Tōya Tsutsumi

**Tōya Tsutsumi** is a supporting character featured in Danganronpa Kirigiri. Tōya is a researcher at the Twin Abilities Research Laboratory and a participant in the Twin Abilities Research Center Duel Noir.

## History

### Prior Life

In the past, Tōya was married, but ending up losing his wife after she was murdered by Shikon Kyūren, who had committed mass murder at a post office via shooting. Despite, a witness claiming to see him do it, Shikon was left off the hook by having his brother, Suō Kyūren, pose as him to allow for an airtight alibi.

Tōya would be approached by the Victims Catharsis Committee and would take up a Duel Noir to get revenge on the Kyūren twins.

### Twin Abilities Research Center Case

On January 11th, under the pseudonym of Ashvins, set the Duel Noir in a mountainous region at the Twin Abilities Research Lab. There he sent out invites to himself, Taruhi Hoshī, Kaoru Nagate, and Kamato Hachisuka. Their goal was to research the psychic bond between twins to see if they could feel each other's pain and from it figure out a new way to develop secret communication. That day they gave the twins easy psychic exercises, which they planned to eventually lead into the pain tests.

Tōya's Duel Noir was built off of intimidation. By titling his Duel Noir under the 'Ultimate Locked Room', he planned to scare Yui to save his Duel Noir for the last possible moment. In reality, as Kyoko would later on discover, his trick hinged on the chains and locks used to close the twins in, not actually being as locked as they should be. Instead, they easily slid off. That night, Tōya dressed in ghost-like robe and killed the twins with a knife, with said knife being left in Suō's stomach. He also cut the video feed of Shikon's room. From there, in order to garner an alibi and ease suspicion, he drugged cans of coffee in order to knock both himself and Taruhi out. When he collapsed, he had hit the back of his head, thus causing him to bleed a little.

When he came to, he was awoken by Kyoko Kirigiri who had chosen this Duel Noir, having been intrigued by the thought of the 'Ultimate Locked Murder Case'. When both were awake, Kyoko pointed towards Suō already being dead with a knife in his stomach. All three head towards the room Suō was in and, with Kyoko looking from mirror that gaze into the room, Taruhi and Tōya open it to confirm the younger twin's demise. Kyoko's investigation of the room concludes the killer could have only entered the room, and that she's a detective, which flabbergasts Tōya. Tōya then informs her that a jamming signal has been set up, thus preventing calls from coming out.

Wanting to check up on the other twin, they head to the room containing Kaoru and Kamato, informing them of the situation and Kyoko's presence. Kaoru, since Kyoko is a member of their team, wants to boot her out, but Tōya vouches for her legitimacy and that if she was the killer she would have done in both Tōya and Taruhi. After informing Kyoko on how the locking system works (which had different padlocks register to a different researcher's fingerprints), Kamato urges them to check on Kamato, and so the group does. Though first they head into the monitor room and witness the display of a robbed Tōya murdering Suō, which convinced Kaoru and Kamato of the urgency of the situation.

As they they head over to Shikon, talk of the murder leads to the group discussing the possibility of it being Ashvins and that they have never actually met him. As Kyoko presses into the research done, all Tōya says is that it involves the research of twins as apart of a psychological study. Something Kyoko responds if such research involves locking twins up in small rooms and chain locking the exits. Tōya stutters out that he was just following orders, but before he could go on any further they reach Shikon's room. Similar to last time, Kyoko watches from an outside window to see the body, while the others enter. Like with his brother, Shikon is found dead. She reports that they died around the same time and that the killer could have only left from the room.

Tōya confronts this and demands an explanation to make sense of why this happened, though Kyoko only shrugs. Kaoru believes Ashvins is the one responsible for this, though his reasoning earns skepticism from the others. When Kyoko asks if anyone met Ashvins, its met with a general 'no' and that they only gotten an invitation in a black envelope that promised big payment for their services. Kyoko concludes it must have been what the Committee wanted and explains about their existence, alongside what a Duel Noir is.

Kaoru is skeptical and believes that such explanation were a lie, and that Kyoko was Ashvins. Tōya is uncertain and decides to back up Kyoko's claims, citing that the info they did have on Ashvins proved that he had had enough experience in a field that Kyoko, a junior high school student, could not have. Kaoru doesn't budge and says that Kyoko set her own fingerprints at the master key (which Kamato points out would be odd since Kyoko was the one that told them about the Committee). After some pressure to comply, Kyoko gives in, but when her fingerprints failed, Kaoru simply suggested it was her toe prints. Kyoko was adamant of not doing this, since she finds such a thing embarrassing. As she tries to back away, Tōya goes to grab her, but ends up getting flipped onto his back as a result of an aikido throw from Kyoko.

Taruhi is the one to get to her, with Kyoko going through with it as long as the men get out of the room. Once that done, Tōya says Ashvins isn't amongst them. He believes that Shukon killed himself via an icicle that melted away. Kaoru thinks its stupid, but Kamato wants to hear Tōya out. Tōya claims that Shikon cut the video feed to his room and killed his brother before himself with an icicle. Tōya's reasoning is was that the kids probably didn't want to be treated as test subject by researchers and it was their way of sticking it to them. Kamato refutes that Shikon would have no way of getting to Suō since the padlocks only react to the specific researcher's fingerprints and Kyoko confirmed there was no secret passage out.

Taruhi believes that if they want to solve the murders, they need to solve the locked room first. It is then that Kamato suggests his idea. Basically, according to the Twins of Corsica theory, Shikon died after Suō was stabbed since, allegedly, twins feel the same pain. Tōya wants him to shut up since Kyoko was there, but by then Kamato ignored it and revealed the 'reason' for why they were here (with Kyoko saying nothing but giving them a chilly expression). The group heads back to the monitor room where Kyoko says she's leaving and will call the police. Kaoru and Taruhi object considering the danger and the fact she's a schoolgirl, which causes Tōya to volunteer to take Kyoko in his car whilst the other remain behind.

### Drive With Kyoko

During this ride, Kyoko asks for the order of arrival (which was Taruhi, Kaoru, Kamato and then Tōya). He asks if the order was important, though Kyoko gives a non-committing answer. When Tōya questions if she really is a detective, she merely states that whether its true or not is irrelevant, which causes Tōya to complain that a detective should be more trusting of their client (Which causes Kyoko to retort he isn't her client). Kyoko starts to question about the project some more and why Tōya was chosen, which he claims he doesn't know why. Kyoko asked him if he really believes the whole twin link theory, which he remarks he wouldn't be surprised if that was connected, given how high the Kyūren twins score was. After confirming that she still couldn't get a call out, Kyoko asks to be taken to the station. Tōya asks if she's going home, which confirms, which causes him to become angry and question if she was just messing with them. Kyoko just responded that she didn't mean to lead them on and, had it not been for seeing him knocked out, she would have left without really interacting with anyone.

Tōya wonders more about Kyoko's position as a detective and asks if Kyoko will report this to her companions, and the murder happened with the twink link theory. Kyoko says, while she'll be reporting it, that theory was utterly false. Tōya mentions that Kamato and Kaoru might be the true culprits and was using the theory was cover, but Kyoko points out neither would risk it all on such a flimsy gambit. Kyoko says she'll solve the mystery and have faced harder cases before. This confirms in Tōya's mind that he has to kill her as he speeds his car up.

He asked if she knew Yui, something that causes Kyoko to have a clear reaction and think Yui was terrible for sending a kid out to a case she couldn't solve herself. Kyoko asks if this was a confession, but he responds that he's going to kill her (which leaves her unimpressed) and the jamming device was in his car all along. Kyoko taunts him for going off the path like this, while Tōya tells her to worry about herself. In turn, Kyoko responds by saying she's willing to put her life on the line for the sake of a case. That said, both are at a standoff. Kyoko can't leave the car due to it being locked, by Tōya couldn't just go at her while driving.

Tōya heads on the highway with the intent to speed up more, but Kyoko reminds him of car's low fuel. Kyoko says that it wasn't too late for him to go off the current path he was on and turn his life around. While Tōya spits that she doesn't know anything about him, she does know that currently his life wasn't going anywhere good. To this, Tōya tells her to shut up as their fates were now intertwined at the moment. As the drive continues, Tōya questions her rank, which she reveals its 7, just like Yui and is a homicide detective. Realizing Kyoko was the real deal, he questions if she knows about his murder trick.

To this, Kyoko said if the trick was chosen by him, she felt pity. But, if he chose it himself, it was a poor move, since she doesn't consider it worthy of an ultimate locked room. She compares the Duel Noir to poker and that one of the ways to win is to basically bluff so while that your opponent concedes, and points that bluffing was basically what he was going for. Tōya, internally, laments that he really should have killed her earlier, even if someone like Taruhi noticed (since he can just kill an Innocent as well). Kyoko points out other detectives would leap at the chance to solve the 'ultimate' locked room. Like herself for instance.

Tōya is grumbling and telling her to quit acting as if she won and to explain, thus Kyoko goes into detail on how Tōya set up his Duel Noir. When Tōya tries to say that Taruhi was the culprit, Kyoko points out the killer's hand didn't have a manicure like she does. As Tōya thinks about trying to fix such issues for Yui, he spots Kyoko turning her to the window, almost resembling a doll. From there, she tries to ask him to just stand down already, which sets him off. He questions why is she going against him, since she has nothing to do with this. He tries to deal with her by asking if she could just be his captive and not spill anything about the Duel Noir, he would let her live. Kyoko refuses, and Tōya tries to appeal to emotions about how the twins killed his wife. This also fails to shake her. When he demands why she wouldn't comply, she says as long as he holds affiliation with the Committee he is her enemy.

At this point, Tōya now knows he has to kill Kyoko, but she responds he was mistaken if she couldn't do anything. Taking Tōya's seat headrest, she uses it smash open both windows of his car, letting in chilly air. From there she writes down his name, the car's license plate, his features and the English word for 'HELP', before chucking it out of the window. Knowing that other people on the highway would stop to pick it up and notify the police. Right before Kyoko is about to write on the next seat about details of the case, Tōya concedes defeat. However, not trusting a liar, Kyoko tosses the headset out regardless. Breaking down, Tōya really does give up and agrees to drop her off.

However, as they continue, they're passing a bridge over a valley. An idea hits Tōya to crash the car since, while he has an airbag, she doesn't. He goes through with it and totals the car. Kyoko is knocked out from it, and an old man with a car comes to help them. The old man and Tōya gets Kyoko out, but before the old man can notify anyone, Tōya incapacitates him with a rock to the head. From there, he looks down at the unconscious Kyoko and considering his options.

He decided to use Kyoko as a hostage a way to control Yui and get her to forfeit. After tying up Kyoko, he also recognized the need to hide out and eventually came to a decision: Castle Ryūzōji,

### Seizing Ryūzōji's Castle

Arriving at Gekka Ryūzōji's castle, Tōya got to work. He forced the children there to free the five Victims that Licorne had captured. Promising he would split the money with them if they held off Tōya, he had his new found underlings get the children to block off all the entrances to the castle whilst he hid himself deeper inside.

Wanting their friend back, Yui and Licorne head to the castle and make their way through Tōya's minions. However, Licorne is caught up tangling with Oboro, thus leaving Yui to face Tōya on the fifth floor alone. There, he has Kyoko tied up and holds a knife to her, and asks if Yui knew what to do. She does and says to Tōya that she's quitting in order to save her friend. Tōya says its a good choice and takes the two to see Gekka Ryūzōji in order to tell him that Yui was quitting. Before that could happen, Licorne leaps out of the shadows to hold him at gunpoint and turns the tables, thus allowing the trio to capture him. While Licorne contemplates killing him, but Yui dissuades him. With Tōya's capture, and Yui's assurance by Kyoko that all twelve cases have been solved, effectively it means that Yui one the Duel Noir challenge. Tōya complains that Yui already admitted defeated, but she brushes him off that they'll solve the problem when they get there.

### Tōya's Fate

 They enter the locked room that Gekka was in, only to be thoroughly surprised to see him dead. A video played postmortem revealed he was dying due to a terminal illness, and had done this game because he wants to give Licorne a choice at the end via two envelopes. If he choose white, it will contain the envelope used that will give him ties to Ryuzoki's estate, the Comittee, as well as becoming the owner of Gekka's manor. Seeing an opportunity, Tōya (who wasn't tied very tightly by Yui), pulled out a gun that was given to him by Oboro. He declares himself to be the new master of Ryūzōji castle. Yui tells Licorne to fire, but Licorne informs her that he was bluffing about the gun having bullets earlier. When Kyoko asked if Tōya's had ammo, he shoots her left hand in response. He takes Yui hostage and forces her to reach for the white envelope, and when she hesitates, hits her with the metal handle. However, right when she reaches for it, a shot rings out. Tōya had been shot in the forehead by Johnny Arp, killing him instantly.

## Appearance

Tōya is an older man with raven hair and red eyes, with noticeable chin stubble. He also wears a white lab coat and white dress shirt underneath as apart of his guise as a researcher.

## Personality

With the death of his wife, Tōya was left distraught and vengeful, being one of many 'Victims' to despise and to wreak their vengeance upon his targets. He despises the Kyūren twins to the point of murdering them for this crimes, but he also notes internally he didn't feel as though he gained 'Catharsis' after going through with the deed, but tries to delude himself into believing it will come after. Throughout his Duel Noir, he becomes wary and suspect of Kyoko's involvement and status a detective, but upon realizing she is a legitimate threat, opts to try and take her out of commission, showcasing a desire to put his own need to win over the life of a little girl. That said, Tōya has been shown to be rather hot-headed and impulsive in his choices and not thinking through the consequences of each one, like not realizing his murder trick could attract stronger detectives than Yui. Tōya's methods throughout his Duel Noir and seizing of Castle Ryūzōji, paints him as someone who tries to avoid conflict with his designated enemy as much as possible, to the point of letting desperation drive him to extremes, like kidnapping Kyoko or driving his car off a cliff to knock her out. This determination to win at all costs would play a factor in his demise.

## Relationships

**Twin Abilities Lab Duel Noir Participants:**

### Kyoko Kirigiri

As the detective that came to his Duel Noir, instead of the expected Yui Samidare, Tōya was rather wary of Kyoko and her potential to out him. While he did vouch for her legitimacy while they were in the lab, once they were both in his car, things went differently. Upon understanding Kyoko's competence, he was prepared to murder her if it meant guaranteeing her silence, though changed his mind to just kidnapping her in order to gain Yui's surrender from the game. While he did express disapproval over a child being selected to go after him, he himself has no qualms in hurting her in order to get ahead or out of spite, proving he doesn't care for her aside from her use in stopping Yui. Kyoko remained unimpressed with attempts at going about the Duel Noir and unafraid when he tried made threats to murder her, believing in her own skills could still come out on top. She has no qualms about pointing out the flaws in his plans or doing extreme actions in order to get him to submit, such as destroying his windows in order to throw out messages. That said, she did attempt to peacefully talk Tōya from continuing down the path of the Duel Noir, noting because she can see nothing good was awaiting him by pressing forward.

### Taruhi Hoshī, Kamato Hachisuka & Kaoru Nagate

These three were researchers called to the Twin Research Abilities Lab in order to conduct testing on the Kyūren Twins and seemed to have a fairly affable relationship with Tōya. That said, when Tōya admitted internally he should have killed Kyoko back during the lab when he had the chance, he also notes that killing Taruhi wouldn't have been a problem if she happened to witness it. Thus, proving that while he never planned on killing them, ultimately, he has no problem with doing so if the need arises.

### Shikon Kyūren & Suō Kyūren

Both were Tōya's targets for the Duel Noir, and thus he despises them. He calls them the demon children and has incredible disdain for their horrible deeds they committed while alive. Thus, he had no problem with choosing to take up a Duel Noir to kill them. However, during the car ride with Kyoko, Tōya internally notes he never felt as if he gained catharsis after murdering them, but tries to reason that after getting the money for the Duel Noir then the feeling would came.

**Enemies:**

### Yui Samidare

Yui is Tōya's assigned detective for the Duel Noir, thus making her his enemy. Tōya's strategy for dealing with her was to try to act as if his Duel Noir was harder that it actually was. With his desire to win the Duel Noir at all costs, Tōya is willing to go to extremes in order to prevent Yui from reaching him. He has no problems in holding hostage those she hold dear in order to get her to quit, and even hurting them, such as shooting Kyoko's hand. This also extends, to having no problem in hitting Yui with his own gun in order to try and gain compliance. While Yui was willing to cooperate once Kyoko was in danger, once her side had the upper hand she had no issue in ignoring what she had said and celebrating winning the challenge, much to Tōya's chagrin. Still, Yui did hold concern over Tōya potentially being murdered by Licorne, and talked the Triple Zero detective from going through with it. However, when he hold the trio at gunpoint, she had no qualms in ordering him to take a shot in order stop him, knowing that the situation was dire enough that it required such use of force.

### Licorne

An ally of Yui, which in turn makes him Tōya's enemy. Licorne was responsible for finally subduing Tōya the first time with his gun bluff, and was open about his annoyance regarding Tōya and wanting to kill him as a simpler solution, something that made Tōya react in fear.