Nathan Weed vs. Kozue Kaburagi - Second Strike: "I Quit" Match

Nathan locked eyes with Kozue. It was unbelievable how strong the urge to just lay into the woman in the corner was. Now that he was training again, his instincts were getting harder and harder to suppress; his arms even spent a brief moment in a low guard before he caught himself. The thought was in his head before he could stop it: maybe just one little body shot, just to make her more pliable. He had two to burn, after all...

But he did catch himself. Instead of rushing her with his fists up, he made a deliberate approach, arms outstretched and hands open, like he was inviting a lock up. Several steps out, however, he leaped in suddenly, moving his hands from up high to down low and lacing them together behind her lower back. Nathan pulled her in close, bowing his head to make sure that his low voice (flavored with just a touch of a smile) would reach her ear over the excitement of the crowd.  

“Let me know if I'm making it too easy for you.”

Then up she went- a full head and shoulders above him- before he twisted his body and yanked her back down to earth, back first, in a side belly-to-belly suplex.

It was funny how fast things could turn around in wrestling. Considering how well she'd done at the start of the match, Kozue had been pretty sure she could've ridden the high for a little while longer, stayed on the offense. Bare minimum, she didn't think she'd end up with her back in the corner so soon. Yet, lo and behold, there she was.

That wasn't where she stayed, though. Nathan had plans. Plans that involved moving over into the corner, wrapping Kozue up, and sending her flying with a slick belly-to-belly, launching her lithe body into the air. She went flying like a bottle rocket, sailing through the air with a perfect arch for a golden moment, before she came down hard right on her back.

Impressive. But not the most striking thing he'd done in the past few seconds. "Did you just..." Kozue sat up, grunting and nursing her smashed spine, but even through the pain, she managed a little chuckle. "Did you just crack wise at me, man?"

Whoa, headrush.

Adrenaline was already dulling the ache in his chest, though his breath was still shorter than he preferred. But the adrenaline did nothing for his equilibrium, which he was still struggling to normalize after Kozue's fancy throw from his shoulders. The swirling sensation in his head convinced him that moving rapidly from upright to horizontal was something he'd be better off avoiding for the time being. Unfortunately, that prescription was in direct conflict with the strategy he'd worked out coming into the fight. Nathan sighed inwardly. It looked like he would just have to work through the discomfort.

But despite everything, he was enjoying himself. Kozue seemed to be, too, even managing a chuckle at the sass he'd flashed. Nathan worked to regain his feet immediately after Kozue vacated his arms, stumbling once during the effort. By the time Nathan was ready to move again, Kozue was already sitting upright, two steps from being fully vertical again, unfettered. Rather than allow Kozue that edge, Nathan slipped in swiftly behind. He helped her the rest of the way to her feet, but only to get her into position: he pulled her arm over his head and around his neck, then grabbed Kozue's waist and leg. From here, it would be a simple matter of standing erect, lifting Kozue up off of the mat, before falling backwards and slamming her into the mat in a belly-to-back suplex.

Nathan was a cool guy, especially compared to some of the more jerkish wrestlers she'd come across since coming to Japan. Nice, laidback, not too serious, fun when he wanted to be. Kozue didn't mind joking around with him, having a good time, enjoying this competition.

But it was a competition. And just like any competition, she intended to win it. Which would be significantly more difficult to do if she let Nathan suplex her all around the place. As he pulled her into the start of what would probably be a nasty belly-to-back suplex, she had idea on what to do about that.

Instead of just going with the flow, Kozue fought. She wormed her free foot between his legs and hooked him by the calf, locking it in tight to stop to throw. At the same, she raised up the arm that was drapped over Nathan's shoulder and brought it down hard, trying to hit him in the back of his head with an elbow and kill this move before it could even get out of the crib.

Nathan grit his teeth and powered up, lifting Kozue... huh? Nathan grit his teeth and… he grit his teeth… wait, what?

Kozue’s leg had gotten tangled up around his own, effectively tethering the pair to the floor. Before Nathan could get to figuring out how to free himself from the snare, an elbow knocked into the back of his head like an errant baseball.

Nathan immediately abandoned the hold- that is to say, he released her leg, withdrew his arm from around her waist, and ducked back under Kozue’s arm to avoid any further deterring strikes.

Nathan took three steps back, a hand raised to the tender spot on his head where he’d been hit, eyes open wide and a tiny smile on his face. She had maybe a second’s worth of time to react in; good escape. Of course, that did throw a bit of a wrench in his plans to slam her around the ring until she gave up. Maybe he’d have to work in some of his-

fweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

A sudden angry scream pierced through the arena, shocking even the audience into a surprised quiet. Nathan’s head knocked forward as if hit by another elbow before whipping toward the source of the noise. It was the referee; more specifically, it was the sports whistle now hanging delicately from her teeth. The referee had her hands held out; the hand aimed at him had three fingers up, but the other had just two. Oh right. Strikes. That was against the rules. He didn’t think that the count would be so intrusive, though; resetting like this really killed the flow of the match.

Nathan turned back to face Kozue again and shrugged. “No hitting,” he said dryly. He held his hands up to invite another lock-up and began a cautious approach.

The elbow worked. In a manner of speaking.

It was effective at getting Nathan to let her go and slammed the breaks on his momentum in a satisfying fashion. He was close to running away with this pretty early, taking advantage of his strength and outmuscling her. She'd be smarter now. More meticulous, more technical to counteract.

But as soon as she was safe and away, she smacked her forehead and groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I-"

The whistle, Kozue did not expect. Nobody had mentioned a damn thing about that, and when it blared out around the ring, she jumped back and grasped her ears in unison with the front row. "Jesus fuck!" She winced and waved at the referee. "I get it, I get it. You really need a fucking whistle?"

The referee shrugged it off as Kozue got back into position and put her hands up. Nathan seemed to have the same idea, looking for a lock up. Given the way it ended last time, he probably had something in mind to keep her from flipping him again. She didn't have any interest in finding out, though. Not when she had other ways to turn it around.

She locked up with for about half a second before broke out and grabbed his wrist with both hands. She ducked under him quick and tried to move over to his side while she held his wrist secure, looking to put him in an arm wringer and control his motion.