Oh yes I am back and better than ever!! This story is much more thought out and I think just all around better. There are some reasons that are easily explained by my disclaimer.
DISCALAIMER: I am only gonna say this once this time. I do not own Xiaolin Showdown. Nothing is mine but my OC and the things that she does. Riku is the OC created by my co-writer, Clay Bailey. Yes that really is his name. Well, he came up with half of the plot. All of the writing is mine, however I may steal clips and phrases from the Role Play that this originated from.
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Hatsumi stood in front of the large temple. The courtyard was clean and smelled fragrant. Flowers overflowed from their beds and their pots. Past it were large rolling mountains that were topped with snow. There were spacious lawns that were well kept and trees here and there.
Finally she snapped out of the trance the beautiful landscape that had captivated her. She continued up the walkway to the temple's entrance, her bags slightly dragging along beside her. Her legs groaned in protest. They were still stiff from sitting in the airplane, then the bus, and then the taxi for several hours. She had had to travel all the way from Korea to get here for her training. She had never been quite the same as other children. She always felt this little extra something tugging at the back of her mind, but she had no idea what it was.
The main front room was very large as well. It was decorated with stone pillars and scrolls of all different sizes and colors. The only thing it seemed to be missing was… People. According to the information that she had been sent, there were several others of her age who had similar specialties that she faced. However, there was no one here.
Hatsumi had never been a particularly patient or polite girl. They had sent for her, so where was everyone? It was already eleven in the morning. They couldn't still be asleep, now could they? Lazy Xiaolin Monks! She thought, feeling slightly irritated. So she decided to do something about it.
"HELLO! ANYBODY HERE?" she yelled, letting her annoyance seep into her tone. Several moments later she heard feet meeting wooden floor. A face appeared from the doorway, followed by a tall, thin body. The boy was scowling, his brows furrowed in thought. Then he saw her and stopped.
"What are y— OH… So you must be the new student that Master Fung was telling us about," he muttered, not appearing to be speaking to her at all.
Oh great, she thought, now I'm being ignored. She tried to smile pleasantly at him… And failed. "Uh yeah. That's why," she said holding up her suitcases, "I have these, which I might add, are heavy and I would like to put them away."
Raimundo rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. "Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry. Your room's right down the hall. Follow me," he said turning back the way he came. He pointed out the other rooms such as the shower room and the kitchen on his way there. "My name's Raimundo, by the way, but you can call me Rai."
"Thanks… Rai. I'm Hatsumi, but I would not recommend calling me Hat if you would like to keep your nose where it is," she said, smiling sweetly.
His eyebrows raised, a hint of amusement in his eyes, "Yeah, I got it. No need to tell me twice," he chuckled. Her eyes flashed. She hated it when people made fun of her. Being a small Asian girl, she was always discriminated against because of her size. People always underestimated her strength and power. However, she was not able to lash back with a derisive response. They had reached the hall that contained all of the "rooms." They were more like stalls separated by curtains that could easily be moved back, allowing the rooms to merge. Just as she set down her bags, she heard someone groan and the shuffle of blankets as someone got up from their bed.
She looked out the door just in time to see someone stumble off. There was a trail of something on the floor. It was bright red. Was that… Blood? A feeling that Hatsumi had never thought before flared up inside her. It was confusing and new. It was worry and fear and warmth. Why did she even care about this mystery boy? She didn't know his name, she had barely even see his blood soaked face, and she still couldn't fight off these feelings. She would never admit to anyone that she actually was afraid. What if he was badly hurt? What if he had lost too much blood already? And more importantly, why did she even care? Not that Hatsumi was a selfish or bad person, mind you. She had just learned the hard way that people can not be trusted. They will just use you for what they can get and toss you away when they are done. She had to appear callous or unfeeling in order to protect herself.
But all the same, she found her following him down the hallway. She finally managed to catch up with him. His steps were coming slower now. He appeared to be off balance and this made another spark of worry flare up in her.
"Are you alright?" she said in a voice so soothing, she was sure that it couldn't have possibly have come from her own mouth. He looked down to her with blue eyes that seemed to be in pain. It made her heart break and she hated herself for it. Before he could say anything else, she began to explain. "I'm Hatsumi the new student here and I've got the room next to yours and I saw you and thought you might need help."
Surprisingly, he laughed. A weak laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "Aw, nah, I'll be just fine after I get some bandages on these here cuts. Nothing ta get worked up about."
There's no need to be a hero, she thought, taking his arm. "All the same, I am going to help you, so you just better get used to it."
"Alright," he chuckled, letting her pull him to the temple's infirmary. Once there, he sat in a chair, so she could access his wounds without getting a ladder. He began to peel the bloody, shredded remains of his shirt. She felt some color seep into her cheeks as he did this. However she ignored it, and began to get the necessary supplies for bandaging wounds.
First she took a damp washcloth and began to dab off the blood from his skin. His eyes closed as the cool cotton ghosted across the sides of his face. There were several small cuts there. She disinfected them, but didn't bother to put on any band aids. Then she got to work on his chest. The removal of blood revealed perfectly tanned and muscled skin. There was one gash across the upper center of his chest. It wasn't deep enough for stitches, but sure had caused a large amount of blood loss.
"When and how did this happen?" she asked and she dabbed iodine onto the cut. It stained his skin yellow where it touched.
"Ahhh… I was out last night on a mission. I didn't get back until about four in the mornin' and I just passed out in my room when I returned. That's about it."
She stopped in the middle of wrapping him in gauze, a mask of pure horror on her face. "And you didn't get any help with it? You could have died! You lost so much blood…"
"It's nice ta know that ya care… But really. This is just a little scratch. Nothin' really." He coughed as a reminder that her hands were frozen in place against his skin. Hatsumi blushed again and finished with the bandaging.
"Still," she mumbled, "Don't do that again." She was staring intently at the floor.
He smiled again and tilted her face up to his so she was looking back at him, "Thanks, Hatsumi. Call me Clay."
She should have—normally would have—swatted his hand away from her face. Instead she just nodded and gently removed her chin from his grasp. "Sure. Anything you say."
Just then his stomach growled. "I guess that means lunch is next on the list for my invalid," she teased, getting up. He followed her with a smile, into the kitchen. He sat at the table and allowed her to go through the cupboards to gather food for their lunch.
While she had her head stuck in a cabinet, one other student filed into the kitchen.
"Oh so the lazy cowboy decided to finally wake up?" he asked mockingly. His brown eyes were full of apparent boredom.
"Shut up, Riku," he growled, "Ya shouldn't be talkin' about things you don't know about."
Then Hatsumi's head popped up from behind the counter, holding up a bag of chips. "Are these good?" she asked Clay. Riku raised his eyebrows.
"And the new girl finally got here," he snorted, "Don't bother getting him his food. Let him do it. He seriously needs to man up. Heh… Despite his size, he's such a weakling. Just a fluffy little teddy bear that can't hurt a soul."
Clay's eyes flashed with anger. He quickly sprung up out of his seat, towards Riku. He tightly grasped his shirt in his fists and slammed him against the wall. "I told ya," he seethed, "Ta not talk about things ya don't understand!" he eased up on his grip, letting Riku slide to the floor. "And ya should be glad I am kind or your bones would be ground ta dust already." He left the room. Riku sat down on the floor and Hatsumi quickly left him, her arms full of food.
He had gone to his room, so she followed, but entered her own. Clay had looked really angry, and even though Riku had said he was a teddy bear… Hatsumi wasn't so sure. She pressed back a corner of the curtain and pushed his plate over into his room. She let the curtain fall back and she turned back to her bags and began to unpack. There was a small chest of drawers that she put her clothes in. On top of it, she put a picture frame of her family, a small stack of books, and her iPod. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was being watched.
She spun around and saw that the curtain was fully pushed back. Clay's room and her own were merged together into one. He was sitting on his mat, the plate of food next to him, and his eyes where fixed upon her form.
She turned away completely from the chest and walked slowly to sit across from him. She sank to the ground a few feet away from him, watching him warily. His eyes appeared to be laughing in a sad kind of way.
"Ya don't need ta sit all the way over there. I promise I won't bite," he winked. She smiled timidly and scooted forward so that they were only a foot apart. He never took his eyes off of her, but began to eat the lunch that she had taken the time to prepare.
"Really, now, don't be afraid of me," he whispered, his face suddenly serious, "I really am a teddy bear. I never hurt anyone unless they attack. I promise not to hurt ya."
She nodded, "I wasn't scared," she giggled, "I just wanted to give you some space. I never want to bother people when they are angry, because I am afraid that I will just make them feel worse."
His eye brows arched in surprise, "Really now… It's good ta know that ya care," he said with a crooked smile.
"It's good to know I have a friend," she replied.
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Heh, done. What do you think?? It might be another day or two before I update this one, since I am still trying to finish up my other one.
The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update, comprendes??
