FWEE~ An update! :D

Gah, school is starting... So updates won't be coming as often, I'm afraid. D: I still have 3 chapters already written up for you guys, so I'll try and get those up for you while I keep on writing. I'll try to stick to my week-10days updates, but it's possible that I'm gonna have to change that... School just plain freaking sucks.

On a happier note, Ryoma and Sayuki are stuck at the play rehearsal memorizing new lines and messing with costumes and all that wonderful crap while they try to convince Kuroki to visit her sick classmate, AKA Ice cube AKA Tezuka. :D

BTW, all the descriptions of the costumes in this chapter are courtesy of Ryuu. She's awesome. :3

Enjoy!

-Kai

What can I say, I'm just that good at describing which means I'm good at creative writing essays...but also means I sorta suck at those other essays (i.e. comparisons, SATs, etc.) *shrugs* Altho...it took me a while to imagine what Ryo-Prince would wear...and I kept thinking tuxedo...but I don't think there were tuxedo's back in Cinderella's time... *facepalm* oh well xD

~Ryuu

Kuroki was chuckling when Ryoma and Sayuki were finally released from the crazy costume makers, both gasping for air. Both of their faces looked like they had just seen the most terrifying thing that both of their imaginations combined could think of.

"Like I said, vicious," Kuroki grinned. "Well, at least you came out in one piece."

"Did you guys have to go through that too?" Sayuki asked, leaning on the wall, slowly calming down as she caught her breath. Funny, the last time she came here she was trying to catch her breath too, but only because she was trying to contain her laughter. Now? Not so amused.

"Hm... It wasn't as bad as that, I think," Kuroki said thoughtfully. "Anyways, you have that problem worked out, right?" she asked, turning serious.

"It's alright, Ryoma was being nosy so I already told him," Sayuki grumbled. "No need to speak in code."

"Heh, we were practicing yesterday cause that's what we had to tell my dad to get him to go away," Ryoma mumbled. "I think she has it down. Better than when she first started out, no doubt." Ryoma shook his head with a smirk. "I didn't think someone could be that bad."

"Shut up, Ryo-Ryo," Sayuki grumbled. "Don't I still have that bet on you? I can still make you do whatever I want."

"..." That shut him up. Kuroki was snickering.

"Hey, remember what happened the last time you told him to do something?" she smirked. The two glared at her.

"Alright you two, c'mon, it's work time! Kuroki, quit talking to them."

"Whatever you say, teach," she yelled back rolling her eyes. "Go on, you two. Have fun... I know I will," she added with a smirk. Ryoma looked exasperated and Sayuki merely shook her head, sighing.

"God damned mischievous people," she grumbled as they made their way to the stage. "Why are all best friends freaking evil?"

"I don't think we have the right to talk," Ryoma muttered. "But I have to agree with you on that one."

"Neh... Let's just get this over with," Sayuki grunted. Ryoma glanced over his shoulder, checking on the progress of the evil costume makers. He faced forward again, looking slightly traumatized.

"... On second thought, let's just take our sweet, sweet time," he muttered. "Because after this, we're going to have to face them again." Sayuki gave a quick glance at what has scared him so much.

"I second that idea."

Kuroki gave a low whistle when Ryoma and Sayuki walked off the stage.

"I'm impressed," she said with a grin. "You two certainly were practicing. Two days before this, I'm pretty sure that Sayuki wouldn't have been this good."

"Indeed, Kuroki told me that you two wouldn't be great, but she was proven wrong," her English teacher commented. "Good job you two. Thanks for helping out, by the way."

"No problem," Sayuki responded in English. The man was pleasantly surprised.

"Your English is very good," he answered, also in English. "No accent at all. Were you born there?"

"She was born in Japan, but she lived in America for most of her life," Ryoma explained in the same language.

"... Can you guys start talking in a language we can all understand?" Kuroki muttered, shaking her head. The three chuckled.

"Well, I'll look forward to having you two in my class in a few years," the teacher said. "But for now we'll have to work. The play is tomorrow. You two kids should go get your costumes. They're very impressive... I must say, they're probably better than the ones that they made for Kuroki and Tezuka, and those were quite well made." Sayuki and Ryoma gulped at the mention of the costume makers.

Those people were scary.

And those scary people were approaching... Ryoma and Sayuki knew without even looking. How? The squeals kind of tipped them off.

"OMG, so, like, we totally wanted to make something awesome for you guys, so we, like, put our souls into this!" one told them, glomping Sayuki. The others agreed with many a squeak and proceeded to pile themselves onto Ryoma and Sayuki. When Kuroki and the English teacher finally got them all to settle down, they presented their hard work that they "poured their souls into."

"Tada!" For Ryoma, they pulled our a pair of navy pants with gold buckles on the ends that ran up a little bit of the sides. They also gave him a coat, also navy, with very shiny gold buttons on the front. It had those gold shoulder pads as well as a high collar rimmed with gold.

"You need a white shirt under this and a pair of black shoes," one (that was a little less crazy and spoke a little more normally) explained. "Also, leave a few buttons unbuttoned near the top." Ryoma nodded, taking the costume with thanks.

"And your dress..." The slightly saner maker of costumes turned to Sayuki. "We spent a lot of time on your stuff."

Sayuki's rag-dress in the beginning was very similar to Kuroki's, dirty and patched with random colors. It was obviously done quickly and sloppily, which was actually good since it made the dress more realistic. But it was the ballgown (that doubled as the wedding dress) that was really amazing.

It was a straight, off the shoulder corset that started out white near the top but faded away to a baby blue at the bottom. The top and bottom of the corset was bordered with fuzz, with silver lace embroidered where the corset met the dress. There were two straps made of white fuzz at the top of the corset to make sure that the entire dress didn't fall down, as well as sleeves made of lace in a similar design. A reasonably sized lace ribbon (not those huge ones that look ridiculous) that followed the color pattern of the dress was attached to the back of the corset and met the skirt, which was made of fake silk. To top it all off, there was a long lace train with random silver swirls embroidered here and there.

"Wow... It's... amazing," Sayuki breathed. "I don't even know what to say. And you guys did this in..." She glanced at the clock. "A few hours?" Kuroki smirked.

"Well, they're a lot of them, and crazy people can do great things," Kuroki said, shrugging, "Because most great things are crazy, and it only makes sense that crazy things are done by crazy people."

"We're not quite finished yet," the saner one said. Sayuki made a mental note to learn this person's name, just because she was awesome. She handed Sayuki a white choker with a light blue pendant in the form of a lily.

"Whoa, where did you guys find the time and money to get this?" Sayuki asked, amazed. The older girl smiled.

"It's a gift, just because you guys agreed to do this at such a short notice," she explained. "Besides, it goes nice with your dress." Sayuki smiled.

"Thanks," she said. She paused thoughtfully. "What about Ryoma though? I think he was actually more reluctant than me to do this."

"Of course, he has a present too," the girl said, smiling. She pulled out several slips of paper and handed them to Ryoma. "These are tickets to some of the activities at the cultural festival. These usually end up really popular and crowded, so they came up with the idea of making tickets. They're free, but they usually run out pretty quick."

"Thanks," Ryoma said, surprised at the girl's generosity. He went through the tickets. "Tickets for the cafe, haunted house... a movie?"

"Yup, it's tradition for one of the graduating classes to shoot a movie," Kuroki explained. "It's supposed to be really good."

"I gave you multiple tickets to each event so that you can bring some friends or others if you wanted to," the girl continued. Ryoma gave his thanks again.

Now that the girl was done explaining the costume and presents, the other costume makers seemed ready to attack again. They were quickly stopped by Kuroki.

"C'mon, we gotta get these kids dressed for the dress rehearsal," she said. "Yukina-san, could you help Sayuki with her costume and hair and all that stuff? She has all those hair extensions and stuff. I think Ryoma should be fine on his own." The saner costume maker (Sayuki was happy to finally learn her name) nodded and escorted Sayuki to the dressing room. Ryoma was led into a separate one and then left alone.

When the two emerged, Kuroki smirked. The two looked just perfect for each other... This prank was going to be even more fun than she had first imagined.

Ryoma, dressed in his costume, really did look like a prince. He stood there awkwardly, then nearly bolted when the crazy costume makers attacked him, fixing and adjusting little parts of his costume here and there.

"Heh, I couldn't wait to see what they were gonna do with Sayuki's hair since it's so short," Kuroki chuckled, ignoring Ryoma. "I guess Yukina-chan solved that one pretty easily. Kudos to you." Yukina smiled and gave a bow.

Indeed, Sayuki's hair was now at her original length, the hair extensions seeming perfectly natural. The extensions were curled at the ends with Sayuki's bangs combed to the side. Some of the hair was put up in a small bun in the back while the rest of swept to the side.

"When she changes to the ballgown, we're going to add this," Yukina said, producing a blue clip in the shape of a lily, matching the pendant that she had given Sayuki. "The others wanted her to wear it even in the rag-dress, but it wouldn't fit so I didn't let them." Kuroki nodded approvingly. The clip was really nice, and it wouldn't make sense for Cinderella to have something that pretty.

"This is also yours," Yukina told Sayuki, handing her the clip. Sayuki smiled.

"Thanks for all your hard work, Yukina-san," Sayuki grinned. "Well, I guess 'Prince Ryoma' and I have to get to work."

"We'll give you a show worth the costumes," Ryoma smirked, giving his tickets to Kuroki for safe-keeping for the moment.

"He stole the words right out of my mouth," Sayuki grinned. The two kids went to the stage, determined to show them the best performance ever... Except for the one that they would have to do tomorrow, of course.

"Sayuki, give me a high five. Do it right now," Kuroki demanded the moment the two stepped off the stage. Sayuki grinned and obliged.

"So, how was it?" Sayuki smirked. "As good as you?" Ryoma grinned, shrugging out of the coat that was extremely hot after wearing it for a long time. He folded it over his arm and leaned against the wall, letting out a self-satisfied sigh.

"Hell yeah," Kuroki answered, giving her best friend a playful shove. "Ryo-ryo, never knew you had it in you," she continued, giving the boy a noogie. "If you ever get tired of tennis, you should be an actor."

"OW, get off," Ryoma grumbled, swatting away her hands. Sayuki snickered.

"Well, anyways," Sayuki grinned, ignoring Ryoma's glare, "they say that we have to go through it another time or two before we can go. Methinks Kuro would get bored of laughing her guts out, so you should go do something productive."

"Like...?" Kuroki asked, raising an eyebrow. "What could possibly be more productive than getting revenge through mirth?"

"You could go visit Tezuka-buchou, for starters," Ryoma suggested. "Wasn't he down with a high fever?"

"Yeah, you should get him the notes he missed in class or something," Sayuki said. "I don't think he'd like missing school."

"Why is everyone so insistent on getting the two of us together?" Kuroki grumbled.

"We could say the same," Ryoma and Sayuki answered in unison. The older girl rolled her eyes.

"Not only you two, but all the other tennis geeks told me to go check on him too," she grunted. She sighed. "Well, you two have fun, I might as well visit him 'on behalf of all of his friends that suddenly have something else to do when he has a fever,' as the Cat-boy put it."

"Do you have the directions to his place?" Sayuki asked, remembering her best friend's lack of a sense of direction.

"Yeah, the others only gave it to me like, seven times," Kuroki answered, limping away on her crutch. "See you two tomorrow! God, making an injured person do this crap," she muttered under her breath. Sayuki chuckled.

"Get Aoiri-san and Akai-san to drive you!" she called after her friend. Without pausing, Kuroki pulled out her cell phone and punched in some numbers. Kakura, who had fallen asleep in a corner, woke up confused, then leaped after her owner. Sayuki smirked.

"Revenge is always sweeter when it's for revenge," Ryoma grinned.

"Indeed it is," Sayuki said, nodding. "Well, let's head back to work. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can continue our revenge."

Yay!

Yeah, not much to say here... Except for that I. HATE. SCHOOL. D: GAH.

Oh, and Writer's Block sucks.

Fangirls, coming right up. I like Yukina. She's cool. :3

And before I forget... Somehow, I got the idea in my mind to pair Daichi up with Sakuno. Opinions? :/

-Air Beast

(KAI)