Shuichi Saihara

"If you can't live with them...live for them."

Shuichi Saihara is one of the main protagonists in St Mystere and the Time Traveller's Watch and one of the central protagonists in the Killing School Period series. A participant of Killing Game of the 76th Class of Hope's Peak featured in The Killing School Period. His title is the Ultimate Detective.

A year later, he joined Future Foundation along with the fellow survivors of The Killing Game, working as Head of Investigation under Kyoko Kirigiri.

Early Life
Shuichi was born to two famous parents, a famous actor and a screenwriter, who seemingly only wanted to have a baby for the sake of a little extra fame at the time. He was swiftly abandoned by them as they openly experienced the lavish lifestyle they could live without having to raise a child. Whilst Shuichi would claim that there's no more sad story to it, he did grow a resentment to his parents for just leaving him. From that point, he was raised by his uncle and his wife. He had a lot of gratitude towards his uncle for looking after him despite not being his child. After his aunt's unfortunate death, Shuichi was taken by his uncle to England, where he would continue his studies for the foreseeable future.

Growing up in class he never really knew anyone, often at times the lonesome foreign boy who after the first few days of being new everyone got bored of. He didn't find a friend until a chance encounter with a classmate called Lucy Baker. Shuichi was working on a case during class and had been put into a pairing with Lucy in order to complete an assignment. It was there he learned that Lucy has the same love of mysteries as he did. As an assignment, they completed and presented the case Shuichi had been handed and from then on became inseparable partners throughout the rest of school, until they split apart by the end of their education.

Personality
Shuichi appears to have quite a serious and polite personality. However, he is also stated to have a weak personality, and he is abnormally timid when it comes to speaking. He often has negative remarks, frequently blushes and suffers from a cold sweat. With his unsure demeanor, he has a tendency to assume that other people can do things better than him, and he comes across as quite unreliable at first glance. He also had a habit of making questionable statements when shocked or flustered. He was also oblivious to the notion of people being romantically interested in him, despite the various times it's happened. It's implied it is less down to oblivious nature and more his downtrodden belief that no one would genuinely feel romantical thoughts about him.

He heavily relied upon emotional counterparts in order to work effectively; the headstrong attitude of Lucy or Miu, the positive mindset of Kaede, or the no-nonsense behavior of Kyoko. However, on occasion, he could step out of the shell and become proactive, having a much stronger attitude, like when Seiko was being harrassed by Junko, causing Shuichi to step in to protect Seiko. His hat is a sore point for him, as he puts it on in order to avoid eye contact after the events of St Mystere. He used his hat as a shield to protect him from looking at and subsequently falling for anyone again, an endeavor that fails in chapter 2 of Killing School Period, causing him to throw the hat off in a rage.

Even though he is a very skilled detective with superior ability and insight, Shuichi lacks self-confidence, as he claims he hasn't accomplished enough to be called a famous detective. He also feels he doesn't deserve his Ultimate title because he relied upon the help of so many others in order to solve the mystery, frequently referring to himself as "kind of a detective". Whenever Shuichi feels depressed, he tends to stay in his room and doesn't eat nor shower and at times he can even feel suicidal, but he can get moving with his friends' support. With Kaede assuring him that she believes in him and he should be more confident in himself, Shuichi promises he will try although he's not sure if he can. Seiko was also pivotal in his confidence throughout the Killing School Period, though that was mainly as she had romantic feelings for him openly.

His past is laden with losing the people he's cared about, causing him to struggle with the concept of someone else being in danger. It also causes him to be far more submissive and accepting of someone's feelings to make them happy, rather than making the wiser choice in the long run, like when he chose to willingly date Seiko despite mentioning he shouldn't form relationships whilst in a killing game. However, he does have his limits as he refused to take the final step with Seiko until the two of them had found a way out of Hope's Peak. But when faced with the reality the world outside of Hope's Peak was all but destroyed, Shuichi broke down falling into despair after feeling all of his efforts were useless and in the end, he'd failed everyone who died so he could stand here. It took the combined efforts of the remaining survivors to knock him out of his stupor and finally take down the mastermind.

After the Killing School Period, Shuichi's outward behavior became more cynical and sarcastic as often during missions, he would make a disingenuous comment when stressed or in a bad situation, or crack a rather dark joke. This has sometimes even helped him, like when he questioned Kanade's seeming reduction in breast size in order to break out from her grapple. Regardless of that, Shuichi has maintained the same personality in terms of helping, something he natured from his time with Lucy as he would go out of his way to assist others and even save civilians from Ultimate Despair even if it meant being as reckless as his former partner.

Despair Disease Shuichi was the complete opposite end of the coin to his counterpart in almost every aspect. Cunning, uncaring and incredibly manipulative, he worked quietly to cull the "threats" to his game, as he sought to control the killing game from within. He was also exceedingly forward with his remarks and behavior to certain classmates during this time, complimenting Despair Disease Kaede's more submissive obedience to him. Shuichi doesn't recall anything from his time infected with the Despair Disease however, he states he doesn't want to, as he wishes to not remember what he was like and quietly fears he still has the potential to be that callous if pushed too far.

Relationships
Too goddamn many to go through in one sitting