tw: character death

Learning to navigate a relationship where they physically could not touch each other under most circumstances came with a difficult learning curve for one of the two, while the other was already accustomed to living life in such a way. Kaito hadn't mentally grown away from the idea of picking Maki up or grabbing her as he wanted, usually reaching for her hand or her arm, and every time she could see his long fingers inching towards her she would calmly, coldly tell him that if he did what he was thinking, he would die. That threat would have been enough to stop most people, but Kaito had known her to say that sort of thing as a joke in the past and would continue on for a few more seconds, before freezing and realizing that she wasn't joking around.

"Geez, sorry about that, Maki Roll," he'd always say, bringing his hand back to his side and, most importantly, away from whatever patch of exposed skin of hers he was about to kill himself on. "Sometimes I just…wanna be able to touch the girl I love, y'know? Kinda rude that the universe won't let me do that."

"Yeah, well, imagine how I feel when you're just one name on the list of hundreds I can't touch, and you're the one I'd feel worst about killing on accident." Maki had said hundreds, but the moment she stopped speaking she couldn't help but question the accuracy of that number. It had to be larger, she'd been bringing people back to life since she was a child, and even though she knew a bunch had died a second time, whether by her or by other causes, she couldn't say that it was enough to make much of a difference. She was playing the role of a god that had no business meddling with men, and yet there she was, sitting in her living room with Kaito on the other side of the couch, looking at her like she was a treat he couldn't have without spoiling his meal.

She'd never been so frustrated with her choices before in her life, but knowing that she was getting to spend time with someone who'd never left her mind or her heart made up for the mistake she knew she was making. Their lives quickly became routine, much like any couple dating would experience, making sure to have time for each other in the hecticness that they called their day-to-day business. Maki found out that Kaito was still dabbling in space-themed endeavors, even though his legal death and resurrection prohibited him from leaving the planet's atmosphere as an astronaut, and he seemed to have always known that she was doing assassin-like work on top of trying not to kill people she'd formerly saved. Two days out of the week were reserved for them to get to spend time together, usually sitting on the couch at her place because she didn't want to face his grandparents and have to explain to them why she wasn't touching their grandson, but occasionally they used that time to go out on actual dates.

Those were a test of creativity and uniqueness, and anyone around who watched them awkwardly interact while keeping their distance would have wondered if they were there as just friends or as friendly exes, not as people actively dating. There weren't cute hand-holding moments, or kisses at the end of the date, or gentle leans into the other's shoulder when the conversation hit a natural lull. Sometimes, especially if they were dining out, Maki would grab something and lay it over her hand, so that Kaito could set his on top of it, and if she happened to be wearing leggings or a long skirt that night he would let his hand slide off her protective cover and have it rest on her thigh instead, but that was as close as they would get to touching without risking too much.

But every interaction did feel like a huge risk in Maki's mind, and she found herself dreading those date nights when she would want nothing more than to be held by her boyfriend and have him stroke her hair or kiss her cheek or wrap his arms around her shoulders and tell her everything was going to be okay. Those were things she would see Shuichi and Kaede get to do when they were together (now that she'd opened up about Kaito she had allowed Kaede back in her life, and sometimes the four of them would go on dates together that ended in one couple being overly romantic and the other being overly distant), and she would have been lying if she wasn't jealous of what they had.

He was able to pick up on this without her saying a word, just by seeing her longing gazes at her friends before giving him an even deeper stare. "C'mon, Maki Roll, what we've got isn't that bad. I just like being able to spend time with ya, so what if we can't do all that mushy-gushy nonsense?" Kaito grinned after asking his question, which was more than enough to get Maki to melt on the spot, but that only made her problem worse; every time she felt so strongly about him she had to resist grabbing him and pulling him into the kiss she'd wanted since she first saved his life.

"I'd like to have a boyfriend I could do that 'mushy-gushy nonsense' with, so there's your answer," she replied, sounding spiteful and sour with how she spat her words. "I went most of my life without anyone loving me, and now that I have someone, what do I get? No physical touch, that's what! If I want a hug, I have to ask Shuichi or Kyoko for it, and do you think either of them want to play your role in my life?"

"I know that you don't want me answering that, 'cause you know that they both care about you more than themselves some days. You've done amazing things for them, Maki Roll, and the least they wanna do is help you out when you need it. That's a promise, and you can go ask 'em for yourself if you don't believe me." His grin may have faltered but he was still giving off an air of confidence that made it hard for her to argue against him any longer, something that he noticed with how she backed down, looking less angry. "You're not going to ask them, huh?"

"There's no point in asking them, I know you're right." Heaving a sigh, Maki rolled her eyes and leaned back on her spot on the couch, while Kaito thought for a second before jumping to his feet. "What are you thinking of doing?" she asked, watching him head towards the bedrooms. "You're not asking them for me. One, you already know their answer. Two, neither of them are even here so…what are you doing?"

"Going to your room to grab something, I'll be right back." She could have chosen to chase him down but he seemed so confident in what he was doing that she didn't want to question it. Kicking her feet up underneath her as she waited for him to come back, Maki heard her bedroom door open and close rather quickly, and almost immediately Kaito was right back in front of her, holding out a picture frame. "Here ya go, this whole conversation has reminded me that I've been holdin' on to this for a long time and since ya wanna be down on our relationship, it just kinda felt right to give it to you now."

Hesitating for a second, Maki ultimately chose to grab the frame from his hand and look at the picture inside of it, seeing a years-younger version of herself staring back at her with murderous intent in her eyes. "Good god, you really have been hanging on to this forever, haven't you? This is from…wow, back when we barely knew each other. Why do you even have it?"

"My grandma found the picture one day and decided to frame it. Said it was only fitting that she put a picture of the girl who saved my life in a frame, since I told her about your whole touch thing and she knew that, well, I was almost as crazy about you as I was about the stars." Laughing, Kaito sat back down on the other side of the couch from where Maki was, his attention focused entirely on her and how she was staring at her younger self, tears welling in her eyes. "Whoa there, what's the crying for? It's not that sad, is it?"

Maki blinked once and the tears were rolling down her cheeks, dropping off her chin and hitting the dirtied glass on the picture frame. "I separated myself from you for stupid, selfish reasons, when I was hurting just as much as you when I made that choice. I thought it'd be better if…if you were basically dead to me…and I…"

"Hey now, there's no need to cry over it, you were just doing what you thought was right and we know now that it wasn't what you needed to do!" Reaching a hand over towards Maki, he stopped himself when he remembered what would happen if he gave her too comforting of an embrace and he recoiled, bringing his hand into his own lap with a sigh. "I know it's hard to have me but not be able to do anything more than, y'know, this, but it's better than what you thought you had to have. That's what matters, isn't it?"

She sniffled, more tears splashing on her younger self's angered expression. "I guess so."

"I know there's nothing I can do to change any of this, except be here for ya like I am, but I'll try to come up with something. After all, anything's possible if you give it a shot, and I'm sure there's some way you'll be able to get the love you need without it bein' either of your roommates giving it to you for me." It was clear wheels were turning in Kaito's mind but he didn't have anything to show for it, and Maki was too distressed and distraught to try coming up with anything of her own, and so they sat there separated for what felt like forever, until the others who lived in the home came back and Maki had to act stronger than she really was to save face in front of them.

Over time, her emotional breakdowns in Kaito's presence became more prevalent, because she was so desperate for his love and affection and she was so unprepared for handling the fact that she was close but not close enough to getting it. That led to questioning from her roommates (Kyoko usually, but once or twice it was Shuichi who started it) about if she was happy in her relationship and if it was right for her to be in it after all. Admitting that the distance aspect was the hardest part of everything was not in her best interest, because she'd known that would be a challenge from the start, so she lied and said everything was perfectly fine, even when she was broken and teary-eyed.

So, naturally, after many denials from her they went to the other half of the relationship and asked him what was going on and why Maki was so emotionally volatile, and in a different way than she usually was. "She just wants someone who can get up close and personal with her," Kaito explained after giving it a second's thought. "Like, you know, doing real relationship things. Hugging, kissing, that sort of stuff."

"Thanks for clarifying on that," Kyoko replied, while Shuichi sat alongside, covering his face in embarrassment from his friend's answer. "The last thing I was prepared to hear was about how Maki's desperate for someone to share a bed with her, since you can't do the job."

"Did you really need to say it like that?" he sputtered, trying not to look at how Shuichi had completely broken and was laughing into his hands, while Kyoko had maintained her composure the entire time. "I don't even know if that's something Maki Roll's interested in, it's definitely not anything we've talked about. She just waves me goodbye at the end of the night and locks her door, and sometimes I've gotta get back in there to get my stuff and that's awkward, but sharin' a room with her wouldn't work, y'know? Can you imagine her killin' me because one of us sleepwalks without knowin' it?"

"Not to mention the fact that no one should be having sleepovers with their significant other in this house." Kyoko gave a stern side-eye towards Shuichi, who was still laughing but working to collect himself, unaware of what had been said in his direction. "I know neither of you sleepwalk, but if you wanted to try sharing a room you'd need to find your own place to live. I'm not letting Maki bend the rules simply because she cannot share a bed with you, Kaito, and that's that."

"I wasn't even asking for that! I just said it wouldn't work, not that I wanted to do it!" But the damage was done and now the seed was sown in Kaito's mind, that it was possible for them to share a room as long as they lived somewhere else, and he kept that tidbit from Maki much like he kept the fact that he'd been approached by her roommates to himself. Their date nights still often ended with her upset over the lack of love she wanted, but now he was wondering if she was most upset that she couldn't sleep with him, rather than just the innocent forms of romantic expression he'd always believed she craved.

The truth was, Maki did seem to only want the innocent forms of romance, and Kyoko had jumped to conclusions in her attempted interrogation, but Kaito wasn't going to exactly walk up to his girlfriend and ask her if she was upset she couldn't sleep with him even though they were always together. He was going to come up with the next best thing to what he thought she wanted, and he was going to surprise her with it, and he was going to get to be the best boyfriend ever for being so accommodating and so loving.

His plan was intended to come to fruition one sunny spring day, a while after they'd started dating and long after they'd gotten comfortable with the other and the limitations in their very special relationship. He'd long had the idea to take Maki out with a bunch of his friends, most of which she couldn't touch due to having brought them back to life, and after having a great day with them he was going to drop news on her that he'd been planning on his lonesome for months. It just needed for the day to go perfectly, and then everything would be right in their world for a moment.

How difficult it was to ensure that things didn't fall apart the second they could, though. "It's like walking around seeing ghosts," Maki muttered under her breath after she and Kaito arrived at where he'd told all of the invited guests to meet, in a parking lot at a nature park, seeing so many faces she'd revived from death. "I can't believe you know most of these people, the ones we didn't go to school with. How did you meet them, exactly?"

"Here and there, I'm kinda social when I wanna be," he answered with a smile, keeping his distance but watching her head turning as she was looking at all of the people there. "And don't worry, Shuichi and Kaede'll be here later, they just had something to do before they showed up. We've gotta wait for them, and that'll be everyone!"

"Of course we're waiting on them," she grumbled, still looking around at the others who seemed to be staring at her, coldness in all of their glares. "And now I'm going to leave, thanks for dragging me out for this Kaito but I am really not interested."

Before he could reply she was storming off, heading towards the closest trailhead she could see. She thrived on being alone when she was bothered, so it only made sense that she would hike alone; when a hand grabbed hers and didn't immediately go tense she froze mid-step and looked behind her to see a smaller woman standing there, holding onto her tightly and pouting. "I don't want to see you get hurt out there, Maki," she said, loosening her grip but not enough to fully let go. "Up there, off the trail, that's where…you know."

All at once an aspect of the location hit Maki like a ton of bricks, and she mentally cursed Kaito for bringing her there without knowing what she'd witnessed up on one of the many cliffsides in the park. "And yet you came anyway, Himiko?" she asked in return, seeing the other woman meekly nod underneath her floppy hat. "I'm impressed, but you shouldn't force yourself to go up there."

"I'm only here because Kaito said you'd be here, and I never thanked you for fixing that!" The words seemed to fling themselves out of Himiko's mouth, and she gasped at how forcefully she had spoken. "I-I mean, I'm here to say thank you for bring Angie and Tenko back to life after the rockfall. It meant a lot for you to hike up here in the dark by yourself to save them, because the medics…they were going to…take them until you showed up."

"Medics are used to me coming in and meddling with their plans to call the morgue, yeah." It had been years since that night, and Maki hadn't seen any of the ladies involved in it since she'd disappeared back down the trail after saving two lives in one fell swoop. Usually she didn't get thanks from anyone when she saved someone, but for a person she didn't save to thank her was beyond surprising, even though it made her feel less wary of hanging around everyone like Kaito had planned. "I'm glad you thought to call for me when it happened. Took me out of having to go raid a mafia den, pretty sure."

Himiko nodded again, letting go of Maki's arm completely so that she could pull the brim of her hat down over her eyes. "I'm not crying, don't even think I am! I'm just…practicing more thank-you magic for later, that's all!"

Unsure of how to reply to that, Maki suggested they walk back over to everyone else and Himiko obliged, staying with her until they were back in the group and then she was rushing to her friends' sides, pointing back in Maki's direction and causing the other two to wave their thanks as well. The smile that came onto Maki's face at the gesture felt bittersweet, because she did like being thanked but the fact that she wished that she hadn't had to save their lives in the first place was too powerful for her to ignore. She really was walking among ghosts, or zombies to be more exact, and aside from Himiko (and Shuichi, whenever he showed up), there wasn't a single person present that she hadn't resurrected.

"What're ya thinking about?" Kaito asked her when she finally made her way back to being in his general area, noticing that she was still smiling but looked wistful as she did. "That's not a normal Maki Roll expression you've got going on there. Something happen when Himiko chased you up the trail?"

"Nothing you need to worry yourself with. It was handled when I talked to her." The last thing Maki felt was needed right then was to explain that she'd had an experience with a few of the people that were there which had resulted in two deaths that she'd reversed, because she was certain that Kaito would not take hearing that his choice in outing was not well-received. Instead, she chose to move the conversation in a different direction: "Do you have any idea when those slowpokes are supposed to be here? Bet if we have to wait too much longer someone's going to start trying to get us all going. My money would be on Kokichi."

"Heh, they'll be here soon, it hasn't been that long since we got here. And sure, betting money on Kokichi's the easy way out of things." Bringing a hand to his chin so he could stroke his tiny goatee, Kaito glanced around at everyone who was present before singling someone out. "I'd put my money, my whole life's savings, down on Kirumi trying to take control of things. She's real good at leading everyone, it would only make sense."

"Then it might be good that we're not betting for real, because I'm literally watching Kokichi try to get people to follow his lead right now." Maki laughed when she saw Kaito's attention turn towards the small man she was referring to, as he was loudly talking to people and gesturing towards the hiking trail. "Can't believe you picked Kirumi over him."

He puffed out his chest defiantly, before exclaiming, "There's no way that Kokichi's actually trying to get anyone to go somewhere without my permission! Let me get at him, I swear he's gonna learn one of these days that you've gotta listen to Kaito Momota when he gives out directions!"

Amused as she watched him run at full speed to go settle that issue, Maki was once again taken by surprise when someone touched her and didn't immediately lose their pulse doing so. "Sorry we took so long, had to get the all-clear from Kyoko that these would work for the occasion," Shuichi said, holding out a bag for Maki to grab. "They're nothing fancy, but she said they're thick enough to be safe."

"You brought me gloves, so I can hold hands with Kaito while we're out here." Maki didn't even need to look in the bag to know what she was being offered, and the way that both Shuichi and Kaede seemed happy to hear her guess made her want to ignore the bag entirely and spend the day the way she wanted. But they were trying to be helpful in regards to her special situation and she couldn't merely deny their assistance simply because she wanted to be stubborn about things. She eyed the bag suspiciously for a second before taking it from Shuichi and taking the gloves out of it. "Special occasion gloves, interesting. Why didn't you go with leather ones like Kyoko's got, bet those would work better."

"My idea, sorry," Kaede apologized, bowing her head for a moment before lifting it with a twinkle in her eyes. "Actually, getting the gloves in the first place was my idea. If I can play the piano with those on, I figured…hey, Maki should be able to touch people with them! They're totally durable and they'll be worth it, I bet!"

After slipping them on and finding them slightly large for her small hands, and unable to stay firmly up on her arms, Maki was again wishing that she had ignored them in the first place, but she plastered a smile on her lips and thanked the two before shoving the now-empty bag back in Shuichi's hands and chasing her boyfriend down. That first touch was nerve-wracking, because she was terrified they wouldn't work and Kaito would go crumpling to the ground as a corpse when her fingers hit his arm, but he was alive enough to turn to see her standing there, and he broke out in raucous laugher for a few moments before declaring the excursion a go.

Their fingers had never actually been laced together before then, so it was a thrill for Maki to hold her arm out away from her body and let him hold her hand, and Kaito was more than happy to show off that he was getting to hold hands with her for the first time. He had them at the head of the pack, so that he could lift their arms and show everyone behind them their intertwined hands, earning murmurs and faint praise at the display. "They're all jealous of what we've got right now, Maki Roll," he boasted, the pride in his voice much more prevalent than usual. "If we weren't hiking, I'd definitely take a look to see how many of 'em are just full of envy over this."

"I'm willing to guess there's exactly zero who care that much," she replied, loving the feeling of closeness they had going for them but hating how he was taking it. "Let's just get through this hike and hope that we don't accidentally bump arms. How embarrassing would that be, you getting so cocky about our relationship that you die showing off."

Kaito was thrown off by her statement but didn't let it bother him too much. "H-hey, it's not gonna happen like that! We're gonna live long, happy lives together, just you wait and see!"

"I'll be waiting to see it, for sure."

Their hike could have gone off without a hitch, if Kaito hadn't invited everyone he knew to join them for the day. He still wasn't aware of what had happened up there on those cliffs, but those who knew all about the fatal incident that had taken place years prior were making sure to stay firmly on the trail, which made leading them much easier for the pair at the front. That was, until a couple of them decided to take a scenic breakaway, getting off the beaten path to get closer to the cliffside to see the views down to the water below. "Uh, Kaito and Maki, you might want to stop," Shuichi called from the back of the pack, him and Kaede having chosen to take the rear to keep tabs on everyone. "Some of the group isn't sticking with us."

"They're going…they're headed…Maki! They're going to go see where it happened, I know it!" Himiko chimed in, sounding absolutely terrified, and that was what truly got Maki's attention. The first thing she saw was that Himiko had only one of her usual two people with her, Angie's hands gripping her shoulders tightly in the absence of Tenko. "You have to stop them, please!"

"Stop them?" she repeated, pulling her hand out of Kaito's and looking at them in their gloved glory. "I…guess I can, can't I? As long as there's not another rockfall and no one dies of their own stupidity then I can save them for you, Himiko." Maki didn't want to admit that she wasn't sure she'd be able to do anything, especially when she saw who else was missing, aside from Tenko. "Geez, do I have to bring them all back?" she muttered under her breath, before finding the side trail that would have been used to get to the cliffside, shaking her head to clear it and running to follow whoever had left.

The voices calling for her to turn back and not follow were loud and clear, but Maki wanted to do something else right for Himiko. She could get everyone to turn back around with the mere threat of touching them to kill them all, and then she'd be a hero in her little friend's mind yet again. But if they were choosing to look at where Tenko had met death the first time, perhaps threatening them all with a permanent stay in the afterlife wasn't going to work out. That wasn't something she wanted to consider having to deal with, not when every time she'd been forced to threaten someone with dying again they'd either attacked her and died or gone peacefully somewhere else. It couldn't be different just because she was dealing with people that were part of her social group, they had to have a reason to live.

If she'd been out there for any other reason, she might have found the time to look out into the valley and admire the beauty of the scene, but as she got closer to the cliffside Maki could hear the voices of Tenko and the three men she'd gone out there with. "And this is just about where we'd set up camp when it happened," Tenko was explaining further up ahead, which Maki knew to be correct in terms of location. It may have been in the dark of night but she certainly did remember how far along the side of the cliff she'd had to travel to find where the rocks had fallen. "Still dunno why the rocks fell on us, but it's a miracle Himiko wasn't in the tent when it happened, just me and Angie in there. Would've really sucked if we hadn't been able to get the help we did."

"It is…much lovelier of a scene to die in than a hospital room," the soft, eerie voice belonging to Korekiyo replied, and in her mind Maki was transported from the darkened cliff to the silent room in the critical burn unit where she'd saved his life. She had to blink to restore herself to her dangerous surroundings, just as she nearly stepped too close to the cliffside, rocks sliding from under her foot to fall down into the valley below.

"Yeah, well, at least you can say you died and came back in the same place. Don't know where I died, don't remember where I came back, doesn't really matter to me." Cackling at his own luck on the matter, Kokichi sounded as obnoxious as usual and Maki wondered if he'd been planning this diversion the entire time, even before the hiking had started. "All I know is that I was dying to know where this happened, and it's so great you were able to show us. Thanks a million, Tenko!"

"You did manage to get me out here in a scummy way, but…it's been a while since I came up here so I guess bringing degenerates like yourselves is acceptable." There was a moment where the only sounds Maki could hear were birds in the trees and winds down below, and then she heard something she wished she hadn't had to listen to—the sound of someone screaming in agony, and it certainly wasn't Tenko, who reacted with, "Oh, wow, I didn't mean to do that to you, you okay down there?"

"That was a bitch move, you bully! No wonder guys can't stand you, all you do is beat us up! Gonta, help me back up there so I can throw her off!" Hearing the attitude swing in Kokichi's voice was enough to get Maki to throw caution to the wind and run to where they were, rocks and dirt flying everywhere with every step, and when she got to the familiar part of the cliffside she saw Kokichi hanging on to what was definitely an unstable rock with all of his strength, while massive Gonta looked down at him with wariness in his gaze.

"All of you, get back to the group right this second," Maki demanded, finding the strength in herself to take control of the situation. "I'll get Kokichi back up myself, and then we're going to have a long talk about why we don't play these games."

"You can't touch me, let one of them do it!" Kokichi whined, his fingers adjusting to hold his position. "I can hang here all day, make one of them help me, I don't want you killing me by trying to be helpful!"

She held out her gloved hands for him to see them, while she turned to see that none of the others had moved. "Go on, get back to the group! I've got this under control!" She turned back to Kokichi and began getting low to the ground, offering him one of those gloved hands, but she hadn't quite considered just how weak the ground was in that spot until she felt it shift under her feet and she screamed in frustration and panic, "Okay, if you're not going someone grab my legs before I fall over this cliff! Don't touch my skin and you'll be fine, I swear to you I'm not going to trick you into death right here!"

"I suppose I would be the necessary link in a chain between the deathtaker and anyone else," Korekiyo said after a couple tense moments, during which he, Tenko, and Gonta had all looked at each other wondering who would risk themselves. "After all, I too have a protective barrier between myself and her skin, that being my own gloves."

As he took his position, grabbing Maki's legs mid-calf, Gonta nodded towards Tenko before stating his own intentions. "Then Gonta will hold Kiyo to make sure he doesn't slip as well."

"And I'll go get everyone else, just in case this gets worse." With a spring in her step Tenko went bounding back towards where they'd diverted from the main trail, hollering the whole way to get everyone's attention. That left the four there at the cliffside, all of whom were in positions that were important to keep, especially when the rocks supporting Maki crumbled more and she slipped forward, grabbing Kokichi's arm without waiting any longer for him to take her offer.

She could see over his head into the valley below, and for the first time in a while she wondered what death would feel like for her if she were to be let go of and slide to her demise. The last time she'd thought about it, she was going toe-to-toe with a member of the yakuza, a gun pushed up under her chin and a steady finger on the trigger, and the only reason she'd gotten out of that alive was that the man brushed against her before taking his shot. That had been when she lived for no one but herself, doing dirty work for the better of a society she had no place in.

But now, Maki knew she belonged in the life she'd built for herself, she knew she had friends and a boyfriend and if she lost any of them she'd be devastated. "You have to grab my other hand and let go of the damn rock, Kokichi," she calmly told him, bringing herself back into the situation she'd let herself get into rather than staying in the realm of hypotheticals. "I will save you, and then I'll let Kaito beat your ass for getting yourself stuck like this."

"It was Tenko's fault, she's the one who pushed me over the edge," he retorted, looking warily at how his arm was being gripped before letting go of the rock to grab Maki's other hand. "I didn't even do anything to deserve this, she just really hates me or something."

"I'm sure you did plenty to deserve it, but that's not what matters. I'm going to let go of your arm and you need to grab that hand too, got it?" She could have easily brought him back up with how they were positioned, especially with the two men behind her who were keeping her from going over the edge, but the fear of accidentally knocking his free hand into her bare arm was somewhat crippling in the moment. There was no way she could be certain she wouldn't make a mistake, but she was certainly going to try to make sure it didn't happen.

Kokichi had other plans, though, as evidenced by the sly smile on his face as she'd asked her question. "Of course, I can definitely do that," he said with a voice that was oddly confident for being someone hanging over the edge of a cliff. "I'll even make sure I only touch where you've got a glove on. You know, to stay safe and all that."

"It's either that or die, and do you want to die?"

His smile grew wider for a second before he brought his lips into a straight line, rethinking whatever it was he was going to say. "No, not really. I've got so much to live for…" He trailed off as she let go of his arm and offered her hand again, her grip on his other hand tightening as she could feel him falling further away. But before he made any motions to grab her, he continued speaking as the smile came back in full force. "And the first thing on that list is proving to the world that this whole 'deathtaker' thing is a scam. You can't actually kill someone with a touch."

"What the—Kokichi, don't you fucking do it!" There wasn't much Maki could do aside from pull him up faster, but he was swinging himself to get the momentum to reach past what she was offering. Despite her pleading with him to rethink what he was doing, he continued to reach higher and higher, and the second his finger brushed against her uncovered forearm she could feel the hand she was holding go stiff and lifeless. "Oh my god, pull us up! He just…the idiot just…he…"

There was no need for explanation as to what had happened when they were both safely up on the cliff, him unmoving and her visibly fuming at what she'd caused by being helpful. He'd used his last moments to try and prove her to be a fraud, and now she'd ended up using her ability to kill someone who hadn't honestly deserved it. Sure, Kokichi had been a pain in everyone's neck for as long as they'd all known him, but he didn't need to die a second time in such a ridiculous way. Gonta and Korekiyo both had heard what he'd been saying right before he'd made his choice, so they couldn't blame Maki for what happened, and they took the initiative to explain why there was a corpse there with them when the rest of their group finally arrived.

Rather than deal with anyone else, the second the group came back Maki picked herself up off of the ground, threw the gloves straight in Shuichi's face, and stormed back to the parking lot, blacking out in her anger once she got there and not remembering a thing until everyone else had returned, minus the one that was dead. Minus the one she was responsible for killing.

No one blamed her for anything, even if she blamed herself, yet no one wanted to talk to her as their outing wrapped up. The only person who came to say anything to her was Tenko, who regretted pushing Kokichi off the cliff in the first place but knew that Maki wouldn't have done anything to intentionally make the situation worse. "He got what he was asking for, degenerate scum," Tenko told her, giving her an air-hug to try and cheer her up. "He chose to challenge you and paid the price, it's what he deserved."

"He didn't deserve to die because of this, but whatever." Maki did not return the gesture and Tenko walked away muttering something to herself, and the next person who came to talk to her was Kaito, who'd had the misfortune of having to help carry the dead body down to the lot so that the authorities could handle it. "You look like you've seen death recently. How'd that go for you? Remind you why you shouldn't be dating me?"

"C'mon now, Maki Roll, it'd take a lot more than an accident to make me get rid of what we've got. In fact…" He bent down to get closer to her level, where she was curled up in a ball next to a bench. "I didn't exactly get around to tellin' ya why we came out here in specific in the first place, 'cause of all this. Would you be interested in knowing now?"

She scowled at how close he was getting to her. "Was it to throw me off the cliff yourself?"

"Nowhere close to it! See, I've been thinking a whole lot about what we've got going for us, and I've had a lot of talks with your roommates and I was…y'know, thinking that maybe we should start livin' life out on our own. Get our own place, start livin' like the adults we are, try to make our relationship more formal, if any of that makes sense." It was an absolutely horrible time to even suggest such a thing, and he knew it, but to see Maki go from so angry to surprised over the course of a few seconds made it worth it. "We'll have to find somewhere with either a room big enough for two beds or with two bedrooms, but that shouldn't be too hard, yeah?"

"I just killed your friend and you still want to move in with me?" Maki asked in disbelief, not fully buying what she was hearing. "You want to risk me doing that to you somehow? You're crazy, Kaito. Absolutely crazy."

"Sure I am, and I'm crazy for you too. That's what's drivin' me to do this, how much I care about ya." There were so many things he wanted to do in that moment, between holding her and comforting her and reassuring her that she hadn't done anything wrong, but Kaito held true with the most bizarre option of all: reminding her that she was worthy of being loved, even with her death-defying powers that she always had on display. "So…what do ya say? You wanna start looking for our own place?"

"Absolutely crazy," she repeated, "but yes. I'd love to."

A/N: writing this chapter was one of those things that I had looked forward to doing for a long time, mostly because it leads into the rest of this fic. I mean...what kinds of shenanigans can these two get into next?