Heya! Uhm, sorry again for the two months delay...? Well, better late than never right?
Anyways, special thanks for the AMAZING evanescentflame421 for beta reading this chapter! Really, you helped a lot 3
I said in the first chapter that this story wouldn't be more than three chapters long, but I take back what I said - it'll be four chapters long otherwise this chapter would get too big :/
Also, thanks for the reviews - the answers to each of your questions is right down here ;)
ForgetfulDaffodil - Haha, yup, Brazillians guys *sigh* Not just that. Handsome guys altogether are the problem lol
Kat - Ahhh, thanks! Actually, it always got me sad that the creators never tried to expand Raimundo's past story like Kim's or Clay's (even Omi's for the matter, since he got a whole episode about him looking for his real family). And, yup. Honestly, I never visited Copacabana, but I made a lot of researches around to give a nice description to it ;) So good to know that you could relate to that ! ^/^
MikanHZ - Oh, thank you! I'm Brazillian actually, so it's pretty easy for me when it comes to Raimundo's mother tongue - thought it was a nice idea to add a little bit more of Brazillian knowledge to the fic.
evanescentflame421 - Thanks! Uhm, you just got your wish! Raimundo and his cousin seeing each other on the way ;D
Faithful Followe - Thank you so much! I'm really glad fo this! *blushes*
Chapter 3 - A Pleasant, peculiar one
Clay started to get worried.
He woke up a little while after closing his eyes just to take a quick and harmless nap, and now two of his friends were missing.
Regarding Raimundo, it was to be expected. In normal situations, when there was no danger or any situation that could put his team in danger, the Brazilian was the first one to disappear; be it to take a nap or... well, go hook up with a girl somewhere.
This time, Clay went for the second option. A beautiful blond girl got his attention just before falling asleep and he knew Raimundo would also notice her sooner or later. In fact, it was just a matter of time for him to go out of sight. With the pretty girl by his side, of course.
Now Kimiko was a different story. Even if once in a while she did decide to move away from the group after noticing a product that got her attention, she'd never disappear without telling someone; like Raimundo did.
Omi said she did inform him (saying something like "Go walk in circles", which Clay assumed to be "Go walk around"), but Kimiko never went away without saying where she was going.
Something must have happened while he took that nap, Clay was sure about it. And something told him Raimundo was slightly responsible for that. He and that pretty blonde, to be exact.
Raising the brim of his hat with one hand, the cowboy looked for his cell phone inside the bag (a modern one, surprisingly easy to use, that Kimiko gave him as a birthday present) and quickly went for his Japanese friend's number in his contact list.
The phone emitted four beeps before directing him to the voicemail.
"Kim, it's me," he said, knowing she'd recognize his voice and the number recorded on her phone. "Where are ya? We're looking for ya."
He ended the call and turned his attention to Omi, sitting on the sand beside him, apparently distracted by the waves.
Gathering his things and remembering Dojo's presence on his head - who looked like he still was taking a little nap, Clay thought about what he should do next.
Raimundo always seemed to be able to find his group before they could even start looking for him (or even notice his absence). Moreover, he's already used to this place. It would be easier for him to find them rather than the other way around.
Opening his mouth to tell Omi they should start looking for Kimiko, Clay noticed Raimundo approaching from the western side of the beach with his surfboard in hand and... surprisingly alone.
The smile on his face and some red marks around his neck partially hidden by the hood of his green sweatshirt, however, did not escape Clay's eyes.
Yup, Kimiko was probably flipping the tables somewhere on this beach.
Clay sighed as Raimundo approached.
How long would this thing last?
"Hey," the smile didn't leave the Shoku Warrior's face as he switched his surfboard from one side to the other. His green eyes looking for a presence that was not there at the moment.
Clay sighed again.
"Where's Kim?"
"Ohhh, she went to walk in circles somewhere else," Omi waved his hand dismissively to Raimundo without turning his eyes from the waves in front of him, quickly answering the question as if signaling to his leader to stop talking so loudly that he muffled the sound of the waves.
Raimundo lifted one eyebrow.
"You mean 'walk around'," he corrected the Chinese boy who only replied with a "Yes, yes, whatnever," and another wave of his small hand.
Raimundo sighed, not bothering to correct the little monk once more and turned to Clay.
"You have any idea where she might've gone? We better go before Master Fung gets more pissed than he already might be," the Wind Warrior knew they already were in trouble for abusing a little too much of the time, but he also knew that they could still escape a worse lecture if they were quick.
Clay's stomach interrupted his thoughts with a loud and alarming growl.
Omi finally seemed to take his eyes off the waves to look at his American friend. His small brown eyes widened in surprise.
Even Dojo, who still was in a deep sleep under his hat and, so far, hadn't opened his eyes even with the unexpected change of movement, woke up in alarm as he lifted the piece of fabric from the cowboy's blond hair and took a quick look around. "What happened?! It sounded like a bear," his small green head frantically turned from one side to the other as he looked for said animal. "I didn't know there were bears in Braz-"
Clay's right hand quickly sunk the hat back to its initial position the moment he saw a group of people approaching the three monks enough to be able to spot the small eastern dragon on the top of his head.
A girl noticed how Clay and Raimundo stared at them with forced smiles, she raised one eyebrow at that but kept walking with the rest of her friends. Yet, she could've sworn she saw some kind of weird gecko on the top of that gringo's head...but it was probably her imagination.
Taking his heavy hand from over his head (as the dragon begged for air for being mercilessly crushed), Clay sighed, looking up, "Don't leave the hat yet, Dojo! There's more people in here than my aunt Nancy's house on a Thanksgiving day."
Raimundo rolled his eyes as the dragon's protests about his sensitive scales were muffled by the thick fabric of the cowboy's hat.
"You hungry, man?" the Brazilian said, ignoring Dojo's complaints.
Said cowboy rested his hand over his belly, "Sure thing, partner."
Raimundo gave him a sly smile and said, "Great, my cousin has a small diner nearby. I think we can still get there before he closes the place."
And with that, the threat of Master Fung's lecture was completely forgotten as he led his friends towards his cousin's diner.
Although she wouldn't admit it out loud, Kimiko was relieved to see she wouldn't need to keep her curiosity about Raimundo to herself, since Thiago seemed excited to tell her several things about his cousin.
His smile was charming, like Rai's - Kimiko noticed; although for her, the Shoku Warrior's was more captivating. Unlike Thiago, however, Raimundo seemed to know the effect his looks and charisma had on people, which made him even more confident to try to lure others.
This ability, according to Thiago, her leader acquired - no - realized he had - when still very young, every time he begged for something that had been denied at first.
The Japanese girl, however, suspected that Raimundo "accidentally" learned it through Thiago, since the last also seemed to have some kind of influence towards people around him.
The two continued to walk through the sand, its color seeming to grow darker and darker as the sun went down. The sky by now acquired a tone between day and night, with darker, purplish colors in the highest areas and pink and yellow ones in the small part around the sun.
The wind seemed to grow stronger, yet felt warm and comforting, although Kimiko started to feel a little bit cold. Her dark raven hair brushed against her cheeks a few times and the small plastic bag she held in one hand, containing two Styrofoam boxes full of snacks prepared by Thiago to give to his cousin, made a sharp noise, although not annoying.
The beach was practically empty by now and just a few people remained. All of them (probably tourists or students on their summer breaks) deciding to spread around the sand to get as far from each other as possible, next only to those who were acquainted, to try to get some more privacy to talk or just silently watch the sunset.
Gustavo - the guy whose name she finally managed to remember - followed her and Thiago incredibly silently. The little times Kimiko risked to look back at him, wondering if he still was following them, she found his eyes glued to his cell phone - a serious expression taking over his features.
Maybe because he probably didn't want to be there. Which was obvious - even more since it was Thiago's fault in a way, who practically dragged him along to go and see Raimundo. Or rather, the black-haired man seemed unable to find a nice way to say he didn't want to go...
The truth was, even though he insisted he wasn't willing to follow them, his brown eyes seemed to move toward Kimiko for brief seconds and he suddenly sighed, agreeing in the end.
Now, there he was... stuck with them because of his boss - though both seemed more like good friends than anything else.
Turning his attention back to Raimundo's cousin, Kimiko gave him a small smile as he explained how her leader got his fear for jellyfishes.
Rai was only six at the time and was going through a curiosity phase. He liked to hear people reading to him about animals - of all types and from everywhere around the world. From the large whales that swam through the ocean, to the smallest type of ants that could carry leaves as big as the nail of his little finger.
Everything fascinated him, and he learned a thing or two about jellyfishes a week before his family arrived to the coast of Alagoas - one of the northeastern Brazilian states. There, he ventured himself into the water without warning his parents or anyone else around and started his search for jellyfishes.
At first, since he didn't have much luck in his quest, he risked walking more and more toward the deepest parts of the sea until the water reached his chest - by now his parents noticed his absence and his mother screamed at the sight of her son so far from the sand.
Raimundo looked at his mother, startled by her sudden sign of despair when nothing seemed wrong in his eyes. Until he felt something relatively soft caressing his feet.
A small triumphant smile began to take over his features before a strong amount of water, pushed by the sudden appearance of a gust of wind, hit his whole body at once and he found himself completely immersed in the water.
For some reason, what once felt harmless as it rubbed his small feet, began to push him mercilessly away from the surface. His foot felt something long and thin wrapping around it, followed by small and sharp objects penetrating his skin like teeth.
Raimundo could remember very well from his studies that jellyfishes shouldn't have teeth. He tried desperately to break free, but the water didn't help him either as it pushed his body further away from the shallow part.
In a desperate attempt, the boy tried to return back to the surface by kicking his legs to get as much air as possible, but another wave hit his face before he could even suck oxygen into his lungs, filling them with more salty water instead. His whole body shook violently without him even knowing why. Although he tried to remove those tentacles from his feet and shins, he began to lose hope.
As mere seconds seemed more like hours, in a last attempt Raimundo tried to break free from those things that pulled him deeper and deeper into the water.
Knowing that opening his eyes was the best option at the moment, although feeling terrified of what he might find, Raimundo decided to free his feet.
His eyelids opened and his green eyes burned at the great amount of salt in the water... and that's when he saw it. In the dark, deepest part - the part that started to surround his small body - two red eyes, scarier than the abyss bellow them.
At that, Raimundo opened his mouth, shouting as the little air that still remained in his lungs left him in the form of bubbles. Clouds of blood surrounded him, and he finally passed out without noticing the hands of both his parents pulling him back to the surface.
Kimiko gasped in horror, almost covering one of her hands over her mouth. She stopped herself.
Rai is fine now; it's ridiculous for you to get all shocked, Kimiko, she repeated to herself as she stared at the ground for a few seconds, ashamed, yet worried.
Doubt invaded her thoughts and she soon faced Thiago, curious. "But what was that thing that pulled Raimundo then?"
He shrugged and seemed to pull out a humorless smile. "Believe it or not, it was just a fishing net dumped into the water. But Raimundo swore to everyone it was a jellyfish, he kept claiming it had teeth and stuff, but he actually got hurt by some broken glass - my aunt and uncle got really pissed because, believe me, that thing is not so common - it was my cousin who got 'lucky'; worse yet was that he never swam in that beach anymore. At first it was actually pretty difficult to even convince him to go back into the water - I at least wanted to teach him how to swim, since it's easier to prevent this kind of risk than to pretend it could never happen again - but eventually he showed interest in surfing and everything went smooth after that."
Thiago shrugged again and, this time, his smile seemed more real. "Now the kid doesn't want to get out of the water."
Kimiko answered with a similar smile and both kept walking through the sand. The Japanese, though, seemed not to be able to contain her curiosity and opened her mouth to ask things about his brothers and sisters, who Raimundo usually mentioned once in a while.
A nearly high-pitched voice was what could be heard instead, and the three looked directly at the source of such noise a few meters ahead.
"Kimiko!" Omi almost cried out with his skinny arms raised in the air in an obvious sign of joy. "We were looking for you!"
So cute, Kimiko thought smiling.
Beside him, Clay walked with his cell phone in hand and only looked up when hearing his friend's sudden yell. He pushed the brim of his cowboy hat away from his eyes to have a better view and smiled in relief once noticing that his other friend was safe and sound. Not that she didn't know how to take care of herself, but he cared about her anyways.
Raimundo, however, seemed to be the first one who spotted her, even before Omi did. His frown was visible even from where the Japanese girl was standing and she remembered that, from afar, it looked like she was walking with two complete strangers. The expression of his green eyes, however, quickly changed once he realized the familiar face beside her.
The tips of her lips fell just a little when his attention towards her vanished as fast as it appeared.
She still didn't stop smiling, though. She felt light again at the sight of Raimundo laughing and speeding up to give his cousin a hug. His arms were wide open, but once he got close enough, he seemed to think twice. His cheeks quickly acquired a reddish tone and he lowered his arms in embarrassment.
With that, Kimiko couldn't help but give a bigger smile. Her free hand moving quickly to her mouth, hiding her amusement and laugh through a small cough. Still, her eyes lit up with amusement.
She pictured that little, cute boy with a teddy bear clung by his small arms and his eyes full of innocence, just like a few seconds ago.
Thiago, after noticing the drastic change in his cousin's movements right in front of him, laughed, pulled the young teenager towards him and gave him a slight noogie, ruffling his dark brown hair.
They both laughed and, once Raimundo got free from his cousin's grip, started to talk in (very) quick Portuguese. Clay, with success in just a few words, tried to understand their conversation as Dojo tried to take a peek of what was going on through the blond cowboy's hat. Omi seemed the most confused of them all.
Thiago soon noticed his cousin's friends and cleared his throat as he remembered it was best to keep on talking in English.
"Dude, I never thought I'd pull one of our uncles..." the older Pedrosa said. "But I gotta tell you, you've grown too much!" He straightened his back in front of his relative and raised his eyebrows even more at the sight of how their height difference was almost nonexistent. "Pretty soon, you're gonna get even taller than me, man," he laughed. "But, y'know, aunt Deborah has always been pretty tall herself; not to mention uncle Benício, the eternal beanpole, right?" At this, Raimundo gave him a slight poke in the ribs with his elbow.
"Look who's talking!" he laughed.
Thiago rolled his eyes. "You've got to see Enzo and Renan then, man," he said. "Those two are almost our height as well. But they still act like five-year-old brats."
Raimundo smiled even more at the mention of his young twin brothers. The same ones whose traps and pranks the Shoku Warrior himself taught when they were little.
Although those two were the ones who spent more time planning new practical jokes, they never were quite able to reach their older brother's level, leaving him unbeaten as the king of pranks and jokes. It was like Raimundo knew exactly how each of their traps would be before they could even think of putting them into practice.
It took a while for both to stop talking about their family and finally turn their attention towards the two Xiaolin monks standing by their side and waiting for some kind of explanation. Omi being the most restless, wanting to try to understand what was happening.
Raimundo noticed Gustavo behind his cousin and smiled as he moved towards the dark-haired Brazilian; both giving a brief pound hug after clasping their hands in a loud noise.
For some reason Kimiko blushed, but said nothing as the two exchanged words.
Then, Raimundo finally directed his attention toward her. "Where did you find them, Kim?"
She felt speechless for a short period of time, her throat getting dry quickly for unknown reasons, but she soon composed herself and said, "I found your brother's diner," in response, she raised the white plastic bag containing boxes filled with, as Raimundo could tell by the smell, food .
He smiled even more to it, those white teeth catching the attention of her blue eyes for a while, and it surprised her that it had enough of an effect on her to make her heart beat faster. Still, she was already used to such a reaction.
Raimundo's cheeks blushed quickly, but the Japanese assumed it was because of the sweatshirt her leader was wearing (although the place was getting cold, it still was kind of hot to wear something like that).
She couldn't say anything else, because in the next moment he went back to Thiago and introduced him to Clay and Omi, who finally begun to understand the whole story.
The two cousins then went back to talk about their family, mentioning their cousins, siblings, uncles and aunts. Each trying to remind of past events that could compromise the other's reputation.
In one of these moments, when Thiago talked about the famous Ninja Fred, Raimundo put his arms over his cousin's shoulders and tried to give him a noogie to make him stop talking.
In the process, a good part of his hoodie rose, exposing a small area of his back to Kimiko - who was a few feet behind him, listening quietly to the conversation. At first, she blushed without even thinking, but something caught her attention as the Shoku Warrior went back to his initial position.
Were these things on his shoulder... marks?
Just above the collar line of his sweatshirt, vainly covered by his hood - they were red marks.
Holy s- her jaw dropped slightly. Are those...?
And at that moment, Kimiko knew - it was hard not to, after seeing those things on his neck - what he was doing so far.
But how far he went with that girl, she didn't want to know. Too much information, for sure.
Knowing that no one would notice her absence for a few minutes, she walked closer to the sea, exactly where the tides marked the sand.
Everything got heavy and she hated herself for it.
That feeling that tightened her chest came back, and she got furious at the thought that the fire was supposed to be by her side. Instead, it joined her feelings - so uncontrolled at the moment - and decided to burn her on the inside.
Her cheeks heated up and she hugged herself.
It burned, but she still felt cold outside.
Why her? Why exactly was it she, Kimiko Tohomiko, who was the one who seemed to feel most in the group?
Because she was a girl?
No, certainly not.
Because she was clearly liking someone?
Maybe.
The wind moved from the salty water to her face as if trying to caress her, as if sensing what she was feeling at the moment and wanting to comfort in her some way.
At least it didn't feel like pity.
Not a single tear escaped her blue eyes - it would be ridiculous to cry. Yet, something made her indifferent all of a sudden. Her rational part, which until now was mercilessly thrown into the corner of her mind, took the control back and tried to give her some kind of defense mechanism to protect her from everything that happened.
That's ridiculous.
She sighed. A deep and exhausted one, as if trying to expel all of the damages done in the day.
For now, she seemed to take back her control.
And in the end, Master Fung seemed to win.
She could even picture her master's smile, framed by that gray mustache that gave him a look much older than he really was.
"Nice night," she suddenly heard a voice some feet behind her body.
She didn't need to turn completely to know who it was, but she couldn't resist the temptation to stare at him from the corner of her eyes.
A faint smile crossed his face.
It was night and once again Kimiko didn't seem to notice. The moon seemed to have appeared a few minutes ago - between the time they left Thiago's diner and their reunion with Clay, Omi, and Raimundo.
Followed by a smile, a dry, humorless laugh escaped her lungs, as if her rational part was laughing at herself for acting so childishly in the last few hours.
She regretted the way she behaved towards Gustavo - even more now as she realized that he actually was trying to be nice to her ever since the beginning. That made her feel even worse. She did like him... too.
She coughed and blushed at this thought and tried to avoid it.
Noticing the small sound coming out of her throat, Gustavo raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Kimiko turned to face him this time and did not fail to give a bigger smile at the Brazilian's curious and innocent expression.
The next laugh that escaped her mouth was more humored.
Her blue eyes moved from his face back to the dark sky ahead of her - the sea reflecting the few stars that decided to show up that very night.
"It's nothing," the Japanese finally answered, letting out a long sigh.
A silence settled for a few seconds before he once again said something. "It's good to finally see you smiling."
Kimiko looked at him again and his shoulders seemed to tense a little bit, as if afraid to have irritated her with such a comment.
She rolled her eyes and, tired of fighting or retorting with nervous sentences, let out another sigh before muttering, "Yeah, today wasn't a good day for me, I guess."
"Oh," was his only answer, which left her relieved, since it seemed he wasn't trying to deepen the subject.
Again, both remained silent and the sound of Raimundo's conversation with his cousin a few meters behind was easy to understand. Kimiko blinked more than usual for while - until Gustavo decided to speak again and the sound of his voice startled her a little bit. "I know it kind of sounds strange to ask but..." he hesitated, which got her curious enough to stare at him, "Are your parents Japanese?"
She raised one of her eyebrows and it seemed to alarm him, making him even more embarrassed and eager to try to explain, "It's just- I meant, if you're descendant of someone else other than Japanese, since- Uh, well..." Kimiko couldn't resist the urge to smile at the embarrassment of the man beside her. "Well, it's just that you have blue eyes and it's not usual for me to find Japanese people with that... eye... color...?"
She laughed and covered her mouth with one hand.
"You're right," she shrugged.
"Oh," he waited for a more specific answer and it took her a while to do so.
"My mother was a Norwegian descendant... I think."
This time it was Gustavo who raised her an eyebrow, "You think?"
"Oh, well ..." Kimiko shrugged. "I... It's just- I never asked my father too much about her."
"Hm," with this answer, the Brazilian seemed unsure of his next question. But this time, it was Kimiko who decided to break the silence with a new subject.
"I... uhm," she bit her lip and avoided Gustavo's gaze on her, staring at the sand with strange interest. "I apologize for how I behaved a few hours ago."
He stared at her with slightly wide eyes, and smiled with a weak sigh. "Don't worry about that," he hid his hands in the pockets of his shorts and the Japanese blushed when noticing how long they seemed to be. "I'm almost like a bartender in that place, y'know? I got pretty used to it with people coming at me to talk about stories that aren't so nice to hear."
"Oh, really?" the statement made the dark-haired girl visibly curious. "And what kind of stories have you heard so far?"
Gustavo gave her a mischievous grin before slyly replying, "Sorry. Can't tell ya. I swore an oath to keep the secret of all my clients' stories, no matter how frightening, disgusting or illegal they can be..."
"Really?"
"No."
Kimiko stared at him with a small pout forming on her lips for letting herself be fooled so easily. "No for 'I swore an oath to keep the secrets of all my clients' stories', or no for there not being such things as 'frightening, disgusting and illegal stories'?"
He laughed and stared at her with a half grin and raised eyebrow. Instead of answering, he chose to say something else. "But it's a shame you ended up getting so many negative first impressions about this place."
Kimiko looked at him again, surprised by what he just said. She then bit her lower lip and shrugged. "Well, I hope I have other chances to visit Rio, then. I still think I might change my mind."
Her eyes went back to the almost indiscernible horizon ahead, hidden by the dark of the night. The sound of the waves was louder than ever and another refreshing gust of wind hit her white (or probably sunburned) face.
The chances of Kimiko returning to Rio de Janeiro anytime soon were almost inexistent, but it didn't mean this was her last visit to the place. There still were so many places she still wanted to know, not only the beach, but the city itself. Not to mention other places around Brazil, such as São Paulo, Salvador and even the state of Santa Catarina - where Raimundo was born.
Kimiko quickly turned her face back and realized that Raimundo seemed to be giving his farewells to his cousin. She sighed and promised that this would be the last of the day. She looked one more time at the sea and didn't understand why Gustavo seemed to get so restless out of a sudden.
Knowing that she wouldn't get any answer from him if she waited, Kimiko decided she'd be the first to say something as she finally took her eyes of the ocean.
"Well, I guess I should b-" something touched her right wrist, which startled her - even more when she noticed it was Gustavo's hand preventing her from leaving.
She frowned at that and before she could say something, got pulled closer to him.
Her lips soon felt his over hers and Kimiko stood there - in shock.
If anyone else ever tried to do what Gustavo just did with her, the Japanese would not have thought twice before sending said person to the other side of the planet with a well-given kick between their legs.
But with him, something felt different. It wasn't something strong, she knew that, but it wasn't something disagreeable either. It was good, actually... and pleasant.
His lips were soft and affectionate; and seemed to wait for some kind of reaction on her part before trying anything else.
Kimiko closed her eyes before thinking straight and her body tried a steadier position so she could focus only on the touch of her lips on Gustavo's.
Her free hand reacted at the same time his face began to move over hers and she brushed the tips of her fingers over the line of his jaw.
At the new touch, Gustavo involved her face with his hands, bringing her closer to him.
Soon, his lips parted and he deepened the kiss.
Kimiko squinted at the new sensation, but quickly got used to it and just went with it.
Once their faces parted, she kept her eyes closed for a few seconds, trying to process what had just happened. When she finally decided to look up, he was licking his lips and stared at her with his face slightly flushed.
"First impressions are usually important, huh?" he laughed a little bit.
Everything around her seemed out of place, as if something was wrong yet at the same time it all felt right.
Wait, what? Kimiko asked herself as she moved away from him. Her body quickly missed the contact.
She smiled at him, unable to form coherent sentences in her head. "I ..."
Gustavo held her hand for a few seconds and looked at her straight in the eye, a sad smiled forming on his lips. "Alright..." he said, as if Kimiko had just told him a full sentence.
He leaned once again stealing a quick peck from her lips - that sad smile still there. "It was nice to meet you, Kimiko Tohomiko."
With this comment she could not help but smile and blush at the same time.
"Same, Gustavo Costa," the Japanese was surprised at herself for remembering his full name (printed in that name tag stuck on the apron he once wore).
The two held their gazes for a few moments until Kimiko walked away, leaving his hand along with the last contact between their skin.
She turned away and went back to her friends' group in complete silence, hearing their conversation without paying any real attention until Thiago finally turned to her.
"Well, it was really nice meeting you, Miss Tohomiko," in a good-tempered gesture, he took the Japanese's small hand and kissed it quickly.
She blushed slightly and laughed. "Same to you, Mister Thiago Pedrosa."
The Brazilian looked at her for some more seconds. "See if you can convince my cousin to pass by more often - once his parents are around, preferably - so you can meet them. I'm sure they'd love knowing you," for some reason, he winked at her.
"Oh, um. Sure thing," Kimiko shrugged and smiled.
The tall, tanned man then started walking toward Gustavo's side - who had his hands in his pocket and eyes strangely interested on the sand below- and turned their backs to the Xiaolin group.
Kimiko just followed her own friends by instinct, paying more attention to her thoughts than to Omi's comments by her side.
Gustavo's hair was wavy enough to get her playing with the waves with her fingers.
His hands were strong and affectionate, just like his lips on hers.
When they parted their faces, she noticed that his eyes were lighter in the center than at the edges of his irises.
He also had more freckles than she thought at first and he smelled like some kind of citrus cologne.
At each mental note she made, Kimiko blushed and smiled more.
She just couldn't believe she finally got her first kiss.
It was so different from what she usually heard - many girls complained about their first experience...
The Japanese then concluded that her case was a peculiar one.
A pleasant, peculiar one.
The four Xiaolin Warriors finally found a hiding place among trees near the coast - discreet enough for them to leave. Dojo came out from under Clay's hat and quickly turned into his giant form.
"All aboard Dojo Airlines, please. Destination, a rather nervous Master Fung for your lack of consideration towards time."
Omi sighed at such a comment and yawned as he climbed the back of the green dragon. "Please Dojo, do not comment about Master Fung now, I wish to avoid this thought as much as possible."
Clay laughed as he helped the sleepy monk to climb the dragon. "Y' took the words right out of my mouth, partner."
Omi raised an eyebrow at the comment. "How does one take letters and such abstract elements from the other's mouth?"
"Never mind," the cowboy sighed as he climbed the dragon as well.
Kimiko laughed lightly and looked for some gaps between the scales of Dojo's body to support her hands and climbed on, her thoughts still tending towards what had happened some minutes ago. Her left foot slipped as it tried to gain a boost and the Japanese staggered backwards, her hands losing their grip on the scales.
Raimundo's arm was fast enough and held her back as his hand instinctively gripped her waist.
Once gaining back balance, Kimiko blushed.
"Thanks, Rai," she smiled and looked at him only to find his green eyes... cold.
The moonlight illuminated his face enough to emphasize the fact that there was no trace of joy in his features. On the contrary. He seemed nervous and frightfully intimidating, staring at her as no other emotion escaped his eyes.
"It's okay," was his only answer in a harsh and icy voice.
In a reaction of surprise, Kimiko couldn't speak any more - the situation worsened when she felt his arms move away from her body and she watched him climb the dragon in complete silence.
She didn't understand what had just happened, but climbed Dojo in the same silence as she stared at Raimundo's back.
Did she say anything?
She couldn't even remember talking too much with him the whole day.
She shrugged, yet couldn't help but feel worried.
She looked at his back again and noticed how it seemed tensed beneath the thick fabric of his sweatshirt. She waited for him to say something, but ended up just watching the strands of his brown hair blowing in the wind as Dojo started to fly across the dark sky, illuminated only by the pale moonlight, the few clouds on the sky getting closer each second.
Something tightened in her chest once she realized that he wouldn't turn to her nor speak for the rest of their long trip.
She sighed.
Glossary
Gringo:is a term used to talk about a foreign person (usually North American).
Hey! Hope you liked this one. Kind of Mexican soap opera, but whatever - I like some angst crap heheh
Review=love and motivation
Again thanks to evanescentflame421! You're amazing.