Number One
by: RoyaleDeuce

Disclaimer: S.A. is not mine.

It was a windy September afternoon in Hakusenkan. Five figures were located on top of a nearby hill. They were Akira, Tadashi, Jun, Megumi, and Ryuu with an enormous score board just beside them. All five were currently focused on a couple with fish nets by the river.

I caught twenty-five! rang Hikari's enthusiastic voice.

...twenty-five... twenty-six... was Kei's response. It seems like I beat you again, Miss-Rank-Two.

Don't call me that!

It was one of those days when S.A.'s number one and two were engaged in a heated competition. Hikari was the one who challenged this time. That morning, she walked in the greenhouse confidently declaring that she was an Amazon expert. The S.A. students found out that their beloved 'Miss Rank Two' went on an Amazon trip that weekend and was greatly captivated by the beauty of nature. With a strong resolve, she paraded in and challenged Kei who had that big goofy smile on his face upon seeing her.

The rest of the S.A. turned to the score board. On it was Hikari and Kei's name and standing, with no surprise the aloof heir to the Takishima Corporation leading. Ninety-nine points to none. They all sighed and then diverted their gaze towards the couple who were now on their one hundredth challenge. From a distance, Hikari was smudged with so much mud, her hair sticking out in all directions, and her clothes already torn. But her smile was still as bright as the morning sun. And Kei? He was presently pretending he wasn't worried that his Hikari-chan was starting to look like a real wild Amazon.

Hikari positioned her arm near her cheek and directed the bow towards the target. "I'll definitely beat you this time, Takishima!"

The arrow directly hit the red circle 100 meters away.

"YATTA!" She punched the air and turned to Kei who was already positioned and ready to take his turn. "Ha! Takishima! Let's see you beat that!"

Instead of firing away, Kei turned around.

"Uh... Takishima... The target's that way..." Hikari pointed towards the opposite direction.

She got no response.

Seeing that the boy look serious about shooting while facing the other way around, Hikari immediately grew worried. She rushed to his side and touched his shoulder. "T-Takishima... are you alright-"

And that's when Kei released the arrow.

Hikari was at loss for words when the arrow directly hit the target after curving around the greenhouse. For the next several moments, she remained gaping at the mystery of how exactly the arrow curved. And Kei... well, he was staring at the hand currently grasping his shoulder.

"H-How? Did the arrow just—? What?" Hikari stuttered as she shifted her gaze from the target and Takishima back and forth.

Kei was as stiff as stone, still staring at Hikari's hand on his shoulder. A blush slowly began to creep on his face.

Hikari noticed Kei's reaction. "Hey... Takishima... Are you alright?" She placed her other hand on Kei's forehead.

Which only worsened the blushing.

"I think we should stop now..." Hikari said worriedly.

Kei cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I'm not sick," he whispered and gently removed Hikari's hand from his forehead and shoulder, much to his inner chagrin. And only upon holding Hikari's hand did he notice something wrong.

"You're hot."

Hikari instantly turned red. "T-T-Takishima?"

Kei pulled Hikari near him and placed his hand on her forehead this time. "You're burning... We should stop." His eyes were narrowed. "I knew I shouldn't have accepted your challenge after knowing that you spent two days in the wet Amazon. You caught a cold."

Hikari looked aghast. "I did n-not- ACHOO!"

Kei frowned. "You were saying?"

Hikari pulled away from Kei. "To stop because of me would mean that I lost."

"So you insisting that we stop when you thought I was sick was because you wanted me to lose?"

"No!" Hikari instantly denied. "Of course not! It was because I was worried—" And then she clamped her hand over her mouth while thinking why in the world she just said she was worried.

"There goes my point," Kei said directly, his eyes softening. When he realized Hikari's determination was still undeterred, he resorted into making her relent the hard way. "The score's a hundred to none, Hikari."

"Which gives me all the more reason to continue!" Hikari exclaimed, the fire of competition dancing in her eyes.

"No." Kei said icily. "Which means that the enormous gap is enough proof that you will forever be number two."

Hikari's eyes widened at her rival's callous words. "...Takishima?"

"You have no right to call yourself my rival if you won't know when to accept an obvious defeat in a challenge," His tightened fists didn't hurt as much as saying those words. "...Miss Rank Two."

Hikari remained rooted to her spot, speechless. For the first time, she felt completely crushed. She couldn't retaliate. It was because Takishima Kei had just stripped off her title as his rival and bluntly said all those hurtful words. Had she really gone this far to anger the prominent iceman of Hakusenkan?

What she did next surprised Takishima.

Hikari grinned at him. "Heh... You really are smart, Takishima. For a moment, I believed that you meant everything you said."

Kei's eyes widened in surprise. Was there an end to her denseness after all?

"You said all those because..."

I care... Kei smiled.

"You want to discourage me, so that you wouldn't have to play anymore... because you really are ill!" Hikari exclaimed. "Geez, Takishima! You didn't have to insult me like that! If you wanted to quit, you could have just said so!

Kei slapped his forehead. Oh Hikari... "I give up." He removed his hand off his face and smiled.

Hikari returned his smile. "Since you're sick... I won't claim victory. You were at a disadvantage from the beginning, and I can't believe I didn't notice. I should have paid attention to the funny looks you were giving me this morning." She sighed. "And you were uncharacteristically happy today," she added bewildered which only made Kei smile even more. "I had a feeling things would go wrong after I leave S.A. for only two days... Anyway, so it's a draw." She sighed. "Honestly at times, I feel like I would really be ranked number two in everything forever."

"No."

Hikari turned to Kei, surprised.

"It pains me to finally say this, but I admit defeat this time."

Hikari's mouth dropped open. "...Takishima? You're starting to say senseless things that it worries me..."

"You have always been number one, Hikari. Even way back when we were six years old."

Hikari was completely clueless to what the heck Kei was talking about.

"In here." He touched his heart.

Hikari fainted from fatigue even before Kei got to say his declaration.

Unbeknownst to Hikari was that even she should have admitted defeat. For all along, Kei had always been number one in her heart too. Sucks for Kei that Hikari just had to be the densest person in the world. Only when Hikari realizes her feeling for him would the resulting relationship be proof of absolute defeat for both parties.

But in all sense... they really were both winners.

Both number one.

A/N: Wow. Was the plot just plain cheesy or what? Haha. Hikari going to the Amazon and Kei's arrow curving was plain random, I know. But anything is possible in world of S.A. (and fanfiction for the matter). Takishima had survived falling off a cliff, hadn't he? Lol. Was it good? Bad? Review!

[Edited]