ちびまおう - たなか きみこ：dasanha!
chibi maou – tanaka kimiko:＃3
Miko and Meiling jogged over to the metal cart which had all the remaining balls. Miko looked in the cart, and took out a ball. "This thing is totally deflated!" she announced, throwing it on the ground to prove her point. Instead of bouncing, it crumpled to the ground and stayed there. She leaned into the cart and took out the only other balls. "And these are even worse! Look, this one has a huge rip in it! What do you guys DO to these anyway??"
Takashi, who was practicing nearby with another boy, overheard her. "Well, a few weeks before you came, we were playing a really brutal game called 'Butcher Ball' in PE, it was the unit before soccer. It's just like soccer, only you use different shoes, which have huge razors on them. So while we were learning, we often popped those old balls. But since a lot of kids weren't able to run well with the razors, we switched to a different sport."
Chiharu sent a well-aimed ball flying at his head. "Ok, that's lie # 7 today! Remember, 12 strikes and you're out!" His smile never faltered. He continued practicing with his partner.
Miko stood there, holding the floppy ball and looking extremely confused. "Man, this school is so cool..." she muttered. Meiling looked impatient. "Well, come on! Are we going to play or not!?" She was answered by getting three deflated balls tossed at her.
Meiling tossed them back, but Miko ducked. Tomoyo, who was behind her, was pelted with deflated balls. "Waah!" she cried, covering her head. Miko turned around, and ran over to her. Sakura did too. "Tomoyo-chan! Are you ok!?"
"I am so sorry! Meiling-chan is just so bad at throwing! Hey, she wasn't even supposed to be, we were playing soccer!" Miko looked up and gave Meiling a really serious look. "You should apologize to Tomoyo-chan!" Meiling huffed.
"What! You started it! You threw them at me! It's not my fault...."
"You're just trying to pin them blame on other people! Take responsibility for yourself!"
Tomoyo tapped Miko on the shoulder. Miko jumped a foot. "Gah!"
The dark haired girl smiled at Miko. "It's all right, no need for an apology... I'm perfectly fine!"
Miko smiled too. "I'm glad you're ok. We haven't known each other long, but..." she wrapped Tomoyo up in a tight hug,"...you're still my friend and I'd be so sad if you got hurt. "
Sakura and Meiling looked gave Miko and Tomoyo a weird look.
Tomoyo was a bit embarrassed. "Er...That's great, Miko-chan! It's always nice to make new friends..."
Miko closed her eyes slowly. She smelled Tomoyo's hair. "Mmm...your hair smells sooooo nice today!"
The other girls all sweatdropped. "Er..." said Sakura.
"All right, that's enough hugging over there, girls!" shouted the teacher, looking at them. "We're starting two games, so split into four teams! Shaoran and Meiling are the team captains of this half!" he blew his whistle again.
After the teacher had divided the class in half, Shaoran and Meiling stood apart form the other kids and started choosing teams..
Shaoran chose Sakura. Sakura walked over and stood behind him. "Pssst!" she whispered to him. "Please, will you pick Tomoyo too?"
Shaoran scrunched his nose. "She can't play well enough." Sakura made a sad puppy face. Her lower lip trembled. "Awwwwwww!! You're...really...mean!" she cried, covering her face. He waved his hands in frustration. "All right, all right!! She can be on our team! Don't have a cow!" Sakura perked up immediately. "YATTA!"
Shaoran sighed. "Ok, Tomoyo..." Tomoyo walked next to Sakura. "Hai!"
Meiling picked Chiharu, and of course Chiharu made her pick Takashi. Shaoran picked Rei, then Naoko. Meiling picked Rika, and Miko was the only person left. "Oh no, not you." moaned Meiling. Miko made a face at her. "I count as a whole team by myself." she boasted. She looked at Naoko on the other team. Naoko smiled nervously at her.
"I sure hope you aren't the goalie, or else my shots might just smash all four of your eyes." taunted Miko with a grin. Naoko gulped. "Just kiddin', just kiddin. You know that, right?" asked Miko, slapping the other girl on the back.
Naoko stumbled, coughed, and re-adjusted her glasses on her nose. "H-hai..."
The game commenced. There was a bit of a squabble between Miko and her team. They wanted her to be goalie, so she had the smallest chance of hurting people. She wanted to be on offense. Finally, she agreed to be a goalie, but only until the next goal for either team.
The game began! Meiling passed the ball to Takashi, who was able to outrun Shaoran and Sakura on offense, but Rei was defending the goal well. Tomoyo wasn't much good at getting the ball, but she did get in his way, which was very effective. Naoko was hunched over in the goal, looking nervously at Takashi, but he was unable to shoot with Tomoyo and Rei both trying to take the ball.
Meiling shouted that she was open, and he passed to her. But Rei intercepted the ball, and gave it a powerful kick to the middle of the field to Shaoran.
Miko screamed from the goal. "No you fools! Run!! Get the ball away from him!! GO!!" she shouted, jumping up and down. Rika, who was standing near her on defense, covered her ears. Shaoran and Sakura passed to each other and were able to get past Takashi, Chiharu, and Rika easily. Shaoran aimed for the goal...
"NOT SO FAST, SHAORAAAAAN!!" yelled Meiling as she slid into Shaoran and booted the ball high into the air. "Sorry, Shaoran..." she said. "This grass is all slippery."
Miko grabbed her face with her hands. "What was that!? I can hardly see the ball! Where did it go??" She saw a small black dot in the sky. It grew faster and faster until she could make out the black spots on it. She ran out to the middle of the field and hit it squarely on her forehead, and went forward with it.
"MIKO-CHAN!! Where are you GOING! You're the GOALIE!!" shouted Rika.
Miko didn't pay any attention to her. Shaoran and Sakura tried to run after her, but she faked them out and arrived at the goal. Rei and Naoko defended came forward and kicked the ball from her. Miko ran back, stopped the ball, then placed one foot on either side of it. She stood there until Rei and Naoko were very close, then she jumped up with her feet still together, flipping the ball up and over their heads. She ran past them, and had a clear shot to the goal!
"Prepare for a soccer ball-shaped hole in your head, sucker!" she shouted and swung her leg back to kick. She suddenly froze in that position. "T-Tomoyo-chan!?
Tomoyo waved at her from the goal and smiled as she waited for the flying missile of death.
Miko blinked.
A few seconds went by.
She couldn't bring herself to make a goal against Tomoyo.
"I told you it would work!" said Sakura. Shaoran nabbed the ball from the still frozen Miko and kicked it to Sakura. Sakura ran to the middle field and was stopped by Meiling. She booted a perfect curve ball to the goal, where it swished into the empty net. Chiharu groaned. "Miko-chan!! SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE GOALIE ISN'T IN THE GOAL!?"
Miko hung her head and rang back to her post as goalkeeper. "I would have got it in. I would have!"
Meiling scowled at her. "Nice going, Miko-chan no baka!" Miko picked up the ball and held it above her head. She looked around to see who was open, then threw it to Chiharu. "No not at me!" squeaked Chiharu. "I don't know how to play soccer!!"
Chiharu kicked the ball in a random direction, and it landed in front of Shaoran. He smirked and ran towards Miko in the goal. She gritted her teeth and got ready to block. He punted it powerfully to the center of the goal. Miko caught it with her hands in front of her, but the force of the kick made her topple backwards into the net. Shaoran looked mildly surprised.
"That counts!" yelled Rei. "It does NOT!" retorted Meiling. She gave Miko a worried look.
Miko stood up, holding her stomach. "That was a cheap trick! That's cheating!" she wheezed.
"Are you ok?" asked Takashi.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied. "But I don't wanna play anymore." She walked off, still holding her middle. The kids on the other team were worried about her too. Tomoyo, Sakura, and Naoko caught up with her.
"Do you want me to show you to the nurses' office?" asked Sakura with concern. The other two girls nodded. Miko hesitated, then nodded. "Ok…ok. Let's go."
She, Tomoyo, and Sakura headed of the nurse. Naoko wrung her hands in apprehension as she watched them leave.
The kids went back playing soccer. Chiharu went and sat out so that the teams would be even. She was quite content to watch her boyfriend play without having to be in the middle of the action herself.