Romantic Killer But I Made It Gay

Part 93

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." I sigh at the same time as my mother does through the phone.

"Are you sure? That sounds terribly dangerous, and considering what you went through in elementary school..."

"I'm okay, really. I've got a bunch of friends to help me now."

My mother is silent for a few seconds, then laughs.

"W-What?" I flush, embarrassed.

"Nothing. Just...I never thought I'd hear you say that. I'm really proud of you, Haru."

I smile into the phone. "Thanks, mom."

"But I'm still flying back. I need to meet these boys of yours."

"Gh—" I sigh in defeat. "They're not my..." Tsukasa opens the door, blinking in surprise. "...my...ah...games! Dad must've bought them!"

"What?" she asks, understandably confused.

"Anyways, friend's here, gotta go!" I yelp, turning off the call before she can say anything else. I feel like that was rude but hey, they moved to America and left me behind—that seems like the rudest thing one could do.

"Sup?" I turn to Tsukasa, who's closer than I expected, making my heart start to pound. "My...ah, my mom's flying back soon, so..."

"That's good." He reaches out and brushes a hand over my bandage. "I'm sorry."

"Huh? For what?"

"You got hurt because of me. I'm really sorry." The hand moves up to run slowly through my hair, which gives me shivers. I wasn't prepared for such an intimate moment, but I don't turn away or try to run. I might not completely understand my feelings for him, but I just know I don't want to run from this.

"It's fine. It's not like it's going to scar or anything." I laugh, realizing, "I got into my first fight, and I won...kinda. But still, I felt cool."

He smiles gently, pulling his hand away, leaving me with a strange sense of longing. "You were cool. Really cool."

I can barely breathe. Being so close to him..."Thanks."

He shakes his head. "I'm the one who should be thanking you. You always help me out."

I nod. "I'll always be here for you...ah, to help you, I mean." Wow, how am I completely butchering this conversation? "But I don't feel like I've done that much..."

He shakes sighs endearingly. "You don't know how many times you've saved me, even before you let me stay over."

"Saved seems like a strong word," I laugh. "I mean, it's basic human decency to let you stay over..." Yep, still butchering it. But I really don't know what he's talking about—how could I have helped him out when all I really did was break his phone and trip?

"Back when you broke my phone, I was being messaged by old friends, wanting to see me or know about me. I hadn't had the courage to delete their contacts, so they kept messaging me over and over again. I didn't know what to do—and then you opened the door and all those problems just went away."

"I never knew opening a door could be so impactful, I joke, but he stays serious.

"When you fell, too. Seeing you on the ground like that...it reminded me of her. But then you got up, teasing your friend instead of waiting for me to help you. And at the entrance ceremony, the girls were trying to get to me but you bumped into them in your rush to get home."

"Those all seem like things I did by accident," I laugh, awkward with all this praise he's giving. "You're crediting me too much..."

"That too."

"What?"

He smiles down at me. "You never give yourself enough credit. It's like you're living your life for other people."

"You think?"

He might actually be on to something here, but I don't have time to think about it as he whispers, "Just tell me if you don't like it," and pulls me into a hug.

For a second I flinch, the feeling of a bigger boy putting his arms around me bringing back bad nostalgia from elementary school. Tsukasa starts to pull away but I realize why and wrap my arms around his waist, holding him close. He gasps softly, then leans in, whispering, "Thank you, Haru. For everything."

"Of course." I pat his back gently, like I'm soothing a little kid. "I'd do it a million times over."

He huffs and I can imagine him smiling over me. I grin into his shoulder. It's okay. The both of us are going to be okay.

"Wraah, I'm thirsty."

We both freeze as Junta opens the door, yawning. He opens his eyes slowly, already halfway to the kitchen, and blinks at us. Then he dashes out of the room, stubbing his toe on the doorframe. He yelps in pain, tumbling to the ground as Tsukasa and I quickly untangle ourselves and rush to help him.

"It's not what you think!" I try to assure him as he sniffles and groans in pain. "Tsukasa was just thanking me for helping him!"

"I-I helped and you didn't hug me!" he fires back and I say nothing. He's got me there.

We get him to his feet and he hobbles upstairs, calling, "I'm going to bed," before slamming the door.

I sigh in defeat, turning back to Tsukasa. "We've done been caught."

He's looking up the stairs after Junta with a thoughtful and worried expression. He turns to me seriously and I flinch. Please tell me he's not about to ask—

"What do you think about Hayami?"

"J-Junta?" Yep, exactly what I worried. "I think he's...he's great."

Tsukasa shakes his head. "I meant what do you think of him romantically?"

Great. He just had to ask that. Wait, is he worried about Junta as a rival? Does that mean he actually could like me?

"I...I..." My throat dries up. I don't know what to say. Well, what I want to say is: I don't think of him romantically, but I'm starting to feel that way about you, but I can't say that. It would make things way too awkward if he doesn't feel the same. "I think he's really sweet, but he's my childhood friend. He's more like a brother to me than anything—Ah, don't tell him I said that."

"I won't." Tsukasa nods to himself, then starts up the stairs. "I'm going to bed. Good night."

"Ah...yeah. Night."

He disappears around the corner and I walk back to the couch, sighing as I sit down. I feel like my situation just got a lot more complicated.