If Jealousy Could Kill

Chapter 24: Growing Closer and Farther

I should have mentioned this chapters ago but I forgot to. So we'll do it now before I forget again. From here until the end of this story, it will have a trigger warning. As per usual, I will not specify what the trigger warning is as it would spoil the story but just be aware that this story does contain sensitive material that certain people might find triggering. This will be the one and only time I use a trigger warning for this story as these subjects will be heavily infused into the story from here to the end.

Oh and there is slightly mature content in this chapter.

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Mami leaned her body onto the kitchen table, her eyes peering across the table at the couple who had their arms wrapped tightly around each other. After Mami’s talk with Miyuki last night at the store, Mami couldn’t look at the two of them the same way again. Mami knew Miyuki only meant well with what she was doing but Mami couldn’t help but feel a bit bad that she was tricking Rina like this. Miyuki and Rina’s date was Mami’s idea and if things ended badly between them, Rina would be in even more pain and Mami would be solely responsible for it.

Still… Rina did look happy. Mami couldn’t tell if Rina’s happiness was faked or not, but her giddiness and smiling whenever Miyuki would hug and kiss her seemed honest enough. The blonde let out a soft sigh, maybe Rina really was falling for Miyuki slowly. She didn’t want to think like that, she didn’t want to think that she had passed another chance at love because of her own silly insecurities. It could very well be true though and Mami knew she had to remember that. Mami didn’t like attempting to live in some fairytale and deny reality.

Mami could hear the plates clattering behind them, the product of Haruna harassing Tomomi as she attempted to cook. Haruna had claimed she wanted to help Tomomi cook and maybe she had, but it didn’t mean she would be of any use. From the sounds of the clattering and the complaining from the younger girl, it sounded like Haruna really wasn’t being of much help after all. It didn’t surprise Mami or Rina though. Haruna never was much help in the kitchen. This all, of course, was if Haruna even wanted to truly help or if she just wanted to give Tomomi a hard time.

Miyuki glanced over at Mami, giving her a small and sympathetic smile when she saw the blonde staring at them. Miyuki really did feel sorry for Mami; she knew the blonde had to be going through a rough patch right now. After Miyuki had deduced that Mami had liked Rina, she had decided the other woman must be Tomomi. When she deduced that, she thought to the conversation Mami and she had had only minutes prior when Mami confessed to having set up Tomomi and Haruna.

That’s what made Miyuki hurt the most. Mami had been in love with her but she still sacrificed her own happiness to give her friends’ happiness. That was just the person Mami was though. She may be rough on the outside and acted like she didn’t care, but she would be willing to do anything for her friends. Mami was about as loyal as a friend could ever get.

Miyuki wished there was something she could do for Mami but there really wasn’t anything she could do if Mami continued to refuse to pursue Rina. Once Miyuki had gone home, she thought back onto the conversation and decided that if Mami was truly going to pursue Rina then she would back off. She would willingly let Mami have Rina but if Mami wasn’t going to do that then Miyuki wouldn’t back off. She wouldn’t let Rina go. She would only let go if she knew Mami would take over where she left off. Until she had that security though, she would continue to actively try to make Rina hers for real.

The older girl let her eyes break away from Mami, looking behind the blonde and over to the happy couple near the stove. She could see Haruna reach over to put something in the pot, only to have her hand slapped and pushed away by Tomomi before she could drop whatever she had into the pot. Normally when Miyuki would see a couple that happy, it would make her smile, but seeing Tomomi and Haruna didn’t do that for her.