She (TakashiMorinozukaxOC)

Chapter 20: Green Monster

The exam on Frankenstein was droning.

How many questions on symbolism could one teacher conjure? Takashi swore that he just re-worded the same questions over and over again. It seemed to drone on. The semester was officially at an end. 

He could feel her breath on his face. Hear her voice saying his name softly. If it weren't for Satoshi, he would have had her. He would have kissed her, she would have told him that she got into every Japanese art school she applied for and everything would be great. He'd get to date her. He'd get to tell her how he felt.

Instead, here he was regretting forcing her to go to Switzerland with him and his cousin. She seemed miserable at the prospect-- she hated the cold. Apparently, were she was from in the United States didn't get much snowfall. Mr. Christie cleared his throat, causing Takashi to put his eyes back to his test. Next to him, Jenni giggled at him having gotten into trouble. 

He didn't know how she could be so cool, so normal, when the day before she had almost been his. 

Takashi suddenly understood that monster-- the little green one, at least. Shelley's version of man's hubris and the destruction it causes was still somewhat of an enigma. But jealousy? Takashi was now jealousy's number-one fan. 

The minute that the twins had illuded to Nathan had been the minute that awful feeling in his stomach approached. His chest felt so hot. He felt sick, almost, but mostly he felt angry. Before, it was just that Kasanoda punk he had to deal with. But in that regard he was far more concerned with her safety around such a character, not so much insecure in his pursuing of the girl. 

Takashi couldn't remember the last time he felt jealous, but he was certainly feeling that in the moment as she giggled in the seat next to him, replying to a text message from someone he could only guess the identity of. Perhaps it was her uncle, or tia, or maybe it was Nathan. 

Nathan. 

He could only imagine who he was. 

Maybe it was that guy in that one picture when Jenni was a lifeguard back home. The one Kyoya pawned off during that stupid competition in Okinawa when they tried to find out the girls' fears. Haruhi's had been thunder and lightening-- they still hadn't found out Jenni's. 

Maybe he was just another student at her sensei's studio. Maybe he was her boyfriend. 

"Mitsukuni!" screamed that voice of Honey's overzealous younger brother, Yasuchika. 

Jenni rolled her eyes and put her phone away, waiting patiently for the violent-eyed Honey to leave the vehicle to face Yasuchika's challenge. 

They had been going at it ever since break ended and they came face-to-face again. They had trashed the back garden to near disrepair, broke a dojo door, cracked a floorboard in their mother's guest room, and even lodged a rock through Jenni's guest room window. 

At least it was warm out so she wasn't very cold. She always ended up opening the window at night anyways. Besides, his mother had promised that the window would be fixed by the end of the week. 

Until then, the only barrier between the garden and Jenni would be the single-story drop and the curtains that fluttered in the wind. 

After dojo that night, which was cut short by yet another Hanninozuka squabble, Jenni went back to her room to shower and do some homework. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have that many classes with Takashi that semester. She had always enjoyed studying with him because of the language barrier, and Takashi always had a much more clear perspective on Japanese History than she did.