--Chapter IX--

Disclaimers: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown.

A/N: Yes, the cliffie's continuation is finally here… bwahahaha! Sorry for the wait.

Kimiko's mind was racing. She meant to tell Raimundo all about what she heard from Ben and Lucy's conversation earlier. She would have to admit that Raimundo was right—He did have a right to be suspicious of him. How wrong she was, to trust someone she barely knew…

"Don't tell me. It's about Ashmond, isn't it?" Raimundo said, straight to the point.

Kimiko hesitated a few moments before replying. "Yes, it is. Oh, Rai, I don't know what to do."

"Tell me what happened." He said calmly.

Kimiko began her story, telling him about what happened in the car after their lunch date. She lamented on how she found the seemingly perfect guy, how she noticed the blond haired girl who was obviously angry, how Ben lied to her and called the blonde his "classmate", how he left her alone to explain to the girl (whom he called Lucy), and how she was able to listen in to their conversation. When Ben finally came in the car, she had learned everything she needed to know.

Kimiko felt strange, like she was pouring out her whole soul to Raimundo. It wasn't the first time she'd done it, anyhow. As her sole best friend, Raimundo was always ready to listen to her, comfort her and give her advice about everything. But now was different from the other times. She thought she was ready to open her heart—ready to love—but everything was falling to bits in front of her eyes.

It was a feeling of intense pain, like a mirror shattering into a million pieces; like a piece of herself being torn apart.

Now she was no longer a stranger to heartbreak.

Raimundo listened as calmly as he could, trying to compose himself and listen patiently to his friend's sorry tale. How he wished he had been there as Kimiko and Ben were talking—he could have easily pummeled the guy to smithereens. But something told him violence wasn't the answer.

If he wanted to win Kimiko's heart, he had to be patient. He had to let her realize that it was he whom she really loved, not Ben. And to do that, he had to show her his love. The rest was up to her. If she didn't love him… well, Raimundo didn't want to think about that.

As he waited for Kimiko to finish her story, he took a deep breath. This was it. This was the time chosen for him to have a heart-to-heart talk with her. Oh, how hard this was going to be—he had no time to figure that out.

Kimiko breathed easily after relating her whole story, and waited for Raimundo's reaction. He was still sitting quietly, and Kimiko could tell that he was thinking deeply. She sighed and let her hair loose from its ponytail, flowing gracefully down her back.

Finally Raimundo turned his attention to her. "Kim… do you think you love the guy?"

"Ben?" Kimiko was struck by the question. "I'm not that sure… I mean… he cheated on me."

"Yes he did, but do you love him?"

"How would I know if I did?"

Raimundo sighed. "You love him if you don't know the reason why you love him… you just do. Whenever you see him, your heart beats like crazy… Things like that. Geez, girls know this better than I do."

"Oh…" Kimiko said. She paused for a while to think and ponder on her feelings, and to reminisce her past with Ben. Thought waves rushed through her head like unstoppable torrents. The memories came back to haunt her, and she didn't refuse them. They just kept moving through her brain like a slideshow of pictures. Did she truly love him? How did she fall in love, in the first place? Kimiko searched the endless drawers in her memories, searching for a love that seemed inexistent.

Had she ever been in love? Did she know what love was? Had she felt it when she was with Ben? No… she couldn't have. She didn't even have a personal definition for love. She didn't remember what it felt like.

Strange.

"…Hey Kim, are you still there?" Raimundo's voice brought her back to reality.

"Yeah. I'm still here… I've just been thinking. Listen… have you ever been in love?"

Raimundo stopped himself from blurting things out. Instead, he said, "That's not a question that I would have wanted you to ask right now, Kim… let's focus on you. Have you ever been in love?"

"Ye--… no. I don't know."

"What sort of answer is that?"

"Look, Raimundo. I just don't know what to say. Sure, I felt sparks and everything while I was with Ben, but how do I know that it's not just some childish fantasy of being with this super cute guy? And now that he betrayed me, I don't know what to feel!" Kimiko blurted out desperately. Tears began slowly coursing their way down her cheeks.

Raimundo didn't mean to see her cry like this. He knew that it was out of frustration. She was being pushed to remember what had happened between her and Ben. That was painful enough. Raimundo knew then that he really had feelings for Kim; he felt her pain.

"I'm sorry, Kim. Let's talk about this some other time. I'm not forcing you to relive your memories… They hurt, I know. For now, I think you should have a rest. Come on… I'll get you some pizza, if that will cheer you up."

Kimiko sighed. "Thanks, Rai. I'd appreciate that." Without another word, she flopped on his bed. Raimundo smiled to himself. His best friend, indeed, was tired.

When Raimundo came back, Kimiko had changed her clothes to a white tank top and some comfy shorts. She was perched on his bed, watching TV. When he came into the room, she looked up. "Hey, Rai. You don't mind if I crash here for a few seconds, don't you?"

"I don't mind. Go ahead." Raimundo smiled. She smiled back, her glance shifting to the pizza he was carrying.

"At last. Something edible that I can eat." She took a slice and bit into it, savoring the taste in her mouth.

"Hey, don't finish all the slices. Save some for me." Raimundo teased, sitting beside her.

She nodded playfully. The usually glossy lips of Kimiko were covered in cheese and tomato sauce. He found himself staring at her for no reason. Electric sparks ignited in his body. He wanted to kiss her—badly.

"Hey Rai? Are you okay? You look… strange," Kimiko said, finishing up her slice of pizza and cleaning her mouth in the bathroom. She applied a small amount of lip gloss.

"I'm okay, don't worry." Raimundo managed a small smile. Then she came back and turned off the TV. She sat on the bed across him, studying his eyes with a twinkling interest.

Was this the right opportunity? Can I kiss her? Raimundo thought uneasily. Would she be surprised if he did what he was thinking?

Instinct overpowered his logical thoughts. In another second, his lips were heavily glued onto Kimiko's, kissing her uncontrollably, like a man let loose from his cage.

He felt his body moving like he'd never seen it before—in an instant, he was on top of Kimiko, kissing her like there was no end. And strangely enough, she was kissing him back. The electricity was coursing through both of their bodies, like they were an endless circuit.

This is what it feels like to be in love, Raimundo thought rashly as his hands enclosed around Kimiko's slender neck, pulling her closer to him. Her body responded in tune to his. They were meant to be together… This was real… Raimundo started convincing himself.

Then after several minutes, they pulled apart, gasping for breath. They had been under the control of some sort of magnetism that attracted the both of them together. Was this possible?

Kimiko was already thinking, thoughts racing into her head like wildfire. What had she just done? She had kissed her own best friend—her best friend—like there was no end. Was this the love she was looking for? The one she was searching for, but couldn't find?

Both were speechless, unmindful of what the other was thinking. They were enveloped into their own thoughts when Kimiko's cell phone rang.

The ringing snapped them out of their trances. Kimiko bent to pick it up, seeing that the caller was Ben, she looked over at Raimundo, forgetting what had just transpired between them.

"Pick it up, Kim. Put it on loudspeaker," he said finally.

She did as she was told. She just hoped it was a good decision.

"Finally! Kim! I found it so hard to reach you… Where have you been? I was calling you for hours." Ben's voice rang through the room. He continued on, not waiting for Kimiko's response.

"Wait—before you hang up or anything, I want to explain what happened a while ago. Like I said, she was a classmate of mine. She was yelling at me because I did something wrong in our project. She's an honor student, you see—and when she found out I've been spending the time with you, she thought I couldn't focus on the project. You know how love can drive a person mad." He laughed uneasily. "So… Kim? Are you still there? Did you hear what I just said?"

Kimiko had a mind to hang up the phone at that very instant. What a horrible liar he was. What did he think she was—an idiot? She knew it wasn't true. "Ben, shut up. I never want to talk to you again." She told him, and hung up the phone. Kimiko sighed and buried her face in Raimundo's pillow, taking in his scent. "I don't care what he says anymore. From now on… it's goodbye, Ben." She declared.

To be continued…

A/N: Please review:D thanks. All comments are greatly appreciated.