Can i just say that i think Kaito was one of the strongest willed characters in v3 for not only managing to keep his illness hidden and act like everything was fine, but also bc he hustled through it and only gave into it when he was about to be executed?? Kaito is strong in general to me, both emotionally and physically, but it's the whole thing with him slowly dying as time goes on and still being one of the most supportive, energetic, and outgoing characters in the game what really takes the cake for me ππππ€π½
I probably sound so biased since he's my fave character ever but i honestly admired his strength and his willpower to keep that shit under wraps and even though he must've felt like death sometimes he still did it while going out of his way to suppport Shuichi and Maki and trying his best to encourage everyone. Can you imagine him coughing out his guts in blood during the night in his room after a whole day of pretending he wasn't sick and trying to genuinely help everyone?? It must've been rough, especially with the strain he put on his body with the stress and dread and fear that comes in a killing game and having your friends dying left and right, all the running around and tension with the murders and class trials, the headache that is dealing with Monokuma and the cubs, the need to be a hero, and the nightly training he did with Shuichi and later Maki cause yes even though he didn't do as much as they did he still exercised???
I know some people probably think it was stupid of him to keep it hidden or that he didn't tell anyone, and putting aside the fact Kaito didn't want anyone worrying about him and that he needed to continue being the pillar of support for his friends, i honestly think he realized there would've been no point π§π½ββοΈ They were trapped in a school with no way out and no access to a doctor or hospital and I dare say he probably tried to do research on his condition in the library or something bc yes we believe in a smart astronaut in this house, plus let's not forget he had a bit of medical training, so i honestly think he realized the only thing he'd do with revealing his condition would be to cause everyone to worry which is the last thing he wanted, cause panic about a possible illness going around, and make his friends even more stressed and desperate to escape than before, plus Kaito NEEDED to be the hero and the one who everyone could count on so how could he let himself show weakness around the people he needs to be strong for- absolutely not, he couldn't.
But aside from that, i honestly admired how determinated he was to keep going even though he was getting worse, how he kept fighting his illness to stay alive and help everyone, how he refused to die cause he hadn't gone to space yet, and ofc i have to mention how fucking awesome he was at adapting to the situation at hand?? The fact he managed to adapt to the turn of events in the hangar and managed to execute Kokichi's plan almost perfectly in the limited amount of time he had while he was running on fumes after killing someone and dying cause he got hit with a two for one special (poison and the illness, what a combo) is just mindblowing to me, and i gotta say, when he was inside the rocket ship and only then did he succumb to his illness before the execution was completed was, hands down, a bADASS MOMENT, 10000/10, IT WAS LITERALLY A BIG FAT "FUCK YOU" TO MONOKUMA AND IT WAS THE ONLY THING THAT MADE ME SMILE A LIL AMIDST THE TEARS
Oh and obvi I cant end this without reaffirming my stance that Kaito isn't an idiot, he was smart and he knew so many things and he did help in the trials and just cause he wasn't extremely deductive or a big brain time help like the literal detectives in danganronpa doesn't make him a dumbass or useless, he was smart, encouraging, helpful, brave, supportive, wore his heart on his sleeve and he deserved better, he was strong as hell for enduring everything he did and a character's worth isn't determined by what they contribute in a trial, though again i still think he did help in those (to me one of the most significant things he did was always encouraging Shuichi during them and when he brought the attention and importance back to Tenko and her death while trying to make Himiko feel better and reassuring her that Tenko's death absolutely mattered), i said what i said ππ½ββοΈ OOPS SORRY FOR THE LONG POST I GOT CARRIED AWAY AGAIN πππ