Hiro Aratama

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## Hiro Aratama

### Aliases

D-Man (Dマン)Desk Man (デスクの男, *Desuku no Otoko*)

## Physical description

### Gender

Male

**Hiro Aratama** (荒玉ヒロ, *Aratama Hiro*) is a character in *NG*.

## Biography

Hiro was the desk editor for OOPArts Monthly. At one point, he became well acquainted with Kazuo Yashiki. While investigating supernatural cases for him, however, he lost his life, and he felt bad how his death affected those at OOParts.

As D-Man, he sent texts to Akira Kijima with hints on how to find D-Cards.

### *NG*

**8/6:** Hiro calls Akira though his cell phone and then introduces himself though email as D-man who is associated with OOPArts. Finding the occult magazine at the convenience store, its important notice explains that the D-cards present in every issue has no relation to the magazine as bonuses or extras. Instead it is the work of a supernatural phenomenon, specifically D-Man. Noticing the card tucked between the pages, it reveals their purpose of proving knowledge for those who are interesting in learning about the supernatural.

From then on, D-man would assistant Akira in Kakuya's games by providing useful information or explore on various ghost tales through riddles and D-cards.

**8/7:** During the Kubitarou of Kintoki investigation, D-Man prepares Akira a riddle to decipher: "SEARCH THE MONSTER THAT HOLDS UP THE SKY." It explains the legend of Time Space Leonard, a spirit who appears as a clown doll dressed in red and blue. He appears in different locations each time a person sees him whether at home, school, etc. When the clown doll shows himself, time stops, but the world will look the same without people except for the person. The identity of the clown or truth of behind the phenomena is unknown. Hiro noted this case from Kazuo Yashiki.

Finding another D-card outside of the apartment door, it explains about the rumor of Red Riding Hood in the Rain incident from K city, adjacent to Shinza. Moe Watanabe (as M), Hiro's assistant, played a large role in realizing the truth of the rumor. While working, Hiro crossed passed with police and became close with the private investigator, Satoru Mashita. He then advises Akira to face the living darkness by conducting his own research on the spirits encountered and may be learned abut them from Kazuo Yashiki (as K).

**8/12:** After investigating the Miroku residence for the first time, D-Man prepares another riddle for Akira to solve. Finding the D-card hidden in the fire alarm case, it explains Kakuya's Game: the Shinzo rumor is Kakuya, who has white hair, and is a child doll in a kimono. When she plays the tune "Night of a full moon," it indicates that she has shown herself. The doll lures humans into her games which are different for each person and each game has certain conditions for survival. Since Hiro has not spoken to any of the players, he can't confirmed for sure and still deemed it as a rumor. However, he speculates that the players in Kakuya's game are dead which is why he cannot gather information from them. In addition, Hiro suspects that there is truly no way to escape her death game once the player met her. Past urban legends such as "Girls play" and "Kakuyako" share many similarities with Kakuya's game. While researching, Hiro learned that it's repeating every few years since the war ended and must look further. Since Akira is another player in Kakuya's Game, D-man was grateful to talk to him about the rumor. With many questions regarding to Kakuya's nature and existence yet to be answered, D-man leaves Akira to his fate.

**8/13:** Once turning the long hand on the pendulum clock in the Miroku residence three times, the D-Card revealed another spirit memoir: Devil Man. When emails are sent by the devil, the receiver that read them will kill someone. Some murder cases have mentioned this urban legend when the receivers are interrogated. The motives behind the murders are unknown as the attackers claimed that they are tempted by an evil spirit. In some cases, the killer and victim never met. The only thing common in each case was the devil mentioned. There were no traces of the emails and no one remembering the contents exactly with the exception of the subject line. It was revealed that Satoru Mashita was the one who told Hiro about the cases even though they came from a police officer he knew. Afterwards, Hiro puts an ad in a magazine to warn others not to read the email from the devil in hopes of finding someone who knew something. When he finally got one response and met them, the IP address did not exist and this hit a dead end. A few months later, Hiro got the email himself on his cell phone with an endless strings of four letters—"LIZA"—once he opened it. This was a case for Kazuo Yashiki and Satoru Mashita. Before leaving Akira to his investigation, Hiro questioned the young man how he died, but the reason is not vital and curses have no effect on him. This is because Hiro himself is already dead and the curse only affects the living.

On the same day, Akira finds another D-card in the photo booth slot using three coins from the convenience store recycle bins, revealing the next spirit memoir: Rabbit Island. The island itself is currently uninhabited, but there were factories and ruins that indicate that people had lived there before. Befitting to its name, the only residents living on the island were rabbits, welcoming travelers and fishermen that visit. During further investigation, Hiro could not find anyone who had visited Rabbit Island, when the rumor spread, or where it originated. The official agencies gave the desk editor a cold shoulder. With Kazuo Yashiki's help, the investigation made significant progress years later. His family benefited the military by supplying during the war with antiques. The only living things that Kazuo's grandfather raised as a hobby were rabbits. What the military did with them is unknown, but after the war, the Kujou family received a request to retrieve the rabbits. The letter only had a map with an X marked on the path of the ocean. Kazou and his grandfather always believe the rabbits had drowned along with the warship. Afterwards Hiro realized something on the map, revealing to be Rabbit Island. With the strange occurrences happening once Kazuo Yashiki, Satoru Mashita, and Hiro head to the last of the Izu Islands with some assistants, Kazuo had a bad feeling which ended up true. Without telling the source of Kazuo's bad feeling, the existence of Rabbit Island was confirmed, but the place felt frozen in time. There were memories of horrific battles, human experiments, and atrocities beyond imagination.

**8/18:** While investigating the Killer Peach case at Moon Tower, D-Man prepares Akira two riddles. Combining the first half from the light at 1F and the second half behind the painting at the 22F, the D-card reveals another spirit memoir: Mach Princess. Rider spirits are famous like those associated with schools. It's seen often on several loop routes around Imperial Palace in Tokyo, from freeways to local streets and railway lines. One night, a man drove down a lightly traffic road when he heard a sound that approached him that wasn't a car. Instead, in the rear view mirror, he saw a large horse galloping behind him, but the rider's face was blocked by the horse's head. Rumors say that one must make way for the horse, otherwise those who don't will die horribly. With the path clear, the horse charges past the driver into the dark. They say one can get a quick peek at the rider when they are alongside. Witnesses claimed that they saw a woman with long hair, in a dress fit for Western royalty. Appearances differ sightly between accounts, but it's always something like a princess. Few who claimed to be the best at freeway racing have challenged the spirit, but never won, dubbing her as "Mach Princess." Knowing that Akira himself rides a motorcycle, Hiro warns him not to challenge the spirit nor attempting to battle it out.

**8/20:** Inside the burnt vending machine in the kid's plaza at the 44th floor of Moon Tower, another D-card appeared with a spirit memoir about the Kaguya Doll. Hiro congratulates Akira for surviving Kakuya's Games and watched his victories. He then wonders why Kakuya can't pronounce the "gu" in her name, reasoning that the doll is a little girl. Referring her as the "Kaguya Doll," she was sealed in the mirror of the prestigious Miroku Family. The seal weakens every ten years and Kaguya Doll could leave the Realm of the Dead for the real world. The ritual to seal her was called "Nagoshi no Gi," which is the same one that killed the little girls. Since the Kaguya Doll is no longer in the mirror, Hiro suspects that the ritual failed. Going back to Akira's situation, Hiro mentions that he (Akira) experienced the games of death and for him, the game ends if he survives a spirit encounter. How Akira survives is up to him and when the spirit is gone, the cycle repeats until his death or if she gets bored. The purpose of the games wasn't to kill Akira, but the Kaguya Doll only wanted a playmate similar to a child wanting attention. A spirit without knowledge of love, the Kaguya Doll thought that was play. Hiro wonders how she got the other spirits to listen, perhaps magic similar to necromancy. He assumes Kakuya's way of hosting was to make them like fairy tales. Kakuya, a doll spirit, embodies the grudge of death. In an era where even Kaguya uses a phrase like "NG," it may refer to "Necro Game." Before continuing the Demon Tsukuyomi Game, Hiro acknowledges Akira in surviving NG and saving Ami. Hiro then questions why the Kaguya Doll is obsessed with the young man.

Defeating Demon Tsukuyomi, Hiro texts Akira to meet with him in-person at a grave site. After Akira tells the dead editor about his interest in the Realm of the Dead, Hiro explains about that world before disappearing, leaving his final D-card behind for Akira.

In his last Spirit Memoir, Hiro apologizes for alarming Akira earlier and was happy to finally meet him in person; introducing himself as Hiro Aramata once again and that he is a former desk editor for OOPARTS Monthly. Many of his acquaintances, like Kazuo Yashiki, are familiar with the paranormal. Their actions are not to blame for his death and explained that he often got carried away which led to his death. Hiro always felt bad about dying since it caused trouble for the editorial department and the magazine's readers. Aside that, he's ecstatic to welcome Akira as a fellow explorer of the untapped world, starting by sharing his information about the Hyakki Yagyo, what he and the other paranormal investigators are after. The Hyakki Yagyo is a march of evil spirits of rivers and mountains, much like those found in ancient tales of Japan. While it is a piece of fiction, the Hyakki Yagyo that they are after isn't. According to Hiro, the large group of spirits like those Akira faced used to march along the land of Musashino a long time ago. Leaving the young man to decide, Hiro returns to the current topic of the Hyakki Yagyo which was believed at the center of the covered historical incidents is a certain presence that has the power to create dangerous spirits. This turns out to be the Kaguya Doll which has similar powers (to Mary) connected to the Mark case in H City. These "doll spirits" are considered the core of what causes the Hyakki Yagyo. It is assume a death march occurs when doll spirits gather the dead and turn them into spirits. But there isn't much known about the dolls yet. All families from the Edo Period associate with dolls have disappeared and passed down items that were lost in the war. The only possible lead that they get is for one to ask the doll spirit directly. Warning Akira to be careful, Hiro tells him that he will soon reach the end of Kakuya's Game. If Akira observes closely, he can learn new information. Warning once again not to end up like Hiro, if worse comes to worst, Hiro tells Akira to put his own safety first. While Hiro has still much to say to Akira, the dead editor has someplace he needs to be and thanked Akira for keeping him company the entire time. In the final sentence, Hiro says will tell his acquaintances about Akira when he gets a chance.

## Trivia

* Hiro is one of the few spirits in the Spirit Hunter series who isn't possessed to become hostile by a doll. Like Saya Kujou, he helps the protagonist by leaving clues and provides information to help them progress. He's also well-spoken and polite.
* He's well-acquainted with the characters in *Death Mark* despite not actually showing up in-game. Based on the D-cards, it is assumed that he crossed paths with them post-game during the five year gap between both games.
* His D-cards are scattered all over the place for Akira to find and sometimes in places that aren't physically possible such as the time-displacement Momoi Department Store.