Aishuu Offers
Prince of the Layer
~ An Angelic Layer Prelude Fanfiction ~
Disclaimer: All Hail CLAMP!! All Hail CLAMP!
Part of the "Obscurely CLAMP" challenge!
Dedication: To two writers who inspire me in their own
unique ways: Gabi-hime, whose Angelic Layer fanfics
really set the standards and fascinate me, and
Miyamoto Yui, whose persistence and sheer versatility
never ceases to amaze and goad me into taking action
of my own.

The Prologue is located:
http://www.midnightrevolution.org/quicksilver/potl1.htm
It's not linked from the main site yet.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter One: Birth
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mihara Oujirou was a popular student, in a quiet sort
of way.  The girls liked him and the boys respected
him, though no one was a close friend.  There was
something about him that was aloof, and though his
soft smiles were readily available, no one in his
school ever saw the impish side to his personality
that would later drive his future girlfriend to
blushes whenever he started to tease her.

He was still thinking about his older brother's
concerns nine months later when he overheard a small
argument break out among his classmates.  As a final
year middle school student, he had been elected class
representative, so it was his job to sort out the
scuffle before it required more serious attention. 
Oujirou set down the English book he had been studying
from, and turned his sharp blue eyes to the center of
the classroom, where half the girls in the classroom
had aligned against half the boys. Oh no, he thought.
It's the battle of the sexes. These were always his
least favorite messes to sort out.

"It's not fair for Hiroshi to enter the tournament!"
one of the girls was saying, her hands on her hips as
she leaned forward, glaring at the boys.  "Angelic
Layer was designed for girls, and he shouldn't invade
our fun!" she was saying.

"But the prizes they're offering are too good to pass
up!" the boy argued. "It's open to everyone."

One girl, Himeya Kazeni snorted, tossing her head. Her
long black braids went flying, and Oujirou watched as
she advanced on her prey.  "It's something for
girls... besides, guys never win!" she said.

The girls applauded her, and Oujirou winced. This
attitude was not a good thing, especially from Himeya.
 Himeya was a ranking player, and what she said
carried a lot of weight.  Time to nip this in the bud,
he thought.  He rose to his feet and made his way
over, carefully positioning himself between groups. "I
think it's just because guys haven't really made the
effort yet; when the Angelic Layer line came out, it
was targeting for a female audience, true. But on the
Layer, nothing matters but the fight."

Everyone turned to face him, surprised that he'd
spoken up.  His reputation for quiet wisdom was such
that he rarely involved himself in squabbles unless
they were about to disrupt the harmony of the class;
this one was relatively minor. "What do you know? 
I've never seen you in a tournament!" Himeya
challenged.

"Never entered one," Oujirou murmured. "Never saw
competitive gaming as the way to go." Though I
wonder... if I did it, would others follow me? Would
guys start to enter the world of the Layer, after
seeing another male win?

She sniffed.  "Well, then, be quiet, Mihara-kun. Boys
don't belong on the Layer!" She turned her attention
back to Hiroshi, clearly meaning to extract some kind
of promise to keep him from playing.

Oujirou sighed a bit inside his head. Being known for
being restrained made people automatically assume he
was docile. "No, Himeya-san. I won't. You're
discriminating. It doesn't matter if you're
discriminating against a guy, it's still
discrimination," he insisted. How many times does this
scene repeat itself across the country? he wondered.
How many guys are scared out of playing by girls,
since it's a "girl's game?"  The thought of Shuuko,
patiently waiting for the data they needed to build
her artificial legs, spurred him on.

Himeya twisted back around, and her eyes flashed a bit
in surprise, but more with anger. "Mihara-kun, you're
acting weird. I always thought you were nice, but..."
she said, and her pretty face twisted with dislike.

"How about you challenge him?" another voice said, and
a blonde girl emerged from the crowd.  "Seems a fair
way to settle it."

The two blinked at the prettiest girl in class, and
incidentally Himeya's best friend. Suzuki Azami gave
them a vapid smile, and she clenched her hands
eagerly. "Tomorrow is Sunday, so we have the full day
off; Mihara-kun can get what he needs tonight, if he
doesn't have an angel."

Himeya smiled like a cat about to pounce onto a full
dish of cream. "Fine. Tomorrow, one o'clock, at the
Piffle Princess. You willing to fight for what you
believe?" she asked.

Oujirou felt something swell up inside him. She had
challenged him because she was sure could totally
destroy him; she had made it to last year's Kansai
quarterfinals... but he was the second most experience
Angelic Layer player there was, not that anyone knew
that. He gave her a smile, feeling the mischievous
side of his personality well up.  Oh, this was going
to be fun...

"Sure.  I'll be there," he said, giving her a sweet
smile that believed the wicked laughter he wanted to
indulge in.

Around them, the class was silent.

*

He could call his brother, and have one of the new
prototypes delivered to him, but that really wouldn't
be fair. I should use the same equipment everyone has
available, he decided. I need to do this on my own.

He sighed a bit, shoving his hands in his pockets as
he headed to the Kobe branch of the Piffle Princess.

This really wasn't what he wanted to do, but hearing
the same attitudes that were barring his brother's
work and preventing Shuuko from getting what she so
desperately needed had inflamed something inside of
him.  His temper, which rarely was seen, had came out
with a vengeance, getting him in over his head. He
hated making a spectacle of himself, and being the
center of attention was the last place he wanted to
be.

So I have a day to design a doll and beat a girl who
managed to make it to the Kansai semi-finals...
simple. He laughed a bit as he opened the door and
immediately went to the Angelic Layer display. "Oh,
man," he muttered.

"Hello, Mihara-kun!" a cheerful voice said from his
side. "Buying your stuff?  There's no way you're going
to win, so you might as well back out," Suzuki Azami
continued. "Save yourself a bit of money... you could
even take me on a date with it..."

He gave her a patient smile. "Even if I don't win,
I'll make my point," he said softly, scanning the
merchandise. He had to give his brother credit; he had
hired some wonderfully talented marketing managers.
The wide selection of accessories and dolls was almost
dizzying, and he would wager that his brother was
getting steadily richer. Even if the research failed,
Mihara Ichirou would be a very wealthy man before all
was said and done.

"Which is?" Suzuki asked, peeking at his serious face.
Her golden curls framed her brown eyes attractively,
and he knew that she was going to start flirting with
him again.

"That the world of the Layer is for everyone," he said
softly. "It doesn't matter who the Deus is when the
fight begins. All that matters is the fight." He
walked over to the starter kits, and started to
examine the newest ones, which his brother had him
help test, as he always had done before. He and Shuuko
always tested the prototypes together before they were
released. The three latest series were pretty good,
but he preferred the Angelic Dance line; they were
sensitive to the Deus... hard for a beginner to
control, but for an experienced Deus, they were
without peer.

He reached out for the female angels starter kit,
since ninety-five percent of angels were female, but
paused after a moment's thought. We're going to be
together for a while, and I can't tell a woman
everything, he thought, and he found himself grabbing
one of the rare male kits without thinking. "I think
this will do," he said.

Suzuki watched him as he started to look through the
clothing materials thoughtfully. "Are you sure you
want that model? I'd go with the Angelic Fight
model... it's a bit easier to control..."

"No, this will work," Oujirou said, watching her and
she twisted a stray bit of hair between her fingers.
He picked up a maintenance package, trying not to get
too frustrated at the materials for the clothes.
Really, I should tell niisan that some clothes should
be pre-designed... I can't sew to save my life...  He
picked out a large array of blue materials, figuring
they would all match, and decided to ask his mother to
help. She'd probably make him trade a few chores, but
it'd be worth it.

"Are you getting any accessories?" Suzuki wanted to
know.

"No. The regulation layers don't allow them, so I had
better not learn to depend on them, either," he said.

"You... plan on playing again? After Kazeni plays
you?"

He laughed. "Well, it'd be stupid of me to but all
this for just one match, wouldn't it?" he asked. 
Oujirou headed over to the counter and paid, wincing a
bit at the total. Suzuki trailed him, batting her long
lashes and chattering aimlessly, giving him advice,
most of which was wrong or useless. He knew that some
of the technology was expensive, but he mentally added
another 0 to the end of what he had estimated his
brother's income was.  Niisan... you are going to pay
me back for this. Somehow.

When they reached the door, he bowed to her. "Now that
you've seen what I've bought, be sure to accurately
report it to Himeya-san. I know what Tigra is capable
of, so I figured it was only fair she knows what I had
to work with."

Suzuki looked at him, her mouth a bit slack, before
she started to laugh. Her expression gained about two
degrees of intelligence. "Oh, you!" she said as she
straightened her hair, and a playful grin came to her
lips. "Well, they say it's always the quiet ones!
Mihara-kun, you are quite interesting." She spun
around and started to walk away. When she had made it
about ten feet, she looked over her shoulder and
winked. "You're so mysterious! Now I really am
interested in you!"

Oujirou watched her go, wondering. It would be the
first of many times that women would confound him
utterly. 

*

He looked at the bathtub a bit dubiously. Opening the
egg in the water was another thing that his niisan had
designed into the angels, but it made it embarrassing
for a guy. Guys did not want to take a bath with a
doll. "Niisan, you are so out of touch with the real
world," he muttered. Still, it needed to be done, and
while he could just dunk it into the sink and do it
that way, he understood that this was part of the
bonding process between Deus and Angel.

"Here goes," Oujirou mutter, grabbing the egg, and
getting into the tub.  "I feel ridiculous." The egg
cracked, and the small shape that would become the
core of his Angel fell into his hands.

Oujirou studied it. He knew more about its design than
almost anyone except his brother and a few selection
members of the corporation, but there was something
almost magically about watching its birth. This doll
would become something special; he would mold it into
one of the best angels on the Layer. He would take it
all the way to the Championship, to show Shuuko and
his niisan how much he loved the both of them.
"Hello," he whispered to it, allowing the egg it had
come from to float away on the water so he could
cradle it in his both hands. "We have a long way to go
together."

The doll's skeleton was as of yet unshaped, but
Oujirou felt a surprising love for it, knowing that
this time, it would be all him in control of this
angel, rather than a prototype he would hand off as a
success or failure. Is this why people love Angelic
Layer so fiercely? he wondered. I want it for Shuuko
and niisan... but maybe I can find something for
myself there.

It was a disturbing and strangely tantalizing thought
for one who had always sought company so much older
than he was. He was so much more mature than his age
group, but on the Layer.. who knew who he would meet.

Half an hour later found Oujirou at his desk,
thoughtfully fiddling with various combinations of
point distribution and other design schematics. He
wanted a doll that was fast, but he needed strength as
well. He needed...

A knock sounded on the door. "Ou-chan? I brought you a
snack," his mother called.

"Come in," he said, and the door cracked. The older
woman entered, carrying a tray with two tall glasses
of milk with a platter heaped with homemade cookies.

He smiled at her, unable to stop himself. She had the
same blue eyes he did, but her long hair was a deeper
black, lacking the blue highlights people found so
fascinating about his own. She had a young face, and
was constantly busy with her life and successful at
almost anything she undertook, but the one thing she
couldn't do was cook. He eyed the cookies on the tray
a bit suspiciously.  "Were you in a baking mood
today?"

"Your grandmother sent them over.  They're safe," she
assured him, grabbing an oatmeal raisin cookie and one
of the glasses and settling down on his bed. She
looked at his project curiously. "Did your brother ask
you to test something new for him?"

He shook his head in the negative. "I got challenged
by a girl in my class who said that guys don't belong
on the Layer, so I needed to make an angel of my own."

His mother burst out laughing. "That poor girl has no
idea what she's getting into, does she?"

"She made it to the Kansai quarterfinals last time, so
she's pretty good. And I have no official Angelic
Layer record, so..."

"Mihara Oujirou!" his mother said sternly, before
ruining it by cracking up again. "Why are you
bothering?  You hate confrontation. Usually you're so
laid back that you'd talk your way out of this..."

He considered another spec combination before
discarding them, then turned and grabbed a chocolate
chip cookie. Chocolate was a personal addiction of
his. "Niisan is having problems getting data on male
players..." he said softly. "Someone needs to shatter
the stereotype of female-only players being superior."

His mother's expression softened. "Have you told him
what you intend to do? I'm sure he could help you, get
you some-"

"No," he said firmly. "And you'd better not tell him,
either," he said, wagging a finger in her face. "I
need to do this on my own. I don't want anyone to say
that my brother eased my way." He sighed as another
spec combination didn't work out the way he wanted it
to. "I wish I knew how to spread the points, though. I
could make a speed type, like Athena, but that's not
my style. I want an angel that reflects myself."

"Then make it like Oujirou," his mother suggested.
"Strong and fast, who doesn't really on weight." She
smiled at him. "You should balance your strength and
speed... but remember, when Oujirou does something,
Oujirou does it by thinking."

Oujirou blinked at her. "I've never seen an angel that
does that, but..." He typed in the specs, one that had
strength and speed, but little weight. The dynamics of
it were odd, and it would require skill to control, a
sharp and ready mind, but Oujirou knew he could handle
it. The angel would be agile and swift, but able to
back up its attacks with force. However, controlling
it... with a smile, he hit the accept key. 

"Angel name..." He stared at the flashing cursor for a
second, trying to imagine something that he'd be able
to live with. The girls all got so fanciful, but he
was, as everyone repeatedly told him, practical. "I
have no clue." He turned pleading eyes on his mother.

She merely grabbed another cookie, and raised an
eyebrow in challenge.

"Traitor," he muttered.  Well, what was he going to
do? His eyes skating through the room, trying to find
something that would work. Pen, manga, book, pictures,
wand... His eyes fixated on the wand, one of the few
remnants of his childhood he had kept.  He hurriedly
entered the katakana that spelled out the name, and
smiled as the completion noticed flashed. 

"Hello, Wizard."

*

His mother had made Wizard's outfit for him, making
him agree to cook dinner for a week in exchange. When
she gave him the clothes, though, he knew it had been
a good deal, for the clothing was simply perfect,
stylish yet suitable for fighting. They suited
Wizard's shocking ice-blue hair wonderfully. 

He left before nine a.m. to the Piffle Princess to
rent one of the private rooms. They weren't cheap, but
he figured that he could always ask his niisan for a
reimbursement if he got pinched for funds; not that it
was likely, since Oujirou tended to save all his money
and had a nice stash built up. He wanted a private
session with his angel to understand the doll's
quirks, since Wizard's schematics were quite unique.

Only the most obsessive players were out before noon
on a Sunday, so Oujirou was able to get the room
without a problem. The private rooms allowed players
to make mistakes with no audience, and the high level
players liked to use them to try new moves in secret.
No one knew him as Mihara Ichirou's younger brother,
which was a relief. He sighed a bit as he put on the
visor, finding it a bit different than the testing
models they used in the labs. The wings of the side of
the headset were annoying.  Still, he flicked it on,
and the Layer came into focus.

"Okay, Wizard.  Let's do your first entrance."  He sat
the doll on his wrist and tossed it, never having
actually done an entry before.

It was embarrassing.  Wizard wobbled in the air before
hitting the Layer's field.  His eyes came open under
his own visor, and he spun through the air sleepily,
coming around to face Oujirou.  The angel seemed so
intent on his flight that he forgot about landing. 
Only at the last minute did Wizard remember, and
Oujirou winced in sympathy as Wizard landed on his
knees.

"Oops. Let's try that again."  He scooped the angel
off the Layer and practiced again, doing about ten
Entry Angels before coming up with one that was
satisfactory.  Wizard drifted down slowly, his face
serene as he touched down, his hand touching the
ground between his feet before he straightened,
surveying the Layer majestically. "I think we have
that.  Now how about some practice," Oujirou said,
starting out by having Wizard do a cartwheel.

Wizard responded instantly, and Oujirou smiled. 
"You're wonderful," he complimented the angel.  "Now
how about a few more?" he asked, leading the angel
into more and more complex gymnastics, then through
some basics katas he and Shuuko always used before
turning on some music to work on his timing. The time
flew as he and his angel learned about each other.
Wizard was quick and strong, and would require careful
handling, but if he treated him right, then Wizard
would do whatever he asked.

Finally the clock read five minutes of one, and he
realized that Himeya Kazeni would be there for their
match.  He hoped she had gotten the Layer, because he
had forgotten.  He blushed a bit as grabbed Wizard. It
wasn't his nature to leave things up for chance. The
private room wouldn't be large enough for the audience
Himeya would gather, because she was one of the top
players in the area.

As he left the room, he noticed the press of people
around. Even for a Sunday, it was crowded. There were
many girls there, but the number of guys was
surprising as well. The snatches of conversation he
overheard explained it, and he forced himself to take
a deep breath to calm himself.

"Tigra is fighting..."

"...challenged a guy to keep the Layer..."

"...may be dumb, but he's cute..."

"....wonder if he'll run away?"

Oujirou forced the pleasant smile that people
associated with him to his face as he waded through
the crowd, keeping Wizard safely in his bag.  Finally
his eye landed on Suzuki, who seemed to be looking
around for someone. "Excuse me, Suzuki-san, but is
Himeya-san around?" he asked.

The blonde's eyes widened and she darted through the
people, grabbing his hand.  "THERE you are,
Mihara-kun!" she announced loudly.

All conversation in their immediate vicinity stopped
and Oujirou felt a hundred pairs of eyes turn to focus
on him.  He forced himself to remain serene.  "Is she
getting the Layer? I'm afraid I forgot to, and neither
of us mentioned those particular arrangements..." he
said, pretending that no one was listening except for
Suzuki.

Suzuki looked a bit apprehension.  "Um, actually,
she's getting you two paired for the next tournament.
You're slated to begin in five minutes. This will go
on your official record. I'm sorry, she's really angry
and wants to bring you down quite spectacularly. You
really don't deserve to be the target of her vendetta
against the male gender. You're so nice-"

Oujirou gave Suzuki a soft smile. "It's okay. I can
handle myself."

She bit her lower lip. "I-"

"How about we get going? I need to get there or else
I'll forfeit by not showing." He nodded and started
for the tournament table, knowing that Suzuki really
didn't bear him any ill will. It was sweet of her to
be so concerned.

The tournament area was packed, and he knew that most
people were there to see Tigra destroy him.  He saw
members of his class, and some of the boys gave him
encouraging cheers, but the girls glared at him for
daring to enter their turf.  The empty challenger's
chair challenged him subtly, so Oujirou smoothly
walked over to it, knowing that it was showtime.

The announcer, a pretty woman in her twenties, came
over to him as he started to survey his equipment.  "I
need your name and the name of your angel," she said.
"And I wanted to tell you that you're one of the
bravest guys I've met - or one of the stupidest.
Taking Tigra on as your first match..." She shook her
head.

"Mihara Oujirou, Angel Wizard," he said. He noticed
her eyes widening a bit at his name, and winked.
"Maybe I'm not the one who's going to learn the
lesson, no?" he asked with amusement.

She looked at his face, and gave him a small grin.
"You don't look much like your brother."

"Stepbrothers," he murmured. "Keep it quiet; I'm here
on my own. I'm not involved in niisan's work
officially, so I'm not breaking any of the rules."

She winked right back at him. "I won't.  But I'm not
going to call you a rookie. I bet you've been playing
longer than anyone here."

"Wizard is the rookie. I just designed him last
night."  Oujirou replied, finding the announcer
interesting. She was smart to recognize his name and
make the connection right away.

"Well, I won't wish you luck.  I think Tigra is the
one who'll need it," she replied.  She stepped back,
allowing him to extract Wizard from his traveling
case.

Oujirou noticed many people examining the male angel,
and heard disparaging comments about chauvinism and
how female angels fought better; patently untrue,
since angel gender had nothing to do with performance.
He slid the goggles on and sat Wizard on his wrist
before looking across the Layer at Himeya, who was
talking to Tigra.

Tigra was a cat-girl angel, designed with tiger
striped clothing and orange and black hair that fell
to her waist. Oujirou had examined her specs and found
her to be quite powerful, but she had two primary
flaws. One was that she relied on the Tiger's Pounce,
her finishing attack too much, something that many
higher-level angels fell into the pattern of doing. 
The other was more subtle, but Oujirou intending on
exploiting it.  She tended to pause between her
attacks, because while she had good speed for short
distance, her speed for long stretches wouldn't hold.
Her stamina, quite frankly, was poor. Small
weaknesses, and on lower-level play they wouldn't be
discernable, but Oujirou was about to show her that he
wasn't the cat's toy.

Himeya looked up at him.  "Still time to back out,
Mihara-kun.  You're a nice guy, but I can't figure out
why you got it into your head to become the guy's
advocate on this."

"Because on the Layer, it doesn't matter who you
are... all that matters is the fight. So far the
female Deuses have been doing better, but that doesn't
mean the male Deuses can't win."

Her black eyes flashed and she grabbed her headset,
and clicked it on.  The wings on either side flared. 
"It's for girls!"

He sighed.  "Well, let our angels show what guys and
girls can do, won't we?" he asked, turning his head to
the announcer and tapping the button that turned his
headset to triggered his connection to the Layer. 
"Shall we begin?"

"In the East corner, Mihara Oujirou, Angel Wizard!"

He smiled a bit, knowing that this was time to stage
on. He looked at Wizard and smiled slightly.  "Work
your magic, Wizard," he said clearly. He hated flashy
and flamboyant entry phrases, but he knew style was a
large part of Angelic Layer.  "Angel, fall in!" he
called, flicking his wrist, sending Wizard flying into
the Layer.

Wizard came down just as he had the final times of
practice, majestic and imposing.  His fingertips
brushed the Layer's floor before he rose, opening his
eyes to survey the fighting arena. Oujirou tuned the
whispers out, and focused on Himeya, who glared even
harder. 

"Just because you can do an entry doesn't mean
anything!  Tigra, it's time for the cat to play!" she
announced, throwing her angel in. Tigra soared as
well, but as soon as she hit the field, her expression
came to life, and she came crashing down, a feral
expression on her face. She looked ready to tear
Wizard to shreds.

"Angelic Fight!" the announcer said, and Tigra sprung
into motion.

Oujirou watched as Tigra raced towards Wizard. The
cat-like angel moved low to the ground, and her hands
were poised to grab his waist.  He had Wizard wait
until the last second, then instead of meeting the
attack, simply sidestepped.

"And Wizard avoids Tigra's attack!" the announcer
exclaimed.

The audience whispered, as Tigra stumbled, not
expecting such a simple evasion.  Most new players
tried to fight, not evade.  "Well... I'll need to do
something different, won't I?" Himeya said, and Tigra
did a backwalkover, spinning around to face Wizard.

Wizard watched, unimpressed.  Tigra fell into a
crouch, then began the whirling cartwheel, one of the
basic Layer moves that was hard to carry through.  If
it struck, it would deal some heavy damage points to
Wizard... if not, then the time wasted carrying it out
would cost her.

"Tigra launches into the Whirling Cartwheel, one of
the Layer's most damaging attacks! What will Wizard
do?" The announcer's voice rose over the crowd's
murmurs of admiration for Tigra's form.

Oujirou smiled a bit.  He and Shuuko had developed a
counter to it.  He waited until Tigra was a twist and
a half away, and unable to pull out before having
Wizard lean over backwards into a handstand.  Again he
could hear the crowd murmuring, but he threw Wizard's
feet forward, timing it so it hit Tigra directly in
the stomach.  The force he applied wasn't that much,
but her own momentum sent her spinning the other way,
and precariously close to the Layer's edge.  Wizard
came to his feet, just as serene and icy as ever,
waiting for Tigra to come to her feet, rather than
pressing the attack.

"Tigra loses a third of her points! Wizard counters
the Whirling Cartwheel with... well, I've never seen
it before!  We'll need to name it, won't we?" the
announcer said.

"It's called the Trance Breaker..." Oujirou said. He
looked across the Layer at Himeya, who was staring at
him in amazement.  "And maybe it's broken your
trance... are you ready to take me seriously now?"

The crowd was staring at him in quiet awe.  He was
sitting with perfect confidence, a slight smile
dancing on his lips after sending one of the most
powerful angels flying.

"Luck..." she whispered, bringing a wincing Tigra to
her feet.  

"Is it?  Well, I guess Wizard and I should get back to
work, then."  He placed his arms on the chair, glanced
at Tigra's position, and leapt.

Due to Wizard's light bodyweight, he moved so quickly
it seemed as though he was flying, though he didn't
have the wings that Shuuko somehow managed to command
for Athena.  Tigra stared up for a second before
jumping as well, trying to wrap a hand around his
neck. He avoided her, bringing a foot up and chopping
her in the head.  Had he angled it a bit more sharply,
it would have thrust her from the Layer, but he wasn't
done yet.

"Tigra falls to the ground!  This has been all about
Wizard! Can Tigra get her strength back and defeat the
challenger?"

The battle was thrilling, and he didn't want it to end
so easily, not before he truly began to press an
attack.  Wizard glided down to Tigra's side, and he
waited for her to rise, and she swung a fast punch,
which he dodged.  

"Tigra launches a series of close-range attacks!
Wizard avoids them easily!"

The slight pause he had noticed in her fighting was
there, he noticed as she launched her second attack,
which he evaded just as easily.  "You know,
Himeya-san," he said conversationally as Wizard ducked
a kick, "you're pretty good.  But you have two major
weaknesses."

Her eyes widened in horror as he kept avoiding her
attempted to hit Wizard.  "One is... that you have
little defense. You leave yourself open after each
attack."  He finally took and opening and kicked her
in the chin.  "Like so."  Then he flipped away,
knowing that he had just goaded her into highlighting
her second weakness.

"Wizard lands an attack before retreating!  With two
minutes left, Tigra has to make a recovery or lose by
point count!"

Sweat beaded on her forehead.  "I... I..." 

Tigra fell to all fours before raising her
hindquarters like a sprinter in the starting blocks. 
The angel leapt into the air, her hands extended like
claws and Oujirou sighed.  "Your other fault is you
rely too much on your finishing move." He said, and
everyone watched as Wizard, instead of evading, caught
Tigra in his arms and did a rolling throw, sending her
near the edge.  

"Tigra launches into the Tiger's Pounce, but is
defeated by Wizard's throw. Most people try to evade
it, and get hit by the second stage, or fight it, and
get hit, but I've never seen anyone throw it..." The
announcer sounded impressed.

The feline angel wobbled, but Oujirou decided to end
it. He sent Wizard over to Tigra, and Tigra's eyes
widened in horror as the blue angel simply shoved her
off the edge of the Layer.  

"Angel Out! Wizard Wins!" The announcer said. 

There was dead silence as Oujirou removed his visor,
and went to retrieve Wizard.  Tigra lay on the floor
where she had fallen, and he scooped her up as well,
bringing her over to the shocked Himeya.  "Are you
okay?" he asked softly.

The girl looked up at the concerned eyes of her
classmate, amazed. She had expected gloating triumph,
but then she had forgotten that Oujirou tended towards
shyness, and was one of the gentlest guys in school. 
"How?" she whispered.  "You didn't even lose any
points!"

He smiled and knelt down beside her, handing her
Tigra.  "I studied you and Tigra, of course, so I knew
your weaknesses.  Your main mistake was
underestimating me. Just because I haven't played any
tournaments doesn't mean I don't know how the game
works." 

She took the doll, stroking Tigra's hair gently. 
"Maybe I should quit."

He looked at her in horror.  He hadn't intended to
make her quit!  "No!  I plan on entering the Kobe
tournament, and it'd be nice to see at least one face
I know!" he said.  "Besides.. I pointed out your
weaknesses, so now you can work on them, right?"

She nodded. "But I was so mean to you about..."

"On the Layer, it doesn't matter who we are. All that
matters is the fight," he said. "And now that you
know... well, you'll treat everyone more fairly,
right?"

Himeya smiled.  "I will.  I'm sorry."

"It's fine.  You goaded me into doing something I
should have done a while ago... so we both learned
from it, no?" he asked.  "Anyway, I needed to get
going.  I have to make dinner tonight."  He made a
face, and rose to his feet.  "See you in class
tomorrow!" he called, waving to her.

The crowd parted before him, staring at him with
respect.  He listened to the conversation, smiling as
he caught snatches, so different from it had been when
he had entered.

"...so cute, and so nice!"

"...can do it, maybe I should start playing
competitively."

"...that move of his was so neat!"

"...Kobe!  I'm going to go cheer..."

Back at the table, Suzuki Azami helped her best friend
pack up.  "He was really nice, wasn't he?"

Himeya Kazeni nodded.  "I was so surprised.  We're
going to go to Kobe together. I wonder if we'll play
each other."

Azami looked troubled.  "That'd be a problem.  I'd
have no clue who to cheer for!"

Kazeni gave her friend a smile.  "Do you know, I might
just have the same problem? Thing is, if I fight him
there, I think he'd win, no matter how much better I
got.  He wasn't fighting with everything he had
today," she told the blond.

"What?" Azami asked. "He totally blew you out of the
water, and he wasn't fighting with everything?"

"Mihara-kun was only trying to teach me a lesson. Had
he really been fighting, I wouldn't have lasted thirty
seconds. But he's such a gentleman that he didn't
embarrass me that badly," Kazeni said, and her eyes
were soft. "He gave me a chance."

"He was like a prince out of a storybook..." Azami
mused. 

END PART ONE

Notes: This was supposed to be... 2,000 words.  3,000
words, TOPS, for a section. After I broke 5,000, I
started to have doubts whether I'd finish in time for
the Obscurely CLAMP challenge, since there's four
parts slated (with a possible epilogue!). And ONLY
four parts!  REALLY! But I'm going to try to get as
much done as possible before Jan. 31, and then just
keep releasing - there's no sense in rushing if that
means the piece suffers, is there?

I'm following the timeline laid out in the AL anime
subs I have. It states Misaki enters the FOURTH
tournament, the Shuu had won THREE, and that Oujirou
is entering his THIRD. So... here's how it works:

Prince of the Layer is set in Oujirou's last middle
school year, equivalent to the US's ninth grade (That
would be when he's 14/15). The Angelic Layer
tournaments began in the prologue, which was set in
his second year. I've seen some other interpretations,
and they're probably right, but this is my story, and
for the purposes of the fic, I'm sticking to it.

Oujirou lives in Kobe, so he would first go to the
Kobe match, then to Kansai, then to the Championship.
Since we all know how good he is, I assume since he's
playing his third when he plays Misaki (when he�s 17),
he's been defeated by Shuuko twice in the finals.

Wizard's name would most likely be spelled in katakana
when entered into the computer - it's how the Japanese
spell foreign words.

In episode 23, we do see Oujirou wearing a winged
headset in the lab as a child, but usually Shuu
doesn't. I'm going to assume for testing purposes,
they use more sensitive headsets to get more complete
readings.

Thanks to Bejiin for answering my katakana question
(and saving me from the hiragana- I always get the two
confused!), Lyra from editing, being my Girl Friday by
uploading, grabbing Oujirou's stats when I couldn't
get my comp to cooperate and in general being the best
imouto I could wish for.

Feedback is the motivator and prioritizer.


=====
Work as though you don't need the money
Dance as though no one is watching
Sing as though no one can hear you
Love as though you have never been hurt
Live as though heaven is on earth
Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Quicksilver/
Fanfiction: http://www.midnightrevolution.org/quicksilver/

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com

             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'