Qmai

Qmai is the het ship between Mai Tsurugi and Q-taro Burgerberg from the Your Turn To Die fandom.

Canon
The real Mai died before she and Q-taro could meet. On the fourth floor, for the Murderer Sub-Game, Doll Mai is paired with Q-taro as his support. She excitedly squeals that Q-taro is her master, and that she hopes they can get along, but Q-taro is a little off-put by her mood.

As partners tied by the "red string of fate", they can't be more than a room's length apart or the Dummy partner's head with fly off. Later on, Mai and Q-taro are seen searching the locker room and cemetery. Q-taro admits that being with Mai gets him a little down, since he wishes that they met in normal circumstances.

Eventually, Sara finds four colored books and places them back into the shelves in the library. This opens up a passageway to a stadium-like area where Midori waits. All of the pairs arrive and confront Midori, when it is realized that Mai and Q-taro aren't with them. Everyone rushes to the security room and witnesses Mai stabbing Q-taro in the cemetery while his back is turned. Mai cheerfully celebrates, revealing to Q-taro that the Dummies' task is to kill their partner before Midori dies in order to survive. Q-taro, still having enough strength, knocks her out, but doesn't kill her because he feels bad for her situation as support.

Initially, Mai frequently flirts with Q-taro to let his guard down and seem harmless, but after her plan fails, she becomes much more down-to-earth and wants to form a meaningful bond with Q-taro. After Q-taro states that they're all allies and that he doesn't hate her for stabbing him, Mai is confused because she did something so horrible, and feels very guilty about it.

After Sara and co. find some a first aid kid, they tend to Q-taro's wound so the the pair can attempt the fingerprint scan in the security office. Mai offers to lend Q-taro her shoulder, promising she won't try to do anything bad again. In the security office, they find out they need to get an ID card from Maple in order to unlock more layers of security. However, the confrontation ends terribly, with the cast ending up forced to run away from Maple's deadly attacks in the Discussion Room. Q-taro staggers from his wound, and Mai calls for everyone to wait since he's injured. Q-taro, however, tells everyone to go ahead of them, and Q-taro and Mai remain on the fourth floor.

They hide inside the coffins in the cemetery until the group above on the fifth floor uses the ID card to open the coffins so that Keiji can escape cremation. Mai and Q-taro greet Keiji as he gets out of the coffin he was trapped in, and give him the details on what happened. From then on, the three work together. Mai continually shows concern for Q-taro, and wants him to take it easy so as not to worsen his wound.

When they visit Safalin's lab, Safalin notices how bad Q-taro's wound is, and wonders who did that to him, causing Mai to stand in guilty silence. While Safalin tends to Q-taro, Mai and Keiji retrieve Midori's head. Keiji guesses Mai is worried about Q-taro, and Mai confirms that if Q-taro is "ogling" Safalin, she won't stand for it.

After the group splits up, with Keiji going to the fifth floor and Q-taro and Mai staying on the fourth, Q-taro lays down in Keiji's coffin, having succumbed to his wound. Mai worriedly tells him to get back up so they can meet the others again. Q-taro apologizes that it is too late for him, and Mai is regretful, saying it's all because of her. Mai says she can't do this without Q-taro, but he tries to calm her down by telling her a doll of him will take his place, all to fool Midori. Mai continues to protest, but she eventually leaves at Q-taro's instigation. She later meets the other participants, and covers for him in the meantime by saying that she's having him hide since he is injured.

In the second fight against Maple, if the group fails to drain Maple's battery, she impales and subsequently kills Mai. Before dying, Mai regretfully speaks about the promise she made with Q-taro, and says his name one last time.

Fanon
Qmai is popular for Q-taro and Mai being assigned partners. The ship was somewhat viewed as questionable, or even toxic, as Mai was feigning friendship with Q-taro for all of Chapter 3-1A and later stabbed him in the back, which lead to his death. However, Mai's redemption and desire to truly make a meaningful relationship with Q-taro and the others throughout 3-1B resolved this issue. Even still, there are some who think that doesn't excuse her crime from before. Mai and Q-taro were significant in that it is agreed both had outstanding character development and their interactions were able to be focused on while playing as Keiji.

Their relationship is often viewed as rather tragic, with them only meeting in the dire circumstances of the Death Game, and Mai being already dead. Furthermore, even after Mai's successful repairment of their bond, Mai's status as a doll doomed her with the possibility of dying for good, and Q-taro's death is inevitable. Even when Mai wanted to properly mourn Q-taro, she couldn't, as she had to stay quiet, like during the Banquet when Q-taro's coffin is drilled, in order to keep fooling everyone and thus fool Midori.

Looking at appearances, Mai and Q-taro are aesthetically pleasing together, as both incorporate the colour red into their designs and are themed around food. Q-taro is a hamburger and Mai's hat looks like bread. Their height difference is also attractive.

Due to het ships being somewhat uncommon with Q-taro and Mai, this ship is often overshadowed by it's rival ships, being Qkai, Q-taro's most popular ship, and Maiple, Mai's most popular ship. Many draw parallels between Qmai and Qkai, particularly with Mai and Kai both being cooks who are proficient with knives and have similar names. As a result, of that, as well as there being fans who can't decide between Qkai and Qmai, the three are sometimes shipped in a polyship together.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

INSTAGRAM

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * Mai appears to only be as tall as Q-taro's shoulders.
 * Both have experience with guns, although in Mai's case it was forced by her First Trial.
 * In Kai's Story of Your Time To Shine, having Q-taro as a cooking partner for the Sunnies' cooking competition will boost Mai's judging score if she is a judge.

Variations

 * Keiqmai refers to the ship between the two and Keiji Shinogi.
 * Qkaimai refers to the ship between the two and Kai Satou.