"Whoa!" A scream rang out from above where tatsu was sitting, and without notice a rain of popcorn cascaded over him and anyone else in the nearby vicinity.

If anyone had bothered to look back they would see two people fallen back on their butt, the man who had been knocked back by Kanji losing not only his expensively procured popcorn but equally as expensive cola as well. Kanji on the other hand hadn't lost anything as important from his grip, his cheap pen had been dropped behind the stadium seatings and his notebook layed sprawled with pages open to a bevy of chaotic formulas and notes.

"Sorry... I didn't know there was anyone else here." Kanji muttered and picked up his notebook before quietly finding a seat, not even bothering to watch the match as he went over his notes.

"How do you not know anyone is in a gigantic stadium with a tournament going on!" The man yelled after the old student to no obvious avail.

Tatsu covers his head when the popcorn starts to rain down, then grabs the pen and hands it to Kanji.
Tatsu says, "Don't worry about. Studying the match?", while grinning.

Keiichi wanders into the stands to watch this particular match with interest. Both Deuses were on his card, and while he knew how they fought in general, it was better to see how they performed in a tournamet setting. Besides, they would both be giving him a decent amount of trouble before all was said in done.

Seemingly taken aback a pen is brought into his view, Kanji looks up and regards the other boy for a moment. After taking the pen he seems to regard the boy more, seeming to lose focus on him at random intervals.

"Angel programming language." He said finally, holding up his notebook stuffed with formulas and notes.

Tatsu studies the notebook carefully, trying to make sense of the formula and notes, but realizing slowly that it is far, far above his head. Tatsu says, "That looks interesting but.. *embarassingly rubs the back of his head* I'm not the best at math. How does it work?"

Fukata walks quitely into the stands and finds a seat, squeezing in next to Keiichi, grinning at him, and saying "How does your matchup look this year, Keiichi-kun?" This match held Fukata's interest of course, Mikage both a friend and a rival for a long time, and not insignificantly the strongest player in this stage of the tournament. "This is going to be an interesting match - Inugata-san has a powerful and dangerous angel, and ... we all know what Rei's capabilities are. I suspect the layer will not know what hit it."

Kanji seems suddenly interested in the conversation, of course because he's able to relay the knowledge he has. Going to scratch his nose but forgetting to let go of his pen, getting ink on his face as he talks. "The Angel and Dues are linked via a brain wave emitter, of course since most of the emitters are supplied for the Layer I'm unable to get my hands on them to improve their design. However since I have my own angel I'm able to increase the responsiveness of the transmitters and micro-servos, though I have been sacrificing my angels frame a little in the process. This is all to help me optimize the response between me and my angel."

Tatsu Tries to be polite and doesn't mention the ink getting on Kanji's face. Starts to speak then attention captivated by the announcer and lights
<Public> Kikichi says, "Gotta go all, nice talking with you guys. See you sometime laters!!"
Fukata laughs, "Did they give that guy *more* enthusiasm drugs than last year?"

Keiichi grins a bit as Fukata takes a seat next to him, "Oi, Ito-san. I think I'll do okay for the most part, but. . ." The boy's attention turns towards the layer with a thoughtful expression, "I'll have to get through both of them somehow. . . so who knows." His shoulders shrug a little bit and chuckles, "All we can do is our best though, ne?"

Kanji doesn't seem to notice the announcement at all, going back to his notes. "Holographic manipulation."

Repeating that word seemed to inspire him and he moved to start writing in his notebook again, oblivious to the world around him while he started on a completely new set of notes.

On the arena, "I CAN'T HEAAAR YUUUUU!" In bad broken English, the announcer shouts as the crowd begins to roar.

Ranmaru shouts, "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Tatsu shouts, "GO GO GO!!!!! ANGELIC LAYER!!!"

On the arena, "I STILL CAN'T HEEEAAR YUUUUU!"

Fukata shouts, "Let's see Chimera! Chimera!"

Tatsu shouts, "I love you Mikage!"

Ranmaru shouts, "Go Rei-chaaaaan!"

Kanji shouts, "YEA AGNELIC LAYER!"

Kanji shouts, "MIKAGE!! HAVE MY BABIES!!"

Ranmaru shouts, "Miki-miki-yousofine~ my heart goes thumpity-thump as we go (silence)!"

Kanji shouts, "Do a barrel roll!!!"

Tatsu shouts, "Blow them away!"

Fukata shouts, "Inugata-sama! *You* can contain the White Storm!"

Tatsu shouts, "Start already!"

Kanji shouts, "Chi-chi-chimera Strike!"

Tatsu eagerly leaning forward in his seat

On the arena, And the announcer seems to insist on adding. "And for those who shouted that they wanted Miki's babies... she's taken you foos!"

Tatsu shouts, "Darn!"

Kanji doesn't at all seem effected by either the announcements or the random screaming going on around him, still scribbling in his notebook.

Tatsu taps Kanji on the shoulder energetically and points at the stage "Check it out!"

Kanji looks up and out toward the layer for a moment, regarding it with a clear lack of attention then goes back to his notes, half a page already covered in complicated formulas consisting of physics and computer code.

Suddenly interrupting his conversation with Keiichi, Fukata pauses for a moment to think, then cries out in support of Mikage, after the moment has passed, Fukata turns back to Keiichi "I wish you the best of luck, ne, Keiichi - it's going to be a tough tournament for you. I think I got off lucky this time." Fukata shows Keiichi his list: Naruhiko, Miina, Kyousuke, Ranmaru, Michi. "Nothing quite so scary as our White Storm there. But of course, Ranmaru-kun and Kyousuke-san could pose problems."

Keiichi chuckles a little, "Hai. Kyousuke is my first round opponent. . . should be interesting."
Perhaps it had been the black cloak, perhaps it had been the fact that the person had sat entirely still. But sitting right behind Keiichi and Fukata, sits the Layer Phantom. From behind his half mask, the man stares down at the two and appears to be grinning. "I wish you both luck." The man voices in a calm and kind voice. "Yo, Kata-kun, Keiichi-kun." It was after all, almost stereotypical for the topplayers to be near eachother.

Tatsu shouts, "Do your best!!!"

Ranmaru shouts, "WOOOO! Go Miki-chaaan! Go Inugata!"

Ranmaru shouts, "Go Rei-chan! Go Chimera-eeh...-chaaaan!"

Tatsu shouts, "You can do it!!!"

Ranmaru shouts, "Screw this tournament! I have green hair!"

Tatsu shouts, "Screw your hair, I have money!"

Tatsu shouts, "And hairgel!"

Ranmaru shouts, "My hair approves of this duel!"

Ranmaru shouts, "My hair approves of this duel!"

Tatsu shouts, ""Help me brother I'm too weak and pathetic to watch this tournament!"

Ranmaru shouts, "Oh bugger!"

Tatsu shouts, "Woo! Chimera!"

Tatsu yells at the top of his lungs

Tatsu shouts, "Take him down!!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Fukata recognises after a moment the odd costume of Oi Ranmaru, "Ah, Layer Phantom-kun, it's been a while." he says off-handedly, showing no sign of surprise at the attire, and a one-sided smile accomanies the greeting. "I believe your fiance is about the teach Chimera how to play the game." Fukata grins.

Keiichi takes a moment to peer over his shoulder as well, chuckling a little as he sees Ranmaru. "Oi, Layer Phantom-san. Good to see you here again this year." He grins, knowing full well that he'll have to face this man later on as well. A tough card for him this time around it seemed.

Tatsu shouts, "Chimera what are you doing? Retaliate!"

"Fukata, when will you learn that a game is never decided before it begins?" The Layer Phantom chimes, half sagely, half joking. "This battle could go either way. Especially since Tomoe-chan has beaten Keiichi-san before, don't you remember?" He peers at the person he was refering to. "I was wholey disappointed in you. Well... not really. Its not like we are some kind of elite or something."

On the arena, The announcer picks up on the audience's unrest. "Oh? What is this? The two angels appear to be taking a small break after the initial assault! Surely Chimera is just getting ready to attack!"

"Ah well," Keiichi looks sheepish a the comment and shakes his head a bit. "Let's just say, last time Zankoku and I faced Chimera, we weren't at our best." The boy grins a bit and peers back towards the layer, "I won't make that mistake again though."
A little kid sitting near Tatsu is bouncing up and down the seat. "Plushie go bounce bounce! Weeee!" Apparently refering to Chimera.

On the other side of Tatsu, Kanji continues to scribble in his notebook, completely oblivious to the duel.

Tatsu shouts, "GoooOOOOO!O!!"

With a visible eye-raise as Fukata notices the drop of his honorific from Ranmaru, but a smile as Fukata decides he likes it. "I think most deus will take Chimera too lightly at first - she seems like a straight-forward type, smash, blast and burn. But there's another layer of strategy going on. I should have saw it myself. But Mikage-chan is not going to fall into Chimera's trap. She reads people well." Fukata knows that much, plans of his own being foiled by Rei reacting in just the right way at just the right time.

Random Person shouts, "Look mommy! That angel just did that trick from that one movie with the lightswords!"

Without bothering to look up, Kanji seemed to perk at what was said. "They both read." He said uncerimoniously, though it didn't seem to rise much over the noise of the crowd.

Tatsu glances over when Kanji comments and nods

"Indeed." Is all the man in the cloak and wearing the mask comments. "But I have my trust in miss Aogiri. Well... I have all reason to. After all...~" He trails off, smiling somewhat victoriously while looking at the two sitting at the row beneath him. He even takes note of Kanji's comment.

Tatsu shouts, "OooooH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Tatsu says, "No damage yet? Crazy"

Another little kid pokes Tatsu from the side. "They took damage. Look!" He points at the big billboard.

Tatsu glances over then looks up at the billboard

"See, I told you so! Silly mister. You need to pay more attention." ~ The little kid chimes.

Tatsu is embarassed and rubs the back of his head.

Tatsu says, "Thanks for the help"

Tatsu says, "Ah, yeah. My first tournament ever. I'm excited!"

Keiichi tilts his head as he watches the match unfold on the layer below, smiling a bit. "They're both very good Deus's, but . . . I'm not sure if Chimera will be able to fell Rei." His attention turns towards the both of them again, "That's the great thing about this game though, you never know what's going to happen in the end."

Once again scratching his nose and forgetting his pen is in his hand, Kanji once again perks at the conversation. For being absorbed in his work, he seems to have a wierd sense of what's being said around him. "A rookie took it a while back... Its bound to happen again."

"If anyone has shown us that, its Misaki and Rei. To us, personally that is. I am sure there are other such people out there in the world... similar to them. Showing us that those who look like they might be frail..." He trails off again, chuckling kindly. "You never know. Chimera might get a lucky shot in. After all, Mikage really doesn't like the spotlights that much. I don't think it'll distract her... but you never know."

Tatsu listens attentively to Kanji

Fukata takes the subtle smugness with a smile, and replies to the mention of Misaki with a chuckle, "Maybe so, but I don't think the Miracle Rookie's as likely this time. Plus - none of us want Mikage-chan to lose to some new player. We all want to beat her ourselves." Fukata proclaims with a laugh.

"Isn't that exactly how it went in the big tournament out there? Everyone wanted to fight Athena, and Hatoko and Sai and so on... they ended up fighting some newcomer who ended up... well. You know the story." The masked man chuckles, apparently most amused by this.

Ranmaru shouts, "WOHOOOO! Go Go Gargoyle-chaaaaaan! (In a very flaming voice)"

Fukata says, "I'm surprised Rei-chan is damaging Chimera-kun this quickly, she is - after all - a survivor who wears her opponents down, then finishes with her signature attack ....""
Keiichi watches and nods, "Seems that way, but. . . we'll see,"

"Mikage no longer needs to continuously defend. You may not have noticed seeing as you were gone so long, but Mikage has changed a little bit over the course of time. As has Rei." ~ So says the masked man.

Was that a jibe at his decidedly elsewhere-ness recently, Fukata wonders, not sure how to answer it - it was after all true that he had been finding less time than he used to, to enjoy time with Mikage, and to a lesser extent, Ranmaru himself - so he says only, a little uncertainly "Maybe so." Fukata finds himself lost in thought for a time, watching the battle, but mind elsewhere.

Keiichi's own attention returns to the match, watching intently and carefully. He knows that Chimera is a tricky opponent, and that while his chips appear to be down that doesn't necessarily mean it's over yet. He doesn't really say anything else at the moment though.

Fukata shouts, "Rei-chan! Rei-chan! Rei-chan! (Chants)"

Ranmaru shouts, "Miki-Miki-Miki-Miki!"

Joining in with the cheering once more, Fukata starts a chant to Rei, and is joined by a rejoinder to Miki. Will Chimera and Tomoe's supporters join the cheers?

Ryou shouts, "Ikke Chimera-kun~! Never give up, fight until the very end!"

Fukata shouts, "And that little bit past the end, too!"

Michi, meanwhile, is clearly cheering for everyonee. Waving a flag, she whistles. "Wai! Struggle! Strive! FAITO! FAITO! FAITO! Show us your passion in this arena! Prove your desire! Wai, violence!" If it helps explain anything, there's two open boxes of chocolates in her lap.

Michi gasps at the burst of flame from the Angel, clapping. "Oh wow, that was sooo cool," she squeals, "I wonder if I could teach Unmei to do tthat?" She grins widely, images of a fire-breathhing ballerina dancing through her head.

Fukata shouts, "Ganbarre, Rei-chan. One more!"

The masked man has in the meantime made his way along the stands, trying to make his way to the exit as he wants to check on how late his opponent was supposed to show up again. Whilst doing so, he wanders past Michi and seems somewhat inspired by their enthusiasm. "You could. If you really tried, I am sure."

"Unmei...no Tenshi?" Fukata says, "Ah, you're my last match, two days from now." Fukata says, turning to look at his future opponent, "Nice to meet you, I'm Ito Fukata."

-*/OOC/*- Ranmaru says, "Fukata is following Ranmaru eh?"

-*/OOC/*- Fukata says, "Hmm? Not my intention to do so."

-*/OOC/*- Ranmaru says, "Well, you are stuck with it now, as Michi was sitting somewhere else. I say so. (Edits in the log to make it seem like you walked along with Ranmaru for a moment.)"

Fukata says, "Where are you headed, Ranmaru-kun?"

Michi looks up and sees... a man in a mask. This prompts another grin. "Oh, wow, that's cool! Are you horribly scarred're somethin'? Are you an outlaw? A super hero? Do you have a secret identity? I tried making a mask once, but my mom said I shouldn't run around in public wearing one or people might think I was going to rob a bank." She pauses, thinking this over for about, oh, point-two seconds. "I'VE GOT HIM!" Without warning, she leaps from her chair to try and tackle the man. Aomori Michi, crime-fighter!

"I am going to check on~ ACK!" And with that, the masked man is forced down onto the floor! There was no way to expect that one! "Ack! Will you... get off me? please?" The people sitting around Michi look at her in a most confused manner, recognizing who this 'masked' man was and begin to make hesitating sounds to indicate that Michi should get off of him.

Michi looks around at everyone staring at her. These don't look like crowds of people cheering on someone who just thwarted someone trying to rob the Arena. "...eh?" She looks down at the man, who doesn't seem to be fighting back. "You're a really lousy criminal, yaknow."

With a pause of disbelief, Fukata bursts out in laughter, watching Ranmaru get tackled to the ground by a little girl. With a second thought, Fukata realises Ranmaru spent a significant period of time in hospital for some reason or another - which he never did want to discuss - and reaches for an arm to pull the young superhero off, "C'mon - funny as that was, not a good idea to break the Layer Phantom *before* his match - he still has to get the opportunity to pass out during it." If he succeeds in getting the girl off Ranmaru, he then offers a hand up.

"Ah... thanks Fukata. I'm in your debt." The Layer Phantom slowly gets up and dusts himself off. The people around him begin to whisper about the audacity of children these days. Silly parents, no sense of humor. But, the non-fun part was that Ranmaru's body now was hurting. Although just a little bit, it was still no fun. However, this did not stop him from putting on that ever kind and calm smile of his as he turns towards Michi. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I am not a criminal." There is a quick glance at Fukata, due to the mention of him passing out. He had not passed out during any matched for quite some time now...

~ In the mean time, Ranmaru turns his eyes about as he notices that the match is just about to come to an end. "Seems Rei has won again." He states bluntly.

Michi gets off the Layer Phantom when it becomes apparent thhat he's not going to hold up the nice ticket-sellers at gunpoint. And anyway, he's already inside: woldn't that be pointless? "Oh. Well. Okay then." She raises a finger, which comes /this/ close to getting jammed up his nose, "But you're really askin' for it, running around with a mask. I'm just sayin'." Pause. "It's a cool mask, though. It'd probably wear one like it."

Fukata says, "How can you tell? That beast has gotten up from effectively no health several hits now. It's still showing zero health!" he points out, pointing at the layer which had not yet buzzed. "You all in one piece, Ranmaru-kun?" Fukata asks, thoughtfully - although suspecting that Ranmaru wouldn't share his pain with him even if he asks.

"Hmm, yes." Ranmaru seems to only pay half attention as the final clash between angels goes off... Chimera versus Rei. He was sure, he had already seen, that Rei would win this match. But it had been close to some extend. "I could tell, Chimera was too tired, and Rei still had more energy left. Besides... this is my fiance we are talking about." He shrugs for a moment. "Anyhow." He turns back to Michi again. "I am glad you like my mask. I generally assume people will recognize me however. Maybe I should change my attire, huh?"

On the arena, "OHHHH!" The buzzer sounds, and the board seems to take a moment. A little exclaimation mark shows that calculations are pending... until finally! Mikage has won, so says the billboard at the top as Mikage's photograph comes up along with an even bigger image of her angel in flight. "SUCH A SPARKLINGU-FIGHTO!" The spotlights immediately cross down onto the champion and winner of this game. "Winner, Rei-chan! And her deus, Aogiri Mikage, Tze White-O Stormemu!" Because english always sounds cooler! "But lets give a hand to both deusses, who fought so brilliantly in our first-o match-u! Aogiri-san and Inugata-san! Yaaa!" The announcer moves his hands in order to get some good loud applause and cheers out of the crowd."

Fukata shouts, "Whoo! You did great, Mikage-chan!"

The masked man looks at Fukata with a most calm looking face. "There, told you so."

Michi beams. This guy's okay. She shakes her head. "Nah, it's cool. Yu-kun says I shouldn't jump to so many conclusions.' She raises an eyebrow, "So that's how youu dress to your match? Psyche 'em out, I get it. Cool." As an afterthought, she gives a surprisingly polite bow. "Sorry about tacklin' you like that.'

"Actually, I dress up like this because it allows me to feel more comfortable amongst this many people. I don't really like crowds." Ranmaru seems a little nervous while saying this. When his costume is being talking like this, he becomes a littlebit too aware of some things like that. However, luckily he has gotten over most of those kind of problems. After all, you can't run a succesful billion-yen company without being able to converse with large groups of people, right?

Michi nods a little. 'Oh. I like crowds just fine. Whenever I'm around lots of people I always want ta... I dunno. Do somethin'. Or say somethin'." She scratches the back of her head, grinning sheepishly. "I guess attackin' a guy in a mask counts, doesn't it? Anyway, I should probably let you go so you can prepare for your match. Oh!" She bows again, "Aomori Michi. Maybe I'll see you in the tournament?"

"I guess so." Ranmaru chuckles painfully before turning about and beginning to wander off. "See you, Aomori-san. I'm going to the waiting room to meet up with miss Aogiri." And with that he continues his venture towards the entrance, hopefully without any more tackling.