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

[CyanDimitrik]

Katsumi feels her hair ruffled. It's so disarmingly charming, being on the receiving end of lighthearted teasing. Especially with zero at stake. That might be the point sticking most with her. There's no worry in this match; she's taken to trusting the other girl. At least well enough to sort of pin her down in front of an audience, with only three seconds' width between a humiliating defeat and saving face.

She peeks an eye open to look up at Claire, who's already standing. She can't risk smiling up at her, but the corners of her lips threaten to do so anyway. So she instead pulls to the side to lift onto hands and knees, deliberately remaining low. Hopefully it'll be invitation enough for Claire to approach. Because if she does, Katsumi intends to hook her left arm around the girl's waist, then ram her fist into her bare belly a couple times!

...Or that's how it'd look to the audience! The force of Katsumi's punches are light, little more than bumping her fist into the fair-haired girl's abdominals a few times.

[Ichi]

While Claire would have most certainly noticed the faint precursor of a smile, Katsumi had deliberately angled herself to avoid showing her face. Claire looked at the referee and then at her opponent. Neither of them gave any indication that Claire was doing anything wrong which came as a slight relief to Claire.

Claire noticed that her opponent had still not risen---seeing as she had not slammed Katsumi down hard, Claire figured that Katsumi was probably acting, which meant that Katsumi had something planned. Still, Claire was not worried: if Katsumi had intended to hurt her, she would have done so already. Thus, Claire casually walked towards Katsumi to give her a chance to execute her next move.

Suddenly, Katsumi's left arm shot around Claire's waist. This did not come as a huge shock to Claire as she was expecting Katsumi to make a move. Then, two "punches" collided with Clair's belly. Immediately, Claire doubled over and clutched her belly. She then pretended to stumble back, as if trying to escape, only to (purposefully) land on her butt.

"Eep!"

Claire made a cutesy-sort-of noise to really sell the fall. While Claire normally did not make those sorts of noises, she figured that it would be a nice touch. Claire would sit on the ground, clutching her stomach.

"Owww..." said Claire. "That wasn't very nice..."

Of course, Claire had not actually been hurt. Despite this, Claire looked as if she was in genuine pain. While Claire was actually having a blast, she did not let it show on her face---she was no stranger to acting and could hide her emotions. After all, she had plenty of practice with that. During Claire's sexfighting days, she had forced herself to act as a remorseless heel and sexually humiliate other women, all while hiding the immense guilt that she felt over it. Later on, after Claire reinvented herself as a jobber, she routinely faked pain and anguish to both rile up the crowd and prevent her opponents from beating her even worse.

Now, after joining LAW, Claire would wear yet another mask. However, Claire's kindness and good nature was not an act---in fact, Claire was not sure if she would forgive herself if she were to hide her kind nature and became a tweener or a heel.

[CyanDimitrik]

"Aww, poor baby!," taunts Katsumi, laying into the bully role she'd fit so comfortably in.

But she knew she didn't really hurt Claire. And she knew Claire knew. Seems they've picked their sides in this conflict!

Katsumi reaches for her opponent, entirely unaware of any shady past to speak of. Her left hand grabs a fistful of her hair near the scalp to greatly decrease any sting from any errantly pulled follicles. Her right hand hooks under Claire's chin, using that more to guide her than the hair-gripping hand. Of course, to the audience they'd likely focus on the hand holding Claire's hair. That's intentional.

It's Katsumi's turn to scoop. Once Claire's on her feet, she dips an arm between the other girl's legs, her hand setting just against her rear. The other arm hooks her opposite shoulder, and Katsumi gives a quiet grunt to heft Claire's body into the air, positioning her across her chest. What she wants to land is the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. But that's near-impossible to pull back. And frankly, she doesn't trust herself to be able to do that without hurting her adorably kind opponent. She has no idea what she's capable of taking.

So instead, Katsumi's arms flex as she hefts Claire's modest weight higher, before dropping to a knee! Claire's back will be brought down across the upturned knee, and firmly, by the estimation of the audience! The ring shuddered and everything! In reality, Katsumi is stopping Claire's descent just before the flat of her back meets the upturned knee before discreetly settling the girl's lower back along the thigh. The arm between her legs will relocate, placing her hand against Claire's thigh, while the other hand sets to Claire's chest, just barely brushing cleavage, to arch the blonde's body towards the skylights.

The end result? Claire would be reclined over Katsumi's knee in a backbreaker hold. Neither hand is pushing down, the palms are simply resting against her skin.

[Ichi]

"Aww, poor baby!"

The taunt did not phase Claire as she knew Katsumi was not trying to actually be mean. Then, Katsumi's hand grabbed Claire's hair and her other hand went under Claire's chin. As Katsumi pretended to hoist Claire up by the hair, Claire pretended to grimace, her face seemingly conveying that she was in pain. Then, Katsumi began to lift Claire into the air.

"Wha... what are you doing?" asked Claire in a nervous voice, as if she had never been slammed before. Suddenly, Katsumi slammed Claire down onto her knee---at least, that's what it looked like to the audience.

"Agh!!!" cried Claire. Then, Katsumi placed one hand on Claire's thigh and the other on Claire's chest. Claire did not pay much attention to the fact that Katsumi was just barely touching her cleavage.

"Nnngh!"

Katsumi pretended to push down on Claire, stretching her back. Being quite flexible, Claire arched her back even further, making sure to go slowly enough that Katsumi's hands could keep up. From the perspective of the audience, it looked like Katsumi was nearly about to break Claire's back! Also, since Claire knew how to cry on command, she would even shed a few tears!

While Claire figured that Katsumi knew she was acting, Claire figured that her performance might have been a little unnerving---perhaps even enough to get Katsumi to question if she was really hurting Claire. Claire was not sure what sort of signal she could give to indicate that she was okay---if she tried to wink or whisper, the audience might pick up on it.

Then, Claire came up with an idea: she would discreetly put her hand on Katsumi's back and trace out a heart symbol with her finger. That would indicate that things were okay, right? Claire executed her idea, hoping that Katsumi would pick up on it.

[CyanDimitrik]

Katsumi was actually not worried at all. If nothing else, she completely trusts herself and her experience to not hurt someone unless she intends to. But she's marveling a little at how eagerly Claire arches her body backwards over her knee, easily keeping up with her. The girl's flexible! And the audience is getting plenty to enjoy, watching her supply body pull taut. Heck, even Katsumi catches herself admiring her.

She's brought out of the thought by the sensation of Claire's hand on her bare back. In these situations, people usually paw at the hand restraining their upper half. But this time, not so much. And then she feels that finger against her skin. A bow, a sharp pivot, another bow... she traced a heart on her.

"You are so not allowed to be this cute," mutters Katsumi, her head tilting enough to provide a subtle screen of hair between her and the audience. Should Claire peek an eye to look up at her, she'll be met with an uncharacteristically soft, but subtle smile. "Okay.. stomach claw.. then pin," she telegraphs.

The Punk Princess begins sliding her hand upwards along Claire's thigh, over the denim of her shorts, brushing over the joint of her hip, before bringing her palm to rest directly over the pit of her stretched stomach. His fingers splay, feeling out over the grooves of the blonde grappler's core, finding the outer lines of her abdominal muscles. Her palm gently presses against the girl's bellybutton while her fingertips press just a little firmly against one side of her abdominals, the thumb pushing against the other side's muscle. Neither would be enough to hurt the other girl; just enough to gently squeeze the pit of her stomach.

[Ichi]

"You are so not allowed to be this cute," muttered Katsumi. Claire looked up for a brief moment and saw Katsumi's smile.

Upon seeing Katsumi's smile, chills ran down Claire's spine: that was Teresa's smile. Well, not exactly; they were different. Both smiles, however, betrayed a kindness that was normally kept hidden. A kindness that both women tried to keep hidden. But at the moment, that was neither here nor there.

Katsumi then pretended to grab Claire by the stomach. While Claire had never even seen a "stomach claw" or had even considered it as a possibility, she figured that the goal of that move was to cause pain in the abdomen. Claire reacted accordingly.

"Aghhh!" cried Claire.

Claire would then attempt to curl up and clutch her abdomen, rolling off Katsumi's knee in the process. If that worked, Claire would be curled up on the ground, ready to be pinned.

[CyanDimitrik]

For the first time insofar in the match, Katsumi resists Claire's attempt! That is, her left hand presses a little more firmly to Claire's chest to keep her from curling up, letting the audience watch the harmless struggle for a moment. "Not too quick," she soothes quietly. "Let's let the audience watch ya for a second. See that pretty face hurtin'. Trust me - it's weird, but they'll love ya more."

Namely in that they'll sympathize more with the rookie who's being tortured.

Katsumi, meanwhile, eases her fingers against Claire's muscles and instead bows her elbow to make it look like she's adding more downwards pressure against her. Naturally, it's all cosmetic. Only a little additionall pressure is applied, save for the beginnings of a firm, slow rub against Claire's bellybutton. But the overall appearance would be that Katsumi is caving her gut inwards between her palm and knee. "And you'll look stronger for holding out."

Nevermind that she might be enjoying essentially petting the captive. She's not quite ready to admit that to herself yet, but she'll at least internally confess Claire has a nice body. Feeling her stomach under her hand isn't unpleasant...

The referee-girl drops beside Claire's face, hunkering low to the mat. "Do you submit?," she asks.

[Ichi]

Claire would grimace as if she were in pain, her teeth tightly-clenched. She would squirm, but not enough to make it difficult for Katsumi to hold her down. Looking around the stadium, Claire noticed that the vast majority of the fans were closely paying attention to the action. Good. Then, the referee girl approached Claire.

"Do you submit?" asked the referee girl. Claire hesitated for a moment, as if pondering whether she wanted to submit. After a brief moment, Claire shook her head emphatically, indicating that she did not want to submit.

[CyanDimitrik]

Claire is so obviously in pain and struggling, the audience is watching her struggle intently! The referee asks if the rookie submits to the stomach-torture. The audience sucks in a collective breath.

She shakes her head! A wave of cheers rises in the crowd.

Katsumi plays her part and rolls her eyes, 'bothered' that Claire is being stubborn. She forcefully shoves the girl off her knee and down to the mat, where she tugs her shoulder and hip to lie her flat in front of her. From there, Katsumi simply drops her trim stomach across Claire's not-actually-abused belly. She props herself up on her elbows, pushing her stomach firmly against the other girl while casually accentuating her chest to the crowd in a display of dominance.

"Just count her out!," Katsumi shouts over her shoulder to the referee. The poor officiator scrambles to drop into position. "Do your job already!"

A hand strikes the mat near Claire's head. "One!"

[Ichi]

"Oof!"

Claire was shoved off of Katsumi's knee and onto her back. Then, Katsumi attempted to pin Claire, their stomachs touching skin-to-skin.

"ONE! TWO!"

Claire was not sure how to do a professional wrestling-style kickout. Rather than risk screwing it up and getting pinned prematurely, Claire decided to rely on her wrestling/BJJ experience. At the last moment, Claire would shrimp out, shooting her hips out and putting her on her side. Then, Claire would attempt to get back to her feet and step back, creating some distance.