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Chi twisted around, smiling as one fang sliced her side and another slammed into her right hand, knocking the blade from her hand. She flipped to the side and lifted the hand up to the light, staring at her hollow hole in amusement "Well aren't I lucky?" she snickered lightly. The girl glanced sidelong at Kittukono and grinned madly "You sure about that?"

She sonidoed, disappearing again and reappearing just in front of him "Since you knocked away my blade I'm going to have to get serious!" She sidestepped him and twisted, aiming for a spin kick to hopefully break a few ribs. Another spin and she moved to sweep his legs out from under him. One more move and she aimed her final attack as a forceful punch to the stomach.

Now all that remained to be seen was whether she hit and if she did it would definitely hurt. If Kittukono recalled, Akane had pushed Shinshi's door into the wall when she'd been surprised, and formed a lovely crater to remember it by.

Chi grinned savagely, willingly letting the fangs slam into her with only her arms as a guard. A moment later she had a few good stabs in her arms, shoulders, and even her side. She stared at the blood, the pain that should have been doing nothing to affect her. After a moment she licked her hand clean of her own blood and made a face "Blegh. I don't taste good."

A slow, cruel smile curled on her lips "You on the other hand..." she walked slowly towards the fallen Fantasma "You taste delicious." She stopped beside him and peered down with sick amusement "A training session turned bloody hm? Akane wouldn't like it if I drank you dry, but then... I don't really care what she thinks." she laughed and knelt next to him "Can the poor little fox not move?" she mocked.

Chi wasn't prepared for the kick and was thrown back a good few yards. She landed on her back, went sliding, and placed a hand on the ground, using the momentum to flip back onto her feet. She slid a few more feet with the momentum before coming to a stop in her crouch. With a feral grin she looked up and wiped the small trail of blood from her mouth away before charging Kittukono in turn.

Leaping into the air, she brought her foot down in a heel kick "Not bad, Fox." she hissed in dark amusement "I think I actually felt that one."

Chi growled as her attack missed and hit air instead. She had just enough time to land before the blows came at her. While normally she would have ignored the pain and moved on, she found her limbs moving without her regard and blocking blows with her bare arms though she was still struck rather painfully. At the last moment she flipped back into the air and landed a few feet away. For once her expression was one of slight surprise What the hell was that?

That was me...

For a single instant Chi found herself in their shared mindscape. What once might have been a grassy plain was now a blackened and charred ruin, destruction and fire raged where the red-eyed woman stood. Opposite of her stood little Akane all blue-eyed and gentle. Where she stood the grass was fresh and new and the distant glow behind her signified peace and comfort. They leaned back against a single tree split down the center with either of their homes qualities, speaking but never meeting.

"Why the hell are you in my business?" Chi snapped viciously.

"We share this body and we need to work together in order to become stronger. While your strength makes you incapable of feeling pain, leaving me weakened and defeated when I return to control is not good for our survival." Akane replied calmly.

"I don't need you telling me what to do!" the other screamed, enraged "I'm the one that gives the orders! Not you!" The world around them melted into black and screams echoed in the distance. It remained so only for an instant before white consumed the space around them.

With the tree no longer between them, Akane glanced back at her other half "No. You don't." she said softly "Neither of us takes orders from the other, and we are doing this together as we once attempted when we were shinigami."

Chi blinked and snapped back to reality, glaring at her opponent. She could feel Akane's consciousness alongside her own though the girl wasn't in control.

We need Kurenai. Get her back.

The red-eyed woman glanced across the field to where her sword was lying on the grass. "I can't believe I'm doing this." she growled and took off for the blade.

Chi gave Kittukono a vicious grin as the Bala came at her "Alright little Akane. Let's see how we get out of this one."

Like this.

Chi didn't break her run as she leapt into the air, twisting and spinning to dodge. The moment she hit the ground again she was backflipping, cartwheeling, and all manner of graceful acrobatics to dodge the bala coming at her. Unfortunately that wasn't enough, and at the last minute several bala slammed into her and knocked her down.

Chi's eyes were wide with shock as she hit the ground. A moment later her mind caught up with what her body was feeling and she hissed out in pain. The girl rolled to her side, clutching at her side painfully as the throbbing of several injuries reached her. Suddenly, it didn't seem to have been a good idea to take in all those fangs.

You fool! What did you do to us!?

Akane's voice was thick with pain Ugh. We leaned to much to my side when we dodged. You're not just borrowing some of my knowledge, you're taking in some of my lack of pain tolerance as well.

What was your first clue?! she hissed back This is turning into a disaster! We were better of with only me fighting!

That's not true and you know it! she retorted It's easily resolved! Just lean more to your side!

The pain lessened but still throbbed slightly in her arms and shoulders. Such a long time without feeling pain made her weaker to the sudden experience, but she couldn't afford to lose. Even a demon like her had a little pride.

Chi hauled herself to her feet and glanced over at the blade where it lay. Kittukono's (lucky, she told herself) hit had pushed her a good distance away again. She would have to start over, but she couldn't do it like this.

Her eyebrow twitched slightly, she hated using defenses but she had no choice. With a grunt she charged her fist with reiatsu and slammed it hard into the ground. The earth crumbled in large chunks, sending some of it flying up into the air. She watched as it moved past her until she saw it Perfect.

Leaping up, she kicked the largest piece of earth at Kittukono and once she landed she was off again.

I need that sword. she grumbled irritably.

Chi snickered softly as she heard Kittukono's shout Serves him right. Then her expression darkened as she dove for the blade.

In one graceful sweep she picked it up, flipped over, and landed lightly in a crouch. The moment her hand touched the hilt it lit up with crimson light, spiraling around it rapidly. She spun on her heels, swinging the blade in Kittukono's direction.

A blood red crescent spiraled out, hurtling right at him. He would have to move quickly to avoid it.

Chi watched Kittukono intently as the crescent shot towards him. She felt something in her mind that she had never felt before: focus.

Unlike the blood thirsty rage she existed in this was sharper, clearer. Her mind was clear of the haze of destruction, she felt like she could conquer anyone.

The balas hit and she rolled onto her back in pain Looks like I'm going to have to work on that.

With a groan she got to her feet again, feeling the dull ache of pain. It wasn't like her injuries were too severe (though Akane would probably say otherwise), but for someone who felt no pain most of the time it was a new experience even if it was reduced by a great deal.

She looked up to see Kittukono on his side bleeding and growled I'll kill him.

She picked up her sword with that same intent and managed to cross half the distance between them before Akane forcibly ripped control from her. Almost immediately Chi felt anger and fury boil inside her as she was forced into the shadows of their shared mind. She hated being trapped.

~~

Akane took a deep breath as she regained control and coughed, wincing at the near constant pain of her wounds. She did a mental check, grimacing slightly at where she'd been run through by the fangs and wincing at the bala burns and painful bruises from Kittukono's staff.

Quit being such a wimp.

The blue-eyed girl sighed softly and shook her head before she sonidoed over to Kittukono. She stumbled and almost fell but managed to catch herself before she hit the ground, and knelt beside her fellow Fantasma.

"Kittukono-san?" she questioned gently, her voice noticeably softer than that of her counterpart. The blunette glanced over his wounds in sympathy and let her blue aura surround her before she focused it into her hands. The blue faded to green and surged forward, forming a green cube around the injured Siete and beginning the healing process.

Out of habit she closed her eyes to focus on her work, humming softly under her breath. She was exhausted, but as usual she was more concerned about the well-being of others than she was about her own.

With a soft sigh she let the barrier go, blinking away the slight dizziness before she glanced at Kittukono "Are you alright now?" She smiled warmly at him, seeming to have forgotten for the moment about her own bloody injuries.

Akane winced slightly as Kittukono gently knocked on her head and scolded her. She smiled shyly at him, some of her usual nature returning now that the fight was over "U-um... s-sorry, Kittukono-san." she glanced over her own injuries and and nodded slightly "I-I th-think I do..."

She let her reiatsu flare around her in its blue aura and curled her hands to her heart. The glow focused there in her hands and became green, slowly spreading through her body and easing the pain of her wounds. After a few moments she opened her eyes and rubbed at them tiredly, taking in her work. She had relatively healed, but some of her deeper wounds had merely become shallow instead of healing completely. She sighed and rubbed at her eyes again.