Sou Hiyori

""The truth hurts, doesn't it? Well, you asked for it!""

- —Chapter 3, Day 11

Sou Hiyori, known by his true name as Shin Tsukimi, is a participant in NOT: A Killing Game and a representative for Your Turn to Die.

History
See here for more information.

Early Life
Shin felt that he was spoiled by his parents while growing up, and looked to have independence in his life. He became a self-proclaimed job-hopper, working a bunch of small jobs such as at a convenience store.

Chapter 1
Sou wakes up late, hours after the other contestants. He is immediately terrified by the unfamiliar setting and the electrocuted body of Chumkuma that sits in the third deck of the ship, but keeps his cool in front of a L|mysterious boy named L whom he finds investigating the body. Wanting to find out more about his current situation, he joins the investigation, also examining the body of Monoboy found on the the main deck. During his investigation, he meets Kagura Mikazuchi, who asks him to try shaking a strange baby rattle they found by the body. He complies, but the rattle disorients him greatly when he shakes it. They deduce that the rattle could not have been used on someone else, instead believing the owner of the rattle used it to disorient themself.

At some point during the investigation, Sou wanders into the second deck’s library, where he meets Akio Akagawa. She is reading a book about psychology and writing notes, both of which Sou privately takes interest in. Akio takes the notes with her when she leaves, but Sou is able to read the psychology book, showing much interest in the sections about manipulative tactics.

During the First Class Trial, Sou’s investigation proves to be helpful. He confirms the gunshot wound on the back of Monoboy’s head, suggesting that he was murdered, and he also shares the effects of the strange rattle he discovered. Sou remains very distrustful of the trial, thinking that it may be rigged.

When Sou leaves the trial, he finds a mentally unstable Akio. Sou pressures her about what is wrong, saying she should trust him because she declared earlier that she would trust everyone. Akio refuses to tell Sou what her problems are, creating a tense relationship between the two.

Sometime later, Sou seeks Asagiri Gen, hoping to make a connection with someone he believes is like-minded in order to establish an advantage in his situation. However, what he intended to be a private talk with Gen turns into a gathering as many people show up, including L, Chihiro, Akio, and Sans. Sou reluctantly agrees to join their party. He takes a sprite from the fridge, stating that he is “more of a sprite guy”, and meets them in the lounge. Here, they have a discussion about the fact that they all come from different universes. Sou has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Sans is not a person wearing a costume, and becomes frightened when it is revealed that many of the people here have special superpowers. He decides to tell them honestly that he has no powers, but worries about if his computer hacking skills will ever come in handy. Gen also suggests a buddy system, but Sou refuses it, wanting to be able to act independently. He questions the group’s blind optimism and trust in each other. Despite his fears, Sou feels optimistic about gaining trust among whom he considers to be some of the “smartest people here.”

During this meeting, Akio falls asleep and the rest of the group decides to carry her to her room. Sou volunteers to help, believing that he might get a chance to see the notes Akio was writing earlier. They enter her room, and Asagiri Gen finds a note located under her bed. Chihiro suggests they leave it be, not wanting to intrude on others’ privacy, but Sou is eager to read it. The note seems to detail some kind of psychological study on Akio’s behavior, with her own notes added on. Sou asks to have the note, but his request is denied. The group leaves Akio in her room and decides to discuss their findings back in the lounge. Sou theorizes that Akio was being tested and studied in some kind of facility, possibly a mental hospital, and that even after her release, she continued to do tests on herself. L agrees with Sou’s conclusion, but says that the note isn’t useful in their situation. Sou disagrees, saying that the more they learn about the participants, the greater chance they have of survival.

As the boat begins sinking at the end of Chapter 1, Sou goes to Akio’s room and steals the note she was keeping secret in her room before hastily leaving the boat. He also grabs a can of Sprite soda.

Chapter 2
Upon arriving at Bind, Sou is placed in the B group of participants, meaning he has to reside in B-site’s dorms. Cypher gives the participants a tour around the map, and points out a dangerous glowing wall that he warns them not to go near. This intrigues Sou, and he decides to investigate on his own later on. He rolls the Sprite can he took from the ship into the glowing wall to test what will happen, and it disappears upon touching the wall. He looks everywhere for it, but is unable to find it until he sees Cypher drinking out of a Sprite can. At first, Cypher feigns ignorance, pretending that the Sprite had always been his own and that he is unsure how to open the locked doors in B-hookah. Sou does not fall for his act, already sure of the fact that Cypher’s Sprite was his and that the glowing walls are portals. Despite Sou’s interrogation, Cypher refuses to admit to his knowledge of the portals or explain how he got Sou’s Sprite. This leads Sou to decide to test the portals another way.

Sou decides to test what happens if a human enters the portal, but does not want to put himself at risk. He calls Akio and Chihiro, telling them he lost something that he needs help finding. When they encounter the glowing wall, Sou reveals the paper he had been carrying, which contains Akio’s psychological notes. He attempts to pressure Akio to enter the portal, threatening to show the paper to everyone if she refuses. Chihiro begs Sou to work together instead of threatening people, but he tells her that this is his idea of working together. However, things take a turn when they spot a mysterious object flying around and a flash of bright light appearing in front of the portal. This causes Sou to panic as he loses his control over the situation, and he urgently tries to force Akio to enter the portal before giving up.

When the motive of the files is presented, Sou takes Akio’s file before anyone else can. He reads its’ details, and compares them to the secret note he still has on him. With this, he is able to completely understand Akio’s secrets. He learns that her sanity is unstable due to having to shoulder the troubles of many mentally ill patients she studied. Sou is excited to learn these details, finally giving him the upper hand in controlling Akio.

Later, Sou wanders around the map when he spots L walking into the portal. Sou hurriedly tries to find him, excited to confirm the results of what happens when you use the portal. He finds L in A-showers, and they begin discussing the portals. During this conversation, Security Drone arrives. Sou asks the drone if someone is controlling him, which the drone denies awkwardly. L reminds him that they can read the drone’s file at any time since he is in A-group. Sou then has the mischievous idea to try to obtain his own group’s files, despite them being only accessible to A-group. The drone agrees to his plan, saying that it will give L and Sou any B-team file of their choosing if they agree to help the drone with something. Both L and Sou accept, and Sou quickly declares he has chosen which file he wants to read. However, before taking any action, he first reads the Security Drone’s file as L suggested in order to learn its secrets. Sou learns that there is in fact a boy controlling the drone, and that they are locked on the sinking ship they spent the first chapter in. After learning this, he decides to trust the drone, and is shortly messaged on his looking glass. The drone's message asks Sou to locate food and gear for him to be brought to the sinking ship. Sou messages back, asking him for L’s file. When he receives it, he is surprised to learn that L is his own world’s number one detective.

Sou meets L not long after, and L shocks him by accurately predicting that Sou has read the files of Akio and Security Drone. Sou reveals that he read L’s file, and L questions why he didn’t choose his own. Sou gives a cryptic answer, and exclaims that he has a present for L, handing him Security Drone’s file. They both return to their rooms. Later on, Sou knocks on L's door, saying that he wants to begin working on their assignment for the drone. Seeing as they aren't sure where to obtain materials, Sou considers asking Cypher for help since he knows the location. Suddenly, an object quickly flies past the two of them into a nearby crate, then whizzes out of the room. A flash of light also is seen through a window. The Security Drone arrives just in time to see these strange occurrences, and Sou tells him to investigate what happened. L tries to theorize who among them is capable of moving an object without use of portals. He reaches through the files and selects Cypher's. Sou asks if he can have it once L is finished reading, but L doesn't give him a clear answer.

The drone returns, mentioning that he found a strange sand trail. Sans and Sou accompany the drone to investigate. The three of them walk into b-hookah, and discover Kanade's dead body. As more people begin to discover the body, Sou runs off in a panic. He finds L, and informs him of the body. A shaken Asagiri Gen walks in, looking for Chihiro's file. Sou asks Gen if he thinks Chihiro committed the murder, and Gen denies this, saying he is just delivering Chihiro her file. Gen says he isn't going to read the file, and doesn't care about what is in it. Sou fails to understand this, telling Gen that any secrets they uncover can help reveal the murderer, and that he should be more wary of what people are hiding. Gen leaves, and L asks Sou about the strange object they saw earlier. They recall that a fast object flew past them, and then there was some kind of disturbance in b-hookah. L goes there to investigate, and Sou sits down.

Cypher appears, and Sou is excited to talk to him. He tells Cypher about the strange flying object, and Cypher says he thinks it was some kind of distraction to draw Sou's attention to b-hookah. Cypher says they should actually be looking somewhere else, and takes Sou to the defender spawn. There, they find many small discs in some crates. Cypher takes a disc and throws it, producing a cage-like hologram. Sou says that he has seen this hologram twice before. It was the flash of light that happened when he tried to force Akio to go into the portal, and the flash that happened directly after the strange object flew out of b-site. Cypher reveals that the hologram-producing disks known as ‘cyber cages’ are used to block vision, and were likely used as a distraction both times Sou noticed them. Sou asks Cypher if there is food or a radio device here, but Cypher tells him this place was long since abandoned and has nothing of the sort.

An announcement is made for everyone to gather in b-long for the Second Class Trial. Sou greets Akio, taunting her and threatening to reveal her secret to everyone. He receives a well-deserves kick in the shin. Everyone else arrives, and they head into the trial room. As the trial begins, Akio mentions a strange ring she found, and Sou explains what Cypher told him about the cyber cages. Sou also describes the two previous times he saw the cyber cage in action, and asks Cypher if he was the one who threw it on the first occasion. Cypher says he was not, but Sou is convinced that it was him. His reasoning is that Cypher discovered Sou's sprite at that time, meaning he must have used the portals, one of which Akio, Chihiro and Sou were standing in front of. When Modeus asks how a sprite can is relevant to the murder, Sou admits that it isn't, but says that the fact that Cypher is lying is the cause for concern. However, the discussion subject changes to the details of Kanade's body before Sou can fully pursue this topic. When Akio explains her theory as to how the murder played out, mentioning the usage of the trap and movement of the body through the portals, Sou agrees. They are both caught off guard when it is revealed that the user of the portal was actually alive at the time they went through it. When L says that no one had access to their own file, Sou exposes that L was able to read his own file through looking glass messages, forcing L and the drone to explain their deal. The participants begin to focus on the file exchanges, bringing up that Sou took Akio's file. He quickly deflects, saying that that is "not important" and instead asking about the contents of Cypher's file. At that moment, Poof produces certain files they deem relevant to the trial, and allows them to be viewed. Sou is shocked to see that his own file is among them, but Cypher's is not. Kanade's file is revealed first, and Sou is surprised to learn that Kanade was a super intelligent serial killer. Chihiro volunteers to reveal the contents of her file next, and Sou is again mildly surprised to learn that she is actually a boy. As people begin to take interest in Sou's file, he panics, trying to pressure L to reveal the contents of Cypher's file instead. His exasperation only increases as people express interest in Akio's file, but her file is revealed to be blank. Poof reveals that Akio's file is not actually relevant to the case, and produces Cypher's file instead. Sou is relieved that he won't have to give up the information he has on Akio, and interested to read Cypher's file. L says that he knew Cypher had not been telling the full truth from the start since he read Cypher's file already, and Sou is glad to hear that his suspicions of Cypher were merited. He demands Cypher's file, and begins reading.

After reading Cypher's file, Sou is able to put together a much clearer picture of the events of the Chapter. He deduces that the mysterious flying object he saw earlier was Cypher's Spycam. Cypher denies that he used a cyber cage since he arrived at Bind, but Sou proves him wrong, stating that there are two reasons he knows the cyber cage was used by Cypher. The first is that Sou is able to recall seeing the spycam moments before his first sighting of the hologram with Chihiro and Akio. The second reason is that Sou is positive Cypher used the portal at that time. He mentions how he had rolled a sprite can through the portals as a test, then tried to force Akio to enter the portal to see if she could go through. Then, he had found Cypher holding his sprite directly after, meaning he had used the portal to get it. Since he was standing next to the portal at the time, they would have seen Cypher either enter or exit the portals. However, they did not see Cypher, and instead were blinded by a flash of light. With this, Sou concludes Cypher blinded them with a cyber cage and then entered the portal to obtain his sprite. Cypher is forced to concede that he did use the cage at that time, and suspicion is set on him, though no concrete evidence labels him as the murderer.

Foop summarizes that they know the culprit altered the cages, being extremely intelligent and experienced to pull their plan off. The rest of the participants discuss who it might be and come up empty-handed, but Sou suggests that Kanade herself may be the culprit of her own murder. Citing her intelligence as mentioned in the file, Sou theorizes that she could have set up the trap and figured out how to use the cyber cages. Everyone agrees with this, but Sou is at a loss for words on what Kanade’s motive might have been. Cypher, however, has an idea. He states that Kanade’s goal was to get everyone killed by arranging her own murder and framing Cypher so that they would vote wrong. Sou worries that his pursuit of Cypher may have led everyone to vote wrong if they didn’t figure out this truth, and is ashamed to have somewhat fallen for Kanade’s trap. The mascots confirm that Kanade was the culprit and show her execution, which greatly disgusts Sou and causes him to vomit. Kagura offers to talk with Sou later about his file, which she stole and read during the trial. Suddenly, the Security Drone loses power and falls to the ground. Sou, fearful that this means the boy trapped in the ship sunk, runs off in a hurry.

Sou staggers into his room and takes a shower. He then notices that both Akio’s file and a second paper he copied it onto are both gone, and only her psychological notes from the ship are left. Next, unsure of what to do about Drone’s situation, he runs outside to talk to Kagura. Sou asks Kagura to explain what she found in his file, and she summarizes. Sou’s file detailed how he was spoiled by his parents, and that his real name is Shin. He met a troublesome friend named Sou, and that friend died one day. Kagura is unsure of what caused Shin to take on his friend’s name. Sou affirms that everything in the file is true, and asks about Kagura’s file. Kagura shares an embarassing secret first, and then goes into detail about her dark secrets. Sou is interested to hear Kagura’s story about her troubles in her magical world. Kagura lets Sou know that he can trust her, but he doesn’t understand why she would after how suspicious he was during the trial. He warns Kagura that she might regret her decision to trust him, but that he also can’t do anything to her at the moment since she knows his secrets. The two part ways.

Worried about the boy on the ship, Sou walks back outside to the Attack spawn, noticing Steven Universe. Steven tells Sou that he saved the boy using his bubble powers, which he demonstrates. Sou asks what happened next, and Steven says that once they surfaced, the boy just flew off. Sou becomes unsure what to make of the boy controlling the drone, believing he is still scheming something.

Sou gathers in defense spawn with everyone and watches the mascots get murdered by 4 and X. He then leaves through the portal to Chapter 3.

Chapter 3
Monsters attack the participants as they enter the Minecraft world, and Sou expresses distaste about having to rely on others to defend him since he has no powers. He comments that Kagura is the most fit to lead the group due to her fighting skill. Sou begins figuring out the game's mechanics by reading the tips on his watch, beginning by creating a crafting table and collecting wood. He makes some progress upgrading his tools to stone, and finds beds at a nearby village. He decides to build his own house. Akio anxiously mentions that one of her items glitched out, and Sou asks her if it was her pills. Akio denies this, and Sou says it would be bad if she lost them. After that, Sou upgrades his house and continues mining. While he is busy, most of the others take a trip somewhere. Sou asks where they were and Godot answers, "the mansion." Everyone then agrees to go to sleep.

When they wake up, Sou is eager to find out more about this "mansion." The drone tells him that it is a dangerous place filled with Illagers and that he needs at least iron armor if he wants to go. Sou begins mining again to meet these requirements, and follows everyone to the woodland mansion with an iron helmet and iron sword. They enter the mansion stealthily when a Vindicator suddenly attacks Sou. Kagura defends him and he is able to take it down with Cypher's help. The group takes on more Vindicators and loots the first floor. Sou suggests that they should first clear the entire mansion of enemies before searching it for items, and they head upstairs. They are swarmed by more enemies. Sans and Kagura easily dispose of them while Godot and Sou assist with swords. Sou eats a steak to replenish his hunger, and says he is going to stay on the second floor to look around. Sans accompanies him, and they discover diamond armor in a chest. They then head to the third floor to join the rest of the group. He arrives to see that they defeated an Evoker and it dropped a totem. Having read its function, Sou takes an interest in the totem and asks for it. Kagura agrees and hands it to him. He gives Kagura a steak in return. They search around, finding a strange sign with only the number 0 on it. Then, they arrive at a room with a mob spawner in it. The Illusioner appears and fights them. Sou is hit by an arrow, but also lands a hit on the Illusioner. Sans loses his life during the battle, forced to resurrect using his own totem. Sou is content to see the totem working in action, and vows not to waste his own. The others take out the boss, and everyone does a final search of the mansion. He finds a damaged anvil and takes it with him, noting Chihiro's request for it in the online chat. He also updates the people who didn't go to the mansion on the group's status, and returns to the village.

Sou returns and gives Chihiro the anvil. He asks what L and Chihiro have been up to, and they tell him about their journey into the mineshaft and what they found there. L says he found three signs labeled 0, 2, and 3. Sou tells him about the 0 sign he found, and they speculate what it could mean. He then goes to rest.

Chapter 4
???

Chapter 5
Sou enters the portal to “Hell” and waits for the others to arrive. When Judgement asks how a portal to hell is possible, Sou reminds her of the unnatural nature of the killing game, saying that “They’ve done way crazier”. After a minute, the mascots Kokichi and Ball Kazuichi arrive. They explain the motive of killing in return for bringing back someone from the dead. Sou is skeptical of the motive, showing the most criticism of the mascots’ claims they can revive the dead. Since Sou refuses to accept their claims, Kokichi decides to temporarily revive Akio to prove Sou of the motive’s authenticity. A hallucination of Akio appears in Sou’s vision. However, Sou denies the “Akio” they show him, refusing to believe it is real. The apparition disappears, but Kokichi threatens Sou not to get too defiant with him again. Sou leaves to his room, telling himself that the “Akio” he saw wasn’t real. He stays there for a while.

Sou leaves his room to find Godot and Sweater talking in the reception hall. He interrupts their conversation to ask them if they believe someone can truly come back from the dead. Sou is relieved to hear that both Sweater and Godot agree that the mascots are pulling some kind of trickery. Sweater suggests that the revived dead are AIs, and Sou reminds them that there are still two AIs among the living, telling them not to trust anyone. Just then, the three hear a crash nearby. Suddenly, mascots Four and X appear, and tell them to help chase after Gen and Cortex. Once they get over the shock of realizing Gen and Cortex are still alive, the three follow Four and X. Modeus joins them, and they all enter the testing facility, where Gen was last seen entering. To their surprise, a screaming Cortex is there in a supply closet instead. When Modeus tries to run over to Cortex, Four snaps their fingers. The supply closet, along with Cortex, vanishes. Sou asks how Four did this, but they simply snap their fingers again to demonstrate. Confused, the group leaves the room in search of Cortex and Gen.

Soon after, Kokichi invites all of the participants to the testing facilities for pancakes. Sou enters, but Monokichi is nowhere to be found. Instead, they stumble upon L’s dead body. Sou is in shock, unable to understand how such a smart and cautious man had been killed. He immediately became suspicious of the revived Akio and Kagura. Godot talks to Kagura and Akio, but Sou urges him to “get away from those imposters.” Kagura asks what’s wrong, and Sou tells them to go away because they should be dead. He tells Akio that she is just an artificial body with an AI inside it, and not the real Akio. Akio snaps back by saying that Sou is going to end up dead and alone, but Sou insists that he will survive, and tells her that she no longer matters. He leaves the room, letting the others investigate L’s body.

Sou enters the kitchen, but is thrown into shock again upon finding Asagiri Gen’s body. He begins to suspect Godot, asking if he was lying when he said that the dead couldn’t come back. Godot tells Sou to shut up and that he wouldn’t go back on his word. Sou finds that an empty slot in the knife rack is bloody, and suggests that the murder weapon was put there. He also questions why the killer bothered to hide the murder weapon, because they wouldn’t be able to figure out the identity of the murderer even if they had the murder weapon. Kagura and Akio enter the kitchen. Kagura asks Sou to have “more faith in his allies”. Sou tells her that everyone in the world wants to live, but that doesn’t make them allies. Kagura continues to plead with Sou to be friends with everyone and cooperate, but he dismisses her words, saying that they were never friends and that he has no interest in making friends with “the dead.” They continue investigating the kitchen, ignoring each other.

During the Fifth Class Trial, Sou brings up the evidence of the empty slot in the knife rack covered in blood. When Cypher reveals that he gave Chihiro a trapwire, Sou calls him “dumb”. He wondered how Chihiro lost the trapwire, and who possibly could have taken it. He also seemed forgetful of the trapwire’s functions, requiring Cypher to give him another explanation. When people begin bringing up the possibility that ghosts triggered the trapwire, Sou is very unsettled and skeptical. He mocks everyone for believing that such a ghost could exist, suggesting that they’re just artificial bodies with AIs inside. When Kagura suggests further that she really has been brought back from the dead, Sou only shows further denial. When Chihiro offers another explanation as to why the trapwire wasn’t working, he becomes very relieved. As more evidence becomes clear, Sou theorizes that both L and Gen were killed in the kitchen.

However, Sou becomes uneasy again as the full picture becomes clear. He refuses to believe Chihiro’s confession, accusing Modeus of manipulating him into it. When Godot reveals the bloody knife, he becomes even more panicked. He gets extremely angry at Godot, failing to understand why he would kill when they both agreed the motive of resurrecting the dead was a lie. Cypher breaks the chaos in the room, though, and allows Godot a chance to explain himself. Sou’s exasperation only continues through Godot’s explanation of how he killed L by accident, and he falls completely silent when Chihiro explains how he killed Gen. After a long pause, Sou says that he is disappointed in L and Godot and that they are pathetic. He fails to understand what their plan to die could possibly have accomplished, but everyone else is fed up with him and leaves the trial. He accuses everyone of “losing their minds” and doesn’t see how “throwing your life away” is the right option. Kagura tells him that the way he is acting gives him a high probability of death, and also leaves.

When everyone is called to meet on the terrace, Sou starts conversation with Cypher. He asks them what he thought of Godot and L’s plan to die. Cypher says that it was not done correctly and that it was a gamble anyway. Sou fails to understand how there was any merit in their plan, but still praises Cypher for not being “as foolish as they were.” When Cypher shares that his main goal is survival, Sou feels that they are similar. Just then, Chihiro asks Monokichi a question that freezes Sou in place: Were the people he brought back to life fake? Monokichi tells Chihiro that they were fake, and Sou feels extremely relieved to hear that the dead cannot really come back. At that moment, Monahlia and Pinkiekuma appear and whisk everyone away to the location of Chapter 6.

Chapter 6

???

Chapter 7

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NOT 1.5

???

Akio Akagawa
Sou‘s relationship with Akio is tense and manipulative. Due to Akio showing vulnerability early on, Sou sees her as a good target to manipulate and gain control over to increase his odds of survival. He occasionally taunts and teases her as a display of his self-imposed superiority over her, which she usually responds angrily to. Sou will stop at nothing to pry into Akio’s secrets and uncover whatever he can, as he believes that the more he learns will increase his chances of survival. In the second chapter, Sou threatens Akio using her secret notes, marking a change in their relationship. During the trials when Sou snaps or becomes desperate, Akio becomes more scared of him. His manipulation and threatening of Akio gets worse as the game goes on, eventually causing him to resemble the mental patients Akio has had to deal with in her line of work. He even appears as a hallucination to her during the peak of her mental instability due to this resemblance. In the Third Trial, Akio finally dies when Sou is pressured to uncover her secrets, proving her the killer. He snaps upon having to accept that Akio is going to die because he can no longer benefit from manipulating her. Despite not seeming to show any remorse for his treatment of Akio, he accepts the blame for her death, saying that she might have lived if he revealed her secrets to everyone instead of keeping them for his own selfish uses. He also becomes very shaken up by her brutal execution.

Trivia

 * Sou is one of the two participants from Your Turn to Die, the other being Kai Satou.