Chapter Thirty-Two

I'll Protect the Ones I Love, so . . .

"You're really an idiot if you think this is going to make any difference, Iroha," Aria warned her through the silence that had fallen. Iroha had tugged her coat on already, though, and had one foot out the door.

"I don't care," Iroha snapped, glaring at Aria. She wasn't mad at Aria, of course, but this anger was suffocating her. She had to let some of it out. "I'll go and find her and make sure she stays away from Rin."

Before she could get the other foot out the door, however, Aria had grabbed her arm. She looked back to the woman in irritation, seeing Aria's hesitance. "Iroha, I think she gets the picture," the woman reasoned. "She's obviously really torn up. Do you really have to make it worse?"

Iroha narrowed her eyes as Aria and quietly told her, "You haven't been here, Aria. You haven't seen how terrified Rin is. You haven't woken her up when she's had dreams about that."

Aria still didn't seem certain, but she let Iroha go, anyway. Aria and Gumi were childhood friends, after all, like Iroha and Len. So, in a way, Iroha could understand why Aria didn't want Gumi to be hurt more than she already had been. No matter what the circumstances, Iroha knew she'd do the same for Len. Len was her best friend, after all. "Just don't hurt her too much, please," the woman requested.

"No promises," Iroha murmured, waving her arm to free herself from Aria's grip. She paused for a moment, wondering if she should check on Rin first, but she had to go after Gumi before the woman got too far.

Iroha hustled out of the building, into the brisk winter air. She had half expected Gumi to be there, waiting for her, but she caught a glimpse of the green-haired woman making her way out of the parking lot. Gumi turned at the sound of Iroha's footsteps and smiled a wicked but tired grin. "Oh, if it isn't the hypocrite," Gumi remarked half-heartedly, pausing in her walk as Iroha continued her constant pace toward the woman who had once been her friend.

"Stay away from Rin," Iroha ordered. "She doesn't need this kind of stress in her life. Len may be gone, but Yuki is still her daughter. She needs her family, and you're not part of it."

The corner of Gumi's lip hitched up in a smirk, and she questioned smartly, "And you are?"

Iroha flinched. She hated that question and the smug expression on Gumi's face as she asked it. "I'm Yuki's mother."

Gumi's smirk grew wider as she wondered, "Then what does that make Rin?"

"We're both Yuki's mothers," Iroha snapped, glaring at the accuser.

Gumi sank into one hip, watching Iroha with amusement playing in her eyes. "Then what are you two to each other?"

"Shut up!" Iroha snapped, knowing there was no way that she could answer that. "Just get out and stay out, got it?"

Gumi smiled and wondered, "How about we walk, Iroha? If we stand around here, we just may cause a scene."

Iroha snorted, despite knowing that Gumi was right, and stated instead as she began walking, "And here I thought you enjoyed making scenes."

Gumi chuckled and followed Iroha as the woman brushed past her. "You did like me once, Iroha, remember?"

Iroha looked straight ahead. No, she didn't remember, because she never had. "No," she argued, gazing at the ice-slicked branches of the park's trees. They'd had freezing rain that morning, though not badly enough so for school to be cancelled. "I never liked you. Rin liked you, and Aria liked you. I liked them, so I played nice with you. I hated the way you'd cling to Rin, though, and I hated how much more she liked you than she liked me."

Gumi snorted. "And that's why I call you a hypocrite. You and I are exactly the same, Iroha, but you look down on me so fiercely."

Iroha couldn't believe her ears. She glared at Gumi and snapped, "I'm nothing like you, and I'll never be like you."

Gumi just smiled innocently ahead and looked at the piles of snow gathered into forts by neighbourhood children. "I made a mistake, Iroha, but, aside from that, everything is the same in our situations."

Iroha considered pausing in her walking and turning back, but there was no way she'd let this go. In addition, she had to convince Gumi not to ever come near Rin or Yuki again. "You're completely wrong, Gumi. Besides," she continued, a fire in her eyes as she forced out words she'd hoped she'd never have to speak to anyone, "I hate you."

Gumi didn't even flinch before responding, "Trust me, Iroha, you can't hate me nearly as much as I hate you. You hate me for my relationship with Rin. I hate you for yours with Rin, with Aria, with Yuki, with Len, and with Ryuto."

Iroha didn't feel any sympathy for the wavering in Gumi's voice and simply stared ahead. Iroha barely had a relationship with Ryuto. Yuki had one, of course, but Ryuto had only been over to Rin's apartment a handful of times. "I don't understand how you even have a sweet kid like that," Iroha told her, venom in her voice. She knew better than to let her emotions get to out of control, because she really didn't want to cause a scene. It was taking all her restraint to not scream at Gumi right now, and she held on to the hope that they'd find someplace deserted where she could finally chase Gumi away for good. "He's way too good for you."

Gumi snorted at this and replied, "Trust me, I'm a better mother than you or Rin any day. My kid turned out to be the best kid in the world. But, of course, you took that from me, too, Iroha."

Iroha narrowed her eyes at Gumi and snapped, "You can't play the victim after what you've done, Gumi."

They fell silent then, the only sound coming to them being the crunch of icy snow underfoot. Iroha stared forward, wondering how in the world Gumi got off acting like this. After what she'd done, she shouldn't have had the bravery to come back here and act like nothing had happened.

Gumi's soft voice broke through the silence of Iroha's thoughts. "If you lost Rin, you'd do the same thing."

Iroha scowled at the suggestion. "I'd never do what you did."

They fell quiet for a little longer before Gumi spoke once more. "There's no way you weren't even a little happy when you found out that Len was out of the picture and Rin was going to need you."

Iroha's blood ran cold as those words registered, and she lost all sense of control. With a power she didn't know she possessed, she slammed into Gumi and pinned the woman onto the ground, screaming in her face, "How dare you even suggest that I was remotely happy when Len died! I felt like it was me myself who had died when I heard about his passing! It wasn't until Aria called me up that I even remembered to think about Rin! I'd give anything in the world to have him still here with her, here with all of us! I don't care if his passing meant I would be closer to Rin! I'll never get to see Len again, ever, and neither will Rin! Rin loved him, and she still does! She'll probably never fall in love again, and she'll never get over him! Did you know that they had just gotten engaged? He died just a couple hours after they swore to spend the rest of their lives together! Nothing will ever make up for Len being dead, nothing!"

Gumi didn't cower under Iroha's hostile gaze and simply stared down at the other woman, stating simply, "Maybe Rin would be able to move on if her beloved's best friend wasn't always by her side. Have you thought of that?"

Iroha couldn't help but look away. She couldn't hold Gumi's gaze. Of course she'd thought of that. She constantly thought of that. Maybe it would be better if she was gone, but not now, not when the threat of Gumi hovered nearby. "Of course you have," Gumi continued. "But you're selfish. You want to be with Rin, even if it hurts her." Iroha felt her grip on Gumi weakening. Her nails no longer dug into Gumi's shoulders, and Gumi could have easily broken free, but she didn't. Instead, she kept talking. "As much as you hate it, Iroha, we're exactly the same. You understand more than anyone why I refuse to stay away."

"Stay away," Iroha tried to hiss, but it came out weak, fragile.

"I want to help her, so I'll take Yuki from her."

It seemed like the world had fallen silent for the longest moment Iroha had ever experienced. She froze stiff, her grip tightening once more as her eyes found Gumi's. Through gritted teeth, she wondered, "What?"

Gumi smiled at her and said, "Having Yuki nearby just hurts her and reminds her of Len, after all. If she doesn't want to be with me, I'll just take Yuki back. Two birds with one stone, right?"

Slowly, the thoughts in Iroha's mind caught up to the conversation, and she breathed, "You'll take Yuki so that Rin will come to you. You know she'll follow Yuki now. Yuki is her daughter."

Gumi smiled and said, "It's genius, isn't it?"

Iroha slowly shook her head, unable to believe that Gumi thought this would work. It was insane. She was insane. "There's no way they'll let you take Yuki from her. Len adopted Yuki months ago."

Gumi brushed off Iroha's hands as they fell limp with shock. Iroha spread her palms against the tree to keep herself up, as stiff with shock as she was, as Gumi slipped away and continued to walk down the road. Iroha couldn't manage the strength to turn her head and see Gumi's departing figure as Gumi called her parting words.

"I think you'll see that I'm better suited to be Yuki's mother than either of you, Iroha. I've known her much longer than you have, after all."