Romantic Killer But I Made It Gay

Part 98

"Alright," Riri calls and we turn to them as they're tucking away their phone contraption into God knows where. "They've agreed to let Kiki come back for ten minutes for a cut of my bonus, but that's it, got it?"

I nod and they wave their wand with a cry of, "Sparkle! No poop!" and a portal appears, Kiki flying out of it. They land with a thud on the coffee table, groaning.

"Riri, that was rough. You couldn't drop me a little lighter?"

"Your friends are here," Riri informs them, ignoring the question, and Kiki unsticks themselves from the table.

"Haru..." they look up at me with beady eyes filled with what I think is sadness. "Why would you want me back? I thought you hated me."

"You're damn right I hated you," I snap and they flinch, then stare at me in shock.

"H-Hated?"

"Can you turn into a human for a sec?" With this little time, everything I wanted to say them dries in my throat. I don't even know how I feel about them, but I do know I don't want to leave them doing menial dungeon tasks for the rest of who knows how long.

With a poof of familiar yellow smoke, Koi sits in front of me, now with obvious sadness in his blue-purple eyes. "So...?"

I lean back, observing him closely. This is the boy who I spent a whole fun day with, and although I hated every second of it...Damnit, I can't even put my scrambled thoughts together right. Screw it. I don't have time for this. I guess I'm just going off instinct.

"Thanks," I grumble and he stares at me.

"You're...thanking me?"

"I couldn't let you go without telling you that. Because of you, I met Tsukasa and was reunited with Junta. It's because of you I've had such a fun few last months. So thanks...I guess." I look away as his eyes fill with tears.

Tsukasa steps forward, kneeling down so they're looking eye to eye. "I want to thank you too. You helped me a lot, albeit indirectly."

"Me too!" Junta adds, sounding a little left out. "You helped Haru and I reunite! Without that, I don't know how long it would've taken."

Koi smiles sadly, tears trembling in the corners of his eyes. "You don't have to thank me. You've always wanted me gone...and—and I broke the rules! Why would you even want me?" He sniffs, wiping at his eyes, his smile falling. "I returned your needs, so you can just let me go."

"Yeah, right," I snap, making him blink up at me in surprise.

"What?"

I grab him by the shoulder and shake him roughly. "Get your head out of the clouds. After everything we've done together, I think we're close enough to be called friends. And although I still don't like you..." I shake my head angrily. "I won't chose my own needs over a friend. It's like..." I look back at Tsukasa, smiling. "I'm living my life for other people. And I'm fine with that. So if you don't think you deserve to stay, think about how I feel!"

"What?" he whispers, getting to his feet, all the while staring at me. "I...I want you to live f-for yourself!"

"Then follow your own advice." I smile as gently as I can. "Think about what you want to do."

"I..." He sniffles, wiping at his eyes. "I don't know...I should go back, but—"

"But?" I prompt.

"But I...I want to stay with you!" he finally cries, tears flowing freely from his eyes. "This is fun! I don't want it to end! I want to stay with you and Kazuki and Junta! I want to stay in the human world!"

I extend a hand. "Then stay."

"H-Haru...!" He grabs my hand and pushes it to his forehead, sobbing into it. I notice he doesn't hug me, although his arms twitch like he wants to. I smile. Him respecting my boundaries is the least straw. He has to stay.

I turn to Riri with a determined look. "Use your magic to let Kiki stay, or I'm breaking your wand for good."

They flinch back, holding their wand tightly to their chest. "I can't! HQ would never allow it. Besides, I can only use spells—"

"For helping my love life," I finish seriously.
Riri blinks. "Exactly, you already know. So then why—"

I grab Kiki, who's almost recovered, and pull him to my side. "This guy took me on a date, meaning he's a possible love interest, right?"

Riri flinches. "I see what you're trying to say, and it's not happening. You hate them! Why would they relate to your love life?"

"You think I hate someone I worked this hard to get back?" I argue. "Actually, Koi has a chance, a small chance, albeit, but a chance of becoming my boyfriend!"

"Geh—" Riri blanches to a lighter shade of yellow.

"You can't take away a love interest," I continue, "So it's totally legal, and better, if he stays in this world."

Junta claps while Tsukasa nods in agreement. Riri floats back, gritting their teeth, then finally sighs.

"I can't argue with that logic. Gah, there goes another cut of my bonus." They flick their wand and a shower of yellow sparkles flies around Koi, who grins at me.

"I can stay, Haru!"

I smile lightly. Maybe I just caused myself more trouble, but I feel good about this. I turn to Riri and bow sincerely.

"I'm really sorry you had to deal with all this. But you can go...wherever you're going next now."

They pull out the same strange contraption and scroll until they find what they're looking for. "Aha! Looks like my next mission is a girl! Thank goodness! Let's see...Anzu Hoshino, huh? Sounds easy enough!"

And with that they disappear into a yellow dust cloud.