If Jealousy Could Kill

Rina couldn’t breathe. No matter what she did, the air stayed trapped in her throat. Her body began to shake while her eyes gazed up at the frozen girl hovering above her. She looked down, her shaking becoming worse as she saw the blood beginning to drip down the handle of the blade and over her hand. Haruna’s blood. All this blood… It belonged to the one woman she loved so deeply and had always tried to protect.

Haruna was hurt and it was her fault. All her fault.

The young brunette’s attention was brought back to Haruna’s face when she heard the newly injured girl cough. Haruna wanted to move her body but she was unable to. She stayed frozen in place with her body hunched over Rina’s, her hands gripping Rina’s wrist… The wrist that belonged to the hand which gripped the blade now embedded in Haruna’s abdomen.

“Rina, how could you do this?” The two girls heard Tomomi choke out from where she still sad. Neither Rina nor Haruna looked at her. Rina simply shook her head over and over again, the tears pooling in her eyes. How could this happen? She didn’t remember doing this. She didn’t even remember grabbing a knife, she had no idea how she had come to be in this position.

“Haruna…” Rina murmured softly. The young brunette gulped softly, the first tears beginning to cascade down her cheeks. No… She couldn’t have really done this. She would never hurt Haruna… It had to be someone else. Rina would never…

Rina was shaken when she heard Haruna groan, her body slipping forward and a small whimper escaping her as the weight of her body collapsing pushed the knife further into her. Haruna could feel the knife piercing through her, feeling as if it was shredding her insides. Rina reacted quickly this time. She dropped her hands from the blade, forcing Haruna to let go of her as well.

Carefully, Rina moved Haruna off of her. She laid the eldest girl on her side onto the ground, Haruna’s breathing heavy and erratic. Rina sniffled softly, her hands shaking while they hovered over Haruna’s body. Haruna could do nothing but sob and shake; she was petrified in fear. It hurt; everything hurt. The eldest brunette found little movement in her body as she raised her hands, gripping the handle of the blade. Rina shook her head, quickly grabbing Haruna’s hands and bringing them away from the knife.

“Don’t touch,” Rina choked out in barely above a whisper. What did she do? She didn’t know. Did she pull out the knife? Did she leave it in? She had no idea what to do for Haruna but she had to do something, Haruna could die if Rina just left her here like this.

“Take it-take it out… Please take it out,” Haruna said nearly breathlessly. Her crying was getting heavier as the pain set in more and more. Her shaking wasn’t helping. With every shake that ripped through her body, it felt like the knife was pushing itself in deeper and deeper into her flesh. She couldn’t take this anymore. It hurt. She wanted the knife out.

“O-okay. Just… Just hold still.” Rina could barely see. The tears clouded her vision as she reached forward to the knife. What had she done? She could have very well just killed her best friend. She would never be able to live with herself if Haruna lost her life here.

“Don’t touch it…” Rina’s head snapped over to look at Tomomi. The slightly older girl was now on her knees, her hand still clutched against the ever bleeding wound on her face. The tears were running down Tomomi’s face now, mixing with the crimson color that painted her cheeks. Rina narrowed her eyes. Her. Tomomi had to have had something to do with this. She knew it. She knew Tomomi would lead to Haruna getting hurt; she just didn’t imagine this would be how.

“No one needs your help; this is your fault,” Rina bit at her. Tomomi didn’t falter. She didn’t want to falter anymore; she had before and look at what has happened. Her girlfriend now laid bleeding and dying on the floor, all because she was too scared to stand up to Rina and protect Haruna.

“You need to leave it in. It’ll hold in the blood…”

“Be quiet,” Rina sobbed out. She turned her attention back to Haruna, wiping the tears from her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision. It didn’t work though. Her vision remained blurry and cloudy, more tears replacing the ones she cleared away in an instant.

“Please. It hurts,” Haruna begged her. Rina nodded her head; she wouldn’t listen to Tomomi. She was going to listen to Haruna. The older brunette wanted the knife out so that is exactly what Rina would do. She couldn’t very well leave it embedded in Haruna.

“This’ll hurt more,” Rina mumbled weakly. Haruna didn’t care; she didn’t see how anything could hurt worse than having the knife continuously stabbing at her. She didn’t care how it hurt, she simply wanted the knife out.

Rina took a deep breath, her hand enclosing around the blade of the knife. She placed her other hand on Haruna’s side. She looked down at Haruna, sniffling softly before she leaned down and gave Haruna a small kiss on the forehead. Without another warning, Rina ripped the knife from Haruna’s body. The older girl let out an involuntary scream, her arms wrapping themselves around her abdomen while her body curled itself up into a fetal position, the crying becoming as worse as Haruna thought it could get. The older girl could feel the blood pouring from her newly opened wound, coating her hands with the sticky liquid in seconds.

“I’m sorry,” Rina murmured. She dropped the blade to the floor, the clattering sound resonating through the kitchen. Rina choked back a sob, wanting so badly to grab onto Haruna and hug her. She didn’t touch her though, she didn’t want to hurt Haruna anymore… Was this really her fault? Could she really have stabbed Haruna like this? Rina didn’t see that as possible.

Rina couldn't have done this...

***

Mami and Miyuki froze when they heard the muffled scream from inside the apartment. Mami looked up at the older girl beside her before hurriedly turning her attention back to her bag. Now she knew for sure that something was wrong; she knew this wasn't normal. Her movements became more rushed as she desperately searched the last pockets for the key. She had to find that key now.

By some miracle, Mami finally found the spare key buried in the recesses of one of the pockets. She hurriedly pushed herself to her feet, slinging her bag back onto her shoulder before fumbling with the key. She didn’t intend to waste any more time, she’d already wasted enough looking for the damned key. It took her a few tries with her worry but she finally got the key into the lock.

Miyuki didn't say a word; she had no idea what to say. This entire time, Mami's worry about something being wrong had been right on the mark. Something was definitely wrong but the two friends still didn’t know what exactly was wrong. They could be walking in on anything.

The duo forced their way into the house, pausing a moment so they could hear what was going on in the house. It only took them seconds to determine that the soft crying was coming from the kitchen. The two girls headed to the kitchen straight away but their movements frozen only seconds into the room. They looked around, the horror in their hearts growing at what they’d just walked in on.

The two girls could see Haruna on the floor, her body curled up into a ball and her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach. They could hear the very audible crying from Haruna, something so uncharacteristic for the bold girl. Kneeled next to her was Rina. The youngest girl was shaking Haruna lightly, her own heavy tears flowing down her cheeks. She was murmuring something under her breath, something Mami was only barely able to make out.

“I’m sorry. Please get up. Please.”

Rina seemed to be repeating those words over and over again while she shook Haruna, softly begging the older girl to get up. The young brunette looked lost in a trance, as if she wasn’t really thinking clearly. Rina wanted this all to be a nightmare. She wanted Haruna to just be playing some sick joke on her, but she knew deep down that the eldest girl wasn’t.

Mami made the mistake of looking behind her, her eyes widening in terror when she saw Tomomi. The injured brunette was leaned up against the wall again, her hand continuing to press itself against the cut on her cheek. The front of her shirt had run red with blood and Mami could even see the edges of her dark hair coated with the substance that practically oozed from her body.

“M-Miyuki, go help Tomomi,” Mami said. She gulped in an attempt to choke back the nervousness and bile that wanted to rise up at the scene. There was so much redness coating the once white floor of the kitchen. If it wasn’t coming from the blood that dripped off of Tomomi, it was coming from the small pool of it beginning to form where a dying Haruna laid. For now, Mami knew Haruna was still alive but she also knew if they let her lose too much blood then they would lose the sassy brunette forever.

Miyuki stood frozen as she watched Mami rush over to where Haruna and Rina were. The older girl shook her head hard, finally coming back to reality after only a few minutes of being frozen in place. She quickly grabbed a kitchen towel from the table before hurrying to Tomomi’s side.

“Let go,” Miyuki told her softly. She pulled Tomomi’s bloodied hand away from her face before giving her a soft smile. This was going to hurt the younger girl but she really had no choice, this was the only way to help stop the bleeding.

The black haired woman took a deep breath before lightly pushing the towel against Tomomi’s cheek. She let a few seconds pass so Tomomi could get used to the feel before pressing harder. Instantly, she could see Tomomi’s body tense and she could see her bite down on her lip from the pain. Miyuki sighed softly, murmuring a gentle apology before looking back at where Mami was aiding Haruna.

The blonde was kneeled beside Haruna now, Mami having moved Rina aside to lean against the counter. She had her face covered by her hands; she wasn’t able to look at Haruna anymore. Mami was trying to pull Haruna’s arms away from her abdomen so she could get a better look at what had happened to her but the older brunette was refusing. Haruna kept her arms wound tightly around her waist, too frightened to move an inch.

“What happened here?” Mami could hear Miyuki ask Tomomi. She glanced over to see the brunette struggling to answer. Tomomi pushed the words out regardless of how she struggled though.

“Rina… She…” Those two words were all Tomomi was able to get out. She couldn’t say anything more but for Miyuki and Mami, the brunette had said just enough. Mami turned back to Rina to see that the youngest of the group was shaking her head slowly.

“No. I didn’t…” Rina murmured absentmindedly. Mami got a chill from the way Rina was murmuring and muttering to herself. If this were a stranger, Mami would have already called them crazy if she saw them murmuring and shaking like Rina was.

If Rina really did this then Mami wanted to feel angry at her but that’s not at all what she felt. Looking at how broken Rina seemed, she could only pity the young girl. She pitied all three of them. It was painfully obvious to Mami that Rina wasn’t in her right state of mind and the blonde couldn’t rightfully be angry at Rina for what she had done. That didn’t mean it didn’t worry Mami though.

“Miyuki, please call an ambulance. We need to get these two help quickly,” Mami told the older girl, turning her attention back to her.

Miyuki nodded from where she still knelt beside Tomomi. She grabbed lightly onto one of Tomomi’s wrists, bringing it up and having her hold the towel against her cheek. Miyuki didn’t even need to say what she wanted Tomomi to do, the injured brunette understood right away. When the towel was secured in Tomomi’s hand, she pushed herself off the floor, exiting the kitchen so she could make the appropriate call.

Mami continued to try and pry Haruna’s arms away from her body but it was to no avail, the brunette simply wouldn’t budge. The blonde sighed heavily, she wanted to give up but she had to get a look at Haruna’s wound. It was obvious by the growing pool that Haruna was bleeding fairly heavily. If this kept up… Mami shuddered at the thought of what could befall Haruna if she didn’t do something soon.

“Haruna, please don’t fight me. You need help. Now let me see it,” Mami tried to encourage her. Haruna didn’t make any immediate movements. She kept her body wound tightly into a ball, the crying continuing. She was scared, terrified even. She had never expected Rina to do something like this to her of all people but now that Rina had, Haruna didn’t know how to feel about anything anymore.

“The paramedics are on their way. They said we need to cover their wounds to stop the bleeding” Miyuki said as she came back into the kitchen. Mami simply nodded her head.

“You heard her, Haru. Let go. Please let go; let us help you.” Mami didn’t know what else to say to Haruna to encourage her, she was at a loss. A silence overtook the room and Mami was just about to give up when she saw Haruna finally relax her body.

“Here,” Miyuki said and handed Mami a towel. Mami thanked her softly before she turned Haruna onto her back. She removed the older girl’s arms from her body, letting them drop to the floor. Mami pulled her shirt up a bit, her face paling at the wound she saw beneath the cotton shirt material. She sucked back the nausea that hit her at the sight, pressing the towel against Haruna’s stomach.

She could hear Haruna give a pained shout and her body lurching forward at the hard touch Mami was giving her. The blonde murmured a soft apology but didn’t bring the towel up. This was the only way she or Miyuki knew on how to stop the bleeding. All they had to do was keep Haruna and Tomomi stable until the actual help got there. At the moment though, that was looking easier said than done.

Mami looked into Haruna’s eyes, or at least attempted to. The brunette’s head was lolled to the side, her eyes fluttering open and closed. Even the blonde could tell that Haruna was losing consciousness and her little medical knowledge knew that they couldn’t let Haruna fall asleep. If she fell asleep… She might never wake up again.

“Please don’t fall asleep. You’ve got to stay awake.” Mami let a hand move from the towel, keeping the other one pressing it tightly against the older girl’s stomach. The blonde began tapping Haruna’s face lightly in a small attempt to keep her conscious.

Haruna groaned softly, her head turning itself from side to side. She let her eyes open again but all she could see was a cloud of fog. She could see the shape of someone hovering over her but she couldn’t tell who it was. The pain and tears clouded her vision and her mind, nothing registered for her.

“Stay awake, Haruna.” Haruna shook her head again at the voice that spoke to her. No. She didn’t want to stay awake. She didn’t want to feel any more pain; she only wanted to sleep it away. She wanted to take it all away and never feel it again.

“I can’t,” Haruna barely whispered. The words felt like fire, burning every inch of Haruna’s throat. She was parched; it was just another dose of pain to add to the burning in her abdomen.

“Forgive me for this.” The injured brunette heard those words only seconds before she felt a stinging pain in her cheek. She groaned again, her head straightening itself out and her eyes opening again. Her vision was still useless to her and she impulsively let her eyes close again.

Hovering above her, the tears dripped down Mami’s face. They splashed onto Haruna’s paling skin while she raised her hand again. She hated doing this to Haruna but she had no choice, she had to keep Haruna awake at all costs. The blonde bit down on her lip before bringing her hand down hard on Haruna’s face. The sound of the skin on skin contact resonated through the kitchen.

“Please stay awake…” Mami was practically begging a barely conscious Haruna. The brunette wouldn’t wake up but Mami didn’t know what else to do. She raised her hand again, giving Haruna a third hard slap. This time, she got a reaction, but not from who she had wanted it from.

“Stop hitting her!” Rina screamed from beside her. Mami’s head snapped over to see the brunette had her hands covering her ears now, her body shaking from her hysterical crying.

“Would you rather she dies?!” Mami snapped. Mami hadn’t meant to but she was scared, she didn’t want to lose one of her best friends. She already felt like she was losing Rina mentally, she couldn’t lose Haruna physically. “Look at what you’ve done to her, Rina. She’s dying. If she falls asleep then she… She might not wake up again.”

“No. Haruna can’t die. She can’t….” Mami instantly felt bad for yelling at Rina but her emotions were running high and her mind was blaming Rina. Her mind was simply looking for the nearest person to blame for what had happened. She was grasping at straws. If Haruna died here then her blood was on Rina’s hands.

Mami only prayed that wouldn’t be the case.