Mikoto Aibi

Mikoto Aibi (愛美 命 Aibi Mikoto) is a character featured in Danganronpa Off: The 15 Sins and a participant of the Cleansing Game. She is the main protagonist of the game.

Mikoto is given the title of Ultimate Arts-and-Crafts Maker (超高校級の「美術工芸アーティスト」chō kōkō kyū no "bijutsu kōgei ātisuto" lit. Super High School Level Arts-and-Crafts Artist).

Early Life
Mikoto was born into an average household on an average street in an average neighborhood, and lived there peacefully with her parents for the first four years of her life. But what turned out to be a terrible accident changed the course of Mikoto's life forever, as her parents had succumbed to a horrible house fire caused by an electrical failure. Though Mikoto was fortunate enough to be staying at her elderly grandparents' house that night, sparing her from the same fate, the tragedy of the event that tore her parents away from her sits in the back of her mind ever since.

After the accident, Mikoto had little family remaining, other than her elderly grandparents who were not fit to take care of a young child, so Mikoto was sent to a foster home where her parents' good friends would care for her instead, as they already had their own young daughter, Megumi.
 * Pre-Game


 * Events of the Cleansing Game

Name
Her first name kanji, (命) mikoto, means "life" while her last name kanji, (愛美) aibi comes from "love, beauty".

Mikoto is affectionately referred to by her friends as simply "Koto". Interestingly, this can be spelled using the kanji for "long life" (寿), which is similar to her full name.

Both her and her sister Megumi's full names have similar meanings, in different orders.

Appearance
Mikoto is a girl of small stature, and is the third shortest among the cast overall. Mikoto has short, fluffy hair swept to her right side, with two bobby pins holding her fringe back on her left. Though her hair is bleached white, her natural hair color is a dark brown, and can sometimes be seen in her roots. Mikoto's ahoge is large and heart shaped, and though it comes from her roots, is also white in color. Mikoto's eye color is a dull brown, and she wears mascara to accentuate the length of her lashes. She doesn't wear any other makeup normally, as she enjoys showing off all of her freckles.

During the killing game, Mikoto wears a typical short sleeved seifuku with a blue sailor collar and cuffs on the sleeves, as well as a matching blue skirt. The ribbon on the front is pink, although it is hidden by a red apron stained with multiple colors of paint and glitter. The apron crosses in the back and is tied in a neat bow, and also has a large pocket in the front equipped with Mikoto's favorite art tools: paintbrushes, glue, pencils, and an unsealed box cutter. Her socks are knee length and white, and she wears brown loafers typical of a school uniform.

Personality
Mikoto is a spritely, optimistic girl, and does her best to spread her positivity to the people she comes across. Though she can be a bit too loud at times, overbearing, and naïve, Mikoto takes pride in the fact that she can often get even the saddest of people to smile and laugh alongside her. She is a strong believer in the power of hope and friendship, and thinks that anyone can change and be a good person if they try. She doesn't believe that anyone could be truly evil.

More than anything, Mikoto wants to see all of her classmates get along and work together to escape. Because of her genuine and friendly nature, Mikoto has no trouble approaching anyone in order to initiate a Free Time or bonus event, even those as cold or reclusive as Hibiki Mitsuya and Chikaze Tsubasa. In due time, Mikoto is able to get just about anyone to be her friend. Although she does not believe in fighting, she isn't pushed around easily and can put her foot down for the things she believes in.

While she is amazed by the incredible talent and worth of all of the people around her, Mikoto secretly worries about her own talent and worth, wondering if she can really do anything at all to help everyone escape, or if she's just dead weight. Mikoto doesn't let anyone else know about this doubt, however, and keeps it hidden, as she's afraid that if she shows weakness or sadness, everyone else will doubt her or fall into despair as well.

Ultimate Arts-and-Crafts Maker
Being given the title of Ultimate Arts-and-Crafts Maker, Mikoto possesses lots of creative ability and doesn't hold herself down to just one art form. She enjoys a variety of crafts, such as painting, drawing, origami, makeup, sculpting, and much more, though often on a small and manageable scale.

Mikoto has won prizes in multiple amateur art exhibits and runs a YouTube channel to give tutorials on things such as drawing, makeup, hair, and other crafts. Though her online audience is small, she enjoys being able to help others in what little ways that she can. Mikoto often makes gifts for her friends as tokens of her appreciation and friendship, most notably friendship bracelets that she makes for each classmate once their Free Time events are completed.

Her talent allows her to think of solutions outside of the box and to approach things from different angles. Though her methods are strange and questionable, there is no denying that she is capable and willing to do things the hard way, and that she will always come out on top. Mikoto also believes that she can take anything broken and make it into something new and beautiful, including broken people.

Megumi Ikeru
Mikoto and Megumi have an extremely strong bond, despite the fact that they are not sisters by blood. When Mikoto was 5 years old and her parents passed away, Megumi's family took her in, and the two grew close very fast. Mikoto recalls that before Megumi became a teenager, she was much more friendly and vibrant than how she acts lately, being anxious and down all the time. Mikoto admires and idolizes her sister nonetheless, wanting to spend time with her and be just like her- calm, composed, smart, and beautiful. Mikoto also wishes she could work at their father's P.I. Agency just like her sister, but lacks the patience, intelligence, and maturity to do so, and is a tad envious of her sister because of it. Megumi makes up for it by helping Mikoto study, taking weekends off to marathon movies and TV with her, and occasionally letting Mikoto play with Megumi's makeup or hair. Though Mikoto wonders sometimes if Megumi is really alright with how energetic she is, knowing that Megumi gets overwhelmed easily by those kinds of people, Megumi assures her that she could never ask for a better sister, and it warms Mikoto's heart at how supportive and caring her older sister is. Mikoto helps console her sister after Hachi's sudden disappearance, and feels upset at Hachi for doing something he knew would effect Megumi very badly. The two spend their Free Time events reminiscing together about their home and family, and encouraging each other by promising that they'll get to see it again once they escape.

When Megumi is revealed to have been willing to sacrifice everyone's lives in order to let Hachi escape after the Class Trial in Chapter 4, Mikoto is incredibly conflicted on how she feels about it. While she also loves Hachi dearly and understands where Megumi is coming from in wanting to protect him, she thinks Megumi is being selfish in wanting to end everyone else's life, including her own, and feels deeply hurt by Megumi's lack of judgement in the situation. Though Mikoto promises Hachi that she will take care of Megumi after he's gone, Mikoto cannot bring herself to forgive Megumi immediately, and leaves her alone to grieve during the entirety of Chapter 5. The sisters reconcile shortly after the trial when Megumi apologizes for her actions, and Mikoto forgives her easily. Mikoto's forgiveness fills Megumi with newfound determination and the will to keep living, and Mikoto is happy to see her sister out of her deep depression.

Sen
During High School, Mikoto was acquainted with Sen through their mutual friend, Hachi, though she didn't quite understand why he so often tried to push the two to hang out together when Sen constantly seemed agitated and flustered in her company. Mikoto simply wrote off Sen's behavior on not really wanting to be Mikoto's friend, and chalked up Hachi's insistence on them hanging out together on the fact that they had some similarities, and that maybe they could be friends if they could learn to get along. Though Mikoto remained friendly towards the smaller girl, she never really considered the two of them friends, as Sen could hardly manage to say a single word to her without running away. Mikoto wonders if Sen is shy deep down, and thinks that it's cute, and suspects that it may be why Hachi insisted on the two of them being friends. Since she never expected Sen's behavior to change much, Mikoto was greatly surprised when Sen asked her out of the blue if they could walk to school together, just the two of them, one day. Happy and excited at the prospect of finally getting to be friends with the gang leader, Mikoto quickly accepts the invitation, not thinking of how it would mean she'd have to ditch her normal walking companion, Kaoru, on that day, in order for the two of them to be alone.

On the day that Sen shows up outside of Mikoto's house after Hachi drops her off to take Megumi with him, Mikoto is even more surprised at how much Sen's attitude changed. For once, Sen doesn't seem frustrated or anxious, but actually seems excited and happy to see her, and Mikoto finds it to be a welcome change, wanting to see more of this Sen. Mikoto allows it when Sen asks to hold her hand during the walk, and the two have a pleasant time getting to know each other that day. From then on, Mikoto considered the two of them friends, though Sen quickly shifted her attitude back to her usual one whenever they would see each other in public. Despite this, Mikoto found that getting to know the Sen that she held hands with that one day was something she'd never forget.

During the Killing Game, Mikoto enjoys spending her Free Time events with Sen after discovering that she would like Mikoto to do her hair and makeup. During these events, Mikoto learns about why Sen feels the need to act tough around everyone else, but that she feels like she can be herself around Mikoto, since they're so similar. Mikoto tells Sen that she thinks she is extremely cute either way, and enjoys seeing how flustered Sen gets at the attention. When Sen faces difficulties during the game, such as her brother, Masaru, being the victim in Chapter 2, or after the murder attempt on her in Chapter 3 and the subsequent revealing of Sen's traumatic past, Mikoto is always the first person to comfort Sen, hating seeing the other upset. Mikoto faithfully stays by Sen's side the entire game, never once suspecting her of any malicious behavior, as she remembers the sweet girl she held hands with on her walk that one day. The two quickly jump to each other's defense, and grow extremely close by the time they escape together, holding hands once again as they leave the facility.

Hachi Yoshimura
Though most would assume a small girl like Mikoto would want to stay away from someone as imposing and intimidating as Hachi, the opposite could not be more true. When Mikoto was taken in by Megumi's family, Hachi was one of the first people to give her a warm welcome, being close to her new sister already. Since then, Mikoto looks up to Hachi as an older brother figure and trusted companion, and knows that she's safe while he's around. Though she does see their relationship as familial, she can also see the clear attraction between him and her sister, and has known about their feelings for one another since they became teenagers, hearing both sides of the issue time and time again. Mikoto aims to help the two of them in their relationship, as evident in Mikoto's Free Time events with Hachi. Mikoto enjoys experimenting on Hachi with makeup and different hairstyles, and is thankful that he even lets her do that. When Hachi disappears before the Killing Game, Mikoto misses Hachi greatly, wondering if he was happy wherever he went and if he would ever come back to visit. She is a tad bitter about how his sudden disappearance badly effected Megumi.

When Hachi is revealed to be the murderer of Hibiki Mitsuya in Chapter 4, Mikoto refuses to believe it at first, knowing that despite Hachi's delinquent nature, he's not the type of person to commit such a gruesome murder. After learning the context of the situation and how Hachi didn't mean to kill Hibiki, only seeking to protect Megumi, Mikoto is heartbroken, but accepts the explanation. Mikoto hugs Hachi tightly before his execution, and promises him that she will stay strong and take care of Megumi while he's gone. Mikoto doesn't want to watch Hachi's execution, but cannot tear her eyes away, hoping that somehow, he will make it out alive.

Trivia

 * Mikoto was the 3rd character in the roster to be created.
 * Mikoto in her original version wore a tan sweater with a blue sailor collar and pink ribbon, along with a blue skirt with white gridding on it. This version was scrapped due to it not showcasing her ultimate talent.
 * Mikoto's original name was Makoto, but this was also scrapped as it was just a joke and would cause confusion as it was the same as Makoto Naegi's name.