After a fairly close first match against a rookie, Mikage certainly had to re-think a few of her strategies when it came to such angels. Luckily, there were many skilled repairmen at the layers today, and that allowed her to get Rei fixed fairly quickly. She turns the gargoyle over in her hands, double checking that there is no remaining corrosive damage from her encounter with the Chimera. "These young ones are getting far too skilled for us." She muses as she walks towards one of the available layers. As she sits herself down, plugging in her headset and logging in to the system with a swipe of her layer card, Miki glances up and around, raising her hand upward to show that she is, indeed, available for a challenge. This time, however, she hopes it doens't end up being such a beastly brawl as her last match.

Looking at Mikage as he sees her across the room, and looking at the floor for a moment. Fukata looks a little nervous to see her, but he takes a second to compose himself and walks over towards her, greeting her as ever, "Ossu, Miki-chan." with a grin that's masks his uncertainty. "Long time no see." he says. He's dressed a little differently to how he looked last time she saw him, and he rests a hand on the seat opposite Mikage.

Well, Fukata's was certainly a face Mikage hadn't expected to see. She hadn't seen him around Tokyo in quite some time, although she had been absent herself. There were some rumors to go along with the absense, but most everyone had simply passed it off after she returned. Raising her head, and lowering her arm in the process, Mikage blinks as she looks towards her old friend. Her head tilts slightly to the side, lips pulling upward in the faintest of a smile. "Hello, Fukata-kun. It's good to see you again." There is truth in those words, at least. "Is... something wrong?" This time, her voice falters slightly, as if she were not quite sure what to do.

Fukata shakes his head emphatically, "No, no. Nothings wrong - just ... happy to see you again. Don't worry." he says, and it's a case of the truth, but not the whole truth. He had been putting off visiting her, because he hadn't quite been ready to meet her yet, after such a long time away. "Shall we find out if I've gotten too rusty since last time we played?" Fukata steps around the chair to sit down. "I see you're still the one to beat."

Well, some things had changed about Mikage in the time between when she and Fukata had last seen each other. She no longer makes any attmept to hide her white hair, or the frailties of her body. There is a bit more confidence in her about such things. Not only this, but she seems healthier than before, as if there is more color in her face. Even though he says there is nothing wrong, Miki doesn't quite buy it, but she accepts that if her friend wishes to keep secrets, it is his own decision. She nods her head slightly, and motions to the chair across from her. "Please, feel free. Rei and I have already had quite difficult challenges at this tournament, and I'm sure you'll only be another. I don't know if we're the 'one to beat' any longer, but we'll give it our best shot." She lifts Rei slightly in her hand, and then settles. "Fall-in first if you'd like."

Fukata chuckles, "Always so modest." He reaches into his shirt pocket - one thing that hasn't changed at all, his angel is still there. He seems to have calmed now, he's back into the familiar routine, the one thing he's always been sure of himself in. Reaching for his angel, and pressing the begin button on the edge of the layer to select the arena with his other hand, Fukata closes his eyes - focusing. "Even in the impossible..." he intones, holding his angel to his chest as the scenery builds in front of him. "...let us never accept defeat. Ikke! Yuki!" and with that he looses her towards the layer, she twirls in the air and flies towards the sandy scenery, as the last of the pixels form at the edges of the layer. Yuki lands in the sand, sliding in a crouch and leaving a short pair of furrows behind her. She looks across the layer and up, glancing at Mikage, and calls out, "Yatta! Rei-chan!" and bounces..

There is something familiar about the ritual of the battle. Even with everything that passes between, this still remains. Two hearts, two souls, two angels, and the layer. Mikage takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as she focuses herself on the task at hand. As she opens her eyes once more, the girl holds her angel out on her forearm. "Spirits of wind and water, soul of the binding storm, will of the earth, heart of my heart. Be my wings... Rei! Fallin!" She draws her arm back and then snaps it quickly, sending the small angel tumbling towards the layer. It takes barely a split second before the angel passes through that invisible barrier, flaring to life. Her eyes flash white for a moment as her wings flare out, catching the air beneath her as the bat-like appendages force her upwards. Two sweeps of those great wings bring her to a soft landing as her talons sink into the gritty layer. Slowly, her wings fold back onto her shoulders, caping there as she flexes her legs, tail twitching. It seems almost as if she were checking the status of each system one by one. Then, her eyes pale back into their greenish tone, looking across towards Yuki and giving a soft, creeling sound of greeting.

On the layer, Yuki smiles at her friend and rival, "I've learned one or two new tricks ... well ... just one. But you better be ready, because I won't hold back! Ganbaruzo, Rei-chan!" and with that encouragement/challenge, Yuki lets fly with her trademark speed, kicking up clouds of gritty sand in her wake, she rushes across the scenery. With a leap as she reaches Rei - Yuki launches herself into a flying kick.

There were few angels that Rei was truly on a friendly basis with, and it is always good when she has a chance to play against one of them. Of course, she isn't really one of those who speaks a lot. She simply nods her head, folding her ears back slightly as she considers what new tricks Yuki might have in store for her. Rei sneezes in a kittenish fashion, perhaps from the dust the layer is kicking up. The sneeze is almost enough distraction for her not to notice the incoming attack, but not quite. She rolls out of the way, landing in a crouch and giving another little sneeze. Well, while trying to get rid of her nose problems, the gargoyle swings her tail towards Yuki's legs, trying to drive her back as she rubs quickly at her nose with her talon.

Seeming to glide along the edge of the tail as it whips out, Yuki follows the spin around and ends up almost behind Rei with the gargoyle's tail touching her foot harmlessly. With this closeness, Yuki smiles at Rei, raises her arms, and with a blurring effect, she seems to seperate into several copies, each flickering a little and a cloud of sand rising up into the air behind her as she poises to attack. In a rush, she attacks from three sides simultaneously, but each attack an exact mirror of the others: she steps in to Rei, almost touching her, and brings a palm sharply up into the grey stomach, with a rush of sand flowing up behind the attack.

A glowing aura flows over Rei's body, almost threateningly as it boosts her ability to avoid the incoming attack. Not only that, but it allows her enough time to toss a handful of grit up towards Yuki, seeking to block some of the power that angel had channeled. Her speed is truly fearsome and something Rei simply does not wish to get on the receiving end of. So, she flips away, keeping her distance from her opponent as she holds a hand outwards towards Yuki. With a roar, a blinding flash of light arcs out over the layer, followed by a rush of concentrated sound energy.

Preparing to hammer again at Rei's aura - partly in frustration at how it drained her of the energy she had built up, Yuki only just percieves the flash in time, and dives backwards into a backflip to avoid the shockwave, but the blinding flash catches her full on, and no amount of head shaking when she lands on her feet clears the burnt-on image of the grey gargoyle siloutted against the flare backdrop from her eyes. But it's not the first time Yuki has fought blind, so she takes a moment to locate her opponent, remembering where Rei was when she left that spot - Yuki tries to guess at the other angel's position and hopes for the best. With a burst of speed, she lunges forwards, and once nearby she throws out punches and kicks around her, hoping for some contact.

Rei backpeddles, knowing how difficult it is for her opponents to see her after her flash attack. She watches as the strikes swing wide, but stays relatively close. If there was a chance for an opening, she would take it. And, when the last of the kicks finishes, Rei gives a little growl and lashes forward, extending her arm as if she were to punch Yuki. At the last moment, however, a long blade extends from her arm, sweeping in an arch and closing the distance between herself and the quick-footed angel. The aura has passed away, so her power and speed have returned to normal, but it doesn't mean that her skills are any less keen.

Fukata weaves around the blade, her hair rushing upwards as she bends to pass underneath, and the blade sends a few strands of the hair flying into the air, but mostly it brushes through, obscuring Rei's view of Yuki. Yuki doesn't let the opportunity pass, and attacks through the hair as it falls to the ground, a barrage of tiny blows, and Yuki pushes forwards, trying to make Rei give ground.

Yuki is quick, but so is Rei. Both angels have their different skills when it comes to speed. Rei does a fantastic looking backflip, causing a few of the onlookers to gasp and give little cheers as she arches up above the layer and then lands with a puff of dust. It might almost look impressive, but her perfect landing gets spoiled when the dust goes up her nose again, causing a small sequence of sneezes. This layer obviously was not good for Rei's allergies. Shaking her head from side to side, the gargoyle finally seems to clear her senses, and then moves forward. She throws one kick, followed by a quick spin and a sweep of her wings, trying to catch Yuki up in the whirling motion.

Fukata bursts into a fit of giggles to match Rei's sneezes, and remarks, "Rei-chan looks ka-wa-ii~" before continuing her laughter. She mostly silences the giggles when Rei moves towards her, but is still smiling broadly as she ducks under the kick and she takes a move towards Rei, but instead of attacking, flips overhead to land behind the angel, simply keeping Rei off guard while she tries to come up with a cunning plan. Then she giggles again.

A smile shows on Mikage's face as she nod she rhead a little bit, taking amusement form her own angel. She looks to her angel, and then shakes her head slightly. Rei rubs at her nose once more, and then turns, ducking her head slightly, aiming her head towards Yuki. She reaches up to extend her long horns, and then digs her feet in to the loose layer. Racing forward, Rei tries to rush at Yuki like a bull. Even if the chances of hitting are low at this point in the battle, at least she can keep her opponent moving and possibly wear her out in the long run.

Yuki waits for Rei to come at her, using a move she's seen the gargoyle angel perform countless times. Yuki nimbly sidesteps the horns, spinning around to quickly follow her opponent and she puts her arms up to assist Rei in her running, trying to force her to run straight into the wall.

Rei doesn't run into the wall, but only because of her own spiritual defenses. Rather than striking the wall, she bounces off of it somewhat, and ends up having to take a few steps to steady herself. Obviously such rushing techniques weren't going to work right now. Instead, she lashes a talon sideways, making an arc across the layer. From her hands, a wave of energy spreads and takes the dust and debris with it. As it flies, it expands so that it reaches to the far levels of the layer, making it that much more difficult to dodge.

The sand and dust lifts off, creating a haze which covers the layer as the scenery begins to resettle. Yuki isn't amongst the dust in the layer, instead, she's perched in a half-crouch on the edge, atop the wall. She drops off the edge, sliding down with a metalic screech as she controls her descent with her feet. As she reaches the ground, where Rei stands, she kicks away from the wall suddenly, diving towards Rei, she grabs at Rei's neck as she passes overhead, and if she catches hold, will land behind Rei and haul her over her shoulder by the head into the floor.

It is rare for Rei to be hit by such a technique, but it seems as if she simply isn't prepared for what comes. So, Rei is grabbed and thrown into the floor, landing head first into the sand and grit. She coughs slightly, spitting out some of the gravel and some things that are best left unmentioned. She shakes her head, and cracks her neck slightly, rubbing at it as pain shoots across her skull. She turns to glare slightly at Yuki, and then takes a few steps backwards, falling on the defensive as she tries to come up with a plan for getting around Yuki's amazing speed.

With a wink to respond to Rei's glare, Yuki prepares to meet Rei's counter-attack, but none comes. So instead Yuki attacks again, forcing Rei further onto the defensive. A step forward, and a sudden twist of her waist, and she spins a heel out into a powerful roundhouse kick to the head. Fukata frowns a little, knowing he's only got so long before Rei is sufficiently pushed to use her signature attack.

Rei simply smirks as that wink is given to her. She twitches one ear, and then chuckles at herself. Some battles were meant to be taken seriously, but at other times it was just good to have fun. She ducks underneath the powerful kick, watching as it soars over her head, causing a few of her hairs to be put out of place but no real damage to occur. She gives a little whistle of appreciation, and then lashes forward with her own counter-attack, sweeping one kick towards Yuki's grounded leg, the other spinning around to try to catch her in the side as she lands from her attack.

On the layer, Yuki tenses a little as the kick swings around, and it hits with it's full force, in the space where once was, there is now only a foot - and Yuki herself covers a fair distance to the side, colliding with the wall, and bracing herself on her knees and one hand. Her gaze flicks back to Rei, and with a grin - as the match comes near to the end, one way or the other. She turns to face the wall, and with a few steps back, she runs towards, and up the wall. When she had covered a distance upwards - Yuki kicks away, flying through the air with her arms extended like wings of her own. But this angel was never meant to fly, and so after she momentarily rejected gravity, she tumbles downwards. She then holds her arms straight out, and points downwards, spinning as she falls, exactly like a missile.

There is no way that Rei is going to let a missile hit her, especially when that missile is Yuki. Instead, she pulls on the last of her reserves, forcing herself to roll through the dusty gravel. Of course, this has somewhat of a negative side effect. She begins her series of sneezes again, puffing little bits of dust as she turns to look towards Yuki. In her crouched position, she gives a small snort, trying to clear the dust from her nose. Rather than getting totally to her feet, she stays crouched and tries to drive her head towrads Yuki's legs, her horns extending at the last moment.

Yelping aloud at the horns stab into her thigh, Yuki fights to stay upright. She jerks her leg back to remove the impaling points with quieter hiss. But with a smile she realises how open a position Rei is in at that moment, and takes a few steps back to get a good aim on that head near the ground. She grins and says to Rei with a grin: "Insert sports metaphor here." before running forward to kick with all her remaining strength.

It doesn't take more than a quick movement of her head to get out of the way of the kick. She gives a cofused mewl and ducks her head slightly, glancing curiously at the foot that soars past her. As she was so close to Yuki, it made her counter attack far more simple. She reaches forward and sweeps her arm upward, the audible click as her long arm blade extends, trying to rake it up along the fast angel's leg.

As the blade approaches, Yuki gives a look of determination and she moves almost instantly to just out of blade-reach. She drops to a crouch when she appears there, as that attack took the last of her strength, and she had already been waning in energy from the beating she had taken. She looks up at her friend, and says "Good match, Rei-chan. I've still got a little way to go." and then she pushes herself back up and charges forwards, one arm pulled backwards ready to land at least one more blow before Rei finishes.

Mikage bows her head slightly, and then looks up towards Fukata with a smile. "Your Yuki is quite strong, and she gave Rei quite a run. It won't be long until we're the ones defeated." She glances towards Rei then, and gives a nod of her head. Rei returns the nod, and then steps back. Wind starts to circle around her, drawing up and over her body. But rather than condensing it into blades of wind, she lets the full force of the wind blow across the layer like a tornado. The intent is not to do damage, but to blow her opponent upwards and off the edge of this strange, litterbox layer.

On the layer, Yuki staggers back after her blow lands, partially blocked by Rei's grey wings. There isn't enough energy left in her to attempt to dodge the gale, she is part thrown, part carried with little resistance into the air and loosed onto the floor outside of the layer with a clatter. The layer buzzes, and announces the victory, though all watching knew the victor many moments before. Fukata breathes out a sigh as he closes his eyes again, coming back to the real world for now.

Mikage bows her head once more as the buzzer announces her as the winner. She reaches forward and picks Rei slowly up from the layer, holding the angel in her hand as she looks across towards Fukata. "Thank you for playing against me." There is more to be said, surely, but she keeps that to herself for now. She slowly takes her headset off and stands up, walking across the layer to the other side. She stands next to Fukata for a time, and then leans down to give a hug to the young man who has been her friend for so long.

Taken by surprise by her hug, especially in such a public place. Fukata stiffens for a moment, unsure what to do. But it is only for a moment, and as he turns around to return the hug, he has to bite his lip over a lot of emotion he'd been keeping to himself. When he wrapped his arms around her, and rested his chin on her shoulder, he whispered into her ear, "I've missed you, Miki-chan." and when he releases the hug he smiles warmly at her.

"I've missed you, too... Fukata-kun." She murmurs, and gives him a small nudge to the cheek in an almost kittenish fashion. Miki gives her own smile towards him. She glances up towards a group of people who seem to be wanting to use the layer now that the battle is over. "Ne? We'll talk more after the games, okay?" She says, resting a hand lightly on his shoulder as she nods a pair of small girls over to use the layer.

Fukata nods, pulls the headset off and places his angel into his shirt pocket gently, making a mental note to visit the repair area later to get it ready for another battle. "Un, we should." he replies, heading towards the area where angels get fixed. "I'll see you again soon." he smiles.