If Jealousy Could Kill

“Please, Timo, come out with me. It’ll be good for you to get out for a while,” Mami continued to beg with the brunette. She had lost track of how long she had been sitting here, practically saying the same thing over and over again to Tomomi. She couldn’t give up though; she knew Tomomi needed to be distracted. She was spending too much time sulking these days. Mami had made the executive decision to attempt to stop Tomomi from sulking like this any longer.

The two girls were currently seated in the middle of Tomomi’s living room on her blue colored couch. It had moved into the fourth day since the incident had happened and none of them had gotten much information on either girl. Rina was still locked away, Mami and Miyuki taking turns every other day to visit her. Mami had visited yesterday, although she didn’t get much out of Rina. Rina didn’t even talk about her confess two days prior; Mami didn’t mention it either out of fear Rina didn’t want to talk about it. Since she saw her yesterday, today was Miyuki’s turn and Mami had made the promise to focus on Tomomi for the day. The brunette was still wrought with worry over the fact her girlfriend had still not regained consciousness after four days.

“Mami, I really just want to stay home today,” Tomomi said. It was the same answer she had given practically every time Mami repeatedly asked her question. She understood what Mami was attempting to do but it just didn’t matter to her. She didn’t want to go out and “have fun”; she was in no mood for Mami’s antics. She was in no mood for anyone’s antics.

Mami scowled at the answer. She hated this. Not only had she nearly lost Haruna and Rina, but now she felt like she was nearly losing Tomomi as well. It was like the brunette was a completely different person. The usual happy glow she always had about her was gone, replaced by a depressing aura instead. The sparkle she carried in her eyes had blinked out and her tone always fell flat. Mami didn’t know what to do for her.

“Look, I know you’re hurting. We’re all hurting over this, but sitting around and sulking about it isn’t going to do anyone any good. Just think about how Haruna would feel if she could see you sulking over her.” Tomomi sniffed softly and for a second, Mami thought she had just made a grave mistake by mentioning Haruna’s name. If she was already this down, mentioning her hospital-bound girlfriend probably didn’t help matters.

“I guess she wouldn’t be happy about it…” Tomomi murmured softly.

“Exactly!” Mami confirmed. It was always like Haruna, she never did like seeing people cry over her when something bad happened to her. “So come out with me and try to have a little fun. It’ll take your mind off of things for a while and I think you really deserve that.”

Tomomi looked down at the tan carpet that her feet shuffled against. She really didn’t feel like going out but she had gotten the hint long ago that Mami simply wouldn’t give up on trying to get her out of the house. Her own stubbornness didn’t seem to be any match for Mami’s. Then again, it never was a match for Mami’s. She was more stubborn than anyone else Tomomi knew. Most times, Tomomi envied that but right now she was just finding it downright annoying.

“Fine, I’ll go with you… But if I want to come home then you have to let me come home,” Tomomi agreed finally.

“Deal!” Mami said in an obviously faked enthusiastic tone. Despite her attempt to keep an upbeat demeanor, Mami knew it was obvious that she was feeling down about this just as Tomomi was. She was doing her best to keep her head held high and hold everyone together but it was getting more and more difficult.

“Where are we going anyway?” Tomomi asked as Mami pushed herself off the couch. Mami turned to Tomomi, giving her a small smile. She reached out a hand, offering to help Tomomi off the couch.

“Just around town.” Mami didn’t really have a plan; she hadn’t been expecting Tomomi to agree so fast. She thought this would go on for a few more hours at least; it had already been going on for an hour and a half before Tomomi agreed. Mami was simply planning to wing it and see where the wind took them.

***

Tomomi had to admit that Mami was spot on when she said this would help Tomomi get her mind off of their problems. In the time she had been out with Mami, she had thought less and less about the hospitals. She had thought less about Haruna and Rina. Mami had made it a point to keep Tomomi’s mind busy so she didn’t have too much time to let her mind wander. It was hard work to keep a daydreamer like Tomomi from wandering but Mami was somehow managing it.

The duo of friends was seated at a small café somewhere downtown. It was one neither girl had been in but they both wanted to try something new. Since sitting down, the two hadn’t said much to each other and Mami was beginning to worry. What if Tomomi’s mind began to wander? She didn’t really have anything to talk about with Tomomi though. Her mind was constantly drawing back to the same negative subjects that she knew Tomomi’s mind was.

Across the table, the brunette watched Mami carefully. Her mind really wasn’t wandering as she tried to keep her attention focused on Mami. The blonde was busy pushing her food around the plate with one chopstick while she twirled the other on in her left hand. She didn’t seem at all interested in actually eating the food they had ordered, but Tomomi couldn’t say she was much interested either. She hadn’t even bothered to touch her food at all.

“Not hungry?” Tomomi found herself asking. The blonde looked up from her plate, cocking an eyebrow at her companion across from her.

“Thought I was but I guess not… Doesn’t seem like you are either,” Mami said before she pointed the chopstick accusingly in Tomomi’s direction. The brunette glanced down at her food and sighed softly. She simply wasn’t in the mood to eat.

“I’m not very hungry,” Tomomi admitted. Mami nodded thoughtfully before setting both of the wooden objects down onto the table. She folded her arms on the table in front of her, staring straight into Tomomi’s brown eyes.

“Try to eat a little, okay?” Mami asked her. Tomomi pursed her lips but nodded nonetheless.

“I’ll only eat if you agree to eat a little,” Tomomi bargained. Mami laughed softly but sat back in her chair, grabbing the two small wooden objects.

“You’ve got a deal,” Mami agreed. Tomomi let a small smile come to her face and she could see the way Mami perked up upon seeing that. Mami was happy to see it, it meant that she had successfully helped Tomomi’s mood grow at least a little bit since they had gone out. It was a small but steady progression.

The two girls returned to their silence. They both took small bites as they tried to stomach as much food as they could. It only lasted a few minutes longer before Tomomi was talking again, but not about a subject Mami particularly wanted to hear.

“Mami… When you visited Rina those times… What did she say? How did she act?” Mami’s body froze, her eyes looking up at Tomomi. The brunette wasn’t looking at her. Her eyes were trained on her plate as she picked at the food on it.

“We just kind of talked.” Tomomi could tell from the way Mami had said her words that she was dancing around the subject. She was hiding something. It was unusual for Mami to give something like that away so quickly but Tomomi could care about that later.

“What did you talk about?” Tomomi pushed. She didn’t know why she was asking but there was a part of her that wanted to know if Rina was saying anything about Haruna. She wanted at least some answers about why this had to happen to them.

“It’s not important,” Mami answered with the shrug of her shoulders. She pushed another piece of food into her mouth, praying that Tomomi would just stop questioning her. Normally, Mami probably wouldn’t have any qualms with telling Tomomi that she liked someone… Except it had never happened before so she didn’t entirely know for sure if she did or not.

This was a bit different though. This wasn’t just any regular person; it was the same girl who had tried to kill both Tomomi and Haruna. How could Mami tell her that she was in love with Haruna’s possible killer? With how unstable Tomomi’s emotions seemed to be right now, the blonde was almost positive that was a surefire way to send Tomomi into a fit of hysterics and overreacting.

“I only asked a simple question. What are you hiding?” Mami growled lowly, slamming the chopsticks down onto the table.

“Tomomi, we’re supposed to not be thinking about them today. Let’s just stop talking about it, okay? We can talk when the time comes but for right now, this is not the time. Let’s just… Let’s just not worry about it. Please?”

“Okay…” Tomomi said with a sigh. She decided to just accept the answer. Maybe it was better Mami didn’t let her know, it could probably only grow her resentment towards Rina for this.

Tomomi could admit she held onto resentment for Rina. As much as she wanted to keep telling herself and reminding herself that Rina was simply sick, none of it worked out for her. She continued to feel hatred for the once sweet and loving brunette. Tomomi simply couldn’t forgive her for this. She might have very well killed Haruna, how could anyone expect her to forgive Rina for that?

There was a part of Tomomi that didn’t even want Haruna seeing Rina ever again. There was a part of her that hoped Haruna wouldn’t want to see Rina again, although Tomomi knew how unlikely that was. She knew how close Haruna and Rina are; she knew deep down that Haruna wouldn’t so easily stay away from Rina. She was pretty sure Haruna would be mad at her for even thinking such thoughts.

The two girls’ silence was once again interrupted when Tomomi’s phone rang rather loudly in the semi-quiet café. She blushed a deep red, quickly hitting the mute button to silence the phone. She could hear whispers from another table but she ignored them. In her defense, she really hadn’t known her phone was up that loud. She wasn’t even sure how it had gotten turned up so loud.

“Hello?” Tomomi answered her phone without taking a decent look at the caller I.D.

“Is this Miss Tomomi Ogawa?” Tomomi impulsively cocked her head to the side when she heard a feminine voice that she didn’t recognize.

“This is her.” From across the table, Mami stared at her intently, her arms once again crossed over the top of the table.

“Ah! So good to speak with you, Miss Ogawa.”

“May I ask who is calling?” The woman chuckled softly at Tomomi’s question.

“Oh my, my. I apologize, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Nurse Tsukuda; I am one of the nurses who are helping oversee Haruna Ono.” Tomomi’s body instantly shot up, her back pressing against the wooden back of the chair and her eyes widening. Mami raised an eyebrow when she saw the obvious jolt go through Tomomi’s body.

“W-why are you calling?” Tomomi cleared her throat, trying to banish the nervousness from her body but it continued to drift in her despite what she did.

“Before I go into detail of why I am calling, I wish to confirm a few things with you. These questions do pertain to Ono, would you be okay answering some questions regarding her?”

“Of course!” Tomomi answered quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly. She knew she sounded eager and impatient but she didn’t care. They had news on Haruna and Tomomi would do anything to find out what exactly they had to say about her.

“Very good. Ono doesn’t have any immediate family in Tokyo, is that correct?”

“Yes.” Tomomi didn’t know for absolute sure that Haruna didn’t have any immediate family but she had never mentioned having family in Tokyo so it was Tomomi’s best guess that she didn’t.

“Where do her parents reside?”

“Osaka.” She could hear the nurse hum softly; a few seconds pause coming before she continued her questioning.

“Does Ono have any siblings?”

“I’m afraid not.” That was another question Tomomi wasn’t overly positive about but it was another thing Haruna had never mentioned so Tomomi assumed it meant she didn’t.

“Just as I thought. In cases like Ono’s, we will usually only pass news on to the immediate families such as parents or siblings. However, it would appear that we are unable to come into contact with any of her immediate family, the next in line would be her spouse.”

“Um… Miss Tsukuda… Haruna isn’t married.”

“Yes, we can see that in her file. However, her doctor did mention you as her girlfriend. With no one else coming forward yet, it would move to you as the next in line to assume care of Ono.”

“What do you mean?” Tomomi blinked her eyes in confusion, the café beginning to blur around her as she got too lost in her thoughts. Now she was really beginning to think the worst and worry again. Why were they searching so desperately for Haruna’s family? Had something bad happened to her?

“Ono will be in need of a caretaker. We cannot move on with her treatment until we know there is someone who will take care of her. That is what we ask of you, to assume the role of caretaker for her. Would you be able to?”

“Yes!” Tomomi didn’t even have to think twice about the answer to the nurse’s question. There was no way in this entire world that Tomomi would ever in her life deny helping take care of Haruna. Anything that Haruna needed to get better, Tomomi would readily be prepared to give.

Now sitting with her head cocked to the side, Mami watched as Tomomi’s eyes widened. Her grip on the phone seemed to tighten while her breathing got noticeably heavier. Mami furrowed her eyebrows together, confused as she had ever been. This was an odd series of switches between emotions for a girl like Tomomi.

“Y-yes, of course. I understand. We’ll be there as soon as possible,” Tomomi said into the receiver. She said a soft goodbye before hanging up the phone. Mami watched her push the phone back into her pocket before she abruptly pushed herself away from the table. “We’re leaving.”

“Timo, what’s going on?” Mami asked, stunned by the suddenness of Tomomi’s actions. The brunette looked over at her and it only further confused Mami. She could swear that she saw happiness etched onto Tomomi’s expression but at the same time, she could also swear she saw tears sparkling in Tomomi’s eyes.

Mami slowly rose from her spot, walking around the table and laying a hand on Tomomi’s shoulder. The brunette’s smile grew when Mami touched her and a sudden giddiness came to her actions when she stepped away from the table.

“Tell me what’s going on, Tomomi,” Mami tried again.

“Haruna is awake.”