Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. Story, characters and such are solely owned by the wonderful, talented and beautiful women of CLAMP, namely Tsubaki Nekoi, Ageha Ohkawa, Satsuki Igarashi, and Mokona. I love them so. The CCS manga series in Japan was published by Kodansha.

Ready, Set, Game!
By: Ya-kun

Summary: Are guys really better than girls in sports? Forcefully erasing this belief by proving herself repeatedly, the queen of sports is deemed invincible. Well, that is, until a guy arrived and beat her sorry derrière. It's an all out match and the 2 competitors have no plans of giving up, even if it means destroying any chances of a beautiful relationship. Let the games begin!

The door to Syaoran's house closed behind him automatically as if the door had sensed that its master could not be bothered with such trivial things as closing the door due to a long, busy week at his new school. Or maybe it was because Wei, Syaoran's butler (Syaoran did not like calling Wei as his butler and it always left a bitter taste on his tongue when he had to), was there to close the door for him. But the author digresses.

Syaoran loosened his necktie until it was hanging on his neck in an unkempt fashion and unbuttoned the first two buttons on his polo, sighing as he did so.

"Another long day at school, master Syaoran?" Wei questioned kindly as he assisted in removing the light blue blazer hanging from Syaoran's shoulders.

A nod and a small sound of affirmation from Syaoran was all he got.

Wei took his leave in order to prepare some afternoon snacks just as Syaoran plopped face-first on the living room sofa, grabbing one of the several plush pillows. He tossed and turned around relentlessly, trying to quash the ever-growing frustration he felt for a certain green-eyed pain in the neck.

"I swear, if she doesn't stop trying to attack me…"

He sat up and tried to clear his mind—it had been a long week and he wouldn't have that idiot denying him of his weekend vacation—as he leaned back on the sofa until he felt more comfortable. Hearing footsteps nearing him, Syaoran closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment of relaxation as the aroma of hot chocolate drifted to his nose.

"Wei,"

Wei placed a coaster on the coffee table before setting down the mug of steaming hot chocolate on it, as well as a plate of several confections that would have made any man's mouth water, before turning to his charge and replying with a "What is it, master Syaoran?"

"There's this girl…"

It took Wei a lot of effort to stop the smile threatening to break out on his face.

"She's been demanding that I 'fight' her."

The word 'fight' was said suspiciously because, truly, there has never been a girl that demanded a fight from Syaoran. Syaoran was a Li and his clan was famous for being one of the most influential and rich clans in the world. Therefore, if there was anything demanded from him by someone of the opposite sex, it was anything but a fight.

Syaoran narrowed his eyes at nothing in particular as he continued. "All week, that girl has been punching me and kicking me."

'Or, at least, trying to.'

"Perhaps, it's just a rather unorthodox way of getting your attention, master Syaoran."

"At first, that was what I thought too. But then all these people approach me and they were in awe of either my bravery or my so-called idiocy for challenging the" Syaoran rolled his eyes mentally "queen of sports."

"If you are so bothered by this girl, young master, then why don't you simply fight her?"

"Because, Wei, she's a girl. You know I wasn't raised to fight girls."

Syaoran knew that it was true and therefore, he could not fight Kinomoto, no matter how much of a celebrity she is. He had last fought against a girl when he was a child and it did not turn out well, for the girl, that is. Syaoran was too strong for a girl like Kinomoto or any other girl, for that matter, to take him on and succeed. (His reluctance to fight girls also stems from the fact that Syaoran cannot stand a girl crying but Syaoran would rather treat Eriol pleasantly than admit that)

"But then, this girl would still be demanding a fight from you, right, young master?"

Syaoran sighed, nodding. "That's my problem."

"If you can't beat them, join them, master Syaoran."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, since you can't fight her directly, maybe you can just fight other people and be the king of sports. That way, young master, in a way, you have her beat."

Syaoran narrowed his eyes, "That wasn't funny, Wei." But of course, it was done only in a joking manner. Syaoran could never truly be mad at the man who has been taking care of him since his birth in his parents' stead.

The smile that always seemed to be on Wei's face widened a bit as he apologized yet with no trace of remorse on his face. It was moments like this that made their somewhat father-son relationship all the more pleasant.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"I'm going out for a walk, Wei." Syaoran announced moments later, the empty mug and equally empty plate already washed and kept in its rightful place, as he headed for the front door. He had already changed into more comfortable wear: a simple t-shirt, sweater, jogging pants and he stopped momentarily at the entrance to put on his rubber shoes.

He twisted the doorknob and pulled it towards him. "When Eriol comes by, tell him I wish he—"

Coming face to face with Eriol was not on top of the list (well, actually, it wasn't on the list at all) of what Syaoran wanted to experience during his walk. He made a face in what could be identified as a grimace,

"Syaoran! This is perf—"

And slammed the door.

"Open this door right now and let me in, Syaoran!"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair and grumbled as he reluctantly opened the door after a few minutes since Eriol didn't seem to have any plans of stopping being a complete moron and disturbing the peace.

Eriol practically skipped into the house, smiling all the way "I knew you couldn't resist me for long, Syaoran."

"You wish, Hiiragizawa." Syaoran glared at Eriol and was about to close the door when a hand shot out from nowhere and stopped Syaoran from closing it accompanied with an indignant, familiar and, Syaoran realized with dread, feminine "Hey!"

Syaoran opened the door fully, grumbling because he knew if he closed the door he would be subject to another round of someone being a complete moron, and barely dodged the punch coming his way.

"Why do you keep on dodging, Li?"

"Well, why do you insist on attacking me all of a sudden, Kinomoto?"

Syaoran crossed his arms over his chest as he stood in front of them, them being Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji. He looked over to Tomoyo—she was the sane one—and addressed his question to her "What are you girls doing here?"

Tomoyo bowed her head politely and greeted him a good afternoon before answering his question "Hiiragizawa-kun invited us over."

Syaoran was obviously taken aback by her answer because 'What the hell? This is my house.' He opened his mouth, ready to shoo them away but was interrupted by Eriol and his "Come on in, ladies."

'Stupid Eriol.'

Tomoyo managed to slip by him and enter his house but Sakura was still standing in front of him, mirroring his stance perfectly with her arms crossed over her chest as well. She raised an eyebrow at him—and was that just his mind playing tricks on him or did she look a bit embarrassed?

"Well, aren't you going to let me in?"

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

The four teenagers were all settled in Syaoran's living room, Syaoran and Eriol seated on their own armchair and the two girls seated together on the couch. Wei had prepared some snacks for the three visitors and mirrored Sakura's bright smile when she thanked him repeatedly for them.

"So, you're probably wondering what we're doing here." Eriol said as he set his mug down on the coffee table and leaned back on the armchair.

"You think?" Syaoran muttered, mostly to himself, his arms still crossed over his chest.

"Li-san, we came here to negotiate."

Syaoran glanced at Tomoyo, her hands resting on her lap very much like a lady, and was unnerved by the stars in her eyes which made her seem not so much like a lady.

"Negotiate." Syaoran narrowed his eyes. "What exactly are we negotiating about?"

"Me." Sakura piped up.

Syaoran stilled, and gaped, and, as time passed, spluttered unintelligently. He felt his face growing warm. "Wh-What do you mean y-you?"

Sakura, realizing how what she said sounded and how Syaoran interpreted it, went right away to spluttering indignantly, her face turning as red as Syaoran's. "Idiot! I-I didn't m-mean me me—"

"Tch. B-Besides, why would anyone ever want you?"

"Wh-What! Well, right back at you Li!"

"Ohoho."

Eriol cleared his throat and successfully got the attention of the three other people in the room. He ignored the glares directed at him from Syaoran and Sakura, as they were misplaced ones, and waited for Tomoyo to turn off her camcorder.

"Let's get back to business, shall we?"

Simply by the smile on Eriol's face, Syaoran knew he would not like this at all.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"What do you think, Li-san?"

"Let me get things straight. You guys want me to fight you." Syaoran pointed at himself and to Sakura. "But fight, as in compete with each other in sports competitions." The three other teenagers nodded. "And if I win more competitions than Kinomoto does, I become the, uh,"

"King of sports." The three chorused.

"Right."

"Is that a yes or a no, Syaoran?"

Eriol, Tomoyo and Sakura's eyes were glued to Syaoran as they waited for his decision. He was pretty quiet when Eriol, Tomoyo and occasionally, Sakura discussed the terms of the negotiation that Sakura wondered if he was actually listening.

Syaoran stood up, took a deep breath and…

"Of course it's a no!"

"What! Why?"

"I don't see the point of all of this. You. You." Syaoran pointed to Sakura, who was now standing up as well, "You're not the queen of sports. You're the queen of idiots! You really think that you're the best just because you got lucky and won a few sports competitions?"

Sakura took one step back as if Syaoran had just hit her physically before she took two steps forward, "I wasn't just lucky, you big jerk, I won those competitions because I did my best!"

"I don't even want to be king of sports!" Syaoran went towards Sakura and was only mildly surprised when Sakura met him halfway. "Look, Kinomoto, I'm not sure what's wrong with your head. Or maybe I do. Maybe it's because all this 'queen of sports' stuff screwed it up. Or maybe it's because you were born that way? Maybe it's because your mom and dad were both mental—"

Syaoran noticed Sakura lifting an open hand to slap him and scoffed inwardly, too busy with his thoughts to notice Sakura clenching that hand shut into a fist and that fist coming quickly towards his person until it hit him, right in the face. Syaoran staggered back 'Wow, that kind of hurt.' and, before he realized what he was doing, aimed a punch at Sakura's face too.

As soon as Syaoran heard Sakura's pained gasp, he went still and stared at his still clenched fist as if it was some kind of monster and as if he had nothing to do with the fact that Sakura was now probably crying like a baby. His head immediately shot up to see the damage. "I'm sor—"

He wasn't even finished with his apology when Sakura aimed a pretty strong punch to his stomach, one that made him feel as if the wind was knocked out of him.

"Li, you jerk! I'll get you for that!"

Syaoran stopped another fist coming his way, gripping it with his larger hand and effectively twisting Sakura's arm and body around, her back to his chest, and locking his free arm around her shoulders. "That was one sneaky move, Kinomoto."

"Oh yeah?" she laughed. "Well this one's even sneakier!"

He released his hold on her in surprise and she turned on him quickly, a sinister smile of amusement on her face and despite himself and the pain he felt, Syaoran felt the corners of his mouth twitching up as well. "Y-You bit me!"

"Aw, are you going to cry now, Li?"

"You're the one who's going to cry, little girl!"

"All bark and no bite, that's what you are, jerk!"

"Why, you!"

"Both of you, stop fighting this instant!"

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"I'm very disappointed in you, master Syaoran."

"Hn."

Syaoran wasn't really listening since he was admittedly exhausted by the fight that lasted more than he expected. He opened his mouth experimentally since his jaw kind of hurt and flinched a bit when Wei took his left arm in order to tend to it.

He looked over to the other side of the living room; Sakura was being tended to by Tomoyo and Eriol, and his eyes scanned over her visible bruises. "Oi, Kinomoto."

Sakura was startled out of her reverie and she directed a glare at Syaoran. "What?"

"You suck. You hit like a girl."

"Wha—Are you trying to start another fight, jerk? And I am a girl, stupid."

"I'll do it. I'll compete with you."

All the other inhabitants of the room looked at Syaoran in surprise.

Sakura's eyes widened a bit before a somewhat smug smile appeared on her face. "What made you change your mind, Li? Perhaps you were impressed by how much better I am compared to you?"

"Nah, you just really, really suck." Though moving even just a bit made him want to scream out bloody murder, he shifted his position on the armchair before he continued, a smug smile coming on his face as well. "I'm going to whip you into shape, Kinomoto. I have no doubt I'll win all those competitions. But you know, since I'm such a nice guy and all, while I'm winning, I'll just help you become a better athlete like me."

"Oh my, I think I hit your head too hard, Li," Sakura said with fake concern "I mean, I must have, with you spouting that kind of nonsense."

Their eyes met, and both could see the intense emotions hidden within.

Syaoran smirked, "You're going down, Kinomoto."

Questions, suggestions, constructive criticism, reviews will be happily entertained.

Oh, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!

Next Chapter:

"You're an embarrassment to basketball players everywhere."