Practice Makes you Perfect(ly sore). (Spar, IC observers welcome)

Alexa as a foreigner was still a bit confused on what the whole idol thing was. It seemed to be a weird middle grounds with how it was presented, at least in the storefronts. She knew they were performers, and knew they often times were overly elaborate incredibly cute getups. That end of it she understood. They were like pop stars. It was the other end of it, the creepier side of what she assumed was some odd fetish that left her really baffled about what it entailed to be an idol. She had seen more than her fair share of provocative magazine covers and TV ads. It didn't help the context of them was lost with her inability to read or understand Japanese. She couldn't go anyplace without seeing idols on something, so the claims of stress seemed pretty valid. They were likely worked to the bone.

Personally, Alexa had never been a good singer. Doing it in front of a large crowd would have ended her. She cracked a smirk as Tomoko kept talking, taking a moment to brush back her hair. "I look at the ring, the mats, whatever as a stage honestly. It's not much different. You're there to entertain people. Granted, you're competing in a sport, but it's not so different really." She really only had her amateur wrestling days to pull from. She had been to nationals enough though, the crowds there were pretty large and the pressure was always on. "Haha, yeah! That's the hope, ya'know? Who knows! Maybe one day I'll have gold around my waist and you can say "I trained with that girl before anyone even knew her face!" How cool would that be?"

Tomoko giggled when she heard that about Alexa getting a gold around her waist. "Hehe, that's good to hear. Still..." she gave the girl a confident smile, which looked cute instead. "I'm not going to lose to you either. I'm working hard as well," she pumped her fists. "I'm still relatively new here, but soon, I'm going to bring myself to the top..."

And then, she smiled brightly at Alexa. "Well, that's enough rest for now..." she said, rolling her shoulders as she looked at the girl. "Want to continue our spar?" She had mostly recovered from their earlier spar, and was ready for another round.

She couldn't help but grin, it was easy to see herself in Tomoko. They both had a self awareness for how fresh a talent they were, both had eyes set for the future, and both seemed have have a lot of heart. She liked this girl. Of all the people she could have happened upon after signing with AFW, this was likely among one of the better ones.

"Alright, let's get down to brass tax." The fact the phrase might be lost on a Japanese local flew right over her head. Leaning away from the ropes she headed back to the middle of the ring to meet her friendly adversary. She had a notice bring to her step, but didn't seem to be as fresh after their break as Tomoko. Alexa had been working in the gym for nearly an hour prior to the start and it was starting to show here by how she breathed and moved.

She steadied her feet along the mat, sneakers squeaking softly as they shifted into position. She leveled her shoulders, arms raised as she remained low. She looked more likely to grapple Tomoko's mid section than meet the girl for another lockup. A bit of her amateur wrestling background on display.

Tomoko might be fluent in English that she was capable of talking to Alexa at the moment, but the more nuanced parts of the language, such as idioms, were lost to her, and she gave the girl a confused look. Perhaps she needed to ask her what it actually meant later. Getting into position, she took a stance as she looked at her, preparing for the lock up. The squeaking sounds of their soles moving on the canvas could be heard as they were prepared for another clash before Tomoko rushed over to Alexa.

From her stance, Alexa seemed to be going to grapple her midsection than actually locking up, so Tomoko would quickly twist her body the moment their bodies made contact with each other, hoping to shift her position where she could try to wrap her arm around the head of the girl, clamping it under her armpit and pressing her face against the side of her breast with a side headlock! Her sneakers would squeak against the mat as she would adjust her position in order to make it easier for her to keep Alexa in the hold!

With a grunt and a wince, Alexa had fallen right into Tomoko's trap. She had charged in and tried to initiate a grappled takedown onto to find herself captured in the woman's grip. She tried to force the girl back to knock her to the floor, but found it hard to budge her at all. The idol had prepared and properly braced herself. Her eyelids fluttered as her head was wrenched in the hold as she awkwardly hugged her arms around Tomoko's waist. If it wasn't clear from her early struggle on the ground against this girl, it was now. Tomoko knew her way around around submissions. Even something as simple as a side headlock, Alexa could feel the difference between how this woman was working her over and someone else doing the same move.

Her hands slipped down Tomoko's backside, hands gripping behind Tomoko's thighs. She choked on a breath before straining to yank the other girl's legs towards her, throwing her upper body weight into Tomoko as well to try and topple her over with a sweeping leg takedown. Her original plan hadn't failed, just been delayed by the headlock. She hoped the impact would be great enough to shake the other woman, or else she might be in trouble even when at am arguably more position position on top of her.

Tomoko tried to maintain the hold as Alexa tried to topple her down by wrapping her arms around her thigh and yanking her legs from under her. She knew that maintaining this hold for much longer would be useless, knowing that she would lose her balance soon. So, with Alexa trying to disrupt her balance, she might as well make use of it by shifting her footing before letting her feet be swept by the girl, losing her balance in the process.

At the same time, Tomoko would keep her hold around Alexa's head. She let out a grunt when she fell, but she would try to keep holding the girl's head, arm wrapped around it in her effort to bring her down with her. For this, she was planning to wrench back Alexa's head once she managed to bring her down, putting her in an unorthodox submission hold. Tomoko would feel slightly uncomfortable from her position after falling, but she would try to pull back, hoping to get a submission out of the girl she was sparring with.

Alexa shoved her weight forward, managing to take out the other woman's legs and topple forward to the ground. The two women hit the ground hard, Alexa laying awkwardly on top of Tomoko, her palms pressed down on either side next to the other girl, trying to push herself away. She couldn't though, her head was still locked in tight. She struggled and grunted, arms straining as Tomoko brought her other arm around her, drawing her down against the other girls body. She winced, trying to control her breathing as she composed herself.

She couldn't see where there with, not with her head tucked under Tomoko's arm. She couldn't pull away either, no real room to move as she was pressed flat against Tomoko. Her legs shifted as she tried to straddle one of the idol's thighs to prevent her from being able to make this worse with a body scissor, which was her biggest worry at the moment. After she had moved to secure herself, she twisted her body, trying to turn her head to get a glimpse of where the ropes might bee from the side. Trying to crawl was going to be rough like this... but she had to try.

It was hard to maintain the hold in her current position, even as Tomoko had her opponent firmly in her clutch. With Alexa moving her body, keeping her in the hold was getting more and more difficult before she was finally forced to let go of her, which would allow her to crawl towards the ropes.

Panting a little, Tomoko would get on her knees, brushing aside some stray locks off her forehead so that she could properly see where Alexa was heading. She could chase after her, but her fall earlier had left her a little winded, so she didn't immediately move as she would try to regain her breath. When she finally started moving, Alexa might be already close to the ropes where she could get herself a rope break before Tomoko could reach her.

Alexa was almost shocked when she pulled free, released prematurely by Tomoko for reasons unknown to her. She wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to escape however. She no longer had need of a rope break now that she was freed, instead just distancing herself before she got to her knees. She rubbed her neck wincing a bit. The fall hadn't been kind to her, she wagered she did almost as much to her as she had to Tomoko, only because of the way her head had been wrenched.

She turned to face Tomoko, arms coming up protectively as she remained on her knees. If Tomoko gave chase, she was ready to lock back up with the girl, even if they weren't standing currently. She didn't seem to want to push the attack, instead using this as a chance to breath and recover.

Tomoko watched Alexa as both girls were facing each other again. This time, Tomoko was the one to make the first move, rushing overto Alexa who was still on her knees. She would get on her own knees, locking up with her and start pushing, exerting her strength to push the new girl down.

At this point, Tomoko wanted to see what else Alexa would do in this situation. She hoped that her submission hold from earlier had weakened her quite significantly, which might allow her to overpower her much easier. Still, there might be things that could surprise her, so she had to be careful while trying to bring Alexa down onto the mat with her pushing.