#samigiri

Yui-ko

The thing about Yui is that she doesn't know how to view Kyoko. A part of it is due to Kitayama's indecisiveness throughout writing Danganronpa:Kirigiri (evidence seen in Kirigirisou and the volume 7 afterword), but it ultimately comes down to her blaming herself for her actual little sister's death/murder, and using Kyoko (whether she wants to admit it or not) as a "rebound" to correct something she could never be faulted for in the first place. And this slow unwinding of seeing her as someone else is essentially a slow burn to her final monologue somewhat-of-a-love confession towards the end of volume 7's final chapter.

You can even see this crack in her mindset as early as volume 3:

And by "crack" I mean it quite literally (see how Mayu and Kyoko are literally separated from each other in Yui's mind? Interesting stuff, and could be its own little analysis)

Kyoko is a whole other can of worms to get into, and is the entire reason why I never want DR:K to get an official translation. I could go on and on about Japan culture when it comes to honorific usage, class-s yuri tropes, and etc., but I feel like that because Yui's author-inflicted indecisiveness is at the forefront---(I did not magically forget the "team sisters" comment Yui made during the gun games)---it could probably wait another day.

Day 23: Roleswap