Hello readers! This is a spin-off fanfiction for my fic A Closed Fist to An Open Palm to celebrate Valentine's day! This fic is a little treat for you guys because the next chapter for CFOP is taking longer than I expected.
If you are a new reader, I recommend reading the first two chapters of A Closed Fist to An Open Palm so you can understand more about my OC Zenn goto and the dynamic he has with Jasmine.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it!
An Open Heart to a Closed One
A spin-off chapter for CFOP
Chocolate. A taste and smell that Jasmine Makurada hates to her very core. She can't stand its richness, she can't stand its texture, and most importantly, she can't stand what it symbolizes.
It was Valentine's day in Duel Academy, which means love was in the air. And Jasmine wasn't having any of it.
The sickening aroma of sweet cocoa and toffee crept into Jasmine's nostrils as other students around in her class exchange boxes of chocolate to each other, sickening her with its overly-rich bouquet.
Jasmine sulked in her seat, more content to get her work done than participate in a fake holiday. She let out a scoff as she watched several girls squeal in delight as they opened their Valentine's gifts, indulging in the fancy treats that their loves gave to them.
She was used to being alone on this particular day. Her abrasive attitude made it hard for anyone to approach her, let alone give her a gift. What she wasn't used to was when people around her were getting gifts and acknowledgment.
Jasmine felt envious. She had never gotten a Valentine's day gift from anyone. And to see others getting one only made her hate the holiday even more so.
'They're just gonna cheat on you as soon as they see someone prettier than you...All boys are the same...' Jasmine declared as she tried to decry their generosity.
She wasn't going to be like the other girls, No. She's committed to being alone for this Valentine's, and she's going to like it.
Except she never did.
"J-Jasmine?" A voice squeaked next to her. Jasmine let out a growl, annoyed to have someone approach her during her studies.
The girl looked up to see a boy, hiding his face behind a small gift box. Judging by the long blonde ponytail, it was her friend Zenn Goto.
"What's in his hands, and why is he holding it over his face? Does he think he's too good for her, and so he needs to hide his face from me!?" These accusing thoughts, spurred through her looming anger, riled Jasmine even further, causing her to let out her pent-up frustration on the martial artist duelist.
"What is it, dork? Can't you see I'm studying here?!" Jasmine barked back through gritted teeth. The hiding boy flinched in reply, taken aback by Jasmine's snappiness.
"...I-I-I..." Zenn started to shake as he stammered, unable to spit it out. Jasmine glared at him, her patience running thin.
"I-I-I What?!" Jasmine copied the boy's stuttering. Zenn struggled to respond, shaking even more violently than before.
"Out of with it, dork! I don't have all day!" Jasmine demanded. Zenn didn't respond. Jasmine's confrontational attitude snuffed whatever courage he had before he approached her.
"That's it! You better have a good explanation for wasting my time!" Fed up with Zenn's meandering, she quickly got out of her seat and snatched the box away from Zenn, unveiling the boy's face.
Zenn's emerald eye's widened in shock before he buried his hands to his face, his cheeks reddening like a ripened tomato.
"I-..." Zenn tried to speak only for his throat to close up, suffocating whatever words he had in mind. He would wordlessly point at the box that Jasmine took from him, his hands shielding his blushing face.
"It's f-for y-you..." He managed in a stilted mumble.
Jasmine fell silent before a blush of her own warmed her cheeks.
"W-What?" Jasmine. Taking her stunned silence as permission to continue, Zenn would take a deep breath, trying to inhale as much courage as he could before he spoke.
"I h-heard from Mindy...You never get anything for Valentine's day." Jasmine wordlessly looked to her right. There, sitting in the next level of desks above the two, was Mindy. Around the black-haired girl was a hoard of heart-shaped boxes and bouquets, all given to her by other students who longed for her heart.
Mindy gave Jasmine a playful wink before leaving the two to their own devices, giggling to herself as she did so.
"S-So, I thought...I w-would give you s-something." Zenn finished, Jasmine turned her attention back to him, her eyes still flashing with shock and surprise.
"T-thanks..." Jasmine replied in a mumble. Cautiously and nervously, the girl opened up the gift.
Riceballs. Laid out neatly in the box was a parade of heart-shaped riceballs, each of them of differing colors, resembling a rainbow. They looked to be hand-made by Zenn himself, each delectable snack neatly sculpted with a pair of precise hands as they rested underneath an oak leaf.
"She t-told me you d-don't like c-chocolate," Zenn added, still covering his face.
Jasmine fell silent once again. Unsure of what to say.
She expected to get nothing for Valentine's.
She expected to pass through this holiday bitterly.
She expected to be alone today.
Yet here she is, receiving a thoughtful gift.
From Zenn.
The total dork that acts like an addled monk.
The total dork that would speak in riddles and useless quotes.
The total dork that made riceballs just for her.
Peaking through his fingers, Zenn looked to see Jasmine, Her almond brown eyes now welling with tears.
Before Zenn could respond, Jasmine lunged towards him, her arms wrapped around his neck. She rested her head upon Zenn's shoulder, a stream of hot tears hitting his red jacket.
Zenn's locked-up in shock, feeling a hot sensation burn throughout his entire body.
"Thank you..." Was all Jasmine could say. Zenn forced his frozen arms to lightly hug back, unsure of whether or not Jasmine would allow him.
"You Total Dork..." She added on, hiding her smile.