Chase vs. Kimiko
Chapter2 : Day 1
A rooster crowed in the distance and a groggy Chase Young awoke in a different yet very familiar environment than usual. Oh yes, I remember now. He thought sitting up. I lost to a little, fiery, cute, beautiful...Wait. Did I just say cute and beautiful? Chase slapped himself hard on the face, only to hear a giggle beside him. He looked in the direction of the sound. A brown haired girl in faded jeans and white tank top stood in front of his open cupboard with her back facing him, but not her eyes. They were looking right into his.
"Do you always do that in the morning or is it that your natural reflex to an opening cupboard?" Kimiko asked, stifling another giggle. Her eyes trailed slowly from eyes to his bare muscular chest. His waist onwards was beneath the blanket unfortunately so she had to make do with the chest upwards. He looked exactly like he was a painting from one of those fine ancient arts with high cheekbones, powerful eyes and graceful body. How can such fine beauty be of such great evil? She thought sadly before shaking her head violently.
"Now do you always do that when you open cupboards or is that your natural reflex when you ask me a question, hmm?" asked Chase, although knowing very well why.
"Copycat." she remarked.
"Not really. They call it 'tit-for-tat'. Which in this case means 'one none-of-your-business question for another' " he corrected her, smiling. Then he got up and walked over to her. "By the way, what are you doing with my cupboard? I thought I was supposed to serve you, not the other way around."
"Well you sure don't act like it." she snapped, trying not to catch a glimpse of the half-naked man next to her. "I was just adding some clothes more appropriate for your chores."
Chase stood behind her and took a piece of clothing from the neatly folded pile. It was a T-shirt with a Teletubbies imprint on it.
"Don't look at me about that. Like I said yesterday, the majority of us – which is all the boys – voted for things like these" was Kimiko's reply to his inquiring look.
"I suppose they used excuses such as 'Come on, he deserves it. I mean he practically tried to take over the world by using our very own peps' or 'As much I find this very immature, it would be a very minimum punishment for his evil actions.' or maybe 'Well that over-grown reptile could use a little more colour in his life.' "Chase imitated her friends very well.
"How did you do, or know that? You make imitating Rai, Omi and Clay sound so easy!"
"Imitation comes after long-term familiarity. And I have long been familiar with their talking, they blabber so much there's no mystery about them. You in the meantime..." Once again he leaned towards her as she turned to face him, "...are still a mystery to me. A mystery that always seem to be so close to solving, but never is; there is always a new area that shows up when the last has been figured out. But tomorrow never has an end does it?; for after one tomorrow there is always another tomorrow. And a tommorow is like you, Dragon of Fire. It is just like you." As saying, he reached for her face.
"Chase..." Kimiko felt a tingling within her as a bold yet gentle hand stroked her cheek. The hand then brought itself behind her neck, pulling her towards him for the next step.
Then came the most horrible thing for that moment. "Ehem. Servant!"
Chase turned to see a small yellow creature of absolute annoyance, peeking its head through the curtain-door. "What may my little Master require so early in the morning?" he asked with as much control as he could muster.
"Nothing much at the moment." Omi smile was too broad for comfort, "Just wondering if you would want breakfast before chores. Because it would disappear fast when Raimondo and Clay awaken"
"I understand Master. I will come soon." replied Chase.
Omi headed for the curtained exit. "Are you coming Kimiko?" he asked in his happy-good-morning tone.
"Oh. Er. Yeah." The girl dropped back down to reality. "I'm coming". Leaving Chase behind, she went with Omi for breakfast.
Chase looked into his closet. Apparently Kimiko was not lying. This would be definitely the boys' doing; Teletubbies, Elmo, Powerpuff Girls and Pokemon tops, but no sign of his armor? Chase growled. The other clothings were a pair of fairly decent overalls, a couple of white shirts, jeans and his long forgotten Xiaolin Kung-fu suit.
He chose the suit. It was, although no longer his colour, far better than the rest. He took it, as well as some basic shower substances and a towel and headed for the bathroom. While the warm water came pouring onto his jet black hair, thoughts streamed through his mind. What in the Heylin world possessed him to do that? A Heylin warrior kissing a Xiaolin warrior? Ha ha ha. Amusing. What crap. That punk Raimondo will have his head if he found out. Oh shit, that's right. Kimiko is Raimondo's. Or is it the other way around? "ARGH!" Chase yelled was about to punch the wall when he remembered this wasn't his house so punched the air instead. "Nothing ever goes my way! Even if it does, the victory is never lasting!" You're losing it, Chase. He thought, Calm down. Calm down. It'll be fine. You're still a Heylin monster; pure evil. You do not need her.
Meanwhile, Kimiko was beating herself up as well. When she left Chase, she fetched her PDA. While chewing breakfast, she had her earphones on and listened to some of her saved music. They made her a fantasy. No boys, no unnecessary disturbance, no Chase... No Chase? Her mind yelled at her. What do you mean no Chase? I mean no, you know, wanting for the enemy. Yeah right! Just listen to this song! Kimiko listened; ironically, the song was Everytime We Touch.
I still hear Your voice when You sleep next to me
I still feel Your touch in my dreams
Forgive me my weakness
But I don't know why
Without You it's hard to survive.
Cos' Everytime We Touch
I get this feeling
And Everytime We Kiss I swear I can fly.
Can't You feel my heart beat fast
I want this to last
I need You by my side
Cos' Everytime We Touch
I feel the static
And Everytime We Kiss I reach for the sky
Can't You feel my heart beat so
I can't let You go
I want You in my life.
"Argh!" mumbled Kimiko and skipping the song, "That is really junk. What is that song doing in my PDA anyway?".
Just then, brown haired boy and cowboy entered the dining room followed by a tall man carrying detergent and a scrubber behind them.
"Ehem. My fellow monks, may I have your absolute attention?" asked Raimondo in a voice of authority. "Our new servant will be washing all our dirty laundry in fifteen minutes time. Do pass them to him now so he can prepare the appropriate amount of washing liquid." Then he and Clay dumped a pile of really bad-smelling clothing in front of Chase up to his neck and went to fetch themselves breakfast. They obviously didn't like Chase one bit because not even a crumb was offered for the morning meal and he had to scrub their underwear.
"You are most welcome Masters. Always pleased to be of your service." Mumbled Chase as Omi threw his laundry at the top of the pile, near Chase's face. Looking up at the only monk that hasn't left, he said, "Any from you, milady?"
"One second." Kimiko replied as she took one last sip of her tea. "Want some?" she asked, offering her remaining cup of tea.
Chase looked pleased. He was pleased that something edible was offered it to him, but he rethought that as he remembered where he was. Is this a form of trap? What if the other monks were watching? Oh please! Groaned his stomach, Just be thankful you've got something. Take it you fool!
"Yes please." Then Chase took the cup without question and drained it. When he was done, Kimiko had left but the pile of laundry had grown a bit. Picking the pile and the washing stuff up, he walked out of the temple and to the nearby stream behind. He began by dropping the whole lot on the banks and soaked the scrubber with detergent. "Here we go" was all he could say before plunging the first of the laundry into the water. Soon he was on the second piece. Then the third. Then fourth. Fifth. Sixth, and his mind wondered.
First she was the first one of all the Wudai Warriors to actually beat him, twice. The first time was when she disguised herself as that idiot Spicer and the second was obviously yesterday. And then now, she was genuinely bothered with his needs and did not dump her laundry in his face. Then it hit him. He looked at the thing he was currently washing. It was the little lady's undergarment.
With only one dummy left, Kimiko called in her element and burned it to flying feather ash before the others could even touch it. "Excellent fighting Kimiko." commented Master Fung, "I still believe that is only the first page of the book. For you would have done much more to defeat Chase Young."
"Well..." smiled Kimiko, "Luck was on my side." But I still wonder..., she thought. I'll talk to him later. Unfortunately, she never had a chance.
Right after scrubbing underwear, Chase was allowed to eat his self-cooked lunch alone. Immediately he was down on his knees and mopping floors with an old rag the rest of the afternoon and, because of Omi's little report to Raimondo, Kimiko was kept busy with the boys in sport games. Let's see if that freak of nature can get to her now, Thought Raimondo relieved. Unfortunately, his servant had finished mopping sooner than he had calculated and intruded into their soccer game.
"May I interrupt Masters?" Chase bowed politely.
"You just did." grumbled the Brazilian teenager. Realizing why, Raimondo yelled in surprise, "Wait! You- You're done?!"
"Yes" Chase lifted his head.
"Whoo-wee." Clay whistled, "Spicer took a fiver as long, and even Omi would've taken more tick-tock than that."
"Begging your pardon, but I am neither of them." replied Chase, "Is there anything else you would desire, Masters?"
"Oh yes!" Omi had spotted Kimiko opening her mouth, "The, um, uh, leaves! Oh absolutely! The leaves of the trees are all over the place! They make it very hard to play Feetball."
"Football. Or soccer." corrected Raimondo angrily for football was his favourite sport.
"I shall do so Master." quickly replied Chase – hearing another one of their eternal, pointless arguments would kill him. Picking up a nearby rake, he soundlessly gathered the dead leaves.
"Why did you do that Omi? Chase had already done so much!" asked a slightly sad Kimiko.
"Chase had only done two chores, Kimiko. That is very little." replied the little yellow monk.
"Two major chores. That pile of laundry dates to last week! Plus I know you guys would make him wash dishes tonight. All the dishes." Kimiko argued.
"All Done." interrupted the servant, standing beside a pile of leaves as tall as himself.
"Aww." moaned the boys.
"How does he do that?" hissed Raimondo. Then the gong for dinner rang, and a tiger came through the temple gates with a can in its mouth.
"DINNER!" yelled the boys and dashed off to the dining room. Chase watched them dash off in inner disgust that they didn't shower after such a sweaty sport.
He turned his head, "And you? Going to run off too?"
Kimiko pulled a like-real face, "Eww! NO! It's so gross. I'm gonna take a shower first. You?"
"Definitely." Then, being a gentleman, he ushered her to walk in front of him. They walked for awhile until they reached her bedroom when Kimiko turned around and asked him a question.
"I really need to know." she looked straight into his eyes, "Did I actually win that Showdown or did you..."
"You won." he replied, but then he lowered his voice and muttered to himself, "Due to a small circumstance."
"What circumstance?", Kimiko could hear him very well. "Did you let me win or not?"
"I just answered you."
"But you also said something after that! 'Something something small circumstance'."
"Can't I talk to myself?"
"Retards do that. You one of 'em?"
No reply. Chase just stared at the air over her.
"Hey. You gonna answer me?"
"It depends on what kind of answer you are expecting, Milady.". With that, he turned and left.
"What the heck?" muttered Kimiko. "LIKE WHATEVER!" she yelled at his back, then walked behind the curtain to her room to fetch her bathing stuff. Pushing her curtain back, a shock awaited her. Chase Young was standing right in front of her. "What?" she snapped. Chase simply stood there, expressionless.
"I will answer your last question Ms. Tohomiko, if you would answer one of mine."
"Ladies first?"
"I was heavily ... distracted by my opponent. Now, you swear to answer mine?"
"Ok."
"Every one of your friends has practically started torturing me. Why haven't you? If it is for a plot of more misery for me, then don't say a word."
"Erm. I, er, um..." Kimiko looked away, just to gaze back at him. Chase, you're my magnet! I can't stop myself from being with you! no no that's stupid. Her eyes trailed to his chest once more. Although the skin was covered, the V-figure could not be blocked from obvious view. She clenched her hands till she was sure her knuckles were white, she opened her mouth.
"HEY KIMIKO! DINNER'S DISAPEARING FASTER THAN TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING!" yelled Clay, his mouth full of rice.
"Yeah. I'm coming." she replied then looked back at Chase, only to find he had disappeared.
"Walau! That girl won't answer even if there was no interruption." growled Chase in the shower. He needed the bath more anyway. Stepping out and changed into the ridiculous baggy jeans and white tee, he made his way to the dining room. Left on the table were two bowls of rice, leftover vegetables and meats, tofu and Lau Meng Long soup. Without a care, he seized a pair of chopsticks and picked his side dishes and swallowed the lot with the rice. Then as he started on the soup, a little girl in a jeans skirt and white tee walked in. He noticed she was trying to look at the dinner and not who she was going to have it with. He didn't. "You still did not answer my question Kimiko."
Walau is a common Chinese exclaimation like My goodness! Can be used both positively and negatively
Kimiko merely consumed a few bites before she glanced up. Chase's eyes were wholly fixed upon her. "I don't know how to explain it to you Chase." she said quietly, "I just simply ca - can't do anything bad to you. I – I don't know what it is but I just can't!" she sounded weak, but true.
Chase listened to those stuttered statements. He had drifted into a thought. He remembered there was a time when there was an alternate reality incident. He, or his alternate, was exceptionally friendly to Kimiko, or her alternate. He also rememebered when he had commented on her perfume. In both incidents, she did not react negatively.
"But when I can, I'll try to answer your question properly." Finished Kimiko at last.
Chase simply nodded, obviously still thinking, and mindlessly cleared the table. While washing dishes, pots, pans, cups and utensils piled ceiling high, he was still thinking. While ironing the monks clothing, he was still thinking. At midnight, before he went to sleep, he made this one conclusion; I guess 1000 years can't teach you everything, especially if it is about love. What did you say? asked his nosey mind. You know very well what I said. Then do you mean what you said? pause. "Yes, I believe I do."