Patrice Juillet (D) vs Katsumi Oshiro - There's A New Showgirl In Town?

[Jaystar]

Trice was bracing herself. She was bracing herself hard. The longer it took to materialize, the more vicious it must had proven to be. The more the crowds were chanting for it, the more satisfied the punk would be to deliver the proper chop. There was no way... There was no way that Trice was not going to get a brutal smack squarely to her breasts.

Turns out, the ways on Trice's map were outdated. Or upside down. Or not really depicting the true landscape of Katsumi's mind and tactics at all...

The smack never came. Instead, the punk's reaction to her spiteful gloating was pretty much the polar opposite of what would have seemed logical at all... And most confusingly, very much adrift of the script that the French Actress had envisioned in her mind.

At first, Trice simply thought that maybe she had not really gotten the true meaning of her words. Maybe a language barrier, maybe too thick of an accent with the pronunciation... But no. Her words quickly revealed, that she just didn't want to do the obvious thing. Confusing. Very confusing.

Was the Punk Princess not that true of a heel after all? Did she have a totally different script in her mind, one that had not been predicted by her opponent at all? Or maybe, just maybe... Had she actually in fact enjoyed getting smothered by the French blonde's breasts so much, that she had no woman in her to really hurt them?

One thing was for sure though, the Japanese girl was very interested in riling up the crowds. Curious, as they were supposed to be her home ones... But maybe that was simply part of the allure. She could easily afford it. Loveable and despicable at the same time... Those kind of characters always had their place.

What wasn't lost on Trice though was the fact that while Katsumi was focusing on her arrogant mocking at the audience, the blonde herself was granted a very unexpected opening to get back in the game. Instead of getting helplessly punished while draped by the ropes, the French blonde had ample time to free herself from the tricky position. So she did. And she also had almost equally ample time to figure out how to respond to Katsumi's deviant behavior - hopefully with some words of her own that could potentially catch the Punk Princess herself off guard.

"You sure about that? You're not turning me on with all that whining at all..." the actress commented back to Katsumi with a sarcastic tone as she had untangled herself from the ropes and began taking steps towards her opponent again, deciding to fake that the punk's obvious sarcasm of her own comment had been totally lost on her. Curious to see her reaction, Trice's plan was to take advantage of whatever it was... If it seemed to spark an obvious annoyance or an imminent desire to attack inside the punkette, she would be going for a quick Spear to hopefully down the Punk Princess once again to the mat. But if the reation was going to be a more confused one, Trice decided to see if she could get closer to her opponent, snatch hold of her arm, and twist it into a hammerlock behind her back... In which case she would likely have already come up with some new lines to taunt her supposedly heelish opponent with.

[CyanDimitrik]

While working the crowd and directing their angst onto her in a more general sense, Katsumi fully expects Trice to try to take advantage. A tackle from behind? A waistlock? Maybe a simple forearm club would do the trick! But the two of them continue surprising each other, for even as the Punk Princess conducts the ire of the crowd, she's internally starting to worry - this is going too long. There's a fine line between trolling the crowd and just being stupid. She does not want to wind up looking stupid.

Confident is fine. Arrogant is fine, too! But stupid? That one, she doesn't want.

And just as she's starting to think she needs to get back to working Patrice over, she hears her from behind. Her arms pause, brow knits in confusion, and she turns. "What?" The confusion in her voice is as sincere as the confusion on her face moments ago, when Trice prompted her to give her the ol' five across the biddies. "Listen here, you little shit-," Katsumi resumes, marching forward with the clear intention to bring the heat.

Thus, Trice's shoulder will find its home planting hard into Katsumi's trim stomach, causing the punkette to double up around her before the two hit the mat. Winded, Katsumi writhes on her back, eyes squeezed shut. And naturally, the arena is awash in cheer.

[Jaystar]

Yes, Patrice was far from being a wall of meat who could simply bulldoze everyone stepping in her way, but she could definitely Spear a girl like Katsumi easily with simple momentum. That was, if she managed to surprise them unprepared at least... And luckily, that's exactly what Katsumi was. Oh, the punkette probably thought that she could simply walk back to a hapless babyface to continue her assault? Not gonna happen!

Granted, Trice couldn't still tell exactly why the Japanese girl hadn't done so in the first place, but it was no reason for the French Actress to start pulling any punches. If anyting, an important goal for her right now was to make Katsumi even more irritated and annoyed, that she wouldn't be letting the crowds down in such a way a second time... Although after the Spear had connected, Trice could tell by what she was hearing, that the arena still seemed to apparently prefer seeing their home combatant downed and in a pickle.

Surely all of that only gave a moral boost for the French Actress. Noting that Katsumi didn't seem to be capable of getting back up any time soon, Trice decided it was time to claim her position on top. Crawling on her all fours just a bit forward, the French blonde then tried to take hold of the punkette's wrists, and press them hard against the mat above her head. That way she could take support of them, while positioning herself on top of the punkette into a nice little schoolgirl pin...

"Go ahead, I'm listening!" Oh, the amount of tease in her voice... The actress had to be proud of that even herself! And she was genuinely curious if Katsumi was going to answer, while tilting her head and looking straight down into her opponent's eyes.

[CyanDimitrik]

Trice's efforts are rewarded with a quiet groan from Katsumi, her aching stomach going to be a sore reminder that just because she's trying to take a high road doesn't mean the results are going to be particularly kind or gentle. But she'll be fine - she just needs to get through the initial burst of pain and strain of recovery, then the precious endorphins will hit, and she'll be back to remembering why she loves wrestling.

Sweet, sweet delicious physical competition. It's euphoric enough on its own.

Suddenly, she's aware of the pretty French blonde's presence hovering over her. Wrists are taken and planted to the canvas above her head, and eyes shoot open to meet the girl face-to-face. Trice's weight settles over her, effectively pinning her down. The image itself isn't lost on the audience as a bit of payback fanservice, Katsumi's hair fanned out against the mat beneath her more 'posh' rival.

The referee drops beside the pair and strikes the mat! "ONE!"

"Gh..," Katsumi manages at first. Then, priority takes over. She tosses her right leg aside, letting the ankle dangle over the ring's edge. The referee probably hasn't noticed it just yet, but it's insurance. She kind've wants Patrice in close for this, anyway. This isn't for the audience's ears.

"What kind'a jerk do you think I am?," she says, a small smirk tugging the corner of her lips. "I don't want the cheap pop. Don't want that rep'. M'gonna beat ya, but-" Her back arches a little beneath Trice, a little writhe pushing her chest up against her. "-s'gonna be my way."

"'Sides..."

"TWO!"

"...I refuse to be the reason anyone hates getting in the ring." Suddenly more loudly, "Rope-break, ref! Get some eyes, and get this bitch off'a me!"

[Jaystar]

Honestly, Trice said that she would be listening... But she wasn't really expecting to hear anything. Well, except for maybe a few insults and curse words, that was. Those would have simply been music to her ears.

What she also wasn't really expecting was how promptly the referee dropped down to start the count. Sure, she was pinning Katsumi... But with a pin like this? That was clearly more to show off, display some dominance, rather than actually trying to defeat one's opponent. Oh, and for fanservice. Definitely fanservice.

Well, clearly she was wrong. And honestly, she was. This was a pin, plain and simple. The count obviously should have started. And frankly, it wasn't any bad news for Patrice at all. If anything, it was a pleasant surprise, despite the deviation from her expected script.

What she also turned out to get wrong were Katsumi's words. Or well, yes, there was kinda cursing, kinda insults, but the difference was, the punkette actually had some substance in them. And even if the Japanese girl couldn't really signal her wish for so, Trice instinctively lowered her head even closer as if really being interested in what she had to say - especially with such a low volume like that.

Trice silently listened. Listened and reflected. While Katsumi's lips were turning into a smirk, the blonde was starting to unconsciously bite her own, clearly pondering the message being delivered to her. And by the time the trapped woman finally stated her refusal to be the reason anyone hated getting in the ring, it was very evident from Trice's face that she was taking all of those words seriously, and reflecting on what exactly they meant.

Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to reflect before Katsumi became serious about escaping her predicament, and began scolding the ref for not having already called off the pin. Trice realized she was going to have to move soon, but still managed to come up with some clever words of her own - at least on her own opinion. "Well, if you're so keen on having it your way... You should take me to Burger King then."

No, two seconds later Trice was no longer proud of that. Honestly, initially she was going to end the sentence with "you'd better find your road then". But in the heat of the moment, it would have just sounded too dull. And the ref had already come pulling her off, before she had gotten the chance to think through what she really wanted to hear coming out of her own mouth.

Ah, excessive improvisation. Curses of being an actress.

Nevertheless, Trice had to get promptly back on her two feet, letting Katsumi have all the time she needed to regain her composure. She obviously still needed to look like she was fiercely protesting the interruption to the ref though. "Oh, come on! What do you mean? A rope break?!? That's impossible! I controlled both her wrists! Come on, she's a heel, can't you see that she's just trying to corrupt you?" All of the blonde's words were supported by ample protests from the crowds... But she still took a few marked glances at Katsumi's direction, both for wanting to check on what she was doing, but also for the fact that the punkette's words were still echoing in her head, and she was still curious about their meaning... And also getting constantly more curious about how Katsumi actually was as a wrestler and a person as well.

If anything, she kept on constantly surprising her.

[CyanDimitrik]

Two things registered for Katsumi while Trice remained on top of her. Two things stood out. Well, three. But the feeling of the other girl's bodyweight pressing in over her is a given. The two main things were, one, how perplexingly cringe that line was, and two, how the blonde girl, herself, realized it immediately after. Despite herself, Katsumi winds up grinning up at her - acutely playful, even charmed by the little gaff. She doesn't have time to tease her about it, as the referee is already trying to paw Patrice off of her, but she shares a look with her opponent that likely says it all. Just a secret message between the two of them.

That message is, "You are such a dork." In an quietly affectionate way.

As Patrice carries on with the referee, Katsumi props herself up with her left elbow as her right forearm crosses against her stomach where she'd been speared. She quickly defaults back to that taunting smirk of hers, and after a couple more breaths, she reaches up to grab the top rope and pulls herself to her feet.

The referee, meanwhile, is trying to assure the French girl of the validity of the call. "I don't care if she's a heel, toe, or even in-step, Juillet-san! I saw what I saw! I have to call it and be fair! There'll be no favoritism in this ri-EEP!"

Suddenly, Katsumi's shoulder thrusts against the referee's back, firmly shoving the woman towards Patrice! The referee, startled and certainly not an athlete, stumbles forward with arms flailing, well on her way to toppling to the mat! Except Patrice is there in the way, serving as a convenient buoy to catch her fall! Hands grab for shoulders, her balance fully pitched into colliding with the blonde!

Meanwhile, Katsumi takes advantage of the chaos and sidles around behind Patrice, fully reliant on her being the person of higher moral standing and choosing to help the poor frazzled referee rather than allow her to faceplant. And should that expectation carry true, Patrice will find a series of manicured fingertips pressing into the soft skin of her bare back - and raking down, from the hem of her top to just above the edge of her bottoms! Not hard or deep enough to break skin, but when sweaty skin meets fresh scratches, the stinging pain may be intense!

[Jaystar]

For some time, Patrice had felt that this match was steering towards a bit more unknown direction, like that she and Katsumi were no longer really on the same page with how they'd play this match to be. Like, she no longer knew what to expect. But now she was regaining that sense of connectedness once again, if not with the ability to predict what was to happen, at least with reinvigorating the trust she was placing in Katsumi to make this match a good one. She just had to let the black-haired girl to have things her way - but was simply doing that going to feel acceptable?

The secret message was well received though. And it did make quite a world of difference with what stance Trice was taking towards her foe... She was once more becoming genuinely interested to see what Katsumi's way exactly was. There was a moment of marked warmth and connection between them, one that did take some punch out of the blonde's lamentations towards the official.

Soon Trice could see Katsumi having adopted her more familiar smirk again, and her focus shifted more heavily towards the ref girl again...

Which turned out to be a mistake. Immediately after hearing the words "toe, or even in-step", Trice couldn't maintain her character, or keep her composure. Her face turned into an outright grin, and she blurted out a second of uncontrollable laughter. How inappropriate!

Luckily, the French Actress managed to quickly regain her composure after a second or two. She just hadn't expected such comedy, intentional or not, from the official! Especially with her own little gaffe just moments before... Quickly she was back to her usual, disgruntled self though... Hopefully the crowds didn't notice a thing.

They probably didn't, since Katsumi was already up to something much more interesting - and something that Trice herself did not notice coming at all. Suddenly, the ref's body fell forwards into the French girl's arms that were conveniently open from the protesting, and quickly closed in around the official's shoulders to halt her momentum and help both of them maintain their balance. The blonde had to stagger a few steps backwards as well... But not far enough to prevent Katsumi from creeping behind her opponent's back.

What transpired between the French Actress and the referee looked nothing short of a caressing embrace, and very out of place after the heated debate. But the picture soon turned into a much more painful one, as everyone got to witness Katsumi's nails digging into the blonde's skin from behind... It made the blonde girl freeze in her place, and consequently awkwardly difficult for the official to find her freedom again, once she had regained her balance. Eventually, Patrice did open her arms just enough for the ref to escape, but the debuting babyface stayed still in her place like a deer frozen in the headlights... Terrified of what would happen if she moved even an inch.

Yes, any movement would likely have caused any drips of sweat running quicker onto her scratched skin. But the more meaningful implication of Trice's frozen form was signaling yet another secret message between the combatants, even if her back was facing her opponent, and face towards the puzzled referee.

"Dang, you got me. I'll surely be in deep trouble next..."

[CyanDimitrik]

The mis-step, if such a thing it could be called, would live on in Katsumi's memory as one of the most curious bits in her wrestling career. Patrice is enjoying the match, even though she's been getting beaten up. Katsumi is fairly positive of it. But the encouragement to whack her 'cross the ma'ams was something she had never had an opponent do. Opponents would often be surprised, even occasionally grateful that she didn't take the obvious shot, but never daring her to call a mulligan. She thought she'd maybe even disappointed her.

Hell of a weird place, this LAW arena.

But it felt like things were straightened out when Patrice was perched on her. And Katsumi felt a need to explain herself. She's used to angering and outraging audiences, and even opponents! But not like that. Not when she's making a genuine effort to show respect, even if in a sly, subtle way. It felt somehow extra wrong; coming from a girl who can never tell when she's gone too far. So the moment they shared, with Katsumi flat on her back and the French girl leaned over her, was sweet. Humanizing.

She still needed to beat the tar out of her to make a point about her re-debut, but it was nice. Nice having that spontaneous, no-frills, malice-free moment. That's what she'll remember.

...while raking her manicured nails down the girl's bare, sweaty back.

The arena is awash in outrage, a portion of the audience animatedly on their feet and scorning the Punk Princess for not only abusing the flustered official, but flagrantly breaking the rules. Others in the arena are laughing at the antics. Management may be squinting at the replay to try to figure out what Patrice seemed to laugh at for a half second.

Katsumi, however, is still keen to read the opponent's stiff body language; frozen, ramrod straight, no longer holding the poor baffled referee. Katsumi steps in tight against her back, hips against her rear, and she leans in against her. Her left arm reaches around to hook her thigh, while her right arm wraps around her waist, palm braced against the girl's stomach, only to lurch back with her! Katsumi's body arches dramatically as she sends Patrice up and over to slam the back of her head and shoulders against the mat in a backdrop suplex!

But the moment of impact sees the punkette maintain the hold! She pops onto the gold-boxed toes of her boots to lean more into Trice's shoulders, supporting her for a sudden pin attempt!

"Gotcha~!"

[Jaystar]

In a way, one pulling punches inside the ring could have always been taken as condescending... To a degree, at least. And at first, that certainly had been one possible way for the French Actress to have interpreted Katsumi's abstinence on inflicting the obvious pain on her... But the verbal, and subsequent wordless exchanges that had followed had done an impeccable job with clearing out any of those doubts. Patrice understood, deeply, that the Punk Princess did in fact hold deep respect for anyone that dared to step inside the ring with her... While Trice was fairly certain that the Japanese woman could appreciate by now that the actress wasn't afraid of her playing it rough in the name of an exhilirating battle.

It certainly felt like two must have shared a deep bond in showgirlship.

Trice could certainly appreciate the turn the punkette had scripted to get back in control, and while the nails were a very devious way to inflict pain for the rest of this match, the blonde's instincts were telling her to pay respect to Katsumi's inventive ways by freezing in place seemingly in shock, rather than trying embark on a cowardly escape. Her decision was enforced even further by the deafening loudness of the crowds... For a showgirl, it was always, always primary to get a big reaction, whatever the cost. Besides, her mind was getting keen to find out what her opponent in fact had in store for her next, given another opportunity to take control... Even if her body didn't really agree.

She didn't have to get disappointed. Trice could feel Katsumi wasting no time with pressing her body against the blonde's own, while quickly trapping it in place with her limbs. For a moment, the French girl was almost expecting to feel hot air escaping from the punkette's lips right next to her ear, likely to tease her for her predicament or something... But she was eventually surprised by how quickly the black-clad fighter went down to business instead. The actress found herself unexpectedly easily up in the air, and the subsequent smack of her shoulders against the canvas spiked some serious pain through her body!

Another, more urgent surprise was that Katsumi decided to maintain the hold after the impact, going for a pin. Trice had to admit finding it clever... But she wasn't really still ready to let the Japanese girl to simply have it in this manner.

"1!"

She did need to find a way out to be able to do it though. And the ref girl was already surprisingly quick to count, considering the trouble Katsumi had just put her through.

"2!"

Eventually, Patrice managed to kick out. But the third count hadn't been left far away... And it looked like a pretty marginal escape. The babyface hoped the kickout to get Katsumi to loosen and eventually release her hold on her, so she could roll away to the side away from her... But even if she managed to do so, she wasn't ready to get back up quite yet.

"Not... That... Easy..." the blonde would then quietly mutter at Katsumi's direction, with a hint of challenge clearly evident in her tone. Not that she would have thought the punkette to have actually believed taking her out to have been that easy... Still, for now she was laying prone on the mat, while her hands were tending to her back... Although not the upper one that had just taken the big hit, but the lower one where the scratches were becoming increasingly evident... And making the blonde babyface look like having been already wounded by the predator.

[CyanDimitrik]

Katsumi milking the moment would come from the bridged pin, in fact. As soon as she was set up, with Patrice folded up on her shoulders and the punkette arched significantly behind her, she held the position - and relished in the glittering flashes of cameras all around them. It must've looked incredible. And Katsumi is getting a thrill out of being able to show off her newfound, newly trained flexibility. And now, thanks to that, the magazines will make sure the rest of the world knows she's improved, too.

Her hands press into her captive's figure a little more, pushing the thigh inwards towards Trice's chest while the other hand just gets to snug against the blonde's crumpled stomach. For as much as she's enjoying the moment, though, a flash of worry crosses her mind. She realizes she doesn't want the match to end like this. This isn't the finishing visual she wants to leave the crowd with. She wants something more dramatic. More primal. More dominant. Something the company can put on a poster for fans to fawn over. Even the ones who hate her.

Just as she mulls over the contradictory notion of hate-fans admiring a poster of her, and how she can surely thank her makeover for that, there's a burst of energy from her opponent! The kickout upsets the balance, bringing relief to Katsumi's arched spine and thighs, while allowing Patrice to roll and tumble away. She sits up immediately to look at the referee with an annoyed, pinched expression, and slaps her right hand into her left palm three times in rapid succession. The referee retorts by emphatically slapping her hand into a palm twice, then showing a pair of fingers.

The audience doesn't need to hear any words to understand the argument. It's as classic as the sport itself.

Amidst the audience's cacophonous cheer at Trice's refusal to be pinned, Katsumi turns over onto hands and knees, creeping along to the downed French girl. She hears the words. But more importantly, she hears the meaning behind them. She's begun operating on the belief that she and Patrice can understand each other on a more significant level. It's not just about one besting the other in the sport, it's about working the crowd. And though she's positive Patrice would absolutely take the win here tonight over her, if she relented enough to let it happen, there's an unusual kind of trust forming. They're in this together.

She likes that.

She can even reward that.

Reaching out, she grabs Trice by a pigtail to lift her head to look at her, sneering in outward derision. "You want more!? You got it! Remember how I said I wasn't gonna make the French girl surrender?!," she calls, looking out at the audience. "Well, fucking psyche! I wanna hear this bitch scream!"

Her eyes snap back to Trice, deliberately to make brief contact with her before shoving on her captive head to ensure she's rolled over onto her chest. Katsumi nimbly slips around to her left side and lies across her back, pulling Trice's left arm between her thighs to scissor her, then hooking her left arm beneath the French girl's right.

"Don't tap," she suddenly whispers to her. The moment is milked as Katsumi dramatically takes her time positioning the girl just so in the tangle of limbs, reaching to hook her hands beneath Patrice's chin. "S'gonna hurt like Hell, but I don't want'cha going out like this. So if it's too much.. like, pinch me or something."

It's risky. She knows she should be taking every opportunity to seal the deal with her and take the earliest victory. But a part of her really wants to savor the show, the display for the crowd - and management - to make her re-debut the strongest it can be. While not making Patrice tap out. She wants a better visual for everyone. And Patrice to keep some kind of dignity.

Suddenly, Katsumi leans back, arching Patrice's spine while her lower back is braced against the punkette's ribs. The strain runs from the neck all the way down to the chest and midsection, pulling her taut in the double-underhook chinlock, with a significant burst focused on the poor girl's lower back. But it's only destined to get worse. This is only the first part of the Yokaidzume signature hold.