Title: The Bet
Part: 2/5
Fandom: Xiaolin Showdown.
Pairing: Raimundo/Kimiko
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,396
Summary/Description: Clay makes a friendly bet with Raimundo, with interesting conditions and consequences. Kiss stealing, anyone?
Warning/Spoilers: No warnings. Takes place early in the show, before they become Wudai Warriors, because, well, that's when I wrote it. So, no spoilers, either.
A/N: Thanks for the feedback, guys. :) You all are awesome, and I appreciate it muchly. Here's Part 2. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I'm eighteen, broke, and I write fanfiction. What about any of this, suggests that I, in any way, own Xiaolin Showdown?
Later that week…
"Raimundo Pedrosa!!!!!!!"
The shrill, feminine yell pierced through the innate silence of the Xiaolin Temple grounds. Tohomiko Kimiko stomped out of her cubicle, PDA in hand, liquid fire bleeding into her crystalline, cyan eyes. One hand was curled into a fist at her side, and she was just short of snarling. When she found him… ooh, he was gonna get it.
She found him chatting with Dojo at the back of the Temple gardens. The ancient dragon took one look at her face, muttered something unintelligible about having a scroll to guard, and shot off into the foliage.
Raimundo turned to look at her, and, for whatever enigmatic reason, smiled. He was looking pretty laidback for someone who was about to have his head ripped off and shoved up an indelicate part of his anatomy.
"Hey Kim." He grinned, giving her a four-fingered wave in greeting.
She wondered that she didn't spontaneously combust courtesy the torrid heat of her element; she was that mad.
"Don't 'Hey Kim' me," she barked, ponytails whipping about her in fury. She thrust the PDA into his face. "Get it off. Now. If not sooner."
His features contorted into bewilderment. He almost looked innocent.
"Get what off?"
"Don't try to be smart, Rai," she snapped. "It doesn't become you. The virus." She cut her eyes at him dangerously. "Are you going to deny that you sent it?"
If Rai had looked confused before, now he was just plain lost.
"Virus?"
She had but a tenuous hold on her temper, and she wasn't at all averse to letting go. She knew her inability to manage her fury was a flaw, but things like self-control and patience were quickly taking backseat as her anger heightened. She waved the handheld electronic in his face.
"Yes, virus. Survey your handiwork. Are you pleased?"
Raimundo pried the PDA from her pale fingers. The screen in its entirety was filled with a tanned face that had mischievous green eyes, and a head full of unruly brown hair. The Brazilian grinned.
"Handsome guy," he remarked.
"Raimundo," she growled in warning, looking positively feral.
He laughed.
"Okay, okay," he said, holding up his palms in surrender. "I admit it. I sent it. But it's not a virus," he suffixed, handing her back her Personal Digital Assistant.
Kimiko almost forgot to be pissed off; she was that incredulous.
"What do you mean, 'It's not a virus'? Your face is on my screen, Pedrosa. That never bodes well. Come on, I'm not even playing any more. Get. The. Virus. Off. I'm serious. I've got work to do, damn it. "
He leant back against the wall, one brow arched.
"Did you even try to open any applications to see if it was working?"
She blinked at him.
"Well, no… Actually… I found it like this, and immediately…"
"Assumed it was a virus and came over here primed to kick my ass. Really Kim, I'm hurt."
She glowered hotly.
"Don't push it, Pedrosa."
He chuckled, shaking his head.
"Go on, try it."
She took a seat on the bench, glaring at him. She tapped a button on the PDA, and to her surprise, Raimundo's visage shrank immediately, and resigned itself to a corner of the screen. She glanced up at him, and he was grinning. She scowled.
She went into Messages, planning on checking to see if everything was working optimally. She almost fell of the seat when the face in the top right corner said,
"Hi Kim, happy texting!"
A slim black eyebrow arched, and she did not have to look up at him to know that the grin had widened. She typed a quick message to Keiko to make to sure that it would send. When that was confirmed, she then went into Games. The little Raimundo at the top of her screen said,
"Go get 'em, girl."
The eyebrow arched higher.
"Go into Camera," Raimundo suggested, scooting closer. After sending him a quick, cautious glance, she did so.
This time, the face in the corner actually gave a rakish grin, before saying,
"Hey, take a snapshot of yourself; you're looking pretty good."
It took a while before she was able to snap her jaw closed.
"So you see," Raimundo was saying, "No virus. Just a simple, temporary program."
Kimiko took a few quick breaths – her brain was suddenly deoxygenated – and shook her head around a bit.
"So… No annoying virus?"
"Nope."
She stared at him dubiously.
"Hold on, let me try and get this… I'm still reeling. You sent me a program that says nice things every time I open an application, compliments me, and does not hamper the proper working facilities of my PDA in any way?"
"Yeah." He shrugged, as if that was no big deal in itself.
She peered up at him suspiciously.
"How did you even get access to a program like this?"
He waved his hand dismissively.
"One of my brothers specialises in computer technology; I had him hook me up."
The brunette's eyes narrowed further.
"Okay, but… why?"
He gave another shrug of his shoulders.
"I just figured that it'd be a nice thing to do, seeing that I always send you those pesky viruses. Sorta like an apology."
She regarded him warily, her chagrin withering into candid perplexity. Apology? The word wasn't one that she normally associated with her Brazilian team-mate. She was looking at him as if he had sprouted three heads and was doing the Macarena in a coconut bra and a pink tutu.
"Erm… Okaaaaaay," she ventured, still watching him as if he were about to do something shifty. "Well… um… thanks, I guess."
"No big," he said, almost dismissively. He reached under the bench, grabbed his football, and without preamble, began kicking it up on his ankles and knees expertly. It was as if he'd already forgotten she was there. She felt awkward, unduly so. It was time for her to jet.
"'Kay… well, I'll catch you later, then."
A distracted grunt was all she got in reply.
"Oh, and, erm… sorry about the whole yelling at you thing," Kimiko added, tapping the light pen to the PDA screen nervously.
"No sweat." His eyes never left the ball. He was now rolling it over his shoulders, a look of pointed concentration shadowing his suntanned features.
"'Kay then, bye."
She took off, intermittently throwing bemused glances over her shoulder at Raimundo, who had not ceased practicing. That, she reflected, was decidedly weird. Something was going on here, she just wasn't quite sure what.
Raimundo hid a crafty smirk behind the ball, watching as the Japanese girl retreated. So far, so good.
Later that day…
Clay passed Raimundo in the hallway.
"'Bout two days have passed, partner," he reminded him.
The Brazilian cocked a brow.
"I know, I know. Don't rush me. I'm working on it."
Kimiko settled herself on the steps of the Temple, taking her PDA out. She needed to take some notes. Keiko and Daddy's birthdays were coming up, and she wanted to make sure she knew exactly what she was going to get them. The fireball of the sun dipped low in the sky, its golden-orange rays providing her with light.
She tapped her way into the Notebook.
"S'up Kim? Working hard?" asked the mini-Rai in the corner of her screen.
She giggled a bit. She was actually getting used to the little voice. Raimundo had said it was temporary, but she wouldn't mind having it around on a long-term basis. It wasn't annoying, as one might expect, but sweet, and strangely warm and comforting.
A soft breeze blew, cooling the heated back of her neck, and tickling her face with her hair. She gave a pleasant sough.
She started writing away. Keiko would doubtless want clothes, and the last time the Xiaolin Warriors had been in Spain she'd seen a pretty skirt that would suit her best friend perfectly. And as for her father… Kimiko smiled affectionately to herself. He was truly a child at heart. He'd probably like a videogame. But, then again, what videogame didn't her father have, considering who he was?
She mulled over it, pulling at her lower lip. The wind blew again, more insistently this time, tousling her onyx tresses until the strands flew into her face, into her eyes. She frowned, brushing it away, and went back to work.
It kept up, however, whipping her hair about tenaciously, getting it in her eyes, and twirling her skirt. She growled, frustrated. Why was the wind acting up like that at this time of day? Her cerulean eyes narrowed as she took in her surroundings. Moreover, why wasn't the tapestry at the top of the stairs, or the leaves on that tree over there rustling too? It was almost as if the wind was concentrating… on her.
It didn't take her very long to figure it out. She smiled uncertainly.
What's he up to this time?
The next time the breeze tugged at her hair, she wasn't very alarmed. She simply cast an eye around, wondering where he was hiding. He didn't deign to show himself. He did, however, think it necessary to ease her hair out of their twin ponytails. She sighed as her obsidian locks began dancing – yes, dancing – on her shoulders. This was quickly losing its amusingness, and progressing into irritating.
The gale picked up, and began ruffling the top of her hair, while simultaneously tickling her with slight twitches of its wraithlike fingers. She grimaced, suppressing a giggle that actually wasn't very pleased, and tried to continue her work. That didn't pan out. The playfulness was distracting, and irksome, no matter how freakishly cute.
Finally, she sighed exasperatedly, and put down the pen.
"Come on out Rai. I know it's you."
By and by, the Brazilian materialised from around the corner, hands tucked into his pockets.
"You called?"
She cut her eyes at him, but couldn't really find it within herself to be angry at him. She touched her sable mane, a tad aggravatedly.
"Cut the innocent act Raimundo. That was you playing with my hair. There's no way a natural wind could have done all of that."
"Playing with your hair? Who, me?" he asked, ingenuousness etched into his register. He shook his rusty head, the unruly strands of his hair whipping about slightly. "Naw, you're mistaken. It was probably just… The wind." A wily grin.
She was about to argue that that was exactly what she was talking about – he was the wind – when he did something distinctly artless, but yet absolutely remarkable.
He winked, and ambled around the corner, out of sight.
Kimiko gulped, and put a hand to her chest. Those heart palpitations were the result of… of… er… of… well, something other than the slow, sly flash of that hazy emerald eye. And the flush on her cheeks was due to… due to… well something a world apart from how roguishly handsome he'd looked.
Okay.
So.
If the thumping of her heart was any indication, the weirdness scale around here had just indomitably tipped in a foreboding direction.
That night, in training with Master Fung, Raimundo elbowed Clay in the side.
"Think you might wanna buy Goo Zombies when next you get the chance… just to save yourself some time and trouble." There was no lack of smugness in his intonation.
The Texan only gave him a perfunctory glance.
"Hey, hey now partner. You're corrallin' the horses before you've even branded 'em."
"…Eh?"
Dinner that night at the square wooden table was a queer affair of sorts, with Kimiko darting suspicious looks at everyone; Raimundo pretending not to see, and instead concentrating on sending triumphant/gloating messages to Clay with his eyes; Omi preoccupied with a bee; Dojo gobbling everything in sight; and Clay chuckling wryly at the dragon's antics and taking no notice of Rai.
Kimiko, still frowning, looked down at her PDA. She was just putting the finishing touches on her notes. After that was finished, she went into Calendar – "Making a date? How 'bout going out with me?" – and jotted a couple of things down for certain days. Presently, she put the handheld electronic away, and looked up. Her hunger was finally catching up on her. She reached for an egg roll.
Her hand grasped air.
"Who ate all the egg rolls?" she asked, a slight pout evident in her voice.
Dojo looked up, vegetables, shrimp and flaky bits of crust decorating his mouth. He grinned sheepishly. She sighed.
"Here, you can have mine," Rai said quickly – a little too quickly. She merely stared blankly at him, trying to figure out his game. Why was he being so nice to her? It was usually Clay who would do the gentlemanly thing like that.
Her mind was made up. He had to be up to something; he was acting too strangely for anything else to be true. It was cute and all, and very nice, and sweet, and funny, and only minimally irritating, – okay, so more than minimally – but in the end, it couldn't be lucrative to anyone but himself.
When she made no move to accept the dish, Rai pushed it towards her.
"Don't worry, I haven't eaten from it or anything," he assured her.
She regarded him vacantly for a few more moments before she took the roll, articulating her thanks. They ate in a sort of edgy silence.
"You know, Rai," Kimiko commented casually, brusquely, "I'm not quite sure what your scheme is, but whatever it is… I'm going to find out eventually."
She cast an eye around the table. The three boys were all studiously avoiding her gaze, Rai coughing and mumbling that she had no idea what she was talking about. Her cobalt eyes narrowed.
"And it doesn't seem like I'm gonna get any help from you all."
Dojo swallowed a large mouthful, dabbing his napkins at the corners of his mouth.
"If it's any consolation, Kimiko, I'm just as clueless as you are," he offered.
The girl smiled thinly, before turning back to her spring roll. In doing so, she missed Rai's uncertain, troubled, almost crestfallen expression, and Clay's slow, wide grin.
That night, as he was walking to his cubicle, the Westerner bypassed Raimundo's room. He walked very slowly, giving the Brazilian a clear eyeful of his muddy, dirty boots.
A/N: Poor Rai. :D What's gonna be his next course of action? Part 3 is about 1/4 way written. Maybe I'll be able to get it up in about 2 weeks. If any of y'all are familiar with me from the Naruto fandom, you'll know I'm not too good with updates. .
I'm always happy to know what you think!