It's round 5 of the tournament and once again Kyousuke is sitting in the waiting room with the luggage and equipment from his training camp. Although it doesn't look like he's any more restless than he's ever been, he's actually fiddling with his shinai this time, as if he's considering taking it apart and maintaining it before putting it back together. Of course, he probably doesn't have enough time to do that, and he doesn't want to leave a disassembled shinai lying in the waiting room.

Clinking the door to the waiting room shut behind him, Asayama takes a sip from the green tea he just recently bought from the vending machine outside. These tournaments were thirsty work, far more so than anything he'd ever been called upon to do at the Piffle Princess. What was it about them that made them so....some kind of sense of anticipation perhaps? The strain of controlling an angel many times in quick succession? He'd have to do some research on that later, perhaps pull up some of the logs from the tournament itself. Nonetheless, he was beginning to get a headache and he reaches a hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples a little ease it. It hadn't really been a bad tournament, a few wins, a few more losses.....at the very least he'd gotten to see lots of interesting angels. He slumps down in one of the chairs near the large monitor that displays the current competitors and the line-ups, bowing his head slightly and closing his eyes for a moment. His hair droops it's way over his face and he brushes it back, allowing him to look up and get a good view of the screen and the people standing or sitting near it.
He doesn't see too many familiar faces this time around, and guesses that many of them must have either finished thier final matches or have simply stepped out, much like he did, to get some refreshment. There is one boy who he recognises though, sitting apart from the crowd and fiddling with one of those bamboo swords they use in kendo. He vaguely remembers the boy from all those times he'd been defeated by the youth before, after all, the boy's angel was indeed powerful and Asayama hadn't quite figured out a way around that yet.....he'd like to think that he'd simply been too busy to give it consideration. The tall man glances up at the screen once again, when he'd left to grab a drink the hadn't yet annouced the line up for the final round. It seemed they had now.
"Let's see...." Asayama murmurs quietly from his laid back, slouching position on the bench. "Asayama Kentaro versus......Sakamoto Kyousuke." He blinks a couple of times, it seemed like quite the coincidence.....he'd just realised the boy was in the room only moments before, and now with the name he was able to tie both the face and name into one person. "Ah, hell..." He continues quietly. This really wasn't going to bode well for his win record.....not that it really mattered that much, at least that's what he told himself. Might as well talk to the boy a little before going in then, that's what they call 'courtesy' isn't it?
He stands, slowly, and figits a little with his coat, straightening it out to look a little more presentable. Then, walking forwards casually, he tosses his hair behind his shoulders to keep it out of the way when he bends over to talk to the boy. "Sakamoto-san, isn't it? Looks like we're going to be paired up for the last round." He gestures in the direction of the board while waiting on the boy's response.

Kyousuke had seen the lineups a few moments before Asayama had, and at the entrance of the older man, the young teen stands putting his shinai off to the side for a little bit. "Heya Asayama-han," Kyousuke replies. "Yeah, looks like it." The kendoist smiles and nods. "Let's have a good match." Not that he's going to take it easy on the older man, he knows very well that Gunslinger is capable of taking Kensei out.

"Hmph, of course." The older man in question replies, Asayama didn't really rank his chances of winning too highly, but that didn't mean he wouldn't give it his best shot. After he knew that if his boss caught him treating this tournament like some kind of holiday he'd probably have to start playing the penalty game.....he didn't want to end up like Oogata, poor guy. Since bending over to talk to the boy had put the man into an impromptu bow anyway, he simply straightens himself and nods back at the boy. "I haven't seen you at the store for a while Sakamoto-kun. I was beginning to wonder whether or not you'd be participating in the tournament." Asayama doesn't really specialise in off the cuff conversations....but he does his best when he has to.
Meanwhile, on the monitor in front of the two, the current participants finish thier match. A spiky haired youth seemed to have finished off and an angel that was being controlled by a older girl with his own, and the crowd goes wild. Though the boy jumps from his seat to talk to his opponent, by the time he gets there the girl has already grabbed her angel and stormed off, leaving the youth standing there looking more than a little surprised. The announcer splutters and then starts to yell into the microphone again. "What an excellent match between these two competitors, ladies and gentlemen! Give a big hand for Shinamori Aoi and of course, the victor of this match......Tokimono Hiroki!" The cheering of the crowd gets even louder and the younger bow gives a wave to his fans before collecting his angel, turning away and walking back through the door nearest him. The staff on the layer floor quickly move in to reset the layer and clean it of any remaining debris created during the match. It looked like the next one would be starting soon.

Well, Kyousuke supposes there wouldn't have been a reason for Asayama to hear about his training camp, the older man doesn't exactly go to Eriol Gakuen after all. "Yeah, I was offered a chance to go to a kendo training camp, and I decided to go, got back just in time to join it, though I had to sign up online." In fact, the kendoist had been quite out of practice in his first round, having moved Kensei around like a beginninger would in the first few rounds of the fight. A quick battle at the Piffle in between his first and second rounds had done him some good though.

"Kendo, hrm?" Asayama should have guessed that Kyousuke of all people would be doing something Kendo related, after all the boy was practically obsessed with swords and samurai....even his angel was a samurai. "When I was in school, I was never into any of that stuff. Of course I practiced kendo sometimes as part of the cirriculum but I really was never any good at it. I guess you could say it was too physical for me." He chuckles a little bit, letting of some steam before the start of his own match. "So, how have you and Kensei been getting on? Any more interesting developments with your angel you'd like me to know about?" To the outside observer it might look like Asayama was trying to press the boy for information on his angel. At least between the two of them they would know that Asayama had a genuine interest in that sort of thing, even if Kyousuke didn't really.
It's at this point that the two deus' are approached by one of the women on the tournament staff, dressed in her uniform and carrying with her a bright, carefree smile. Asayama didn't recognise this one either, and she had managed to sneak up on him, causing him to go still for a moment and then turn to her with raised eyebrows as if surprised. With a broad grin, the young woman checks her clipboard and then glances up at the two deus'. This far into the tournament she probably knew who they both were anyway, but the people who staffed these tournaments always did have a difficult time deviating from protocol. She speaks in a voice loud enough to be heard over the mumbling chatter of everyone else in the room. "Will deus' Asayama Kentaro and Sakamoto Kyousuke please move to the layer floor, your match will begin shortly. Deus Asayama is on the west side and Deus Sakamoto is on the east side." She lowers the clipboard and stares at both Asayama and Kyousuke.
"Well...." Asayama begins again, not bothering to finish the previous conversation. "I suppose we can talk about this later. For now, we have other matters to attend to. You probably don't really need it but.....good luck." Asayama says 'good luck' in broken english, after all the english phrase for that was so much more appropriate than the Japanese counterpart. He doubted the boy would need luck anyway. With that, he turns away and heads past the woman and into the doors that lead to the tournament area. Funny, he'd been on the west side in the last few matches....at least he knows where to go.

Kyousuke thinks the presence of the shinai in his hands is enough to explain how much more he prefers physical things to mental, so he doesn't say anything, but does give Asayama a quick nod. "No, me and Kensei haven't really had any time to practice lately, so nothing new." And he's pretty sure Asayama has seen his strongest attack already. When the woman approaches, it's much harder to have surprise Kyousuke. After all, he had been sitting against one of the benches, so she couldn't have come up behind him. "Ah alright, uh..." The English phrase does seem a little familiar, you here it enough said in animes and stuff, and he's sure it's been taught in English class too. "Ah... ganbare Asayama-han," he replies, setting the shinai back into its case and making his way over to the entrance of the arena he's to enter from.

The announcer begins by spreading his hands out, causing the crowd to grow marginally quieter than before, then with gusto he quickly brings the microphone close to his lips and yells into it, staring at the crowd and the area over the top of his oversized sunglasses. "Ladies and gentlemen! We're now into the final rounds of what has been a truly breathtaking tournament. In these matches we've seen spectacle after spectacle, and now we're going to see it once again! In this match we have two contestants who've made a good show of themselves in thier respective matches, but now which of them can walk away from a duel between the two!" He throws a hand out, directing it at the west exit. "First up we have the deus from Angelic Layer Incorporated, using the layer itself as his weapon! On the western side, give it up for Asayaaaaaaama Kentaaaaaaro!" As the announcer speaks the name, the crowd goes absolutely wild.
Walking out onto the arena floor once again, you'd think that by this time Asayama would have grown used to the roar of the crowd and the brightness of the lights.....but no, he's still as timid about it as always, keeping his head down as he enters from the west. He removes his coat as he goes, and folds it over his arm. This was just like being in the middle of a very large crowd, except everyone in the crowd was looking directly at you. If he had bothered to look up, he would have seen some of the Gunslinger fans up there, with thier little pop guns and cowboy hats. They kept on cheering even though Asayama had only won around half of his matches. At least he'd managed to give them a show.
Finally, the dark haired man finds his way to the deus' chair and tosses his coat into it. It's only then that he looks up, trying once again to get used to the atmosphere. With one hand on the armrest, he slumps down into the chair, resting his hands on his knees and rubbing them a little bit in anticipation. He wasn't particularly worried about the upcoming match...in fact one could even say that he was a little excited. Kyousuke had pulled off some very interesting manuevers on the layer in the past without even know how he'd managed to perform them. It would be a pleasure to see that again.

The announcer waits for the crowd to settle down a little, then the spotlights swivels over to the other entrance, though Kyousuke can't be seen yet. "Next, Asayama's opponent, a student from Eriol Gakuen, and deus of the hard hitting Kensei, Sakamoto Kyousuuuuke!" The announcer sweeps his arm over to the east exit.
Despite the fact that Kyousuke has been showing up to every other one of his matches on time, there are probably some people still expecting him to run in late again, even if he was seen in the waiting room just minutes before. After all, he had practically pulled that at last year's Kanto Qualifier's. Of course, Kyousuke doesn't actually want to use the Miyamoto Musashi tactic of showing up late, or disappearing in this case, to unnerve his opponent, so he immediately walks into the arena, already accustommed to the cheers and jeers of the crowd, and in fact is probably more used to being in a tournament setting than his opponent is. He frequently attends Kendo tournaments after all. In any case, the kendoist doesn't react too much to the crowd and quickly takes his seat.

Since he already knows the procedure, Asayama reaches down towards the pocket of his coat that contains Gunslinger. As the coat is slung over the armrest of the deus' chair, the tall programmer has to rummage around a little bit in order to deal with the odd angle. Eventually though he manages to free his angel from the pocket, wrapped in cloth as it is. After managing to get it into his lap, he begins unwrapping the tiny figure ever so slowly...taking great care with it. Many of his fan's already knew from watching him both at the Piffle Princess and in previous matches here that this had become something of a ritual with Asayama, even if he'd never admit that himself, and they watched him in rapt attention.
The announcer seemed to have caught onto it too, as he immediately directs the attention of the crowd from Kyousuke towards Asayama with a wave his arms and a twirl of the microphone cable. He steps fowards, lifting one foot and placing it on the railing of the balcony he stands up. This puts him in a precarious, if 'cool' pose that sets him looking over the layer. He begins to yell into the microphone again. "Ahah! Looks like Asayama's already preparing his angel to fall-in, so without further ado, allow me to present our resident programmer's angel...Gunslinger! This angel uses the layer technology to generate a myriad of weapons that he uses in duels, rumour has it that Asayama developed this technology himself!" Then he glances around to check on Kyousuke and see if it's time to announce Kensei yet.
Asayama peers up at the announcer with a raised eyebrow. Where the hell did he get that information from? Perhaps Icchan was feeding the man some details, and if that were the case....what else could he have been told? Nonetheless, he doesn't have time to consider that sort of thing right now....he has to focus on the matter at hand, this ill-fated duel with Kyousuke! He finishes unwrapping the angel and discards the cloth at his side, holding the angel up so that the audience can get a proper look at it. They erupt in a loud cheer once again, and Asayama frowns just a little bit at this, perhaps in thought. He sighs away his nerves and turns towards the deus' visor which rests on a hook to one side of the chair. Lifting it away from the hook, he places it on his head and presses the button on the side to extend the wings. That was the last of the preperations, now he's ready to fall in whenever the announcer gives the word.

The announcer turns to Kyousuke next, who has his visor all set up already and has Kensei in his hand. "And once again Kensei, the silent samurai! In Kyousuke's words, 'He does... stuff!'" Well, it's not Kyousuke's fault he has no idea how he does most of the stuff he does with Kensei. In fact, the only thing he really knows how he's doing are the purely physical things, which generally require some insight gained from martial arts to understand. While the announcer had been talking, the layer had randomized, and now it settles on the rye field layer. "These two will be fighting on the Rye Field layer! And now! Both deuses... ENTRY ANGEL!"
Kyousuke goes first. "Kensei, Nitou Ryu! Mairu!" he shouts out, rearing his arms back, then tosses Kensei forward casually. It's a controlled throw, so the samurai enters the layer cleanly, and it seems that Kyousuke doesn't feel like being showy today, simply having the samurai land on both feet.

As the layer type is announced, Asayama stands up and glares at it. He'd never really had much luck on that layer before, and so it didn't bode particularly well for him. Still, he had to make the best of a bad situation. With one last glance up at the crowd and the announcer, Asayama uses his free hand to flick his hair behind his back, and steps forwards just a little so that he could throw his angel into the layer properly. He breathes out steadily, preparing himself just a little more, he always hated these big showy speeches that you had to make before tossing your angel into the layer but....rules were rules.
"Warrior of the west, lock and load! Gunslinger....ikimasu!" Asayama calls out, but his heart really isn't in it, at least no where near as much as Kyousuke's seems to be. He throws the little angel at the layer like a knife and the figure collides with the holographic wall of the machine a breakneck speed. The moment he touches this surface, Gunslinger's eyes come alive and he turns about in mid-air. One hand is thrown upwards to grab onto his hat, making sure that it doesn't fly off midflight. Ah, the rye field....at least it would be a soft landing. At the cowboy impacts with the ground he immediately falls into a roll, coming to a stop and holding himself up with one arm in a kneeling position. He rises slowly and removes his hat, which is a little crushes from the roll. Dusting it down, he places it back on his head firmly and folds his arms, glaring over his muffler at the samurai.

Kikichi says, "GO GUNSLINGER!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!"

Kensei bows as Gunslinger enters the layer, then pivots, mashing the rye he had already crushed so he can give his deus a bow as well. Then the sword saint turns once more, facing his opponent once more. Neither one of his swords are drawn just yet, but it looks like he's quite ready to quick draw it... not that it would do very good. A quick draw duel between Gunslinger and him probably wouldn't go very well.
The announcer has been watching the preparations for both deuses, and once it looks like they're over, he once again brings his microphone to his mouth and shouts. "ANGELIC FIGHT!"

Gunslinger is the first to break from his standing position. He knows the samurai angel really isn't someone you want to tangle with up close and so begins stepping backwards to get some distance. He rushes through the rye, parting it as he goes and, when he believes that the other angel might not *instantly* kill him, he stops and turns around. The same wind which winds its way through the rye always tousles Gunslinger's muffler, causing the scarf to flick about. The crowd has gone silent, watching the beginning of the match in rapt attention. This silence combined with the ambience of the rye creates an effect which is not dissimilar to.....a mexican stand off. Of course, after have been torn apart in previous matches with this opponent, it's Gunslinger's nerve the breaks first. He turns to the side a little and lifts his arms. Little sparks of blue light swirl around them and form into his first weapon of the match, a simple bolt action rifle. It's a fairly decent weapon for the range, and it might keep the samurai on his toes....at least for a moment or two.

Kensei does little more than take bullet after bullet at first, and after a nice sized chunk of his life had already been taken out, the sword saint strikes. A white aura flares up around his body, shielding him from the rest of the bullets, and the samurai, who still hasn't drawn, finally makes his move after the slightest hint of pause. In one swift motion, the katana is drawn in a battou utsu style attack, sending a wave of energy flying across the field, shaving off bits and pieces of rye as it makes a beeline for Gunslinger.

Having pushed himself back to the edge of the layer, Gunslinger simply has nowhere to run to and is completely toppled by the wave of energy as it slices into the rye around him. He'd forgotten that Kensei had ranged attacks as well....if Gunslinger could speak right now, he'd be grumbling. Nonetheless, the attack had shaved off a significant amount of sharpshooter's life and torn a decent sized gash across his clothing. He get's up with a painful slowness, creeping forwards and stumbling just a little but somehow managing to stay on his feet.
Drawing a hand back along the length of the rifle, he loads another bullet into it and locks it into place, levelling it at the Samurai once again. He'd better hurry though, Kensei is getting closer and closer. Just as he's about to fire the weapon, the blue light warps around it and it transforms from an old wild west bolt action rifle into a much more modern automatic one! Aiming just to the side of Kensei, Gunslinger spreads bullets across the battlefield, tearing apart the stalks of rye as he goes. This attack isn't intended to hit so much as it is to keep the other angel away for just a few seconds more, giving the cowboy a chance to plan his actions.

The aura doesn't fade away from Kensei's body, though it does become slightly dimmer. As Gunslinger recovers from the attack, Kensei is already in motion for his next one. He shifts his stance, moving his left foot forward, but switches his katana up so that it's almost held overhead, though still pointed at Gunslinger. Rurouni Kenshin fans will easily recognize this as the Gatotsu's second stance, which Kensei doesn't use very often. He does this time though, as he's realized that the best way to get at Gunslinger will be to take to the air, and his leap carries him over the gun wielding angel's rapid shots. As soon as he gets within a sword's length, the stab is thrown out.

Placing the automatic weapon in between himself and the stab, the gun breaks in two, exploding into a shower of blue sparks. Luckily, it's these sparks that obscure the other angel's vision for just a moment and allow Gunslinger to slip past him, already forming the next weapon from his set. He runs as fast as he can, but knows that he probably can't outpace the samurai. So, he turns around to face him at the very last second, slowing down to a halt. He knows that Kensei will never fall for a trick like that again, and that he probably has much more powerful moves up his sleeve....so this might very well be the last few seconds of this match. Might as well make this one count.
He holds his hands together and forms the next weapon, the small sparks forming into larger and larger shapes, soon becoming a recognisable weapon. It appears as some kind of grenade launcher, although futuristic in design. Gunslinger hefts the weapon in Kensei's direction and fires it almost without aiming it. The silver ball that ejects from the barrel cuts it's way through the rye and towards the other angel, changing it's movements subtley to match his. Meanwhile, Gunslinger makes another break for it, running around the edge of the layer this time and leaving Kensei to tangle with the ball.

Kensei can deal with the large ball in a few ways, but he chooses the most risky way, considering he was never too good at taking hits. The samurai just drops his guard and lets the thing impact against him, and though his life bar might be dropping lower, he certainly isn't showing any pain on his face. When the attack is over though, Kensei quickly tracks down where his opponent has run to, and once he figures it out... he blurs out of sight. Just as he's done on a few other occasions, the samurai carves a path through the rye, zigzagging around a little before he reappears in front of Gunslinger, arms reared back quickly before he stabs forward with all the strength he can gather into his one arm.

Kikichi says, "COME ON GUNSLINGER! YOU GOT HIM ON THE RUN! FINISH IT!!!"

Unable to evade the attack once again, it scythes through Gunslinger, dealing a huge amount of damage to him....he topples down into the rye and looks all but finished. However.....he's not quite dead yet. He holds himself up vaguely on one arm. If he were human he'd be spitting blood right now but luckily he's not. He staggers to his feet, swaying slightly, the gun dropping from his hands. Then he drops to his knees. That's it, one gamble left to prolong this fight. He smiles up at the samurai from his position on the ground, then disappears into the rye. At first it's a roll, then it's as much of a crouching run that such a damaged angel can make. Finally he throws his hat in one direction and tosses himself in the other in order to hide give Kensei two options. It's a 50/50 chance of survival....then again...luck was never his strong point.

From the stands, a boy's voice shouts "Ganbarre~, Gunslinger!"

Kensei doesn't look amused, but he isn't unapproving either. Hiding is a valid tactic, especially in a place like this. But just like attacking from behind, it's one Kensei would prefer not to use. And so the sword saint just stands there. His eyes are closed, perhaps trying to listen to the sounds of the layer, or maybe he's just resting them. Whichever reason it is, he isn't attacking, and just waits for his opponent to emerge instead... for now.

Gunslinger continues to shuffle through the rye, moving as quietly as he possibly can. As damaged as he is, no way is he going to stick his head out now....that would be suicidal. At this point there's really not much he can do except prolong the inevitable....and so he keeps his head down. Kensei is going to spot him here eventually, he knows that, and he's supposed to be giving the audience a show....he knows that too. Away from the layer, Asayama sighs to himself, right now the boy is completely invincible to his tactics....but there must be some way, something, some method that he could use to break away from this string of failures. Right now it might be informative to test Kensei's patience, if it's long then this tactic won't be valid in future but...if it's short....perhaps the angel can be confused. Really though, he's grasping at straws, for some reason, Gunslinger can neither avoid nor take the other angels strikes, and he simply can't figure out why.

Kensei's patience does start running thing and instead of simply standing there, the samurai finally begins moving around the layer. He had been hoping to give the gun wielding warrior a chance to at least fight back, but if all he was going to do was hide, then there's nothing he can do about it. Soon, a flash of movement catches the samurai's attention. There! Immediately, he brings his katana up in both hands... then dashes in towards his opponent, almost blurring out of sight again. When he reappears, it's right by where he had seen the flash of movement, and he's now bringing his sword down at the gun toting angel in a devastating attack. It seems trying Kensei's patience isn't the best thing to do.

Someone at Gunslinger's level of damage really hasn't got a chance in hell of taking that level of attack. He had been hoping that he could wait it out a little bit and then mount some kind of counterattack. However, as was mentioned, luck wasn't really his strong point. He could only wait for so long before the other angel spotted him. The attack slams into him and he brings his arms up in defence....but the armouring tears like paper and the mechanisms shatter like glass. The sword slams into Gunslinger's chest and he goes limp. The moment this occurs the buzzers sounds and Asayama plants an elbow on one of the armrests, leaning against his palm and putting his weight on it. "Too strong once again, Kyousuke.....too strong." He murmurs quietly, overshadowed by the cheers from the crowd.
The announcer pauses for a moment and then yells out. "Gunslinger is too damaged to continue! The winner is......Kensei!" At this the crowd goes wild and cheers for Kensei and Kyousuke. Shaking his head, Asayama stands up and lifts the deus' helmet from his brow, walking over to the layer and scooping up the remains of his angel. He idly wondered what he was going to do with this, he'd need to completely replace the arms and problem most of the central mechanism....it was such a mess. Idley, Asayama wondered if the boy had any control whatsoever over his own angel's strength. He turns to the boy, the subject of the cheering audience and says "Well done." dryly, frowning a little bit. No, he wouldn't be challenging this one again for a long time....at least....not until he'd figured out some kind of strategy against that kind of power. Moving back to the chair, he picks up his coat and throws it over his shoulders, exiting the area as quickly as he came and leaving Kyousuke to the audience.

Kyousuke only pays minimal attention to the audience as he approaches the layer to retrieve the now unresponsive Kensei. Perhaps he might have overdone it with that last attack, but he had been a little worried about what would happen if Asayama was given too much time to think and plan. "It was a good match Asayama-han," Kyousuke says, fully meaning it. Gunslinger always worries the kendoist, and this time it drove him to use his hardest hitting and trickiest attacks. He didn't want to lose another round in this tournament after all. After Asayama walks off, Kyousuke gives a quick smile to the audience before he runs off as well.