Stress Relief at the Dojo

Kozue wasn't too sure about the strike to the back of the neck that Junko demonstrated. Not that she couldn't pull it off - it was a pretty simple move, it would work great if she got into the right position, nothing too much to worry about. No, what concerned her most was the move itself. That was a pretty dangerous spot to hit, way too close to a rabbit punch for her tastes. Effective, but...

So, she wouldn't go for that. But the strike to the back of Alaina's knee, that had some promise. That, she could get down with.

"Back to work." She scarfed down a few more nuts and made her way back into the ring, chomping every step of the way. Alaina was eager to start back up, so eager that she caught Kozue off-guard from the outset and took her down with a good sweep kick, dropping her fast and pinning her before she even had the chance to start sitting up. It was tempting to call her cheap, but that wouldn't be fair - after all, Kozue would do the same thing, if given half a chance. Maybe worse.

She kicked out, but not before she could lose two seconds. Two pins in Alaina's favor, and they'd just barely started. Not the best showing. Kozue shoved Alaina off and scooted away, trying to get to her feet before her position could be taken advantage of.

Alaina made a small grin as her move worked. Unfortunately, she got the feeling that Kozue was more surprised due to the fact that she may not have been ready as opposed to Alaina having a good gameplan in place.

Alaina backed up letting Kozue get up once more. Fair was fair after all. In truth, what Junko said was correct. Alaina had to improve her ability to predict and counter her opponents moves. Especially speedy women such as Kozue. Alaina stood defensively, doing her best to prepare for whatever the crafty lady across from her could do.

One thing was for sure... Alaina didn't want to get caught doing extra insanity after the spar as mandated by Junko.

Being truthful, Kozue didn't care much about getting the day off. She'd already scheduled this as a workout day, and since alchohol-related activities were no longer a thing for her, the social calender was pretty damn sparse. The sad fact was that she had jack-all to do, besides, maybe, playing Smash Brothers or Duck Hunt or something. Even if she did win, she'd probably run the ropes, anyway. Yeah, it'd be a pain, but it was something to spend her time on. Why the hell not?

That wasn't to say she didn't have any plans on winning, though. The guantlet was on the floor, now. She was going for it.

Kozue moved back, locking her eyes on Alaina as she headed her way and trying to figure out the plan. Junko had made it look so easy, and she didn't think it would be all that hard of a move to pull off. The only problem was getting behind Alaina to do it in the first damn place. There was the challenge. Her thinking? She'd been focusing on high kicks, but maybe it was better to take the fight away from Alaina's impressive upper body. You don't chop a tree down from the top, after all.

She came in with a faked roundhouse kick from the left, before hopping to the side and throwing a real roundhouse kick from the right, swinging it low and aiming for the side of Alaina's knee. If she could do some damage down there and slow her down, it might limit her options and open up a few new ones for Kozue.

Alaina was so worried about having Kozue sneak behind her that she failed to anticipate a more straightforward attack. Alaina held her hands up defensively to block the kick, but the real kick hammered her right knee!

"Argh! Shit...."

Alaina staggered back blading herself off with her left side forward facing Kozue. No more psyching herself out, Alaina had to speed up her reaction time to have any chance at standing up to Kozue and her high speed offense.

Kozue moved back the moment her kick landed, not wanting to stay in Alaina's range for even a second longer than absolutely nescessary. Not that it mattered this time, she was too hurt to immediately retaliate, but it was a good habit to get into considering half of Tension's roster could decapitate her with a single punch.

She wagged her finger. "Dirty mouth." She couldn't help a little jab at Alaina's curse. The girl was just so nice and sweat and cute and bright, she somehow even made that sound pretty. As funny as it was, though, her stance was no joke. More serious now. No freebies.

Kozue took a few quick steps away from her, getting a little distance as a plan began to take shape. It was a rough idea, one she'd been planning for all of three seconds, but it seemed decent enough on paper. There was always the chance that Alaina wouldn't fall for it and make her pay, but that was the same with everything else she'd done tonight, more or less. No reason to break the trend.

She dashed forward with her arm out, looking like she was going for the most easily telegraphed, dodgeable clothesline ever attempted. Like most of her moves, it was a feint - she was bargaining on Alaina ducking under the thing and letting her pass by, so she could get behind her, turn around quick, and hit her with a kick to the back of her knees before she knew what was happening.

It was a big gamble, though. If she didn't duck, it was FUBAR. If she spun around too fast after she ducked, it was FUBAR. If she was more ready than Kozue guessed and just kicked her in the stomach or punched her in the face or whatever, it was FUBAR.

Fingers crossed.

Alaina saw Kozue coming and hada counter ready.

This was far from fancy or acrobatic, but Alaina hoped it would be effective. She raised her leg, aiming a big boot (or in this case, big foot as Alaina wrestles barefoot) at the chest of the charging Kozue. Normally Alaina would go for the head with this move but that didn't seem necessary in this spar. Yet. Alaina was in the drivers seat since Junko took over training, trying to stay there.

Or Alaina could plant her foot square in the middle of Kozue's barren chest and drop her flat on the canvas with a kick so hard it probably left an imprint. That, too, would put a massive wrench in her plans. 

She'd been able to recover well enough from Alaina's other attacks, but this was going to be the exception - Kozue took it and she took it hard, laying her out spread-eagled right in the center of the ring, a groaning, wincing, aching mess of pain. "Pretty...good."

Kozue made a quick mental note to never try that fake-out again. At least not with someone who'd been wrestling since before she even had the idea to try.

Alaina cringed a bit as she looked at Kozue on the mat. "Thanks... " She didn't really know what to say to that. She also knew she wanted to try to press her advantage to get another pin attempt.

Alaina moved next to Kozue, jumping up and hoping to hit her with a standing splash. After she would simply remain on top and see if she what pinfall count she could get. If it worked, she would have some solid momentum. If not, Kozue could steal back all the momentum Alaina built and then some.

Kozue opened her eyes in time to see Alaina falling down on her, blocking the ceiling lights as she came in for the splash. She tried to move out of the way in time, wanting to give the Amazon nothing but canvas to fall on to.

Tried...and failed.

"Fuck!" Alaina wasn't just as big as most of the guys she'd fought, she felt about as heavy, too. That blow left her flat on the canvas, gasping for breath, easy prey for a pinfall.

3...4...5.

That would be a loss in a real wrestling match. Bad sign.

...6...

Kozue kicked out as best she could, leaving the score at 0-6. Two takedowns for Alaina so far, while she wasn't even on the board yet.

Alaina felt Kozue buck her off and she rolled away, getting to her feet. "You ok? I didn't flatten ya too hard did I?" Alaina asked in a concerned tone before lightening up a big. "This big thing has held a few people down...." Alaina added as she playfully gave her backside a couple hearty slaps with her hands, causing it to bounce a bit.

She stayed a distance away, allowing Kozue to gdt her bearings back. Alaina was up, so she wanted to keep working on her defense. What could go wrong? Well, other than potentially squandering the lead she built.....