Haruto Atori

* Re:newal
* Hotel Staff Uniform
* Hotel Guest
* Real World
* Real World Concierge

**Haruto Atori** is a former senior staff member at Tasokare Hotel and is the game's deuteragonist. He arrived at the Tasokare Hotel a few weeks before Neko did, after being pushed in front of an incoming train by a phantom killer.

## Appearance

Atori is a tall young man with a lean build, silver hair, and ice-blue eyes. He has been noted to be very attractive and is often mistaken as a playboy, much to his displeasure.

### Hotel Staff Uniform

In the Tasokare Hotel, Atori's staff uniform consists of a white cuffed, long-sleeve blouse, a black vest with gold accents and chain, black fitted trousers, black gloves, and black formal shoes. There is a black armband on his upper left arm and a blue ribbon necklace underneath his collar.

### Hotel Guest Outfit

Upon his initial arrival at the hotel, Atori was dressed in a collared blue shirt, a black vest, and black trousers. Around his neck he wore a black saxophone harness. Unlike most other guests, who arrive with their heads completely replaced by a symbolic object, Atori's head was still intact. Instead, his face was hidden by a pair of skeleton hands.

### Real-World Casual Fashion

In the real world, Atori has a simple outfit consisting of a striped long-sleeve shirt, a black vest, and black trousers. He wears blue shoes and has a watch on his right wrist, which are both noted to be of good quality in the design notes. His other accessories include a sling backpack and blue headphones.

### Real-World Hotel Concierge Uniform

While working as a concierge in the real world, Atori wears a typical white cuffed shirt alongside a black suit, blue tie, dress shoes, and trousers. He styles his hair neatly and tucks the left side of his bangs behind his ear.

### Behind the Scenes

*"To be far from Neko, he wears simple clothes. The original author Rei told us, 'He is the kind of type who wears a good quality watch and shoes.'"*:-Artist's comments on Atori

## Personality

Atori is a courteous and caring young man. He works hard in everything he does, from being a saxophone player to a concierge. Hence, he is viewed as perfect and remarkable by most.

Atori is often mistaken as a playboy due to his devilishly handsome looks, but all of his previous romantic relationships did not last long. According to him, his ex-girlfriends had different expectations of him but in the end found him boring because all he could talk about was music and the news. His longest romantic relationship lasted for three months and his shortest three hours. Because of this, being complimented as "looking like a playboy" automatically puts him in a somber mood. Deep down, he is a true romantic and yearns for a meaningful relationship.

Although he is normally fairly passive, Atori can become scary when he's upset or angry, such as when Neko pressured him to play the saxophone again. Even though he had strong feelings about the topic, he was quick to reconsider and apologize to Neko afterward. When it came to the much more serious subject of going to Hell in Chapter 7 due to Neko's carelessness, he was the only character who held no contempt for her despite being the only one directly affected, showing his immense kindness and acceptance of his fate.

It is noted by Neko that Atori behaved more naturally in the hotel and more businesslike in the real world. He was much more friendly and open in the hotel, and Osoto pointed out that he worked less seriously as well. In the real world, he acts more distant and professional in both his work and personal life.

### Behind the Scenes

*"In the first edit... he was a boring character. So in the revision, I added his history such as 'he failed his dreams' and 'he's with many girls but actually, he is willing to have real love.' And in the end, he became how he is when I was writing the story."*:-Benoma Ray

## History

### Background

Ever since his childhood, Atori dreamed of becoming a professional saxophone player. He spent most of his life chasing this dream, at some point studying abroad in New Orleans when he got older. However, he later on abandoned this dream, thinking that he could never become a musical genius. He has been trying to forget about the saxophone ever since, but he still misses it terribly.

After abandoning his childhood dream, Atori began working as a top concierge for the Hamilton Hotel in Tokyo. There, he met Mr. and Mrs. Osoto, who were taken by his character and kept in frequent contact with him. Shortly afterwards, he unknowingly began being stalked by their son, Masaki Osoto.

One night while waiting on a train station platform, Atori was pushed into an oncoming train by his stalker, abruptly killing him and sending him to the Tasokare Hotel.

### Tasokare Hotel

Arriving at the hotel, Atori is unable to recall the circumstances of his death, nor whether he lived or died. Bored and with nothing else to do, he decides to begin working as a staff member.

Some time after his arrival, Neko Tsukahara checks in and he is assigned as her concierge. Like him, she remembers her name and interests, but cannot recall how or if she died. When she decides to join the staff out of boredom, he helps train her as her senior.

Atori's next guest is the Gambler. When the Gambler calls the hotel staff to play mahjong against him, Atori is one of the volunteers. After they finish playing, he watches Neko interrogate the Gambler about his identity and reason for coming to the hotel. When he realizes he nearly died in a landslide, the hotel room suddenly begins filling up with dirt, simulating the experience and effectively burying him. Neko quickly finds a shovel, and Atori uses it to dig the Gambler out. Realizing he is still alive in the real world, the Gambler checks out of the hotel.

The next guest is a man with a pansy for a head, who Neko is in charge of. Atori serves this man in the dining room after he remembers his identity as Masaki Osoto. Later in the day, Atori is approached by Neko, who has been sent by Menow to get a music record for the bar. He invites Neko to his room to choose a record, where she learns that he is interested in jazz music and used to play the saxophone.

A few hours later, Atori and Ruri are called by Neko to help Osoto, who has suddenly started bleeding out. Both staff members help him until he recovers. Neko then voices her suspicions that he is a criminal, and proves to be correct after a brief interrogation. In retaliation, Osoto takes out a knife and holds Ruri hostage while threatening to kill everyone in the room. Atori and Neko discreetly come up with a plan; Neko uses a mirror to temporarily blind Osoto, allowing Atori to punch him and give Ruri an opening to get away. This works, and shortly after, the Manager comes in to tell Osoto that killing someone is a direct ticket to Hell, and that there is no real incentive to kill anyone since only 1 in 50,000 people remember coming to the Tasokare Hotel. Atori tells Osoto to check out, and the criminal obliges.

However, this victory is short-lived as Osoto returns shortly afterward, realizing he can't leave since he does not know if he is alive or dead in the real world. With no other ethical options, the hotel staff allow Osoto to stay. Atori offers to take over as his concierge, but Neko refuses, saying the entire situation is due to her prying. Atori reluctantly allows this, but remains concerned for her wellbeing.

For the rest of his time working at the hotel, Atori mainly stays situated in the dining room to serve new guests while Neko assists them personally. He only seems to tend to guests when they need cleaning or other menial tasks done, as Neko is much better suited to helping them investigate their memory.

When Kaneko Konomi checks in to the hotel, Neko asks Atori if he can play the saxophone for a live performance of Meitei Inebriety. He refuses, saying he has no desire to touch the instrument ever again. When Neko pressures him, he snaps at her and says his answer will remain the same even if he terribly misses playing. However, in the time leading to the performance, Atori changes his mind and decides to play. Following his performance, he goes outside to reflect on his decision to play again. Neko joins him, and he thanks her for irritating him enough to play.

Some time after Kaneko checks out, Atori is called by Osoto to clean his room, as he wasn't satisfied with Neko's cleaning. On his way there, he meets Neko at the reception and suggests swapping shifts just to spite Osoto. When Neko emerges from cleaning Osoto's room, Atori notes that she's acting strange, but seems to be enjoying herself.

Later, while working on one of his duties, Atori looks outside the hotel window and sees Neko and Osoto fighting. He bolts out of the hotel, only to see Neko being beaten nearly unconscious. Desperate to save her, Atori picks up a gun on the ground and accidentally shoots Osoto, killing him. Upon realizing what he's done, he resigns himself to his fate to go to Hell. As the Gate of Hell opens, he asks her to live a long life for him before being pulled in.

### True Ending

The next day, Neko goes back in time to save Atori from ever being killed by Osoto. At the train station platform, Atori remains oblivious to his stalker and has no recollection of the Tasokare Hotel due to not going there in this timeline. All of a sudden, the platform is engulfed in a foreboding red light, and a Gate to Hell opens in the ground. It is unclear how long it took Atori to notice this, but he eventually looks into the gate just in time to see Neko trying and failing to escape. He reaches his arm down to help and ends up pulling her out by the collar of her hoodie. The gate closes, and the station is returned to normal.

Baffled, Atori asks Neko what she saw in the hole, but she shrugs it off as a natural disaster and thanks him before going on her way. Watching her leave, Atori wonders how she knew his name.

One year later, Atori has continued his work as a top concierge for the Hamilton Hotel. His next job is to mentor junior workers for the professional exchange training program with the Yokohama city hotel. Coincidentally, the junior he is assigned is none other than Neko Tsukahara, who he recognizes from the train station incident a year prior. Although he has a gnawing feeling that he knows her from somewhere else, he maintains professionalism as her senior and mentor.

### Special Stories

One evening after work with Neko, Atori is invited to join her in a cafe to talk. She asks him if she can introduce him to an online friend who is aiming to work in the hotel industry, to which he accepts. Neko follows up on this request by asking Atori to play saxophone in a live jazz performance that she arranged with her SNS friends. Atori wonders how Neko knows he plays the saxophone, but she claims that he told her while he was drunk. Although he doesn't buy this, he moves on from it and says he will think about it, but his answer will likely be no. The two exchange contact information so they can plan for these events.

Some time later, Atori is introduced to Neko's online friend Ruri, who immediately bursts into tears upon seeing him. He tries to calm her down, and once again gets the feeling that he knows her and Neko from somewhere else. After she recovers, he mentions that he has regularly been having nightmares about running away from tarsiers in Hell. Intrigued by this, Neko begins seriously questioning him on the topic. The three converse for a while before going their separate ways.

A little while after that, Atori receives a call from Neko one morning to ask him about his nightmares. After telling her that he had the same nightmare the previous night, she tells him to contact her the next time he thinks it's about to happen. He says he believes it will happen again that night, and she responds that she will see in his dream.

Later that night, Atori's suspicions are confirmed when he finds himself back in Hell. Frightened, he is quickly surrounded by tarsiers, but suddenly Neko shows up with a nail bat to save him. The two fight off the Hell creatures and run to the top of the mountain, where there's a ladder leading up to the train station in the real world. They make it out just before the gate closes, with Atori pulling Neko up by her collar just like when he saved her the year before. He pressures Neko to answer all of his questions, and even though Neko tries to say it's all a dream, Atori knows better, realizing he somehow knew her and Ruri before. Sighing, Neko promises to explain everything the next morning, should he remember the ordeal.

Sure enough, Atori remembers everything and contacts Neko the next morning. She presumably tells him everything that happened at the Tasokare Hotel, although he does not remember a thing about it. Thanks to Neko, he never dreams about going to Hell again.

A while afterward, Atori and Neko meet in the cafe after the live music event. Atori ended up playing the saxophone after all, thanks to Neko's persuasion. The two talk about the event's success, the Osoto family, and finally about possible jobs for Neko once she graduates college. Neko ends up deciding that she wants to become a police officer, as that's an unusual job that fits her, and Atori ends up agreeing.

## Relationships

### Tsukahara Neko

Neko is Atori's junior both in the Tasokare Hotel and in the real world when she ends up in the same hotel professional exchange program as him. His first impression of Neko was that she was a calm and reserved girl because of her deadpan face, but he soon realizes she is the exact opposite. As her senior, Atori dutifully looks out for her and is protective of her from dangerous people like Osoto.

He is grateful to Neko for pushing him to begin playing the saxophone again, helping him realize that he can still pursue his dream of playing professionally. Additionally, although he doesn't know it, Neko saved his life two times: once from Osoto in the hotel, and again from Osoto in the real world.

After losing his memory of her, Atori still cannot shake the familiarity of her disposition, positive that they met somewhere before. The two end up adopting a relationship similar to the one they had at the hotel, although it progresses much slower due to his professionalism in the real world. After she saves him from his "nightmare" of being in Hell, she tells him everything. The two end up going back to their old dynamic, though this time with Neko being much more protective of him.

### Masaki Osoto

Although Atori was unaware of this fact, Osoto was his stalker in the real world before coming to the hotel. He often had his pictures taken by him in secret, and Neko believes that Osoto tapped his room with listening devices as well.

They did not interact often in the hotel, but Osoto acted polite enough around him that Atori never noticed his interest in him until it was too late. Rather, he was more focused on protecting his junior colleagues from him instead. As a result, in one bad ending, Osoto presumably carries out his plan of cannibalizing Atori, although they both disappear before it is certain. In the true route, Atori ends up accidentally shooting Osoto to save Neko, sending them both to Hell before he can learn of Osoto's plans.

### Ruri

Atori respects and cares for Ruri as a friend and colleague because of her work ethic. He works hard to protect her from Osoto, especially after she was nearly killed by him. She seems to harbor light romantic feelings for him, but he shows no signs of recognizing the fact.

### Mr. & Mrs. Osoto

Mr. and Mrs. Osoto were frequent guests at the hotel Atori worked at as a concierge in the real world. They are very fond of Atori, more so than of their own biological son, and frequently give him expensive gifts and take him to dinner. After Osoto's disappearance in the true ending, they asked Atori to become their adopted son, to which he politely declined.

## Trivia

* Before the main storyline, Atori was a concierge at a famous five-star hotel called Hamilton Hotel in Tokyo.
* Atori is the only guest to arrive at the hotel with a partially covered face. Normally, a guest's entire head is replaced by a symbolic object, or their head and face completely stay intact.
* Atori's room is the only one with a different time of day. While it is sunset in every other hotel room, it is nighttime in his room.
* Even though Neko went back in time to save him, part of his spirit was still stuck in Hell. As a result, he had reoccurring nightmares about his experiences despite not remembering a thing about it.
* His dream is to become a professional saxophone player.
* His longest relationship lasted three months, while his shortest relationship lasted three hours.
* He enjoyed gambling when he was a student, but quit when he was older.
* According to his behind the scenes notes, Atori is the youngest sibling.