Shinkokuna Tōsaku

This might have been even more in her favor than the collar-elbow tie up, as Akashi's fingers slipped between Natasha's and she took a wide stance herself. "If an opponent can't recover from something like that then they never deserved the title in the first place." Akashi said while she grunted and pushed herself forward, scraping Natasha's breasts with her own while she leaned inward. Natasha was only a couple of inches shorter but Akashi almost had an extra half of Natasha's weight added to her bulky frame.

"Why does it matter what people think?" She asked. "Why does it bother you if someone else speaks badly about your division? Shouldn't your own merits stand as they are?"

In the ring Natasha had always striven to fight by the rules, feeling that any victory or advantage earned through cheating was poisoned fruit that tainted the match. She had expected someone like Akashi who came from a sumo background where honor played such a big part to think the same, but it seemed the woman was more cut throat than she had thought, especially if she was willing to ambush someone in a sparring match.

Natasha's eyes flashed with anger for the briefest of moments as Akashi questioned her deserving her title before returning to their natural disposition, though Akashi would notice she was now pushing harder than before. "Perhaps I'm just tired of hearing it Akashi and am trying to change things. Or maybe its just my pride not letting me let those insults slide."

"Pride is fine. Everyone here has it here." Akashi said as she felt Natasha push back. Akashi bent her legs and redoubled her efforts, looking to win at the point of their wrists and bend Natasha's backwards so she could start to pull the bluenette's body to the side and off balance.

"Don't let it make you deranged and delusional though. If you accept every insult, then you're diminishing the seriousness of truly grave ones!"

For the moment the two of them seemed equally matched but Natasha knew, and Akashi likely did as well, that she couldn't hold the sumo back for very long before she gave up ground. Akashi didn't seem interested in just pushing her back though, Natasha catching onto the woman's plan to bend back her wrists and countering with a renewed effort at keeping their hands vertical.

"All I did was put out an open challenge to anyone who wants to prove me wrong, it's not like I'm attacking people at random." She said in answer, speaking almost casually as if they were talking over tea rather than during a heated match.

She needed to find a way to turn the tables on Akashi and quickly, otherwise she was going to be right back where she started. Deciding to trust her instincts she brought her right knee shooting up into Akashi's stomach, Natasha then twisting her body to the right and shoving her hip up under Akashi's, trying to achieve a great feat of strength herself by throwing Akashi down onto her back with a judo hip toss.

"Nnghh!"

Akashi grunted when Natasha's knee buried itself into her stomach. a knee there wasn't the most devastating thing for a woman built like Akashi but it did break her concentration and allowed Natasha to flip her over and onto the canvas. Something she may have been able to hav e stopped otherwise.

She hit the ground with a thud and tried rolling away from Natasha before the bluenette could follow up, a little embarrassed that she was tossed, considering that her ability to stand upright in a match was a point of pride to the sumo.

Of all the options for escaping that had been open to her tossing Akashi down onto her back was by far the most difficult one she could have chosen, but Natasha was looking to make an impression and could think of no better way than to take the big woman off her feet. Despite never having hip tossed someone as heavy as Akashi the Frenchwoman had been confidant she could pull it off, a smirk on her lips as Akashi's back hit the canvas.

As good as it felt to drop the sumo Natasha couldn't waste any time celebrating, an arm bar on Natasha's mind as she reached for Akashi's arm only to have the woman escape with a quick roll to the side. Not wanting to let her get away Natasha chased after her, aiming a punting kick at Akashi's stomach where her knee had struck only a moment earlier.

"Guh!"

Akashi had escaped Natasha's follow up only to take a hard kick in the stomach again. She winced and dug her fingers into the mat, turning to face Natasha as she made sure to make sure the bluenette was in her vision as she pulled a leg up and got to one knee, her eyes focused on Natasha while one hand cupped her stomach.

Natasha raced after Akashi, timing her steps just right so that when Akashi rolled enough to face her again she was in the perfect spot to drive her leg into the woman's midsection. Hitting the sumo was a lot like hitting a punching bag that had been overfilled with sand, but whatever pain her leg was feeling was well worth it.

Before Akashi could make a move against her Natasha made a quick leap back, not interfering in the woman rising off the mat as she could see Akashi was watching, waiting for her to try just that. "You let me up so come on, get back to your feet." Natasha said, motioning with her left hand for the woman to stand while she settled into a relaxed stance with her hands out in front and her body turned a bit to the side.

Akashi shook her head when Natasha let her up. "You think that me offering you a test of strength was letting you up?" She said and shrugged. "Well, ok, but it was no such consolation." She said and then crouched and began to circle Natasha. They had locked up twice now and while Akashi was one for offense, she also didn't like to be too predictable so she eyed Natasha to see if she could find a good opening.

It didn't matter if Akashi felt like she had been doing Natasha any favors earlier by letting her out of the corner, in Natasha's eyes the woman had allowed her to rise and that was enough to repay the favor. "As you say." She said with a slight bow of her head while her eyes remained fixed upon Akashi. She was studying Akashi closely for any sign of what the woman intended to do next, but as time passed she began to realize Akashi was waiting for her to make the move. Not wanting to disappoint she complied with the woman's wishes with a quick step forward to get within reach of Akashi, throwing a quick kick at her ankle and following up with a swing of her right elbow up at Akashi's chin.