Naoya Hashimoto

Naoya Hashimoto (橋本 直也 *Hashimoto Naoya*) is one of the main protagonists in the Ousama Game series. He is also Nobuaki's late best friend at his old school.

## Appearance

    Naoya is a boy who wears the usual Tamaoka school uniform, but unlike the other students, wears an orange vest over his shirt with blue jeans and black school shoes. He has brown eyes and brown hair.

## Personality

Naoya is a kind-hearted individual who cares deeply for his friends, Nobuaki and Chiemi, to the point where he was ready to sacrifice his life for them whenever the moment presented itself and showing intense fear and distress whenever one of their lives was on the line and sobbing uncontrollably when he believed that Nobuaki was dead.

## Synopsis

### King's Game arc

Naoya first appeared in the classroom along with Nobuaki, watching Hirofumi carry out his direct order from the King, which was to kiss Minako Nakao (with jeering from Hideki Toyoda.) After Hirofumi completes the order, Nobuaki jokes with Naoya, saying that, if he's lucky, Naoya may be ordered to kiss the "dreamy F-cup" Satomi Ishii. After Chiemi catches the two of them daydreaming about Satomi's breasts, Nobuaki tries defending himself by "blaming" Naoya for being a "pervert who is only interested in enormous boobs", to which Naoya defends himself by claiming that he "loves all well-shaped boobs, not just the big ones".

The next morning, Naoya meets Nobuaki in front of the shoe lockers and asks him about today's King's order, which was for Hideki to lick Yuuko Imoto's foot. The two of them debate whether or not Hideki will actually go through with it, ultimately deciding that, since it's Hideki, he likely won't go through with the order. Arriving at the classroom, Naoya and Nobuaki witness Hideki being harassed and chastised by the rest of the class for not wanting to go through with the order, calling him a hypocrite for having forced Hirofumi to complete his order just yesterday. Caving in to the peer pressure, Naoya and Nobuaki watch in shock as Hideki actually licks Yuuko's foot and completes his order.

Later on, after Hideki and Satomi were punished and killed for failing to complete their order, Naoya, along with the rest of the class, were shocked to learn of their deaths from the teacher that morning. Naoya is later the one who brings up the possibility that the two deaths were related to the King's Game as the text specifically said that the two of them were to be hanged for their failure and that is exactly what happened.

The following morning, as Naoya walks to school with Nobuaki, Naoya notices that his friend is still upset over Hideki's and Satomi's deaths and attempts to cheer him up, telling him that in times like these, it's better to keep a smile on your face and move on. Naoya then talks to Nobuaki about the current order that was given last night, which was for Shouta Yahiro to give an order (which will be as absolute as a King's order) to the class. Because of what the order is, Naoya is sure that nothing will happen, but since Shouta is the one giving the order, he can't help but worry about what is to come. At this point, Nobuaki stops in his tracks and tells Naoya, straightforward, that if he goes and dies like Hideki did, he will never forgive him. Naoya reassures him by telling him that it won't be possible for him to die so easily. Arriving at the classroom, Naoya witness an enraged Shouta mercilessly beating up a helpless Daisuke for having had sex with his girlfriend, Misaki, in compliance with the previous order. After wrestling Shouta off of Daisuke, Naoya watches in horror as Shouta announces that his given order is for Daisuke to hang himself and die. Daisuke, in fear after receiving the corresponding text from the King, runs out of the room in terror as Nobuaki follows.

Later that same day, Naoya accompanies Nobuaki and Daisuke to Daisuke's house for the purpose of making sure that Daisuke makes it through the night without anything happening. He and Nobuaki are both shocked upon seeing Daisuke's house for the first time and realizing that he is extremely affluent. After settling in to Daisuke's room, the three of them have a rock session with Naoya playing the tambourine and maracas and spend the next few hours rocking out. Later, at five minutes to midnight according to the wall clock, the three of them have a harder rock session. After midnight comes, the three of them celebrate, coming to the conclusion that they have beaten the order and have saved Daisuke's life. In celebration, the three of them have another rock session, this time continuing all the way through the night and into the early morning. At some point after this, Naoya and Nobuaki fall asleep on Daisuke's floor. Waking up that morning, Naoya and Nobuaki are horrified to discover Daisuke dead, hanging from the ceiling of his room. Calling an ambulence, Naoya and Nobuaki accompany Daisuke to the hospital, but unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done for him. Before the two of them have a chance to properly grieve, Naoya receives an order from the King.

According to the new order, a popularity contest must be held between Naoya and Kana Ueda, in which students must vote for who they like more. The loser of the contest will receive a punishment. Naoya begins to panic as he begins to face the reality that he could die from this order if things don't go his way, however, Nobuaki (mentally) promises that he will protect Naoya no matter what. After this, the two of them leave for school. Arriving at the classroom, Naoya and Nobuaki confront Shouta and reveal Daisuke's death to him. It is this reveal that convinces everyone that the King's Game is a real threat. Nobuaki then tells everyone to prepare for the next order and that the vote will occur later that day at 1PM. Naoya, Nobuaki, and Chiemi meet with each other in another part of the school in order to discuss strategy for helping Naoya win the contest which, in this case, requires that Naoya earn at least 15 votes. Nobuaki decides that Naoya will go out and try to convince the boys to vote for him while he and Chiemi will try to tackle the girls. Nobuaki, noticing that Naoya is distracted, asks him what the matter is. Naoya voices his concerns about Kana being punished should he win the vote and even begins thinking that it would perhaps be better if Naoya lost. Nobuaki snaps him back to reality, however, exclaiming that now is not the time to start thinking of others and that if Naoya were to die, he and Chiemi would be devasated. Naoya is convinced to go on living.

Later, Nobuaki and Kana approach Misaki at the same time in an attempt to earn her vote with Nobuaki arguing that Daisuke was an important friend to him and that he would be broken if Naoya were to die as well. Knowing that it was because of Daisuke that she is still alive after her order, Misaki ultimately chooses to vote for Naoya. Kana, disgusted at having lost the vote, accuses Nobuaki of being contemptible for apparently using Daisuke's death to his advantage. Naoya appears, however, and stands up for him, exclaiming that Nobuaki is far from contemptible, having gone as far as begging on his hands and knees in order to save his best friend's life. Kana, annoyed, simply turns and leaves while coldy telling Naoya that he should spend his last moments alive in the red light district. After she leaves, Naoya reveals to Nobuaki that he as able to convince all the boys to help him. With the votes from the 14 boys, as well as the votes from Chiemi, Misaki, and anyone Chiemi manages to convince, Naoya will have the popularity contest in the bag. Later on, however, Nobuaki discovers, thanks to Shouta, that all the boys Naoya convinced have decided instead to vote for Kana, due to the fact that Kana seduced them. He also discovers that, aside from Chiemi and Misaki, the girls also seem to have decided to vote for Kana instead. Nobuaki, frustrated, begins coming up with a plan to save Naoya.

At 1PM, the popularity contest takes place, as the vote goes on, Naoya and Kana are tied, having 14 votes each. As Nobuaki pulls the final vote from the ballot box, Kana, convinced that Nobuaki will cheat, grabs the ballot in order to read it herself. Opening the ballot a little, Kana sees her name and begins to celebrate her supposed victory. Meanwhile, in fear, Naoya begins to cry. However, to everyone's shock, Nobuaki opens the paper the rest of the way and reveals to everyone that the ballot actually reads "Kana, sorry, I'm voting for Naoya", making the contest Naoya's victory. At that moment as Kana is about to receive punishment, Naoya and the rest of the class watch in horror as Kana throws herself out of one of the windows and commits suicide. Later on, Naoya waits for Nobuaki outside the police station where he is being questioned about the deaths. After Nobuaki leaves the station, Naoya meets him and thanks him for having saved his life, calling Nobuaki a hero. However, Nobuaki doesn't believe that he is deserving of this praise, revealing that he pulled an evil trick to get Naoya saved. He had sent a text message to everyone voting for Kana, lying about finding a way out of the King's Game and promising to reveal it, but only if they voted for Naoya. Instead, Nobuaki only caused Kana's death who, initially, didn't even have to die. As Nobuaki begins to blame himself for Daisuke's death, Naoya cuts him off and exclaims that Nobuaki isn't evil and that the real evil is the King who is pulling the strings.

Later that day, Naoya brings Nobuaki to Chiemi's house, where she is preparing dinner for everyone. When asked why he was brought there, Naoya explains that, although she doesn't look like it, Chiemi is very concerned about Nobuaki's emotional state and so Naoya brought him over in order to console her as well as Nobuaki himself. Later, after finishing their dinner, Naoya says that he wishes he had a girlfriend like Chiemi who was as great a cook. Chiemi is positive that Naoya has a gentle soul and will eventually find someone in the future. Naoya then exclaims that he will always support Nobuaki and Chiemi. At that moment, the three of them receive a text from the King detailing that, since Kana is dead, she can no longer complete her punishment. As a result, an order will now be given to Naoya, the other person involved in the previous order. The King's order to Naoya is that he must have sex within the next 10 minutes or else he will be punished with immolation.

     With no time to waste, Nobuaki grabs Naoya's and Chiemi's wrists and throws them into a nearby bedroom and locks the door. In anguish, Nobuaki orders Naoya and Chiemi to have sex in order to save Naoya's life, something Chiemi eventually agrees to. Naoya adamently refuses to do this, not wanting to betray the two of them and even goes as far as to say that he would rather die than do this to them. Nobuaki enters the room and tries one more time to convince Naoya to complete the order, which he refuses once again. In response, Nobuaki attacks and continually punches Naoya in the face to the point of unconciousness. Nobuaki leaves the room and Chiemi proceeds to complete the order by having sex with an unconcious Naoya, thereby saving his life.

The next day, Naoya and the rest of the class meet up in Nada Park in order to carry out the current order, which is for all the boys to draw 1-3 slips of paper marked 1-100, with the person drawing the 100th paper receiving a punishment. Naoya takes part in the order and survives, but watches horrified when he sees Akira threatening to kill Nobuaki with the punishment as revenge for having caused Kana's death. During this time, Naoya, along with Chiemi, begs on his hands and knees for Akira to spare Nobuaki's life, to no avail. Akira pulls the 98th and 99th papers, leaving the final one for Nobuaki. As Nobuaki prepares to face his fate, he makes Naoya promise that, in his place, he will find out who the King is and also makes him promise to take care of Chiemi, something Naoya tearfully agrees to. However, at that moment, everyone is shocked when Akira draws the 100th card himself and is punished with cardiac arrest. After his death, Nobuaki discovers a text message, apparently from Kana, that convinced him to take his life. Sometime after the order is finished, Naoya goes with Nobuaki and Yousuke to a different street, where they discuss their current circumstances. Nobuaki declares to the two of them that, in order to save themselves, they must take it upon themselves to fight against the King and his game, explaining that the fake message in Kana's name is a clue, to which Naoya concludes that the sender must have been someone in their class, but they have no idea who it could be. Yousuke then reveals that he checked the e-mail address of the person who sent the message and upon searching up the address on the internet, discovered that the sender was a master hacker and gamer known as Kamihate. Yousuke also reveals that he discovered an unsent message on Akira's phone containing a single syllable. With these clues, Naoya, Nobuaki, and Yousuke become determined to find the solution to beating the King.

During the events of Nami's self given order to touch the King, Naoya is present in the class and is impressed with her idea. Naoya watches from the side as Nami touches every student in class, including him, during her attempt to find the King. During Ria's turn to be touched, Naoya is shocked when she claims to be the King. When Nobuaki blanks out after hearing Ria's declaration that they must kill the King, Naoya snaps him back to reality and lets him know that Ria is not the King after all. Eventually, Nami touches every person in class and no obedience message is sent out. In fear for her life, Nami runs out of the classroom while Nobuaki pursues her. Later on, Nami is punished with blindness and disappears while Nobuaki is with her. During his attempt to find her, Nobuaki calls Naoya in order to inquire about her whereabouts, during which Naoya re-informs him of the current order, which is for Nobuaki to lose something precious. Nobuaki tells Naoya to forget about this for right now and to focus his time right now into trying to find the missing Nami. This ends up being futile as Nami later commits suicide by drowning.

The next day, Naoya approaches Nobuaki at school with Chiemi, however Nobuaki, shaken by Nami's death, tells him to stay away and tries to cut ties with him, claiming that anyone involved with Nobuaki will die and that he will take care of the King's game himself. Later on, during Nobuaki's confrontation with Ria over how the game should be handled on the rooftop of the school, Naoya comes onto the roof and agrees with Nobuaki's argument of wanting to save everyone by fighting the King. Ria eventually leaves, after which, Naoya reveals that he was listening to their conversation and was shocked to find that Ria was Kamihate's true identity and that she was the one who sent Akira the fake message from Kana. Nobuaki, however, snaps at Naoya telling him that he specifically said to stay away from him and that he can't bear to see any of his friends die anymore. Naoya, however, refuses to leave Nobuaki isolated, exclaiming to Nobuaki that he's not the only one who despises the King and that he wants to end the Game as much as Nobuaki does. Naoya then theorizes that the King is trying to destroy their friendships in each other in order to prevent the students from fighting together against him. Nobuaki agrees with this notion. Naoya then reveals that, after finding out from a teacher, three of their classmates, Shingo, Motoki, and Maki died yesterday. He reveals that Shingo was accidentally killed during a confrontation with Motoki and that Motoki and Maki died after receiving a death text from Akemi in compliance with her's and Shingo's order of having to text "Die" to two classmates. After revealing their deaths, Naoya and Nobuaki set to work calling the deceased's parents in order to obtain the single letter syllables from their phones and deleting them before Ria can find them.

After school, Naoya goes to Nobuaki's house where Naoya vents his frustration about the game. Naoya then suggests that they call Yousuke in order to update him about everything that's happened concerning the single text syllables and about Ria's identity as Kamihate. While Nobuaki talks with Yousuke, Naoya attempts to piece the syllables that they've collected so far together, but is unable to form a coherent sentence with what they have. Naoya suggests that they trade information with Ria in order to find out the syllables that she collected, but Nobuaki denies his idea, explaining that Ria could very well be the King and that there's no way they can trust her to tell them the truth concerning what the syllables are.

At the stroke of midnight, the new order is sent out to everyone, which is to not do anything unnecessary. Along with the order are three punishment texts revealing that Yuusuke Mizuuchi, Shouta, and Akemi are being punished for apparently breaking the rules. Soon after this text arrives, they receive another punishment text revealing that Misaki is now being punished with decapitation for disobeying the order.

     Naoya begins to panic as it seems that everyone is starting to die left and right, but Nobuaki calms him and tells him to pull himself together so they can find out what's going on. They receive two more punishment texts revealing Yuuko and Emi to be the next punished. Nobuaki orders Naoya to call Emi, while he calls Shouta. After Nobuaki gets off the phone with Shouta, Naoya reveals that, in class the other day, he overheard Shouta, Yuusuke, and the other Yuusuke discussing about what would happen if they were to block the King's messages and that that is most likely what the first three did to get themselves punished, as it is against the rules to attempt to leave the game partway. Nobuaki leaves the house in order to head for Chiemi's place, but before he leaves, he orders Naoya to call everyone he can and tell everyone not to block the King's messages. Eventually, after Nobuaki discovers that the unnecessary action is crying, he immediately calls Naoya, informs him of what the unnecessary action is, and tells him to call everyone once again and tell them not to look at their phones for the rest of the day, his intention being to keep everyone from finding out about the recent deaths so as to keep them from crying and being punished.
Eventually, Nobuaki returns to his house and informs Naoya of everything that's happened so far concerning Yousuke's death and the information he sent and of his earlier meeting with Ria. Leaving the house, Naoya and Nobuaki stop at a convenience store where Naoya buys the both of them a cup of ramen noodles (specifically, the "King Noodle" brand, as sponsored by the King, according to Naoya). Nobuaki then discusses with Naoya his plans to travel to Yonaki Village in order to search for clues regarding the Game. Meanwhile, Naoya reveals a chart he made, collecting all of the single-character syllables from the deceased classmates in his attempts to reveal the full message, also revealing that only 13 students are currently still alive and that one of them must be the King. Naoya notes that Ria must be their top suspect, due to her behavior towards them and her actions thus far. Nobuaki denies this idea explaining that, although she is certainly suspicious, she may simply be just moving towards a goal of her own. Naoya then suggests that the King could be Mami, suspecting her after she previously accused Nobuaki of being the King. Nobuaki denies this too saying that, although she was definitely a jerk back then, he has no evidence to actually prove her guilty.

     Nobuaki puts forth a plan for them, explaining that while Nobuaki himself is investigating in Yonaki Village, he wants Naoya to go around to the recently deceased student's houses and collect the single-character syllables from their phones before Ria can get them. Naoya agrees, but voices his concerns about Nobuaki travelling to Yonaki Village by himself, making Nobuaki promise that he will come back alive. Naoya then gives to Nobuaki Daisuke's bracelet that Naoya himself repaired after Nobuaki smashed it earlier. Before Nobuaki leaves, however, both he and Naoya receive texts on their phone revealing that Mami has just been punished with decapitation for disobeying the King's orders. When Nobuaki gets a call from Mami (still believing that he is the King) at that moment begging for her punishment to be revoked, both he and Naoya listen in horror as Mami is killed over the phone.
Much later, some time after Nobuaki leaves for Yonaki Village, Naoya receives a text, apparently from the King, revealing that Nobuaki is being punished with cardiac arrest for failing the orders. Not believing what he has just read, Naoya attempts to call Nobuaki's phone multiple times, but no one answers. Devastated by Nobuaki's apparent death, Naoya sobs uncontrollably as he grieves for his best friend. At that moment, Naoya gets a call on his phone. Hoping that it's from Nobuaki, Naoya answers immediately, however, the person on the other end is Toshiyuki Abe. Toshiyuki informs Naoya about the new order sent out in which one student must roll a die, then name the same number of students as shown on the die. The students named and the student who rolled the die will be punished. Toshiyuki demands to know from Naoya what they will do about the order. Naoya attempts to think about what Nobuaki would do, however, Toshiyuki interrupts him and coldly tells him to stop whining and that talking to corpses won't help them.

     In anger, Naoya tells him to watch what he's saying, or else he'll roll the die and kill him. Toshiyuki backs off, but still wants to know about who should roll the die. Naoya hangs up, but not before telling him that he needs to think about it. After getting off the phone, Naoya thinks about what he should do. He realizes that if Keita were to roll the die, he and Chiemi would not be chosen as they are good friends with him, however, the same can't be said for the rest of the classmates, with whom they are not as close. At this moment, Naoya decides to roll the die himself in order to save Chiemi. Before he can, however, he receives a text from Ria telling him and everyone else to meet up in the park near the Sasakikubi Dam in order to discuss the current order. Naoya arrives in the park later with Chiemi where everyone else, except for Ria and Masami, have already arrived. Eventually, Toshiyuki gets impatient while waiting for Ria to arrive and begins lashing out at everyone, leading to Naoya having to check on Chiemi after he hits her. As Toshiyuki begins to get into a physical fight with Chia, Naoya is shocked and relieved to see Ria arrive along with Nobuaki, revealed as being alive, with Ria having faked Nobuaki's punishment message.

     With Nobuaki alive, Naoya is convinced that everything will be alright now. Toshiyuki interrupts the moment wondering why they even care whether or not Nobuaki is still alive. However, he points out that with Nobuaki alive, his own chances of surviving have increased. Naoya, angered by Toshiyuki's callousness, attempts to punch him, but he dodges. In response, Toshiyuki returns with his own punch across Naoya's face and would've been beaten up further if Toshiyuki hadn't been held back by Nobuaki and Toshiyuki Fujioka.
Eventually, Toshiyuki's actions lead him to realize that, no matter who rolls the die, he will be the first one picked and punished. In response to this, Toshiyuki attacks Chiemi and holds her hostage with a knife to her throat. Using Chiemi's life as leverage, Toshiyuki orders for either Naoya or Nobuaki to roll the die. Nobuaki immediately volunteers to roll, but before he can take the die from the other Toshiyuki, Naoya grabs it first. Unwilling to let Nobuaki or Chiemi die, Naoya immediately rolls the die.

     To everyone's horror, Naoya ends up rolling a 6, the highest and worst possible number for this order. Needing to name 6 people, Keita suggests that Naoya name Masami first, reasoning that she isn't here and that she already tried to commit suicide. Naoya tells Keita that he needs to be the one to decide this himself, while at the same time, saying his name. At that moment, everyone receives a text from the King revealing that Keita will now be punished with decapitation. Naoya realizes that simply saying another classmates name is the same as choosing them. Toshiyuki then orders Naoya to name Masami, Minako, and Chia, who are all punished and killed for being chosen. Toshiyuki then orders Naoya to name Nobuaki. Meanwhile, Chiemi and Nobuaki beg Naoya to name themselves instead, in hopes of saving the other. Before he can make a decision on who to name, Toshiyuki is attacked and punched by the other Toshiyuki. Wanting to put an end to all of this, the other Toshiyuki orders Naoya to name both him and Toshiyuki (Abe). Reluctantly, Naoya complies and both Toshiyukis are punished and killed.
Soon after the six deaths have been completed, Naoya starts to get punished with dismemberment for having rolled the die. As he is being torn apart, Naoya tells both Nobuaki and Chiemi that he loves them and that he has faith that they will defeat the King.

     As Naoya dies in Nobuaki's arms, he asks what Heaven is like, saying that it must be a wonderful place, as all of their friends are there, waiting for them to join them. Upon saying his peace, Naoya bleeds out from his wounds and dies before a sobbing Nobuaki.

Soon after his death, Ria rummages through his clothes and takes his cell phone in order to obtain another single character syllable needed to reveal the hidden message.

## Relationships

*Main article: Naoya Hashimoto/Relationships*
## Trivia

* He was **Student #21**in the class roster for Nobuaki's old class.