Heart and Gold Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament Qualifier: Sanae Saitou vs. Chris Yukine

[CaptainL]

The moment she had been able to seize Chris's ankles and transition into a lock of her own, Sanae made a pledge to herself - she was determined not to let this slip! She had the white-haired girl within her grasp, and she couldn't afford to let go now. She needed to focus on dealing out as much damage as she could while she had her in her clutches. More than that, she thought back to all the effort she had put into improving her own technical wrestling skills - and if she was going to qualify for the Junior Heavyweight Championship, she needed to prove she had what it took to compete at the top of her division. She was more than just a high-flyer; she was making leaps and bounds in all disciplines, as anyone who had seen her work with Alizeh could attest to! If she could keep Chris under control with such a move, she would prove she was learning well. She could just think of how many people were watching her right now - and she hoped Alizeh was one of them. She needed to do this to make them all proud! That was serving as her inspiration to keep going, and as she focused on it, she held her head just a little bit higher, smiling even wider!

In the end, though, Sanae's grip couldn't hold on forever - and at last, Chris managed to kick out of Sanae's hold, knocking her back in the process. The green-haired girl tumbled aside, but she wasted no time in scrambling back up onto her knees and shaking herself out before she looked up at Chris with a huff. Even if she'd had to let go this time, it wasn't going to stop her. She'd lasted long enough to prove she could stand up to Chris - not just to the world, but to herself! And that was all Sanae needed to remind herself to keep up the fight!

Holding her head high, she sprung back to her feet. She could see that Chris was coming bounding back toward her - but she was prepared. She dug her heels into the mat to keep herself steady - and right as Chris moved to strike her down, Sanae would grab for her, trying to lift the rocker off her feet! She teetered in place, her teeth clenching and her back bowing backward from her foe's weight - but if Sanae managed to hold her up, she would try and turn Chris's forward momentum against her (and to take advantage of her small size) by hurling her back down to the mat with a back body drop!

[GolemGuardian]

Sanae might have had her own reasons to put her all in, but so did Chris. The rocker only followed her fellow musician's career a bit after their match was scheduled, and saw how she fought to prove herself. She respected that. But the rocker had been given two opportunities to achieve gold, only to fall short both times. She worked hard to get where she was in her career, and she was tired of chances slipping through her grasp.

Their tug of war she started hurt Chris' ankles, but it was so worth it when Sanae fell into the competitive mindset and into the rocker's trap. And after checking her ankles, the rocker was ready to move towards her real weapon: her speed. The rocker would run towards her green haired opponent, planning to take her down to the ground with a lariat to start her high flying offense.

Sanae was ready for her, however. When the rocker readied her arm for the running hit, the idol bent down and grabbed her, straightening up with some effort and went for a back body drop. Refusing to let Sanae get an opportunity again, the rocker rolled into the throw and onto her feet safely. Without skipping a beat she continued her run towards the other set of ropes. If the arm wouldn't do it, she would try something with more of a snap. Rebounding back towards Sanae, Chris would build as much momentum her way as she could. When she was right in range, she came to a stop, bringing her leg up and at the Young Lioness' head with a superkick.

[CaptainL]

Chris was quick, but so was Sanae. The two girls might have seemed worlds apart in demeanor and musical tastes, but if this match was proof of anything, it was that they had far more in common than anyone could've guessed. They had the same passion, the same agility, and the same determination to always push their limits and do things bigger and better than the last time, and their styles were in perfect balance. All of that was on display in the breakneck pace the match had taken. Chris might have run toward Sanae to surprise her with a lariat, but Sanae's reflexes were just as quick, as she scooped the rocker up and hurled her to the ground!

The fans cheered at such a reversal from Sanae, and one that showed her command of power moves. But Sanae had no time to celebrate. She knew what soon became apparent to everyone else - Chris was far from finished! The white-haired woman just rolled with the momentum, dropping to the mat and sommersaulting back up to her feet. Once again, she was throwing herself into the ropes, and once again she came back at Sanae with another charge!

But then, Sanae did too! As soon as she saw Chris run for the ropes, she knew what was happening, and she was prepared for it! She took off toward her foe, closing the distance so that at the same time Chris's leg whipped through the air, Sanae dropped down and slipped out from under it with a roll of her own! As soon as she was in the clear, she jumped back to her feet and ran for the ropes opposite her. There, she would throw herself against them to stretch them against her weight - and when they shot her back toward Chris, she would kick out both legs, aiming a dropkick!

[GolemGuardian]

The crowd was cheering for the high paced action so far from the two lightweights. So far each of them had been able to show off their skills in both music and wrestling. The match had barely begun, and yet the two, without showing off their high flying forte, had excited the crowd so much. They were invested, split between cheering for the rocker and the idol and waiting to see how this back and forth would end.

With Chris rolling through the back body drop, she kept up the momentum uninterrupted. She quickly ran to and bounced off the ropes, snapping her leg out for a superkick. However Sanae dodged her once more, sliding under her leg and kipping back up to run the ropes herself. Chris had to admit, she was a little impressed by the Young Lioness. Even if she had gone down the rabbit hole of the worse music genre, her wrestling was definitely top notch. Whoever she learned from taught her well.

Soon Sanae was back, leaping for a dropkick right to the rocker's chest. "Nice try," The rocker said as she quickly stepped to the side to avoid the greenette's dropkick. Once the Young Lioness hit the ground, Chris would hop before she dropped. Maybe her elbow drop would end this little tête-à-téte.

[CaptainL]

Both girls were staying in constant motion. For both Sanae and Chris, their speed, agility, and manueverability were important assets, and they played their skills in such respects to the fullest. They knew they had to keep moving to gather force behind their strikes and to make sure they landed quickly - but at the same time, they needed to dodge around every incoming blow and stay on their toes so as not to be caught unawares when things were changing by the second! The last few seconds of the match had seen a constant string of counters, with the two high-flyers outrunning each other at every turn and dodging everything they threw at one another. And that momentum wasn't about to stop!

Sanae had come charging toward Chris with her legs extended, going to hit her with a dropkick - only for Chris to swerve to the side! Sanae let out a gasp when she saw where she was going, but she was already in motion, and it was far too late to stop now. She came down with a thump, wincing from the impact and reaching down to rub at her thigh. But Chris was getting ready to take advantage of this break in the action, hurling herself back at Sanae with her elbow raised!

However, Sanae was just going to keep that momentum coming! She hadn't slowed down a moment, and neither did her reaction time! She let out a gasp as she saw Chris descending on her - but just then, she rolled her weight to the side and kicked out her legs, looking to gather the momentum to get out of the way! If all went well, Chris's elbow drop would wipe out on the canvas as she came down on nothing but the mat, hopefully stunning herself in the process. If that worked, Sanae would move to kip up to her feet - but as she rose, she would add a little extra push to weaponize her momentum, spinning around and sticking out her leg to hit Chris with a roundhouse kick on her way up!

[GolemGuardian]

This was action befitting the budokan. Two competitors putting their all in in a series of counters and dodging, whilst they each used their momentum to strengthen their attacks. A masterful exchange between two musicians and wrestlers, playing off one another in a dichotic melody. One where each fought to drown the other out.

Chris dodged to the side and let Sanae fall from her dropkick miss, planning to take advantage of the situation to drop her elbow onto her opponent. It almost looked like finally someone would finally land a decisive blow in this qualifier. Until, that is, when Sanae rolled out of the way and Chris' elbow only hit the mats. With a hiss the rocker briefly felt her elbow, but her eyes never left the green haired idol.

Sanae kipped up energetically, while Chris moved up to her knees. Like Chris had with her running superkick, the Young Lioness rolled her momentum through her body and sent it to her leg for what would surely be a brutal roundhouse. Not wanting to take it, the rocker rolled out of the way and avoided the harsh attack and away from the idol. She kipped back up as the crowd cheered the musical wrestlers, having greatly enjoyed the speedy exchange.

They weren't the only ones, as Chris nodded to the idol with a smile. "Not to bad, Sanae. Haven't fought someone who could keep up with me like that before," she admitted, regaining the stamina she used up. Sure it let Sanae do so as well, but the rocker just had to give credit where credit was do. "If only you didn't rep such a different genre."

With her barb, she carefully approached Sanae. With the two on neutral ground once again, the rocker figured another speedy assault would only be fruitless. If she could get Sanae into a collar and elbow tie up, however, she could think of how to act next. That is, if Sanae accepted her outstretched hands, inviting the no doubt physically stronger girl into her little contest.

[CaptainL]

The last few seconds had been a non-stop flurry of counters, reversals, and near-misses that had left everyone on the edges of their seats. The tension in the air was thick, and Sanae and Chris were both doing their part to raise the tempo of this match higher and higher. Every time it looked like one of them would finally get tripped up, and when the streak would finally be broken, the other managed to slip out from the path of danger once again! The fans could only cheer louder and louder at such a thrilling display of their quick wits and agility. And indeed, it wasn't over yet - Sanae had dodged out of the path of Chris's elbow drop, only to swing herself around to launch a roundhouse kick at the white-haired rocker as soon as they were on their feet. But Chris managed to dodge at the last minute, once again! At the end of it all, the two girls were still at a stalemate!

After such an intense exchange, Sanae was going to need a moment or two to catch her breath. Panting for air, her knees buckled as she sank a little lower, gasping for air. Her heart was pounding from the adrenaline. But she didn't have the least bit of resentment in her heart for Chris. In fact, if Chris had been able to keep up like this, Sanae could only come away with a deeper appreciation of her talents - and evidently, those feelings were mutual!

As Sanae collected herself enough to respond, she slowly rose to her full height, where she flashed a grin and a thumbs-up in Chris's direction. "You're not half bad yourself!" she chirped, apparently not at all concerned with Chris's backhanded comment. "But it's gonna come down...to letting the best woman win!"

Sanae nodded her head to Chris as she began to move in closer, ready to meet her for the lockup! Sanae didn't have the slightest hesitations about taking her on in such a contest. Despite her small size and agility, Sanae had enough experience with power moves to have faith in her strength - and as she went to grab onto Chris's shoulders and push with all her might, she was putting her confidence in that!

[GolemGuardian]

The budokan was filled with excited cheers, the audience split between cheering for the pop idol or the rock star as the action heightened. It was only for a few seconds, but the exchange of avoidance and counters had everyone on the edge of their seats. Even if it ended with neither actually landing a hit, the crowd was electric.

That was always how Chris wanted to leave her spectators. Get them cheering and enjoying her matches, waiting to see what would be next. She could imagine it was the same for the Young Lioness. If so, she probably was taking in the encouraging voices as she took the short exchange to catch her breath.

Chris smiled back after Sanae's reply, the two soon locking into the tie up. As the rocker expected, the greenette was stronger than her. She focused on her speed and athletics more than muscle, so finding someone with more power than her wasn't rare. Sure Chris would push back, but it was definitely obvious that the slightly larger idol would end up winning it.

So why initiate a lock up like this? To get Sanae nice and close, rather then try another running attack as she caught her breath more. The snow haired woman held out for several seconds, letting the greenette build some confidence. Just until she felt the idol wouldn't suspect her fellow musician's true intentions.

"Oh, I intend to," Chris said, before pulling back and turning their contest into a monkey flip and throwing Sanae over her and to the mats. She quickly returned to her feet, before falling down knee first towards the greenette's gut in an attempt to keep her down.

[CaptainL]

With both wrestlers utilizing their energetic, high-speed styles to the fullest and staying in constant motion, the ring had been a flurry of activity. Only now, as the action slowed down for a moment, did the fans have a moment to catch their breath from the whirlwind they'd just witnessed. Sanae, too, took a moment to wipe some sweat from her brow - but it wasn't long before she was squaring up with Chris right again, holding out her hands to lock up with her! Even if things had slowed down, though, the tension in the air was no less thick. The two girls pushed and pulled at one another, each watching for the slightest hint of a chance they might be able to win the upper hand. When Sanae found that she was steering Chris away little by little the more she pushed into her, a grin made its way across her face - she was sure this meant she was about to take the lead! But Chris had plenty of tricks up her sleeve, too - something she demonstrated when she pulled back on Sanae to flip her over her shoulders!

"WHOAH-!!" Sanae let out a gasp as she was swept through the air like a slingshot. The next thing she knew, she was up in the air over Chris! Her legs kicked at the air, but it wouldn't stop her from landing behind Chris as she fell to her back with a thud! Wincing, Sanae reached behind her to rub at her aching back. The impact had knocked the wind out of her and left her stunned...

But when she looked up to see Chris running back at her with her knee raised, Sanae knew she couldn't afford to stay down for long! Thinking quickly, she threw herself to the side, looking to roll out of the way so that Chris's knee would come crashing into the mat instead! She couldn't afford to take her chances - she needed time to catch her breath and recover. And when facing someone as fast as Chris, she would need to take every opportunity she could get to do that!

[GolemGuardian]

Even if the high speed exchange was over, the tension remained high between the two wrestlers. Chris pushed against Sanae in the tie up she initiated, even if she was definitely not a match for the idol. She wasn't expecting the girl to be as strong as she was, but that didn't matter. Brawn meant little when the rocker turned the lock up into a successful monkey flip, throwing the idol over her and onto the ground.

Though the same wouldn't be true for her knee drop, which the Young Lioness avoided quickly. The rocker hissed from the impact, but she didn't give it a second thought. She had figured the throw would have stunned her opponent for at least a little bit, but Sanae was proving to be a much more slippery girl than expected.

Chris tried to get back up before the idol could. If possible, the rocker would try to grab some green hair, drag her up to her feet and pull Sanae's head under her arm. She then planned to follow up with a jump, straightening the idol up, before falling back down and smashing her head down for an implant DDT. Maybe this would ground her opponent and leave her stunned for a bit.