Kaimai

Kaimai is the het ship between Kai Satou and Mai Tsurugi from the Your Turn To Die fandom.

Canon
Kai and Mai have never interacted, and thus, have no canon relationship. They do, however, have some similarities. Their names rhyme with each other, are both one syllable, three letters long, and end in "ai". In Japanese, their names both use only one kanji character. Both have items that were taken from them to be worn by Rio Ranger; Mai's gloves and Kai's apron, both of which are red. Both are skilled in cooking, with Kai being a homemaker and Mai a baker.

Fanon
As Kai and Mai have never interacted, Kaimai is a very rare ship. Oftentimes Kai and Mai are compared for both having a notable relationship with Q-taro. Sometimes this results in a polyship between the three. Alternatively, Kaimai is a result of people shipping the polyship, as it may form out of shippers liking both Qkai and Qmai. Evidently, Kaimai rivals the aforementioned ships, as well as Keikai and Maiple, with them being much more popular.

Thanks to their professions, both are experienced with knives and have used a knife at some significant point in the story. Kai used the kitchen knife to kill himself while Mai used it to try and kill Q-taro. After inflicting harm, both celebrated, although for different reasons. Kai was glad to have resisted the kidnappers even just a little, whereas Mai was happy to have completed her goal as she was told by Midori. Some think it's possible that the knife Mai used is the same one that Kai did, as Kai's knife reappeared at the end of Chapter 2, part one, but it's highly unlikely, as the two knives appear to be depicted with different shapes.

Mai and Kai's personalities are seen to be quite different, and as a result compliment each other well, although part of that could be based on Mai's faked demeanor. Mai appears to be more extroverted and much more expressive than Kai, who is rather stoic and keeps to himself. Both are very caring individuals however, with Mai displaying that more outwardly than Kai. Mai is also much more spontaneous and impulsive than Kai, who is logical and calculated. Another interesting note is that Mai had the will to kill as she believed she was instructed to, as opposed to Kai never being able to bring himself to kill another person despite being raised as an assassin.

Some may be attracted to the ship for their appearance together. They both wear dark colours with an overall red theme. Their eyes contrast each other, with Mai's big round orange eyes and Kai's narrower, dull black eyes. Additionally, they have body shapes that contrast each other, with Kai being rectangular and Mai being very round. Their combination of similarities and differences make the visual and dynamic of the relationship balanced.

While scenarios of the two being able to meet each other within the Death Game do exist, they're more often made to interact in non-Death Game universes. Due to their commonality of making food as their occupation, fanworks often revolve around that. Sometimes they are imagined to have a restaurant/bakery together. All of their similarities are why Kai and Mai are shipped together, both romantically and as a friendship. Some ship the two just as friends because they see them as lesbian/gay solidarity.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

INSTAGRAM

Trivia

 * Both get a CG where the focus is drawn to the character and their hands, but for very different reasons.

Variations

 * Qkaimai refers to the ship between Kai, Mai, and Q-taro Burgerberg