Romantic Killer But I Made It Gay

Junta route part 8

"Ha!" Hoshino slaps down her cards, revealing a perfect hand. Tsukasa and I groan while Junta laughs awkwardly. The redhead crosses her arms over-confidently, grinning at us. "You can't beat me in a million years! But I welcome you to try!"

"Don't bet on years so hastily," I advise her. "Last time I did that I was stuck making lunch."

"That's only because you lost," she informs me haughtily. "I wouldn't do that in a million years!"

"You already said that," Tsukasa informs her and she laughs loudly.

Hoshino is full of energy, if I have to describe her in one sentence. We're on our fifth game and she's still going strong, without a single loss. I've challenged her, sure, but I haven't taken a single hand. She reminds me of the best version of myself: the outgoing, caring, confident version I can only see when I'm around people I'm comfortable with. When I thought of another test subject, I didn't imagine she'd be so much and so little like me all at the same time.

"Well, I'm taking the next set!" I challenge, grabbing the deck as everyone throws their cards in.

"You seem more confident than usual." Junta smiles endearingly and I flush. This doesn't go unnoticed by Tsukasa or Hoshino, who frowns knowingly.

"Y-Yeah. I finally have a worthy opponent."

"Oh?" Hoshino raises an eyebrow. "You think you can measure up to me? Fine then, I'll take your bet! Whoever loses has to make lunch tomorrow!"

"I never said that," I groan. "Besides, there's four of us. Will three people have to make lunch? That seems like too much."

"Ohoho, I've got a solution for that, of course," she laughs, pointing to me. "The three losers have to play each other, then the two losers get the punishment!"

I can't find a flaw in her plan, other than that I'll probably be stuck making lunch with Tsukasa or Junta, which is bound to be awkward. Well, I wouldn't mind being alone with Junta, but with Tsukasa...that's bound to be awkward. Considering the amount of times I've had moments with my childhood friend with him around, I'm sure he's realized my feelings for the boy and my lack of feelings for him. But it's not like I can say that, especially not with Hoshino here.

"You're on."

We continue on, and I play like there's no tomorrow. Surprisingly, I take the first set from the redhead, then the second, then the third, until I realize there's no way I'm this good so suddenly. Only one explanation: Riri. That wizard must want me to win, for some reason. But hey, if it saves me from awkward time with Tsukasa, I'll gladly accept any of its schemes. Maybe Hoshino's wizard is nicer than mine. Yeah, right.

"God, what happened to you!?" Hoshino cries as I throw down the winning hand. "You were terrible before!"

I shrug haughtily. "Guess I've warmed up. You're going down."

"I already have," she whimpers, leaning back on the carpet, defeated. "Guess I'm making lunch. N-Not that it's gonna turn out bad or anything! I'm a great cook!"

No one looks convinced. Tsukasa's eyes flash over me before he gathers up the cards and starts shuffling. "Sure. Well you can't be worse than Haru. Not that any of us have actually had his cooking. We've just heard the horror stories."

"It's not too bad..." Junta tries meekly.

I nudge him, smiling. "You're not convincing anyone." I turn back to our company and add, "If you want to hear too much information about my cooking, ask him to be truthful about it. He's the only victim who's survived."

"That bad, huh?" Hoshino turns back to the table as Tsukasa deals cards to her, Junta and himself.

The last game passes quickly and it looks like it's heading in Hoshino's direction until it takes a sudden twist. And finally, Junta sets down the winning hand, looking even more surprised than his opponents.

"S-Sorry..." he murmurs, gathering up the cards and flipping them around in his large hands absentmindedly.

"Why are you apologizing?" I laugh. "You won...ah—fair and square!"

It's clear now who Riri is trying to set Hoshino up with. And if it works out, it seems like everything would be perfect. That is, if Tsukasa actually wants to be with her, which is iffy at best. But if she's a version of me...but then she'd be like my replacement, which feels wrong. Everything is so complicated! And...everyone's staring at me.

"Do I even have to ask?" I grumble, and Tsukasa and Junta shake their heads. Hoshino blinks in confusion but doesn't ask any questions, getting to her feet and starting for the kitchen.

Tsukasa gets up as well, sighing. "I'm getting déjà vu. Whatever. You guys clean up and go to bed. I'll make sure she doesn't burn down the kitchen."

He disappears around the corner, Hoshino following him, and I turn to Junta.

"You probably don't know, but this is almost exactly the same."

"The same as when you met Tsukasa?" he wonders, starting to gather up the cards.

"Word. For. Word."

"So...Is her wizard trying to set her up with Kazuki?" He frowns guiltily. "That's...ah—"

"Yeah." A look of understanding passes between us and I feel my heart twist in a way I don't want to unravel. On one hand, Junta and I basically know we like each other by now. On the other, we know Tsukasa's feelings for me and my lack of feelings for him.

Everything is out on the table. We can see every fact and evidence for every relationship. This isn't a love triangle anymore. My romance story only has one ending. We just need someone to acknowledge it, and everything will fall apart.