Ace!

Written by : Chiaki Nozomi

Class 04 – Heart

Disclaimer – Card Captor Sakura is not mine.  It never will be.  Ever.  Never ever.   . . . That's an Ayumi song!  O.o;;  Yeah.  That's it.

Ace!

Written by : Chiaki Nozomi

Class 05 – Heart

Disclaimer – Card Captor Sakura is not mine. It never will be. Ever. Never ever. . . . That's an Ayumi song! O.o;; Yeah. That's it.

Li groaned and smacked his alarm clock. Every inch of his body ached from the run yesterday. Li glanced over at Sakura's bed and discovered no body present. He wondered briefly if she sleepwalked that night, but it seemed doubtful. Who sleepwalks every night anyway?

He slowly slid out of bed and grabbed a towel. Nothing works better to get the body pumping than an ice cold shower. He entered, flicked on the light, stripped, opened the door and turned the water on. Suddenly something lunged at his legs, knocking him down.

Sakura, dripping wet, lay on top of him, staring in confusion. Li had the courtesy to blush, and he struggled to reach for the towel hanging off the sink. Sakura blinked, still unsure of the exact situation. Li however, knew exactly what happened and wanted her off him as quickly as possible.

Her face was flushed from the sudden awakening, her shirt dripped ice cold droplets on him and clung to her body like a second skin, accenting her perky breasts, her breath scattered from the initial shock, and it took everything Syaoran had not to grab her and kiss her right then and there.

Although, he had to get her off now - 'feelings' were starting to develop. He grabbed her waist and lifted her up and over his body, then sat up and grabbed the towel to cover himself.

"Li," Sakura finally said, staring.

"Yes it's me," he replied tartly, still blushing.

"What happened?"

Li gaped at her in disbelief. How could she not know what happened?! "I went to take a shower, and you pounced on me."

Sakura blinked at him, then her eyes widened and she turned red. "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, and quickly exited the room. Li reached over, shut the door gently, and sighed. Day three, and already she was starting to effect him.

Sakura fingered her wet clothes. "Cold water," she muttered, "He likes to bathe in cold water." A small chuckle left her throat. She stripped and wrapped the blanket around her. Her muscles ached, and she longed for a hot shower and a back massage. The latter wouldn't happen, but just a bit of hot water would feel oh so good. . .

Li stood, letting the cold stream beat on his back comfortingly. "Third day," he repeated, and sighed. Four years until the professional qualification tournament, four years living with her, four years of her sleep antics, four years of . . .

Li's fists clenched. Sakura had to be a punishment sent from the Gods. During his junior and high school years he managed to keep his hormones in check and never dated a girl, although he had his share of admirers.

Li looked down at his growing erection with disgust. He couldn't masturbate with thoughts of her! His body disagreed and produced the dripping Sakura in his mind, and a shudder of desire ran through him . . .

Eriol sauntered downstairs, chuckling softly. Last night he stayed with Hideki and Akizuki, and it proved more than interesting. After a few drinks, both men had Hideki in drag, complete with photos. Akizuki proudly proclaimed, "You're on the straight path to gayhood!" and put the Polaroid on his bulletin board.

Eriol could only picture what Hideki would do when he saw the picture. Hopefully he wouldn't turn violent. He didn't seem like the type, but serial killers were always nice people, right? He passed by Kira and Li's room, and jumped when he heard a loud bang. He laughed softly. Was he the only straight guy on the team?

Although his parents didn't believe that. As a child he dedicated himself to tennis, and it continued throughout his teenage years. Girls weren't a part of his regimen. And true, he did have urgings, but that's what porn was for. Vulgar? Yes. Necessary? Yes. He reached the bottom of the stairs and sighed.

"I need to get a life," he muttered and walked to class.

Li exited the shower, making sure to properly wrap his towel around his waist. The 'incident' disgusted him. Some stupid tomboy, on the second day of school . . . He grunted, and threw the door open in his anger.

Sakura lay on her bed, reading. She looked up at him and smiled apologetically. "I'm truly sorry about that. I really can't control what happens when I'm asleep."

"Then why don't you strap yourself to the bed," he retorted, then stomped to his dresser and pulled out his clothes. Sakura watched him, shocked. He turned and glared. "Aren't you going to take a shower," he asked snidely, and Sakura quickly rose and dashed to the shower.

She frowned as she waited for the water to heat up. Why on earth was Li always so rude? She groaned and stepped inside. Her muscles instantly relaxed under the steaming stream, and she forgot Li's rudeness and enjoyed washing the soreness away.

Sakura dressed quickly, and was the first one out on the courts. Coach nodded approvingly, and everyone arrived at roughly the same order as yesterday, except Hideki and Akizuki arrived together, Hideki glaring daggers at Akizuki, who only laughed.

Coach took note of their anger and smirked. "Looks like the playing field will be altered a bit," he muttered, and changed Hideki's match from Eriol to Akizuki, and Akizuki's from Sakura to Hideki. Li had no match, a by. Of course, Li had the pleasure of playing 'The Almighty Yuuya'.

Almost laughing in glee, Coach blew his whistle with all the air he could muster, despite his pupils being ten feet away. All but Li groaned and clutched their ears, and the satisfaction he would get from creaming the brat grew.

"Listen up maggots! Run your laps and I'll tell you who plays who!" Kira grimaced inwardly and began her laps, making sure to set a steady pace. After they finished, and almost everyone breathed heavily, Coach blew his whistle and they near collapsed.

"Hell," Kira thought, "Four years of hell," ears now ringing.

"Good job little beep! Now Akizuki and Hideki on court one, Eriol and Kira on court two, and myself and Li on court three! Play best two out of three sets – add scoring!"

Kira glanced at Eriol nervously, who smiled gently. Akizuki shrugged and jogged to the courts, while Hideki seemed happy. Li nonchantly walked to the courts, slightly pleased he had a by the first round, and sneaked a glance at Sakura. She could really work on her confidence level, he noted, then glanced at the tacky coach, whose shirt color was brighter than the sun.

Akizuki frowned as he noted Hideki's obvious evil gleam. "Hideki, I already told you that you were drunk last night!"

"Bull," Hideki retorted, "I had no hangover! You two drugged me!"

Akizuki sighed and shook his head. Perhaps his hot head was a blessing. He could make allot of unforced errors. Hideki won the spin, and thus served first. He double faulted the first game, much to his horror. Akizuki nodded silently, all he had to do was win the psychological game . . .

Kira and Eriol walked to the courts in silence. Sakura was more than nervous – this was her first match, and it determined her position on the ladder. Eriol patted her on the back encouragingly, but it only made her feel worse. Eriol won the spin, and chose to serve. Kira bounced from her right foot to left, waiting for his serve . . .

It had the control of Li's but not the power. She returned it easily, but her eyes widened as he backhanded it back to her, far right corner, on the line. The next return she did the same, and he easily put the ball on the left boundry line. Sakura shook her head in amazement. She would have to watch his backhand.

At least he didn't have the overwhelming power of Li. But right now he controlled the game, and at thirty-forty, Kira had to fight for deuce. Fortunately she hit an approach shot that put her at the net and allowed her to put away a potentially fatal groundstroke.

However, the pacing and mood of the game felt like the practice match with Li. An uphill battle lay ahead of her . . .

Coach's eyes widened as he returned Li's serve. It felt wonderfully powerful, and best of all – tight control. This year's bunch could all go pro if they worked hard during the year. He would play only a set against Li, then go watch the other maggot's games.

Although his skill surpassed Li's, the brat still had a couple of surprises here and there.

The first set flew by quickly, and Akizuki was growing bored. Hideki's skill had to be greater than the current displays – especially double faulting over seventy-five percent of the serves. And although Hideki looked to be gay (he just didn't know it!) his sexual awakening could wait until he got his tennis attitude in check.

And for the sake of a challenge, Akizuki admitted to drugging Hideki and forcing the make-up and dress on him, and the next set became a tad bit harder.

It wasn't enough, and the match ended at 6-0, 6-1.

Eriol won the first set, 7-6, and was leading the second 4-3. Kira, already fatigued from the fifty laps, simply could not control the ball as well as she usually did. This fact upset her, and of course, caused unforced errors in key points.

All four men watched her match, impressed. Akizuki looked forward to playing Eriol, who made every stroke look like poetry. Such a match would do the Prince of Tennis dramatizations justice! He watched their match hungrily, longing for a challenge of the sort . . . .

Li watched Eriol, noting his playing style and weaknesses. His net game lacked, and his serve had a bit more power than Sakura's. But Sakura still struggled, and he frowned. She was getting by on Eriol's errors, but that wouldn't cut it in the other matches. Especially the match against him. He still shuddered at the thought of a girl playing equally against him.

Based on his obsversations, the top three would be himself, Eriol, and Sakura. The current match determined two and three, because he would be damned if he wasn't number one. He gasped as Sakura miscalculated a shot and lobbed it up high to Eriol, who slammed it down and hit her ankle. She grimaced from pain, but showed no other sign of pain.

So, Eriol meaned to take her out that way . . . .

It took all her self control not to cry out as the ball slammed into her ankle. The hit was intentional – Eriol possessed too much control to let loose a stray ball. It hurt to stand on, but not the pain of a twisted or broken ankle, both of which she had experienced many a time in her career. Still, it would slow her down – tennis required strong ankles and feet.

The game count was five-four. She had to win the next game to stay alive.

Coach watched with satisfaction as Kira fought for the match. Good thing he wasn't a quitter, or else the sloth would have a couple of lectures to sit through. But at the rate the match was going, Eriol would win. He glanced at his paper. She would play Li next, and Akizuki would play Eriol. He nodded, and expected a good match from both. Hideki disappointed him; before his set with Li finished, Akizuki and Hideki had come over to watch the final game.

Sakura desperately attempted to guide most of the shots to the net; but to no avail. Eriol won, 7-6, 6-4.

Coach blew his whistle and the two gathered around. "Tomorrow Li-Kira and Akizuki-Eriol! Now get out of here!"

"Congrats, Kira. That was a good match." Kira nodded, hiding her disappointment. She again grabbed her clothes and went back to her dorm room.

Once there, she collapsed on her bed, and reached for the phone. Tomoyo always made her feel better about losing.