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Hypothetically speaking of course due to one of Monokuma’s logic defying motives. If everyones favorite space man was ever turned into an actual tooth and fang monster, taking his issues on NEEDING to be a hero into acount how do you think something like that happening to him, being twisted into a beast like that would affect him? My apologies if this is a odd question I’ve just been thinking up story stuff lately and thought it would be interesting for the hero to become a literal monster in a sense.

Hey, no worries! I'm always up for running my mental simulation of Kaito through interesting scenarios and rambling about the fun ways he responds, and this one's a juicy one. Thanks for the prompt!

(Heck, I hope you don't mind me having gone into so much detail here, because if this is a story idea of yours then I don't want to step on your toes and make you feel like you can't use any of these ideas if you'd been thinking something similar.)

Basically, this would depend a lot on exactly how Kaito “being a monster” worked. Since you left it vague, I decided to just take multiple possible variants of this situation and talk about all of them, because they're all fun in their own way.

Scenario 1: he's still mentally entirely himself, and he can still speak.

If this were the case, Kaito would be basically fine! No problem! Sure, it's kinda freaky to suddenly be in a body like this, but he knows that doesn't change the fact that he's still himself. Kaito has a very strong sense of identity and conviction in who he is, and even this wouldn't shake that. (See also: that one AU of mine in which he found himself in a different human body.) Being physically a "monster" doesn't magically make him a worse person if his mind's still the same.

The only potential issue would be whether or not everyone else would understand that, since Kaito also cares a lot about how other people see him. But if he can still speak, then it should, in theory, be fine, because he can just reassure everybody that it's still him. Communication is important! He might be just a little strained and desperate at first upon seeing everybody freak out at him, but it'd be okay once they got it.

Shuichi and Maki would believe him straight away, because they know Kaito well enough to be able to recognise the way he talks and acts even from a different body, and because they want to trust him. Shuichi would maybe be a bit instinctively freaked out by Kaito's appearance, but he'd also know how much it would hurt Kaito for his sidekick to be afraid of him, so he'd be determined to push that aside and show Kaito that he trusts him.

Maki... Maki gets it. She knows exactly how it feels to be seen as a monster by everybody, to be afraid that the whole group is going to ostracise you and dehumanise you because of something about yourself that you can't help. Kaito has been teaching her to understand that she's not actually a monster despite all appearances and despite how long she believed it herself. She knows Kaito isn't a monster either, no matter what. Maki would never not extend that same compassion and trust back to him.

(Kaito reflects that this is helping him understand Maki Roll's struggles even more, so he can help her even better! So in some ways, this is a good thing, really!)

The rest of the group... some of them might just try to write Kaito off as a monster at first, even after he explains to them that it's still him. Not naming any names, but I think we all know who'd be the worst offender with this. Still, over time, and seeing Shuichi and Maki stand up for Kaito and treat him like they always do, most of the group would get used to it and accept him. They all got used to and accepted Maki within the space of pretty much one chapter; it might even happen quicker for Kaito since he'd still be acting just as trustworthy as ever. Keebo in particular should be good with this, since he can relate to feeling othered just because his body happens to be different from everyone else's.

That said, this is all on the assumption that Kaito gets turned into a monster at some point in the middle of the killing game, which actually kind of makes things easier. He's surrounded entirely by people who already know him and can easily recognise that it's still him once he communicates that to them. It might be harder in the outside world where there'll always be new people, people who'll just see the monster on the outside and might not be willing to listen to him for long enough to realise he's still a good person beneath that. That'd kinda sting a bit, since other people's image of him is so important to Kaito – even if not in quite such a literal way.

Still, given there's nothing Kaito can do about the monster body, he'd be determined not to let it get him down and see this as a challenge to overcome. He'd do everything he could to show the world he's a hero anyway. Hey, maybe this body has cool powers and he could be an actual literal superhero! That'd be awesome, right!?

(oh boy, what if he could fly, he'd be so excited at being able to fly you know he would, he'd give his sidekicks rides, it'd be great)

So in the end, this scenario wouldn't actually set off Kaito's hero issues that badly at all. He knows he hasn't failed anyone in terms of being a hero and still isn't going to, and Shuichi and Maki at least know it's still him and so he can still inspire them just as well like this.

The only thing really relating to his hero issues here would be the fact that finding himself in this body is kinda freaking him out a bit – not in the sense that being a "monster" matters to who he is in any way, but just in the sense that anyone would be freaked out at being trapped in an unfamiliar body that isn't even humanoid, let alone human. But no, of course Kaito isn't freaking out about anything! He's fine, everything's good, he is totally 100% chill with this situation. It'd be a similar flavour of his hero issues as in the canon story: just insistently hiding that something's bothering him and being afraid that he couldn't be a hero any more if everyone knew about it.

In fact, what I think this would set off the most isn't Kaito's hero issues, but Kaito's friendship issues. He's not less of a hero because of this, but this is making people see him differently and be more likely to just not want to trust him or spend time with him in the first place. Kaito already had some subtle insecurity and awkwardness about whether anyone would want to be regular friends with him because of how larger-than-life he always is; this'd set off a similar kind of feeling to that, but much worse.

Like, surely Shuichi doesn't actually want to hang out and be friends with a weird creepy monster? Surely he's even more definitely only sticking around out of still needing Kaito's heroic support and wants to be done with him the moment he's grown independent enough to be able to stand on his own? So, if anything, this'd make Kaito amp up his hero deal more than usual, not because he's worried he's not a hero, but because he's even more afraid that this is all he's got to offer.

Scenario 1b: he's still entirely himself, but he can't speak.

Only a slight variant on the previous scenario. Kaito would still feel the same about himself, but it would be a lot harder for him to communicate this to everybody if his monster form wasn't capable of human speech.

Let's assume everyone would be able to tell it's Kaito anyway. Maybe he's all purple and spiky and recognisably him, or maybe they just use process of elimination in that he's the only one missing. People would be bound to assume at first that he's just been turned into a mindless beast, but Maki and Shuichi, the ones most primarily viewing this situation as something awful for Kaito rather than a potential danger to the rest of the group, are less convinced. They'd be able to spot that he looks more confused and desperate than hostile.

Kaito, of course, wouldn't let the lack of a voice stop him and would do everything he could to communicate that he's still himself and still cares about supporting everyone. He could at least nod and shake his head to answer yes/no questions, and he'd figure out other ways to communicate, too. Maybe he'd lead Maki and Shuichi to the training spot and do push-up motions to get across the fact that he remembers their training sessions and still sees them as his sidekicks. That'd be adorable.

I bet he'd also figure out motions or noises to communicate the most important sentiments such as “I'm here for you”, “I believe in you”, “the impossible is possible!” etcetera, all so he can keep supporting his sidekicks the best he can. In some ways, his hero role doesn't even really need him to communicate anything that complex; he just needs to be there for his sidekicks and give them the nudge they need.

Kaito is so good at communication, after all. It'd be a challenge to learn to adjust and find new ways to communicate without a voice, but Kaito never backs down from challenges!

(All of the issues from the previous version of this scenario with Kaito freaking out about this body and worrying about how others see him would still be here, of course, and probably a good bit worse – but at the same time, it'd also be easier for him to hide those problems from everyone else. It's not as if anyone's going to be expecting him to talk about how he's feeling here.)

Scenario 2: having the body of a monster comes with disturbing violent urges.

The first scenario was a fun exercise in Kaito's self-conviction and determination to overcome any challenge, but what if we did try and make him really question whether or not he can even be a hero any more like this? So let's imagine that, while he is still mostly mentally himself – because if it wasn't really Kaito any more there'd be no point in this – monster-Kaito also has to deal with the intrinsic urge to do monstrous things.

Like, imagine Kaito's there fervently explaining to the group that it's still him, he's still himself, he's not actually a monster in any real way – except then his words die on his tongue as he's suddenly hit with the thought of tearing out Shuichi's throat. Uhhhhhh.

How this goes would really depend on exactly how strong these urges are and whether or not Kaito can control them. (And let’s also assume that he can speak in these scenarios, just for simplicity’s sake.)

Scenario 2a: they're entirely controllable.

In this one, Kaito is sure that he's perfectly capable of ignoring the urges and not acting on them, making them just really annoying and disturbing intrusive thoughts.

Naturally, Kaito would act like nothing's wrong and not tell anybody about this at all and continue to be Fine like he usually is. It'd jab at his hero issues, but not in terms of him actively failing at being a hero for having these thoughts – just in terms of the fear that he might end up failing them if anybody learns about this (or if he did somehow end up acting on them even though he's pretty sure he won't). So, you know, basically like Kaito's hero issues are in canon with him hiding everything he's going through and being terrified of it coming out anyway. But it's all okay so long as he doesn't let anybody see that he's not a perfect invincible hero, right?

Kaito might reflect during this – entirely to himself, of course – that this must be a little bit like what it's like to be Maki. She probably has similar thoughts all the time about all the many ways she could kill the person she's having a friendly conversation with, because her training has ingrained that mindset into her. But that doesn't meaningfully change who she is as a person just because she's been given these disturbing thoughts against her will.

(Maybe, even though Kaito is trying to hide his intrusive thoughts from everyone, Maki would be able to pick up on it a little bit, because she knows the feeling.)

Scenario 2b: the urges are very clearly uncontrollable and Kaito knows it.

If he was able to recognise from the beginning that the violent urges are so strong that they're going to overwhelm him and take control of him sooner or later, Kaito wouldn't take any risks. He'd just shut himself away the moment he realised this, to avoid hurting anyone. It'd basically end up looking a lot like this, except with a very different-looking Kaito.

(This wouldn't even necessarily be that specific to Kaito's hero issues, because any decent person would be terrified of losing control of themselves and hurting someone else like this. I guess it'd just be more amplified for Kaito than it would be for most, because his hero thing is such a big deal to him and he's so scared of failing everyone.)

This scenario might end with Kaito accepting there's no way he can keep safely supporting anyone any more and shifting tactics to do the next most heroic thing he can do – seeing if this new body will help him fight and take down Monokuma while he's still somewhat in control of himself. Even if he'll only end up being killed for breaking the rules, he doesn't exactly have much left to lose.

Scenario 2c, the most fun one: if Kaito thinks he can ignore the urges well enough to be safe around others but turns out to have misjudged his self-control.

(This seems like quite a plausible scenario, really. Even as a human, Kaito is not very self-aware about his difficulty controlling his impulses or his tendency to get riled up easily and potentially lash out at people when he's frustrated or upset. He presents himself as a person who always has himself together and always acts exactly the way he wants to, but that really isn't actually all that true about him.)

Imagine, with Kaito already more on-edge and stressed than normal because of the whole monster thing and the disturbing violent thoughts he keeps having to push down, somebody says something to him that happens to really hit a nerve and set him off. (Not that there's aaanybody in the group who'd be stupid enough do this kind of thing on purpose, not at all.) One moment Kaito's vaguely irritated but in control, the next moment a haze of anger grips him and he's pinned them down with his teeth at their throat and Maki Roll's screaming at him to stop—

—and Kaito does manage to stop himself just in time, but oh god—

—and as he's frozen in horror, still fighting the urge to finish the job, the rest of the group acts. A profusely apologetic Gonta wrestles Kaito down and clamps his jaws shut, rendering him unable to speak to defend himself or apologise – not that he'd even know how to if he could. Others pile on, restraining him, finding something to tie him up with, talking with frantic certainty about how he's a threat and a monster and can't be allowed around anyone.

Through it all, Kaito is using every ounce of his self-control to let it happen, forcibly suppressing the instinct to fight back and maul them. Being manhandled and restrained and talked about like he's not even a person would make him viscerally feel like nothing but a dangerous beast – but after what he almost did, and how much he felt a part of him wanting to do it... aren't they right?

Shuichi and Maki are too shocked to try and defend him in the moment, but they're the only ones standing back and not helping to restrain Kaito. They're the only ones that can see the fear and guilt and pain in his eyes.

(This would absolutely stab right at Kaito's hero issues, with him very openly failing everyone right in front of them all, doing something so undeniably monstrous and proving that he can't possibly be a hero at all. I came up with this specific variant of the scenario basically out of an attempt to find one that'd jab at his hero issues as much as possible.)

Later, as Kaito's tied up alone in a room hating himself and thinking over and over about how he's a failure and the exact opposite of a hero, someone enters the room for the first time since he's been locked away in here. It's Maki. He flinches away as she approaches, terrified of hurting her.

She's here to talk to him, but Kaito can't even speak with a rope roughly tying his jaws shut. So Maki begins to untie it, despite him cowering away and shaking his head and eventually growling at her in desperation to try and get her to stop (what if he hurts her?). She is undeterred, freeing his jaws and then moving to sit a safe distance away, calmly telling him that she knows he won't hurt her, that she's not afraid of him. (She... she really isn't, is she. Why not? She should be.)

Again: Maki gets it. If anyone can help Kaito become less afraid of himself in a situation like this and learn to control these urges that he now knows are capable of overcoming him – but only if he lowers his guard! – it's her, using everything she's learned from him. She's been there herself, more or less. She knows what it's like to be terrified that you're going to end up killing someone. Despite Kaito fervently insisting that she shouldn't have come here at all, Maki eventually convinces him to trust himself and his own desire not to hurt her for long enough to just... talk to her.

The biggest obstacle to Kaito opening up here is just reassuring him that he's not going to hurt Maki while they talk, because that's the only thing he's really got left to lose at this point. He'd actually be surprisingly willing to talk about his failure otherwise, not even bothering to try and insist that he's fine, because everyone's already seen him fail and so there's no point trying to hide it any more. There'd definitely still be a lot of Kaito talking like how he feels about all this shouldn't matter, not when he's a monster who nearly killed someone and still could – but Maki would know what that feels like, too.

Helping talk Kaito through this would also help Maki a lot with her own issues. The biggest argument to make that Kaito isn't a monster here is that he doesn't want to hurt anyone, despite the urges he can't help having. Neither did Maki, ever, despite her orders and her training forcibly instilling a killer's instincts into her. Talking Kaito into accepting this and giving himself a second chance might also end up being the first time Maki properly accepts any of this about herself.

Shuichi is outside the room for the whole conversation, listening in. He's just as worried about Kaito, but Maki knew that Kaito would feel less afraid of hurting someone if there were fewer people there, so she told Shuichi to let her go in alone, at least at first. Eventually Maki manages to help Kaito trust himself enough that he feels safe having Shuichi there as well, and Shuichi makes it equally clear that he still believes in Kaito no matter what. They are friends.

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