Battle Beneath the Moon: Jade Cho vs Kuki Kagawa

[Misfit_Alien]

The 'Kendoka Prodigy', Jade Cho vs Kuki Kagawa the 'Killer Kunoichi'
Match Type: "No DQ +'I Yield' + Kendo Match."
Like an "I Quit" match, win by forcing your opponent to admit defeat by clearly saying the phrase "I Yield" into a microphone. Kendo sticks (also known as Shinai for reference) are the only permitted weapons.
No DQ Rules - No DQs, Count-outs are OFF, but the admission of defeat MUST occur in the ring.
At the end of the match, the loser has to kneel down and suffer a knockout blow from the winner after the match is over, delivered in any way the winner chooses, analogous to forced seppuku.

Jade was meditating backstage, mentally preparing herself for what would no doubt be an intense fight...She had gotten information on her opponent and to say that she was intimidated was putting it lightly. Still, she calmed her nerves and gained her composure, there was no use in worrying about it. All she could do was try her best and use what she's learned. She would fight tooth and nail to succeed and either rise in triumphant victory...or go down with honor, at the very least. The time for the match had arrived and Jade left the backstage in a calm, serious manner. She arrived to the arena as her theme played, being showered with cheers as she smiled faintly. She gave the audience a respectable bow and approached the ring, seeing trashcans filled with several shinai. She kept her cool...going to her corner and simply waiting. There was no room for error, no room for mistakes...no room for fear...She was ready.

Spoiler

Spoiler

[BuckleBuster]

The dressing room floor was hardly Kuki's first choice for a meditation chamber, but with only moments separating her from her entrance into the arena, it would simply have to do. Smoke arose from the incense candles surrounding her as she recited the nine word prayer and accompanying hand gestures of the Kuji-Kiri. She scowled as a loud knock on her door interrupted the brief moment of tranquility, notifying her that the moment of battle was upon her.

She snuffed out the candles before making her way out of the dressing room and into the gorilla position, staring through monitors at the packed arena. Tonight would be a good match she hoped, one that would win her great honor should she find victory here. And I will find victory Kuki reassured herself, turning her attention away from the monitors as her opponent entered the screen. Finally, her theme began to play through the arena speakers, signaling her cue to enter the spotlight

Theme

Kuki Kagawa

Kuki popped the collar of her jacket, crossing her arms together and standing firmly at the top of the ramp as the cameras, lights, and pyrotechnics worked their magic. A chorus of cheers and gasps descended from all directions, prompting her to twist her brow and convey a smug scowl behind the signature mask. While she wasn't one for theatrics, especially given the solemn circumstances surrounding tonight's match, the importance of putting on a good show in this business was nonetheless stressed heavily to Kuki by her manager, and so she maintained the intimating aura as she made her way down the ramp and towards the ring.

She waisted no time dallying in her corner, instead making her way directly to the center of the canvas. She gave a deep bow towards the crowd on all four sides of the ring, and once more to the referee, but stopped just short of her opponent. She hovered for a few seconds, letting anticipation fill the air before finally giving a short, curt bow in Jade's direction. "Kuki Kagawa. May your defeat be an honorable one" the green haired kunoichi decried bluntly, an audible air of arrogance discernible in her tone.

[Misfit_Alien]

Jade was amazed by the entrance, it was quite the spectacle...but she could feel the pressure and intensity in the air. It made her choke up slightly, all this intensity in one of her first few matches. Jade lamented all of this but...diamonds form under pressure, this fight would only seek to make her stronger, regardless of the result. She took the bow and the bow alone, returning the sentiment before speaking. "Your arrogance is unbefitting of a warrior. A little more respect is due...but I suppose I'll have to engrain that notion into your mind during our battle. I harbor no hatred towards...no ill feelings, win or lose...I will accept the outcome as it is, but I will fight to the end. My name is Jade Cho...and I will see you defeated in an honorable dual." She said, giving her one more bow. She let out a deep breath, preparing herself and calming her nerves one last time...slipping into her serious persona and showing a stoic, cold expression fitting of a warrior who was about to engage in a ferocious battle as the bell rings and signals the start of the match...

DING!!!

[BuckleBuster]

A dismissive scoff was evident behind Kuki's mask as her opponent issued her retort. The fact that she felt the need to lecture Kuki, a trained kunoichi, on the etiquette of battle was laughable to say the least. "Respect is earned, now owed!" Kuki challenged, taking a premature step towards her opponent before being pushed back by the referee.

Her outburst only seemed to prove Jade's words right, but this fact did not dawn on Kuki. Her mind was too occupied with feelings of anger and contempt for having her honor so callously questioned like that. Despite more unrestrained remarks seeping their way into her thoughts, Kuki did well to bite her tongue this time, instead cautiously awaiting the opening sound of the bell. As soon as it was rung, Kuki's body instinctively twitched as if springing into action, but stopping just short of an attack. Instead, her eyes glanced towards the scattered bins of shinais before shooting back to Jade.

No, it's too early. Kuki thought to herself, instead biding her time while a viable strategy began to brew in her mind. With a game plan in place, Kuki snapped out of her indecision and made a mad dash for her opponent, quickly closing the space between them with only a few large strides. As soon as she had entered within range, Kuki swung her leg upwards high above Jade, channeling her momentum into an arc before bringing it back down in a fluid axe-kick aimed for her opponent's head!

[Misfit_Alien]

"Hmph..." That was all Jade said as she rushed to meet Kuki head-on, stepping out of her corner and noticing how fast her opponent was...just like she expected. She took a breath and focused...swiftly dodging the Axe-Kick and ducking down afterward in order to slash her leg across Kuki's ankle for a Leg Sweep, aiming to try and bring her down to the ground and try to go for some kind of a submission attempt on the woman.

[BuckleBuster]

Despite the flurry of action that accompanied her kick, Kuki made sure her eyes never left her opponent. As her foot came soaring back down, bound for the back of Jade's head, Kuki's gaze allowed her to realize that her opponent had already figured out how to avoid it. Sure enough, the kick had failed to find a target, instead landing with a loud thud that shook the canvas below.

A brief opening had exposed itself immediately after the kick, one that Jade had keenly decided to take advantage of. Before Kuki had time to reposition herself, Jade's leg came soaring in from underneath, swiping her ankle from out beneath her and sending her tumbling backwards towards the mat. No stranger to leg sweeps, Kuki knew just how to react. She expertly shot her hands out behind her, letting her arms transform the fall into a controlled descent. Channeling the momentum from the fall back into her arms, Kuki performed a flashy kip-up that saw her spring back onto her feet mere seconds after the take-down!

"Impressive..." Kuki mumbled, backing away slightly to dissuade her opponent from attempting any follow-up attacks. "But far from adequate" Kuki spat with a disparaging tone as she ran towards Jade in another burst of speed. Channeling her inertia into 360 degrees spin, Kuki attempted to unleash a devastating tornado kick right at Jade's head!

Spoiler

[Misfit_Alien]

Her kick managed to find its target, Jade's leg sweeping Kuki off her feet and disrupting her movement for a mere moment, but still successfully landing nonetheless. That was it, those were the small victories she needed to achieve in order to seize victory from her opponent's clutches. These brief but explosive battles that ended as fast as they began were going to decide the victor in this back and forth battle of wills. Jade ignored the comments, not letting her stoic and serious expression slip for even a moment as she kept up the poker face look, trying to make it hard for Kuki to read her movements. Speaking of movements, the woman's quick recovery from the leg sweep was astonishing, Jade saw how much work she put into her techniques, down to making the muscles in her body move at just the right moment with the right amount of force...Kuki wasn't to be taken lightly, that was obvious...but the fact that she had trained her body and reflexes that far, just further cemented the fact that she was going to prove to be a massive threat against Jade.

Still, she tightened her fists and moved in, spotting Kuki's movements as she rushed at her with a wicked amount of speed, seeing all that momentum build up into a full 360 spin...A kick, and a pretty hard one at that, was hurtling towards Jade's head. She leaned back in order to narrowly avoid it, feeling her foot cut across her cheek, grazing it and scratching it somewhat, but not enough to bleed. Jade quickly hopped back and reclaimed her footing once she dodged it, preparing to open up with a counter strike in case Kuki decided to pursue for a follow up after Jade's quick retreat.

[BuckleBuster]

Kuki's second attack was only slightly less of a failure than her last one, this time managing to graze across her opponent's cheek in an explosive, if not wasted demonstration of her skill. Kuki didn't show the slightest hint of annoyance in her outwards expression, although a small one lay cloaked beneath her mask. Jade's fight instinct was certainly up to par, and her agility wasn't doing Kuki any favors either.

The girl seemed intent on maintaining a defensive posture however, backing up and guarding herself against future attacks. This was fine by Kuki of course, as she always opted to be on the offensive. Always. As soon as her foot made contact with the canvas, Kuki launched into yet another attack. This time though, she wouldn't aim to deliver a single, powerful blow. Jade had already proven that she was capable of reading and dodging big attacks before they came, and throwing one more at her likely wouldn't end up much differently.

Instead, Kuki launched a flurry of smaller blows, aiming to strike first with a combination of knifehand chops towards Jade's neck, followed swiftly afterwards by an attempted palm strike at her solar plexus, and topped of with a sideways thrust kick into her opponent's abdomen. It was likely that Jade would be able to deflect or dodge most of the attacks, but Kuki only needed a few to hit in order to break through her opponent's defenses.

[Misfit_Alien]

Jade did indeed read that her opponent was about to rush her, her instincts and training since a young age helped her to develop the ability to prepare for what attacks may come her way. Still, she was only barely defending against Kuki, that last kick grazing her and almost drawing blood. She couldn't just back down either, she had to fight but with zero openings it seemed too risky...so she just defended, at least, as best as she could. The chops came in and she was slowly pushed back, deflecting most of the strikes with her own limbs but getting caught by the thrust kick, a small gasp erupting from her lips...she couldn't land a significant blow upon Kuki, but maybe if she were to play a more risky game, she might be able to at least prevent her opponent from attacking scot free.

Jade dug her heels in and braced, the kick came in and she felt Kuki's foot ram into her side. It hurt like hell but Jade HAD to endure it for this next part...She would latch onto Kuki's ankle and pull her forward, aiming to slam her pad covered knee into Kuki's inner thigh before shoving her away and putting some space between them, taking a blow and attempting to dish out some damage in retaliation.

[BuckleBuster]

Fierce war cries rained down with every chop, a loud Hi-yah! Eeee-yah! and Hyah! accompanying every blow before the penultimate kiai that supported her last kick. Just as she had predicted, the majority of the strikes had been deflected or blocked by Jade's opposing limbs, their arms and hands clashing together in a rhythmic duel. But It was the final kick that had managed to find it's mark. As her foot sunk deeper into Jade's side, Kuki's face finally molded into a satisfied smile.

It didn't last long however. Even though she had struck exactly where she had wanted to, the kick wasn't enough to stun Jade on it's own. In fact, the girl still had the wherewithal to grab onto her ankle as it was situated deep within her abdomen, pulling the rest of the limb along with it for a painfully applied counter-knee to her thigh.

The blow caused her to wince, but she stopped just short of releasing an audible sign of pain. She retracted her leg, panting in the first sign of exertion since the start of the match. The attack had ultimately proved to be neither harm nor foul. They had both given and received a hit, still leaving the sway of the fight in perfect balance. She stared daggers into her opponent, seeking any signs hidden behind that statuesque face of hers that might reveal any exploits. There was none to be found.

Kuki was slowly running out of options. She had tried brute force attacks and combination strikes. Both had failed to best her opponent. Perhaps deception would yield more meaningful results. She raised her fists up by her face, slowly approaching Jade while bouncing on the tips of her toes. Not a word was said as she made her approach, all communication being done solely through her ironclad glare.

Another burst of speed finally ended the intense stare-down. Kuki would try to throw her right leg towards Jade, appearing to aim her foot in the direction of Jade's outward most leg. A simple low sweep kick at first glance, but one that came with a twist, literally. Halfway through the motion, Kuki would suddenly change the direction of her kick, bucking her hips and snapping her leg upwards so that the top of her sandaled foot was now headed towards the side of Jade's head. A deceptive question mark kick that would hopefully floor the kendoka for good!