"Okay, we're here. Are you ready?" Eli asked her friend.
Maki nodded. "I'm ready to put this all behind me."
"You can't do that, Maki-chan. This was something that affected all of our lives," Kotori commented.
The red-head sighed. "Yeah. But…that's the way I'm seeing myself right now."
"And we wouldn't want it any other way," Eli said. The three went into a group hug before they unpacked Maki's luggage. "We'll miss you!"
"Yeah…I will too. When are you going to tell them?"
"Probably right after this. We'll get them together and tell them," Kotori said. Her emotion started to falter. "It's not like Honoka-chan would want to see me or Eli-chan."
Before the ash-brunette started to cry, Maki hugged her. "You'll make up with her. Not now, but eventually. What I did was unforgivable. All you two are doing is…nothing really."
Kotori fought back her tears, trusting Maki's words. "Right."
The three smiled as Maki walked into the airport.
"Be safe! And don't forget to call!" Eli said.
"I will! And I won't!" Maki replied as she waved to the two women that she can call her best friends.
Once the doors closed, the two women stood in a tense silence.
"So, should we go tell them?" Eli asked.
"Yes," Kotori replied.
…
"What?!" The table collectively said.
Eli and Kotori gathered their four friends at the burger place the went to when they were in high school. Their reaction was one the two expected.
"She just…left?" Umi said.
Kotori sighed. "I know it might not have been the best way to handle everything. But, it was the most logical way us three could see it. If she was here, she might have caused a lot more problems."
"How could she just leave?!" Nozomi nearly shouted, controlling herself as she was in a public place. "And you just let her!"
"Honey," Eli cooed. "You heard us out."
"Nico-chi's dead! Honoka-chan's broken! And yet, she has the nerve to leave without doing anything about it?!" Nozomi cried out, lightly pounding on her wife's chest. "I wanted all of us to be together…and now we're all falling apart."
Eli felt Nozomi shivering as she cried. "Don't think like that, Nozomi."
"But, it's the only way we can see it," Rin said. Hanayo could only nod, still speechless after hearing that Maki left the country.
"Look," Kotori said, taking the leader role. "You may not agree with Maki's choice. You might not even like Maki-chan anymore. But, she still our friend. Yes, everything was messed up because of Maki and Honoka. That doesn't mean I'm going to leave their side. Honoka might not want me around…but that just lets me be with Maki-chan. I'm not saying that I support her choice. But I am her friend, and I always will be."
Looking at her watch, she was trying to figure out when Maki would be landing. "Now, I'll be home waiting for Maki-chan's call. Excuse me."
Moving herself from the table and out the door, the other could only stare at the blank space that was in front of them.
"Who knew that Kotori could be like that?" Hanayo said.
"I did," Umi said. "Are you going too, Eli? We'll understand if you do."
Eli faintly smiled. "I would want to talk to my friend. Can you promise me to take Nozomi home?" Umi nodded. "Good…"
"How about you guys?" She asked before she left. "Are you going to be talking with Maki anytime soon?"
There was an awkward silence that shrouded the table once this question was put up in the air.
"Maybe…later," Rin replied first. "I still have to take in everything that's happened and everything that will happen."
"And we'll have to tell Honoka," Umi said. She got disapproving stares from everyone except Eli.
"She has to know," Eli replied, breaking the stares away and now making it face her. "She may not want to know everything about Maki, but she has to at least know that."
"Thank you," Umi sighed, "That's what I meant."
Eli knew that Hanayo would agree with Rin, so she turned to her wife. "How about you, Nozomi?"
"…I don't know," Nozomi replied quietly.
She felt a pair of arms wrap around her. "I know you don't. I know that Nico was your best friend. This could take a while for you to understand. For all of you." Eli kissed her wife on the forehead. "I love you, Non-tan. I'll see you at home."
The purple-haired woman could only nod as Eli left the table. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking to the direction had Umi's warm smile.
"You okay, Nozomi?" She asked. Nozomi could only silently nod. "We'll have to tell Honoka about this. Might as well do it now," she told the table. The three others nodded, and they soon left to head to the hospital.
…
Honoka has been recovering relatively well over the week. She was still being watched. Once the press heard of Nico's passing, it was plaster all over the news. The Nishikino hospital picked up on it and kept a close eye on the new widow. Honoka didn't like all of this attention. Thankfully, Nico's fans were (surprisingly) restrained and only showed a huge amount of sympathy for the orange-haired girl. But, that didn't mean she wasn't annoyed of it.
She felt sick to her stomach every time she thought about the love Nico's fans were showing her.
I don't deserve it.
I killed my wife.
I killed Nico.
Those were the thoughts that swirled in Honoka's mind. The only respite that she had was being around her friends. The ones that she didn't consider as traitors.
"What do you mean that Maki left?" Honoka asked after she heard about the news from her friends.
Umi checked her phone to make sure she got the details right. "Kotori texted me. She said that Maki moved to someplace in North America. She's going to be a doctor there."
"Wow, you still talk to Kotori? Even after she betrayed me?" Honoka coldly said. "And of course, Maki would just leave and let everything fuck itself up," she further commented.
"Alright, what the hell Honoka?! Kotori is still my friend. One of my best friends! And she's just trying to make sure that you're both okay. Ever since you acted so harsh towards her, she can't even make sure you're okay!" Umi shouted at her friend. "You are not going to control my life!"
"Then leave! Let me be alone and die in peace! All of you!" Honoka shouted back. "The bitch that fucked up my life left to make sure I suffer; my friends are being complete assholes towards me."
"I'm not trying to be an asshole!" Umi shouted again. "You became so cold ever since Nico died. And while I understand that…I don't think it's what Nico would have wanted."
"YOU DON'T KNOW MY WIFE!" Honoka screamed. "LET ME BE ALONE!"
She curled herself into a ball and faced away from her 'friends.' Umi was disappointed, furious, and sad that Honoka has deteriorated like this. She wanted to be there for her friend, but with the way she was acting right now she didn't want anything to do with her.
"Fine," Umi said, voice slightly faltering. "Just…please don't die on us, Honoka. We won't be able to handle another loss."
"…No promises," Honoka coldly said.
That pushed Umi to storm out of the room while slamming the door. She loved her friend. But to see her like this…Umi couldn't handle it. Honoka…why are you doing this to yourself?
In the room, the three other women were watching their friendships that they built up for so long be destroyed.
"Honoka…chan…" Nozomi tried to reach out.
"Didn't you hear me? LEAVE." Honoka harshly said. "I don't deserve anyone to be here with me."
They didn't want to argue Honoka. She had to rest up, they only thought. So, they started to leave.
Rin and Hanayo were the first to go out, saying their goodbyes before shutting the door. As Nozomi turned to leave, she turned to Honoka's direction.
"Nico-chi passed away because she loved you. You didn't deserve it. You cheated on her. And while I can't forgive Maki that easily for leaving us…I really thought I could forgive you. With how you're acting now, there's only one question that I could think about now.
"Did you really love Nico-chi?"
Those were the final words until Honoka heard the door slowly close. She was shuddering. Just thinking about Nozomi's question was making her think about her entire life.
"I…I don't even know…"
Her introduction to the new hospital she was working at used up a lot of effort. Once she got to her new apartment, she wanted to flop onto her bed and fall asleep. She wasn't think about anything in Japan, which was good for her psyche.
Her obligation to her friends was what made her think about her former home.
Well, I said I would call them.
Pulling out her laptop, she started to call up Eli and Kotori. Being in Canada felt somewhat at home, other than the time changing drastically. It was very late for her, so it would be very early for them. She didn't expect the immediate response.
"Maki?" "Maki-chan!" Both girls said.
"What the hell are you doing up so early?" She asked.
Kotori yawned. "We were waiting for you to call, Maki-chan. I know it's only been a day, but we miss you already."
"I miss you too, mom," Maki joked. "I nearly forgot. After getting home, I just wanted to sleep."
"Apologies, then. Since you're still up, can you tell us about how it is over there? Canada, right?" Eli asked.
Maki nodded. "Chilly. But the people are nice. The hospital I'm at is friendly, and the introduction day was fun," Maki told her two friends. She saw another person trying to join their call. "Umi?"
"What? What about Umi-chan?" Kotori asked.
Clicking the answer button, she and the two others saw Umi's face pop up onto the screen. "Hello there," Umi said. "And hello to you two as well."
"I wasn't expecting any of you guys talking to me who wasn't Eli or Kotori," Maki said confusedly. "What's up?"
"…I don't know if it's okay to talk about," the bluenette said nervously.
"Why not?"
"It's about Honoka."
Both Eli and Kotori sat there silent. It's been a week since Maki left Japan, but it was still pretty fresh-
"It's okay. I know the mistakes I made were bad. And I need to accept that. Moving wasn't the brightest idea, so listening to you guys may be the better option while I'm living here." Maki rested her chin on her hands. "So, what about Honoka?"
Umi sighed. "I think I had a similar falling out with her. Along the same lines as Eli and Kotori," the bluenette explained. "Just because I talked with you, she thought I was betraying her. It got…ugly. I got so upset. Our Honoka…she became that after everything."
"And you're blaming it on me," Maki said, her irritated tone evident. She didn't want to allow Umi to talk if all she would hear was the blame being shifted on her. She agreed with it, but it didn't mean that she wanted to hear it.
"No, I'm not," Umi said bluntly. "With you, I saw that you were trying to change. Moving away and trying to have a 'new' life was something understandable. This was a messed-up situation and you were just trying to better yourself, I guess. With Honoka, I knew that she would be taking it hard. Nico was her wife and I really saw the love she had for her. I told Honoka that Nico wouldn't want her to be like the way she is right now, which caused the fight to start. I want her to change and yet…nothing. It's only been a week, but I thought that she would try to do anything."
"It's okay, Umi-chan," Kotori said. "You don't need to cry."
She wiped away the tears she didn't know formed. "I'm just so worried for her…and she's just pushing all of her friends away."
"We all are worried for her," Maki said. "She'll come around. Not for me, but for all of you."
Umi faintly smiled. "Thanks for that." Shaking her depressing feelings away, Umi had a slightly bigger smile. "I haven't seen you for a while. How have you been, Maki?"