If Jealousy Could Kill

Mami followed behind the worried brunette, her hands shoved into her jean pockets. Rina was worrying for no reason really. Mami had told her Haruna was at her house last night, but Rina didn’t believe her. The blonde couldn’t say she blamed her. Rina had a habit of over-worrying. It was like a second nature for Rina to over-worry about things and assume the worst, especially when it came to Haruna. But that was perfectly well-deserved; Haruna had gotten herself in enough sticky situations to force Rina to worry about her when she didn’t return home for the night. Mami really wasn’t much better; those two were more alike than they’d like to admit. The two of them had a habit of causing trouble when they went out alone, so the idea of Haruna and Mami being out all night alone was only making Rina worry more.

“You know she’ll tell you the same thing I did,” Mami said. The brunette waved her hand at her absentmindedly, refusing to answer. The two girls were headed towards Haruna’s work where Rina intended to fully question the brunette as to why she didn’t come home last night. All Mami had told her was that she needed Haruna’s help last night, she’d made sure to leave out the details about kidnapping Tomomi and Haruna. She thought it would be best if Haruna told the young girl about the matchmaking Mami had done, she’d probably take it better if Haruna told her.

Tomomi and Haruna may be oblivious people, but Mami wasn’t. She could see the way Rina looked at Haruna; she could see that Rina liked her. But at the same time, it looked like nothing more than a simple and small crush born out of Rina’s admiration for the older girl. Nothing serious and something she’d get over eventually. Everyone got those crushes and everyone got over them at some point. She’d found out about the feelings ages ago, but she’d never seen Rina even try to make a move on Haruna. So she just figured it wasn’t a very serious feeling if she wasn’t going to make a move after all this time.

Mami did feel slightly bad the next morning for what she had done when she remembered about Rina, she’d completely forgotten about that at the time. She hadn’t really thought about how Rina would feel. She was so concerned with Tomomi’s well-being that she didn’t think of how the new relationship would affect the youngest of the group. Sometimes Mami’s hotheaded ideas got her into trouble, and this might be one of those times.

There was a possibility Rina would be upset when she found out, but Mami already had a plan prepared for her if she was upset. She’d been planning this for a while, and what better time to do it than now? Everyone always said not to play matchmaker with your friends, but Mami never did learn to listen to people. Besides, it was working out well so far. When the time came, Mami would be at Rina’s aid just as she’d been at Tomomi and Haruna’s aid. It would be a bit more difficult to work her magic on Rina, but she knew she could help the young girl when the time came for it.

The girls finally made it to the familiar little café, pushing open the glass doors and walking over to the service area. Finishing cleaning one of the tables, Haruna looked over in the direction that the tiny bell above the door had rung in, a small smile coming to her face when she saw Mami and Rina. She was in too much of a good mood to be mad at them for harassing her at work again. She picked up the cleaning bucket she’d thrown the dishes into, making her way quickly over to one of her co-workers.

“Can you take these back for me? I’ll handle them,” Haruna asked, motioning her head towards the front of the restaurant. All of her co-workers knew Rina and Mami, they’d come in enough times when she was working that they were recognized regular customers. Her co-worker agreed grabbing the bucket from her before Haruna walked briskly over to the front of the café.

“Good morning, Haru,” Mami greeted, waving to her. Haruna ignored her, turning her full attention to Rina. The blonde couldn’t help but laugh at Haruna’s antics. Although the night had ended well for her, Haruna still wasn’t happy about being locked in the room the entire night. In addition to Haruna refusing to acknowledge Mami for the time being, the blonde also now had a bruise on her shoulder. When Mami had let Tomomi and Haruna out, the eldest girl had punched Mami in the shoulder, leaving her a nice sized bruise as payback for the kidnapping. Who knew the tiny girl could hit so hard?

“Why didn’t you come home last night?” Rina asked right away. Haruna shook her head, giving Rina a big hug.

“I told her you were at my house, but she doesn’t believe me,” Mami said. Haruna broke away from Rina, ruffling the younger girl’s hair.

“Mami held me hostage last night, she wouldn’t let me leave. If you’re going to be mad at anyone, be mad at her.”

“Way to throw me under the bus, Haru.” Rina had turned back to Mami, shooting the blonde a glare.

“You didn’t tell me that part.”

“Eh details, details. They’re not important,” she said, waving her hand absentmindedly. Rina puffed her cheeks, crossing her arms over her chest which only made Haruna laugh again.

“I’m sorry, Rina. It won’t happen again. If it does, well… Just blame Mami.” Mami rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips.

“Hey, don’t act like you don’t appreciate what I did for you. I’ve made your life a little bit better.”

“You could’ve done it in a better way.”

“You could be a little more appreciative of my efforts.” Rina’s hands clasped themselves together behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her heels, her eyes darting between the bickering friends. She had no idea what either of them were talking about but it wasn’t unusual for them to bicker about stupid things.

“Yes, I’m just so appreciative that you locked me in your room,” Haruna commented sarcastically.

“Be nice, Haru. I got you a girlfriend, didn’t I?” Mami slapped a hand over her mouth after she’d said that, her eyes slowly turning to look over at Rina. God, what did she just say?

The young brunette’s actions had stopped, her body standing completely still now as her wide eyes stared in between the two of them. And this was an example of the moments when Mami wished she wasn’t so hotheaded and thought before she spoke. If she actually bothered to think before she spoke, she might not find herself in these spots so often.

“Thank you, Mami. I was going to tell her later when we were alone,” Haruna said, glaring at the blonde. Mami chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Sorry, it kind of slipped out,” she admitted. She turned her attention to Rina, the young girl now looking away from them. Mami reached out to grab Rina’s arm, opening her mouth to speak but found herself cut off by the shout of Haruna’s boss.

“Haruna! Either seat them or make them leave!” he called from across the room. Haruna rolled her eyes, shaking her head. She hated whenever he was around, he was far too strict with them. Things were a lot more fun around here when they didn’t have him breathing down their necks.

“Well, you heard the man, want to stay and eat or leave?” Haruna asked. Mami turned back to Rina, waiting for her to answer the question. Mami was fine with staying but after what she’d just let slip out; she didn’t know if Rina felt the same way anymore.

“W-we’ll stay,” she answered softly, giving Haruna a smile that Mami knew was faked. Now Mami felt really bad. Without even knowing anything about who Haruna’s girlfriend was, she was still looking pretty upset with it. Just the sheer fact of Haruna having one seemed to upset her, and so quickly too. Although, Mami had her suspicions that Rina knew deep down it was Tomomi. She’d probably seen the way Tomomi looked at Haruna just as Mami had seen it. It was going to take a lot of adjusting for Rina to accept that two of her friends were a thing now, even more so when Rina had feelings for one of them.

“Alright, come on then,” Haruna said, grabbing some menus before turning on her heels, beckoning for her friends to follow her. The two of them followed slowly, Mami starting to feel uncomfortable. She was taking back her previous statement of this whole matchmaking thing going well; it didn’t appear that Rina was going to take this well at all. She didn’t blame her; Rina was a sensitive person after all. But Mami’s plan would solve that; it would distract Rina from the relationship.

The only problem was getting Rina to agree to it.

The two girls were led to a small table near the back wall, only big enough to fit two people. It was perfect for the girls. There wasn’t really anyone around them, so Mami could speak to Rina about all of this without the fear of someone hearing. That is, as long as Rina didn’t start shouting. But Rina rarely yelled, so she wasn’t too worried about the soft-spoken brunette causing a scene.

The girls took their seats, their waitress friend setting their menus down on the table before telling them the usual scripted dialogue she had for her customers, finally leaving the two alone until she returned to take their orders even if she did already know what they would want. As Haruna left, Mami’s eyes darted over to Rina, the young girl looking down at the table, her hands playing with a fringe of paper from the menu. She had gotten so quiet since Mami’s little slip-up.

Rina looked so sad. Mami knew how Rina was feeling; she knew exactly the pain that Rina was in. There was a time when Mami had fallen for someone very dear to her just like Rina had, but unlike Rina, she’d long since let them go. She knew what it was like to watch the person you love end up with someone else, but she also knew that sometimes, you had to let the one you love go. Sometimes, no matter how you wished, you just weren’t the best thing for them. The hardest part about it all was watching the person you love fall in love with someone else.

“Rina, I… I’m sorry,” Mami spoke softly. It wasn’t like her to be so quiet when she spoke, but she really did feel bad for her friend. She’d managed to help two of her friends, but she had done so at the cost of her other friend’s happiness. And she hadn’t even meant to. She thought she was helping. If only she’d been more careful... If only she’d just thought about her actions before she had done them…. Maybe she would have managed to find a way to keep everyone happy. She didn’t regret setting the two of them up, but she did regret not thinking of Rina’s feelings sooner. Now, just after one problem had been solved, they had an entirely new problem and it was all her fault.

“Why are you apologizing?” Mami let a soft chuckle leave her lips. Rina didn’t know that she knew about her feelings, she was going to be in for quite a shock when Mami admitted up to it.

“Rina, please don’t hide it. I already know about your feelings.” Mami could see Rina’s hand tightly up, her grip on the paper fringe getting visibly tighter. “I was only trying to help.”

“But you did help. You helped them.” Rina’s voice was soft, but it was chilling to Mami. There was an added feeling to it, a feeling that Mami couldn’t quite put her finger on. But she knew it was there, hidden behind the innocence and sadness in her voice; and she knew it wasn’t good.

“I didn’t think--”

“There’s nothing to think about,” Rina interrupted. Her eyes glanced up at her friend, a smile on her face now. But Rina could never hide her emotions. Even with the smile, Mami could see the sadness shining in Rina’s eyes. She was taking this a lot better than Mami thought she would. She wasn’t crying yet and she hadn’t freaked out when Mami confessed to knowing her feelings. She seemed calm. Almost scarily calm in the blonde’s opinion.

“I should have thought about how you would feel.” Rina didn’t attempt to make a response. She couldn’t counter that, Mami should have thought about her, but she didn’t. This was all Mami’s fault. Her small fingers went back to playing with the equally as small fringe, her eyes once again looking down at the table. Rina had a good way of guilt-tripping people without even trying to. Just her natural look of sadness and misery could make anyone feel horrible for upsetting her. “Rina, please don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad.” The response was spoken short and quickly, almost as if Rina hadn’t wanted to say those three little words. Was Rina mad? No, she couldn’t say that she was. In fact, Rina couldn’t say that she was feeling anything. She felt numb almost, but that didn’t seem quite right either. Her emotions confused even herself. She’d been in such a good mood earlier, but it was like this small piece of news had sucked out all of her good mood.

“I really screwed up, I know. I’m really sorry.” Mami was profusely apologizing, trying to get back on Rina’s good side. The last thing Mami wanted was for Rina to start crying or something. She hadn’t yet, but they were also still in public and the news was still fresh, there was still a chance for Rina to break down still. “I didn’t think. I just… I saw Tomomi so upset and I… I was only thinking about her and that was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have rushed into it. I just wanted to help them both feel happy.”

“Haruna was…..unhappy?” Rina’s movements stopped again, the expression leaving her face as she blinked blankly at the table. Mami could see a hint of confusion in her eyes, but even that was barely seeable. She looked almost completely void of emotion. The way Rina’s emotions were changing so quickly was beginning to really scare the blonde. Mami could see Rina’s eyes flutter with emotion again as her mouth moved to mumble words the blonde couldn’t hear.

“That’s not what I meant…”

“I thought I was keeping her happy.” Rina’s voice was barely above a whisper, her lips barely moving as she spoke her words. Mami had to lean closer to the table, closer to Rina, just to hear the words she spoke. “She seemed happy.”

“Rina I didn’t…I didn’t mean it like that. I meant…. I don’t know what I meant.” Mami wanted to hit herself. There she went again, saying words without thinking. She had a terrible habit of saying whatever came to her mind whenever it came to her mind. She wished she could be more like Rina, a calm person who chose their words carefully.

“I don’t understand.”

“Rina…”

“She was happy with me. She was…she was content. Why does she need her? She had me, wasn’t I enough?” Mami was confused now. Rina wasn’t looking at her, it didn’t even seem like she was speaking to her. It was as if she was talking to herself, or even someone else. But there was no one around but her and Mami. Rina was just mumbling senselessly at this point. “She doesn’t need her.”

“Rina…. Rina!” Mami raised her voice as she called her name again, gaining the troubled girl’s attention back. Rina’s head snapped over to look at Mami, her eyes staring blankly at Mami. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine,” she said, her voice monotone. Mami gulped nervously, this was unusual behavior for the young brunette. It made Mami uncomfortable, even more than she’d been when they first sat down. Mami opened her mouth to speak again, but opted to just close her mouth when Haruna bounded over to them again, a smile on her face. For once, Haruna’s happiness at work didn’t seem faked. It was better for the blonde to not let Haruna in on their little problem and risk ruining the eldest girl’s happiness. This was something she’d just have to fix on her own.

“So, what can I get you guys?” she asked. She seemed oblivious to Rina’s odd behavior but Mami couldn’t say she was surprised, she hadn’t seen much of her today. Mami could hear Rina exhale a shaky stream of breath before she looked up at Haruna, giving her a bright smile.

“You know what I’ll have,” she said, earning herself a laugh from Haruna.

“Of course, you always get the same thing.” Haruna gave her a bright smile back, almost mimicking the one she’d been given by Rina before she turned to Mami. She raised an eyebrow as the blonde shifted nervously in her chair. “You okay there?”

“F-fine!” Mami answered. That shocked Haruna; she couldn’t remember the last time she actually heard that girl stutter. Her words were always so confident, she wasn’t even aware the blonde could be unconfident with her words. “I’ll just have a smoothie like usual, not too hungry.”

“Whatever you say, weirdo,” Haruna said as she grabbed the menus before walking back to the kitchen. She made a mental note to corner Rina later and interrogate her as to what the two of them spoke about at the café. Mami was acting way too weird for something big to not be happening.

When Haruna was out of earshot, Mami turned back to Rina. She had to do something. Rina’s sadness was her fault after all, it wouldn’t be fair for her to not do anything and leave Rina like this when she was the one who caused it.

“Rina, I want to make this up to you.”

“There’s nothing to make up for.” There was that tone again. That odd tone that sent chills up Mami’s spine. The nearly sinister sounding tone. It almost scared Mami; there was just something about that tone. It was just….so unlike Rina’s usual bright and happy tone. It sounded like an entirely different person almost. An evil one.

“Yes there is,” Mami said, regaining her composure. “It’s my fault all this happened. It’s my fault for not thinking of your feelings. I can’t leave you like this.”

“Like what?” Rina was now looking at Mami, her emotionless and empty brown eyes boring right into her. The stare made Mami visibly shudder. She hadn’t want Rina to start crying, but now she wanted her to. She preferred the sensitive, hysterical Rina over this creepily calm one.

“Please don’t make me say it…” Mami’s sentence trailed off as Haruna came back over to the table, setting their respective meals down in front of them. As Haruna leaned down to set Rina’s place in front of her, the younger brunette’s hand moved up on the table, grasping Haruna’s bony wrist tightly. The waitress’ movements stopped, her head turning to look at Rina. Always clingy little Rina. She probably was still upset that she didn’t come home last night.

“Ne, Rina, what are you doing?” Haruna asked with an amused expression. Rina didn’t respond to the older girl’s question. Her eyes just stared off into space, her grip tightening on Haruna’s wrist. The brunette winced from the grip, starting to pull her wrist away from Rina. This wasn’t amusing to Haruna anymore. “Let me go please.” Haruna began tugging her wrist, trying to escape it from Rina’s grasp. But it seemed that with every tug Haruna gave, Rina’s grasp just got tighter and tighter until the older brunette was sure she would be left with fingerprint-sized bruises afterward.

“Rina!” Mami shouted again. The voice startled Rina back to reality, her hand dropping from Haruna’s wrist, letting it smack back against the older girl’s body. Haruna held her wrist tightly, giving Rina a suspicious stare. And just what was that all about?

“Mami’s weirdness is rubbing off on you, isn’t it? Maybe I need to keep you away from her,” Haruna half-heartedly joked. Rina laughed softly, rubbing her arms nervously. But Mami didn’t find it funny. She couldn’t find Haruna’s joke funny when she knew there was something seriously wrong with Rina.

“Sorry, Haru, I don’t know what came over me,” she apologized. Haruna laughed, sounding nervous as she shook her head before patting Rina gently on the head. She wouldn’t be too concerned over it, everyone had their weird moments.

“You’ve forgiven,” she said. She turned on her heels, walking away as if nothing happened. But Mami couldn’t act like that. She’d seen the way Rina grabbed Haruna, it was almost as if Rina was scared to let Haruna go. She really needed to get Rina distracted. It wasn’t an ideal plan and the brunette may not even agree to it, but she had to give it a try. She had to do something even if it may end up shot down in the end.

“Rina, after this, can we go to the park? I want to talk with you.”

“Why can’t we talk here?” Rina’s answer was immediate, the girl not hesitating for even a second in answering Mami’s question. Mami didn’t know how to answer that since she didn’t really have an answer. There was no reason for Haruna to be mad about her plan since she had Tomomi now, but she thought it was best to discuss this with Rina where there wasn’t a chance of the nosey and mouthy brunette butting into the conversation.

“It’s something private that we don’t need Haruna’s input on.” Rina smiled at Mami’s comment. She actually smiled, and in a sincere way. That was the first genuine smile she’d seen on Rina’s face since the two of them sat down. The young brunette picked up her fork, scooping up a piece of the cheesecake.

“Alright, we can go, I’ve got some time,” she said brightly before shoving the fork into her mouth. Mami sighed in relief but she knew the relief wouldn’t last for much longer. She had to remember to do this carefully. She couldn’t rush into it and just say what she felt to Rina. In order to get Rina to agree to her plan, she had to think about this carefully. That’d be the hardest part, the blonde never thought about anything carefully. It wasn’t exactly one of her strong suits.

But she had to this for Rina. If it meant helping the young girl feel better, she’d give it a try.