Yeah, I revised it a little. It may seem boring at first – so people told me – so please continue through the whole thing. Don't like it? that's fine. Twitch Please R&R.

Chapter One

Raimundo's Point of View

I have now been Shoku Warrior for a year and, apparently, I have recently been messing missions to save the world, etcetera, very badly. In the end, I probably was able to save the day. Yet, it was my responsibility to lead my greatest allies – but more importantly, greatest friends – into battle, so it was not such a great feat anymore. So is it boredom that gives me continuing spirit, or shame that provides intimate envy?

At that certain day's workout tourney, I felt great as usual. I owned everyone, to put it in brief.

There was no pandemonium – it just happened in a swing of my Blade of the Nebula. With it, I didn't give Clay a chance to use his Big Bang Meteorang with my agility, lassoed him with wind (wow, how ironic is that?), and threw him into a pool of water. I wanted to gloat, but as the Shoku Warrior, it was my liability to be and act like a role model.

Next came Omi. His Shimo Staff extended to become a pole arm axe thing as he charged for me. I just stood there until he came within arm's length, and I flew up into the air as he charged into a wall.

Everything was going fine until it was Kimiko's turn to fight. "It looks like someone whose name starts with an 'r' is gonna get beaten up today," Kimiko regaled. "Who?" asked Omi, tilting his head to the side, and Clay slapped himself in the forehead.

I was about to strike her and win the tourney, but for a split second, I did not move and gave Kimiko a chance to attack. I would have easily countered, but she, too, had great dexterity. Once Kimiko called out, "Arrow Sparrow!" she threw a triad of metallic birds at me, which immediately burst into flame. I offset by exclaiming, "Blade of the Nebula!" and slashed a lucid blast of cold wind.

There were three things that made me mess this up. First, being jaded by the other battles, I was quite tired. Second, my assiduousness just abruptly failed me. Finally, I had some reason why it DID fail me, and that, at the moment, was a complete mystery. So I did not swerve correctly, and the wind somehow had a chemical reaction to the fire in the birds, rupturing a huge, opaque veil of smoke.

Not only was the heat of the smoke blinding, the aftermath of my wind was still very strong in the air. I tried to blow the smoke away, the air that was around me and within my respiratory system was impure, so I was not able to. Trying to grab onto something, I used my Blade to try to lasso onto something to pull myself in. Immediately, I got a hit. I attempted to draw myself in quickly with a rapid yank, but it looked like I drew it in instead. It seemed like that thing landed on me, and it was surprisingly soft. The smoke, out of the blue, just cleared up in a flash, and I realized what had landed on me was a bemused Kimiko.

Kimiko's Point of View

I was trying to find my way through the clouds of smoke one second, and the next I was pulled in by an especially strong zephyr and landed on something very soft and warm. For a moment, everything in my world felt like I was soaring above the clouds. Then, my fantasy ended for a moment as the smoldering haziness as I saw that I landed on Rai. Then, I stared into his luscious, emerald eyes. When he smirked, I kinda always felt like slapping him across the face. But when he was innocent like this, his face was pure and handsome. I wished that fantasy never ended.

Raimundo's Point of View

Kimiko and I stared at each other for what seemed like forever as I looked into those beautiful eyes of blue. They reminded me of the waves back in Brazil. Those waves I could ride on for quite a while before I became tired. But these waves right in front of me? I could stare at these forever and a day. Yes, "forever and a day." That was a part of a proverb I found on Master Fung's desk. Personally, I thought that sounded pretty nice, so I kept it in my memories so that I could say it one day.

But let me get back to the story now. I heard Omi talking to Clay: "What is down with Kimiko and Raimundo, Clay?" "I think you mean 'what is up with that', and I don't know." I nudged Kimiko off me and flushed a deep pink. 'I can't let people know that there's something weird going on with my feelings," I thought to myself. "Kimiko, girl, I could have gotten up easier if your huge ego wouldn't have weighed you down so much." Kimiko's embarrassment became infuriation. "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN RAIMUNDO PEDROSA?"

"Hate to interrupt your little love fest," said Dojo smugly (Kimiko and I blushed really badly at this). "But I have a very bad ear infection – OW! So I'd appreciate it if you could just climb aboard and find it before I – OW! Need to go see the gulp hospital monk." I rolled my eyes, and then told Kimiko to go get the Shen Gong Wu scroll and get ready for the trip.

Ruwot: That's it for now!

Dojo: Stupid ear infection…you know what to do!

Ruwot: Twitch, twitch