Ace!
Class 01 – Endurance
Disclaimer – Does Chi-chan own Card Captor Sakura? Nope! Does she own a Syaoran plushie? Nope! Does she want a Syaoran plushie? Yes! ^_~.
"Sakura, have you decided what your male name is going to be," Tomoyo asked while taking a sip of coffee. Sakura shook her head and grinned sheepishly.
"Sakura is a girly name, ne?"
"How about Kura," Tomoyo suggested, and Sakura crumpled her nose. "Kira?" Sakura's ears perked. Kira was masculine, wasn't it? She nodded.
Tomoyo breathed in deeply. "Then I guess we're all set, ne?"
The drive to Tokodai felt like forever, but it only took one hour. Sakura's heart pounded every second of the way. If she got caught . . . no, she wouldn't let herself be caught.
Tomoyo caught a side glance of her friend and smiled slightly. Sakura looked nervous, but deep down she probably trembled with excitement. Suddenly Sakura began bouncing up and down in her seat. "I see it! Tokodai! Tokodai! Tokodai!"
Tomoyo chuckled. "And so it begins, Kira-kun."
Sakura stopped jumping and looked away. She sat in silence, and contemplated all the things that she couldn't do now that she was male. No shopping sprees, long hours on the phone, cute cake shops, and . . . men.
"Do you really want to do this," she muttered to herself, then shook her head violently. "You must sacrifice in order to achieve your dream, Kira!" A smile slowly appeared on her face. "Yeah, I'm more than ready, Tomoyo."
Tomoyo grinned and revved the engine. "Let's get there as fast as we can then!"
Sakura gently lay the Polaroid of her and Tomoyo on the desk in the back of the dorm room. "I wonder who my roommate will be," she wondered aloud, then shrugged and flopped on her bed. Four years. In four years, her dream might come true. She grinned and thrust her fist towards the ceiling. "Ganbarre Sa - Kira!"
Feeling energized, she lifted her suitcases and began to unpack. Her vests were in a hidden compartment, in case her roommate had arrived before her, and she quickly pulled out a small piece of plywood that fit the dresser. She pulled out the first drawer and carefully placed the new back, creating essentially, two drawers in one. Her vests would go in the back of the compartment.
She had just finished unpacking her vests and underwear when the door creaked open and in walked the most handsome man Sakura had ever seen. Amber eyes, slightly tanned skin that accented his muscles, mussed chocolate hair . . .
"Kinomoto Kira," he asked, and Sakura snapped out of her reverie and nodded. He nodded his acknowledgement and began to unpack his items. Sakura bit her lip; she didn't like the silence one bit. Every time she opened her mouth to speak no sound would come out.
As she opened the last suitcase the silence became too much to bear. "What's your name?"
"Li Syaoran."
They unpacked in silence again as Sakura gathered her courage. "Do you play any sports?"
"Tennis."
Sakura's eyes brightened. Something in common! "Wa- Boku mo," she replied, trying to mask her enthusiasm. She continued to unpack until she felt a pair of eyes staring at her intently. Her face flushed. Did he know?
"You're a little scrawny to play tennis," he said, and Sakura flashed with anger.
"I could beat all the boys on my last team easily," she retorted, then a split second later realized her slip up. She snuck a glance at Li, who had arched an eyebrow. She prayed he wouldn't go any further into the conversation, and to her delight, he didn't.
Sakura decided then every Sunday she would go and visit the Gods to thank them for her fortune. Her eyes wandered to her racket and the intense desire to play filled her. She grinned; that always happened, no matter how tired she was. Tennis called to her, and she went to it gladly.
"Hey, do you know if the tennis courts are open," she asked, sitting up. Li shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't see why they wouldn't be."
Sakura almost squealed with happiness, but she stopped herself and nodded. "You're right. I'm going to go hit a few balls." She rose and pulled out a t-shirt and shorts and walked to the bathroom to change.
"You look like a pretty boy," Sakura thought and smiled to her reflection. She changed, then used the bathroom to make it her trek to the bathroom less suspicious.
"Kinomoto," Li said as she neared the door. Sakura turned and looked at him expectantly.
"Hurry up," she chided and leaned against the frame.
Li nodded and began changing. Sakura couldn't help but gape at his well-toned physique; no wonder he called her scrawny earlier! Could she play tennis equally against him? Sakura banished the thought; she passed the auditions for the team, right? And the guys on her old team were as toned as him . . . but nowhere near as cute.
Sakura bit her lip. No way, would she start developing feelings for him? "No romance whatsoever Sakura. Remember your dream," she thought and began twirling her racket to distract her.
"Let's go," she asked when Li finished and walked out of the door. Her heart pounded from nervousness.
They arrived at the courts and Sakura's nervousness dissipated as her foot touched the grass court. Grass. She grinned, this school really has the best facility. The brochure said they played on clay and hard courts as well.
"Spin," Li commanded, and Sakura nodded.
"Up or down?"
"Down." Sakura nodded and began spinning her racket. "Stop." The racket landed on up.
"I'll serve," she said and Li pointed to the left side of the court. "Do you want to warm up," she asked, and Li nodded. Sakura smiled and jogged to the court.
The grass felt strange on her feet – her old school had only cement courts. Thankful for the warmup, she threw the ball up and served.
Sakura's serve resembled Kimiko Date - hard, fast, and low. Sakura's ball skimmed over the top of the net. Li's eyes widened, surprised. The runt could actually serve a good ball. Still, she was no match for him.
He easily returned the ball, and so began their rally. Line shots, cross court – until Sakura saw a chance. Her line drive had sent back a weak return. She gently hit the ball back, just touching over the net. Li, however, proved fast and he ran to the net, smashing the ball down. Sakura ran and dove for the ball, sending a high lob. . . and just hitting outside the line. She groaned.
"Nice shot," Sakura commented, and Li smirked.
"You're better than you look."
"Nice to know I'm just getting started then," Sakura replied with a smirk. It was a lie, but Li didn't have to know that. Besides, judging by his attitude, he had more than enough confidence in himself.
Sakura served again, and this time Li returned a short shot to the net. Sakura grinned as she ran to the ball. The net was her domain. Nobody could stop her up at the net. She watched his racket to determine the direction of the ball and successfully returned several shots.
"He'll make a mistake soon," she thought and continued blasting balls back. She watched, right side. Sakura ran to the right as the ball zoomed past her left side. She turned and watched the ball bounce in the far left corner, just on the line. He disguised his shot!
"Let me serve a few balls," Li called, and Sakura nodded and hit a couple of balls over to him. Sakura bounced back and forth, waiting for the ball. Li tossed the ball, and a loud 'whop' echoed as the ball whizzed over the net.
"It's fast," Sakura thought and started for the ball . . . which landed about six inches from the service box line. She held up her index finger. "Out!"
Li shrugged, and served again. Sakura dashed to the ball, hitting it, but not with control and thus the ball flew out and hit the wall. "He has an amazing serve . . ."
"Let's start," Li said, and Sakura nodded, wary of the uphill battle that lay before her.
The match ended at one-six, Li. Sakura's face and body were drenched with sweat. Li was covered with sweat too, but not to the extent of Sakura. After all, he had controlled the match. They walked to the net and Sakura held out her hand. "Good game."
"As I expected from a runt," Li replied and walked away. Sakura fumed.
"You're not that great either you cocky bastard!"
"Then why did I just whoop you," he called back and waved his hand.
Sakura glared at his retreating figure. How she could think she would develop feelings for that . . . that . . . ! Sakura growled aloud. At least the romance aspect for Li Syaoran would be moot. Hopefully the other members of the team wouldn't be as rude or cute.
The last thing she needed was a crush getting in the way of her dream.
Li entered his room, smirking. True, he had beat the runt, but each point lasted long and he won some by sheer luck. This fact irked him greatly. He had reminded him of a girl though, the way he smiled and emoted easily.
He had to be gay. Li groaned and fell on his bed. As long as the guy didn't develop feelings for him, things would be okay.
Piri piri piri. Puru puru piri. Li glanced to the phone on the runt's side of the room. Phone calls already? Must be a momma's boy.
"Yo, this is Kira, give me a shout out at the BEEP!"
"Sakura? It's your father. I was just calling to see how you were. By the way, who's Kira? Tell Tomoyo I said 'hi'."
Li stared at the phone in shock. Did he just say 'Sakura'? Kinomoto Kira was a . . . girl?!
Sakura entered the room, bouncing a ball on the racket. "Five hundred one, five hundred two, five hundred three, five hundred –"
"Sakura."
Sakura jumped and the ball bounced over by the phone. Her green eyes widened in shock. Li . . . knew?!
