--Chapter XI--

Disclaimers: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown.

A/N: Yup, here's the update! Please R&R :D Thanks for the reviews, by the way! And for those of you who were waiting for the past chapters… I'm really, really sorry for the wait. Anyway. Tried to make this chapter as quickly as possible. Enjoy…

The alarm clock beeped. Eleven-thirty P.M. The Xiaolin Temple was quite silent, and the occupants of this certain area were all asleep, except for Raimundo.

And this certain Brazilian was still thinking… thinking about Kimiko. Things were going so fast. Raimundo felt like he was lucky to keep his cool and control over certain situations. Some of these situations, however; he couldn't change no matter how hard he tried. Just like Kimiko going over to Ben's house.

Okay, he was being paranoid. He couldn't help thinking that, maybe, just maybe… Kimiko and Ben made up, and before Raimundo knew it, they would be dating again. And then he would lose his deal with Ben, and to quote Ben: "the loser gets out of town."

That would be an awful situation. But what Raimundo really, really hated the most was that he couldn't do anything to stop it. Even if he tried, Kimiko would still be going over to explain things to Ben, because she was that type of girl. What she did was justifiable in all means.

So why did he feel so… insecure? Paranoid, even? He knew that he should be protective of Kimiko, but he never went this far.

Where on earth is she? She was supposed to come home hours ago. He thought. And all the more, he was getting insecure. All his thoughts were pointing out to the main point: that he would never win Kimiko's heart.

No! This can't happen! She can't possibly make up with Ashmond, not when he cheated on her!

But then why isn't she home by now? She would have told you everything about it. She would come home, rushing straight to you so that she could cry on your shoulder. So then… why isn't she back home where she should be? Unless… she met someone else. Or… maybe she's just not interested in you. Another voice whispered in his mind, making him think otherwise.

He hated doubt. He wanted to know where on earth she was, and he wanted to know that now. He was getting frustrated, confused and paranoid. If he wasn't careful, he would go ballistic.

"I'm sorry, Kimiko, but I have to do this." He said aloud, just thinking of what he was going to do next. He headed out of his room, and went straight for Kimiko's.

Ben thought it best to call her up now. Maybe he'd find some way to resolve their whole break-up and start over.

Who knew that one day, even I would be caught dead doing this. Calling up a girl in the middle of the night, telling her that I'm sorry for our whole break-up. He thought, a part of him being sarcastic. He just didn't do things like this. Never in his whole life did he have to say sorry to a girl.

The truth was, he never took them seriously. He took them all for granted… even Kimiko, and most especially Lucy. Now he found that a girl had broken through his defenses… And this same girl had seen his playboy side.

And the fact that he had just ruined their relationship while he was starting to believe that he loved her… well, he knew he'd made a huge mistake.

The line started ringing, bringing him back from his thoughts. "Hey, this is Kimiko. Sorry, I'm not here at the moment. Leave your message after the beep." Beep.

"Listen… Kimiko. It's Ben. I know I haven't been the best boyfriend to you, but apologizing is worth the try. I mean, I just can't let you slip away from me without making an effort, right? I want to prove to you that I really, really love you. I mean it, Kim. You're not just some girl to me. You're the one. I know this sounds stupid on the phone, but… Kim, I want us to get back to what we were before. Before I made this huge mistake. And let me tell you, Kim… there's nothing more I regret in this world than that stupid mistake. Call me… I want to explain all of this to you, if you'd give me the chance." Ben hung up dejectedly, knowing that he had done his best.

Now was time for the vigil… awaiting her call. He looked at his watch. Eleven forty-five. He would give her fifteen minutes before he called her again.

Raimundo checked to see if she was in her room. He knocked. No answer. Then he knew that he was right… she wasn't home, and she probably won't come back. Thinking this, he turned the doorknob and let himself in her room. This wasn't exactly trespassing after all, he reassured himself. Kimiko was his best friend. He had every right to check on her.

He began his search for her so-called diary. He knew it existed, because she had mentioned it sometime before. Although… he didn't have any idea as to where it was.

He was looking for the diary because he needed to find out if she was writing about him. Or perhaps, what she experienced with Ben. His heart pounded. He hoped that he wouldn't be caught snooping in her room…

Just as he was searching her drawers, the phone rang. He froze in place, too shocked to move. There it went again. Ring. It was begging to be answered, and that was the last thing Raimundo wanted to do. Finally, it played the recorded message of Kimiko on her personal answering machine. "Hey, this is Kimiko. Sorry, I'm not here at the moment. Leave your message after the beep." Beep.

Then he heard Ben's voice, in an apologetic and seemingly regretful manner. When he heard the message, he had no doubt that Ben Ashmond actually loved her. He heard the sincere note in his voice. Unless he was a really good actor and was able to impersonate sincerity. Raimundo doubted it. Ben may be a good actor, but he was actually convincing. Unlike some of the playboy guys that Raimundo knew about. Hardly any one of them could be sincere.

After Ashmond hung up, Raimundo stalked over to the answering machine. The button was flashing red.

Jealousy was getting the best of him. After hearing Ben's sorry speech, Raimundo wanted nothing more than to delete the whole message. So then Kimiko wouldn't have to hear that stupid apology. Raimundo felt wretched. He felt almost evil.

He stopped himself in time from pressing the delete button. He reminded himself that he wouldn't stoop down that low. He wasn't that kind of guy. He needed to let Kimiko know that he, Raimundo, loved her… through different means.

He went back to looking for Kimiko's diary. He was about to give up when he remembered that Kimiko had a laptop. Maybe she kept a computer journal…

He browsed through her files, and found a file marked "Top Secret". He opened it, revealing a blank word document. He tried selecting everything, and found out that the text was all there—in white. And then the first entry began on a specific date.

He tried reading through it, but stopped. This wasn't right. It was Kimiko's privacy. Then… the door to Kimiko's room flew open.

To be continued…

A/N: Yup, cliffhanger. Please leave a review! I'll be doing Chapter 12, so see you soon. :)