Raimundo didn't hear her until the door shut with a soft click behind her as she entered his room. He glanced up at the noise from where he lay on his bed, arms folded behind his head, and when he realized who exactly it was sneaking in his room so late at night he sat up. His made himself do the motion slowly and didn't spring up like the building tension, coiled up tight inside him, wanted him to. He studied her as she studied him with the limited light that streamed in through the shutters. Normally Raimundo slept with the windows open to encourage any breeze that might wander in but the approaching storm promised to be a violent one so he'd shut them as a precaution. He settled his eyes on her face and slowly heavy blue eyes rose to meet his unwavering green gaze. Some guilt rolled through him because he knew he'd helped to put some of that heaviness there. His silent admission earlier was obviously weighing on her mind, as it was him, causing him to lay awake and stare aimlessly at the ceiling, counting the tiles proving to be distracting enough for him.
Rai held his breath as she finally moved away from the door, tiny feet carrying her silently across the short distance to his bed. Raimundo remained unmoving as he watched her stop and stand, out of reach, beside the foot of his bed. It was probably a good thing he couldn't reach her, he didn't want to rush and scare her like earlier. No, he'd promised himself he wouldn't do that again. It had been such a simple gesture, earlier in the evening when the two had found themselves alone that had set her off. He'd simply reached out, as they sat next to one another on a bench overlooking the koi pond, and tucked a few stray hairs that had fallen loose of her ponytails back behind her ear. But when his fingers brushed the flesh behind her ear he hadn't been able to stop himself from letting his fingers wander further, tracing up and down her jaw line and then down her neck to dance along the edge of her collar bone. He could remember her trembling slightly under his simple touch and it was enough to make shudder slightly as well. His fingers then slipped over her robes to the base of her neck to the start of her spine and had trailed slowly lower.
Kimiko had slowly turned her head to look at him as his fingers continued their slow, but still relatively innocent decent. He didn't know what it was about the night that was making him act on longer dormant feelings. He couldn't speak for Kimiko but Raimundo, when he'd first arrived at the temple hadn't been much more than a hormonal teenager on the cusp of very large changes in his life. Not the best time to convert to a life of monk hood. He still remembered his parents asking what exactly becoming a 'Xiaolin Monk' meant. Would he be, in fact, a monk like the ones who followed Buddha or even the rare Christian Monks that were still in existence?
The answer had been no, Raimundo, though forfeiting some of the creature comforts of the modern world would not be expected to apply himself to a life of poverty and chastity unless he chose such a life. The answer had relieved the eavesdropping Raimundo who was eager at the idea of being some sort of warrior but didn't want to leave all of his ways behind, especially not his still developing ways that included a vast appreciation for the female body. He hadn't known what to make of Kimiko upon their first meeting. His first instinct was 'girl, pretty girl' and therefore the need to flirt, impress, and deal with the competition, in his mind only Clay was the real threat, had been set off in his mind. But in the days and weeks that followed Raimundo often wondered if that was the correct action. Sure, Kimiko was cute and the only girl for miles around but she was also his teammate and in all actuality, just a girl. She was nearly two years his junior, closer to eighteen months he tried to justify in his mind, and in truth didn't really seem to stack up against some of the older girls he'd known in Rio.
And then there had been Wuya. His most foolish mistake in so many ways. He'd let her manipulate him on every level, playing on the childishness still in his heart as well as appealing to the growing man in him.
He'd never told anyone of all the details that had transpired behind those close doors and most likely never would. For her it had been a sort of game, another manipulation of his soul and body and when he'd had time to reflect on it Raimundo knew that he'd never felt more used, more dirty and tainted in his whole life and that had been what tore him up the worst. Wuya hadn't been his first however. He'd had two very clumsy experiences before leaving for the temple, barely experiences at that, but it was enough for bragging rights with Clay when the two were alone. But even though she wasn't technically the first Wuya left a burning imprint on his mind and for a long time he hadn't been able to look at any female, Kimiko included, without some bit of revulsion in his mind. But as he'd worked to redeem himself at the temple, Kimiko had somehow redeemed herself in his mind as well. The thought was ludicrous of course, what did Kimiko have to prove to him? Nothing really but the rebirth of their friendship, this time without the underlying flirting had been a relief to Raimundo.
