Kiki & Chan

From Whirlwind Girl 2 Bao & Chang An

Others called her that Chinese name Qi Bao Cao but that was a mouthful for Chan and he still kept it a secret that he was a true Korean at heart.

Yes, he'd spent much of his life in servitude at the halls. He couldn't remember when he wasn't calling the drills and even the shots when it came to martial arts but did they really have to talk about that now. After all, he'd gotten this little bird all the way to Japan. She needed a coach. He needed to get out of the states before the FBI or the CSI or whatever they were calling themselves these days caught him. In spite of his wounded knee, he could be a deadly weapon.

He wouldn't dwell on the fact that he needed a vacation. There were plenty of things not proper about himself and yet he wasn't sure he'd ever had fun and he was beginning to see Bao didn't know fun, either.

She'd gone off the deep end about that stupid strawberry hairpin. In fact, he'd almost got himself crushed just looking for the thing on the street. He held the fake one in his hand, realizing he might not be the devil, after all, it was that guy she always had on her mind.

He flipped the pin in the trash there in the hotel room.  It was best not to get into another argument. He didn't want to be that way with her. He didn't see her as a little sister anymore.

"How old are you, again?" He squinted. She never really answered while she tucked the real strawberry hairpin in a safe place as if she would never look at it again.

He thought he heard her say twenty-something, but it might as well have been broken English to him. Chinese wasn't that hard to comprehend, but he still didn't always know what was being said.

Chan scratched the back of his head in thought while Kiki apologized once more about losing the match to her Korean archnemesis who still looked like a middle schooler.

"I want you to stop doing that." He looked at her blankly. Maybe he was just tired of her being so pure. He wanted to shake some sense into her, but he didn't want to harm her either so he turned from her.

He expected her to say "What?" as if she were some dim-witted school girl who only had eyes for one idol, but instead, he felt her warmth press against his back as her arms came around his waist and she interlocked her fingers that he couldn't help but watch.

For a moment he felt totally relaxed, but he knew it must be wrong. After all, he'd spent a few nights with her. Maybe they were in separate rooms, but he knew he wanted her.

And then he heard her sobbing.

Honestly, he didn't know how to console her, but to let her be. He guessed. He knew he'd been cold to her and he expected Ting Hao the flower boy to show up any moment and take her away in a limo. Everybody loved Kiki.

Now he started to laugh ever so softly.

This was really silly, he told himself, but she held on sobbing as if he might have been the teddy bear she'd been needing since her previous coach's departure. Finally, he pulled her fingers away and turned to her.

"You're too much. Just..I dunno too much for me to handle." Maybe he should quit while he was ahead, but he was brushing her tears away with his fingertips. Even when she cried..she was pretty. He let out a slight sigh.

But she put her arms around him and before he knew it she was laying on him, trying to catch her breath. Naturally, his old knee injury pinched a nerve and Chan winced hard. Maybe he was too old to be her lover. Still, he'd never been kissed and he never knew how to talk to girls. But he was full of envy mixed in with anxieties of his miserable youth.

"You're thinking about HIM, aren't you?" He tried his best to raise up on his elbows, but her head was on his chest. It was struggling.

Kiki shook her head, no. She told him she hated that she hadn't thought of him more. She was going to think about the present, not the past.

Chan wanted to believe her. He needed to believe her. If he did, he was sure his heart would warm up and he'd be a changed man, not a cold-blooded assassin who needed a little R & R.

He smiled at her thinking of how he wanted to make her a killing machine. Oh, he still wanted too. But first, he wanted to kiss her. These were things they only did in America, but he hadn't been able to do that either. It was either training or on the run.

Chan remained still, she would have to make the first move.