If Jealousy Could Kill

Epilogue

“Haruna, don’t you dare touch the grill!”

Tomomi yelled her words, pushing herself off of the ground where she had been sitting and jogged over to her girlfriend who was now frozen in place, glaring at the younger girl. From afar now, Rina watched silently as Tomomi grabbed the spatula from Haruna, playfully tapping the shorter girl on the head with it, laughing when Haruna’s glare at her deepened.

Rina sighed softly, crossing her arms over her raised knees and laying her chin down on top of her arms. From beside her, Mami reached over and wrapped an arm around Rina’s slim waist, pulling the two girls only slightly closer to each other. Rina still distanced herself from Mami but the stubborn blonde refused to so easily give up on her again.

It had only been a little over two weeks since Rina had been discharged and she was still in the care of Mami. Most days, Rina spent her time locked inside Mami’s house, not wanting to attend school at the moment and still on leave from her work. Mami did her best to spend as much time around Rina as possible and tried to get her out of the house but it was hard when she had her own schooling and work to attend to. She had tried to steadily push Rina into at least going near Haruna more often but Rina hadn’t been too receptive to it. Mami couldn’t blame her, as annoying as it was to have Rina locking herself away like this. Tomomi and Haruna were practically attached to each other; it was hard getting Haruna alone for a period of time without Tomomi being around.

“You’re doing fine, Rina,” Mami told the younger girl lowly. Rina could only huff lowly in response, flicking her eyes away from the happy couple. The last she saw, Haruna now stood off to the side, probably grumbling something under her breath about how no one trusted her to cook while Tomomi giggled softly at her grumbling.

Rina had thought about it a lot of the last two weeks – Heaven knows she has enough time on her hands these days to think so heavily about them. Even after all that thought, she still didn’t see how Haruna could prefer Tomomi over her… She didn’t understand where she had gone wrong after so much time. Of course, Rina had kept all of this to herself. She knew Mami wouldn’t be pleased if she knew how much Rina was still “obsessing” over Haruna…

Obsessing? Nonsense. Rina wasn’t obsessing over Haruna; she knew she wasn’t. The older brunette just occupied her mind; that was all. It didn’t have to be anything negative like Mami and the others tried to make it out to be. Rina had control of herself now; she wouldn’t ever hurt Haruna again. She couldn’t ever hurt Haruna again…

“Rina?”

The brunette in question raised her head suddenly when she heard her name. She saw Haruna standing in front of her now, a smile on her face as she remained oblivious to the younger girl’s inner war. Haruna knew it still hurt Rina but she was determined to help Rina deal with it. As far as Haruna knew, their attempts were being successful so far.

“How many burgers did you want again? Tomomi can’t remember anyone’s orders,” Haruna said with a slight laugh at the end. Rina smiled from hearing Haruna’s laugh and felt Mami only slightly tighten her grip around her. Even if Rina was smiling, Mami had quickly learned that didn’t always mean she was happy.

“Just one,” Rina answered in a soft tone. Haruna nodded, turning to Mami. The blonde smirked at her; she was going to cheer up Rina for real even if she had to do it at Haruna’s expense. Not that she minded using Haruna as her joke.

“Aren’t you dressed a bit inappropriately to be taking orders, maid girl? You really ought to be wearing the proper uniform. You do look rather adorable in it, Haruru,” Mami taunted her with a smirk. Haruna growled lowly just before kicking Mami swiftly in the shin, causing the blonde to double over and groan, gripping where Haruna had gotten her.

“You get nothing,” Haruna told her before turning around abruptly and making her way back over to Tomomi. Mami could hear Rina laughing softly beside her and it was satisfying enough to the blonde.

“By the way, Miyuki’s coming over in a bit so at least make one for her!” Mami called out to the retreating brunette who only nodded and absentmindedly waved her hand at the once teasing blonde. Beside her, Rina smiled at the mention of Miyuki’s name. Miyuki did come around less often since Mami had begun pursuing Rina but she still came over to check on both Rina and Mami as well as to offer the blonde any help she might need. Miyuki would never say it to Rina but even she knew how much of a handful the brunette was these days.

“Are you okay? It looked like she hit you really hard.” Rina asked her after a few seconds of silence. It was Mami’s turn to laugh softly as she nodded and straightened her body out. She stretched her arms before laying them down at her side.

“Of course. It was worth it to see you laugh and smile,” Mami told her, adding on a smile of her own. Rina smiled again and looked down, her hands fidgeting on her lap.

The brunette almost felt like she should feel bad for Mami. She still clung to Haruna but she was letting Mami say all of these things to her and letting her get attached. It wasn’t fair to Mami but Rina didn’t want to stop her; it did seem to make the blonde happy.

Suddenly, Rina could feel Mami snake her arm around her waist completely now. She tried to pull away when Mami pushed them together, their hips touching. The blonde wouldn’t let the wiggling Rina get away though. She held her tightly, rubbing her side gently before placing a small kiss on her cheek.

“I know you’re thinking about her again.”

The brunette’s body tensed from Mami’s words before she sighed softly again. Since when was Mami so observant? Rina hadn’t noticed when Mami had changed like that. Rina could feel Mami reach up a hand, gently pressing the younger girl’s head down so it laid lightly on her shoulder. Rina gazed out in front of her, subconsciously moving closer to Mami.

She could feel the emotions tug at her head again when she saw Haruna push herself up a bit on her toes, giving Tomomi a kiss on the forehead only for Tomomi to giggle at how Haruna had to reach just to accomplish the task. She watched as Haruna playfully slapped Tomomi on the arm for laughing at her height before pointing to the grill, probably telling her girlfriend to focus on her cooking. Tomomi nodded, giving Haruna a kiss and Rina finally let her eyes flutter shut.

Let her go.

Everyone told her that. It was everyone’s advice and their only advice to her on how to deal with Haruna… So why was it so hard? Rina didn’t want it to be this hard. She let out a shaky sigh and Mami pressed another kiss against her skin.

Mami still felt sorry for Rina and even though she knew Rina still clung onto Haruna, she wasn’t giving up on Rina. She was determined not just to keep Haruna and Tomomi safe from Rina but also to keep Rina safe from herself. For Mami, Rina’s discharge from the hospital was a new start. It was a chance for her to turn Rina’s life around and for her to help the brunette leave behind her longing feelings for Haruna. It was Rina’s chance to leave behind her dark past and try to be a new person.

And no matter what Rina did or how she tried to push Mami away, Mami was determined to always be there to help Rina regain herself and her life.