A Clash of Legacies: Kyo Akamatsu vs Valley Doll III

[Underdoggo]

Yes. Kyo's quick reactions saved him in the nick of time, allowing him to evade what would undoubtedly have been a match-ending lariat. As Valerie's arm whistled overhead, Kyo ran towards the ropes and rebounded off of them, coming right at the blonde even as she landed. Already, she was maintaining her momentum, running away from him towards the ropes. Smart: it would come down to which of them reacted quicker the moment she rebounded at him again.

Accelerating his speed, Kyo lunged forwards, aiming to slice Valerie down with a brutal lariat of his own...

...just as Valerie lowered her head and threw her entire upper body against him in a brutal spear.

Kyo's body folded against Valerie's shoulder on the impact. On slow motion it would have looked like his body was practically deflating against her as she cannoned in to him. Escaping air, spittle and a gasp of pain all escaped his lips...and then gravity kicked in, and he went crashing down onto his back, with the heavily built powerhouse of a women crashing down on top of him.

The crowd roared at Valerie's quick recovery and counter. It looked like a decisive, match-ending move here...

[BlackAkuma]

Valerie was somewhere between 160 to 170 pounds, last she checked. She’d never officially clocked her top speed, but if she had to guess, she could hit about 15 miles per hour at her absolute best, especially with the ropes to boost her. There was the mass and the acceleration, and when you put them together like Newton intended, you wound up with force. A lot of force. Maybe even too much.

The Spear had to suck for Kyo, but it wasn’t that pleasant for Valerie, either. He was built solid, and ramming into his like that felt about as pleasant as slamming into a wall with a pillow on it. The impact took all the breath out of her, and she wound up rolling away and grabbing her numbed shoulder after the impact. If she ever used that move again, she’d want to work on the follow through.

But it worked. Wow, did it work. She looked over to see that Kyo was laid out on the mat, looking like he’d nearly been cut in half. She couldn't believe she’d laid him out after all that, it was almost impossible to believe, and she-

Oh, right, the pin.

Valerie scrambled over to him and got on top of his body, pressing his shoulders to the mat. Just to be on the safe side, she trapped his arms at the side and posted up with her feet, bridging to give herself some added leverage, not wanting to leave any of this up to chance.

The referee slid over and started up the count, slapping the mat beside Kyo’s head. ”1…!”

[Underdoggo]

His chest felt like it had been caved in. A sharp pain was noticeable as he sucked in air. A part of his brain was immediately terrified that Valerie had just done something brutal, something dangerous, to his ribs. He knew it wasn't the case-- if it was, then the pain he was in would be that, that much more acute-- but all the same, his entire body ached as though it had just been hit at point blank range by a cannonball. A blonde, muscular Californian cannonball.

He was breathing hard, through shallow, gasping breaths, when Valerie immediately rolled over to cover him, pressing his shoulders down, trapping her arms, arching her hips up to press her lower body down further against his. For a brief moment, Kyo was distracted by the feeling of the whole of Valerie's upper body pushing down against him. The start of the countdown quickly snapped him back to reality.

He tried to arch up. Pain flared through his aching spine: between it and Valerie's weight pressed down against him, he couldn't budge. He tried to move his arms, to get them free: Valerie's iron grip had them trapped tightly against his side. Clenching his teeth, he tried to twist his body left and right, weakly, under Valerie, trying to gain even one shoulder off the mat. Valerie was not letting him move an inch.

"2...!"

[BlackAkuma]

”3…!”

Valerie almost couldn't believe the number when she heard it, like it was coming to her in a dream, or some figment of her imagination. After she’d wrested Kyo so long, practically went to war with him, it seemed unfathomable that she could actually get his shoulders on the mat for three whole seconds. The man had proved implacable throughout the match, always outfoxing her, always showing a depth to his abilities that exceeded her own, always having an answer for whatever she threw his way. Even now, after they were both battered senseless, she still half-expected him to kick out, and it would be over from there. There was simply no way she would have the energy to keep fighting.

But he didn’t. She kept him pinned, the referee hit the mat three times, and it was over.

Valerie released Kyo and flopped to her back, staring up at the ceiling as the crowd roared. The reality of the match came down on her all at once. That was her biggest test as a pro wrestler so far, her proving ground, and somehow she’d managed to pass it. She’d defeated Kyo Akamatsu.

With her eyes closed tight, Valerie threw both of her fists into the air, breathed deep, and screamed. ”Yatta!”

[Underdoggo]

*DING DING DING!*

And with that, it was over. Kyo felt Valerie's weight roll off of him, and he was left lying flat on his back, his chest rising and falling gently as he stared up at the arena lights, his brain allowing what had just happened to sink in. He and Valley had been going to war with one another from the very moment they had both stepped into the ring, and the Californian's strength, power, reaction time and skill had been an incredible challenge from the start. He struggled to remember the last time an opponent had tested him as much as Valley Doll had, and he had given it his all, wanting to prove himself against this indomitable woman.

And he had lost.

He felt a deep shame well up within him. He was conscious of the fact that he had not merely lost: he had also failed to live up to his father's legacy. He had hoped to honour his father at the very least by scoring a win against Valley Doll...a Valley Doll at least, rather than the Valley Doll. But in that regard, he had come up short.

He closed his eyes. No, he told himself, he was not a failure. He had given his all against a very good opponent. There was no shame in losing that.

With a low groan, he clutched at his still hurting midsection, and began the arduous process of trying to sit up...

[BlackAkuma]

”Yes. Yes.”

Valerie closed her eyes and basked in the moment, still trying to process everything that was going on around her. The most immediate thing was her body - her legs hurt, her arms hurt, her chest hurt, her everything hurt. She hurt in places she couldn't even remember getting hit on, on bones that she swore never took a hit. She was just one massive ball of pain, and she was so looking forward to going home, hopping in her bed and just sleeping forever.

And yet, somehow, she felt good. So good. Better than she could remember feeling in a long time. Her mothers had told her about this feeling, this exhilaration, but she’d always thought it was exaggeration. As he laid there, though, she knew for a fact, that-

”Kyo!”

She’d been so out of it that she’d almost forgotten about the other person in the ring, and it was only the faint rumble of his body nearby that alerted her to the reality. As excited as she felt, she couldn't imagine how he was faring after such an intense battle. To go so hard, wrestle for so long, and come up short…

Valerie sprung to her feet, so fast that she almost wound up flopping back on her butt. She was able to grab hold of the ropes for balance, though, and immediately moved to help him back to his feet.

”Kyo-san!” She looked down and gave him a few solemn bows, as she struggled to create a complete sentence. ”That was, I mean, you were, incredible and I just want to, well, thank you for this, I mean, I’m not saying you held back or anything, but this opportunity was incredible, and I-”

Oh God, she was rambling. She probably looked like such an idiot right now…

[Underdoggo]

The roar of the crowd around them was overwhelming, many chanting Valley Doll's name at the end of this exciting, hard fought bout. It was all Kyo could do to try to block it out, to cover his eyes with one hand as though wiping away sweat. He had no intention of showing anything but respect to the victorious Valley, and he did not want to come across at all as a sore loser...but damn it, losing this particular match was harder than he had expected. He had tried so much to live up to his father's legacy, and here and now, fighting against the daughter of one of his greatest rivals, he had come up short--

He was broken out of it by Valerie's voice. The girl was standing over him, drenched in sweat, hobbling on the ropes, and smiling elatedly as she extended a hand down towards him. Something about the genuine, good-natured joy in that smile immediately made him forget about how miserable he had been feeling. The fact that Valerie was rambling about how incredible he'd been as an opponent helped a lot as well.

With a weary smile, he accepted her hand and let Valerie pull him upright. "No, no, Valley-san," he replied, before correcting himself. "Valerie-san...you were incredible." he breathed as he staggered up to her feet, clasping her hand in both of his. "I...I didn't know what to expect from the daughter of Valley Doll, but you were an amazingly tough opponent. This was one of the toughest matches I've had in a while, and I'm happy to have faced you in the ring."

[BlackAkuma]

Kyo had nice eyes.

She wasn’t sure where that thought came from. It was just there all of a sudden, rushing in out of nowhere. For whatever reason, when he cupped her hands in his, that was what she focused on, the first thing that took her notice, and she couldn't quite explain why. Maybe it was the first time she’d really seen them, or maybe it was this expression that brought them out. But they were there, and they drew her in, as sure as a magnet.

Was she blushing? Oh, Lord, she was blushing, wasn’t she?

”I, uh…” She scratched her head, not sure how to respond to his accolades. She didn’t take praise well most of the time, but there was something about getting it from him, the man she’d been wrestling that made it ring better than usual. ”Thank you, Kyo-san. I was only able to wrestle so well because you pushed me to do so. It was…I’m honored. Truly.”

She managed to get enough of her wits to step back and give him a final, nervous bow, as she started to take her leave from the ring. Before she went, though, she turned back one last time, as she worked up the nerve for a few more sentences. ”One thing, though. Would you be interested in hooking up?” She blinked, letting that hang for an awkward moment before she realized what she’d said. ”For a spar, I mean! Or training, or you know, anything like that. You and me. At the gym. Together. Obviously.”

God, why was she being such an idiot right now?

[Underdoggo]

Something about Valerie's smile was doing a lot to brighten Kyo's mood. Her sheer joy at her victory, and her babbling excitement over their match, was enough to make Kyo forget the pain of having lost. He found himself smiling as well, momentarily forgetting about their family rivalry as he shook her hand. It wasn't just the way she smiled either, it was the cute way she blushed when she--

Realizing at that moment where his thoughts were going, Kyo awkwardly slid his hand back. Wait, no, hands. He had been holding Valerie's hand with both of his in an earnest clasp. He found himself blushing himself now as the two stepped back from one another. Valerie gave him a nervous bow. He returned it, no less awkwardly or nervously.

He took a deep breath, and was about to turn and make his exit from the ring when Valerie called back to him. Her request caused him to blush even further.

"Eh...eh?!!" he stammered. He recovered as quickly as he could. "I mean...I'd be delighted. I would love to see you again. For a spar, I mean. Yes."

[BlackAkuma]

Yes!

Valerie jumped a little when he accepted the offer, then tried to force some calm into herself, not wanting to seem too desperate. It was just a little spar meetup, no big deal. Wrestlers did that all the time. They were just colleagues meeting to exchange ideas and learn from each other. Fellow competitors. Maybe rivals. It was a perfectly normal, common thing, with no underlying connotations or motives.

Right. Right.

”For a spar. Great.” She bowed again for some reason, then gave him a thumbs up and started to make her way out of the ring. ”I’ll see you then. Later. In the gym. For the spar. With you. Yeah.” She went through the ropes and onto the apron. ”I’ll, uh, go now. Catch you later. Right. Bye.”

She waited a few, awkward seconds, then scurried her way back up the ramp, hurriedly waving to the confused fans as she went.