Just a dude

And then.

Mf. How is this where I find out Kenshiro likely survived his terminal illness??? That he's still somewhere out there in the Danganronpa world???

Do you. Do you guys think he knows Sakura is gone? In the main plotline he was one of Monokuma's bargaining chips over Sakura iirc. Do you think her final moments were broadcasted to the dojo and to Kenshiro while they were held hostage? Feels like something Junko would do, maximum despair right?

And then, because Kenshiro was forced to watch Sakura die for him and everyone else, did that grief solidify his determination? Was that the resolve which gave him just that one little extra push he needed to beat his terminal illness?

Do you think he then sought out Sakura's remaining classmates? Do you think him and Aoi mourned her together? Do you think he acknowledged Makoto, man to man, and thanked him personally for defeating the great evil that felled "the greatest fighter and rival he ever had the honour to have fought and known"?

Do you think Yasuhiro came to him at one point, figuring if anyone deserved to punch him or yell at him, then it wasn't just Aoi, it was this guy as well? Do you think Kenshiro refused to absolve him of his guilt, but told him Sakura would've been happy Yasuhiro lived on anyway?

Do you think that's part of why Yasuhiro ended up being a Branch Officer of the Future Foundation eventually, with actual shitloads of work and a giant target on his back? It's obvious to anyone that he's in it for the fame and glory and the pay and perks too of course, and that is true as well, but. Kenshiro knows.

And he knows this because, every year, around Sakura's birthday, when he and Aoi go to visit Sakura's resting place (sometimes with Makoto, sometimes not), the air still smells faintly like that insufferable, cheap cologne Hagakure uses liberally instead of washing his hair regularly like he should.

original

You’re trapped in a killing game. And you’ve been told that your family and the man you love will be harmed or killed if you don’t kill someone yourself and start off this killing game

Then one of the first nights, a girl you’ve been getting along with comes up to you and asks if you can stay in her room because she doesn’t feel safe. The irony of her asking you of all people isn’t lost on you. But you agree. You spend the night chatting and laughing and eventually she falls asleep. She’s vulnerable. It wouldn’t take much, you’re far stronger than her and even if she wakes up, the rooms are soundproof. No one knows you’re staying the night here. You could get away with it, and save your family and love in the process. You spend the night reminding yourself of all this. But it doesn’t matter. Despite everything, you can’t do it. You fail to convince yourself that despite everything, maybe you and the other students can deny the killing and revolt against the forces that put you here. That maybe your loved ones and the girl sleeping next to you don’t have to die

To add salt to the wound, she pretty much signed up for her own death as soon as she agreed to work for Monokuma. If she was to kill someone, the only two options were that either she dies or everyone else does, and I doubt the second option would be something she'd be okay with. The whole killing game was just a timer until a stalemate for her, waiting and waiting to be forced on a death row. Maybe that's why the decision to kill herself came so easy to her. She was going to die anyway, at least that way she wouldn't have to hurt anyone else in the process.

Aoi execution music ending with a bittersweet-yet-loving tune as she, taking her final breath, the biggest smile on her face, reaches for above. Because she will finally be reunited with Sakura.