Ijemaru curled up on his bed, clutching his pillow tightly to his chest and sighing with worry. The four of them were in such close quarters, and it was difficult to use his powers discretely to distill his side effects. There would be so many chances for him to mess up in two days under these circumstances. Stage two was a new challenge. He'd handled stage one. No one had noticed any changes in his personality, he'd been so careful. Any slip-ups he'd had were easily attributed to his ability's side-effects. Hopefully, those observing him would blindly accept any new strengths he obtained during this stage--he was on their side after all.<br/><br/>Stage two meant that there was no longer any turning back. That was fine, though. He didn't want to turn back. Every step he took was a step closer to-- He clutched the pillow tighter and blushed, showing his teeth with a small smile and closing his eyes. Yes, he was getting closer.<br/><br/>----------------<br/><br/>Battler sighed. He didn't like suppressing his flames, but he could see Heather's point. He was easily visible when his flames were out, meaning the enemy would see him long before he saw them. That could make him a liability to the rest of the group. When Heather went to open the door, he killed his flames as quick as he could. It would be bad if any normal person saw him like that.<br/><br/>It looked like Ebisu had abandoned Heather's cat. Bad news for Ebisu. As soon as the door was closed, Battler let out a breath and little flames started up on him again. He noticed Snickers staring up at him and sighed. "Yeah, alright fine," he caved, dosing his flames so the cat could hop up and join him. She made herself comfortable on his lap and he pet her fur lightly.<br/><br/>"Sorry," Battler said, in Heather's direction, unsure if she was still conscious. "I know I should be more careful. It just feels better when I'm not holding back. On top of that, for whatever reason, the academy nurse said I was producing demon toxins a lot faster than I should be. So it really doesn't take long for my side effects to kick in." He chuckled, "So I guess you could say I have a lot of steam to burn off."<br/><br/>-----------------<br/><br/>Ebisu stood staring at the ocean for several minutes after the city had faded. Originally, he was on the deck to enjoy himself. Now he was afraid to go back to the room and face Heather's wrath.<span style="font-style: italic">Snickers is a smart cat,</span>he kept telling himself.<span style="font-style: italic">She must have gotten back safe and sound.</span>So why did he feel like the wicked demon called pain was looming over his shoulder?