Yukino Fuyumi vs. Haruka Le Roux - Apex Qualifier Match

[CaptainL]

Yukino gulped when she realized what Haruka was telling her. It was true that she had history as an idol, and that that had accustomed her to working in front of large and cheering crowds...but performing in front of crowds at pop concerts wasn't quite the same thing as being in the wrestling ring, working her body against an opponent who was intent on dominating and harming her! But what was worse was that Haruka had spotted the hesitation in the white-haired girl. She had seen one loose thread in her confidence, and she wanted to pull on it in order to make the whole thing unravel! Her face ran pale, and her body grew tense. Yukino had underestimated just how cruel her opponent could really be - but Haruka hadn't elected to show her true colors until it was too late for her to do anything about it.

Hissing through her teeth, Yukino shook her head. She reminded herself of one thing - she was here to prove herself, and to show the world she was capable! If she crumbled now, that would be all over! She needed to make her move - and, as she struck out with a forearm to land across Haruka's head with a crack, her posture began to ease, and a smile grew across her face. Seeing herself land a blow, Yukino didn't feel quite so hopeless. She could do this after all! She would prove her wrong!

The blonde stepped back from Yukino, giving her time to start to rise to her feet. But no sooner had Haruka backed away that she shot back retaliating fire, aiming a forearm of her own at Yukino! Seeing the blow hurtling her way, the idol gasped - but she saw her moment to act. Just then, she reached up to grab Haruka by the arm before it could hit, attempting to pull on it to use her own momentum against her and yank her off balance with an arm drag!

[Taskmaster12]

The forearm only pushed her head back and created space for Yukino to get her confidence back. Haruka was ready to give it back with a forearm of her own which was caught and countered by Yukino to hold her down and throw her to the mat with an arm drag. Haruka fell on one shoulder blade and the speed of it carried her to roll off onto the other blade before she was on her side. Haruka reacted by ignoring the scrapes of pain to roll through and get back up to her feet. She didn’t want the idol having any time to recover mentally after working so hard to get a voice in her head eating at her doubts.

[CaptainL]

Yukino needed to think quickly. She didn't have much time with which to make her move; when she saw her opponent's forearm coming her way, she had to be ready to do something about it, fast! But when Haruka had this much momentum behind her strike, that could just as easily be used against her. Reaching out to grab her opponent's arm, Yukino whipped herself around - and threw Haruka to the ground, causing the canvas to rumble beneath her feet!

The Winter Idol bent at the knees, catching her breath. At least Haruka's taunts had stopped now, giving her a much needed opportunity to clear her head and get in the right frame of mind to make her next move. She'd brought her opponent down, and now it was her chance to seize on that momentum, to keep the pressure on her! Straightening her back with a defiant glare, Yukino took off running - where she would kick out her leg as she closed in on Haruka to land a leg drop against her ribs!

[Taskmaster12]

Speed was a priority and not something she was used to doing. Slow was fast in her usual line of work, you needed to take time and carefully think over your actions if you were to come to a well thought out outcome that benefited you the most. Wrestling benefited from the same standard. On paper you could blitz and take control with a quick pace that your opponent might be unable to respond to but if they can and your caught you have to rely on sudden reactions or reflexes to help you. Those couldn’t be predicted or remain variables that stayed consistent like a flexible plan did. So for everyone who knew her she must have looked downright silly moving with at a very unfitting speed for her to roll and keep rolling when Yukino was trying to drop on her with her leg to smash her chest to meet her breastbone by the time she was done and getting back up she was close enough to the ropes that another rotation might have sent her outside. Despite the way it had gone she didn’t give up on her ability to bring Yukino down with her words now that she had found an opening, she had no idea how Yukino had been able to overcome them before but judging by her posture after she spoke it had to be a one off anomaly that a few more tests would break down. “Quick as you are an arm drag would need more muscle than you have to keep me down long enough for you to have pulled that off. It was worth a try at least. I must assume that was you testing the effectiveness of that combo for a later day right?” Her voice remained calm to not break the spell that her words had on her earlier. If she senses a shakiness to her words they would lose the poison she was trying to lace them with.

[CaptainL]

In terms of the strategies and team dynamics of the Idol Dragons, Yukino tended to favor the slower pace of the two; her skillset lended itself toward a more methodical style, anticipating her opponent's moves and countering them. Evidently, she was up against a like-minded opponent. But just because Yukino didn't move quickly as often didn't mean she was incapable of it, as she took off running, looking to close in on Haruka to land a leg drop while she was down and keep the pressure on her before she got a chance to recover. But if Yukino could pick up speed when push came to shove, Haruka could too. Just before the white-haired girl's leg came down against her opponent, Haruka rolled out of the way - leaving Yukino to wipe out, striking the canvas groin-first with her leg stretched out in front of her!

Her face contorted in a pained wince as she reached down to rub at her thigh, moaning under her breath. There was nothing to absorb her fall, and the position she'd landed in wasn't doing her any favors, stretching out her tendons and joints. But what was worse, when Yukino looked up, it would be to find Haruka taunting her, belittling the very tactics she had used against her moments before! Ordinarily, Yukino would likely have found it useful advice - but when it was coming from an opponent in the ring, and one that Kira had hand-picked to face her, it felt far more like a barb aimed at her heart. And yet...she couldn't deny that Haruka wasn't wrong. Her tactics could have been better; she was still making the mistakes of a rookie. And that cast her entire reason for being here into question.

Yukino's eyes narrowed in a glare and she clenched her teeth, but she still trembled, as much as she squeezed a fist to try and quell it. "S-Shut up..." she muttered. But for now, at least, her attention was focused more on reclaiming her pride than her footing...which left her open!

[Taskmaster12]

“You weren’t?” Haruka could see that her words were still getting somewhere. She knew how to play on someone’s insecurities which were obvious solely by the body language of this idol. She tried to get up quickly and get in Haruka’s, something Haruka moved to intercept by grabbing Yukino before she got up and pulling her into a chicken wing. Pulling her arm back while cross facing Yukino and bending her as far as she could go. She pulled Yukino and kept her at painful angles with the chicken wing. “I hope what I’m thinking isn’t true. That would look very bad for your future here Yukino.”

[CaptainL]

Yukino did her best to push the thoughts of her own inadequacy and her own fear out of her head. She clenched her teeth tightly, squeezing her eyes shut as she turned her head to the ground. She knew Haruka was trying to get in her head now, and she had to admit it was working. But she couldn't let that get to her. This was her chance to shine; this was an Apex qualifier! If she let Haruka belittle her like this, it would only embarrass her in front of the very crowd she was supposed to be putting forth her best effort to - she couldn't let her be right!

But while Yukino was trying to block out her opponent's mockery, she had taken her attention off the action in the ring. For all her best efforts, Haruka still had her distracted for just long enough to make her move! Just then, the white-haired girl felt her opponent crank down on her arm, twisting it behind her back in a chicken-wing hammerlock!

Feeling the joints in her arms and back straining against the pressure, Yukino's back bowed inward and she let out a scream of pain. But the moment that scream had left her mouth, she regretted it; her cheeks flushed red, and she bit at the inside of them to try and quell the sensation. She had just given away more pain than she wanted to, and Haruka would surely see that as a sign that Yukino wasn't fit to fight back. No matter what she did, she had to prove her wrong! Instead, biting her lip, Yukino brought one foot off the ground, throwing it behind her for a kick at Haruka's knee!

[Taskmaster12]

Now she was screaming. Yukino was being exposed by Haruka that her act and confidence were shallow and easy to shatter. She wondered how much she had actually trained before this. If she had done enough to only be eligible for wrestling and nothing much besides that or if she had all the tools to be a star already and simply was short of the confidence in using them. These were the questions Haruka came here to answer! She was so excited! “You’re flexible! Are you used to being bent like this Yukino? Maybe not. That scream was a little loud. Is this you’re bad arm? We must find out. Which should we try next?” Yukino stopped her train of thought by bringing her leg up and kicking Haruka’s knee. The bluntness of the boot printed into Haruka’s knee cap and buckled her leg to shift Haruka out of place.

[CaptainL]

Haruka had put the pressure on Yukino, and now the white-haired girl was buckling against the burden on her shoulders. With her kindly and unassuming demeanor, Haruka had led her to believe that she was heading for another friendly match and that she wouldn't have anything to worry about - and she didn't realize until it was too late that her opponent was in this to test her limits. She was daring Yukino to do her best, to show the world what she could be capable of - and when the Winter Idol found herself unable to measure up, it cast all of her hopes of proving herself capable, of proving she belonged in the world of wrestling, into question.

Yukino could tell she was being tested. But as much as it rattled her, it also told her that she needed to try harder! She couldn't let this stand as what it looked like when she gave it her all. Whatever it would take to bring her best performance out of her, Yukino was going to have to do it! Sucking a breath in through clenched teeth, she did her best to block out all the taunts her opponent was throwing her way, just to keep herself going through the strain on both her arm and her psyche. She managed to swing her leg into Haruka's knee, forcing her to waver and allowing Yukino to pull free of the hold. Now, it was her turn to take control - and she wouldn't waste it!

Yukino panted a couple of times for breath, but she shot a cold glare back on Haruka all the same, all the more determined not to be led astray by her words. "I think you'll see I have a lot more in me than that!" she shouted, staking out a case for herself even if Haruka doubted everything she had in her! With that, she would attempt to roll herself to the side in order to swing Haruka off of her and to the mat. If that worked, she would grab the blonde by the legs, attempting to pull them closer so that she could lock her own legs around Haruka's to put her in a figure four leglock!

[Taskmaster12]

Whatever limits Yukino had would be tested and explored whether she wanted them too or not. It was just the fate of anyone who stepped into a ring with someone like Haruka who had to know these things. If Yukino found that knowing these things helped her it wasn’t the intent of the Nurse but it was something that could prove beneficial but at the same time a detriment to Haruka herself. It seemed she intimidated the idol so much she pooped back into confidence with her quick thinking and knocking her off before kicking her down to the mat. Haruka’s slip up was enough for Yukino to roll right over on her while Haruka tried to crawl away. Unable to escape her path before she was up and twisting her leg until she could bend it into the figure 4 leglock. “Hiyyaawaa!” The pain of this hold was known well enough that she could dress it before it started. With it being allied well enough that her joints felt like they were close to falling off before Haruka could do anything besides lift herself up to deal with the pain. It was not a move she should be getting trapped in this early. Yukino’s swiftness out Haruka at a disadvantage before the fight could really get started!