"I am still quite confused...please explain again what this admirer of secrets does?"
It was late in the evening, and dusk was just beginning to daintily sprinkle faint oranges and reds across the endless sky. The lethargically approaching cool night of crystal fog was warmed by the reflected colors of the setting sun. Kimiko, too excited to contain herself any longer, had burst and told Omi and Raimundo about the mysterious letter and her unknown afficionado. They were sitting in the open porch at the back of the temple, the letter in question spread out and smoothed down over the chilled tile for all to view. Omi was still unable to grasp the concept of a crush, and Kimiko laughed silently as Raimundo rolled his eyes.
"Naw, partner. This feller doesn't want to admire someone's secrets. He secretly admires someone...namely, Kimiko. You know, he fancies her. He finds her fetching. He thinks she's mighty keen." Clay's explanation only elicited a blank stare from the youngest monk, and Raimundo groaned in frustration.
"He likes her. As in, more than you, me, and Clay do. Get it?"
Omi still didn't completely understand, but stated otherwise simply because he did not want to incur the Wind Dragon's wrath. The four were huddled in a circle, staring down at the simple and sappy message and plotting their next move. Kimiko continued to beam, her smile bright enough to produce sunlight, and still buzzed with exuberance. She had to admit, she had been boasting just a little when she presented the letter, and she was anxious to hear whether the other Dragons would be half as enchanted as she was.
"I question whether these motives are genuine." Omi proposed, furrowing his brow and stroking his chin pensively. "It very well could be an elaborate plot by Jack Spicer to make us unfurl our watch keeper."
"Er, I think you mean let down our guard." Clay corrected.
"As you say. But the point remains; if Jack Spicer were able to distract us with a false letter of love, he could very easily slip in and steal our Wu!"
"Hey, let's be honest here...this is Jack we're talking about. There's no way he'd be able to get into the temple without one of us noticing. Too many things would be broken, and he'd probably wind up stuck in a tree or something. He's not smart enough to get in, leave the letter, and get out without someone hearing him cry." Raimundo countered, sprawling out comfortably on the ground and resting his head in the crook of his extended arm. Clay nodded at no one in particular and kicked out his boot-clad feet in front of him.
"Both of y'all got points. Jack's probably not capable of something like that, but someone else might be." He paused, his eyes focused on the toe of his scuffed boot. "I think it'll be in all of our best interests to find out who this cowpoke is, just to be on the safe side."
Throughout the conversation, Kimiko's felicity had great subsided and was rapidly replaced with petulance. While she knew they wouldn't exactly leap at the news, she had not thought that they would instead strategize how to capture the so-called assailant. She'd momentarily forgotten that not only were these boys (and not her chattering girlfriends who would squeal and fawn over every move the mystery man made) but these were trained boys, boys who had perfected the art of sleuthing and deception and whose suspicions were aroused by a cold cup of tea. These weren't your normal, overprotective, brotherly-type boys. These were extreme boys.
"Excuse me, but what about my best interest?" Kimiko interjected, crossing her arms firmly and glowering at each person individually. Omi, Raimundo, and Clay looked up the second they heard the vexation and venom in her voice.
"Do you really think the only chance of someone having an interest in me is if it's an evil plot against all of us? Am I that unattractive to you?"
"Aw, don't start with that bit, girl." Raimundo replied, the annoyance in his tone mirroring the one it was directed at. "That whole," (he raised his voice into a mocking, high falsetto.) "'Ay, I'm not pretty and I'm so fat and no one likes me, pity me!' act. You know you're a total babe."
Kimiko turned to him, icy gems devoid of the spitefulness they held just a moment ago. She was surprised by Raimundo's response...confused and flattered, yes, but mostly surprised. She didn't see the comment coming, in general and especially from the deliverer. Raimundo hadn't really ever been one to dole out compliments, and even rarer was if they were about anyone's personal appearance. A shadow of a smile grazed her lips, grateful for the sincerity...even if it was sarcastic and snappish.
Clay chuckled and pat a hand on Kimiko's shoulder, provoking her to turn away from the Brazilian and towards the Texan. "Powerful sorry, Kimiko, didn't mean to leave you high and dry, there. We just wanna cover our hides."
"Clay is correct." Omi added, eyes closed and hands neatly folded in his lap. "We must be sure to be wary and cautious at all times. It is most unlikely that this admirer of secrets is anything but untrue, but nonetheless, we must remain alert, for there is always the possibility."
The monks all nodded because no one knew what else to contribute. Finally, Omi's solemn stance was broken by a titter, which soon evolved into a smile, and his eyes popped open alive with joviality.
"I must admit, however." he said between giggles. "This whole ordeal is most thrilling. I am anxiously awaiting the admirer of secret's action!" Clay joined with a deep-throated chuckle and tipped his hat back to reveal his clear blue eyes.
"You and me both, partner! I'm more eager than a woodchuck in a sixty mile red wood forest!"
Kimiko grinned, pleased, and the three began theorizing manically about who her suitor could be. Clay remained stoic, save for a glimmer of mirth fueling his subtle smile while Omi flailed his short arms animatedly to emphasize his enthusiasm for the situation.
"Maybe it's someone from back home...do y'know anyone back in Tokyo who might do something like this?" Clay imagined with a pointed finger, but Kimiko shook her head in the negative.
"No one comes to mind...plus I'm pretty sure my family and Keiko are the only ones who know I'm here. It has to be someone all of us know. Oh! What about Jermaine? He's kinda mysterious, and he's crafty enough to get in and out of the temple unnoticed."
"That is very unlikely." Omi replied with a frown. "Jermaine is on the complete other side of the world, and despite how advanced his skills of stealth are, I doubt he would be willing to put in the amount of effort required. Also, he once mentioned something about," He paused, mouth twisted as he wondered how he was going to word what he wanted to say. He lifted his chubby yellow fingers and bent them around the incorrect words as he continued. "'Getting his mack on,' with 'all the fly honeys up in NYC.' Perhaps someone else?"
"Who else could there be? Tubbimura? Chase Young?" The three stared at each other blankly, the thoughts of an obese ninja or an immortal reptile-human hybrid prancing about the temple and sprinkling rose petals and singing songs of love raced through their heads, and they immediately collapsed into uncontrollably fits of laughter.
Raimundo, who had not said anything throughout the duration of this, finally voiced his grievance in a groan, and raised himself onto his elbows to get the others' attention.
"If you ask me, this whole thing is idiotic." They managed to quiet long enough and brush away the fat tears that slithered down their faces to hear Raimundo's statement. Kimiko uprighted herself and shot the dark boy a look so withering that the flowers in the vicinity all wilted.
"Well, who asked you?" she spat, and he rolled his magnificent emerald eyes.
"You did. You did when you skipped in here with your stupid letter and made us read it and, without speaking, asked us what we thought. I'm just giving you an opinion." Kimiko flushed, both from embarrassment and fury, and just as she was about to tear him to ribbons with her tongue, Clay intervened.
"Whoa, cool your jets, partner. What's with the ornery attitude?" Raimundo sighed and pushed himself up onto his knees, running a calloused hand though light, mahogany locks.
"I don't know. I'm...not a fan of this kind of stuff. You guys can get all twitter patted or whatever you call it, but leave me out of it." Kimiko softened opened her mouth to question him, but he swiftly lifted himself to his feet and started ambling back into the temple.
"Rai, where are you going?" she called after him, trying to sound as sweet as she could to coax him back. She was unsuccessful and he continued on his way, his fists tucked deep in his pockets.
"That was odd." Omi noted, eyes flickering from the shrinking warrior back to the letter, which was starting to move about the triangle of people in the oncoming wing. Kimiko, however, kept her eyes locked on Raimundo until he completely vanished in the depths of the golden sanctuary.
"Yeah." she mumbled absently. "Really odd."
---
The next day Kimiko awoke to see a large vial of her favorite perfume, which had been taken off the market months ago, resting beside her. She was of course ecstatic, and elatedly told the others over breakfast. Raimundo's out of place explosion from the night before was relatively forgotten, but once the secret admirer was mentioned he bit his lower lip, as if to hold in another outburst, and only made eye contact with his meal. Fortunately for him, everyone was too enveloped in the developing mystery to notice.
That afternoon, after an intense morning of training, Kimiko went to the kitchen to find some nourishment for her worn and weary body, only to find six boxes of chocolates instead. The candies were neatly arranged in elegant, red, heart shaped containers adorned with a hint of lace and an amusingly gigantic bow. She shared the treats with the boys (even on her worst day, she couldn't eat that much chocolate) who discussed in detail their individual hypotheses of the lover in disguise. Raimundo remained silent. They chalked it up to the sticky candies and didn't give it a second thought.
The evening rolled around again and with it came another letter. She had actually been with Raimundo when she found it (it had been taped to the face of one of the shining dragon idols). She fingered it cautiously, but would not open it in Raimundo's presence. She didn't know why.
"So." Raimundo coughed, blatantly gazing at the envelope Kimiko was rotating in her lily-like hands. The arrival of the letter was like the arrival of an unwanted guest at a dinner party, and made the otherwise amicable air between the two suddenly and inexplicably awkward. They'd been engaged in a light hearted conversation about what Master Fung secretly did when they were not around. Kimiko thought he was a high class fashion model, strutting majestically and confidently down the runway in the latest Victoria's Secret styles. Raimundo thought he was a hit rap star who worked under the alias 'Funk Mastah F', the F standing for 'fresh'. They were laughing. They were enjoying themselves. Then the letter materialized and it was like they were perfect strangers, straining to break the uneasy silence between them with any fraction of conversation they could muster.
"So..." Raimundo repeated after a while, or at least what he thought was a while. "So, let me ask you something." Kimiko glanced up, curious blue eyes studying the Brazilian's face.
"Alright. Go ahead." Raimundo had obviously not expected her to agree, because his eyebrows both raised in surprise and his mouth shrunk in a taunt 'o' shape. He clear his throat and fiddled with the front of his robes, unsure of what he wanted to say.
"Do you...do you buy into all this stuff?" He forced the words out of him like they were made of vomit, but still remained preoccupied with his clothes. Kimiko's snowy brow furrowed, shaking her head as sooty pigtail bounced off her swan-like neck.
"What do you mean?" He quietly moaned, not happy to have to explain himself further.
"I mean this secret admirer stuff. You're not really falling for it, are you?"
"I-I don't know. I mean it's fun and all, but it's only been one day." She stopped, and looked up at him suspiciously. "Why?" she drawled.
"No reason. Look, forget I said anything." He ducked into his room and that was that, end of conversation. Period.
Kimiko shook her head and grunted something, stubbornly slumping against the wall and sliding to the floor. Without a second thought, she ripped apart the envelope and read it in the hall across from his quarters just to spite him. The contents of the letter simply dripped of adoration and affection, and she felt her heart swell in her throat as she read. It was like music, the way this person wrote. Each word seemed to flow as if accompanied by an orchestra and sung in a melodious, captivating soprano. It was a symphony, the letters trilled and shimmered with the radiance a thousand violins could not imitate. She breathed in the letter's characteristic scent, and became drunk with the overwhelming power of coffee beans and morning glories.
When she finished, she was flustered and giddy and downright oblivious to her surroundings. She barely noticed Raimundo leaving his room and scoffing at her as he passed.
She did, however, notice the black pen that he dropped.
I got lazy with the letter, I'm sorry. But honestly, do you really want the lovey dovey ooey gooey crap that I wrote last time? I think not. I practically gagged as I wrote it. Anyway, this is when the plot actually starts. It becomes less and less about this dude and more about...stuff. And for those of you who thought it was Kim/Clay from the first chapter...tsk tsk. Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Ye never know if they could be wrong...or right ;) Please review. I love it so.