He states that he loves everything about her except her killing style, revealing that he had known she was the murderer from the start.

Takumi rates Rei's murder with a 30/100, once again expressing disappointment in her lack of "love" for the act. He realizes that all Rei had cared about was her parasites that she had implanted in the victims to be harvested later and asks her to draw out the parasites in her own body. He quickly defeats them all, and then kills her, as his love for passionate murders was stronger than his love for her.

Later on back at HQ, Chief Dogami couldn't find any documents regarding Rei on her database thanks to Takumi's dedication to perform a Super Kill Steal and his love towards her. He already deleted all of documents regarding Rei.

Chapter 3 - Bessatsu Shounen Zetsubou Magazine
Takumi was delivered to Eiichiro Saiyama's apartment inside a delivery box. He then walks into his apartment without the man's permission, and gazes in awe at his work, exclaiming his praise in Spanish. Takumi then explains that he had spent several years in Spain, and speaks quite a bit of Spanish.

Despite praising him, Takumi pointed out a major flaw in his work: the corpses looked too realistic, so he decided to come and investigate. Takumi walks further into the apartment and opens a back room filled with corpses, all in different posed positions. In the end, Takumi rated Eiichiro's murder with a 20/100, once again disappointed that the manga artist wasn't passionate about his killings, and only did it so he could be praised for his work.

Takumi then picks up a manga of his and rates it 55/100 due to the manga having no personality at all. Having had enough with Takumi's criticism, Eiichiro then attempts to kill him. Takumi kills him with his own weapon, in a Super Copy-Cat Murder, and once again exposing his more demented, despair-driven side.

Sometime later, Juzo Sakakura (impersonating Ted Chikatilo) called Takumi and ordered him to come to Tify Ariake Arena if he wanted Misaki and Mekuru, who he had abducted.

Chapter 4 - Sting Casino Murders
Takumi shows up to the arena during the events of the Killing Festival, a tournament where killers fight to the death. Juzo is surprised he came, and Takumi mentions that he couldn't leave a fellow shut-in and lover of cramped spaces to die, referencing Misaki. He recalls the time where Misaki wanted to join him under the sink, which had moved him to tears.

The fight begins and it is almost immediately over; Juzo punches Takumi in the stomach and he begins to cough up blood. Juzo tells him to fight but Takumi rationalizes that he must be uncomfortable in such an open arena. In frustration, Juzo drops him into a large cannon to the pleasure of a screaming crowd. Instead of panic, Takumi calms down but makes no effort to move or react--even when Juzo reveals Takumi's identity to the entire crowd, including Misaki. While taunting and preparing to blow Takumi up, an explosion goes off in the stands to Juzo's surprise. Takumi peeks out of the cannon, welcoming the real Ted Chikatilo as he enters the arena, revealing that he had known Juzo had been impersonating him from the beginning.

Chapter 5 - Firework Lyric
In the middle of the chaos, Takumi climbed out of the Festival's cannon and was confronted by the real Ted, who suggested that they meet somewhere privately. Takumi stays put after Ted runs off and discovers the hanged body of Republic of Lamieca's Secretary of Defense alongside Juzo and Misaki. He is the only one who doesn't have a reaction, but quickly slips away.

He is confronted by Kenji Tsuruhashi, a member of Future Foundation's Special Troops, who chased after him and met with him on top of a building. He orders Takumi to surrender, however, things change after Takumi accused him of being the one who murdered the Secretary of Defense.

Kenji quickly admits it, laughing maniacally as he remembers the scared expression on Juzo's face when discovering the body. His main motive in killing the Secretary was to create a scandal large enough that would get Juzo fired. Juzo treated Kenji poorly and "worked him like a dog," so he wanted revenge for that reason. Takumi isn't satisfied with this, and gives Kenji's murder a score of 0/100. Kenji goes to attack Takumi, which ends in Takumi pushing him off the side of his building and hanging Kenji with his tie.

Ted is pleased with Takumi's "performance," clapping and praising him in response. He is happy to finally be lucky enough to have the opportunity to kill Killer Killer himself, and shoots a large firework at him. Takumi cuts it perfectly in half, to Ted's amazement. In response, Ted creates an illusion of a castle in the sky in order to show his worth to Takumi.

Chapter 6 - Possibility of Despair
After he successfully killed Ted, Takumi and Misaki were admitted to a hospital. Kyoko Kirigiri, the Head of the Future Foundation 14th Division stepped in and asked him whether he knew about his former middle school classmate named Shūji Fujigawa. Takumi replied that he didn't know him very well back in the middle school. Juzo stated that Takumi had no possibility of despair.

Chapter 8 - Beginning of Killer Killer
It is revealed that Mukuro Ikusaba was the murderer in question that Takumi admired and inspired him to be the Killer Killer. It is also revealed that he and Shūji were the sole survivors of the incident.

At the end of the chapter, Takumi was seen appearing from the temple's offering box, having received a call from Ikue Dogami, and appeared shocked when he heard about "Mukuro having broken out".

Chapter 9 - Don't Kill
Shortly after replying to Ikue that he is sure Mukuro died, Takumi began heading off. Misaki attempted to stop him to get further explanation, but she was ultimately dragged along until she asked him if he is the Killer Killer, to which Takumi replied to her to let go of his hand, which she did.

Takumi then arrived to the destination building, joined shortly after by Misaki and Shūji. As soon as Takumi opened the doors, they can see Future Foundation's 8th Branch's Security entirely annihilated. A few seconds after, Mukuro appeared and rushed in Misaki's direction in an attempt to murder her, but she is quickly blocked by Takumi, and the two began a fight. Takumi, however, quickly incapacitated Mukuro and attempted to strangle and kill her. Raising a knife in the air, his actions are stopped by Shūji who begged him to stop murdering.

However, he and Misaki were then surrounded by dozens of Mukuro clones, which were quickly defeated by Takumi as well. While he faced the remaining ones, he quickly concluded that they aren't the real Mukuro Ikusaba, as their lack of passion for killing cannot compare to the real one, giving them a score of 0. Before he could finish them all off, however, Misaki incapacitated them with a gun charged with muscle relaxants, claiming that they could deal with them without any murder happening. However, Takumi did not listen to Misaki's suggestion and finished them all off swiftly, to Misaki's horror. The latter finally accepted the fact that Takumi is the elusive Killer Killer, breaking down into tears.

However, Takumi's expression turned into shock when he saw Shūji impaling Misaki through the chest with a dagger as a last resort to try and make him understand his train of thought.

Chapter 10 - Killer Killer Killer
The chapter begins where the last left off, as Shūji continues to relentlessly pick at Misaki, going as far as pulling her by her hair. Takumi watches as Shūji delves into backstory, revealing how the Giboura Massacre convinced him to begin killing serial killers as well - not because of a love for passionate killings like Takumi, but out of a desire to clean the world. Shūji reveals that after finding Takumi in the act of killing his planned victim one day, he vowed to save Takumi from the murderers who tainted him.

Shūji then attempts to deliver a finishing blow to Misaki, only to be stopped by Sonosuke Izayoi. Alongside him is Juzo, Ruruka Ando, and Ikue, who begin to fight Shūji for harming a Future Foundation member. Shūji then detonates a bomb and makes an unseen escape. After his escaped, Takumi discovered that he slipped a shiny metallic collar onto Misaki's neck.

Relationships

 * Future Foundation Members:

Misaki Asano
Misaki is Takumi's partner. He appears to be disinterested in anything Misaki says or does, but treats her fairly well as shown by him frequently offering to let her join him in his dark spaces. He is shown to have become attached to her because of this, becoming so touched by Misaki's gesture that he started to tear up. Takumi is able to identify with her easier, and is protective of her, as she is a "fellow shut-in" like himself.

Later, when Shūji appeared and threatened Takumi by holding Misaki hostage and placed the metal bomb choker on her neck, Misaki begged Takumi to kill her, exclaiming that her murder is the 'Passionate Killing' Takumi yearned for, which he does by 'severing' her head before reconnecting it after removing the bomb choker. Sometimes later, after recovering from his injuries, Takumi met with Misaki again and propose to perform "Super Lovers Suicide" which she complies. Their fate is left unknown.

Mekuru Katsuragi
The two have a close relationship, as Takumi is comfortable enough to carry her around and Meruku calls him by the nickname 'Hi-kun.' Misaki notices that the two don't interact as simple co-workers, and have a deeper relationship. Mekuru herself mentions that they have known each other for a long time.


 * Giboura Middle School:

Shūji Fujigawa
Despite Takumi stating he did not know Shūji very well they had an acquaintanceship to the point where they agreed to be in pose in a photograph together. The two were both survivors of the incident that turned Takumi into Killer Killer. Takumi rated Shuji's murders a 100 out of 100, which is his highest ranking he has ever given anyone.


 * Ultimate Despair:

Mukuro Ikusaba
Takumi greatly admires Mukuro for her techniques in murder. Despite his admiration of her, they officially became enemies when he joined the Future Foundation and she founded Ultimate Despair.

Quotes

 * "Hey rookie...Let's make one thing clear. I indeed like hanging out in crammed spaces, but even so...I'm actually a really hard-working guy." (Introduction to Misaki Asano)
 * “Small places have differences too... How the space feels, temperature, the hardness... What fits best for you... It's all a matter of trial and error.”
 * “You have a fatal lack for what's important: a love for murder.”
 * “That day inside that closest... I made a resolution. I'll definitely become one... a cool mass murderer, just like him.”
 * “'Murder makes a man,' or so it is said.”

Trivia

 * The kanji for Takumi's first name (拓実) can translate as "Open Truth" - possible a reference to Takumi's job as an SIC.
 * His last name (聖原) can translate to "saint's field."
 * Takumi makes reference to Kosuke Kindaichi several times, and says that his dying grandfather was once convinced that he was him.

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