Damn, the last bit with kokichi hurt a lot. I love seeing all the different perspectives and iterations of him in fan works. The one from I'd trade my life for yours is by far my favorite so far, but I'm very excited for when encore eventually gets around to kokichi focused stuff

This was an amazing story!

Wow this was so painful!
This was beautifully written and I’m overwhelmed by all these emotions
I could feel my heart clenching with sadness or pain or whatever Kaito was feeling because you made me feel it too
I absolutely loved this!

As soon as a I saw that the next section started with a conversation between Ryoma and Kaito, I was like noooo I don't wanna read this! But what an interesting premise! Theoretically this could have been from the PoV of any DR character that lived until late into the game (or survived). But Kaito fits the best because he was acted as (or tried to be) the group's leader throughout the game. And he was supportive of the others, too, not just Shuichi.

After rereading, I still don't know what memory Kaito was referring to with Rantaro. Is it a memory of them signing up for the DR game? (Which I refuse to believe happened because the game began with Kaede and Shuichi being kidnapped) The point Kaito brought up to Ryoma - if Ryoma accepted his past, he wouldn't be bringing it up so much - is valid. I never thought of it but it's really true. I was a little disappointed by how little of Angie there was in her section. It felt more like there were two Tenko scenes. But I guess Kaito didn't interact with Angie much during the game.

It's an interesting alternative perspective to have Kokichi so upset that he has to die. I mean, of course he would be upset. But in the game, Kokichi put on more of a brave face. So it was interesting to read this with that facade gone. Poor Kokichi. Made my heart ache. And Kaito comforting him was like, agh, so sweet but heartbreaking. They were only able to put aside their differences once it was too late. Reading the last scene, I had an idea. What if with every scene Kaito not only had a conversation with the victim, but also had increasing guilt over not saving the others? It would culminate, of course, with Kaito having to do the killing in Chapter 5. Kaito would think he failed everyone; he's not a hero. Then Kokichi would thank him. Kaito would realize being a hero was both doing the small act of comforting Kokichi during this time and the great self-sacrifice to take down Monokuma with their plan. Just an idea I had.

But the best and saddest parts of all were the ending lines of every scene. Poignant and powerful. Thanks for writing, Kira! I enjoyed it thoroughly. :)

This is so fucking good, I’m crying