| The 25th World’s Martial Arts Tournament was two days away from the first fight. All the participants and spectators gathered from around the world. Anyone wishing to fight had to get a simple examination to confirm they are physically fit to fight in the tournament. A long line went out the door of the First Aid station. Nurses and volunteers were running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. By the time lunch rolled around, the line had dwindled a bit, and the commotion calmed down. It seemed that everybody’s intentions were to get there early to beat the crowd, when if fact they just added to it. Three o’clock came and the First Aid station was getting ready to close for the day. Erica Steal was at the main desk, neatly piling papers. Her first day as a volunteer nurse was nothing what she expected. However, she didn’t mind the work. She found fighting exciting and it fascinated her, and volunteering to be a nurse at the First Aid station gave her a chance to see the fight in person without having to worry about fighting for a ticket. She heard the front door open and close, but she didn’t pay any attention to the people that walked in. The two people walked up to the desk and the head nurse stood up. “Are you here for an exam?” She asked. “We were told that we must get an examination form filled out before we were allowed to fight. So yes, that’s why we’re here,” said the smaller of the two. Erica turned her head slightly to see who that voice belonged to. She was surprised at what she saw. The person was the same height as herself, or maybe a tiny bit taller. His skin was a light purple, and his hair was a white Mohawk. His ears were pointy like an elf’s, and he stood up very straight. He wore a bluish-gray shirt, which was puffy at the shoulders, under a stiff blue vest-jacket that fell down to the back of his knees. Around his waist was an orange sash-like thing that hung down in back. His pants were the same color as the shirt and his boots were red. Then Erica looked up to the other person standing at the desk. This guy was much taller, and had the same pointy ears as his friend. His skin was a dark pink and his hair was long and brushed back. He wore similar clothes as the other one did, only his vest-jacket was red and his boots were yellow. Erica couldn’t help but stare at the newcomers. She figured that was their costumes for the tournament or something to that extent. The little purple guy glanced at her when he noticed that she was staring at him. Erica quickly turned back to her work. “Well, you’re in luck,” the head nurse said. “We were just about to close up for the day. I guess we could get you two your forms so you won’t have to come back and stand in line tomorrow.” “Thank-you,” the purple guy said. The nurse took two forms from the pile and stuck one in front of Erica. “Erica, could you take care of this guy,” she said motioning to the smaller of the two. “Sure,” Erica stopped her stacking and turned around. The little guy smiled at her. “Suzy! You have one more here!” The nurse called. Another nurse came jogging over and took the form from her fellow worker. “These two will take care of you,” she said to the two men and continued her pervious work. “Follow me,” Erica said. She led the way to a large room with tall cloth screens scattered around. “Okay, I need you to take off your jacket thing, please.” The patient did so and Erica gathered her equipment. She did the normal and simple tasks such as checking blood pressure and his heart beat. When she was done, she looked over the form to make sure she didn’t miss anything. “Oh yeah, how could I have missed this,” she said. “I need you to have your eyes follow my pen here wherever it goes. I need to make sure you don’t have trouble watching things.” She slowly waved her pen left to right, up and down, his eyes following it smoothly. Erica couldn’t help getting lost looking into his black eyes. She finally snapped herself out of the trance. “Okay, good.” She filled out the space on the form for that test. She was looking over the form again when she looked to her side. The purple guy was looking at the form while she was. She smiled and continued. “Okay, now what’s your name again?” His black eyes looked at the form for another moment before shifting his sight to her. “Just put down Shin,” he said at last. “Oh, you’re a mystery man,” Erica said smiling. He gave a smile back that made her smile even more. He’s so cute when he smiles, she thought. “Okay, that’s it then. You just have to sign on this line and you’re all set.” Shin took the pen she offered and signed ‘Shin’ on the line. He smiled as he handed back the pen to her. “So I’m all set?” He asked. “Yeah. You just have to give it to the tournament sign-in table out front.” Erica sighed as he picked the form up. “What’s wrong?” He asked, looking a little concerned. She looked up, surprised that he actually noticed. “Oh nothing, I’m just tired from today.” Though in reality, she felt bad that he was leaving. She found him rather cute. “You better get some rest then. I hear that tomorrow is going to be just as busy,” he said. He followed the nurse out of the room and to the front desk. His friend was waiting. Shin turned to Erica before he left. “Thank-you again.” He smiled, his eyes squinting when he did. The two walked out the door and out of sight. Erica watched until she no longer was able to see them. Now I’m really looking forward to the tournament. I have a feeling that he’ll be fighting in it, she thought. * * * Later, after Erica’s work was done for the day, she walked around the tournament grounds. She hadn’t had time to explore when she arrived, so she took the opportunity to see what was there. She had heard that there was a beautiful garden that overlooked the ocean. She saw a sign that pointed to the direction she wanted to go. As she was turning the corner, she bumped into somebody that was coming from the other direction. She fell to the ground from the force of the other person. When she looked up to see who it was, she expected it to be a big strong guy. However, to her amazement, the person wasn’t big at all. It happened to be the short purple guy she met earlier. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” she started quickly. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. It was as much my fault as yours,” he said. He extended his hand to help her up. She took it and was pulled to her feet. “Thank-you,” she said, blushing. His face had that same smile he gave before. There was just something about that smile that Erica liked. “I didn’t think you’d still be here. I thought everyone went to their hotel or something by now.” “No,” he said, “I wanted to view the grounds before I left. I love to take quiet walks like this.” “Me too.” Erica could feel her face blushing again. She wasn’t nervous, or was she? “I was going to that garden I heard about. I hear there’s a really cool view of the ocean.” “It is beautiful. I was just there. I’ll walk back there with you, if you’d like.” “I’d like that.” Erica and the mystery fighter walked silently along the paths to the garden. When they arrived Erica stood there in awe at the site. The sun wasn’t ready to set, but the sky was an aquamarine with pure white clouds scattered here and there. The garden itself was filled with different flowers, and benches under the trees. She walked ahead of her companion and starred into the blue water of the ocean. She thought at how beautiful it all was. The mystery fighter walked up next to her and looked at the water as well. Then he closed his eyes and felt the breeze against his face. “It would be a shame if something happened to this place,” he said, his eyes still closed. Erica looked over at him. “You’re right. I’d love to live right here. I enjoy being in places like this.” The mystery fighter nodded in agreement. Erica’s thoughts wondered. “If you don’t mind me asking, is Shin your real name?” The mystery fighter opened his eyes and looked at the sky. He didn’t respond to her question at first, but finally he looked over at her. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that,” he said. “Oh…” He smiled once again. “But for now, you can just call me Shin.” “Okay,” she said smiling at him. “Do you mind if I ask you another question?” “Not at all, go ahead. Though, I don’t know if I’ll be able to answer it.” “Where are you from? I hope you don’t find me rude, but either that’s a really good costume, or you’re not from around here.” Shin laughed. “Well, this isn’t a costume. And no, I’m not from around here. Let’s just say I’m a foreigner to your land.” “That’s cool. How old are you?” Shin hesitated for a moment before answering. “Twenty-one. How old are you?” “Nineteen.” “Now may I ask you a question?” “Of course,” Erica said. “What made you volunteer for a nurse position?” “Well, I was thinking about becoming a nurse when I went to college, and I wanted to watch the tournament. This was the best way for both; at least that’s what I thought.” “You’re not happy with your current position?” “Oh no, I am.” They stood in silence for a while. Then Shin broke the silence with his laugh. “How rude can I be? I haven’t even asked you your name.” “My name is Erica.” “Erica…” Shin repeated. He smiled and turned to her. “That’s a pretty name. It suits you well.” “You think?” Shin nodded with the smile still on his face. Then he looked at the sky again and the smile got smaller, but didn’t totally disappear. He turned to her and looked at her ice blue eyes. “I’m afraid I must leave for now, but hopefully we’ll meet again.” “Okay, I hope I’ll see you again, too,” Erica said. Shin reached for her hand and held it up in front of him. He leaned down and gently placed a kiss on her hand, looking at her expression as he did. He slowly backed away, his hand sliding from under her’s; smiling the entire time. When he was about ten feet away from her, he turned and headed to where they had entered. She watched as he walked away. His tall friend was waiting for him at the garden entrance. He reached his friend, and before leaving completely, he turned back to Erica, giving a small wave good-bye. Then he left, with his friend following behind. He’s so sweat, she thought. And he said ‘hopefully we’ll meet again.’ Well, I hope we do. Erica looked down at her hand and smiled. She never had her hand kissed by someone before. This guy was defiantly different, and a lot more polite than any other guy she had met in her life. |