Yes yes, rather late updating... don't kill me!
Chapter 14
Darkness. That was all I see.
"God, I can't wait to get my hands on that yellow-haired chit…"
Li, who was behind me (enduring the same agony), said impatiently, "yes yes, when you see her you'll kill her and kill her then make her bald then kill her again and whatever bloody plan you have. But frankly, we have to get out of this bloody vent first. I can't stand the view".
"Haha" I gibbed sarcastically. "As if you can see anything. From my point of view, it's as dark as a cave".
"One, this is worse than a cave. Two, I can see. Want me to describe?"
"Gladly,"
"Well, for a start, it's neon green with white linings. For another, it's about 2 feet away from me and it clings to your butt".
Neon gre..? POW!
"HEY!" he yelled indignantly, narrowly missing my foot that came barreling straight for his head. "Is it my fault that your underwear can be seen through your shorts! My eyesight already adjusted to the dark! Hell, you are still violent even inside a freakin ventila…".
Putting aside the agitated parrot's mutterings, you must perhaps be wondering why we are in a dark, dreary and disgusting vent. If you must recall, Li and I were locked inside the girls locker room by a suicidal cheerleader. Well, passing through this passage is a way for us to ESCAPE, hoping no whiffs of carbon dioxide or whatever will poison us to death. It may seem far-fetched but, as they all say, in the words of "Ripley's Believe it or Not",
Unbelievable? Believe it.
OoO OoOooOo RECAP (back in locker room) oOoOOOoO
"Open up, you stupid door!" Sakura yelled, kicking it for the 800th time. When it still didn't budge, a vein popped out of her temple. "What the hell is this stupid door made of, anyway? BOULDERS?"
"Actually, it's made of 4 inched titanium metal. If that were an ordinary door, I would've broken it ages ago" my voice replied dryly.
"Bu-but why the hell do they have to have titanium metal! Why not use the ordinary one?" she stuttered, a look of irritation and despair crossing her features.
"Peeping Toms," I shrugged, mentally sifting through my brain for any possible way out. I didn't specify that my friends WERE the peeping toms. During our sophomore years, we (Eriol and the guys) dared one another to look into the doors of the girls' locker room and to see who was the bravest among us to actually put a smoke bomb inside the room. Well, to make a long story short, our victim (Brian) was successful in planting the bomb, but was caught by our lesbian PE teacher on the way out. As a result, the once easy-to-break-metal locker doors became almost-impenetrable titanium dungeon doors. The End.
Sakura, meanwhile, shook her head and exclaimed disgustedly, "you'd think men would be more mature than that…. Peeping toms…. Bah…".
I evaded the subject and asked, "so… any ideas?"
"How about we climb through the windows?"
"Shatterproof".
"Set it on fire?"
"Nu-huh".
Then, she brightened and dashed towards the walls. She crouched and started tapping the wall beside the door tentatively. "What… are you doing?" I asked, amused.
Hearing the tone of my voice, she glared at me. "I watched this movie once where the guy and his girl was locked in this info room or something. He talked about 'the weak point of a wall' or something like that. In the movie, when he found it he b-".
"Kicked the wall and managed to create a hole?" I finished for her. She stopped tapping and regarded me with astonished eyes. "How'd you know that?".
"I watched that, too. Frankly, it's not going to work. While most walls do have, shall we say, a weak spot, I'm afraid that even if this one does, we won't be able to break it. RSU's uncannily smart and deceptive".
"I won't even ask," she mumbled. "Isn't there any way of escaping this dungeon?"
"Nope. Not unless your, say, Superman and can bust through titanium metal and shatter shatterproof glasses and burn fireproof objects".
"Shit".
OoOoOoO
Tomoyo sat, watching the game with anxious eyes. 10 minutes after the game started, neither team had scored. She was relieved that their defenses were splendid, although they weren't exactly pummeling the rival school, either.
She knew perfectly well that, no matter how good the team was, it was a depressant to their confidence and morale that their captain wasn't present. The duo of Eriol and Li were famous in the university soccer world. One without the other was good, but two were better. They gave their teammates something to be confident about and their opponents something to fear. But now, it was the opposite, and thank god the crowd wasn't getting it yet.
Then, as if on cue, the opponent scored.
0-1.
OoOoOoOoO
15 or so minutes of brain-storming later, Sakura suddenly faced me, who was sitting at the floor, and asked shrewdly, "why do I get the feeling you and your neurotic friends had something to do with the lovely metal door I tried kicking a few minutes ago?".
I coughed and pretended not to hear, avoiding a near hit with a shampoo bottle and a pale. Sigh, doesn't she realize that 16 year old boys ALWAYS do that kind of thing?
"Well, you must understa—AHHH! Stop making objects fly, woman! You're giving me a headache!"
"At least I'll have company," she pointed out, glaring at me, although she did stop… thank god.
Every once in while, we'd hear the distant but unmistakable roar of the crowd assembled for the game. I tried not to cringe when everytime I hear it. Because now that my memory finally ticked, I can vaguely recall who Lei Ling was. It's like hitting two birds with one stone! I can kick his ass out in public and I can give him hell at the same time. Now, how can it get any better than that?
"God, if I ever get my hands on that stupid troll, I'll shove a DVD of Jane Austin's 'Pride and Prejudice' up her- wait, that would be defaming Austen, right? No, I'll shove a DVD of 'Agent Cody Banks', then. Ha, that'll give her hell…" Sakura was muttering to herself, tearing a towel to shreds, her eyes narrowed.
Wait a minute…
Agent Cody Banks…
AGENT CODY BANKS! I directed my shocked eyes to Sakura. Without warning, I grabbed her and gave her a tight hug. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" she yelled, shocked. I ignored her protest and beamed.
"You, my dear chipmunk, are now excused from my revenge. YOU'RE A GENIUS!" I said happily, getting to work.
"Of course I am!" she half-jested. When she still didn't seem to get it, I repeated, "Agent Cody Banks, Sakura. Think about it".
"What the cr- oh, god," she started, her eyes widening. I nodded. In unison, we craned our heads up and stared at our means of escape.
The 4x4 (feet) vent opening.
And that was the start of our journey to freedom (and troll-napping).
OooOooOoO
The game was turning in favor of the opposing team.
Now the score was 2-0.
OooOoOoOoOO
Look, I'm not saying I'm not going to go after Miyu's pretty little neck, seeing as she is a girl and can scream 'RAPE!' while I'm mutilating her to bits and have the whole country deport me to Bangladesh since I'm a guy. Sad to say, we are separated by the line we call 'gender'. Plus, even though she's the reason why I'm crawling inside this godforsaken vent with Sakura and a fascist bitch, I have way too much integrity and gentlemanliness to attack a girl. No, I'm leaving Sakura to that.
Instead, I am bent on assassinating her boyfriend.
Wait for me, you asshole, I seethed. All along, my motive was to get out of here and blow the guy's head to planet Uranus. In fact, I would even miss the game for it. The feeling of winning the big game is NOTHING compared to the satisfaction of seeing that fool on his deathbed. Did you know what was dripping out of Sakura's head when found her? BLOOD! I'LL KILL HIM!
Since I can't be calm when thinking of him, I decided to focus on better things. More specifically, my view of Sakura now. That's not to say that I'm happy to be able to get a look at her underwear (since her shorts are too thin), of course. But still, you can't kill me for being a tad bit cocky. I mean, I DID see her neon green underwear, which is another thing I can tease her about. The other part of me wants to sue the company who made her shorts. Don't they see that they are unbelievably too th-.
"MMF!" I was cut off when my head suddenly banged on Sakura's legs, making me too close to her asset for comfort (god, I'm turning into a pervert).
"OI! If you were thinking of letting me get a clear view of your lovely rear, I suggest we do it in a place where I can SEE I-!"
"What was that?" she asked, ignoring my burst.
"What? The squeak? Must be mouse" I said, shrugging. "Now can we PLEASE move, Kinomoto? I'm starting to get cram-!"
"A MOUSE? There's a mouse in here?" she repeated, trying to maintain calm.
"Yes" I said empathetically. "I mean, this is a ve- is that PANIC I hear in your voice, Kinomoto?" I asked interestedly.
"No" she replied curtly.
"There's a mouse behind you".
BANG!
The next thing I knew, she scrambled forward and turned right faster than I can blink. Shaking my head amusedly, I followed and yelled, "not afraid, eh?"
"Shut up, Li" she responded in an equally loud voice ahead.
"I love you too!"
OoOoOo
2-1.
The coach confronted Eriol, who was resting at the bench. "Where the hell is your captain, Hirigiizawa!" he screamed, his face red.
Eriol replied with the only answer he has, voicing his frustrations as well, "I don't know, sir! We've been looking for him everywhere! In fact, Jason's looking for him now".
The older man must've sensed his misery for lowered his tone, "I don't know where the hell Li is, but I assure you that if he doesn't get his ass up here before the second half begins, there will be hell to pay, and I'm not talking about the one we're getting at the field. Do you hear me?".
"Yes, sir".
AooOOoOoO
So here we are, crawling through this dark vent. Of course, since I am in the lead (unfortunately), I have to be what you call the 'guide'. In this vent, I am Batgirl, navigating through a dark passage like a…well… bat. It seemed as if we were crawling for HOURS when in reality we were there for only 15 minutes. But anyway, clear though my eyesight was, I'm afraid my sessions with Eggy must've made them prone to hallucinations of the things I don't like the most, because the next thing I knew, I was facing this long stretch with DOZENS of other vents on the walls. I can see it because there are… ah… ventilators or something attached to the walls (think agent Cody Banks. The scene where he hanged from the ceiling of the lab), allowing a little bit of light to shine where we were. I groaned.
"What? What's the matter?" Li asked from behind.
"I can't believe this! There are DOZENS of passages! There's one on my left then farther up one on the right and I bet there's another one in that other one over there….!"
"Well, Sakura, use that handy Eggy-radar of yours cause we have less than 20 minutes before the first half of the game's finished".
"Easy for you to say".
I wasn't kidding. It seems as if this stupid vent will lead to nowhere! I scrambled towards the one on the right and peeked at the open spaces on the (okay I don't know what to call it so I'll just call it) 'peeping windows'. "Yes!" I cried. It's the boys locker room!"
Li made a disgusted noise behind me. "Oi, if you must know, we are currently trying to find our way out of this hellish vent so w—you have no time to ogle at naked men strutting around idiotica-!"
"I wasn't thinking about that!" I protested, my face heating up. "The boys' locker room is near the exit! We're close!". I increased my speed, hungry for the light that the outside would bring to my Batgirl eyes (haha). I guess I should've watched where I was going and listened to Li when he said,
"Hey, slow down! There are some surprises in this vent! Be careful before you fall or cut yourself again!"
"I know what I'm doing," I replied impatiently, continuing blindly on the passage. "I absolutely cannot wait to get out of hhhheeeeeeAAHHHHH!" I yelled with surprise when the floor suddenly disappeared below me and became a diagonal slide, causing me to slide on my butt to wherever the way was taking us.
"I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL!" Li hollered as he went slid down the slide behind me.
I was about to retort (so sue me. I'm still violent even in mortal peril) when his two arms encircled my waist and pulled me against him. "What are you doing?" I asked, my eyes still trained at the front for any signs of sharp objects.
"I am not going to let you get hurt again," he replied fiercely. "Now tuck your head on my chest! NOW!" he yelled. Confused, I did as I was told, his left hand resting at the back of my head and his right around my waist. Good thing I did, because the next moment, sunlight penetrated my eyes through the spaces between Li's protective hands. We rolled along a very rough surface and skidded to a halt. When he finally let go, I looked around and found ourselves beside the entrance of the HS building, sprawled on the rocks and grass behind a bench. I sat up and looked around me. I vaguely wondered why I had no cuts on my arms (only a couple on the legs), when I heard a voice.
"Glad that's over," Li's voice penetrated my thoughts.
I spun around and nearly cringed at the sight of him. His hair was disheveled and his varsity clothes mussed. I counted 6 scratches on his arms, 3 on his legs and a nasty looking cut on his right hand. But looking at his relieved and grinning face, you would've thought he was immune to being seen like this.
"I am not going to let you get hurt again,"
I gasped, looking at him as he sat up and brushed off the dirt on his shirt. I can't believe it! Half of those bruises should've been mine! I realized with a mixture of disbelief and tenderness that he covered my upper body (especially my head) to prevent it from garnering bruises. He KNEW where this vent was going. He should've protected himself.. I mean… he DOES have a game…
Oh god, I'm starting to feel guilty.
And when I'm guilty and affectionate at the same time, the latter something I have not experienced for the past 2 years, I tend to be more aggressive. Thanks, Li.
OoOooOo Li's POV OoOoOoOo
Man, if the gods want to punish me for sleeping late last Monday, they should've left Sakura out of it. I will never go through that vent EVER again. I looked at my hands with interest, noting the bruises and gashes there and on my legs as well. I was fairly certain that Sakura had none of this, except maybe on her legs, since I did shield her the best way I know how. Don't ask me why I did that. Truth is, I don't know the reason anymore than you do.
7 more minutes to go before 2nd half
I turned to her, intent on asking her if she was all right then finding out a way to get to the stadium. I balked when she suddenly leaned and brushed a twig out of my hair. I was more confused than ever because the Sakura I know doesn't do that. The Sakura I know would never allow herself to this close to me. More importantly, Sakura wouldn't be looking at me with that look in her brillian jade eyes.
Like the eyes that stared back at me when we watched the video of a 14 year old kid.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" she snapped disbelievingly at me, catching me off guard.
"Why not?" I asked, confused.
"If anything, you should prevent yourself from getting injured since you have a game only 2 seconds away!" she groaned, getting hold of my hands and looking at it miserably.
I looked her and can't help but smile. Standing up and holding out my hand for her to hoist herself up, I said, "relax, Kinomoto. I've been having bruises since I was 4. it's part of my life and my training. Besides," I hoisted her up and cocked and eyebrow, "I'm a man".
She looked at me for a second, that unusual expression gone from her face (thank god). "So are you saying that men are the only creatures who aren't squeamish?" she asked me dryly.
"No…."
"Fine! Now, can we please go! We're 40 minutes late!" she bellowed, running at the road and looking around for any vehicle.
Just then, as if it was MEANT for it to go there, a delivery guy from Pizza Hut appeared on his motorcycle, his helmet obscuring his face. He parked at the front and, carrying his delivered pizza, he walked towards us and asked, "hey, do any of you kids know a…uhm… Ms. Mizuki?"
Before Sakura could react, I stepped forward and replied in a very innocent voice (i.e., I'm-going-to-do-something-evil voice), "Why, just enter our humble HS building, turn left, climb 2 staircases and when you see a statue of a nun, climb a flight of stairs again. Turn right and find the door marked 'faculty' and ask for a Ms. Mizuki. Got it?".
"Left, staircase, nun, right… got it. Thanks!" pizza boy said gratefully and disappeared through the hallways.
Sakura stood next to me, watching as I ran towards the motorcycle and started feeling the surface. "You DO know that there is no such thing as a statue of a nun, that the faculty is only on the 2nd floor and that Ms. Mizuki is currently at the stadium watching the game, right?" she asked.
"Of course, I do," I said. Then, when I felt a sort of compartment at the seat, I pulled it open and took out the keys. "Aha!" I exclaimed triumphantly. Then, without further ado, I lifted Sakura up (causing her to yelp) and placed her at the seat. Following suit, I started the engine and before she could react, we were riding towards the stadium at breakneck speed.
"Afraid, Kinomoto?" I yelled, since the wind was whistling so loudly.
"Nope! I must say that this is brilliant idea of escape, Li, although I can't help but pity the squirt when he sees his vehicle has vamoosed," she replied loudly, cling to my waist.
"Frankly, my dear, I did not steal the vehicle. I just borrowed it!"
"I know. It's still funny".
"Anyway, he'll get this back and more".
"Aw, I didn't know you had it in you, Li!"
"To what?"
"Nothing…. WATCH OUT! A FENCE!"
OoOoOoOo
Miyu Okinawa waited impatiently at the front of the stadium, tapping her high heels at the soft earth. A smile crept up her face as she imagined what Sakura Kinomoto might be doing now (probably groveling and thinking of ways to escape). Sadly, this wasn't an ordinary school. She WAS sorry about what she had to do to Li back there, but what choice did she have? Besides, he will still love her, she was sure of that. No one can resist her charms. After all, Miyu was Miyu Okinawa. Still, it was nice to know that the captain of her school's soccer team locked like an animal in a cage, since her boyfriend's the captain of the opposing team.
"Miyu! I got it!" her friend's voice jolted her out of her sweet thoughts.
"Where?" she asked excitedly, holding out her hand. Kitty handed her the tape, it's black surface gleaming in the sunlight. "How did you open Kinomoto's locker?" she inquired.
"Oh, all it took was a couple of picks here and there," her friend shrugged. "It was quite easy, really. Of course, her whole locker may be clean on the outside, but it definitely looks like hell on the inside. We damaged it like you told us".
Miyu smirked. Pocketing the tape, she gestured for Kitty to follow. "Now that's over, let's watch the game. I bet you by now RSU's getting lambasted". As she entered the stadium, she didn't see the swish of auburn hair and a sleeve of a varsity shirt disappearing through the side.
Nor the vengeful thoughts inside their owners' head.
Nor the reality that both she and her boyfriend will pay.
OooOoOoOoOo
The moment Li stepped unto the field, the degree of cheers and chants notched up dramatically. Li resisted the urge to smirk, because the fact that they were losing wasn't helping.
"LI XIAO-LANG! LI XIAO-LANG!" the crowd screamed and chanted enthusiastically. A couple of the opposing team's member glanced up curiously. The fans were happy he was back. Unfortunately, Lei's team didn't have any idea who he was… or what he could do. Li looked up and couldn't help but smile. A team of naked men had their stomachs painted with letters spelling the GO, RSU! A couple more were waving their personal banner, not excluding the ones with L-I-X-I-A-O-L-A-N-G and E-R-I-O-L painted on either t-shirts or something more… well… exposed.
Eriol rushed to their team captain and was about to bombard him with question and a few well chosen four-letter words when he saw the expression on his face. It was a mixture of delight, amusement, anger and murder. He decided against it, since Li, who acknowledged the crowd's delight with only a smile, suddenly addressed him and asked briskly, "what's the score?", even though the giant scoreboards screamed that they were losing 4-1.
He told him so and was expecting an outburst of some kind. He was stunned when Li merely said with a small smirk, "well, dear ancestor, it's not late isn't it? call the guys for a little pep talk, Eriol. It's butchering time".
They were at the entrance of the stadium. I hesitated for a second, then grabbed him by the arm and said, "I'm not going to say good luck because I know you won't need it. Just… don't be hard on the poor guy".
"Of course. Same to you" he said jovially. Tightening his hold on my arm, he asked, "are you asking me to save him the humiliation?"
I smirked and said, "definitely not. I'm asking you to cream him enough to stop his face being seen on public".
"Hang in there, Li. It's good you're back" Eriol said, puzzled. He was about to turn when Li stopped him. "Oh, and best friend dearest, is Lei Ling the name of our dear rival's team captian?" he asked.
"Yes…."
A wicked smile crept up Li's perfectly chiseled face. "Perfect".
oooOOOoOoOo
Miyu, seated at the fourth row from the field, couldn't believe what her cerulean blue eyes were seeing.
Li. Li Xiao-Lang.
As the whistle indicated the resuming of the game, she followed his movements as he ran across the field. She could feel the morale and confidence of her school's team rising. The crowd was louder than ever, screaming and cheering and chanting as they saw the captain kick the ball.
If Li was here, then surely……
Then, she shivered. She turned her head back and looked at the stairs….
there, standing with her hands on her hips, was the jade-eyed teen she locked with the hopes she'll starve to death. Sakura's eyes were narrowed dangerously as she walked slowly towards her. When they were face to face, the auburn-haired teen silently leaned and kissed her on the cheek. She couldn't move, only watching as Sakura pulled something form her pocket. Miyu's eyes landed on the shiny gray object.
The tape.
While she was still gazing with shock, her victim whispered, "do you really think that I'm going to leave this tape on my locker before I could use it? if you did, then I was mistaking when I deemed you a little brighter than a toad".
Then, Miyu finally lifted her eyes and met icy green orbs. The owner pocketed it again and said nonchalantly,
"Truth be told, I was thinking of giving this to the principal. Now, I think I'm going to play it for the whole school".
And before walking away, the winner continued, "I told you not to mess with me, Okinawa. You didn't listen. Now, as Li is beating the shit out of your boyfriend, watch me beat the crap out of you".
Then, as if reminding her of what was happening, the team scored.
"GOOOAAAALLLL!"
4-2.
A/N: So... how'd you like it? i know it's probably littered with grammatical and spelling mistakes, but please understand that final exams are only 2 weeks away and i have sadistic teachers! so sorry! i'll update as fast as i can! READ AND REVIEW!
Later and Lotsa Love,
CalCarrie
p.s. thank you for all those who reviewed! lav yah!