A 100% Platonic, Non-Romantic Training Session

[BlackAkuma]

Valerie applied proper pressure to Makie’s neck, not wanting to have another ‘incident’ like the one she’d had with her brother a couple years back during training. Things got a little aggressive during one of their spars, she’d managed to get behind him after she avoided a hurricanrana, she’d got the arms around his neck, got a little overzealous, and then…he was out. Didn’t even take long. After a hasty hospital visit, her mothers spent weeks chewing her out.

The last thing she wanted was to put Kyo’s sister to sleep, so she avoided that, but Makie didn’t make it easy. The woman was feisty, fighting hard, bucking about, and refusing any opportunities to make it easier on herself. She had to admire her gutsiness, and if the size gap wasn’t so big, she might’ve been able to squirrel her way. As it was, though? Nope. It's not happening.

It seemed she was going for a roll, and while Valerie could’ve amped up the pressure to lock her down, she opted to hold back. Instead, she threw herself forward as they tumbled, broke away from Makie as they move, then rolled away and popped to her feet in a single, swift motion. She spun about on her heel and crouched, hands on her knees, with a wide smile.

”Very nice.” She blew a few stray hairs out of her face. ”Ready to step it up a notch? Maybe bring in strikes?”

[Underdoggo]

And then, just like that, Valerie released her.

Makie wasted no time, hungrily sucking in air as she rolled away from the bigger girl. Pushing herself up to her hands and knees, breathing hard, she eyed Valerie warily. She was under no illusions as to whether or not she had really escaped: Valerie had let her go. If she had wanted to, Valerie could easily have cinched the sleeperhold even harder and knocked her out. The fact that she hadn't was a curt reminder that this was a spar, and Valerie wasn't out to KO or wreck her opponent. Honestly, Makie respected her even more for that.

As Makie watched, Valerie rolled up to her knees, and proposed that they move to strikes. While Makie had absolutely no qualms fighting Valerie in a grounded style like this, she knew she had more of an advantage if she could use her high flying moves and strikes.

"Fine," she replied with a slow smile, standing up and waiting for Valerie to do the same,"just remember you asked for this."

And with that, as soon as Valerie was standing, Makie would burst into a run right at the Californian. Faking a running punch, Makie would try to kick her legs up at the last second, hoping to latch them around Valerie's head and take her down with a hurricanrana!

[BlackAkuma]

Did allowing strikes help Valerie? No. Not at all. Not in the least. While she wasn’t a bad striker and could deliver some heavy hits when the occasion warranted, she was a grappler at heart, and she knew it. The second Valley Doll had been one of the best kickers of her generation, arguably of all time, but try as she might, she just couldn't pass that talent on to the next generation. She’d even tried some Tae Kwon Do classes a couple years back, but it never clicked. Her body wasn’t built for it.

All the more reason to go for it now, though. This wasn’t about playing to her strengths but about stepping outside her comfort zone and being challenged. If the budding smile on Maki’s face was any indication, that was precisely what she was about to get.
”I did.” Valerie blew a few hairs out of her face and moved in. ”Show me.”

That was precisely what Makie did, moving in with a maddening burst of speed. Valerie rushed forward as well, but this turned out against her, as her opponent was far quicker on the draw. One instant she was closing in, just out of range, and the next she was in flight, wrapping her thin, solid legs around the blonde’s head and snagging her tight. The next thing she knew, she was flying through the air and crashing on the mat, coming down hard on her spine.

She hissed, but kept moving, rolling to her feet as fast as she could. Maybe too fast, because it left her dizzy and disoriented, unable to get a lock on Makie’s position. That was better than just staying down, but not by much.

[Underdoggo]

Makie's heart pounded in exhilaration as her hurricanrana went off flawlessly. Big and strong as she was, Valley had been unprepared for pretty much all of Makie's weight to tug down at her head and neck the way it had, and the end result was that she was sent flying, head over heels, onto her back. Rolling up to her feet, Makie saw Valley rolling up as well, albeit slowly and gingerly, and evidently quite stunned at what had just happened.

Well, she was about to get a lot more stunned.

Waiting for Valley to get up to her feet, Makie burst into a run, racing past Valley to up up onto the top of the ropes. Taking a deep breath, she would springboard off of the top rope, looking for all the world like she was about to come crashing down on Valley. This, of course, was a feint: Makie would instead land right behind Valley, and then push against the other girl's back, hopefully sending her stumbling into the ropes and rebounding back.

Where Makie would be waiting for her, of course, with a drop kick to the chest. Not the face, of course: this was still a spar, and she didn't want to stun or injure her opponent. But hopefully this would knock the wind out of Valley's sails enough for Makie to prepare her next, much more fancy move...

[BlackAkuma]

Okay, this shouldn’t have been that hard for Valerie. It wasn’t like this was the first time she’d been hit with a hurricanrana, her mother and brother used them all the time on her when they sparred. Even so, it was always a difficult move for her to deal with, never getting used to just being swept off her feet like that, having her whole world upended in an instant…

No, no, she had this, she just had to find Makie, lock her down, and…

She caught a flash of movement rushing past her, but by the time she realized what it was, her opponent was already skyborne, leaping into the air and flying towards her. Valerie brought her hands up, trying to catch her, but that proved to be a waste of time when Makie wound up landing beside her, instead. She felt hands against her back before she could turn around, and the next thing she knew, she was being pushed hard towards the ropes.

The moment took all control away from Valerie, she bounced off the ropes, and found a dropkick waiting for her on her return to the center of the ring, perfectly placed to hit her on the chest. Valerie was sent stumbling back, arms flailing, and she likely wouldn’ve fallen flat if the corner hadn't been there to break her fall. Instead, she fell up against it and leaned there, arms draped over the ropes while she stood on shaky feet, rapidly blinking as she tried to restart her brain.

[Underdoggo]

Makie felt her boots hammer home against Valerie's chest, causing the larger girl to lose her balance and sprawl backards; as the momentum of her kick sent Makie dropping down onto her butt, she looked up with satisfaction to see that her attack had done its job and sent Valerie tumbling backwards into the corner. Good, she thought, this left Valerie nice and vulnerable to a follow up.

Makie, of course, was all too happy to oblige. Running up to Valerie, Makie would grab a hold of her hand to yank her out of the corner. "By the way," she breathed, "you know how I said earlier I always thought your mom was awesome? Well...in addition to my dad, she was one of the people who inspired me to wrestle."

With that minor confession out of the way, Makie turned to whip Valley across the ring. As Valerie came bouncing back, Makie would dart forward to meet her, and turn into a backflip; as she did so, she would latch her arms around Valley's thighs, hoping to unbalance her. At the same time, her legs would snap around Valley's blonde head. If all went according to plan, then Makie's momentum would end up flipping Valley over onto her shoulders, with Makie catching her in a pinning predicament as she caught her with a sudden but effective takedown-- a variation on Valley Doll II's signature Valley Bomb!

[BlackAkuma]

Valerie shook her head, trying to get all the cobwebs out as she recoiled from Makie’s assault, dazzled by how fast and agile this woman was. She was a sharp contrast from Kyo’s more basic, but effective style, and an even sharper contrast from her own amateur-wrestling moveset. Wild and unpredictable, but you couldn't argue with the results.

It was also eerily familiar, and as Makie pulled her out of the corner and spoke, she helped bring it all home - it was like fighting a younger, Japanese version of the second Valley Doll.

That feeling was cemented when she was sent off running to the ropes and came back towards Makie, moving into a familiar position. By the time everything clicked and Valerie realized what her sparring partner was doing, it was far too late - she caught by the legs, sent flipped through the air, and brought down hard on her back with resounding force, as the young highflyer executed a picture perfect Valley Bomb. If her mother had been around to see it, she would’ve been losing her mind.

Valerie was pretty impressed, too, though you’d be forgiven for not knowing it, what with the way she was grimacing and groaning. ”Nice…one.” She lifted her shoulders off the mat and flopped to the side, trying to break the imaginary count.

[Underdoggo]

What Makie was feeling right now was beyond a mere thrill. She just executed a Valley Bomb-- a move that she had practiced again and again, but had never once dared use, because even she wouldnt dare use another wrestler's big signature move without permission. But here, in a spar, with no audience to see, it was a different story. And not only had she just executed it to perfection, but she had just done so on Valley Doll's own daughter! And the cherry on top-- Valerie had even complimented her on it! True, she had done so while lying down and groaning, but she had complimented her all the same!

"T-thanks!" Makie stammered excitedly, even as she rushed in to shove Valerie onto her back, straddling the other girl's chest for a schoolgirl pin and grabbing for her wrists to complete the move. "Admittedly, I've only ever been able to use it in spars like this, but...oh wait right. One...two..."

Makie had no idea, admittedly, how successful the pinfall would have been. And ultimately, she would never know, as the sound of a voice clearing caught her by surprise.

"Um...am I interrupting something?"

Kyo was standing in the doorway, wearing a simple black Ningen Isu t-shirt and jeans. He seemed half amused and half confused at the tangled spar he saw before him.

"I mean, if you two were in the middle of a bout, then I can wait," Kyo went on, taking a sip from the bubble tea he had procured on the way to the gym.

Makie gave her brother an irritated pout. "Well yeah, Kyo, as you can see, I'm busy winning," she said, momentarily distracted from the pin count-- a distraction that Valerie could easily have used to escape if she was so inclined.

"Ah. Of course you were," Kyo replied nonchalantly. His gaze softened as it turned down towards the pinned Valerie. "Um...I'm sorry I kept you waiting, Valerie-san. You, um...you know how rough traffic can be, especially at this time of day. I trust Makie was giving you a good workout?"

[BlackAkuma]

Valerie liked Makie’s…moxie? She felt like that was the best word to describe it, as old-timey as it was. She had a fun, infectious natural energy, even bringing out the severe stupor she could sometimes fall into. She saw a lot of her mother in the woman, and not just in their moveset - the same punchiness, the same bright humor, the same fun attitude. The second Valley Doll would, frankly, be tickled pink by her young fan, and it made Valerie want to set that up sometime, maybe as a little surprise for her friend down the road.

Come to think of it, her mom had thrown around the idea of doing one or two matches…

She was dragged out of her thoughts when she heard Kyo’s familiar voice coming from nearby. She looked up to see him, watching him upside down. ”Kyo-san! It’s okay, I’m just-” She coughed and cleared her throat, bringing her voice down an octave in the process. ”I’m just happy you came. One second, please.”

Valerie waited for the two siblings to finish their chatter, then lurched up, rolled forward, and tried to reverse the schoolgirl, dropping Makie’s back onto the mat between her legs and pulling her in tight for the pin. ”One, two-”

[Underdoggo]

Makie, admittedly, really liked Valerie as a training partner. Unlike all of the other much larger girls Makie had fought, Valerie took her seriously, while at the same time not taking the spar itself too seriously. She felt like the sort of training partner that one could learn a lot from and improve against, and she wondered how much of that she had gotten from either of her moms. It made Makie almost wish that she had started her own wrestling career earlier, and that her dad had been able to train her while he was still alive. Instead, the only one he had trained was Kyo.

Speaking of Kyo...as usual, he entered at almost exactly the wrong moment. And Valerie was quick to prove why it was the wrong moment, as Makie suddenly found herself being flipped over onto her back, with Valerie now sitting astride her in a very dominant schoolgirl pin.

"H-hey!" Makie protested, squirming under the Californian's superior weight, red-faced both from the embarassment and from having Valerie's thighs on either side of her head. "No fair, I was distracted and--"

"--and you should know better than to allow yourself to be distracted in the ring," Kyo chided softly. "Also, that's three."

Makie opened her mouth to protest, but then stopped. She knew deep down that Kyo was right, at least, that the count now would have reached three. She pouted as she lay under Valerie's schoolgirl pin. "Damnit...and I was winning too..."

"That, I don't doubt," Kyo replied, "though Valerie could easily have kicked out. She has the size and stamina to do so." He turned towards Valerie, whose partially bared upper body was shining with perspiration from that spar. Involuntarily, he found himself blushing. "Ahem...I trust, um, that you two both had a good spar all the same? If you want to have a breather before we go, then...um...I'm fine with that."