Through the window in the small cubicle sunshine came through, hitting Kimiko in the face, waking her up. She groaned and sat up, the Reversing Mirror slipping from her sleeve. As she picked it up to put it back, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and was reminded of her predicament. She had forgotten during the night that she had to dress like a boy.

She then ended up remembering her little predicament from the night before and paled, gagging as she did. She knew that her new 'friend' really meant no harm, but she really hadn't a clue what the two older boys had been talking about. Also, considering the fact that she was a girl, sleeping with a boy was a big no-no… which was why she did the sword bit.

If she ever got back to her own time, she was never going to mention that incident to anyone. And hopefully, since these Tao, Doan and Ching were not in the history books of Dojo's memory, they didn't become heroes like Master Monk Gaun and Master Dashi. Hopefully they wouldn't say anything to Dojo… because that would be embarrassing.

She got up and stretched, heading outside to be in the sunshine and wait for the boys to wake up. She sat down on a warm stone and listened to the nature around her. She was surprised to hear a voice disturb her enjoyment. "I'm sorry about last night…"

This caused her to turn to see the youngest boy practicing meditation moves on a rock nearby. She didn't understand how she hadn't noticed him. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Yes it was… Tao was mad…" the boy said, continuing to move in his meditation moves, his eyes closed.

"Yeah… well I took the Sword of the Storm…" Kimiko commented, which caused the boy to open his eyes.

"How do you know the name of that Shen Gong Wu?" the boy asked, continuing the stances.

"I over heard," Kimiko lied hoping the boy would believe her. "Tao was talking about it around the village and the old lady told me."

"Figures… Tao is an egotist," the boy said, switching to a different pose. He closed one eye, but kept one looking at her. "He isn't mad at you… he's mad at me… as always."

"What ever for?" Kimiko looked at the boy in confusion.

"Tao… has never liked me since Master Dashi took me in…" the boy lamented. "Nor has Doan. Both make everything that ends up messed up with me a big issue, even if I had no control over it. Plus, you heard them last night calling me the baby… as far as they're concerned, a fourteen year old would not have nightmares like that were they need comfort from another… unless they were a girl."

"I thought you were fifteen," Kimiko commented, glancing at a steam of ants going by.

"I am… but they think I'm still thirteen, sometimes they remember I'm older then that, but never my actual age," he said moving to another position. He then moved into a sitting position. "You know, if you start treating me nice, they'll start picking on you too."

"So you think I'm weak?" Kimiko asked, glaring at the boy. "I can take care of myself!"

"That's not what I meant… I can take care of myself, but Tao has always been very good at baiting me. He thinks that since he looks like he's almost adult, he is so great too… but he isn't as good as Gaun,"

"You like him?" Kimiko asked.

This caused the boy to raise an eyebrow. "Depends on what you mean by that…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" the boy said. "I would rather not explain what I meant by that… it has to do with one of the problems that Tao and Doan cause for me at times… I don't think that's what you meant anyways."

"Alright then, answer my question," Kimiko said.

"I hero worship him nearly as much as I do Master Dashi. He and Dojo are also the only friends I have ever made. I mean… one can't say that one who is a teacher to oneself or… well; you can't say that he can be a friend with that amount of authority over one,"

"You look up to Master Dashi like a father and Gaun like a brother," Kimiko leaned back to warm herself in the sun.

"Don't tease me about that… but… yes," the boy said. He then noticed something and his eyes narrowed, his tone changing to a very dry tone. "Don't look now, but… there is a group of girls coming this way. They have been bothersome since we first came to this village."

"What do you mean?" Kimiko looked at the girls coming down the road. She saw that their feet were extremely tiny and they were dressed very daintily.

"Those are the rich girls from the village, those five…" the boy hissed. "Tao and Doan have tried to be flirtatious with them, but…"

A couple of girls out of the five let out a giggle and all were looking straight at the boy. One of them got up the courage to approach the two. She glanced warily at Kimiko, and then bowed to the boy. Both he and Kimiko stood up and bowed, to be polite. She glared at the boy. "Who is your friend?"

"This is Lian-Li… he is a new apprentice to the Xiaolin foundation…" the boy said. "He's a friend."

"Oh," the girl giggled as did the other four girls. She then began to speak in Japanese. "I learned from my father speaking to Master Dashi that you are half-breed… I am glad that he taught me that barbaric language from that little island…"

The boy's eyes filled with anger all of a sudden, as did Kimiko. "It is none of your business what my parentage is!"

The girl shrunk back from him, frowning. Then a small grin spread on her face. Most of the other girls were wondering what she was saying to him. "Marring into a wealthy family… if you proved yourself worthy to my father…"

"Shut up!" the boy said in anger. He then began to move off, motioning for Kimiko to follow him. She hurried after them, only to see the girls follow after them. It was then that she realized what the problem was.

"Tao and Doan are not the only ones being flirtatious," she said. She saw the boy turn to look over his shoulder, his face turning a little red at what she had said.

"Would you tell them for me that I have to focus on my Xiaolin lessons," he snapped, more at the girls then at Kimiko.

"I suggest running right about now!" Kimiko suddenly said, noticing that the girl got a mischievous look in their eyes, the one she knew to come from girls who tended to mob a boy that they really liked. She was a girl and had seen the girls at her school get that look to many times.

He glanced back and saw what she meant and let out a yelp of dismay and both of them turned to run away from the gaggle of girls. He called out after her, "I don't know what would be the good saying for this situation…"

"Has it happened before?" Kimiko laughed.

"Yes… but Gaun always was around and stepped in!" the boy said, not happy with the situation.

"Well… as one of my friends would say," Kimiko thought about Raimundo, a disgusted look on her face, "that girls drool and boys rule…"

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!" the boy said, suddenly finding a corner to turn so they would be hidden and grabbed Kimiko so that he could pull her into hiding too. He quickly covered her mouth, though Kimiko couldn't understand why he had needed to do that.

After the girls had passed and had been gone for a few minutes, she thought he should have let go, but he actually hadn't. She pulled his hand away. "What ever is the matter with you?"

He said in a whisper near her ear, chocking it out as he did. "You're not a boy, are you?"

Kimiko then realized that he had, when he had grabbed her to pull away into their hiding spot that he had wrapped one of his arms around his chest. She suddenly pulled away, not happy about the situation. "Why would you ask such a question?"

"You know why I asked that," the boy said, his face pale and flushed with embarrassment.

"Are you going to tell Tao your little theory?" Kimiko asked.

"Are you going to punch me a third time?" the boy asked.

"I haven't a clue what you're talking about," she moved her arms and the Reversing Mirror fell out. He eyed it and they both moved for the Shen Gong Wu. What he did then surprised her.

"I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!" he said. "First to reach the end of the course wins!"

"What!" she said.

"You're after Master Dashi's Shen Gong Wu, aren't you?" he said.

"Fine… Showdown it is!" Kimiko snapped.

"Gong Yi Tanpai!" both yelled.