A Random Meda-Short: Usual disclaimers apply.

Main Characters: Spyke, Erika, Ikki, Karin, Koji, Samantha, Brass, Cyandog, Peppercat, Metabee, and Henry

Pairings Warning: Possibly Ikki/Erika or Ikki/Spyke, depending on… well, you'll see

Explanation: With Halloween coming up, I wanted to do something playing around with costumes. This was the first concept that hit me: cosplay coordination. The roles came quickly, and this ficlet wrote itself. I bet with a little time, I could come up with more of these, but for now, this one stands on its own.

~ * Cos-Playing Around: Ikki Gets Ruffled * ~

"I've got to hand it to you for once: This was a great idea, Spyke!" Erika commented, smiling brightly at the wild-haired boy.

"It was a stupid idea," griped Ikki.

"It was a wonderful idea!" trilled Karin, spinning in place once and making her costume's long skirt flutter.

"Yeah, Karin's right, a stupendous idea," Koji agreed quickly, smirking. "One worthy of me, almost."

"Thanks, guys," Spyke beamed at the praise. "I'm go happy so many of you agreed to go along with this. Especially you, Boss…"

"Whatever," sniffed Samantha, looking away. She couldn't completely hide her pleased grin as she glanced down at her costume and added, "I like this, though. You actually managed to match my personality."

"Yeah, you're a real firebrand," Erika joked.

"I bet you're just glad yours gives you an excuse to lug that camera inside," sniped Samantha, narrowing her turquoise eyes at the girl, yet still smiling faintly.

"You're right, Miss Erika was typecast," Brass giggled, rose eyes glowing.

"I like your costume, Brass," Cyandog piped, "and look! We match!"

"No, not really," pointed out the Sailor-Multi. "You're just bubbly, while I'm supposed to be more flowing and tranquil… I think."

"At least you don't have to wear these pants," Peppercat noted, tugging on the getup she had on. "I know it's supposed to be a compliment that I got this, but still…"

"Arabian Nights chic suits you," Cyandog commented.

"Well, at least none of you has to have these stupid little wings strapped to your back!" griped Metabee, fuming as he flexed his shoulders and 'flapped' said appendages for emphasis.

"Oh, but they look so cute on you, Meta-chan!" teased Erika, aiming her camera at the upset KBT-type.

"I think it's so cute," agreed Karin, nodding so that both her pigtails bobbed. "I think they're all so cute…"

"Not really the sort of thing you'd expect guys to be dressing up for," Koji noted, absently pressing the glasses he was wearing as part of his costume back into place. "But at least I got one I liked… and one that didn't involve me wearing just outlandish getups like the rest of you."

"Actually, I'm kind of surprised you took him, Koji," pointed out Henry, stretching out so that the flowing robes of his own costume ruffled. "From what I've seen of the series, I expected you to take Spyke's role…"

"No! I came up with the idea, I wanted this one!" howled Spyke, looking very upset.

"Henry, you've watched a lot of this series?" asked Karin, blinking.

Henry sweated and stammered, "No, no! …Well, I've seen a little bit. Enough to know who's who."

"Then enlighten us, oh all-knowing Henry," Samantha challenged, crossing her arms.

"Well, from what I've picked up, Ikki's character is the hero of the series, and spends all their time hunting these magical creatures that escaped thanks to a little screw-up they made. Metabee's Ikki's guardian, protector, mentor and constant companion, while Erika's the best friend who's always by their side, filming all their adventurers with her trusty camcorder and supporting them no matter what."

"Like Brass said, typecasting," interjected Erika, smiling brightly.

"Then later, Spyke comes in and also tries to find the same magical creatures, because he thinks he's got a claim of his own that trumps Ikki's… but they eventually go from rivals to allies to friends and then…"

"To what?" Cyandog prompted as Henry trailed off, noticing that both he and Spyke were blushing lightly.

"…Then Karin comes in – she's Spyke's fiancée and another rival for Ikki, although she's not as skilled with magic as them."

"Karin's fiancée?!" Koji wailed. "Now I think I did get the wrong part!"

"Too late now," commented Samantha lightly, shaking her head and smirking.

"Anyway, working together, they manage to capture all the creatures, which include powerful beings like Brass, Cyandog, Peppercat, and Samantha. Then, later on, Koji appears with a secret of his own connected to the beings, and an old friend of Ikki's turns out to have this alternate identity… which just happens to be me," Henry finished.

"Ha! If it's supposed to be a big important secret, why did you pick that one, Henry?" Erika laughed. "I mean, it's not like you could hide anything interesting!"

Henry laughed nervously along with the others, sweating. Thinking it best to change the subject as soon as possible, he looked over at Ikki.

"What's wrong with you, anyway, Ikki?" he asked, smiling. "I mean, you should be happy! You're the star!"

"Yeah, aren't you happy, Ikki?" echoed Spyke, turning and looking at the other boy in concern. "I mean, I picked out all the costumes as best I could and all… Don't you like…"

"Don't you like yours, Ikki?" Erika teased. "After Spyke went through all this trouble, the least you could do is say something to him…"

"I just want to know…" Ikki whirled on Spyke, waved his pink baton in the air threateningly, and tugged on the rippling pink ruffles of his huge skirt as he shouted, "WHY did you have to pick out the most girly dress in Card Captor Sakura's entire freaking wardrobe?!"

In case you couldn't get all that, the exact roles were: Ikki as Sakura, Erika as Tomoyo, Spyke as Syaoran, Metabee as Kero, Karin as Mei Ling, Koji as Eriol, Samantha as the Fiery Card, Brass as the Watery Card, Krosserdog as the Bubbles Card, Peppercat as the Power Card, and Henry as Yukiko in Guardian Form.