Kino stands at the edge of the arena entrance. He's got Makynzi clutched to his chest. The constant hum of the crowd just outside the waiting room is comforting to the boy, and his shoulders loosen slightly. Even though he's told all the other Deuses not to get nervous, moments before a match, he himself becomes a hypocrit. Once on the layers, everything is okay of course, but until that moment...there's a little part of the boy that's got shaking hands. Unlike Mikage and Ranmaru, no one is here specifically to support Kino. Like a lone ninja, he has come to this tournament to prove himself. Luckily he didn't have to break any bricks with a technique taught by his master...because he has no mentor. Kino looks over to the door, waiting for his opponent to show. When Kino isn't dueling, he's been doing his best to watch the matches...so even though he doesn't know who the Layer Phantom might be exactly...he certainly knows Kamui and can guess from there. Not noticing anyone, he turns his head back to the hum of the crowd.

"Guess I am ready to lose a second time from you, Kino." Was he just that sneaky or something? Comming up to Kino without the guy really noticing it? It was a sudden increase in weight upon Kino's shoulder as Ranmaru's hand came down upon the guy. The boy sounded a bit different because of half of his face being covered by the mask. But at least his eyes were showing: no blindfold for this boy today. "How are you holding up to the crowd? Got any bets started on our match already?" Ranmaru joked, nodding lightly and tipping his head back to the entrance: as it had been facing Kino's head. "It scared me, the first time I went out there into the crowd. The loud noise of everyone cheering for me and the opponent. But it was fantastic, the moment I was sitting at that layer. Every hit exchanged getting a different reaction from the crowd. Mikage-ai cheering me on..." He pauzed for a moment. "Heh, I am babbling. We are up soon..." It was odd, to see him standing there with that one hand on Kino's shoulder: towering above him with that odd choice of attire of his. Who knew that the outcome had already been decided a few days ago?

Kino jumps as the hand comes down upon his shoulder. "Bwaaah!" he yells as he turns to see who just made him pee himself. It was only a little luckily ahem. Kino stares at the get-up and then ahs, "Oh, it's you. Almost didn't recognize you. Hey, what you trying to do, give me a heart attack before our match?" He laughs and says "If you don't think you're going to win Ranmaru-san, then you won't. Have faith in Kamui. You never know when your angel could get the upper claw on me." It could even come when Kino is sitting in the stands....ooh, scary! Kino looks back out to the arena and shakes his head, "Nah, I'm fine. I've done this sort of thing before. This isn't my first tournament, so I know that once you are out on the layer, everything is just you and your angel. The crowd comes into things perhaps...but I barely even notice them. It's like a horse having blinders on." He shrugs and then states, "You are lucky to have the Goddess cheering for you. My parents are on holiday somewhere..."

"..." Ranmaru pauzed for a moment. "I think that if your parents would be here, you would be doing worse: since you hate them. Besides, the Goddess will be cheering for the both of us. that means you too." Some other people back in the waitingroom were giving Ranmaru rather shifty looks from the corner of their eyes, mainly since he was being so friendly with his opponent: whilst he had ignored all the rest of them, even after they asked for an authograph (there are such silly people) or tried to start a conversation with him.

"Kato Kino, east corner... Layer Phantom, west corner." A lady suddenly came in, dressed in an angelic layer staff uniform, nice and blue. She was wearing a pair of sharp eagle-eye shaped glasses and held a clipboard in her right hand. She looked rather stern. "Your match will begin within a few seconds, so please proceed to the Arena."

The Layer Phantom aimed his eyes at her for a moment, and then at Kino. "Need me to hold your hand?" He then suddenly joked before he started walking forth. Sure, sweat was breaking out everywhere as he remembered going out in the crowd for the very first time: it was kind of scary... but he pretended as if nothing was going on.

Kino doesn't seem to notice the animosity that's shooting from other people's eyes towards him. He's not the type to really care even if he did notice. "While I would love to have the Goddesses praise, you have her heart...so I understand if she is urging you on even more. Besides, at some point, I hope to face her again anyway...then she will not be cheering for me. You are right though. If my parents were here, that'd be a burden." Just then the lady appears and Kino raises his free hand to note that he is Kato Kino...the Jade Ninja. Kino bows his head for a moment, taking a deep breath. To some it might look like he's praying, but he's actually just looking at Makynzi. "If you are too scared to go out by yourself, why don't you just ask me...instead of pretending like I need a hand?" He grins and then starts heading into the bright lights.

The crowd has died down slightly during the intermission between the tournament rounds. Some people mull about talking, getting refreshments, or placing bets on the coming matches. All of this comes to an end when the lights come up on the layer again. "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats as we begin Round Two!" There is a moment of music blaring through the speakers and most people go take their seats as the announcer is lowered in his chair towards the layers. "Round Two begins with a match between two rookies to these games who both did well in their first round matches, both scoring wins. How will they do against each other?" Cheers go up from the crowd as a spotlight swings down towards the Eastern edge of the arena floor. "East corner: A student of Eriol Gakuen, although his teachers might argue that fact... Kato Kino! The Jade Ninja!" Applause rings out through the arena, even as a second spotline moves over towards the Western arena hallway. "West corner: A mysterious young man with a feral cat angel... Oi Ranmaru! The Layer Phantom!" Another round of cheers comes as both are announced.

Walking forth from the west corner, the Layer Phantom paced forth: looking quite sure of him self. "I trust in you Kamui... I only doubt in myself." The boy spoke to himself apparently at a low volume. His legs carrying him forth to that seat in which he would take place. In the seat that he would command Kamui from. No... not command. Help... he would help his angel.

He had been lost in his thoughts so heavily, that he had not even noticed that he had already sat down in his seat, staring quite blankly into the direction of the layer. He had spaced out there, waiting for the announcer to say something, or the seats to rise upwards. He was prettymuch ruling out the cheers of the crowd: not wanting to hear them. "Here we go Kamui." He spoke then, taking the angel from underneath the cloak. "Another battle..."

Kino comes out, Makynzi clutched in one hand. The other hand raises, at first to block the blinding spotlight, then to wave. It is a brief wave because soon the announcer is saying Ranmaru's name. Kino smiles at this...and that smile gets him to the Deus's chair without sweating the crowd. Once there, he knows that everything will be okay. Kino may be new to this size of a tournament, but he's been through tournaments before and he knows what he's doing. Besides, he's going to duel Ranmaru...that's like, dueling an older, more sophisticated (read richer), brother....this should be a fun match! Sitting himself down in the egg-shaped bowl chair, Kino stares towards Ranmaru and gives him a peace sign. Kino and Makynzi act as a team..each one doing their part like a well oiled machine. Yes, it is time for another battle.

"Now, let's see what arena this duel will be played on." The announcer points a hand over towards the layer floor, even as the images begin to flicker across the screen. Eventually, it stops dead, jarring for a moment on an image of a large boxing ring. "Let it be noted for the audience, that the layer edge is represented by the boxing ring in this layer. Angels thrown over the edge are considered to have layered out." Another cheer follows from the crowd, a few whistles and a strange little tune mixed among them. "And now it's time for Entry Angel!".

A boxing ring? Ranmaru blinked heavily behind the half mask, trying to get his eyes to focuss again. Nope, it was not going away. It was nothing but a huge boxingring. "..." The box just stared for a moment before opening his mouth. "This would be a great scenery for the Kangaryu angel." He stated whilst the arm took him up into the air. The announcer's voice rung through his mind. His angel normally was unable to layerout an angel, so it was useless to aim for that purpose. Especially against speedy angels: he would be unable to focus strength and accuracy at the very same time. 'Entry Angel!' Kamui had already disappeared under his cloak again.

There seemed to be some movement underneath the cloak as he took hold of Kamui: an action quite invisable to others. His fingers wrapped around the lithe body of his angel, holding it quite gently. "Illuminate the darkness with your soul of bonds!" He suddenly calls out as his cloak is thrown to the side and Kamui suddenly gets flung towards the layer. "Kamui, show us your light! Fallin!" The black feline angel shoots forth..

It's head first as it touched the bright light of the layer, immediatly forcing itself to open it's crimson red eyes, the rest of it's body following quite quickly. It's fur ruffled violently by the speed it had been thrown! It's limbs seemed to twitch for a moment before explosively coming to live. Stretching out completely before making a beautiful double flip forth: finished by landing perfectly on both knees and one fist, it's other arm set before it's face. It's tail lashed violently for a moment before the angel actually seemed to 'bother' to get up and take some paces back to his side of the layer.

Kamui's head cocked slightly to the left, it's lips reveiling one tooth, allowing for the angel to give quite the smug look. But this look was not directed at any opposing angel, it was directed at Kino himself. It's eyes illuminated with that red hue, it was almost demonic: if not, at least feral.

Kino nods, understanding the situation concerning the boxing ring. He may not be the brightest bulb in the...in the...ah nevermind! He understands though...hehe. Kino holds out a hand, ushering Ranmaru to go ahead and fallin first. Once Kamui is on the layer, Kino holds Makynzi up and winks at him. The angel is thrown out onto the layer as the Jade Ninja yells, "The earth is your element, know it well Makynzi!" As the little ninja passes through the layer barrier, he straightens out and lands firmly on his legs. He walks up over to the boxing ring and just steps through the ropes. No jumping or acrobatics yet...energy is being saved. Once in the ring, Makynzi dusts some dirt off his shoulder and is ready to go. Kino shouts over to Ranmaru, "Good luck Ranmaru-san and Kamui-san!" Kino knows what Kamui is staring at alright, and the catdoll is given a nod.

And then, with a resounding cheer behind him, the announcer calls out, "Angelic Fight!" There is a small puff of someone setting off a mini firework, who is then quietly escorted away by security. Bad layer-fan, no biscuit. The timer begins and the layer flashes once to show that it is now registering both angels.

The angel tended to be the first with his speed, but he knew that Kino had bested him quite easily last time. His speed was amazing, more amazing than Kamui's. And he realized that he needed to try his very best to even have a shot at this man. And thus the angel shot forth the very moment it was announced: 'angelic fight!'. It was like lightning, the speed at which Kamui had suddenly stood before the ninja-angel. Grinning at it, staring right into the optics of the angel: or at least it's asumed locations. "Nya..." It spoke and being so up and close quickly forced itself to punch it's clawed paw forth at the opponent.

"So it has begun, the battle between two speed angels... a ninja and a cat. I don't know how well I will do this time, Kino-kun, but I will try my best. I at least have some new tricks up my sleeve." He reveiled one of his arms from underneath his cloak and showed his sleeve to add a bit of humor to his words. "Either way, let's have fun."

Makynzi stands there, allowing Kamui to stare him down. He doesn't appear to be afraid, though as soon as the attack comes, he definitely doesn't stay there. In a flash of black smoke, the ninja is gone and all the paw gets is noxious air. Makynzi's gone from the layer entirely for a matter of seconds...but then another puff of smoke opens up in front of Kamui. The black swirling smoke would be close enough to lick...which is bad because two hands come out to try and hit the little angel off the boxing ring's floor. Whether or not the attack hits, the rest of Makynzi's body materializes out of the fog and just stands their stoically.

"Hai, it has begun indeed. I will do my best to beat you Ranmaru-san...as I'm sure you will do the same for me. It will most definitely be fun and I look forward to your new tricks. I have a few as well, though my sleeves are too old and battered to have anything hiding in them." He grins wryly.

"Thank you." Was all which the Layer Phantom replied as Kamui took the hit. It stood there... solemly. Not moving as the two fists had hit it. The layer's system immediatly acknowledged the hit and lowered Kamui's health by quite a bunch. Juro had not even hit him last battle, so the announcer seemed quite suprised. "Oho! Hit! Makynzi has hit Kamui with a suprising technique! But Kamui seems to not be moving! Is something maybe wrong with it's Deus?!"

But Ranmaru just sat there, staring at the layer, smiling. The angel moved after the announcer had given his words to the public and backed off. "He will be fine." the boy stated: apparently quite sure of himself.

On the layer, Makynzi stares back at Kamui for a bit. At the announcer's antics, Kino cracks a wry smile, but remains quiet. Makynzi begins getting ready for the next move of the match by walking slowly, but surely forward. Ranmaru may be sure of himself, but Makynzi is the one trying to control the tempo of this match. Trying not to give the cat angel time to relax, the ninja leaps into the air. Flying forward, a leg is stretched out from the ninja's slight frame...flying sidekick wahaaaa!

As much as it was a slight frame, Ranmaru was aware of the damaging potential of his opponent. This also forced him to come to the descission that he was going to try and run this layer battle at his own speed. His own angel suddenly stepped to the side as the opponent came flying by and did something that was probably concidered as odd behavior for a speed type angel. Along with that step to the side the angel turned twice: realizing how impossible it was to redirect an attack that had been thrown into the air already: thus being safe from harm... and whilst spinning actually shooting out it's claws as the ninja came by: grabbing it by the leg and spinning it a couple of times before simply letting go: letting the ninja fly whilst he quickly made distance by jumping backwards and landing quite nicely upon one of the ring's poles. "Nya!" It claimed and started to lick itself. Yay for kittygrooming... only it was just cleaning his head and ears, he was not going for the legs or crotch this time. So no full out grooming attempts. Just a little taunt.

Makynzi gets a good view of the entire circumference of the arena as he's flung around by Kamui. As he is finally let go, and it is just in time or else he'd have tried to hurt Kamui somehow...anyway, as he's released, he does a flip and lands on his feet. The interesting thing is that he lands on the peg that holds the ropes together. He is still within the boxing ring however, and the crowd goes wild. With a little hop, the angel jumps off and takes a moment to stare at the littler angel. So that's how it is going to be eh? Kino laughs a bit at the kittygrooming. Kino shouts out, "If you get a hairball Kamui, I'm not going to pause for you." It's a playful jest to the taunt. For now, with the pace having changed a bit, Makynzi just waits and watches to see what the demonic cat will do next.

But all the angel does is just sit there and groom itself, completely ignoring the elite ninja. "Hey Kino, I was reading some comics a few days ago about ninjas. Something I don't get... who makes their food? They are all secretive... but don't they get children? I have never seen a female Ninja before... is yours female? Does it cook for you?" All kinds of random questions to confuse or distract Kino: everything is fair on the battlefields. Or was he just entertaining the guy whilst he was trying to come up with a plan?

On the layer, Makynzi brings his arms up and bows his head. The hands fan out in a circular motion, as if mimicing the sun's surface. When they come back down to meet at Makynzi's waist, his hands move to his hips and his head snaps up. Breathing exercises. He is ready to attack now. Coming in, the ninja threatens the licking Kamui with another hard show of his hands...an uppercut.

As the fighting starts again, Kino listens to Ranmaru and laughs. He has been accustomed to splitting his attention away from the layer now for quite some time. "They make it themselves. They are masters of survival. In Makynzi's case, the earth provides food for him as he is an earth elemental." Nodding he continues, "They do have female ninjas, though Makynzi is indeed male. There are many ninjas though with children, why else would they fight if not for making a better future for their friends and family?" The question about cooking for Kino goes unanswered.

"Nya!" As the ninja came closeby enough, Kamui jumped into the air and landed behind the angel, only to try and spin around: using it's foot to try and hit the angel. It was like a well performed martial arts kick: almost as refined as Mao's technique. A short spin attack, well aimed and well performed. Most likely to be no match for this fast angel as it had only been one attack, instead of a supressed volley: but it was still beautiful. "Nya!!" Along with the meow, there were some 'ohhs' on the stands. "Go Kamui..." Ranmaru then announced.

It was indeed pretty and even Kino gives it a nod. Makynzi however is too quick and leans backwards as the kick comes, letting it miss by centimeters. He is a little like Neo from the matrix there. Using the close proximity to his advantage, he snaps himself back forward. The momentum from the snap makes his head like a battering ram. He's attempting to act like Zidane from the infamous 2006 world cup championship match. Kino, in response to Ranmaru states, "Go Makynzi!"

"To slow." Ranmaru replies, holding up one hand to wrap his cloak closer around his body. "Kamui..." The angel indeed had dodged said headbutt, ducking and running through the Ninja's legs and with one claw trying to grab hold of it's crotch. Yes, this angel could use some really dirty tricks sometimes. Yet, for some reason that simple move had seemed quite special. As if his movements had done something to the layer itself. A little burning spot was there where the angel had once stood, and even the angel itself seemed to be lightly smoking and shining... "Hold in there... Kamui." Apparently that had been what Ranmaru had wanted to say at first, instead of just his angel's name.

Kino shakes his head as the headbutt misses. "Yeah, well, we are both speedy. It'd have been funny if it hit though." Kino is having a good time and the roar of the crowd doesn't even seem to be phasing him. The display of fireworks from the cat angel is ooh so pretty...but so is how fast Makynzi moves when those claws get too close to his gui. Makynzi's a bit of a meterosexual in how he looks after his gui. It's almost always clean. Perhaps that's why he tries to dodge everything and not get hit? Makynzi vanishes for a second, and where Kamui left behind a fire imprint, Makynzi leaves behind a jade after image of himself. He is gone for a few seconds and then appears at one of the corners of the ring, sitting mocking on air as if he were a boxer between rounds.

Kamui does not seem to bother on following. He just ends up standing there with one claw still upwards, as if he had become a stone after missing. The smoke was slowly settling down, but apparently he had not taken any damage. "Oh... something seems wrong with Kamui." The announcer comments on this, and even Ranmaru has a slightly worried look on his face. Had the initial attack really done that much damage? "Kamui..." A worried voice as the angel slowly started comming up. "Hang in there my angel... for us..."

Kino appears to glance over to Ranmaru for a moment. The man obviously loved his angel and for Kino, that makes it sad to really fight him. He too loves Makynzi and hates to see him hurt...but he had promised Ranmaru that he'd do his best to win. That is exactly what he decided to do in fact. Bringing his hands up, Makynzi bows his head towards Kamui. Something was coming...and Kino was giving Ranmaru the heads up. Makynzi's hands move to his center and press together in front of his sternum. They rest there for a moment, forming a diamond pattern, <> , until a soft breath releases from the little jade ninja. It is then that things begin to speed up. A step is taken, followed by a few more, and soon the ninja is within striking distance. The attacks come one moment after the other. First, Makynzi's hands swing in a large arc, headed for Kamui's ears. If they hit, it'd be deafening and stunning. The next attack is a swift front kick. He's trying to push his opponent off the layer...though knowing Kamui, he'll just fly out of the way.

But no flying out of the way this time. Ranmaru already showed a sad face as the angel did all it could. And this was cover it's ears and crouch into a little ball as it started to get hit. Painfully, every single hit did impact and only as the ninja kicked the angel stop shaking: it was almost as if it was crying. It had rolled into a little corner of the ring and just sat there. Instead of attacking it started to gently groom the damaged fur, purring loudly like a wounded and dying cat. It's eyes set upon Makynzi as if it did not blame him for his pain. It was nothing short of adorable however as it just sat there... cleaning itself. Moving his hand over his head to clean his ears... face... crouching over to move his head against it's legs.

Ranmaru just sat there, it was as if he was stunned, in pain himself. "..." He was unable to really say anything other that some soft groaning sounds. For people who had never played Angelic Layer before, it was as if the Deus was feeling the actual pain of the angel.

Kino stares over at Ranmaru for a long moment. He understood exactly what Ran was feeling. He himself didn't quite feel the 'actual' pain, but there was definite emotional pain there any time Makynzi got hit. Perhaps he just knew how to limit his brain from reading the pain from the angel as his own bodily pain. It was entirely possible that /that/ could happen after all. Kino stares for a moment before asking, "Is everything alright Ranmaru-san?" Makynzi on the other hand, acts almost by its own accord and stomps his foot harshly onto the boxing ring floor. The springs under the boxing ring vibrate heavily...and then suddenly the section by the cat angel breaks apart, the springs and boards underneath cracking and shoving themselves forward. Oooh, pointy!

The angel ends up looking up down for a moment as it finished cleaning, before the trembles of the layer came through to it. It's ears perked up slightly as it looked up at the oncomming crack. "Ny.. aahh..." Like a broken sound-recording it let out a sound and then... disappeared in a violent blue-white flash. The layer seemed empty for a moment. The only remaining thing being a whirlwind of greyish air where Kamui had once stood.

"It is not real pain... but I sometimes feel like I can feel Kamui. How hurt he gets... yet he wills it. He wills to fight. As one of my favorite anime once told me: The winner is not always the hero. I have so often fought losing battles and won. And I realize that I have little chance against Makynzi since she is aimed more towards accuracy. He can last longer... but that is not what Angelic Layer is about."

His angel suddenly reappeared behind Makynzi. "Angelic Layer is about the bond between Deus and angel. It might be but a game to others, but for me it has always been my life. It allowed me to meet friends... it allowed me to meet Mikage-ai. And that is why..." He continued to talk as his angel bursted up in a blue flame. "I will give everything I and Kamui have. To try not my best... but our best. As a team, as a unity that believes in eachother. We will be the heroes one day. I will keep going until one day I will gather the strength to do that what I must... KAMUI! Ikke!"

On the layer, Kamui nodded for a moment and shot forth at the ninja, it's blue flame spreading over the layer and almost engulfing it. Above the layer, two orbs appeared all of the sudden. Just like with Juro's match, but this time the souls had yet to connect. They were so very close, but they had yet to connect. Surrounded by a ring of golden they shone so beautifully over the layer. His angel started attacking, running after the Ninja with blinding speed and trying to hit it: attack after attack it threw at it. "Hooo! Kamui makes a fantastic come-backu here!" The announcer speaks using an English word within his sentence.

Kino nods to Ranmaru, "I understand what you feel because I've felt it too. They almost take on a life of their own at times ne?" He chuckles and states, "That's why I love them." Kino shrugs though as Ranmaru goes on to state that he has little chance, "You have as much a chance as anyone else Ranmaru-san. You are a great Deus and Kamui-san is a terrific angel. I believe in your angel as should you. However, I believe in Makynzi as well...and we will not give up either." The attack that comes is quite furious and Makynzi wants nothing to do with it. He jumps high into the air, getting out of there so that there isn't a shot of anything hitting him. The little jade ninja jumps up in between the two soul orbs and reaches out, almost thinking that they might actually be real for a second and wondering if they are corporal in nature. Kino's attention is on the orbs as well, a huge grin stretched out across his face. "I still do not know how you do what you do Layer Phantom...but I will figure it out one day."

The ninja slowly floats back down to the layer then, and sits to wait.

The angel however does not let the ninja rest anymore! The blue aura seemed to expand further as the angel jumped at the Ninja whilst it was still floating downwards into the direction of the layer. It's right foot used to push itself off at an amazing speed: making it seem as if it was only a flame that was flying forth. But this flame seemed to be able to change directions. It was for a moment, almost as if the flame formed the very shape of Rei. Spawning wings and everything that came with it. "Sometimes, it is not just kinetics that allow for an angel to become more powerful. It is the heart behind it. I can feel that you love your angel Kino, I can feel it as we fight. Your care for it, almost as much as I care for Mikage-ai. You won't let him get hurt, your force behind every attack. The Layer Phantom had put his hand at his heart and lowered his head, as if he were proving that he indeed could feel the boy through his heart. "A strong bond... formed over time. Tell me Kino, about when you inherited your angel."

It seemed that the boy had no more eye for the match, and let Kamui play. His heart was still there with Kamui, helping: enstrengthening him. "I got it one day... but I don't remember who gave him to me anymore. It is all a mystery to me... sometimes I am as much of a mystery to myself as to others.

On the layer, Makynzi's arms come out to the side of him and his legs turn in an odd position. He's using the wind's drag on his gui to change his position so that the attack misses. It's a hard maneuver to pull off, but it works. As he lands, he backs away from the cat. That trick just took a bit out of him as he had to strain himself in order to pull it off. Backing away, he begins to think just how to finish this match. kino listens to Ranmaru and nods his head. "Well, we all love the Goddess, but the Godess does not all love us the same. For that you are lucky. Perhaps I love Makynzi as much as I do because I have no one else in my life to love?" It is a little sad ne? Kino though seems resigned to the fact...and this is odd for a 14 year old punk boy to be explaining. Apparently he doesn't care about the cameras and fans listening in. "I 'inherited' Makynzi with Father's credit card. He got angry because I borrowed it without asking him...gave me a good beating too." He chuckles and then shrugs, "I created his clothes and his persona and then from there Makynzi was born. We've been close friends since. As you said, this is not a game to me...it is my life."

Still there was no stop, Kamui's persuit never ended: following after Makynzi like his very shadow. Who could ever have thought that a ninja would have such a threatening shadow? Forced to flee from it until life was over for both of them? A somewhat grim representation of the things going on on the layer. "Perhaps that is why you best me. I am forced to divide my love between angel and goddess... it's funny is it not? The words used? We entrust our battles to angels, and wish to be within the arms of a goddess: whilst we are nothing but mere powerless humans, set upon this world to do whatever we wish to do. Irony, perhaps?" Ranmaru kept speaking, nodding at Kino. "I have decided. Our house will receive you with open arms." Ranmaru then turned his eyes to the layer. "Let us do what is left undone."

On the layer, Makynzi's black gloved hand reaches into his gui and pulls something out. It is tiny and the entire motion is as quick as possible. "Kamui is indeed using his all to attack Makynzi. I am glad to see that you are not letting down because I am younger than you are." He smiles innocently because, well, except for Saneko, he is one of the younger Deuses. He nods emphatically about the use of his own words, angel, Goddess. "Hai, it is strange, yet it is what it is. I would not have it any other way." Then, as Ranmaru states that he'll take Kino in, a single tear falls from his face. He is welcomed somewhere...that is more than he's ever wanted or expected out of life. He nods and then states simply, "Thank you." When the fuzzy angel finally attacks with lightning speed, Kino's eyes glaze over. As one, both the little and big Jade Ninjas state, "Ninja..." pause, "VANISH!" Makynzi throws whatever it was that he had in his hands down to the layer floor. In an instant, smoke billows out of what must have been a smoke grenade. Ninjas are masters of distraction...and this was the ultimate one. Giving himself just enough time to get out of the way, the little jade ninja fades into the fog that very quickly is now covering the entire layer...sky, boxing ring, and outside of the ring as well. It is a thick, billowy smoke that swirls and drifts as if it were almost alive itself. Hiding in the mist is Makynzi, and due to his ninja like senses, the mist does not affect him as much as it might the other angels. His first move is to slide in and throw out a hard punch to Kamui's side.

The announcer meanwhile has been shouting about the tactic used. "What just happened there? Where are the two angels? What is going on inside the layer? Will this fog clear? What a maneuver!"

On the layer, Kamui seems to be quite the confused kitty as it misses target completely. "You are right, I would not have it any other way either." Ranmaru stated as his angel was covered in the darkness. "Don't give him the advantage... Kamui." Apparently understanding this command, Kamui suddenly jumped up into the air and cleared away from the smoke: finding himself hanging on the Boxing Ring's microphone which was dangling up in the air. It wrapped it's fingers around it and just started to hang on. Apparently by doing this he had dodged one of the ninja's attacks by 'accident'. Sometimes, luck is on those two's side. "Hang on in there, Kamui." Ranmaru joked suddenly, smiling at Kino... yes. No, this was not a 'Ranmaru' smile: which generally are completely emotionless. No, this was a real smile. As much as it pained him, he was having fun. "I guess it is over, you will win on points before the timer runs out." He tipped his head a little to the left and just kept smiling.

Kino smiles and nods, "It has been a good duel in fact. Kamui is most innovative and ferocious." There are two quick nods, "But Makynzi is also innovative...and knows where Kamui is." In the smoke, the ninja steps so that he is right beneath the cat's dangling feet. He does a little leap and spins, attempting to kick the little angel while he spins with the fog. In fact, the fog almost seems to support the ninja as he floats through the air.

"Thank you." Ranmaru suddenly claims as the ninja comes up at the angel. Kamui quickly takes it's legs and feet up and then lightly prodded them back against the ninja. It was unlikely to do any type of damage, but what it was used for did come off: it got the angel moving. And not just slowly. The angel had shot to the side and started to make circling motions which for some reason seemed to go faster and faster: creating a sudden gust of wind downwards which blew away the fog. "Got to love physics." Ranmaru claimed then, nodding at Kino. "Now we can both see eachother. Kamui..." He pauzed for a moment, Kamui had yet to escape the circling microphone, so let him slow down. "Show your heart till the last moment."

Kino smiles and nods his head. As the cat angel begins circling the boxing match to clear away the smoke, Kino laughs. "Only another speed angel would think of doing that." He smiles and then refocuses on the match, "We are also giving it our all until the buzzer rings." Makynzi meanwhile continues with his assault on the feline. He waited for the other angel to slow down and then jumped forward with another hard punch.

The angel ends up looking all cutely at the 'impending doom' and kept just hanging there. And when the ninja finally was close by enough: using it's longer legs, it forced an attack: realizing that the ninja's hands would be unable to hit him. And having hit or not, he simply dropped onto the ground. "Nya." A meow followed, and it quickly got into a feral stance: ready to attack the moment that the ninja would find out that he had touched the ground. Especially since during his fall he had slightly used it's claws on the rope which held the microphone up. Ranmaru could already imagine it: the ninja standing there on the microphone, hearing the cracking sounds, and falling like you would see in the cartoons! "Hehe." The Layer Phantom just chuckled and let his eyes slip towards the souls which were still up there, shining so brightly in the air above the layer. He had heard many explainations to it. An error in the system, the sceneries responding to his romantic side... but he prefered his explaination. His realisation that he loved Mikage, and how much he loved hr... how close their souls were together. "But Kino... I know you are still young. But I am sure, no matter how strange you might seem to others, you too will find someone to love other than your angel. I am sure of it."

Kino does not respond to that last statement, least not verbally. He is trying to get in a few last attacks before that timer can run out...trying to give the cheering fans something else to cheer for. It has already been an amazing match, and now it is heating up and getting to be even better. When the murderous Kamui lunges at him with those sharp claws, the ninja simply becomes incaporeal and drifts into a layer of black fog. Or at least, that's what seems to happen whenever he enters that other world of his, hidden away behind that smoke. This time however, the smoke appears rappidly over Kamui, right about where that microphone is now swinging...and down comes Makynzi from it with a kick. He's trying to push Kamui into the boxing ring.

"Nya." Apparently Kamui had no such plans, and quickly jumped into the air. Apparently, he was going for a variant of one of it's original attacks. "First time ever show Kino... so watch the show." Ranmaru spoke as the angel disappeared in the spotlight of the layer, all the way between the two souls it suddenly twirled a couple of times before slashing downwards in the air. Then, from nowhere diamond shards started falling down like a heavy rain. Sharp diamonds that cut right into the ground and the boxingring: destroying it slowly. The shards were big, but there was room for movement between them if one was concentrating well enough on dodging them. And each time the attacks landed, a rainbow shone over the layer for a short moment. It was beautiful, the light even shone off of the layer and into the arena: lighting the entire arena up in beautiful colours. The crowd went wild! "Do it Kino, give them a show." Ranmaru then spoke as he closed his eyes and Kamui started falling after the attack: apparently done... no more will to fight in the angel.

On the layer, Makynzi goes into a speed kata and quickly starts making his way around the falling diamond shards. It is almost like the angel is dancing, but he's doing no such thing. Makynzi doesn't dance...dancing is a waste of energy. Kino chuckles as his angel moves about among the sparklies. It was almost like a ballet...but shh, Mayknzi no dancey. Like it or not, the show is there..Makynzi lending a jade color to the sparkling as he goes. It is indeed beautiful. When all is said and done and the light show is over, Makynzi stands there, undamaged and ready for more. But the timer comes to an end...the match is over.

As the timer buzzes, Makynzi steps forward and holds out his hands. The little cat drops into the ninja's arms with a soft rustling of his gui. Makynzi checks Kamui over and then brings him towards Ranmaru. "Is he okay?" calls out Kino.

"He is fine... he was just tired. As am I." Ranmaru let the crane move him forth and come in to take his angel off of the layer before moving back down to the ground. "Tired... I want to sleep... my heart I put into this fight, but I might have used too much of it. I am sick too, Kino... just like Mikage." Were the words that still lingered in the air before he had been taken down and walked away within the loud cheering of the crowd. Just... walking away from the battle as he was done. He wanted to go home. Go to Mikage-ai and sleep.

Kino nods to Ranmaru and states, "Get some sleep before the next round. Do not over extend yourself Ranmaru-san. Thank you for such a good match. I will see you later." Kino smiles and moves to retrieve his angel as well...then he disappears back into the waiting room to grab some food.