Ace!
Written by : Chiaki Nozomi
Class 05 - Skill
Disclaimer – Yadda yadda yadda. Blah blah blah. Blech! Eh!? Oo! ^_^.
A/N: Okay, I called it a tourney but its not generally one. Well, it is, but by my own rules. ^^;; Hideki lost, so he doesn't play. Eriol and Akizuki won, so they play each other. Li got a by so he plays Kira (Sakura) even though Sakura lost. Sakura gets to play because her won-game count is higher than Hideki, who almost lost in straight sets. So, right now the ladder is – Akizuki, Eriol, Li, Kira, Hideki.
"Hey Syaoran-kun," Sakura said, rolling out of bed, "What do you think about me?"
Syaoran didn't answer because he was asleep. However, Sakura took it as rudeness, and she walked over to his bed and pulled the blanket off. Syaoran jumped and nearly attacked her.
"What the hell is going on," he yelled, "It's three in the beeping morning!"
"I was asking you something, Syaoran-kun! You're the one that ignored me!"
Syaoran . . . kun? Li's eyes widened, she couldn't be sleep talking?! She looked awake, but her personality seemed like a child. So she had to be sleep talking? Did she even mention that? He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. His head was already pounding, he might as well hear her out so he could return to sleep.
"Syaoran! You're not listening to me again!"
"What is it," he replied roughly. Sakura's face fell into a pout.
"I just wanted to know what you thought of me."
"You're a boy," he retorted and reached for his comforter. Sakura shook her head and leaped onto the bed next to him.
"I'll tell you a secret," she said, and leaned close, "I'm really a girl," she whispered in his ear. Syaoran pushed her away.
"Yeah, right," he replied. Sakura grabbed his shoulder and turned him to her.
"I am too," she exclaimed and threw off her t-shirt. "Feel," she continued, grabbed his hand, and placed it over her breast.
"Feels like a guy's flat chest to me," he replied, yanking his hand away and blushing. He had to get her to sleep soon. This was embarrassing for both of them. Sakura frowned and abruptly hugged him from behind.
He could feel himself growing to half mast. "Do not go to phase two," he ordered his second brain, as the normal one tried to think of a way to get her off of him.
"I really do like you Syaoran, even if you are a heartless jerk."
"You haven't even known me for a week," he replied harshly. This was just another confession from a mindless follower.
"But," she muttered and her breathing became steady on his shoulder. Li sighed. The brat fell back asleep. He gently lay her back on his bed and grabbed her thrown t-shirt. He quickly put it back on her with a bit of difficulty, because she looked like she would wake at any moment, and picked her up and carried her to her bed.
Surprisingly, she was light, and soft. He smiled slightly, a woman's body felt so different from his own. However, by the end of their college years her body would be as hard as his own and their tennis skills . . . . well, at least the outlook seemed like they would challenge each other decently.
He put the blanket over her and watched her sleeping face. She really did have a cute quality about her. "Feel," he muttered and chuckled softly. "You're one in a million, Sakura."
She grunted and turned on her side. Li shook his head and crawled into bed and returned to sleep.
Sakura woke earlier than usual, and her eyes widened. She was still in her bed! Did she not sleepwalk at all? A smile spread over her face – this was the first time she stay put in over a month.
She glanced over at Li and smiled her silent good morning. He looked so innocent when he was sleeping. At least today she could take a long shower, and since Li liked cold water, she could use all the hot water she wished!
She grabbed her vest and underwear, and hopped into the shower. By time she got out, Li had already left. She arched an eyebrow, confused, but quickly dressed and walked down to the mess hall for breakfast.
"Morning Kira," Eriol said from the bottom of the stairway. Kira grinned.
"Good morning Eriol," Kira replied, then leapt off the last five stairs to land by Eriol. A few seconds later Hideki stomped by them, dark circles under his eyes. Both watched him with interest, until Akizuki came running down the stairs.
"Have you seen Hideki," he asked urgently, and Eriol pointed the direction he went. Akizuki nodded his thanks and ran after him.
"What happened between them," Kira asked, concerned. Her teammates couldn't possibly be fighting already? The semester barely started! A grin came to Eriol's face as he recalled the night's events. "Well, Hideki really shouldn't be mad, but here's what happened."
"You're going to drink in the first week," Li stated, arching an eyebrow. Akizuki glared, then smiled sweetly at Eriol and Hideki.
"Its only some sake," he said, "Its not like that American stuff. . . Besides, were in college now! Aren't we supposed to live it up?"
"Not if you're on the top tennis team in the nation," Li replied. Akizuki's smile turned tense, and he snuck a glare at Li before feigning ignorance at the other two.
"Well have a couple. Not enough to get us drunk and a hangover the next day. Besides, a bit of alcohol a day is good for your heart."
"That's only red wine."
Akizuki perked, and he turned, murderous glaze in his eyes. "Then you won't come, will you Li," he said sweetly. Li rolled his eyes and sauntered off. Akizuki grinned, pleased, "Well then, Ladies! Shall we go?"
Eriol and Akizuki watched in amazement as Hideki downed one glass and became drunk. Hideki began poking around Akizuki's dresser and pulled out an emerald green 'slut' dress. Of course, it was Akizuki's only slut dress, and he looked damn good in it. The neckline was low, and it had a slit that came up to the waist. In fact, the dress resembled the 'scarf' of a dress some American movie star wore once.
"Preddy preddy dreshy! I wanna wear Akeshooku!"
"Who is that," Eriol muttered, then laughed as Hideki pulled out a pair of fake boobs.
"Squishy squishy boobies!"
Both sober men started laughing, and Akizuki pulled Eriol away from Hideki. "Let's put him in drag," he suggested, evil glint in his eye.
Eriol smirked; looks like life wouldn't be boring here after all.
"Hideki cha~n, do you wanna become a pre~tty girl?"
"You'll make Hideki beautiful," he replied, then jumped and hugged Akizuki. "Did you shear Errio~? Akeshooku shaid he'd make Hideki pretty!"
"Hear that Eriol? You help him get dressed while I get out my makeup."
"Now, this is foundation. We're going to cover up those nasty blemishes you have," Akizuki said, and Hideki nodded eagerly. The dress looked only half as good on Hideki (part of it had to do with his bulky thighs and hairy legs) and the fake boobs needed to be a tad bigger, but with his expertise in makeup, Hideki would look halfway decent from the neck up. They already put a blonde wig on his head, so he looked like a masculine beach bunny. "Now we're going to pluck your eyebrows. This may hurt," Akizuki continued, and Eriol grabbed his arm.
"Isn't that a bit far," he asked worriedly. "We don't know how he'll act when he sobers up."
"I am the master beautician! Don't question my authority! I've been Drag Momma to more men than you can shake a stick at! He'll be a girl, and a damn fine one at that!" Eriol blinked at his outburst and vowed never to let Akizuki near his eyebrows as he plucked like a bat out of hell.
"Do his lips red," Eriol suggested as Akizuki neared the final phase of his work. "The bright F-them and leave them red."
Akizuki grinned, "Should I really?"
Eriol smirked, "Go for it."
"Kish kish," Hideki said as Akizuki applied the 'F. me' red. With the last dab of paper, they were finished. "I wanna shee! I'm sho~ pretty! Thank you Akeshooku!" with those words Hideki hugged Akizuki tight and kissed him.
Eriol's jaw dropped, Akizuki's eyes widened. But after the kiss, Hideki returned to admiring himself, and Akizuki proclaimed proudly, "You're on the straight path to gayhood!"
Sakura's eyes widened as he finished telling the story. "Oh my god," she muttered, then started laughing. She should talk to Akizuki more, and maybe they could go out in drag together. Of course, it wouldn't be drag for her, but any excuse to be female was a good one. "Do you have a copy of the picture," she asked, and Eriol nodded. He pulled out his wallet and opened it to the picture. Sakura's eyes widened; Akizuki really did do a good job. Although his lips were a bit . . . prominent.
Sakura returned it to him and grinned. "We have to show it to Li." Eriol nodded and the two went to the mess hall, where Li ate his breakfast.
"Morning Li," Eriol greeted, and Li nodded his reply. Kira sat next to Eriol and across from Li. As she sat she accidentally kicked him. Li's face flushed, although neither noticed, because they were telling a story about Hideki and Akizuki . . ..
Damn, Hideki made half decent girl. Lips were a bit too big for his tastes though.
"Hideki, I told you I'm sorry already," Akizuki whined, trying to keep up with Hideki's fast pace, "Just let off of it."
"I'm going to change rooms. You might attack me in my sleep."
"I'm sorry I didn't know you couldn't hold your alcohol," Akizuki replied sarcastically, with the grace of a king's footman, "And its me who should be mad."
Hideki turned, fuming, "You should be mad?! You're the one who dressed me in that – that – "
"And you, darling, were so enthused to see it, you kissed me." Hideki swung his fist and hit Akizuki's jaw, sending him falling to the ground.
"I'm not a faggot," he deathly stated, and walked off in a huff.
Akizuki wiped the blood, and frowned. Hideki had quite a temper. He sighed and stood up. Perhaps the kissing line was a bit too far, but they had only taken a picture. Its not like he paraded down the dorm.
"Although," Akizuki thought with a smile, "That would be entertaining."
Li slowly walked to the tennis courts. Today he played Sakura, and honestly, she didn't warrant that much attention. Eriol, however, warranted his attention. Although he appeared to have struggled against Sakura, Li knew his skills far surpassed hers.
"Li," Sakura called, and he kept walking, ignoring her. The pit-pats of her feet, however, told him that despite his rudeness, she would always follow behind him. He frowned. She acted exactly like one of his admirers from high school.
"Why didn't you stop," Sakura asked, and punched his shoulder. Li stumbled forward in shock. Did she just punch him?
"What the hell was that for," he asked, and Sakura glared.
"You're getting a mighty big head," she said, "And I can't stand people who are rude."
"Maybe I wouldn't be so rude if someone didn't keep me up all night."
"I stayed put last night!"
"You sleep walked into my bed again. I had to carry you back to your bed." Sakura stopped and frowned.
"Really," she asked, disappointed. Li turned and nodded. He decided to keep the conversation to himself. Lord knows how she'd react. Hell, he still didn't know what to think of it!
"Kira! Li," Akizuki called, and Sakura kindly stopped, but Li kept walking. Sakura shook her head, by the end of the year she would have his manners in check; but one look at Akizuki's bruised lip caused a wave of concern to wash over her.
"Akizuki! Who hit you," Sakura asked, and dashed over to check it out closer. Akizuki shrugged it off with an impish smile, and focused his attention on Li.
"A bit rude, isn't he?" Sakura smiled and nodded. "Has Hideki shown up yet," he asked and Sakura shook her head.
"I'm always the first one here, and I haven't seen him yet." Akizuki frowned.
"Well, how's our ankle? Think it'll slow you down today?"
"It's bruised. I can run on it fine, I hope. My luck is so bad – no wonder I got pegged in my ankle."
Akizuki smiled and decided not to tell him that Eriol's shot was done of pure will. Sakura grinned and said, "I saw your work on Hideki. You're pretty good!"
"Pretty good," Akizuki replied, "I'm one of the best."
Sakura shook her head, "My best friend does better than you."
Akizuki arched an eyebrow. "Really? I'll have to meet this best friend of yours."
Sakura smiled and nodded her head. "We were going to go out Friday, wanna come?"
"On one condition – all three of us have to be in drag."
Sakura nodded enthusiastically. "Of course!"
"Where's Hideki," Coach asked, and the team shrugged. "If any of you see him, tell him if he skips again, he's out of here," he continued angrily.
Akizuki frowned and looked at the path leading toward the courts. Hideki couldn't be so mad he would skip practice, right?
"Somehow, this match doesn't seem so stressing," Sakura murmured as she finished warm up. She looked at Li, who seemed to be calm as well. "Maybe its because I already played him. . ."
Coach watched Kira and Li play with a serious eye. Both were good, but it was obvious Kira would end up losing. Although Kira's net skills were beyond impressive. Everytime he got up at the net, he didn't lose the point. He opened his clipboard and put a star next to the 'net' in Kira's profile.
He turned to watch the match between Eriol and Akizuki. Akizuki seemed distracted and made many careless errors. Coach sighed and scribbled notes next to Akizuki. The group this year seemed rougher than those of past years. The work would have to be doubled if they were to keep their title. Not to mention Hideki skipping practice in the first week. Normally he would kick him out, but they were short of talent as it was.
None were playing to their full potential, save Li, who never held back on anything.
Sakura sighed. She lost again, 4-6, 2-6, but at least she won more than one game. They watched the last of Akizuki and Eriol's game, which ended rather quickly. Eriol won, much to Li's delight.
Coach marked more things on his clipboard. He finished and motioned for the group to sit; then continued writing. Finally he stopped and looked at them.
"As of now, you are behind the skill level needed to compete nationally. If you don't sharpen your skills, I will not enter you in any tournaments. I will not have my school's name and program tarnished by sub par participants. Next week we start weight training and cross country running to give you strength and stamina. At practice we will work on our basic skills, and on Sunday we practice from six am to twelve. Saturday will be your day off."
Tomorrow Li will play Eriol, Akizuki will play Kira, and Hideki defaults to last on the ladder. Right now the ladder is – Li, Akizuki, Eriol, Kira, Hideki. I'm expecting improvements. Now go."
Coach walked off, and everyone stared at him, stunned.
