Painting the Town Red. [Ikiru and Hisan]

After hearing how everyone else's experience of last nights dreams went, Ikiru was going into tonight a little more cautious. Mitasu clearly meant business, if she was able to break the likes of Kaku and Ru, or even those tough Saints that agreed to help. Whilst Ikiru was a cheerful guy, he was easily broken, and his condition made him all the more delicate. But at least he had Hisan, and Mitasu could try all she liked, nothing would break Hisan the grumpy. Ikiru sighed as they stood in the desert field, wondering how hard Mitasu was planning on trying tonight to hurt them. He didn't appear nervous, but felt like it inside. Ikiru clutched onto his staff, it wouldn't have the same magical effect on him in this Dream world, but still felt comforting to hold. He glanced to Hisan to grin, until the world finally formed to whatever masterpiece Mitasu made. That grin disappeared instantly when Ikiru looked around. He let out a silent gasp, unable to find anywhere to look that wasn't boiling his blood. The Kyuban could feel hunger rise inside of him, though for now, he was kept just barely calm. Yume must be being put to work here, to keep Ikiru from losing his sanity. 
But, no matter the effort put in, Ikiru felt himself shake a little. This was like showing a starving man an open buffet, and Ikiru didn't know how to handle it all. "So.. hungry.." Ikiru muttered, much unlike himself, before shaking his head. He couldn't break the record in how long it took to break someone in this Dream world, or let Hisan down so soon. But, everything around Ikiru was so hard to resist. Ikiru's hands gripped his staff tighter, glancing to Hisan, "She... really doesn't mess around." He tried commenting in his usual chirpy tone, but even that was becoming harder to do. 

Ikiru was thinking the same as Hisan. If the Kyuban was pulled out now, then Mitasu would focus more on another team, perhaps on Kaku's team, and Ikiru didn't want his brother put through more grief. Last night had an effect on Kakushin that wasn't easy to notice, Ikiru's brother was always good at hiding his feelings like that, but it wasn't enough for Ikiru not to see. The broken teams needed a night to recover, so Ikiru really needed to focus right now, and not give in. He knew how it would go, the Kyuban would go after the souls Mitasu had created, only to find them to be empty. Then, frustrated and hungry, he'd go after the only soul that was real that he could find. Ikiru didn't know if hurting Hisan here would hurt him in the real world, but as a guess, Ikiru believed whatever the twisted side of the Angel took here would be permanent. Already his eyes were changing red and Ikiru could feel the wooden staff in his hands crack under the pressure he was putting on it with hands clenched so much. For a moment, Ikiru thought he'd fallen too far already to be brought back, but the good part of him picked up Hisan's request. For a moment, Ikiru looked confused and doubtfully to Hisan, wondering how he could possibly ask for that, but then Ikiru smiled. He understood why now, and was grateful. "I.... Ikiru Sonzai... Seikatsu-Yoi-Sutekina-Shiawasena-Saezuri-Shigoto-Watashinonamaeha-Hontoni-Nagaidesu-Sore-Dake-De-Itte-Iru-Bara-Wa-Akai-Sumire-Wa-Aodearu-Watashi-No-Namae-Wa-Nagaidesuga-Sore-Wa-Atarashi-Nanimonai-Suru." Ikiru stated once, finding it hard for a moment before the words just flowed. It felt great to use his full name again, and Ikiru felt the tension begin to leave him, and it only got better, the more Ikiru muttered his name, "Ikiru Sonzai-Seikatsu-Yoi-Sutekina-Shiawasena-Saezuri-Shigoto-Watashinonamaeha-Hontoni-Nagaidesu-Sore-Dake-De-Itte-Iru-Bara-Wa-Akai-Sumire-Wa-Aodearu-Watashi-No-Namae-Wa-Nagaidesuga-Sore-Wa-Atarashi-Nanimonai-Suru..." Ikiru repeated, confidently. Though he still couldn't move, or didn't dare look anywhere around him.

The ticket for keeping Ikiru sane was working, as discovered in the past, but it would only remain so for so long. And the fact that in exchange for keeping Ikiru calm, it sucked away others sanity from simply listening to it. Though Ikiru usually found this amusing, one reason why saying his name seemed to work so well. It felt like a storm of going from desires to feast to refusing, and as Ikiru kept chanting his own name, his voice would shake just like his body. A Kyuban really wasn't the best choice here, it was so easy for Mitasu to torture Ikiru. Though perhaps that was the reason Ikiru was picked. Being such an easy target, Mitasu could become quite distracted in playing with Ikiru, which would benefit the others a lot. All reasons for Ikiru to hold on in, for as long as possible. Ikiru was still chanting when Hisan told him to keep going, but something did stop Ikiru for a second. Yes, Hisan was right. Eating would help, it would always help stop the painful desire in the Kyuban. But he couldn't and Ikiru explained that to Hisan by shaking his head, "If... If I eat once, then I won't b-be able to stop." Ikiru replied. Even the moment Ikiru stopped chanting, his eyes glowed more red, and he rushed back into repeating his name. "Ikiru Sonzai-Seikatsu-Yoi-Sutekina-Shiawasena-Saezuri-Shigoto..." The Angel said rapidly, not halting for even a breath right now. Mitasu was out there waiting for Ikiru to be on the brink of changing no doubt, he just hoped he could prevent himself from giving her that chance. 

It was good to have one partner in this nightmare. It must have been obvious that alone, a Kyuban against Mitasu would be impossible. Hisan was the key to winning this nightmare fight, and Ikiru would just have to play decoy. His red eyes glanced to Hisan, hoping the Demon was prepared for whatever was to come. Mitasu wouldn't be able to break the Demon, but Ikiru would get more and more aggressive the more fake souls he ate, so the Angel would eventually become a problem. Ikiru stopped chanting, smiling slightly to Hisan. "I look forward to having a cute Demon as my baby-sitter." Ikiru muttered, speaking weakly with the usual tease to his voice. Nodding to Hisan, Ikiru turned to face away from the Demon, trying to focus his hunger on the empty souls. They smelt real, and their delectable aura felt so real too. Ikiru would just have to concentrate only on the delicious smell of souls before him, rather than the only real one just behind him. As certain as he could be that his concentration was on the empty souls, Ikiru let go of the leash on his monstrous side. It felt instantaneous. Finally giving into hunger, Ikiru felt so free as he let his nails grow into talons, and eyes to glow red. He dashed forward a bit, not knowing which soul to go for first. Plus, they weren't inside a body, just floating in the air. So Ikiru feasting on them was made so much easier. The Kyuban growled quietly to himself, before holding a hand up. His clawed hand hummed with some evil magic, before like a magnet, the souls were drawn to Ikiru's hand. From there they entered his body directly. It wouldn't take long for the Kyuban to realise that these souls weren't real, but the real Ikiru was hoping to hold out for as long as he could, tricking his own dark mind to give Hisan as much time as he could. 

Tricking others with pranks was a speciality of Ikiru's. But tricking his own mind was tougher than he'd thought. The more Ikiru ate, the more aggravated the Kyuban's blood became. What exhaustion Yume must be going through to try and prevent Ikiru from turning, the Angel didn't know. But he did know, that no matter her efforts, things weren't going smoothly. When against someone like Mitasu, keeping one's sanity in check when it was already so fragile was impossible. As predicted, soon enough Ikiru's hand clenched, his body refusing to take in anymore of these pointless souls. The last spark of sanity could only panic, knowing it had lost control too early. Ikiru shook like a leaf, slowly turning his head around. Hisan wasn't there, a normal Ikiru would be grateful that his friend was out of harms way. But the Kyuban was dying for blood right now, growling in frustration that his prey was loose somewhere. Ikiru took in the nightmare's air, searching for any scent of a real soul out there. But, with an evil smirk on his face, Ikiru stood his ground and waited. So, it turned out that the prey were coming towards him, all the Kyuban needed to do was lie in wait. He saw a woman first, not the soul he was looking for. But it was movement, and Ikiru charged for it. He seemed to surprise the Demon woman for a split second with the sheer speed that he moved, but she still managed to dodge the Kyuban's attempt to stab her. Landing after his attack, Ikiru didn't turn to look to Mitasu, but rather to the other soul just behind her. It was no better or worse than Mitasu's soul, but for some reason, Ikiru just wanted to consume it more. So he ignored Mitasu, staring at Hisan with glowing red eyes lost of emotion. Spending a second simply staring, when it came to finally moving, Ikiru was lightening fast. He took a wide turn, trying to catch his prey off by running towards him from the side, planning on crashing right into Hisan to knock him to the side.

Kyuban's acted out of only one thought, consuming souls. So Ikiru didn't even have a plan of attack, other than to sink his claws into Hisan. The first attack missed, but all Ikiru did to respond was turn on his heel immediately to try and strike again. Though the current Ikiru wouldn't remember it, Hisan was keeping to his word. He could defend himself against a Kyuban, a task that wasn't exactly easy. The more desperate a Kyuban was, the faster they moved. Ikiru was putting up a challenge any fighter would struggle against. Ikiru's claws clashed with Hisan's sword sparks flying as if the Kyuban's nails were swords of their own. Hisan blocked well, and began saying things that past right through the Kyuban. His mind was swarmed with the sole desire to eat. Ikiru made a few hopeful slashes at Hisan, that still missed, before the Demon shoved the Kyuban back, dropping his weapon in the process. The Kyuban growled, lifting himself up to stare at Hisan again. It was fortunate that the Kyuban was pushed back, and somewhat intrigued by the Demon choice in being unarmed, that Ikiru was able to listen to what the Demon said. The Kyuban refused to take any words in, gradually walking towards the defenceless Demon. But, what Hisan admitted after pausing for a moment, stopped the Kyuban in his tracks. Ikiru's face didn't change, he didn't react to what Hisan said in any other way then just stopping and staring. In his mind, Hisan's words were enough fuel to Ikiru's will to do at least one sane thing. The Kyuban's head turned around, and he switched from facing Hisan, to facing Mitasu instead. Ikiru focused on only her wicked soul, and was no sooner chasing down the Demon woman, attacking relentlessly, and desperately, to try and land a hit on her to feed.

There was no denying that Mitasu was a good fighter. One would think when she relied so heavily on hurting others through nightmares, that she would lack more in physical strength. But, no matter how much the Kyuban caught her by surprise, Mitasu was prepared to dodge Ikiru's attacks. As relentless and fast as they were, the Demon witch was keeping up with Ikiru, and almost beating him. The Kyuban's claws couldn't get close enough to Mitasu to take even a small fragment of her soul. He instead had to rely and biting and kicking as well. Taking a few hits that, whilst Ikiru himself didn't even feel, knocked him back slightly, Ikiru quickly recovered to attack again, before noticing the dark orb pass his head. It hit Mitasu, and seemed to keep her distracted. Whatever magic power it had, the orb prevent Mitasu from being able to react properly. The Kyuban could have smiled, if his face would show emotions, so instead he rushed closer to finally get the release he wanted by stabbing Mitasu and taking a real, living soul.