Hayleigh Hisashi vs. Yuki Kazikura

[DizzyKnight]

Just about every part of Hayleigh's body was searching for an excuse to take a break, but she knew that now was certainly not a good time for anything of the sort. Her legs trembled, hands shook, and heart pounded as she watched Yuki drag herself to the ropes and climb up to her feet, putting the two lightweights on opposite sides of the ring and facing eachother.

Seeing this, Hayleigh pushed off of the ropes and staggered forwards to the center of the ring, brushing her silver ponytail back over her shoulder and trying to put herself into something that resembled a fighting stance. Ahead of her, Yuki took the opposite route, climbing the ropes to awkwardly, yet successfully, balance on top, her small lightweight figure not enough to bend the ropes all that far.

And then she leapt forwards, feet-first, towards where Hayleigh was standing. The girl in blue followed Yuki's movements, and then tried to brace herself ready for the impact, blushing slightly as Yuki's skirt was blown upwards, and then attempting to deflect the move by pushing Yuki's feet sideways as soon as they were in range.

She only half-succeeded, as her hand slipped across Yuki's right boot, but caught her left, pushing it with just enough force to open her legs. Rather than being hit with the not-so-pleasing force of Yuki's weight behind her boots, Hayleigh found her torso meeting her opponent's, catching her hands under the rookie's rear, and keeping her balance only for a second.

A moment later, and the two lightweights hit the canvas, Yuki mounted on top of Hayleigh somewhat suggestively, while Hayleigh herself seemed about done, too tired to keep herself even from drooling and only weakly trying to hold her opponent off with both hands against Yuki's belly.

[CaptainL]

While Yuki wasn't as light as some in her division, even with her slender frame, and while she had honed her style as a striker, she still valued her high-flying moves. They wowed her opponents as much as the audience, and she was always keen to put as much of herself into her matches as possible, straining her body as much as she could - anything less would be holding back, and she had to give 110% of everything she did. Even with her body pushed to the limit from the strain put on from this bout, she was dedicated to making her impact against Hayleigh. And when she looked this winded, it was as good a time as any. This was it - here went nothing!

But, to Yuki's surprise...it wasn't it. Hayleigh still had some fight in her yet, and the girl's eyes widened in shock as she came near to her opponent only for the silver-haired girl to dodge the full impact of her feet, getting out of the way and grasping for her. Yuki barely had time to let out a gasp before her opponent grappled her, though her face flushed just a moment as she felt her hands brush against her rear end. The two soon went crashing down to the mat, landing there together. Although Yuki was the one who landed on top, the momentary surprise she had felt from Hayleigh reversing the maneuever was enough to keep her from capitalizing on it, as she lay red-faced and trying to catch her breath.

Soon, though, Yuki snapped herself out of her bewildered state, realizing that the opportunity had been handed to her. Hayleigh was down, and she had her chance! Seeing that the Hisashi sister seemed just as tired as she was, Yuki figured she wouldn't face much resistance, and so she tried to get in another pin attempt. All the while, she looked over at the ref, hoping against all hope that she would actually notice them this time.

[DizzyKnight]

Hayleigh could very well have simply laid there for the rest of the week. Despite having a couple years experience, and a few dozen matches to her name, the silver-haired newbie had always been awful when matches dragged on. What confused her was that this match hadn't dragged on, it was even on the shorter side of fights that she was used to, and yet she felt utterly exhausted.

Perhaps a lesson in pacing that she had refused to learn, or maybe Yuki had succeeded flawlessly in wearing her down, but Hayleigh just couldn't persuade her body to move. Her cheeks flushed red as she looked up at her opponent, who seemed close to as tired as she was, but not quite; something that was revealed when Yuki shifted her position slightly to rest her hands against Hayleigh's shoulders.

Lacking any motivation, or energy, to continue the fight, Hayleigh didn't give any kind of resistance to it, her hands lazily setting themselves on the back of Yuki's knees as the rookie's body pressed down on top of her own, orange leotard meeting blue. The referee, again, slowly and deliberately got down onto her knees and checked Hayleigh's shoulders were down, despite it being quite obvious that they were, and then rolled her eyes and hit the canvas with "One!"

[CaptainL]

This was it, Yuki thought, as she clenched her teeth. She just had to hold out a little while longer - and Hayleigh seemed so winded that it looked like she had a chance, that she could count on the silver-haired girl not to kick out again. That wasn't to say that Yuki wasn't tired herself, of course. Especially after putting all her remaining energy into that one move, she was sore, red-faced, and sweat was dripping along her cheek. If Hayleigh managed to reverse this, she was sure it would all be over. She only had the energy for one thing, and it was holding her opponent's shoulders against the canvas.

Once again, the ref seemed a little less than interested in counting. Yuki went tense for a second, fearing that once again her reluctance would cost her the victory. But all the same, as the count went on, Hayleigh wasn't moving.

"Two!"

As the moment drew nearer - seeming to last more than the one second it should have been - Yuki grew on edge, her whole body going tense. Her heart almost skipped a beat, as she prepared for Hayleigh to kick out, to roll her over and pin her down, and leave her defenseless. It could happen any second-

But it didn't.

"...Three."

The ref's hand hit the canvas another time - and the lackluster attitude of the officiator didn't seem reflected by the audience, who erupted into applause. The two rookies had given it their all, pushing their small bodies to the limits, and had put on a truly thrilling match, one where the audience had been on the edge of their seats the whole way - the whole way through it had been anyone's game; both of the competitors looked to stand a decent chance of victory. But it had been Yuki who pulled through in the end!

[DizzyKnight]

And so, to the surprise of the audience, and disappointment of booking agencies the world over, total no-name rookie Yuki Kazikura had reigned supreme over a long-time hardened veteran bearing one of the more well-known names in LAW. For once, Hayleigh could say that she didn't feel any negativity over her loss, something that made her feel surprisingly good about herself, and prompted her to want to hang out more with Yuki.

The referee, as care-free and arrogant as she had been all match, simply leaned down and grabbed Yuki by the wrist, hauling her clean up off the ground to where her feet didn't even touch the ground, rather forcefully holding her arm up as the announcer declared Yuki's victory. The incredible ease with which she lifted the little lightweight took away a little from her victory, along with the rather unceremonious way she simply dropped her, letting her fall back down beside Hayleigh.

The silver-haired newcomer groaned with exhaustion, and slowly sat herself upright, and then committed to the seemingly herculean task of standing up, her whole body either trembling or aching or both. While the referee casually left the ring and wandered backstage now that the night was over and her shift was finished, Hayleigh very selflessly committed a great deal of her already-dwindling energy to leaning over and offering Yuki a hand. If the younger girl took it, she'd loudly and awkwardly pull her up to a stand aswell, and drag her into a tight, squeezy hug!

[CaptainL]

Needless to say, Yuki wasn't expecting any more excitement after the exertion she had put herself through - and especially not coming from the officiator of the match, rather than her opponent. Taken by surprise, the girl let out a yelp as she was pulled up from the ground. But nevertheless, there was no question about it - she had won. A smile started to spread across her face, as she looked out to see that everyone was applauding, cheering her on. This had been her biggest show in a long time - and she had done it the justice it deserved.

Of course, the ref's means of letting her back down came as a bit of a surprise as well, as Yuki went plummeting like a rock back to the ground, hitting the mat and causing the ring to shake. She grit her teeth and winced from the sensation of the impact, going tense. After all, the match had cost her the better part of her stamina, and she hardly needed more punishment. So she was left dazed for a moment, her head spinning.

Hayleigh, however, was the one to come over, holding her hand out again. There was a brief hesitation, as Yuki knew what had happened under similar circumstances just a moment ago - but she realized that Hayleigh was a good deal smaller than the ref and wouldn't be likely to even be able to hold her that high. And beyond that, Hayleigh was performing a valiant gesture, in sharing the celebration with her own opponent. She could've easily looked back at Yuki with spite, especially knowing how close the match had been, and how close she had come to victory. But she didn't. And Yuki had no reason to distrust her - so she allowed Hayleigh to scoop her back up, pulling her into a hug. Yuki let out a muffled groan from her own weary lungs, her footing starting to stumble under her as she leaned her weight into Hayleigh's arms. But she returned it. She had fought hard, and she deserved every bit as much encouragement.

Winner by Pinfall: Yuki Kazikura