The Ol' Razzle-Dazzle - Katsumi Oshiro vs. Claire Thomas(!!!)

[CyanDimitrik]

"Two-count!," announces the referee.

With Claire twisting her hips, Katsumi is nudged back onto her knees. Her hands briefly set over her lap as her frame rises and falls, a clear sign of accelerated breathing. It's part excitement; part exertion. Wrestling, even when faking it, is very physical work. Lots of activity. ..And lots of skin contact on top of it.

She squeezes her eyes shut a moment to retread her brain.

When they open again, Claire is getting to her feet and backing up. Katsumi rocks back onto her feet and smoothly lifts as well. With a cocky smirk, she steps back to the center of the ring and beckons the blonde over. Her right arm pinwheels to motion her in, while the left raises, clearly inviting her to meet her for a lockup. And should Claire oblige, that's exactly what she'll get! Katsumi's hands will snatch at her, her right hand going for her collar while the left reaches for her elbow. And though the lockup will be a firm one, Katsumi's body visibly tensed, she won't be trying to overpower her opponent. It's meant to bring them closer and give them a chance to touch base.

[Ichi]

Despite the physical activiy, Claire's breathing was nice and easy. Years of physical conditioning and training along with Claire's natural athletic ability have given Claire absurd amounts of endurance. Additionally, by now, Claire was too engrossed in the match to pay much attention to physical contact: years of grappling and intimate contact meant that Claire was used to it.

Claire noticed that her bra strap had slipped at some point during the match. She casually readjusted her bra and then noticed Katsumi beckoning her to the center of the ring. Claire obliged and was caught in a lockup and in response, Claire would mimic what Katsumi was doing by grabbing onto Katsumi's collar and elbow.

After that, Claire would wait for Katsumi to act.

[CyanDimitrik]

And what does Katsumi do?

She tugs sharply, but in a controlled way, simply to give the illusion of a tight struggle. She tilts inwards, hoping Claire will meet the pressure in kind and see the two pressing in close, brow to brow. She attempts to match her jewel-bright emerald eyes on Claire's amethysts, their faces close enough that their shared breath intermingles.

"You wanna hit something?," she asks. "Show off a little of what you can do?"

An impish smile tugs the corner of her lips. "C'mon, it can't all be about me beating up on ya."

[Ichi]

"You wanna hit something?" asked Katsumi. "Show off a little of what you can do?"

"Yeah," replied Claire. For a moment, Claire thought of what her options were: she could shrug Katsumi off and throw a couple of strikes. However, Claire did not have any "showy" strikes in her arsenal---she mostly stuck with the basic strikes when it came to striking. Since her true strength was in her grappling, Claire decided to go with a grappling move.

"C'mon, it can't all be about me beating up on ya."

Immediately after Katsumi finished that sentence, Claire would attempt to do a hip toss, executing the move extremely quickly so as to catch Katsumi by surprise. Claire would make sure not to throw Katsumi down hard, however. Then, if the hip toss worked, Claire would then attempt to get Katsumi in an armbar! However, Claire's grip would not be that tight so Katsumi could escape if she wanted to.

[CyanDimitrik]

No sooner does Katsumi encourage Claire to act than Claire does exactly that! The lockup transitions with the fair-haired girl's arm looping Katsumi's waist. The punkette doesn't fight it, letting herself be controlled and tilted, even leaning into the pull as it occurs for a full, seamless transition. Even still, Katsumi's back thuds against the mat and she arches, emphasizing the impact!

And promptly, she's rolled over onto her chest, her shoulder mounted, and arm drawn up between Claire's thighs. "A-aahh!" Katsumi's free arm hooks behind her head in distress, her face buried against the mat while the toes of her boots kick against the ring helplessly.

The referee drops beside the pair, hovering close to the Japanese diva's face, waiting for a tapout.

[Ichi]

After Claire executed the hip toss and put Katsumi in an "armbar", Claire released one of her hands from the armbar. Lightly holding Katsumi's arm in one hand, Claire's other hand went to caress the small of Katsumi's back.

"Feel free to tap out at any time, Katsumi-chan!" said Clair in a playful manner. Claire's fingertips would lightly run along Katsumi's back in a sensuous manner, occasionally adding in a little tickle to tease Katsumi. Then, Claire would begin to "wrench" Katsumi's arm further. In reality, Claire was only testing out Katsumi's flexibility---as soon as she felt any resistance, Claire would stop so as not to hurt Katsumi.

[CyanDimitrik]

"Aaahh, you bitch!," yells Katsumi as her arm isn't quite truly wrenched backwards. But it's a thing the Punk Princess would yell in a submission hold like this, so it's something Claire gets. In fact, it's kind of comfortable.

The hand brushing against her bare back is a different feeling. It's almost comforting, an assurance that the girl atop her isn't going to take things too far. In any other context, she might be convinced she's being felt up, or disrespected. Here, subtle touches convey pretty much the opposite.

Her boots thump against the mat as she sells for her, her free hand balling into a fist to theatrically resist the urge to tap out.

Suddenly, there's a sharp sting of pain as Claire finds that threshold. That gets a genuine gasp and alarmed spasm from the Japanese girl, her fingers gripping her own hair reactively. "Ahn! H-hey, careful..!" It's a moment of panic. She's putting tremendous levels of trust in this girl she just met. Potentially her entire career.

The referee leans in closer. "Oshiro-san! Do you submit?"

"N-no!"

[Ichi]

Truth is, Claire actually was feeling Katsumi up, albeit only a little. Such behavior was typical for Claire as she had a habit of getting handsy with people she felt friendly with. However, Claire's touching was mostly just her being playful---after all, this match went from being a competition to a performance a while ago. As such, Claire had no desire to actually hurt her opponent.

Sure enough, Claire found Katsumi's threshold and she backed off so as not to hurt Katsumi. Granted, Claire accidentally went a little further with the hold than she had wanted to, causing Katsumi some pain but not causing any actual damage. It seemed like Claire had gotten a little rusty with her grappling---had she not been rusty, she would have been able to stop before Katsumi felt any pain. Claire made a mental note to roll with Ayame sometime to shake off the rust.

Since Claire was not in a position to verbally apologize without being noticed, Claire decided to apologize in a different way. Claire traced out a "sad face" on Katsumi's lower back and then lightly patted it a couple of times. Hopefully, Katsumi would understand the apology.

After Claire's unconventional apology, Claire would further loosen her grip, inviting Katsumi to break out of the hold.

[CyanDimitrik]

In all the commotion and awkward angle, Katsumi couldn't really tell what the pokes and curve touch meant against her back. She could tell she was trying to communicate something, but what exactly, she couldn't be sure. The pat, however, was the reassuring part. Well, that and her easing up on the pressure. She could breathe a little easier.

She has to be going insane, trusting an unknown person like this. Just a year ago, there's no way this would happen. She'd be fighting her hardest to make sure the audience knew exactly who was the top dog around here. Has so much changed?

The pressure remains eased. Katsumi squirms against the mat, attempting to tuck her right shoulder beneath herself and turn in against her back, facing up at Claire. Her free hand reaches up to try to hook around the blonde's neck, and she gives a tug - just a tug - to guide her into a disengaging roll off of her arm. If successful, Katsumi will roll the opposite direction to end on her knees, her right hand cradling her left shoulder to play up the 'cranking' it'd received.

[Ichi]

Claire watched as Katsumi turned onto her back. Then, Katsumi's hand found Claire's neck and gently began to tug. In response to that, Claire released the hold and rolled off of Katsumi.

"Nice escape, Katsumi-chan," said Claire with a smile as she got to her feet. She began to pace towards the ropes, keeping her eyes on Katsumi who was clutching her left shoulder in "pain".

"Awww... did that hurt? I can give it a kiss to make it feel better!" teased Claire. Of course, Claire knew that Katsumi wasn't actually in pain---that much was clear. Continuing to observe Katsumi, Claire waited for her opponent's next move.