Chapter 4: Woman's Intuition and Gaydar, Part I
I can't believe I'm doing this...resounded throughout her mind, as she hesitantly and nervously meandered towards the ethereal divinity before her, shyly dragging her toes through the fine grains of simmering sand as she went. Kimiko observed with idolizing eyes his every movement, no matter how intricate or subtle. She watched carefully as the mysterious young surfer swiftly dragged a bronze hand through his dripping blonde locks, gave a hearty, prolonged sigh, and quickly began heading towards downtown. As their paths crossed, Kimiko was suddenly caught off guard as his alluring hazel eyes peered from underneath golden bangs, and interconnected with the sapphire depths of her own eyes. Although this had been her previous intention, as their eyes intermingled, she suddenly felt thunderstruck, steadfastly rooted to the sand by some invisible force, as if the sand she stood anxiously upon was really quicksand. She silently reassured herself as best as she could, considering the circumstances and broke the awkward, eternal silence, perfecting an authentic Japanese accent as she spoke.
"Euh...Konnichiwa! My name Kimiko...I do not speak no good English. Do you...how you say...know way to the shopping center?" she chirped cutely, smiling innocently with perfect, glittering azure doe-eyes, falsely portraying her version of a Japanese tourist. The young blonde quirked a confused eyebrow curiously, and Kimiko winced with embarrassment internally, thinking anxiously to herself, I hope I'm not overdoing it...
"Sooo...I'm guessing you're not from around here...your name's Kimiko, right?" he retorted with a sang-froid air of nonchalant self-assurance. "My name's Jaron...Let me show you around." With a confident, suave smile, he abruptly strutted towards the urban downtown, leaving behind a starry-eyed, astonished Kimiko in his wake. She lingered behind, mesmerized and shocked at the same time, until...
"Yo! Kimiko! You comin' or not?" Immediately, her head lurched startledly towards the source of the deep shout, and she jovially skipped towards the welcoming sight of Jaron, his blonde locks flowing poetically in the breeze, hand gesturing for her to follow in his footsteps. As she giddily raced towards him to catch up to his long, lengthened strides, she flashed him a wistful, dazzling smile, and beamed, "Domo Arigato..." Kimiko no longer even faintly cared whether or not Raimundo's eyes lingered with jealousy over her receding form, gradually fading off into the distance...If she had paid closer attention, perhaps she would have seen the astonished, slightly pained, hurt look in a certain pair of emerald eyes...
Moments later, Californian surfer "dude" Jaron was gifting the still bedazzled Kimiko with an intricate tour of downtown L.A., strolling casually, hands thrust cooly into his jean pockets, a pair of gleaming sunglasses adorning his hazel eyes as he nodded nonchalantly at the passing of his various friends. Kimiko gazed dreamily at the blonde boy, released a pent up, wistful sigh, and hesitantly opened her mouth to speak... when all of a sudden...a blaring, twinkling musical tune burst into existence, emitting from the high-tech cell phone casually, yetclassily hitched onto the side of her hip.
Casting a nervous, embarrassed glance at the intrigued surfer, who was peering down at her with eyebrows raised in mild curiosity, she stuttered, "Euh...e-excuse me..." and resumed answering her cell phone. Whoever it was, they would pay dearly for costing her precious time with Jaron...however, she was startled to hear a familiar dragon's voice over her wireless connection.
"Dojo!...How did you get a hold of my other cell phone!...Wait...How did you even know how to operate it?...Yeah, yeah, I know, off topic...What!...You wasted my precious long-distance wireless minutes just to tell me that our departure flight is in one week instead of three?...Couldn't you have just flown over here and told me instead?...In fact, the only reason we have to take a plane flight is because a certain dragon is too lazy to fly us!...Ok, I'm sorry Dojo...I guess I overreacted a little bit there...Don't you even start with the sarcasm...Of course I'll tell the guys...See ya soon, Dojo!...We miss you!..." She uttered a tiny, bubbling giggle as she heard the dragon's caustic, sarcastic remark in farewell, and immediately froze as she glimpsed Jaron's speechless, utterly perplexed expression. He had, unfortunately, overheard the conversation in its entirety.
"You...just...spoke fluent English..." he muttered confusedly, blonde eyebrows sternly creased, and arms crossed in suspicion, "Someone has a lot of explaining to do..."
"Y-You j-just heard wrong...M-Me don't speak English..." she stuttered uselessly in vain, a desperate attempt to save face. Kimiko chanced a reluctant glance at his countenance, only finding exasperation and, surprisingly, intriguement in the swirling, churning pools of hazel. She hung her head in devastated defeat, twisting her hands in a nervous gesture. "Fine then...I give up..."she raised her sapphire eyes hopefully and continued, "I'm not a Japanese tourist. Yes, I was born in Japan, and yes, I do speak fluent Japanese...and English. I'm currently the Xiaolin Dragon of Fire in training at the Xiaolin Temple in China..."
She winced as if from a searing pain as she bravely met Jaron's infuriated gaze, when suddenly his expression completely transformed...a cocky, suave, and playful smile broke free upon his tanned lips as he congenially patted her on the shoulder, hazel eyes sparkling and twinkling humorously. "Relax, Kimiko...I'm not that pissed off. I'm just kiddin with ya!" Her gaping, overwhelmed expression spoke for itself. "That is, if your real name really is Kimiko..." he continued with a cocky, amused wink.
Kimiko soon fully recovered upon this sarcastic, challenging remark, affectionately giving the blonde a playful, yet deliberately firm whack upside his perfect blonde locks. "Baka..." she muttered dryly to herself, or so she thought...
"Baka! What the heck does that mean?" She giggled with mirthful glee as she heard his puzzled, questioning retort.
"Maybe I'll tell you later...just maybe..." Kimiko trailed off teasingly, enjoying herself immensely as she sashayed forwards into the distance, strutting off into the blended magenta and golden hues of the beach sunset.
"Now, don't be usin Japanese words against me!" Jaron protested just as teasingly, spurting forwards with lengthened strides to regain his former place at Kimiko's side. "Sooo...Kimiko...exactly why did you make upsuch a lameexcuse justto get me to show ya around L.A. all day?"
Her face noticeably blanched as he spoke these simple, dreaded words, the faintest tinge of a rosy blush rising upon her cheeks. Kimiko looked downward at the suddenly interesting pavement passing fleetingly beneath her panicked footsteps, "Well...I...I...just wanted to talk to you...because..."
"Because you thought I was a gorgeous, sexy beast?" Jaron supplied earnestly, with a sly, teasing grin.
"WHAT did you say!" She shrieked in reply, in a mixture of embarrassment, mortification, and fury. Jaron merely bestowed upon her a reproachful, slightly serious gaze, absorbing a deep, lamentful breath, "Listen, Kimiko...I don't want to lead you on or anything like that...I'm sorry if I already did...but, listen...I have to tell you something serious first..."
She felt the faintest twinge of heartbreaking pain upon his words, as she gazed into his gorgeous eyes, butrecovered, beaming encouragingly and genuinely, and placing an affectionate palm atop his broad, strong shoulder comfortingly. "It's OK, Jaron, I understand...You can tell me..." His hazel eyes shifted with obvious reluctance and hesitance, he thrust his fists even deeper into his jean pockets, and finally spoke those fateful words...
"I'm gay..."
A/N: Didn't expect that ending, did ya? Part II of this chappie is coming up next! See ya then!
Goldfish demon: Merci beaucoup! I'm not usually a fan of mass-written couples either...that's why this fic is going to be more Kimiko-centric than anything. Thanx again!
Veritas.Aequetas.Redemptio. I really love your reviews, they're so professional and...philosophical..Anyway, domo arigato! I hope this was a good enough addition to the plot, and I hope to see more of you and your writing soon as well!
Animeang3l7: soooo sorry this took so long!(sob) Thanks so much for being a faithful reviewer!(huggle!) Sending you a smile back!
Illegally Blonde: Lol! Yes, Kimiko's hair will go back to black eventually...it's kinda a symbolic thing...so is the dream...um, never mind...you'll see in the end! Merci beaucoup!
Blue Brittney: Don't worry, everything will work out in the end...eventually...Thanx so much for being a faithful reviewer!(huggle!)
Person: Bonjour person! How are ya? Lol, couldn't resist...anyway, thanks for liking this fic enough to review! I totally know what you mean about the foreign words, I'm working on that!
dArkliTe-sPirit: Lol! Once again, thanx for the review!(huggle!) Sending you a smile!
Chasforever: Warai! I'm sooo lazy about updating, sumimasen! You keep up the great work too! Arigato!(huggle!)
Well...I think that's all I have to say, except...Thank you to all the readers and especially the reviewers! The only reason this fic is posted and edited a million times even before posting is because of all of you! Au revoir, et A bientot! -Jewel