Jealousy

It was simply heartbreaking to see them together. The girl she loved… and her friend.
Chloe walked back down to the Manor in a downpour, her head bent down in distress. She was all wet and her boots were covered with mud but she didn't care about it. It was the smallest bit of problem in compare with what she was thinking about now.

Kirika Yuumura had always had a special place in her heart. Of course, Altena too, but they couldn't be placed on the same level. They were simply different.
And she had been waiting for this day for so long… for years… and finally Altena permitted her to show up in front of Kirika.
She leaved this morning with such a delight, the weather was perfect and all, but now she returned in such a gloomy mood, and the darkened sky followed by the heavy rain didn't help any.
Chloe looked up and saw a silhouette holding a candle in her hand. Altena. Chloe felt her heart sink into the lowest part of her body. How was she supposed to meet Altena with such a face… For the first time in her life Chloe wished Altena never welcomed her home everytime she came back from a long journey.
Unwilling as she was, she finally arrived at the Manor, not feeling better even after Altena hugged her heartily.

Altena knew exactly how Chloe was feeling the second she saw her face. She was the one who raised Chloe all this years. And that's why she decided it wasn't the best time to ask what happened. She smiled at the girl instead, gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder, and took her inside the Manor.

Perhaps she was just being possessive.
Chloe tilted her head as she looked at herself mirrored in one of her knife.
She was being jealous. No wonder.
She sighed.
She loved Kirika, for real.
Perhaps Mireille Bouquet wasn't that bad. She was… the one whom Kirika liked after all. They were friends.
When Mireille could be Kirika's friend, perhaps she could be friends with Chloe too.
A smile appeared on her face. Yeah, could be.

Behind her expectations, Mireille made a visit to Corsica and left Kirika alone. But it could have been a good chance to face Mireille alone. Probably they could be friends.

Mireille Bouquet's reaction was pretty unpredictable. She looked so shocked upon hearing some facts about Soldats, and was even dumbstruck upon hearing Chloe's words of wanting to be friends and so on. As Chloe walked out of the former Bouquet residence today, she really didn't know what would come out of all of that. Perhaps she had exaggerated it a bit by telling Mireille about her close relationship to Kirika, but it wouldn't matter would it? It was true that way. Even if she became friends with Mireille Bouquet, there is no way she would let go of Kirika. They were Noir, apparently.

With every time she met Kirika and Mireille Bouquet, it was more and more obvious that she disliked the blond woman. Mireille didn't fit to be the Noir. No. She didn't even fit to be the candidate of Noir. But why did Kirika look at her with such a lovely look? Chloe hated Kirika for looking at Mireille the way she way supposed to look at Chloe.
Why the hell did Kirika look at the woman that way? Chloe didn't understand. In killing skill or anything, Mireille wasn't something special. Chloe was much, much better than her.

"It is arranged. Today, Mireille Bouquet shall face an exam without Kirika Yuumura beside her."
"Very well."
Chloe peered from the slightly opened door slit. She couldn't see things very clearly, but it was enough to know what Altena and the men were up to.
Chloe clenched her fists. What was she going to do? She had this important piece of information in the hand. If she told Mireille Bouquet about it… they might be friends. Yes, could be.

"What happened to Kirika Yuumura?"
Altena's voice rose up.
Chloe returned from her trance to the reality and nearly squeezed her ear to the small opening.
"Well, we found her alone in the café. It appeared that Ms. Bouquet and Ms. Yuumura have some problem with each other."
"How was she?"
"Well she didn't look very happy."
Something burned in Chloe's chest upon hearing the man's answer. The Mireille Bouquet! How could she dare to hurt Kirika? No way they could be friends!
At this moment Altena turned to look at the door slit, directly to Chloe's peeping eyes.
"Make the best out of it," she said.
"Pardon me?" asked the man.
"Nothing. Good job, I mean."

Chloe closed the door slowly and leaned at the wall.
What did Altena want her to do?
Make the best… out of it. Right.

Chloe ran as fast as she could to Paris. She knew what to do. She knew it. She was going to tell Kirika about it, just to let her know that she wasn't part of the people arranging a murder plan for Mireille Bouquet. Kirika would be very happy to receive this information, even if that would mean that Mireille Bouquet might stay alive. They could have been closer. Chloe liked it that way better. Better than if she herself and Mireille got closer. Yes, that's the best!
Chloe grinned satisfiedly and she ran even quicklier…..

….just to be disappointed afterwards.
"Thank you!"
With those words Kirika turned her back at Chloe and ran to save Mireille.
At this second Chloe felt like the biggest idiot of the whole world. Mireille would be saved. But it didn't seem as if Kirika would be more attached to her now than the first time they met.

Chloe didn't understand. She really didn't understand. Mireille Bouquet had hurt Kirika that much. Kirika had to be so sad the whole time, but now without hesitating she went off to save Mireille. Why? Why..?
Chloe couldn't believe it. Why was Kirika so devoted to Mireille? It was unbelievable.
She was so nice and told her about this murder plan. And after a short thank you she left her alone. Chloe had never felt worse than today. It was like being dumped…. And in addition the one who dumped you ran after the other. It was a double stab in the chest.

Never, like today, did she hate Mireille Bouquet that much.

And that night as she returned, her head bent down again in sorrow, Altena already waited for her in front of the Manor. Her arms were outstretched, her eyes comforting.
Chloe looked up to Altena, her face was covered with tears.
She rushed to the opened arms, to the person who would embrace and soothe her with such a love and warmth she needed the most at that time.
She cried her problems out on Altena's shoulder, telling her how hurt she was… and that she had miscalculated the whole thing. And how she wished Kirika would look at her with the same look she had always presented Mireille.

And this wish was granted to her exactly before her life ended. At that split of second, with her hand thrusting the knife into Chloe's chest, Kirika looked at her exactly the way she had been hoping for. A look, that told Chloe that she wasn't nobody for Kirika. A look that told Chloe, that she also had a special place in Kirika's heart.

Author's note : Anybody crying? Sorry when it is so full of emotion. I am undergoing the same problem too.. right now.. that's why, probably I want to write this story. Because I am finally able to understand Chloe's feeling toward the whole matter. So… she wasn't acting strangely after all. It was just another disadvantage of being a human. I am glad to learn more about her character.