I've been lazy with Xiaolin School for a while, so I'll try to update a lot. Chapter 5, Tara, is up, so please enjoy.
Oh, and thanks for the review ChinaWings. I know my comebacks are cheesy, but can I help that? I always suck at making comebacks in stories.
Keith is going to be a pretty big character in this fanfic by the way. Along with some new characters that will be revealed later. Part of Chase's plan.
And please don't take any of my story as Chase/Keith romance, it's not.
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Keith followed Chase into his lair. Keith was frightened by the strange rock formation. It appeared to be a huge dragon or monster, and the entrance was the creature's mouth. Jagged rock at the top made it look like teeth. He wondered if he should seize the chance to run away now. This place was scary to him in some way, like a memory of a nightmare bubbling up to surface. He realized he probably had a strangled sort of look to his face, and quickly forced a smile to hide this.
Chase put forth his left hand in a horizontal position, then moved it right. The door that blocked the entrance suddenly slid upwards and revealed a series of complex barriers within, which Chase sliced through using his metal-gloved hand.
"Enter, my friend," Chase said expectantly.
"Uh…okay," Keith said nervously. He kept his eyes on the ground, not wanting to see what lay ahead for him. He walked in without noticing anything except the sudden change in the form of the rock- suddenly, there was a magnificent golden path carved brilliantly on his road. He looked up to see Chase Young's palace. It was pristine; clean to the last corner. Keith could not help but exclaim "whoa", unable to stop the big smirk that was damming up his face.
"Behold… this is my palace," Chase Young said, looking for some expression on Keith's face, perhaps for approval.
"It's…it's…" Keith was too excited to finish, but Chase obviously understood, as he smiled satisfactorily at Keith's astonishment.
"Follow," Chase said simply. He knew that everyone around him thought him reserved, but how could he help that? He had spent his life alone in this same cave since the day he had decided to sacrifice the good within for immortality. He sometimes felt regret at the decision, but knew that what was done was done.
"So…what am I supposed to do? Am I going to live here? I hated my orphanage, it was total crap, and the school sucks too," Keith said hopefully. He stepped into a transparent door that strangely gave off a bluish glow, following Chase. It was an elevator, but the strangest he had ever seen in his overall short life. Chase didn't even have to press any buttons to make it move. They went higher and higher at a great speed; Keith thought he was going to throw up. Then the motion came to an abrupt stop, leaving Keith dizzy. He hurried and ran out, following Chase to an elaborate golden door. Keith wondered whether it was real gold. Chase stopped there and fiddled with a key in his armor, which he tossed to Keith.
"This will be your room," Chase said as he opened the door. His cold reptilian eyes revealed nothing as he, for the first time, looked carefully at Keith. Chase was trying to decide beforehand whether this black-haired and seemingly violent boy would be a good pupil for his tedious training.
Keith peered in expectantly. "Oh man," he whispered, shocked by every aspect of his new room. The walls were a beautiful, shiny white and the windows had curtains made of real silk. His bed had a fresh smell to it; the plum-colored blankets looked expensive.
"I think you are satisfied?" Chase said inquisitively.
"Where'd ya get this stuff?" Keith said breathlessly. "This is amazing…"
Keith stared transfixed, for about a minute or so, then realized that Chase was gone. "Well," he said happily, "It looks like I'll just have to enjoy myself."
It was nighttime and Keith enjoyed the view from his bedroom. He felt smug for some inexplicable reason. He wondered what would happen tomorrow. Chase had said something about training, didn't he? He didn't think any more of this and drifted off to sleep without bothering to put his blanket on; it was an extraordinarily warm night.
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The next lunch period, Kimiko had a fight with one of Keith's admirers, a girl in a different class but in the same grade named Tara.
Tara came over to Kimiko's table a few minutes after lunch started, glaring angrily at her. Kimiko wouldn't have let her in the table, but school policies said nobody had a right to reserve tables only for friends; everyone had to share or else people would end up seatless.
"What do you want?" Kimiko asked, exploding after enduring 5 whole minutes of mutinous looks and glares. She couldn't stand this 'Tara' girl much longer, she knew that much for sure.
"Don't talk that way to me, you Japanese freak," Tara said with equal anger.
"You're calling me a freak? Jeez, I wonder what you'd call yourself," Kimiko said, feeling a very strong urge to punch Tara in the face. Tara had a smug expression on her face and her blue eyes looked vicious.
"I call myself 'cool', unlike you," Tara said, waving her excessively long blonde hair in Kimiko's bewildered face.
"Don't stick your ugly hair in my face, girl," Kimiko retorted. Talking to Tara, which mostly meant arguing with her, reminded her exactly of the way Keith talked back to her. She was being to wonder if they were perhaps distant relatives.
"I'll stick my hair wherever I want, thanks," Tara said, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Why the heck did you come here, Lecture Girl? Keith is mine!"
"So that's what it's about, huh?" Kimiko couldn't believe it. No wonder Tara reminded her of Keith, Tara had probably spent a while trying to figure out how to impress the probably oblivious Keith. Maybe that's why she talked the professional Keith way.
Tara stared at her, looking in her eyes for any trace of her liking Keith. She didn't see anything, but refused to back down. "Yeah. Duh. But you know, Keith is really way too cool for someone like you. So don't get with the guys out of your league, Japanese girl."
"Don't call me that, you jerk! Do you have a problem with Japanese people or something like that?" Kimiko hated prejudice. She hated Tara even more.
"Yeah, maybe I do. Maybe I don't like their ridiculous tempers!" Tara yelled, not noticing that by now the argument had gone far enough for about 10 people to be curiously watching them.
"Hey, if you wanna talk temper, you should calm down a bit yourself!" Kimiko shouted just as angrily. "You're a filthy little hypocrite!"
"Don't call me anything! Didn't you learn anything from your lecture?"
"No, I didn't even go to a lecture at all!" Kimiko said. She was so angry that she didn't even realize what she was doing until she did it. She didn't see her movement, didn't feel it, until… "Argh!" Tara's scream of agony came. Then she turned her eyes and saw the brown liquid splattered all over her disgusted and terrified face. Kimiko suddenly realized it: She had just thrown her opened chocolate milk at Tara's face.
Quickly someone alerted a cafeteria lady to come look at Tara, who had to go down to the nurse's office. Before Tara left, she gave Kimiko a horrible look and stuck up her middle finger without anyone noticing but Kimiko. This suddenly filled Kimiko with rage once more and showed it by stomping the whole way to the principal's office. It was immature, but she didn't exactly care. She could do whatever she wanted.
She followed the principal, who happened to be a man around the age of thirty. She had wished before that the principal would be Calvin Young, so she wouldn't get in any trouble. But she sunk in defeat, knowing that she would definitely get in trouble this time.
The principal led her to two chairs, gesturing her to sit in one. She gave an inaudible moan and did as she was told. "Kimiko Tohomiko, is that you name?"
Kimiko nodded without energy.
"Why did you throw that milk carton, filled with milk, at Miss Tara Rarris?" the principal pressed. He crossed his arms, waiting.
"Because… she was making me mad. I have temper problems," Kimiko admitted. It was an honest thing to say, really.
"Kimiko, what punishment do you believe you deserve for doing this?"
"I deserve detention," Kimiko said begrudgingly. Why not just say what he wanted her to say? If she disagreed that could lead to more problems.
"Thank you," the principal said. "You will have lunch detention with me from today to Friday, the end of the current school week. I assure you, we have plenty of math problems."
Kimiko suddenly heard someone scraping in… someone was coming to the principal's office! It didn't sound like an adult, for the footsteps sounded heavy and excited. Then a boy burst in- Keith had returned.
"Keith, what are you doing here?" Kimiko asked, knowing that she sounded extremely rude saying it in that tone. The principal gave her an agitated look and proceeded to talk to Keith. "What are you here for, sir?"
"Well… I was absent earlier because I had trouble getting here. So I'm just coming to tell you I'm back in school." Keith sounded too innocent for, well, Keith. Kimiko gave him a suspicious glance.
"All right, you may sit in that room and wait," the principal said, pointing. Then he turned a weary face to look at Kimiko. "You may leave and go back to your regular class with Mr. Young."
That was all the escort Kimiko needed. She practically ran back to her classroom, and saw Rai grinning at her. She smiled back and took her seat.
They had a test that morning on a book that the class had read together, which was completely boring and extremely tedious. The students had come to get used to Mr. Young's boring assignments, so nobody groaned loudly.
Then, in the middle of the test, the door suddenly opened, snapping everyone out of their reverie. Standing in the doorway was Keith, who had an expression like a sneer on his pale face.
"Can I come in?" he asked. Kimiko shot him a look of purest hatred. Keith returned the look with a conniving smile. People like Keith shouldn't be allowed to smile, Kimiko thought absurdly.
He sat in his usual seat next to Jack, diagonal to Kimiko. She knew he was up to something, but what? She scrawled a note for Rai and threw it at his head, because he wasn't paying attention at all to her. He picked it up, read it, and gave her a concerned face. They knew Keith to well. Keith was definitely going to try something on Kimiko.
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Find out what it is next chapter! R&R please.