Pointless thought: how in god's name does Kimiko do all that jumping around in those short skirts? And how do they stay up when she's doing the X-Kumei Formation? You'd think she'd feel. . . I don't know. . . exposed? 'Course, I have to remember, this is supposed to be a kid's show we're talking about. Yeah.

Huge thanks to all reviewers! You're too kind to this X.S. newbie!

Chapter II - Rekindled

Soundtrack / Inspiration:

Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
Run for It - Delerium ft. Leigh Nash
Hit the Road Jack - Ray Charles

I can't love a hater, it's a losing game
Never love a quitter, you'll get left in the rain
I can't help the helper when my feet are bound
I can't feel you near me if you're not the only sound

Run for It -- Delerium ft. Leigh Nash

The first thing that registered after the initial shock was the odd absence of his eye-catching goggles.

Strange. She always thought he'd never be caught dead without them. . .

. . .the rest of her comprise was left in his dust as he turned tail and ran the opposite direction, mowing down anyone who happened to get in his way.

Kimiko stood stunned for a second longer, 'til her brain knocked itself back into sense.

Idiot! Don't let him get away! He could be up to something!

With that last thought in mind, she broke into a run, trailing after the red head at an increasing pace while being a bit more mindful of the bodies around her.

Well. . . maybe it wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but it was better than nothing.

Jack was panting.

He was sweating.

And after sprinting for some lost track of time, he was starting to develop a painful stitch.

Perfect.

He twisted around, and nearly wept with joy to see no one behind him. In fact, this part of town was fairly deserted, which was a welcome bonus, even it didn't help him in his current situation.

. . .what was his current situation again. . .?

Sapped of energy, the self-proclaimed evil boy genius slowed his frantic pace into a complete stop. Leaning forward, he rested one hand on his knee and the other against a nearby wall. Even through the fabric of his gloves, the cooling concrete felt like ice to his burning skin.

Oh what sweet salvation!

Previous events carelessly tossed aside, Jack pressed his cheek against the cement and groaned appreciatively.

Sooo much better. . .

"I'm impressed Spicer. You run pretty fast for someone who's used to flying away."

Oh. Great. Now he remembered why he was out of breath. What a pain.

Jack's blurry vision was assaulted then by a curvy figure (hm, not bad), no doubt the same one to match the feminine voice that spoke to him like he was an old acquaintance. In a retrospect kind of way, that's exactly what he was.

He preferred, however, to think of them as old enemies. And that long-familiar flame that had boiled the bad blood between their opposing sides was beginning to rekindle itself.

"You. . .you're still a. . .a little firecracker. . .I see. . ."

Was he still panting? For heaven's sake! He didn't look as scrawny as he used to, but appearances were so oftentimes deceiving.

Speaking of appearances. . .now that she got a good look at him, she realized that aside from the lack of his usual head wear, he looked exactly as she remembered him. There were minor differences, yes, but those were details she couldn't be bothered with right now. Perhaps later. . .

"Naturally. And you're still a coward," she shot back, the confidence she wore as a second skin beaming around her like an aura. She never left home without it.

"Naturally," he was quick on the uptake.

Well, at least he wasn't panting anymore.

"So why change your usual escape method now? You could easily get away from me with that heli-pack of yours," Kimiko wasted no time in launching more verbal abuse. If she was lucky, it would distract her from her own thoughts, and where they may go.

Jack whole-heartedly followed her lead without a single complaint.

"My heli-pack recently went on the fritz. I could blow myself up if I activated it now."

"I fail to see the negative connotation."

Why you little. . .

He didn't have the internal resources to finish his train of thought. He couldn't help gnashing his teeth together-a bad habit he never bothered to break, and never would-his glower a mere shadow of what it once was. Of course, Kimiko's intuition caught this absence of malice immediately, yet refused to acknowledge the presence of any change in him at all. She just kept telling herself he was still the same greaseball she knew and hated, and for the most part, it worked. For now.

In the meantime, Jack felt dizzy with a confusion unlike any he'd ever experienced.

He wanted to be angry. Really. He would gladly fling her insults all day, if life warranted such an activity. What a fun 24-hours those would be!

. . .only his heart just wasn't into it. Not like it used to be. And he had a fairly good idea why, too.

But damned if he would ever willingly say it out loud to her.

So instead of giving in to his broody mood, he resisted it. He found himself doing that a lot lately. . .he opted not to think too much these days. . .

"Tell me. Out of Tokyo's 12 million estimated populace, how did I end up bumping into the one person I wanted to most avoid. . .?"

Kimiko pursed her rouge-tinted lips, and Jack tried his best not to stare at them too hard.

Hey. Just because she was a Xiaolin Loser didn't mean she was unattractive. Far from it. He wasn't afraid to admit that. She knew it too, always showing off in those little mini skirts of hers. . .kinda like the one she wore now. . .

"I've got one even better. Out of the 7 continents spanning across 4 main ocean bodies, why did you pick Japan to grace with your presence?"

He managed to rip his attention away from her legs to stare into her face.

". . .I'm sight seeing."

Kimiko scowled deeper. Not only was Jack Spicer openly ogling her, but he was out right lieing to her as well. Did the man have a death wish?

"I'm sorry, you must have me mistaken for Omi. Or do you really believe I'll buy into your lame deception that easily?"

"Believe whatever you want, Tohomiko. Just do it on your own time. Mine's too precious to waste."

"You know, I'm not sure, but I think your head has grown a size or two over the last couple years we've been out of touch. You really should let the air out of it every once in a while; you don't want it to pop or anything."

"Ha ha, that's so clever. I guess the shorter your skirt gets, the smarter you get-"

SMACK!

Kimiko was instantly in his face, which had whipped to the side thanks to her timely slap. A giant red hand print materialized over his pale skin, and he rubbed at it resentfully as he turned back to squint at her.

"That hurt!"

"Good! Bastard!"

"Wench!'

"Crybaby!"

"Spoiled brat!"

It could have been well over an hour before their name-calling died down, as each ran out of insults to scream. When all was said and done, they resorted to a glaring match, their eyes juggling daggers back and forth between them. The tension grew higher every minute, and Jack knew he would be the first crack under its pressure. He'd been wise enough not to call her anything too offensiveཤྭlike 'bitch'ཤྭduring their row, but it wasn't over yet, and he was sure the longer he lingered, the more likely he was to lose control and blurt it out without thinking. That would earn him more than just a slap in the face, of that he was quite certain.

Time to cut this short before I end up in a strecher.

Jack gave her his best frustrated snarl, than spun on his heel and began walking away.

He could practically hear Kimiko blanche, and he knew she wasn't going to let him go just like that wtihout a fight.

"Hey!"

She easily caught up to him and snagged his elbow, halting his march.

"Where do you think you're going?"

He glared at her from over his shoulder.

"Away."

"'Away' where?"

"I don't know, away from you?"

"Just answer the question."

"No."

"Look, Jack. I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what your business is in Tokyo. Simple as that."

"Why do you want to know so badly, anyway?"

"Because, the last time you were in my home town, you aided PandaBubba in his attempt to overthrow my dad's company, turning him and all his employees into mindless zombies. Who knows what you could be up to this time, but you can be sure I won't you let get away with it!"

Jack regarded her for a moment, his expression unreadable. That alone was enough to unnerve Kimiko; his expression was always readable. . .

". . .that really got under your skin, didn't it?"

She tilted her head, unsure of what he was getting at.

Better play along if I want any answers.

"Damn straight. No one messes with my family and lives to tell about it!" she affirmed, clenching her fist for emphasis.

He winced and looked away. But not before Kimiko caught the look of pain that crossed his eyes.

What the. . .?

"Jack?" his name left her frowning mouth by accident.

No.

Don't do that.

Don't show concern when you don't really care.

"Just. . .," he browsed for something suitable to say. He needed to leave now; the longer he stayed, the more he gave himself away.

". . .just back off, all right Kimiko? Forget you ever saw me and I'll do the same, that way we can get on with our happy little lives in blissful ignorance."

He shook her off and gave her what he intended to be a final farewell glance.

"Sayonara."

He started walking away again. And made it to a total of five steps before her delicated fingers recaptured his arm.

"Spicer! You can't jus-"

Jack whirled around so that he was up close and very, very personal.

"I said BACK OFF Kimiko! I mean it! What I'm doing in Japan has nothing to do with you. You have no idea what you're talking about, and you have no right to butt into my business because of my track record with the Shen Gong Wu. You're not welcome in my life, and likewise, I'm not welcome in yours, so let's leave it at that and go our seperate ways. Agreed?"

He never gave her a chance to reply. And since Kimiko was suddenly dumb-struck from being told off by Jack Spicer (what had the world come to?), she let him break away and round the corner; out of sight, but not out of mind.

"-you have no right to butt into my business because of my track record with the Shen Gong Wu."

Duh! The Shen Gong Wu! That's what he was after!

God am I slow today, or what? Maybe it's just a sideaffect to running into Spicer, of all people.

But then, if that were true, why wasn't he back at the temple trying to raid the Shen Gong Wu vault? She could follow him and pry the answers out of him, yet for some reason, that option didn't seem as likely to work anymore. . .

He had changed. Dramatically.

Kimiko shook her head briefly and looked down at her hands. She could see a very slight tremor lining her skin.

Two years.

That wasn't the same Jack Spicer she remembered.

He was different. She couldn't deny that any longer.

"You're not welcome in my life, and likewise, I'm not welcome in yours, so let's leave it at that and go our seperate ways."

The japanese girl's expression turned to stone. She spun on her heel, and retraced her steps, resuming her previous journey before it had been so rudely interrupted.

Not that she cared.