Spar among fresh blood (for Sonsaku Hakufu)

Hearing Karen response Akiha wondered how lucky she was to have met Belinda in her debut match.  Had she met most of the other wrestlers she had fought, it would have probably not have gone as well.  Honestly she was probably very lucky to have met Belinda in her first match.  Though she would once again brush those thoughts aside for later.  For now her focus was Karen not her rival Belinda.  It seemed that Karen was taking Akiha advice pretty well and was getting pump up on it.  Though some of the references she made seem to go over Akiha head, that being said the raven hair wrestler didn't say anything, this girl was from a different country and thus had a different culture and references.

After being quiet for a second or two the girl then changed her mind after hearing Akiha warning.  Fighting the heel first was in a way a good idea, after all a worn down wrestler would be more exposed to cheating behavior.  “A logical choice.  Though do remember, it is not uncommon for a heel to attack you before the match starts so you are weakened before it begins.  Now then I will let you two at it.” stated Akiha as Hisui bowed once again and left the ring while Kohaku climbed back in.  “Well then how about we shake hands before we start, so we know there is no hard feelings?” stated Kohaku as she offered her hand.  Yet this was a trick, if Karen grab hold of the maid hand, she would pull the brown hair wrestler towards her and attempt to knee her in the gut.

Karen thought about what Akiha said - she'd thought it was illegal to do anything like that before the match officially started, but she was probably thinking of official matches instead of training ones like the one they were currently doing.

Upon hearing Kohaku's suggestion, Karen thought, and instead did a polite bow. "Oh, no hard feelings at all, but you're Japanese, right? A bow works just as well, I think."

She then subtly placed herself on guard. If Kohaku was the heel, maybe it would be a good idea to begin defensively and let her take initiative, to lull her into a false sense of superiority...

Kohaku simply smirk at what Karen said, it seemed that she was a quick learner and that she was listening to Akiha warning.  The handshake was a trap that she had already avoided, thus Karen probably would not be a reckless wrestler.  Kohaku would have to find ways to cheat that were not obvious.  She now had two options open to her.  She could try to trick her opponent by fighting fair for a while and once her opponent let down her guard or doubted herself, Kohaku would then spring the trap.  Her other tactic was to simply find new ways to cheat that Karen probably wouldn't see coming, after all soon everyone would know she was a heel.

It seemed the latter option would provide more experience and turn her into a better wrestler, thus she began to think of a plan.  “Very well, let us bow.” state Kohaku as she would then bow while near the center of the ring.  Seeing as she bowed first it meant that her opponent would have to bow next and bow even further down, that was if she followed tradition.  Regardless if Karen bowed at the same time or after Kohaku would then attempt a quick upper cut in order to gain the advantage.  If her attack was successful she would then attempt to follow it up with a clothesline.  "A bow is far more dangerous then a handshake." she would state after attempting her attack.

Karen nodded, and said, "Agreed." She then bowed again, carefully. Throughout, her mind was occupied with pondering how the spar would go. She thought back to the advice and guidance she had received from Vivienne during their mutual training sessions so far. They had both identified that one of Karen's key flaws in wrestling, was a propensity to over-rely on a tactic of seizing the initiative at the start of the match with a flurry of quick moves, and hoping the opponent cracked first before she would lose footing from exhaustion and be unable to evade counterattacks. It wasn't the most efficient way to run a match, quite far from it actually.

As she lingered in her bow for a moment before she was about to return to normal standing position, she thought that, since Kohaku was a heel, the match was as good as lost already. She decided she wouldn't let this opportunity go to waste, but use it to improve her defensive skills.

The uppercut from Kohaku confirmed that opinion, and it sent her reeling backwards slightly, though she managed to stay on her feet. Hearing Kohaku's statement as she steadied herself for the fight, she replied casually, "Yeah, and what isn't dangerous in the ring?". She then lunged forward and attempted to hit Kohaku with a high kick in the chest.

Kohaku could only smile on the inside as she saw her opponent bowing as well.  It seemed that her plan was working.  Thus as her opponent started to bow, Kohaku would attempt to give her a brutal uppercut.  This caused her opponent to reel back.  She now had the advantaged and attempted to take advantage of it.  She would now move in to perform a clothesline as she heard her opponent state what wasn't dangerous in the ring.

Yet the clothesline was perhaps not the best choice for Kohaku, as her opponent was still fresh and managed to counter attack by performing a kick to the chest.  “Ack.” stated the maid as she took several steps back and held her chest in pain while glaring at her opponent.  “The real question is what is not dangerous in the ring but what is dangerous that isn't in the ring.” stated the maid as she gave a dark smile.

Karen had mostly recovered from Kohaku's uppercut, when to her surprise she saw that her chest kick had connected. It was a risky move she had done in the heat of the moment instead of any particular preparation, but somehow it had actually succeeded.

She chuckled quietly and thought, At least I'm not going to completely get beaten up without a fight.

The spar had its own rhythm and it seemed to be overtaking Karen's thought processes; at this point she was operating more by the seat of her pants, by instinct, than carefully plotting out a strategy. In response to Kohaku's statement, Karen enthusiastically placed one foot forward, leaned her body slightly and stood with her right hand extended forward and the palm made into a fist, and the left hand facing forward but with bent into a V-shape around the elbow, its palm also curled into a fist. She grinned cheesily, and replied with her best attempt to deflate Kohaku with absurdity. "I'll take 'What is the audience?' for $200, Alex!"

If her next move would fail to connect, Karen would prepare to sing the chorus of Weird Al's "I Lost on Jeopardy".

While Kohaku was still glaring and smiling unnervingly, Karen couldn't resist trying to press her advantage and charged towards her, to attempt a forearm smash.

Kohaku took a moment to inhale and exhale as she recovered from the kick to her chest, still glaring at her opponent.  She then watch as her opponent place on foot forward.  Then everyone began to stare at Karen, as they didn't understand what she had just said.  It didn't seem to make any sense at all to any of them.  “What?” stated Akiha in a confused tone as she watched from the side, Hisui who usually remained emotionless also gave a confused look as well.  

Kohaku simply didn't let it get to her and focus on the match.  As her opponent started to come forward, Kohaku would attempt to give her a taste of her own medicine and then some.  She intended to counter the charge by performing a drop kick.  "Making the same mistakes as me?" she stated as she jumped in the air to perform the drop kick. If successfully, she would then run towards the ropes and attempt to do another one if her opponent got up.

As Karen thought, neither Kohaku, Hisui or Akiha got her joke. However, she did, and that was all that mattered. Knew that'd happen., she thought jokingly. Different crowd.

Karen had minimal time to react before Kohaku's jump and drop kick succeeded. She received the shove in her stomach and staggered backwards powerfully, only coming to a stop after she caught onto the ropes with her hands to prevent herself from falling. "Nrgh...", she moaned, still trying to squeeze out a quick reply to Kohaku's statement. "Oh no, I make entirely new personal mistakes!", she replied, slowly moving her feet back in place and pushing herself into an upright position from the ropes.

If all else fails, they never expect self-deprecation., she thought.

It seemed that Kohaku attack had connected causing her opponent to stagger back and get caught on the ropes, this gave the maid a bit of confidence as she smiled.  It seemed that she had gain the advantage for now and needed to capitalize on it if she wanted to win.  “Don't think that fighting is only limited to the ring.” stated Kohaku as she would then charge in and attempt a clothesline from hell, hoping to send her opponent over the top ropes, though if she missed, she could be easily sent over the top ropes, spelling doom for her.

If she could successful get Karen out of the ring, she might be able to pull a few tricks, a few cheating moves and the match would be easily hers.  Cheating outside the ring as far easier then to cheat inside the ring.  Akiha on the other hand simply watch with her arms crossed while Hisui took the moment to study her future opponent, trying to learn her moves so that she would have better chance when they fought.

Karen fought the urge to sarcastically ask herself, Mistakes like this one? as she steadied herself, watching Kohaku start to charge. She couldn't think of any clever comeback, and so opted to merely gaze silently and try to plan a counterattack in the short time she had until Kohaku got too close.

She decided that as soon as Kohaku got close enough, she would crouch and attempt to punch her lower body somewhere. She thus subtly shifted her right foot backwards on the floor, to give herself a better weight distribution for the move.