Romantic Killer But I Made It Gay

Junta route part 5

"Woah, it's really coming down," I comment, watching the window blur and shift with outside rain. "I hope Tsukasa's okay."

Junta doesn't respond for a few seconds, following my gaze out into the blur of gray. Finally he gets off the couch and walks over to the game cabinet. "Why don't we play something? To get our minds off the worry?"

I smile, getting to my feet and settling down at the table as he sets a few games on it. "We haven't played stuff, just you and me, in a while."

He nods, opening the game of life I played the first night Tsukasa stayed over and starts setting it up. "This one's a lot of luck, so you probably won't crush me that badly," he laughs, then covers his mouth. "U-Unless you want to play something else! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed—"

"This is fine!" I assure him, laughing. As he sits next to me on the floor, I comment, "You apologize way too much, Junta. If you want me to get better about liking myself, you've gotta get better at trusting yourself."

He blushes, picking up the spinner and flicking the white dial. "I-I'll try."

"Good." I lean over to nudge his shoulder with mine and he flinches, avoiding my eyes, his cheeks bright red. My own cheeks flush as they always do around him and I scoot back to my original position, staring at the table.

"B-Buy a new poodle for 200,000 yen," Junta reads nervously, handing the spinner to me.

I flick it and move my piece, landing on: "Your supercat themed pocket blanket turns out to be rare; sell it for 250,000 yen."

"You have a supercat themed pocket blanket?" Junta laughs.

"Not anymore." I hand the spinner back to him and for a second our fingers brush, but neither of us seem to notice it.

We continue playing, growing more and more comfortable as the game goes on, laughing and talking like we usually do. I was worried both of us liking each other might make things awkward, but this just shows me how right it is; how happy we are together.

It's been a close match, and now we're both five squares from the end.

"I'm not losing," I challenge, flicking the spinner with such force it almost breaks off.

"You always get so competitive with games," Junta marveles, leaning on an elbow as he watches me move my piece.

"Ah—sorry." I realize I might've been getting too comfortable and I try to think back to anything I might've said or done wrong.

"No, it's not a bad thing," he assures me happily. "Remember when we used to play Cat Ranger together? Seeing you get all pumped up made me feel like you really wanted to play with me, especially since you were usually so subdued."

"Subdued is an understatement," I joke, but he stays serious.

"Thanks, Haru."

"Mmh—" I bush, placing the spinner on the table without reading what I landed on. "For what?"

"Just...being you." He reaches out and runs a hand down my cheek, then seems to catch himself, pulling back. "Sorry, I—"

"No." I wrap my hand around his, holding it in place as I lean into it. "I should be thanking you. You've made the past few months so fun...I just don't know how to say it right."

"You're doing just fine." He smiles warmly and I return it.

"I think I—"

The sound of the storm outside doubles as the door opens and footsteps rush in, the sound silencing behind him as it slams closed. We jump away from each other and to our feet as the living room door opens and Tsukasa looks around, dripping wet.

"You're soaking!" I yelp, worrying around him. "Do you want a towel? What happened?"

"Didn't you have an umbrella?" Junta wonders and Tsukasa nods.

"It's a long story, but..." The red headed girl walks up behind him, holding the umbrella, jumping when she sees the two of us. "This is Hoshino. She was in the park when I was walking by, without an umbrella. We have a spare, so I'm giving it to her."

"Y-Yeah, sure," I mumble, a little shocked. "Wait!" I yelp as he starts to turn back into the hallway. "Will she tell anyone...about us living together?"

"I knew it!" Hoshino cries, then covers her mouth. "Oh no."

The three of us stare at her in confusion and she laughs nervously. "S-Sorry. Ah...I'm Anzu Hoshino! It's nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too!" Junta replies cheerily, not concerned in the slightest about the stranger dripping in our entranceway.

"Yeah, same here," I murmur as Tsukasa starts into the kitchen. I hear him grab some towels and return, handing one to Hoshino and using one to dry himself off.

And then it hits me.

This isn't just similar, this is exactly the same as when I first went to Tsukasa's house. No way is this a coincidence.

And then it hits me again.

Anzu Hoshino. That's the name that other wizard—Riri—had said when they flew off to their next client. Does that mean...they're trying to set her up with one of us!?