Romantic Killer But I Made It Gay

Part 97

Is that really true?" Tsukasa leans back on the couch with a bewildered expression. "It feels hard to believe, even with this thing right in front of us."

"Riri," Riri sighs.

"So my meeting you again wasn't natural?" Junta whimpers, wiping at his eyes. "I didn't feel like anything was off. I should've noticed sooner!"

"It's not your fault," I assure him. "We were up against actual magic. Of course we didn't stand a chance." I glance at Tsukasa to find him watching me carefully and I quickly look down. "I'm sorry. This all happened because I didn't tell you. It's my fault."

"Actually, you weren't allowed to tell other people," Riri informs me. "If you tried, it would result in a terrible pain, so strong it would never make you want to try again."

"Oh." I'm suddenly very glad I didn't tell Emi or anyone else I was thinking of telling.

"Thanks to this magic, I was able to overcome my trauma." Tsukasa leans forward, looking down at Riri. "But I can't agree with a wizard manipulating my emotions. It's wrong."

"I agree!" Junta cuts in. "Haru and I should've reunited naturally!"

"I'm sorry," Riri whines, toying with its wand sadly. "But Kiki and I are just workers. We can't control it."

"Speaking of Kiki," I start, nervously looking around. "You said they're gone. What does that mean? Why are you here instead?"

"Kiki can't come to the human world anymore," Riri informs me sadly. "You see, they committed a form of taboo in our world: they used magic for a personal reason instead of just for work."

"It erased Kishi's memory!" I realize. Riri saying this finally makes everything click. Kiki's sadness when it left, what it said about helping Tsukasa being against the rules, and Kishi's conveniently timed memory loss—it all makes sense. So does that mean Kiki's...gone? Like, forever?

I thought I wanted that. No, I'm done lying to myself. I'm too damn grateful for that little egg changing my life to just let it go like this. But I have to pay my cards carefully if I want it back.

"What's going to happen to it?" I ask carefully and Riri sighs.

"I'll ignore that you just called my friend an it. Kiki's going to be doing menial tasks in the dungeon for the rest of their life, however long that is."

Junta frowns. "The rest of their life? How long is that?"

Riri doesn't respond, twirling its stick in a circle. "Kiki got your three basic needs back before he left...and that's it. I'm with you now."

I force a smile, getting to my feet. "You'll have to thank them for me, then. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Riri. Let's work together.

"Haru..." Junta and Tsukasa watch me widely worriedly as I extend a hand and Riri shakes it. But before they can pull back I grip their thin hand firmly in mine and snatch their wand out of their other hand. Letting go, I run toward the bathroom as Riri screams, flying behind me.

"Give me my wand back! How cruel!"

I flip open the toilet seat and dangle their wand over it. The second they reach me their scream doubles in volume and they wave their hands, trying to stop me from dropping it.

"What are you doing!?"

"I know exactly how this works," I snap, waving the wand back and forth. I feel like a supervillain with the way Riri's crying, but I don't have a choice. "The second your wand is dirtied it loses its magic, right? I bet toilet water's a great way to do exactly that. Wow, you didn't cast the right spell, you revealed your secret plan, and your wand lost its power? You'd hate to report that to your HQ, wouldn't you?"

"Wait!" Riri cries. "What do you even want? You can't threaten me when you won't tell me what we're negotiating for!"

"Oh...Right." I flush, then recover my cool. "I want Kiki back. Right. Now."

"I can't do that!" Riri yelps. "They've broken rules! I can't just bring them back!"

"I feel my fingers slipping~"

"Okay! Okay!" I pull the wand up and Riri sighs in relief. "I'll get them back, but I can't promise much else..."

"Thank you." I toss their wand back and they scramble to catch it. "Sorry. It's not like I wanted to threaten you."

"You sure seemed to enjoy it," Riri sighs, flying back into the living room. I follow them as they pull out something that looks like a cross between a thermometer and a flip phone and put it to their ear. As they chatter away to what I'm guessing is their headquarters, I turn to Junta and Tsukasa.

"So..."

"Wait!" Junta yelps, making me jump. He puts a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "Was Kiki—your cousin—the same as Kiki the wizard?"

I nod sadly. "That's why she appeared out of nowhere and was so annoying. I tried to tell you guys, but she manipulated what you were hearing to stop me."

"I'm guessing Koi is the same?" Tsukasa asks. When I nod again, he smiles lightly. "So it wasn't a date after all."

"A date?" Junta laughs. "You're probably glad I tackled him, right?"

"Best thing I've ever seen."

He grins. "Thanks. I don't feel so bad about that anymore."

"You tackled someone?" Tsukasa laughs as Junta flushes, embarrassed. "I can imagine you doing that. I wish I could've seen it."

"It was great," I inform him. "I'll tell you about it later."