Author's Note: I've had a few people complain about all my fics needed to be formatted, and truth be told, I know they do.
But I'm working off a prehistoric computer with a prehistoric wordpad being the only friggin' program I can use on it. It won't format or anything. The only things it can do is allow me to type, change the color of the font, change the size of the font, change the font itself, and save the document.
.... thank god we're getting a new computer soon.
This is one of the only fanfics I've ever created where I have had fun writing it. This and Sky of Dreams, that's about it. Yes, I am a die-hard romantic.. I think that's obvious.
But I'm also a big fan of country music (that's all KEITH'S fault.. it always is *gets whacked by him*) and those really cute TV shows and movies where the two people fall in love in some country scene. It's probably why I was horrified at the thought of moving to Indiana from North Carolina (sorry all the people reading this who are from Indiana.. nothing against your state, I just love my own state a bit more).
As you can tell, I placed Takato in North Carolina, and based the basic Rika character off myself, also added a bit of myself (with a mix of Keith.. scary as that is) as Becky in the previous chapter.
So in a way, I've put a piece of myself in the story even though it's about my two best friends *laughs*.
Okay enough ranting from me--
Read on.
-----
I work a forty hour week and I earn my keep
And I try to walk proud and tall
I keep my nose to the ground, I don't get behind
And I don't back up at all
Well my neck's a little red, my collar's blue
I sip a little coffee, and I drink a little booze
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I'm my daddy's spittin' image and my mama's pride and joy
There ain't nothing down home that I really don't enjoy
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I drive a pickup truck and I don't pass the buck
And I always speak my mind
I'm hooked on T.V., Rolaids, and B.C.'s
And I know how to have a good time
I'm a little bit rowdy and a little bit tame
Ain't no way I'm ever gonna change
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I'm my daddy's spittin' image and my mama's pride and joy
There ain't nothing down home that I really don't enjoy
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
Well I must admit that I've mellowed a bit
Father Time can slow you down
I'm still doin' all I used to do
It just takes a little longer now
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I'm my daddy's spittin' image and my mama's pride and joy
There ain't nothing down home that I really don't enjoy
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I'm just a country boy
A good ol' country boy
----- All American Country Boy - Alan Jackson -----
Jeri learned quickly that finding your way through Raleigh-Durham International Airport, or "RDU International" as Becky had called it over and over again, was like a rat finding it's way through a giant maze. And that was just to find the baggage claim desk.
Jeri popped a few quarters into a soda machine. At least the brands of soda were relatively the same here in America, and she figured she would get used to the new currency soon enough. The machine made a rumbling sound and the bottom opening clanked as a bright blue can came into view. Jeri picked it up and popped the top of it, eyeing the general area around her as she took a sip. She planned that Mr. Matsuki would be a little late picking her up, and she made sure in her mind she'd be expecting the worst. After all Becky told her about 'red-necks' and 'hill-billys', Jeri just shuddered. Takato's family couldn't possibly be like that.
Jeri's eye caught a slightly famillier face in the crowd of people, and she perked up, holding her hand up high in the air. "Mr. Matsuki!!"
The man dressed in a pair of worn-looking blue-jeans and a relatively nice red shirt looked her way, and blinked twice, trying to place in his mind where he had seen the girl before, and then he smiled.
"Jeri! Look at you!" Takato's father placed his hands on the girl's shoulder and smiled again. She could tell by the look on his face he wasn't ready for a girl in a black leather skirt and long brown hair to be standing there, but the same old innocent Jeri Katou instead.
But here she was, looking like she came straight off a model runway somewhere, which was the look Rika had purposely tried to accomplish on the girl.
"Well, we had better get goin'." Mr. Matsuki said in an accent Jeri wasn't accustomed to, but it had been the same accent Becky had spoken in, and the one that the American flight attendant had used also. She figured it was common among this area, and Becky had told her that also. It was called a "southern" accent, and Jeri felt kind of stupid when Becky explained to her what "y'all" meant.
Jeri nodded in responce to him, and was led out of the airport that even Mr. Matsuki didn't seem too famillier with.
She braced herself for some semi-broken-down truck painted some off-blue color as they walked through the large parking lot, and was surprised when instead they stopped in front of a more modern looking red pick-up truck, and with a quick beep from the truck as Mr. Matsuki hit the keychain, it looked as if it had keyless entry as well. The nervous feeling in Jeri's stomach slowly started to dissolve. Sure, the truck was a bit dirty, but she didn't mind that. Becky had explained the concept of the farm life in North Carolina to her, and dirt was just a normal part of the job.
Jeri couldn't help but have the slightest bit of respect for Mr. Matsuki. By what Becky told her on the flight, the entire Matsuki family had to make all their own food. Grow it all, can it all, bake it all-- Takato probably forgot all about microwavable dinners after that. It wouldn't have been an easy thing for them to do.
After both were in the truck and they pulled out of the parking lot, Takato's father spoke up.
"Takato's looking forward to seeing you. He hasn't stopped talking about you for weeks."
"Weeks?" Jeri said, a bit amused. "I found out I was coming Thursday." she still stumbled over the english words she wasn't too famillier with her yet, and Mr. Matsuki just smiled patiently as Jeri repeated some words over about five times before saying it correctly.
"Well your parents had to check with us before 'ya came o'er."
Jeri shrugged. "Yeah. I guess."
The trip lasted those hours everyone had told her it'd take, if not longer, and it had been mostly silent except for the country station playing on the radio. Jeri was almost lulled to sleep by the peaceful surroundings after they had driven out of Raleigh. It seemed to be nothing but tobacco fields for miles and miles, and a sunset fading in the distance. The sun had mostly vanished below the horizon that seemed to be perfectly flat and go on forever when the truck pulled into a long dirt road, which Jeri realised was just one big dirt driveway.
Soon through the hundreds of pine trees that surrounded the path on either sides you could see the edge of a barn and silo set back a bit in a field, the farmhouse standing almost three stories tall ahead of them, the panaling on the side colored a faint blue that looked almost purple with the red light from the fading sun bouncing off it. Just along side the farmhouse was a large wooden fence, clearly hand-made, that held almost six differant horses that called out to the truck in their own little language as it drove by.
Jeri sat in a complete silence at everything she was witnessing. It was perfect in every single way, and Jeri couldn't quite figure out why she thought so.
The truck parked in front of the farmhouse, right in front of the white steps that led up to a slightly worn-looking front porch which was home to a basket of some fruit that had been picked that day and two rocking chairs on either side of that.
Jeri gave a quick yank on her suitcase as she stepped out of the truck, and stood not quite sure of what to do, but Mr. Matsuki's gentle yet strong shove on her shoulder sent her walking up the steps, and hesitatingly opening the front door of the house, taking a few steps in and placing her suitcase just beside the stairs that were only feet from the front door.
"We're home!" Mr. Matsuki called, and immediatly Jeri was welcomed with not only Mrs. Matsuki bustling into the room, but the smells of the 'southern food' Becky had also told her about floating through the house from the kitchen.
After exchanging hellos, Mrs. Matsuki studied Jeri's uneasy look and gave a smile. "Takato's finishing up some work out in the field, he'll be in any moment now."
Jeri gave a silent nod and let out a shuddering sigh, causing a smile from both adults that had already started walking towards the kitchen, talking about something Jeri didn't necessarily understand.
"Jeri, sweety, go ahead and sit on the couch if you want. Dinner won't be ready for awhile."
Without waiting for the end of Mrs. Matsuki's remark, Jeri not only sat on the couch, but flopped across it, closing her eyes and giving another shaky sigh.
Why was she so nervous about this? This was Takato after all. Sure she hadn't seen him in years--
Jeri clutched her stomach tightly, as if it would make all these butterflies go away, but it didn't. The sound of the back door opening make the butterfly population double, and the sound of a deep masculine voice not at all sounding like Mr. Matsuki's doubled that.
Jeri sat up straight and looked over the edge of the couch, hearing her name said a few times, and immediatly she ran her fingers through her hair and stood up straight. She grasped her hands behind her back and watched the large white doorway leading to the kitchen across the room.
She knew just by logic that the back door was placed just out of her sights, and it's why all she could see were Mr. and Mrs. Matsuki looking towards the wall she couldn't see, and speaking.
Now and then the other deep voice spoke up, sounding almost as shakey as hers probably was at the time, and she just wanted to curse at him if he didn't show himself soon. Before it really registered in her mind, the boy had stepped into the doorway, and was just as frozen in his place as she was.
It finally clicked, and she whispered his name under her breath. "Takato."
She had been right, he had changed dramaticly. It wasn't a bad change.. at all. Even Rika would have fallen backwards into a chair at that moment, staring at him with her mouth hanging open, probably even drooling to go with it. He had shot up over a foot since the last time she had seen him, and the farm work he had to do every morning and evening had perfected the rest of his body. His blue plaid shirt was left open from the early-summer heat and humidity, revealing that even his chest was perfectly chizzled. This wasn't at all what she had been expecting, and she had to admit, she wasn't disappointed.
He nervously ran his fingers through his short brown hair, staring at her. "Wow." was all that he could make come out of his mouth as he looked her up and down.
"Yeah... wow." Jeri echoed.
The parents clearly noticed the teenager's sudden obsessions with the food, since both seemed to be so set on staring at the fried chicken and mashed potatoes on their plates. Takato and Jeri hadn't really spoken a sentance to each other, and now they sat opposite each other at the kitchen table, completly silent and bent on not looking at the other. Maybe it was just their nerves, or because the parents were sitting in the room also... Mrs. Matsuki couldn't put her finger on it.
"So how was the plane trip over?" Mr. Matsuki asked in forced japanese, hoping it would calm Jeri's nerves a bit to hear her native tongue spoken.
Jeri looked up and gave a small smile at him. "I do know english, and I'm perfectly fine with speaking in it." she responded back in japanese. Takato just looked back and forth between the two from the corner of his eye, and Jeri suddenly realised Takato's main problem with being so quiet. He had been forced to learn english and use it as his main language so long, he had forgotten some of the japanese words he had always spoke in. He was completly lost when Jeri had tried talking to him earlier, babbling on about something in japanese and all he had done was give a smile and nod.
She felt so stupid now.
The look across Jeri's face told the parents the entire story, and immediatly they both stood from the table.
"We'll leave you two alone."
Neither teenager argued as the room was soon empty of anybody but them.
It wasn't like they could have argued anyways, since they were back to their infatuation with the food on their plates.
It wasn't until five minutes later and Jeri spoke up, barely looking up at the boy across the table from her.
"I missed you." she spoke in rough english, but with enough sincerity and sweetness in her voice that Takato had no problem translating the stumbled-over words.
"I missed you too." Takato dragged his words out, losing all southern twang in them. Takato had always done that sort of thing before when he was thinking hard and long about something, and Jeri was sure that was one trait he would never lose.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
Takato looked up at the girl suddenly, meeting her deep hazel eyes.
"Ya don't have'ta pay for my thoughts, ya know."
A smile brushed across Jeri's face, and Takato's face grew puzzeled.
"What'd I say?" he asked with the southern accent ringing through his voice again.
"You're cute with that accent."
A blush crept across Takato's cheeks, and he stared down at his food again, just as the small cuckoo clock above the doorway leading to the living started it's ringing. Hours had already flown by like minutes, and it was now nine o'clock. It suddenly hit both teenagers that they had been sitting at the dinner table for almost two and a half hours, picking at their food nervously.
Takato stood up quietly, finally picking a piece of chicken off his plate and pushing it into his mouth, barely making it fit. After swallowing, he couldn't help but chuckle under his breath at the look on Jeri's face. Back in Japan he had always been relatively proper with his eating habits, and he realised he had just broken all that right in front of her. He gave a grin towards her that made her knees go weak.
"Mom'll have a fit if I don't eat sumthin'." he explained, then brought his voice up almost an entire octave in a mock tone of his mother.
"Y'all eat all your dinn'a now, we dun' want any of it to go 'ta waste!"
The look across Takato's face mixed with the accent and high-pitched impression of his mother made the ice between them crack and Jeri to burst into a fit of laughter.
"A'ight." Takato grinned again, and stretched, causing his blue plaid shirt, now buttoned up properly, to raise up and reveal a bit of his stomach. "Well I'm goin' to bed."
"Already?" Jeri gave a glance at the clock.
"I get up at 'bout five in the mornin', Jeri." Takato shrugged, and Jeri felt the 'I'm so stupid' feeling crawl back in her stomach again.
"Goodnight, then." Jeri said quietly, and smiled at him.
He gave her the flawless grin again and nodded. "G'night."
With that, he was gone, already halfway up the staircase that led to the bedrooms on the second level of the home.
The sun came up two hours before Jeri woke up, wrapped in two different hand-made quilts. At first she wondered where she was, sitting up and looking around, but then it hit her and her eyes drifted to the clock on the large wooden dresser. She about fell off the bed reading the time on the clock. It was nine already?!
With that she was out of bed, but stopped short hearing gentle laughing at the other side of the room.
She quickly looked in the direction of the doorway where the perfectly sculpted boy stood, grinning from ear to ear.
"Well g'mornin'." he said in a cheery voice, his grin broadening even more.
"Good morning." Jeri said plainly, groaning under her breath at how stupid she must look right now.
Takato must have read the look on her face, for soon he took a few steps into the room and turned his teasing grin into a soft smile, the smile Jeri had originally fallen for in the first place.
"Mom's got breakfast cookin' downstairs. Ain't no hurry, really. Takes her a long time, 'specially when we got guests." he continued on and on as she ducked behind the door of the small bathroom attatched to the guest room she was staying in and changed clothing. "But I told'er to make this breakfast real special."
"Why?" Jeri asked, her voice a bit muffled from coming through a closed door.
"Ya still my girlfriend, right?"
A bit of silence make Takato's heart race, but soon Jeri came out from around the doorway, tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, and he understood immediatly.
"Jeri, ya should know I'd never leave ya! Not for nobody!" Without another word Takato's strong tanned arms were wrapped around the girl, who couldn't stop smiling through her tears.
"Not for anybody, Takato. Not for anybody." she corrected, and Takato let out a bit of a laugh, pushing her away from him gently to look into her eyes.
"Anybody, then. Not for anybody." Takato's southern twang left him again as tears flooded his eyes, but it soon came back to him when he got flustered.
"I-I nev'a stopped lovin' ya."
Jeri's smile broadened and she wiped her face with the back of her hand, trying to rid herself of the tears that streamed down her face. "Ask Rika if you don't believe me. I literally never stopped talking about you."
Neither wanted to leave the comfort of the moment. The moment both had waited so long for and longed for so badly, but a voice called up from the kitchen so loud that it echoed around the entire house.
"BREAKFAST!!"
With that, Takato let go of Jeri completly, but brushed a piece of her long brown hair behind her ear.
"Sit beside me this time?" Jeri asked in an innocent voice, and Takato smiled.
"Of course, Jeri. Of course."
But I'm working off a prehistoric computer with a prehistoric wordpad being the only friggin' program I can use on it. It won't format or anything. The only things it can do is allow me to type, change the color of the font, change the size of the font, change the font itself, and save the document.
.... thank god we're getting a new computer soon.
This is one of the only fanfics I've ever created where I have had fun writing it. This and Sky of Dreams, that's about it. Yes, I am a die-hard romantic.. I think that's obvious.
But I'm also a big fan of country music (that's all KEITH'S fault.. it always is *gets whacked by him*) and those really cute TV shows and movies where the two people fall in love in some country scene. It's probably why I was horrified at the thought of moving to Indiana from North Carolina (sorry all the people reading this who are from Indiana.. nothing against your state, I just love my own state a bit more).
As you can tell, I placed Takato in North Carolina, and based the basic Rika character off myself, also added a bit of myself (with a mix of Keith.. scary as that is) as Becky in the previous chapter.
So in a way, I've put a piece of myself in the story even though it's about my two best friends *laughs*.
Okay enough ranting from me--
Read on.
-----
I work a forty hour week and I earn my keep
And I try to walk proud and tall
I keep my nose to the ground, I don't get behind
And I don't back up at all
Well my neck's a little red, my collar's blue
I sip a little coffee, and I drink a little booze
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I'm my daddy's spittin' image and my mama's pride and joy
There ain't nothing down home that I really don't enjoy
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I drive a pickup truck and I don't pass the buck
And I always speak my mind
I'm hooked on T.V., Rolaids, and B.C.'s
And I know how to have a good time
I'm a little bit rowdy and a little bit tame
Ain't no way I'm ever gonna change
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I'm my daddy's spittin' image and my mama's pride and joy
There ain't nothing down home that I really don't enjoy
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
Well I must admit that I've mellowed a bit
Father Time can slow you down
I'm still doin' all I used to do
It just takes a little longer now
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I'm my daddy's spittin' image and my mama's pride and joy
There ain't nothing down home that I really don't enjoy
'Cause I'm an all American country boy
I'm just a country boy
A good ol' country boy
----- All American Country Boy - Alan Jackson -----
Jeri learned quickly that finding your way through Raleigh-Durham International Airport, or "RDU International" as Becky had called it over and over again, was like a rat finding it's way through a giant maze. And that was just to find the baggage claim desk.
Jeri popped a few quarters into a soda machine. At least the brands of soda were relatively the same here in America, and she figured she would get used to the new currency soon enough. The machine made a rumbling sound and the bottom opening clanked as a bright blue can came into view. Jeri picked it up and popped the top of it, eyeing the general area around her as she took a sip. She planned that Mr. Matsuki would be a little late picking her up, and she made sure in her mind she'd be expecting the worst. After all Becky told her about 'red-necks' and 'hill-billys', Jeri just shuddered. Takato's family couldn't possibly be like that.
Jeri's eye caught a slightly famillier face in the crowd of people, and she perked up, holding her hand up high in the air. "Mr. Matsuki!!"
The man dressed in a pair of worn-looking blue-jeans and a relatively nice red shirt looked her way, and blinked twice, trying to place in his mind where he had seen the girl before, and then he smiled.
"Jeri! Look at you!" Takato's father placed his hands on the girl's shoulder and smiled again. She could tell by the look on his face he wasn't ready for a girl in a black leather skirt and long brown hair to be standing there, but the same old innocent Jeri Katou instead.
But here she was, looking like she came straight off a model runway somewhere, which was the look Rika had purposely tried to accomplish on the girl.
"Well, we had better get goin'." Mr. Matsuki said in an accent Jeri wasn't accustomed to, but it had been the same accent Becky had spoken in, and the one that the American flight attendant had used also. She figured it was common among this area, and Becky had told her that also. It was called a "southern" accent, and Jeri felt kind of stupid when Becky explained to her what "y'all" meant.
Jeri nodded in responce to him, and was led out of the airport that even Mr. Matsuki didn't seem too famillier with.
She braced herself for some semi-broken-down truck painted some off-blue color as they walked through the large parking lot, and was surprised when instead they stopped in front of a more modern looking red pick-up truck, and with a quick beep from the truck as Mr. Matsuki hit the keychain, it looked as if it had keyless entry as well. The nervous feeling in Jeri's stomach slowly started to dissolve. Sure, the truck was a bit dirty, but she didn't mind that. Becky had explained the concept of the farm life in North Carolina to her, and dirt was just a normal part of the job.
Jeri couldn't help but have the slightest bit of respect for Mr. Matsuki. By what Becky told her on the flight, the entire Matsuki family had to make all their own food. Grow it all, can it all, bake it all-- Takato probably forgot all about microwavable dinners after that. It wouldn't have been an easy thing for them to do.
After both were in the truck and they pulled out of the parking lot, Takato's father spoke up.
"Takato's looking forward to seeing you. He hasn't stopped talking about you for weeks."
"Weeks?" Jeri said, a bit amused. "I found out I was coming Thursday." she still stumbled over the english words she wasn't too famillier with her yet, and Mr. Matsuki just smiled patiently as Jeri repeated some words over about five times before saying it correctly.
"Well your parents had to check with us before 'ya came o'er."
Jeri shrugged. "Yeah. I guess."
The trip lasted those hours everyone had told her it'd take, if not longer, and it had been mostly silent except for the country station playing on the radio. Jeri was almost lulled to sleep by the peaceful surroundings after they had driven out of Raleigh. It seemed to be nothing but tobacco fields for miles and miles, and a sunset fading in the distance. The sun had mostly vanished below the horizon that seemed to be perfectly flat and go on forever when the truck pulled into a long dirt road, which Jeri realised was just one big dirt driveway.
Soon through the hundreds of pine trees that surrounded the path on either sides you could see the edge of a barn and silo set back a bit in a field, the farmhouse standing almost three stories tall ahead of them, the panaling on the side colored a faint blue that looked almost purple with the red light from the fading sun bouncing off it. Just along side the farmhouse was a large wooden fence, clearly hand-made, that held almost six differant horses that called out to the truck in their own little language as it drove by.
Jeri sat in a complete silence at everything she was witnessing. It was perfect in every single way, and Jeri couldn't quite figure out why she thought so.
The truck parked in front of the farmhouse, right in front of the white steps that led up to a slightly worn-looking front porch which was home to a basket of some fruit that had been picked that day and two rocking chairs on either side of that.
Jeri gave a quick yank on her suitcase as she stepped out of the truck, and stood not quite sure of what to do, but Mr. Matsuki's gentle yet strong shove on her shoulder sent her walking up the steps, and hesitatingly opening the front door of the house, taking a few steps in and placing her suitcase just beside the stairs that were only feet from the front door.
"We're home!" Mr. Matsuki called, and immediatly Jeri was welcomed with not only Mrs. Matsuki bustling into the room, but the smells of the 'southern food' Becky had also told her about floating through the house from the kitchen.
After exchanging hellos, Mrs. Matsuki studied Jeri's uneasy look and gave a smile. "Takato's finishing up some work out in the field, he'll be in any moment now."
Jeri gave a silent nod and let out a shuddering sigh, causing a smile from both adults that had already started walking towards the kitchen, talking about something Jeri didn't necessarily understand.
"Jeri, sweety, go ahead and sit on the couch if you want. Dinner won't be ready for awhile."
Without waiting for the end of Mrs. Matsuki's remark, Jeri not only sat on the couch, but flopped across it, closing her eyes and giving another shaky sigh.
Why was she so nervous about this? This was Takato after all. Sure she hadn't seen him in years--
Jeri clutched her stomach tightly, as if it would make all these butterflies go away, but it didn't. The sound of the back door opening make the butterfly population double, and the sound of a deep masculine voice not at all sounding like Mr. Matsuki's doubled that.
Jeri sat up straight and looked over the edge of the couch, hearing her name said a few times, and immediatly she ran her fingers through her hair and stood up straight. She grasped her hands behind her back and watched the large white doorway leading to the kitchen across the room.
She knew just by logic that the back door was placed just out of her sights, and it's why all she could see were Mr. and Mrs. Matsuki looking towards the wall she couldn't see, and speaking.
Now and then the other deep voice spoke up, sounding almost as shakey as hers probably was at the time, and she just wanted to curse at him if he didn't show himself soon. Before it really registered in her mind, the boy had stepped into the doorway, and was just as frozen in his place as she was.
It finally clicked, and she whispered his name under her breath. "Takato."
She had been right, he had changed dramaticly. It wasn't a bad change.. at all. Even Rika would have fallen backwards into a chair at that moment, staring at him with her mouth hanging open, probably even drooling to go with it. He had shot up over a foot since the last time she had seen him, and the farm work he had to do every morning and evening had perfected the rest of his body. His blue plaid shirt was left open from the early-summer heat and humidity, revealing that even his chest was perfectly chizzled. This wasn't at all what she had been expecting, and she had to admit, she wasn't disappointed.
He nervously ran his fingers through his short brown hair, staring at her. "Wow." was all that he could make come out of his mouth as he looked her up and down.
"Yeah... wow." Jeri echoed.
The parents clearly noticed the teenager's sudden obsessions with the food, since both seemed to be so set on staring at the fried chicken and mashed potatoes on their plates. Takato and Jeri hadn't really spoken a sentance to each other, and now they sat opposite each other at the kitchen table, completly silent and bent on not looking at the other. Maybe it was just their nerves, or because the parents were sitting in the room also... Mrs. Matsuki couldn't put her finger on it.
"So how was the plane trip over?" Mr. Matsuki asked in forced japanese, hoping it would calm Jeri's nerves a bit to hear her native tongue spoken.
Jeri looked up and gave a small smile at him. "I do know english, and I'm perfectly fine with speaking in it." she responded back in japanese. Takato just looked back and forth between the two from the corner of his eye, and Jeri suddenly realised Takato's main problem with being so quiet. He had been forced to learn english and use it as his main language so long, he had forgotten some of the japanese words he had always spoke in. He was completly lost when Jeri had tried talking to him earlier, babbling on about something in japanese and all he had done was give a smile and nod.
She felt so stupid now.
The look across Jeri's face told the parents the entire story, and immediatly they both stood from the table.
"We'll leave you two alone."
Neither teenager argued as the room was soon empty of anybody but them.
It wasn't like they could have argued anyways, since they were back to their infatuation with the food on their plates.
It wasn't until five minutes later and Jeri spoke up, barely looking up at the boy across the table from her.
"I missed you." she spoke in rough english, but with enough sincerity and sweetness in her voice that Takato had no problem translating the stumbled-over words.
"I missed you too." Takato dragged his words out, losing all southern twang in them. Takato had always done that sort of thing before when he was thinking hard and long about something, and Jeri was sure that was one trait he would never lose.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
Takato looked up at the girl suddenly, meeting her deep hazel eyes.
"Ya don't have'ta pay for my thoughts, ya know."
A smile brushed across Jeri's face, and Takato's face grew puzzeled.
"What'd I say?" he asked with the southern accent ringing through his voice again.
"You're cute with that accent."
A blush crept across Takato's cheeks, and he stared down at his food again, just as the small cuckoo clock above the doorway leading to the living started it's ringing. Hours had already flown by like minutes, and it was now nine o'clock. It suddenly hit both teenagers that they had been sitting at the dinner table for almost two and a half hours, picking at their food nervously.
Takato stood up quietly, finally picking a piece of chicken off his plate and pushing it into his mouth, barely making it fit. After swallowing, he couldn't help but chuckle under his breath at the look on Jeri's face. Back in Japan he had always been relatively proper with his eating habits, and he realised he had just broken all that right in front of her. He gave a grin towards her that made her knees go weak.
"Mom'll have a fit if I don't eat sumthin'." he explained, then brought his voice up almost an entire octave in a mock tone of his mother.
"Y'all eat all your dinn'a now, we dun' want any of it to go 'ta waste!"
The look across Takato's face mixed with the accent and high-pitched impression of his mother made the ice between them crack and Jeri to burst into a fit of laughter.
"A'ight." Takato grinned again, and stretched, causing his blue plaid shirt, now buttoned up properly, to raise up and reveal a bit of his stomach. "Well I'm goin' to bed."
"Already?" Jeri gave a glance at the clock.
"I get up at 'bout five in the mornin', Jeri." Takato shrugged, and Jeri felt the 'I'm so stupid' feeling crawl back in her stomach again.
"Goodnight, then." Jeri said quietly, and smiled at him.
He gave her the flawless grin again and nodded. "G'night."
With that, he was gone, already halfway up the staircase that led to the bedrooms on the second level of the home.
The sun came up two hours before Jeri woke up, wrapped in two different hand-made quilts. At first she wondered where she was, sitting up and looking around, but then it hit her and her eyes drifted to the clock on the large wooden dresser. She about fell off the bed reading the time on the clock. It was nine already?!
With that she was out of bed, but stopped short hearing gentle laughing at the other side of the room.
She quickly looked in the direction of the doorway where the perfectly sculpted boy stood, grinning from ear to ear.
"Well g'mornin'." he said in a cheery voice, his grin broadening even more.
"Good morning." Jeri said plainly, groaning under her breath at how stupid she must look right now.
Takato must have read the look on her face, for soon he took a few steps into the room and turned his teasing grin into a soft smile, the smile Jeri had originally fallen for in the first place.
"Mom's got breakfast cookin' downstairs. Ain't no hurry, really. Takes her a long time, 'specially when we got guests." he continued on and on as she ducked behind the door of the small bathroom attatched to the guest room she was staying in and changed clothing. "But I told'er to make this breakfast real special."
"Why?" Jeri asked, her voice a bit muffled from coming through a closed door.
"Ya still my girlfriend, right?"
A bit of silence make Takato's heart race, but soon Jeri came out from around the doorway, tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, and he understood immediatly.
"Jeri, ya should know I'd never leave ya! Not for nobody!" Without another word Takato's strong tanned arms were wrapped around the girl, who couldn't stop smiling through her tears.
"Not for anybody, Takato. Not for anybody." she corrected, and Takato let out a bit of a laugh, pushing her away from him gently to look into her eyes.
"Anybody, then. Not for anybody." Takato's southern twang left him again as tears flooded his eyes, but it soon came back to him when he got flustered.
"I-I nev'a stopped lovin' ya."
Jeri's smile broadened and she wiped her face with the back of her hand, trying to rid herself of the tears that streamed down her face. "Ask Rika if you don't believe me. I literally never stopped talking about you."
Neither wanted to leave the comfort of the moment. The moment both had waited so long for and longed for so badly, but a voice called up from the kitchen so loud that it echoed around the entire house.
"BREAKFAST!!"
With that, Takato let go of Jeri completly, but brushed a piece of her long brown hair behind her ear.
"Sit beside me this time?" Jeri asked in an innocent voice, and Takato smiled.
"Of course, Jeri. Of course."