If Jealousy Could Kill

Haruna’s body jolted forward, the sweat dotting her forehead as her breathing remained heavy. Her eyes looked around her room frantically, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She could feel the pounding in her head that told her she had probably not gotten enough sleep. Her eyelids still felt heavy but she refused to succumb to the sleep again. She knew she had heard a high pitched scream. What she didn’t know if it was real or not. It felt lucid to her, she couldn’t tell if it had been in her dreams or actually happened in reality. The two were blending together for Haruna at the moment.

The older girl’s eyes looked around the room again only to see that besides her, it was completely empty. Where had Rina gotten off to? She was sure that Rina was still in the room when she had fallen asleep. Haruna shook her head slowly before pushing herself off the bed. She groaned softly, the sudden movement having brought a wave of nausea over her.

Haruna stumbled back a bit, holding herself up with the bed as she waited for the bought of nausea to pass. When it did, she straightened herself out again, shaking her head once more before setting off out of the room. She carried herself down the hallway slowly, not wanting to be overcome with that sickly feeling again. As she got further, the brunette could hear the shouting begin.

“I am not hurting Haruna!” It didn’t even take the eldest girl a millisecond to recognize the voice. She knew right away that it belonged to Rina; she would always be able to recognize the young girl’s voice. “I am trying to protect her from you!”

Haruna didn’t hear the response that had been given to Rina’s response. She didn’t know what was said and she didn’t know who had said it. She hadn’t heard any response really, but she knew there had been one from the way Rina had paused. Haruna’s footsteps had picked up when she heard Rina’s shouting. She could feel the nausea coming back to her at the quickened pace but she failed to care. She was more concerned about getting to Rina than she was with what happened to herself.

The eldest girl made her way into the kitchen where she had been sure she had heard the shouting come from. When she got into the kitchen though, her once rapid footsteps came to a complete halt. Her breathing stalled in throat as she gazed at the scene in front of her and a new wave of nausea hitting her.

On the floor of the kitchen laid Tomomi. The brunette had one arm holding up her shaking body while her other hand was pressed tightly against her cheek. Haruna could see the blood seeping through Tomomi’s fingers and rolling down her arm until it splashed onto the tiled floor. Her hand was no match for the amount of blood pouring itself from the wound. Tomomi’s body was wracked up sob after sob, the brunette being unable to calm herself down. Haruna could feel the nausea hit her anew; she could barely stand the sight of the blood that dripped from her girlfriend.

Haruna gulped nervously before she shifted her eyes upwards. She could see Rina standing over Tomomi, her breathing clearly heavy and a bloodied knife clutched in her hand. Rina had her head down so her hair covered and darkened the expression on her face. Haruna stood motionless, helpless to do anything. Her body and her mind were too shocked to do anything.

“I’ve tried for years to keep her safe and you’re ruining that… She was supposed to end up happy with me but you took her away. You’re responsible for everything!” After her words, Rina raised the knife above her head. This sudden movement of Rina’s snapped Haruna out of her shock, forcing the brunette to jump into action.

“Rina!” Haruna screamed. She ran forward, her hands grabbing onto Rina’s wrist. The smaller girl pushed her full body weight against Rina, forcing the two of them to stumble backwards. Rina quickly lost her footing and the two roommates went tumbling to the floor. The young girl groaned softly when she felt her back hit the floor before feeling Haruna’s entire weight press itself against her body to keep her held down.

Haruna made sure to press Rina’s wrist against the ground, not letting her move it. She could feel the younger girl beginning to squirm underneath her but Haruna used every ounce of strength in her body to ensure that Rina didn’t knock her off. She wasn’t going to let Rina get up and hurt Tomomi anymore. She wasn’t going to let Rina make such a huge mistake like that.

“Haruna…” Tomomi’s voice came. Haruna wanted to look back at her injured girlfriend but she didn’t dare take her eyes off of her seemingly crazed roommate. Haruna could feel the uninvited tears pooling in her eyes. She just didn’t understand what was happening here. This wasn’t Rina. Rina was sweet and innocent… Not anything close to what she appeared to be right now.

“Why are you doing this?” Haruna asked her, doing her best to choke back her tears. Rina simply grunted from underneath Haruna and gave her body a sharp push forward. Haruna stood firm though, refusing to let Rina knock her off.

“Get off me!” Rina shouted. “She has to pay for this!”

“Pay for what?! She’s not done anything to you!” Haruna fought back. The eldest girl could see and feel her vision beginning to cloud. Her body felt heavier as the tiredness began to work its way back into her. She would not give into it though. She had to stop Rina before she did something she would really regret. “Why are you trying to hurt her? What’s wrong with you?!”

“Get off!”

“I said no.” Rina growled lowly at Haruna’s defiance, her struggling becoming worse.

Why? Why did Haruna defend Tomomi so? Rina didn’t like this. She didn’t want to see Haruna defending Tomomi like this. Haruna’s defense of Tomomi was only making Rina’s behavior worse. Haruna had been so focused on keeping the knife away from anyone that she had bothered to restrain Rina’s other hand. Her other hand came down hard onto Haruna, slapping her and catching her off guard.

That one moment of weakness was all Rina needed. Still stunned from the sudden slap, Haruna was caught off guard when Rina broke her hands free from the eldest girl’s grip. She gave Haruna a rough shove, the brunette falling backwards off of Rina and onto the floor. Rina shoved herself off the floor, her breathing even heavier while she looked down at Haruna.

“Why are you protecting her?” Rina’s voice was a mixture of her hurt, her anger, and her confusion. From the floor, Haruna groaned softly, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She rubbed her eyes, her vision continuing to blur from the sleeping pills that still coursed through her.

“Why are you trying to hurt her?” Haruna countered. The eldest girl didn’t know what was going on at all or how any of this had come to be. The last thing Haruna remembered was Rina giving her that drink. After that, she was sure that she’d fallen asleep… Haruna’s eyes widened at the thought. It was Rina. Her tiredness… Everything was Rina. “What-what did you do to me?”

“Don’t look at me like that,” Rina whispered softly. Haruna looked so scared of her right now; Rina didn’t want Haruna to be scared of her “I just gave you some sleeping pills so you could rest. I didn’t want you interfering…”

“Interfering in what?!” Haruna shouted and cut off Rina. Rina’s eyes seemed to darken momentarily at the sudden interruption. “Interfering in you hurting my girlfriend?!”

“In returning things to normal…”

“You call this normal? This isn’t normal! The Rina I know would never do something like this.”

“Maybe the Rina you knew is long gone then,” Rina said darkly. Haruna wanted to respond but Rina’s words had stunned her into silence. She didn’t know what to make of the words that had just left the odd brunette. In turn, Rina sighed softly. She brought a hand up to her forehead again, laying it down flat. Rina’s head was pounding; she almost felt ready to pass out. “I’m fixing what you did, Haruna.”

“What-what did I do?” Haruna usually always knew when she did something wrong to Rina but right now, she had no idea of what she could have possibly done wrong. She heard Rina laugh softly, pointing the knife at a still sobbing Tomomi.

“Her. You brought her in. You’re letting her get to know you in such an intimate way; you’re making the same mistake you always make. You’re trusting someone who will only hurt you. So I’ll fix it for you, I’ll make sure she doesn’t have a chance to hurt you. I’ll protect you.”

“What are you talking about?” Haruna asked desperately. “She’s never hurt me in any way. She’s always cared for me.”

“They all say they care at the beginning but we both know where it always goes. Don’t make this hard, Haruna. Just let me free you from her.” Haruna shook her head slowly at Rina’s words. She pushed herself off the ground, her legs shaking beneath her as the tears rolled down her face.

Why was this happening? How was this happening?

“You don’t have to do this, Rina…. Why are you even doing this? You’re not a killer… You’re not even violent. You… You don’t even seem like Rina anymore.” Haruna was becoming desperate now. She didn’t know what to do for Rina. “You’ve never killed before. Remember who you are already!”

“I’ve never killed before? Is that really what you think?” Rina’s words were spoken so low, her head bowing itself again. Haruna could hear the sniffling coming out of her now. “You’re wrong.”

“What do you mean I’m wrong? Rina…. Have you ever…?” Haruna couldn’t finish her question. She didn’t want to vocalize the possibility of Rina having maybe killed someone in the past. She knew as a teenager, Rina tended to lose control of herself but it never got that bad. Mami and Haruna were always able to control her before she ever hurt someone.

“You never put together the pieces?”

“The pieces of what?” Haruna couldn’t take these riddles anymore; she only wanted Rina to tell her what was going through her mind so Haruna could maybe fix it. She only wanted to help Rina and keep Tomomi safe.

“Taichi! Or have you forgotten the person who broke you?” Haruna’s breathing froze again when she heard the name of her long gone ex. It had been years since Rina had even so much as mentioned him; Haruna was becoming convinced that Rina didn’t remember Taichi or anything he’d done to her. She was foolish to think that though, she should have known Rina wouldn’t forget.

“What does he have to do with this? Did you…. Did you do something to him?” The older brunette could feel the sense of dread make its way into her body. She feared the answer Rina would give her. There was something so off about Rina… If Haruna could even address this person as ‘Rina’ anymore. The person who stood in front of her now didn’t seem like the soft girl she’d known since her childhood.

“I had to do it, Haruna… He was going to ruin you. Someone had to protect you and fix the mess you got yourself into.”

“What did you do?” Haruna repeated her question in a much harder tone now. Haruna’s body slumped over a bit, a yawn making her way past her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight over the tiredness while keeping her rough stance.

“Please don’t get mad at me.”

“What did you do, Rina?” Haruna’s question was much louder and rougher this time. She was tired of playing games with Rina. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. Rina sniffled, bringing her free hand up to wipe a few tears from her face. It seemed like Rina had calmed down from her previously angered state but Haruna knew not to be so certain.

“I killed him.”

Haruna could swear she felt the world start spinning as the words came to her. She couldn’t have heard that right. There was no way she heard that right. Rina couldn’t have…. Rina wouldn’t have killed someone! Haruna knew who her little sister was and she knew Rina was certainly not a murderer.

“I don’t remember killing him but I… I know I did. I know it was me who spilled his blood and ended his life.”

Haruna still didn’t respond. The words didn’t even seem real anymore. Reality was blending with dreams again, the world spinning around Haruna. Her feet stumbled back, her body losing its footing and crashing to the floor. Her arms laid stretched out behind her to keep her body held up. This couldn’t be happening…

“I couldn’t control myself. I just went to talk to him but I couldn’t handle it.” Rina was unable to stop her talking. Now that her confession had started, she found herself unable to control her words. “But he… He started bragging. He kept saying how easy you were and calling you such vile names. He bragged about sleeping with you and he bragged about the photos…”

“What photos?” Haruna murmured her question softly.

“You really don’t know?” Rina glanced up to see Haruna shake her head slowly. Haruna’s eyes were on the floor and they looked so void of emotion. They were too; Haruna didn’t really know how to feel about what was going on right now. “So he really did take them without you knowing.”

“Rina, what are you--”

“Shut up, Tomomi! No one gave you permission to talk,” Rina snapped at the injured brunette who had spoken up. Rina was having a discussion with Haruna and she didn’t want Tomomi interrupting that discussion.

Tomomi whimpered softly, deciding to go back to the silence she had picked up. Tomomi was now leaned against the wall, the blood still dripping from the wound on her face. Tomomi sniffled softly, gazing at the scene that continued to unfold in front of her.

“He had photos of you, Haruna. Explicit photos. He was going to send them to people if you didn’t cooperate… I guess he didn’t get to you before I got to him though. I’m glad. It was better than you never know what he did to you, I’m sorry you had to find out in the end.”

Haruna could feel her tears getting heavier. After all these years… She’d never known the true depths of depravity Taichi had reached. Was Rina telling the truth though? If Rina was telling the truth about the photos then… She must be telling the truth about the murder.

“Why did you kill him?” Haruna asked weakly.

“I… I don’t know. I got so angry. He was going to hurt you and I… I couldn’t let him. I had to stop him and that was the only way to stop him. He couldn’t hurt you. No one will ever hurt you as long as I’m here for you.”

“Rina, I don’t understand… How did he disappear? What did you do with him?” Haruna didn’t know why she was asking. It was morbid curiosity maybe. Haruna wanted to know exactly what Rina had done… She wanted to know just who Rina really was.

“I don’t remember.”

“What the hell do you mean you don’t remember?!” Haruna shouted suddenly. “How could you not remember disposing of a corpse that you killed?!” Rina cringed from Haruna’s shouting. She glanced up at the heavily crying girl. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Haruna cry like that; she wasn’t aware Haruna could cry like that anymore.

“Because I don’t! I don’t remember killing him and I don’t remember disposing of him. All I remember is going to talk to him and hearing his vile words. The next thing I remember was after that. I remember the blood and the knife I held but after that… I don’t know! I don’t remember, Haruna. I can’t… I can’t remember.”

Haruna wanted to scream and hit Rina. She wanted to shake her and tell her how much of an idiot she was. But Haruna didn’t move. She couldn’t move. All of the words she had just heard were still sinking in. Maybe it was possible that Rina really didn’t remember. There were so many bad things Rina had done as a teenager and a child that she claimed not to remember.

But why now? Why was it resurfacing after all these years of being dormant?

“I felt bad for killing him, believe me I did. But you were safe now. You didn’t have to worry about him; I protected you. I’ve always protected you. You look at me like a child but I’ve always been right behind you to protect you. I’ve always been the one who holds you when you’re upset or cleans up after you when you get too drunk to function. I’ve always been the one to keep you away from people who could hurt you; I’ve always made sure your one night stands never became anything more. But now… I’ve failed you, Haruna. I let you get close to someone who will hurt you and now I have to fix that.”

“There’s nothing to fix,” Haruna whispered. The words felt like they burned her throat, it was unbelievably hard for her to speak.

“There is. Tomomi won’t be any different. Trust me; I’ve never led you astray. She’ll leave you soon. She’ll leave you broken just like everyone else has. Step aside; let me fix this. Let me help you.”

“You don’t have to do this.” Haruna had pushed herself back to her feet, her hands wiping furiously at her crying eyes. She knew now what Rina meant by ‘fixing this’ and she wasn’t about to let it happen. She would not let Rina claim Tomomi’s life as she had done to Taichi.

“Yes, I do.” Rina stepped forward a few steps. “She won’t leave, she’s insisting on continuing to hurt you so I must make her leave. Tomomi has to die, Haruna. Forgive me for this but I can’t have you interfering anymore.”

Haruna hadn’t been expecting Rina’s next move. Rina shoved Haruna to the side, forcing her to finally move from the younger girl’s path. Haruna groaned as her body came in contact with the counter, her head smacking against the hard wood. She didn’t wallow in her pain very long when she heard a scream from Tomomi.

Her body pushed itself back to its feet, her arms shooting out and grabbed onto Rina’s own arms before she had a chance to further hurt Tomomi. She pulled the younger girl back using what little strength she had left to throw Rina onto the floor. Rina groaned from the impact, trying to scoot away from the girl who was now attempting to hold her down again.

“You won’t hurt her!” Haruna shouted in desperation. Haruna’s arms flailed as she tried to grab at Rina’s wrists but the younger girl was moving too quickly for her. She couldn’t get a good enough grip on Rina. Whenever she did get a grip, it wouldn’t take Rina much effort to break her hands away from the already severely exhausted Haruna.

Rina let out a whining noise, her hands sneaking in between the two girls’ bodies. Her movements weren’t in her control anymore. They acted erratically in desperate attempts to get Haruna off of her. Haruna pushed her body away from Rina multiple times as the knife came dangerously close to hitting her. The two girls were so wrapped up in their struggle that they didn’t hear the loud knock at the door. Tomomi did though, but she was too shocked and injured to move to get it, or to even try and tell the girls of it. She could only watch in terror at the horror that unfolded in front of her.

The eldest brunette looked into Rina’s eyes, a darkness clouding them. Those weren’t the eyes that Haruna had looked into so many times before; those weren’t Rina’s eyes. They were those of a completely different person.

Haruna grabbed Rina’s wrist against, grunting softly as she tried to force Rina’s wrist up against her head. Haruna didn’t get very far. Rina pushed back against her attempts and without warning, both women could feel the blade sink into soft flesh. A choking sound followed after it, a body collapsing, pushing the already embedded knife further in. Rina’s body began to shake, the blood reawakening her and her eyes filling with horror.

It couldn’t be…

From where she sat, Tomomi gaped in horror at what she saw happen in front of her. The tears fell down her face. She wanted to move and save her but Tomomi was useless to either girl. She couldn’t be of much help with the deep wound on her face. So she did the only thing she could. She spoke again.

“What have you done?”

***

“Mami! What’s with the rush?” Miyuki asked. Her feet picked up the pace as she tried desperately to keep up with Mami. She truly didn’t understand Mami’s sudden hysteria. The two girls had been headed towards Haruna’s house when Mami had received a text message from Haruna. It didn’t say much, all it said was that Mami and Miyuki were no longer needed.

Miyuki hadn’t seen anything weird about the text but Mami had. The blonde knew that when Haruna needed help, she didn’t just stop asking for it. Haruna didn’t ask for help too often, her pride would never allow it. When she did resort to asking help, it was usually when the eldest girl was at the end of her ropes. When it came to Rina, Mami knew that Haruna would usually never tell Mami she was ‘no longer needed’ to help if she got so desperate as to ask for help in the first place. Haruna always dealt with Rina on her own, so it was strange enough that she was even asking Mami for help with Rina in the first place.

The black haired woman accompanying Mami had tried to reassure her that it was probably nothing but Mami wouldn’t listen. Mami knew both Rina and Haruna better than Miyuki knew them. She knew very well that something was off about this whole thing. Mami wouldn’t have been able to just leave without first checking up on the roommates first.

The blonde was cursing herself lowly. She had been half way across town when Haruna called her. She knew it would take her a while to get to Haruna but at the time, she didn’t think anything of it. And she continued to not think anything of it until she got that single text from Haruna that sent a chill through Mami. If only the two girls had been closer to Haruna’s apartment, they would already be there.

It only took Mami and Miyuki a few more minutes before they made it to the right apartment building. The two girls quickly made their way inside, going up to the right floor without distraction or hesitation. Miyuki still remained confused but her confusion is what pushed her forward. She wanted to check on Rina and she wanted to know why Haruna’s text had Mami in such a tizzy.

When the girls got to the right apartment, Mami knocked loudly on the door before stepping back. Her feet shifting impatiently underneath her. A low growl left her mouth before she banged on the door again. She only waited a few more seconds until she sighed. No one was going to answer.

The blonde bent down, lifting up the mat to look for the spare key. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was missing. That didn’t sit right with her; that spare key was never missing. Haruna had such a habit of forgetting her house keys inside the apartment that the two roommates always made sure a spare key was hidden outside the house for Haruna to use when she forgot. So it certainly didn’t sit well with Mami when combined with Haruna’s strange message.

“What’s wrong with you, Mami? Why are you so worried?” Miyuki asked. She sounded impatient and she slightly was. Mami hadn’t answered any of her questions and Miyuki was getting frustrated with it.

“You don’t understand,” Mami muttered. She dropped her bag onto the floor, kneeling down and beginning to dig through it.

“Yeah, I don’t understand. So would you care to explain it? Why did that message bother you so much? I didn’t see anything wrong with it.” Mami sighed heavily at Miyuki’s questioning. Now was not the time.

“I know Haruna. She never asks for help, especially not when it comes to Rina. Haruna is always the one who can calm down Rina no matter what, so it’s a big deal that she wants help with Rina. It doesn’t sit right with me that she would just not need help so suddenly.”

Miyuki nodded silently, understanding Mami’s point a view a bit more now. It still confused her but Miyuki wouldn’t question it anymore. She would just follow Mami’s lead. She stood back, watching Mami dig through her bag and unsure of what else to do.

Mami narrowed her eyes as she hands continued searching. There were four keys to the apartment. Haruna had one and Rina had one. They’d put a spare under the mat and they’d given the last key to Mami in case of an emergency. The thing was though, Mami never had to use it before. She had tossed it in her bag and she wasn’t honestly sure if the key was even in here anymore.

It had to be though. She had to get into the apartment and check on the troubled roommates. She wouldn’t be able to live without herself if she left without checking on them. Sighing softly, Mami continued her search while a soft mutter left her lips.

“Please be in here.”