Chapter 9: "Signed up?"

Disclaimer: CLAMP owns Angelic Layer. I own the characters that you haven't read about in Angelic Layer.

Akiru walked around in gym, trying to remember some of the moves that his classmates were doing. Tamayo walked up to him.

"Soooooo… what were you doing after school yesterday? I called AND YOU WEREN'T IN! HOW INCONSIDERATE!"

"Jeez, calm down. I was at the Angelic Layer tournament arena, practicing." Tamayo said 'ohhhh.' knowingly. Just then, Akiru saw a long face with eyes with tiny pupils.

Glasses, lab coat, crazy look… It was all there. Icchan had shown up.

Icchan beckoned. Akiru walked over inconspicuously. "Icchan, what are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to tell you that I signed you up for the tournament, so you'd better start practicing! And, I see you found your nose. Goodbye!"

Icchan's face popped back behind the wall he had been looking over.

"Hang on", Akiru said. "Whaddya mean, signed up!"

Icchan's face reappeared. "It means that you are now going to be in the big Kanto Area Angelic Layer Games Tournament! And congratulations on getting your nose back."

Akiru stared. He had never lost his nose. And he never signed up for any tournament! Jeez, Icchan…

After school, Akiru walked over to the rabbit class at the preschool, picking up Hatoko with Kotaro. Hatoko walked out, completely ignoring Kotaro, and said, "Hi, Akiru!

Can you come to our house for a second? I want to show you some Angelic Layer stuff." Akiru glanced over at Kotaro, who shrugged, and said, "Ok with me. I'm going to

be at the dojo anyway, so whatever." Akiru said ok.

When they turned the corner, someone burst out of the underbrush. Akiru had expected it to be Icchan, but it was Tamayo, who ran at Kotaro. She hooked her hand under

his arm and around his neck, swung him around, and sat on him. "WHY'D YOU RUN OFF LIKE THAT, KOTARO-CHAN?" Kotaro gasped for breath. "Oh. Hi, Akiru."

Tamayo grinned at him. "Kotaro's never gonna beat me."

Akiru followed Kotaro and Hatoko to the Kobayashi's place. Hatoko opened the door, and Kotaro went straight to his room. Akiru followed Hatoko. When he walked into

her room, he gasped so loudly that Hatoko heard him.

He couldn't see the walls, for a start. They were wallpapered with pictures of the best angels, including a white angel, a blue and black angel with a label, Wizard, Hatoko's

angel, an angel in a kimono with a huge ribbon, an angel that looked like it had different texture that had curled blond hair and a vacant expression, Suzuka, even a small

picture of Ichiro, and last, the angel. The angel that he had seen and admired from the very start. Hikaru.

"Wow! How long does it take you to do this?" Akiru asked.

"Well, it took about a month. But my most prized possession, it's hidden away. Try and find it!" Akiru looked in the closet, and under the bed. He checked the light

switches, and by the time that he was desperate enough to even check the light switches, he was exhausted. He leaned on the light switch panel, to catch his breath, and it

slid down to reveal 2 small buttons.

"See, this is so rare, only one is given out a year, that my parents made an exception for me and gave me a secret place." Hatoko explained. Akiru pressed the button, and a

picture of an angel called Alice on the ceiling slid back to reveal a door. Then he pressed the button again, and the door opened. A robe and crown slid out, followed by

another one that was about ten times smaller. Akiru walked towards it.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It's the Angelic Layer winner's robe for the national championships. Me and Suzuka won the second tournament. I WAS SOOO HAPPY!" Hatoko squealed. "The big

one's for me, the small one for Suzuka. Now that at school we're being given homework, I haven't had much time to practice. Would you practice with me?" She walked

over and pressed the buttons again, and the robe came back up and the door shut.

"Um, sure. But wouldn't you rather practice with one of these guys?" Akiru gestured at the walls.

"No. you need to practice too. Madoka and Arisu will practice together, Sai and Kaede, Hikaru and Athena, Wizard kind of doesn't like to be social and pair up. So I need a

partner! Please?"

"Ok. But sorry if I, like, mess up or something." Akiru said.

"Yay!" Hatoko smiled. She was so cute and little!


Later, at Piffle Princess.

Akiru walked over to one of the tables and put on a headset. "So, friendly game it is?" He asked. "Sure!" Hatoko said, putting on the other headset. She made her entrance.

"Exceed the speed of light, Suzuka! Angel, Fall in!"

"Kougeki! Shin shutsu ki botsu, Ichiro! Angel, Fall in!"

Suzuka started to run. She ran at Ichiro, looking at the layer. Or so it seemed. When Akiru wanted Ichiro to dodge left, he looked left. Etc. Suzuka read Ichiro's moves

completely. Akiru dodged left, but Suzuka just spun on her leg and kicked out at him, his head snapping back. Akiru looked at Hatoko. He saw her looking at him, and this

time, when he wanted Ichiro to dodge right, he looked slightly to the left. Suzuka flew to the left and would have hit Ichiro, had he been there. He was standing to her right.

Akiru decided not to use any 'fancy footwork' here. Ichiro's foot swung around, hard. It hit her in the stomach, propelling her back a couple of inches.

Hatoko scowled. He must have noticed her looking at him.

Let's go, Suzuka.

Ichiro watched Suzuka circle him, ready. Suddenly, she rushed at him. Ichiro blocked his face and upper body, because that was where her foot was aimed, but Suzuka

simply did a flip and was soon facing the other way. Her foot was headed for his feet, and if she hit them he would be knocked out of the layer. Ichiro jumped, and Suzuka

hit the ground. This was exactly what Hatoko had been planning. As Ichiro landed again, Suzuka rolled backwards, her back up against Ichiro's legs. She kicked her feet up

over her head, and powered her knee right into Ichiro's chest. Her attack exploded, and Ichiro was thrown out of the layer and onto the floor. Akiru sighed.

"You know, I predicted we would lose to you. I saw that move, what was it? The rolling thunder the other day. I saw that your technique was superb. We souldn't be able

to beat that. I'm only a newbie, and without knowledge, Ichiro is powerless. Good game." He picked up Ichiro, and placed him on the layer again. Suzuka held out her

hand, and Ichiro shook it. Then Suzuka turned around and jumped out of the layer into Hatoko's hands as Ichiro flipped into Akiru's.

Everyone knows that it takes ages to describe stuff, right? In real life, that took approximately two minutes and forty seven seconds. So, just checking. Let's keep going.

Akiru felt a sense of loss, but knew that Hatoko was an expert. He had wondered why she had shown him the robe, but now he knew. It was to show that she had 3 years

of experience. He had 3 weeks. Akiru thought. How could he find more moves! He would ask Tamayo the next day. She probably knew some.

Hatoko smiled. If they could do this often, Ichiro would be a very strong contender. She had no intention of stopping.