Author's Note: I like this oneshot. Like, I really like it. That's probably really vain of me, and it probably sucks, but this one is probably my favorite out of all the ones I've written. Just wanted to put that out there.

Everything felt so empty. The library, the dining hall, the casino. No matter where he went, he couldn't escape the loneliness. Though that wasn't surprising. There were only four of them left. Everyone else had either been murdered or executed. Well, except for Himiko anyway. She had killed herself. Now only Shuichi, Kokichi, Maki, and Kaito were left.

The weight of everything that had happened pressed on him, a constant pressure that threatened to drive him insane. Only his beloved could give him a reprieve from the despair.

Kokichi cuddled with Shuichi on his bed. He had long gotten over his embarrassment of showing affection. Now he just rested his head on Shuichi's chest.

However, reality inevitably seeped into his moment of comfort.

Kokichi pulled away so he could look at Shuichi's face. "Hey, Shuichi, do you ever think we'll get out of here?"

"I..." Shuichi looked away. "I want to say yes but... unless someone comes to rescue us, it won't happen."

"Yeah, I know, but..." Kokichi trailed off. "I just don't want to throw in the towel and accept that we'll be stuck here to rest of our lives."

"I understand," Shuichi replied quietly. "I feel the same, but what can we do?"

"I don't know," Kokichi sighed.

Shuichi wrapped his arms around Kokichi. "There's no point thinking about it now. It's late, so let's go to sleep. We can talk about it more in the morning."

Kokichi nodded. "Okay." He snuggled into the one person who made his life bearable and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, the pair went to the dining hall for breakfast. Maki was already there, but Katio was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Maki," Shuichi called tentatively. "Where's Kaito? Is he... okay?"

Maki shook her head. "No, he's not. His illness is getting worse. He couldn't even get out of bed today."

"Ah, I'm sorry Maki," Shuichi apologized. "I shouldn't have asked. I didn't mean to make you think of something painful."

She shook her head. "No, you're his best friend, you have a right to know how he's doing. It's just... If he had just suddenly died, I think I could get over it. What I can't stand is seeing him slowly slip away like this. If only we weren't trapped in this damned killing game, I could take him to a hospital or something." She went silent, her clenched fists shaking at her sides.

"Maki," Kokichi called quietly. "I don't like you and you don't like me, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry that you have to go through this."

Maki just glared at him. "Like I'll ever believe a word that comes out of your mouth you little bitch."

Now Shuichi was upset. "Hey, don't talk to Kokichi like that."

"I..." She sighed. "You're right, that was uncalled for. I'm just feel so helpless. I would do anything to save Kaito, but healing him is completely beyond me. If only there was another way."

"Maki, I know how you feel," Kokichi said. "But all that matters is the here and now, and what we can do. If you keep agonizing about 'what ifs'or how you wish things could be, you'll only end up torturing yourself over something beyond your control."

"...You're right," Maki agreed, but something about her response raised little warning flags in Kokichi's head. The words themselves were perfectly innocent, but the tone she used sounded off. Like what she was talking about and what Kokichi was talking about were two completely different things.

He could tell Shuichi picked up on it too because he slid his arm around Kokichi's waist and held him close.

"Well, I hope he gets better," Shuichi said, trying to hide his uneasiness. He dragged Kokichi off to get breakfast. Kokichi could feel Shuichi's tense arm around him throughout the entire meal. Normally, it would have bothered him, but today he felt safer knowing Shuichi had his back

The two boys spent the day together as they always did, and when nighttime rolled around they went to Shuichi's room.

However, after unlocking the door, instead of entering the room, Shuichi turned to Kokichi. "There's something I need to do. Are you okay with being alone for a little while?"

"Yeah, of course," Kokichi said. "I'm not a child. I can handle a few minutes by myself. I even promise not to burn down the school while you're gone." Secretly though, underneath his bravado, Kokichi wanted to beg Shuichi to stay. He fought the urge, but a question still slipped out. "Can I come with you?"

"Um," Shuichi fidgeted. "I-I should probably go on my own. I w-wouldn't want to bother you or anything.

Kokichi could tell Shuichi was lying, but decided not to pry. He trusted Shuichi completely. If Shuichi decided he didn't need to know, then he could accept that. "Okay, go do what you need to do then."

"Okay," Shuichi said. He hesitated for a moment, then turned and left for his lab.

Kokichi watched him leave, and had the awful feeling that he would never see his beloved again.

Kokichi shook his head, trying to dislodge bleak thought, and went into Shuichi's room, closing the door behind him. He laid on the bed and waited for the detective to return.

A minute or two later, Kokichi heard the door open.

"That was quick. What did you-" Kokichi abruptly cut himself off as he caught sight of the person in the doorway.

It wasn't Shuichi.

It was Maki.

She had a blank look on her face, and she didn't even try to hide to crossbow in her hand.

"M-maki, what are you doing with that crossbow?" Kokichi asked. Why he asked, he didn't know. After all, there was only one thing the ultimate assassin would use a crossbow for.

She stalked forward, the bright light filtering in from the still open door making her look like she was made from shadows.

Kokichi futilely scooted back on the bed until his back hit the headboard. His breaths came so quickly he thought he might pass out. "At least tell me why," he pleaded, desperately trying to stall. "I deserve to know at least that much."

Maki stopped her approach for a moment and considered his request, then decided there wasn't any harm in it.

"It's because of what you said today, about focusing on what I can do and not worrying about what can't be avoided. It helped me make up my mind about this. I'm going to kill you because for Kaito to live you need to die. I wish things weren't this way, but they are, so I'll do what I have to do."

"What? I don't understand. How would my death help Kaito?"

Maki, however, was done answering his questions. She raised the crossbow and aimed it straight at his heart. "I'll make it quick. And don't worry, you won't be alone for long. Shuichi will be joining you soon."

Kokichi closed his eyes, shaking. He wondered if it would hurt to die, or if would just suddenly be gone, like a light going dark after a switch is flipped.

He heard a faint whoosh, and the slight thud of a projectile coming into contact with flesh. He waited, but no pain never manifested itself. In fact, he felt exactly the same as he did before.

Slowly, Kokichi opened his eyes. In front of him, Maki was standing with a shocked look on her face. She moved her hand up to her neck and pulled out a dart. She stared at it for a moment and tried to turn around, but she collapsed to the floor before she could.

Kokichi raised his gaze to find Shuichi standing in the doorway. He was tucking a small tube and more darts into a pocket in his jacket.

Shuichi rushed over to Kokichi. "Are you alright? She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"No," Kokichi shook his head. "You saved me."

"Yeah." Shuichi sat on the bed beside Kokichi, and looked down at Maki. "Did she tell you why she wanted to kill you?"

"Kind of," Kokichi replied. "She said that I had to die for Kaito to live. She also implied that she was going to kill you next."

Shuichi shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense. What could she possibly gain from killing either one of us? There's no way she would survive the class trial. And even if she did, Kaito would still get executed."

"I know," Kokichi said. Something occurred to him as he looked at Maki. "Hey, she's going to live, right? We're not going to have another class trial?"

Shuichi nodded. "Yeah, the poison on the darts are nonfatal. She'll be out for a while, but she''l live."

"Why do you even have blow darts in the first place?"

"After how Maki was acting in the dining hall, I didn't want to take any chances with your life or mine. You know how my lab has a cabinet full of poison? When I left earlier, I went to my lab to prepare these poison darts, just in case." His eyes darkened. "It's a good thing I did. If I hadn't..."

"Hey, look at me," Kokichi ordered. "Remember what I said before? Don't think about the 'what ifs'. You made the darts, and because of that I'm alive. What could have happened doesn't matter."

Shuichi nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"Good." Kokichi directed his attention back at Maki. "Now help me figure out what the hell she was thinking."

"Let's list out what we do know and work from there," Shuichi suggested. "Kaito is sick. Maki thought that she could save Kaito by killing you or me or both. If she succeeded, then there would be a class trial. One result of the trial would be Maki's death, leaving at most two survivors, those being Kaito and either you or me, alive. The other result would be Maki escaping, leaving me, you, and Kaito dead. We can assume that Maki would not want Kaito dead because she said that saving him was her motive for killing you, so she must have planned to avoid the second result. However, you'd think she'd just want to avoid a trial altogether, seeing as the first result would leave her dead. But in that case, why would she even try to kill you at all?"

Kokichi thought it over. For some reason, the phrase 'two survivors' kept floating around his head. He felt like he had heard it somewhere before. "Shuichi, does the phrase 'two survivors' sound familiar to you?"

Shuichi frowned. "Yeah, actually, it does. Hmm. I think it's from the school rules."

"Oh, yeah. Hey, let me see your monopad for a second. I want to see the exact wording of the rule."

"Sure." Shuichi got the monopad from the dresser and handed it to Kokichi.

Kokichi scrolled through the various rules until he found the one he wanted.

. The killing game and class trials will continue until only two surviving students remain (this is word for word one of the rules in the actual game)

Why does it say 'the killing game and class trials'? The class trials are part of the killing game, so why would it specifically say 'class trials'? To draw attention to the term? To emphasize that the class trials would end as soon as the killing game did? And both will continue until...

"Oh."

"Huh? What did you figure out?" Shuichi asked.

Kokichi took a deep breath. "I figured out why Maki tried to kill me."

"Really? Why?"

Instead of answering, Kokichi handed Shuichi the monopad. "Read this rule."

Shuichi did. "I don't understand."

"Doesn't the wording seem a little weird?"

"How so?"

Kokichi pointed to the screen. "It says 'the killing game and class trials'. Why would it say that? Why not just, 'the killing game?'"

"I don't know."

Kokichi huffed. "Okay, how about I put it like this? It makes sure to specifically say the class trials will end when only two people are left alive. It reassures, or guarantees, anyone who reads the rule that the class trials will end when that condition is met."

"Guarantees? Meaning it absolutely will happen?" Shuichi was still confused.

"Think about the second thing you just said."

"It absolutely will happen," Shuichi repeated. "The game and the class trials will absolutely end when only two people are left... oh."

"You understand now?"

"Yeah," Shuichi said, looking like he was going to be sick. "The game will end, no matter what, when only two people are left alive. Maki was trying to kill both of us because then only she and Kaito would be alive, and because only the two of them would be left, there wouldn't be a class trial. The game would end, and they would escape. It's a loophole, an intentional loophole in the rules."

"Yeah, and do you know what that means for us?" Kokichi asked, his voice unusually grave.

"What?"

"It means we'll never be safe from Maki," Kokichi answered. "She doesn't need to go through a class trial, which means she doesn't have to worry about us knowing. She just has to kill one of us, then kill the other before a class trial starts for her first victim."

"No, there has to be a way to get her to stop. We could just talk to her, make her-"

"There is one way to stop that from happening," Kokichi interrupted.

"What is it?"

"She can't kill us if she's dead," Kokichi answered stoically.

Shuichi looked horrified. "No! We can't kill Maki!"

Kokichi sighed. "Look, Maki loves Kaito, and he will die unless he escapes and is brought to a hospital. Do you really think you'll be able to convince her to let the guy she loves die? This morning she said she would do anything to keep him alive, and she meant it, even if she had to kill us to do it."

"But she's just trying to protect Kaito. We can't kill her for that."

"Shuichi, try and think about our situation. She is giving us the same choice she just made. She chose to kill me and you to keep Kaito safe. That's your choice now. Maki will never stop trying to kill us. You got lucky this time with the darts, but that won't happen again. So your choices are: 1) let Maki live, which will result in both of our deaths. Or 2) Kill Maki, then kill Kaito so there won't be a class trial, and both of us live."

"How can you ask me to make that choice?" Shuichi nearly sobbed.

"I'm not, Maki is. She started this mess, I'm just telling you how to clean it up."

"Can I have some time to think about this," Shuichi begged.

"That depends. How long does it take for the poison to wear off?" From the look on Shuichi's face, Kokichi guessed the answer was 'not long enough.'

Shuichi looked like his soul was being torn in half. After a few moments that seemed to last an eternity, he took a deep breath. "Okay... Okay... I... I'll... do it." He retrieved Maki's crossbow from the ground. "I... Maki, I'm so sorry."

Shuichi pulled the trigger.

Maki died.

Shuichi dropped to his hands and knees. "What have I done? Maki, I'm so sorry." He cried and shook.

Kokichi went to him. "Hey, Shuichi, it's okay," he said softly. "You did what you had to do." He knelt in front of Shuichi and held him, both hands resting on his waist. Kokichi could feel the pockets of his jacket under his fingertips.

"C'mon, get up. If we stop here, a class trial will start, and this will have been for nothing."

Shuichi nodded, but he stayed silent. He stood, and was about to leave when Kokichi told him to stop.

"Wait a second." Kokichi went to Maki's body. "Sorry about this," he said to the corpse, "But I doubt you care too much right now." Kokichi searched Maki's body, finding a key in her pocket. "We won't be able to get into Kaito's room without this," he explained.

With that done, the two went to Kaito's room. Kaito was asleep, pale as death, his breaths labored.

Shuichi looked at his sleeping friend, but didn't shoot right away.

"Hey Kokichi," Shuichi said. "When you were listing out our possible actions earlier, you missed one."

"Did I?"

"Yes," Shuichi said, expressionless. "There's a third option. Instead of killing Kaito, I could kill myself. Then there would still be only two people left."

Kokichi gasped. "Shuichi, no, you can't!"

"I'm sorry, Kokichi. I love you." Shuichi pointed the crossbow at himself and closed his eyes.

whoosh

Shuichi felt something sharp bite into his neck. His eyes sprang open, confused. He hadn't pulled the trigger yet, so what was in his neck? He reached up and pulled out a dart. He stumbled forward and collapsed.

"You're so gullible," Kokichi said, looking down at his beloved. "I knew your plan from the moment I saw your reaction to killing Maki. You care about Kaito, a lot more than you cared about her. If it was that hard for you to kill her, then I knew you could never bring yourself to kill Kaito. So, the only reason you could have for keeping up the charade was to catch me off guard when you tried to kill yourself. That's why I pick-pocketed your blow darts when I comforted you earlier."

Shuichi's eyes widened. Had he really been so easy to read?

"It's okay if you can't kill Kaito," Kokichi reassured him. Shuichi saw him pick up the crossbow.

Just as Shuichi was losing consciousness, he heard one more line.

"You saved me, so now I'll save you, whether you like it or not."