"No, you idiot, don't just charge in—"

Too late. No sooner had Tokiko opened her mouth than Hikari blasted herself forwards in a suicidal attack, and promptly got herself shot out of the air. If Tokiko hadn't been holding things in both hands, she'd have facepalmed then and there. [i]You utter blockhead! Did you seriously just rush in without a plan?![/i] Even with Hikari's limited powers, she should have at least been able to avoid one attack, but apparently her inexperience with using her powers was compounded by a total ignorance of basic tactics and teamwork.

[i]Though really... this is my fault.[/i] Tokiko glanced over at Hikari's body, relieved to see that she'd been knocked out but not seriously injured. She had to give credit to Kagami there: the Empress had been careful to use just enough power to take her out without inflicting lasting harm. [i]I knew something like this would happen from the start. Even so, I let my anger control me, and now Hikari's gotten hurt, just like I thought she would.[/i]

Her attention shifted back to Kagami, who was preparing to attack again. "What, 'junk' again? Go read a thesaurus before you trash-talk, you half-baked ignoramus!" Even if it was one-on-one now, Tokiko wouldn't go down so easily. [i]You're not the only one leagues above a newbie like Hikari. Let me show you what I can do![/i] The devices in her hands started to come apart, slowly disassembling...

And then Kagami decided to go off and chase a shade. Tokiko lowered her arms with a sigh. [i]Seriously? Just as I was about to show off my awesomeness in front of Hikari...[/i]

"Yeah, sure, run away," she muttered under her breath. She didn't move to follow, though. Her main reason for even starting this fight was lying on the ground with smoke rising off her, and Tokiko's initial fury had cooled a little bit, enough for her to remember the reasons she'd wanted to avoid this fight in the first place. With a tired sigh, she let the energy around her hands wink out, her tools reassembling into their original forms.

"Dork," she said, ambling over to Hikari and crouching down beside her. "Did you think this would be like some anime, where willpower alone would be enough to make you win?" She shook her head. "Laughable. If you'd held back and listened to me, this wouldn't have happened."

She didn't seem angry, though, just disappointed. There was even a little remorse showing through in her expression. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to take part just now. You clearly weren't ready for it." Shoving the cigarette lighter in one pocket, she extended a hand to help Hikari off the ground. "You understand, now? [i]This[/i] is Hex Night. [i]This[/i] is what you're up against. And now that you've experienced it for yourself, I'll ask you one last time..."

Her eyes narrowed. "...do you still want to fight?"

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