If Jealousy Could Kill

Tomomi stifled a yawn but kept her eyes closed as she slowly woke up. She could feel the hot sun hitting her back, knowing fully well that it was finally morning. Tomomi rolled over to her other side, swinging her arm to drape it over Haruna’s body. But her arm fell down onto the bed, Haruna not where Tomomi had left her last night.

The brunette let her eyes open, squinting at the side of the bed when she saw that Haruna was indeed not lying next to her anymore. Tomomi brought her hand up to her eyes, rubbing one of her eyes as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She grabbed the covers, pulling them up to cover her body. She shook her head, her mind still wondering where her girlfriend had gotten off to. It wasn’t like Haruna to be up before her.

“Missing me already?” the amused voice floated into her ears. Tomomi looked in the direction she had heard the voice from, smiling when she saw Haruna leaned up against the wall just outside of the bathroom. Tomomi could feel the blush creep onto her face as she stared at Haruna. The older girl was standing in nothing but a towel, her wet hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, a few wet strands falling into her face and sticking to her forehead. The younger girl couldn’t stop her mind from musing silently about how attractive Haruna looked like right now.

After not getting a response for a few minutes, Haruna pushed herself off the wall, her slender legs crossing the room. She sat herself down on the edge of the bed on the side Tomomi sat on. The younger girl tugged the covers a bit so they wouldn’t fall off her body. Haruna was just going to ignore that for right now.

“What time is it?” Tomomi asked. She diverted her eyes down to the bed, still not feeling right about staring at Haruna when she was dressed like that. She could hear Haruna chuckle softly, clearly having noticed her shy reaction.

“It’s 10:30 in the morning. Check out is in half an hour,” Haruna informed her. Tomomi’s head shot up, her eyes wide. Haruna bit down on her lip to stop herself from laughing. She knew Tomomi would be shocked from that, it was rare for the younger girl to sleep this late.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Tomomi asked, still shocked.

“I was going to but you looked so peaceful and cute that I just couldn’t do it. I thought it would be better to just let you sleep, I was planning on waking you up around 10:50 if you didn’t get up on your own though,” Haruna responded. Tomomi smiled at Haruna’s kind gesture.

“Thank you,” she said softly. Tomomi felt Haruna snake some of her fingers underneath Tomomi’s chin, pushing her head up. The two girls stared at each, a smile coming to Haruna’s face. Tomomi was acting so sweet and innocent right now. The dominant side of Tomomi that had shown itself last night was such a big change from the innocent girl she acted like every day.

“How are you feeling?” the elder brunette asked softly. Tomomi’s breathing was beginning to catch in her throat as her eyes continued to train themselves on Haruna’s features, unable to tear her eyes away from the beautiful woman sitting in front of her.

“I feel fine,” Tomomi responded finally. She gave Haruna a small and sheepish smile. The older brunette let her fingers run along Tomomi’s cheek before she rested her hand on the girl’s cheek. Tomomi leaned her head into Haruna’s touch, nuzzling her head gently against Haruna’s warm palm. She could feel Haruna bring another hand up, trailing it along Tomomi’s body and causing the younger girl to shudder from the feel. Haruna gently brushed Tomomi’s hair behind her ear.

“You don’t regret it?” Haruna asked softly. She was almost scared to ask. She was scared of the possible answer Tomomi could give her. Tomomi resisted the urge to drop her grip on the covers and pull Haruna in for a tight hug. She was still too shy to let drop the covers.

“Of course not. I love you, I would never regret it.” Tomomi had to admit that she was enjoying the way Haruna spoke with such a scared and shy tone. From the way Haruna acted on a daily basis, she never thought Haruna could ever be shy when it came to this or anything else. When it involved Tomomi though, the elder girl was so soft and gentle.

She seemed like she was so unsure and almost scared of how Tomomi would react. Tomomi knew it was just Haruna’s age-old fear of love speaking, and she fully intended to help Haruna truly let go of that fear. Knowing how deep Haruna’s feelings for her ran gave her more motivation; she desperately wanted to set Haruna free from the fear that had chained her down for so long.

Tomomi’s eyes continued to focus on Haruna’s face again but she soon noticed the marking on the older girl’s neck. The reddish mark stood out starkly against Haruna’s pale skin, Tomomi didn’t know how she hadn’t noticed it until now. The older brunette noticed Tomomi eyeing the mark, holding back a laugh and pushing Tomomi’s head up so their eyes met again.

“Did I…do that?” Tomomi asked softly. Haruna grinned at her nodding her head and enjoying the way Tomomi got a deep blush on her face. The color to her cheeks could nearly rival the color of a tomato. Haruna let her hands drop from Tomomi’s chin, bringing them up to run the fingers over the hickey she had discovered this morning.

“Yes, you did. You were quite aggressive last night, you know. But I don’t mind it,” Haruna told her. Tomomi’s blush got deeper as she nodded to Haruna’s words. She didn’t think she would leave a mark on Haruna, certainly not one that was as noticeable as that. She was oddly proud of herself though, she’d never been able to have the confidence to take over in anything like that but being with Haruna gave her that confidence. Haruna made her feel so comfortable with things she never had been comfortable with before.

Haruna leaned in, giving Tomomi a quick kiss before she pulled away. Her fingertips ran themselves over Tomomi’s soft cheek before she took her hand away, pushing herself off the bed. When the older girl turned to leave, Tomomi let one of her hands stray from the covers, keeping them held up by her other hand. Her now free hand darted out, grabbing onto Haruna’s wrist. The older brunette stopped in her tracks, turning back to Tomomi and cocking her head to the side in wonder.

“Haruna, I love you. You’re one of the best things that have ever happened to me.” Haruna smiled at Tomomi’s words.

“I guess we owe Mami a big thank you for introducing us, huh?” Haruna said. Tomomi laughed softly from her girlfriend’s response, finally letting her hand drop from Haruna’s wrist. The older girl turned around again, making her way over to where she had laid some clothes out for herself.

Tomomi watched her movements up until the part where Haruna undid her towel, letting it drop from her body. Tomomi squeaked, pulling the covers up to hide her face.

“Haruna!” Tomomi shouted in a scolding tone. She could hear the soft laugh come from her girlfriend. Slowly, she lowered the covers a bit, peeking her eyes out over the top of the white sheets. She watched as Haruna pulled the last of her clothing on, pulling a purple colored t-shirt over her head.

Haruna smoothed out the shirt, pulling the hairband out of her hair and letting the curled locks fall down over her back. Tomomi almost wanted to laugh at the wild way Haruna’s hair looked right now. She guessed that’s what happened every time after Haruna took a shower and didn’t brush her hair. The elder girl turned around, placing her hands on her hips when she saw her girlfriend hiding behind the covers.

“You’re being serious right now? After last night, you’re still shy about seeing me naked? I would think that would be the last of your worries,” Haruna noted to her. Tomomi whimpered softly, bringing the covers down from her face.

“I’m just not used to this, Haruna,” she murmured. Haruna sighed softly, running a hand through her drying locks. She really had to remember how sensitive Tomomi could be at times. Sometimes Haruna’s jokes didn’t go over too well with Tomomi and sometimes Haruna forgot that.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, Timo. The things you do and the ways you react are just different to me, I’m just curious is all,” Haruna tried to explain herself. Tomomi got a smile on her face, laughing from the way her reaction had fooled Haruna. She had never been upset; she knew exactly why Haruna had said what she did. She was just too cute when she was feeling guilty.

“Don’t worry, I understand, Haruna. We’re both experiencing new things,” Tomomi told her. Haruna laughed softly and shook her head. She walked over to where a pile of Tomomi’s clothes laid, grabbing a shirt and balling it up. She tossed it at Tomomi, the brunette squealing as it hit her, landing over her head. “What was that for?!” Tomomi squealed as she pulled the shirt off her head.

“Get dressed, you fool. You wouldn’t want the housekeeping to walk in on you naked,” Haruna told her. Tomomi pouted at Haruna, clutching the shirt tightly against her chest. Did she always have to insist on adding something like that in? She looked down at the shirt before glancing back up at Haruna. “Something wrong?”

“Could you…um…not watch?” Tomomi asked in a soft and shy voice. She saw Haruna smile before she nodded her head.

“Of course, I’ll fix my hair in the meantime. Come get me when you’re decent,” Haruna told her. She turned on her heel, making her way into the bathroom and shutting the door. Tomomi finally let the shirt and covers fall from her body, settling down on her lap.

She looked down at the hands now on her lap as well and smiled. Haruna was a challenge and she was a lot to deal with. Tomomi had never been with someone as open and abrasive as Haruna was, but she liked it. Haruna was a fun person and she made Tomomi happy. Tomomi felt like she had finally found her love in that feisty brunette and she never wanted to let it go.

***

“This place is beautiful,” Tomomi breathed out in amazement. Her eyes looked at the elegant shrine in front of them. The bright red torii stood out among the forest that gave the shrine a wooded looking backdrop. The torii was only the beginning to the beautiful shrine that laid behind it, the red building standing out just as starkly as the torii did.

“I’m relieved that you like it,” Haruna said. She came up to stand next to Tomomi, lacing her hand with her girlfriend’s. Tomomi looked down at the shorter girl, giving her a pleasant smile.

When Haruna had first suggested that the girls come to Hakone Shrine, Tomomi was not too particularly thrilled about it. Sure, she loved visiting Shinto Shrines like this one, but it also a bit away from where they had been staying in Hakone-machi. Coming out here would mean an even longer drive back and that is what had held Tomomi back from being overly excited about visiting this shrine.

Now that the girls were actually out here though, Tomomi’s former reservations about coming had disappeared. The shrine was so beautiful, it was the perfect place for the couple to visit and end their small vacation before they went back home to Tokyo.

“You know, Haru, I never pegged you as the person to enjoy traditional stuff like this,” Tomomi mentioned to her girlfriend as the two of them approached the shrine. Haruna snorted in response to Tomomi’s comment.

“There’s a lot about me you wouldn’t expect,” Haruna said. She glanced up at Tomomi to see the younger girl grinning at her.

“Have you gone to these shrines a lot?”

“I used to when I was younger. They were a favorite place of my parents, they were always really traditional. So they took me to shrines a lot, I guess the love for them just sort of rubbed off on me,” Haruna replied with a shrug.

“Wait… Your parents were traditional?” Tomomi asked in an overly shocked tone. Haruna looked up at her, raising an eyebrow at the tone she had used.

“Yes. Is that hard to believe?”

“Coming from you… Yes it is.” Haruna snorted again, rolling her eyes as her girlfriend giggled. Haruna reached over with her free hand, lightly hitting Tomomi in the stomach for her comment. The hit had only made Tomomi laugh at her girlfriend harder.

The younger girl calmed down her laughing as the two girls made their way past the torii and farther into the shrine. Tomomi glanced around, noticing the large woods behind the shrine and the peaceful looking lake that settled next to it. This place was surrounded by a peaceful feeling; Tomomi was beginning to think the entire town would be surrounded by a peaceful feeling. This was one of the best places she could have chosen to bring Haruna.

Tomomi let Haruna lead her around the shrine. The eldest girl brought Tomomi over near the water first, the two girls standing on the edge and look out at the lake that sparkled in the sunlight. Tomomi glanced over at Haruna, smiling when she saw the expression on Haruna’s face.

It was clear to Tomomi that Haruna was thinking about something. She would always get a certain look on her face when she was thinking deeply about something. The younger brunette didn’t say a word to her girlfriend; she only continued to watch Haruna silently as the older girl stared off into the water, her head leaning to the side. Tomomi did wonder what Haruna could be thinking about so heavily. Even if she could tell that Haruna was thinking about something, it was often hard to tell what she was thinking of. Haruna’s mind seemed to work in odd ways, at least in Tomomi’s opinion.

Tomomi wondered if Haruna was thinking about last night and everything that had been exchanged between the two lovers. She wanted to believe all of Haruna’s words were the truth and not something said in the heat of the moment. For the most part, she did believe that. She had no reason to distrust Haruna after all; she’d never been given a reason to. But Tomomi was a natural born worrier, there would always be that little nagging voice in the back of her mind until someone put her worries to rest.

The younger brunette let her eyes move from Haruna out to the water, her own mind losing itself in her thoughts. She thought back to last night. She’d woken up in the middle of the night only to find Haruna’s arms tightly wrapped around her arms, her smaller body cuddled closely to Tomomi’s. At that moment, Haruna looked completely vulnerable. She had such a sweet and peaceful look on her sleeping face.

Haruna was the type of girl who always kept her guard up and hid her true feelings, but she had let that guard down for Tomomi. She had let Tomomi get to know her in the most intimate way possible; she’d opened up her heart to the younger brunette.

She fully trusted Tomomi and that was what made Tomomi happy.

Instinctively, Tomomi let her hand drop from Haruna’s, moving to wrap her arm around the elder girl’s waist. She pulled the two girls close together and she could feel Haruna lean her head over, letting it fall against Tomomi’s arm. Tomomi was happy. Being like this with Haruna would always make her happy; there was just something about the feisty girl that had Tomomi completely entranced.

“My, my, it’s nice to see such a happy couple.” At the sound of the voice, Haruna pushed herself away from Tomomi, going back to simply holding her hand. The older girl smiled apologetically at the priest who had approached them.

“Forgive me, that was a little inappropriate for us,” Haruna apologized. Tomomi’s head snapped to look at her. The younger girl could only look confused at the smiling Haruna beside her. Haruna was willingly and honestly apologizing… That was certainly new. Haruna’s pride never let her apologize for anything.

“My dear, there’s really no need to apologize. I see no issue with it, it’s always very nice to see such and young and happy couple. Particularly one who seems to share as much love as you two do,” the priest complimented them. Tomomi was a bit taken aback by the priest’s words but they also made her happy. He could see that just from the way she had held Haruna. Haruna turned to look up at Tomomi, unable to control her laughter when she saw the way Tomomi was looking at her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she managed to get out in between her laughs.

“You just apologized… Willingly! You never apologize willingly for anything,” Tomomi pointed out to her. Haruna gave her girlfriend a wide grin before giving her a peck on the cheek.

“Oh be good,” Haruna scolded her. Tomomi opened her mouth to say something but found herself unable to, instead going to simply glowering at the cocky girl beside her.

“If I may ask, what brings you ladies to this shrine today?” the priest asked, interrupting their banter. Haruna turned back to the priest, seeing as Tomomi was still a bit too stunned to say anything.

“We’re just on a little trip for a few days,” Haruna answered him. The priest nodded in understanding, giving the young couple another smile.

“Well I hope you will enjoy your trip here,” he said. The priest bowed to the girls quickly, Haruna and Tomomi both returning the gesture before he left. Once he was gone, Haruna turned to Tomomi, wrapping her arms around her waist again.

“Can we just stay like this for a while,” Haruna murmured to her. Tomomi was caught off guard by the sudden change in Haruna’s behavior but she smiled nonetheless. It seemed like whenever Haruna was held tightly in Tomomi’s arms, her tough girl exterior slowly melted away. She held Haruna tightly, kissing the top of her head lightly.

“Of course, we can stay like this for however long you want.”