Friends Like You

Don’t stop attacking.

Whatever you do, for the love of God, don’t stop attacking.

Kaede kept repeating that in her head like a mantra, hammering it in moment after moment. The woman she was dealing with was a better fighter than her. It wasn’t too likely that the gap would ever be closed, but it damn sure wasn’t going to happen in five weeks. She had to be vicious. She had to be mean. She had to seize every opportunity.

It was that focus that let her keep on, even as the pain from Yuki’s strike was still ringing her bells, which gave her enough power to throw out a decent kick to make some space between them. So far, it was working like a charm. Not only did she have Yuki down, but she had her in retreat. It was surreal to see, and she knew well what it meant - this was her one chance. Her big chance. Her only chance.

She made her way up to her feet as Yuki did the same, standing there, facing the ring. With a yell that sounded more like a howl than she meant it to, Kaede came charging hard towards the blonde, full steam, and leaped towards her at the last second. One leg tucked in while the other extended, as she shot her foot towards Yuki’s face, coming at her with the classic flying karate kick. All her momentum and power, coming out through her foot. If it wouldn’t knock Yuki out clean, it would at least throw her for a loop.

For all the surprise that came before it, Yuki could feel a tickle of excitement working its way through her body. She didn’t want to show to it, didn’t intend on displaying anything that could discourage the punkette from her plan of attack, but it was there.

For the first time in these past few weeks, she was actually looking forward to seeing how things went here. She recognized that aggression from a scant few people in her life, as crude as it was. A pale imitation She wanted a fight from Kaede, now it looked like she was getting it. There wasn't much room for her to be upset now, was there?

Very much the opposite.

The Claw caught the girl moving in the corner of her eye. She didn’t look at her just yet, not until she noticed her frame leave the ground. Yuki craned her head slightly, seeing Kaede’s heel just a second away from burying itself in the side of her face.

Perfect.

Yuki jerked her head back, leaning her body away from Kaede’s kick and her foot drift past her face. But she didn’t intend to just let her slip away. Yuki popped herself up for a quick moment, shooting one knee up in the same motion as she brought her free arm down onto it, looking to crush the punkette’s leg between a rising knee and down-striking elbow.

Kaede could win this.

For the first time since they’d started this all, that felt like a real possibility and not just some far-off pipe dream. This round had been hers, all hers, since the moment it started. Yes, she’d been in control before, but the other time she had an uphill battle to fight. This time, she was on the cusp of taking Yuki down. If this kicked connected, her head would bounce off the ring, most likely. That would knock her into La La Land, or at least put her far enough down the path that a few punches could finish the job.

She was close, so close to impact, she could almost taste it. So, when Yuki moved out of the way and dashed those hopes, the loss cut just that much deeper. When she countered by catching her leg in a pincher, it made the pain hurt that much more.

And, fuck, did it hurt. It was like her leg was bitten by a massive jaw, crashing into from above and below, making pain all the way in between. Kaede squawked and fell to the floor, her leg instantly numbed up and useless. One second, one mistake, and it had all gone to shit, just like that. ”Fuck!”

Gritting her teeth, hissing like a madwoman, Kaede tried her best to push past the pain as she squirmed up to a knee. She whirled around and swung at Yuki with a wide, wild, sloppy punch, far closer to flailing than she would’ve liked, but it was the best she could do at the moment, a desperate attempt to regain control. Too late, probably, but she tried. Nobody could say she didn’t try.

And just like that, Kaede was down. If they’d been doing in this in the ring, in a proper match, more than a few unhappy betters. That also raised the question of who the fuck would bet on Kaede, but hey, things were at least looking good for a while there.

Yuki would be lying if she said she hadn't felt a trace of disappointment wash over her as the punkette fell to the ground in an awkward heap. It was a bad blow, sure, but it was Kaede's recovery that she found herself doubting. It may have just been a faint desire lingering in the back of her mind that made her feel that way. Thinking that an actual fight was about to break out today.

Wishful thinking at best.

Although, while she may have been down, she certainly wasn’t out. Yuki had been around Kaede long enough to know her as well as anyone, except for her family probably. She may have grown a bit of meek exterior ever since the oath. When she was still fresh and getting into the swing of things. But that fire was still there. Yuki could catch it in a few glances, feel it whenever they sat close enough to one another. If she was going down, she'd go down swinging.

Kaede was many things, but someone who broke when the going got tough wasn’t one of them.

That’s why the backfist didn’t come as a surprise. Some more deja vu for the She-Wolf, as she caught the punkette’s forearm and gave it a rough tug.

“Come here.”

She’d force Kaede down off her knees and flat onto her stomach with the tug. The very next instant, she’d find Yuki laying on her back, wrenching the arm up and towards the ceiling with a Fujiwara armbar.

Kaede didn’t expect this punch to hit when she threw it. It was a wild, desperate move, and if this whole business had made anything abundantly clear that while Yuki might’ve taken a lot of cues from animals, she wasn’t nearly as dumb as one. She was skilled. She was smart. Yes, Kaede had managed to get the jump on her, but that was a momentary advantage that was fading fast, and she’d see this strike coming with such ease that Kaede might as well have written a letter to her about it a day in advance.

But she didn’t care. She had to do something. Anything was better than just rolling over and dying and letting Yuki have her way again for the fourth time in a row. So she took a shot at it. One last, desperate shot.

It didn’t work. Fuck.

Not only did it not work, it allowed Yuki to wrench her around put her into a goddamn armbar. Fuck.

There was little she could but squirm and scream as her arm was trapped within Yuki’s hold, wrenched far and away from its natural position, pulled high and tight. Kaede kicked and bucked and writhed about, but there was no escaping. Leverage, weight, strength - every advantage belonged to her opponent. The good news was that this wouldn’t knock her out, so she was, technically still in the game. The bad news was that wouldn’t mean much if she couldn’t use one of her arms.

Growing desperate, all she could do was bite her fist and scrunch her face up, refusing to make any more shrieks or let a tear escape. She wasn’t going to submit, either. Partly because she doubted Yuki would care, but mostly not to give her the satisfaction.

Was this really Kaede Komatsuzaki she was tangling with right now? Was this the same girl that could hardly look her straight in the eye a few weeks ago? The one who was all about the hit and run - mostly the run - when the odds weren’t in her favor?

If she had a blindfold on, Yuki would honestly have to dwell on those questions before giving her answer. From the outset, the punkette was meeting her challenge head-on. She may have opened with the cheap shot, but that was just being clever. Using the match to her advantage, knowing she couldn’t meet her opponent straight up. Something Yuki would have done.

But everything after that? How she worked around the guard, fought back against a counter with a counter of her own, and kept the pressure up no matter the situation? That didn't’ scream Kaede. There didn’t even seem to be any of the wordless beggings when she locked that armbar in. These sessions weren’t being lost on her. She could actually learn. Fancy that.

Although, as impressed as the mentor inside of Yuki was, the wolf was much less impressed. The strikes were crude and she had no finesse. The fact that they’d driven the She-Wolf back showed some potential, but all the same, blood demanded blood.

Getting a grip on Kaede’s forearm, Yuki would bend the limb down as she went to stand up, transitioning the Fujiwara into a kimura lock. Keeping the hold tight, she’d bring the punkette to her feet along with her, slowly but surely. Once she was fully on two feet, Yuki’d unlatch her arms and shoot a claw hold to Kaede’s face before lifting her up and slamming her back down onto the floor.

There was a voice in Kaede’s head, a soothing tone that was trying to comfort her. It told her that this wasn’t her fault, that the situation she was in was unavoidable. This woman had every advantage of her, and there was no shame in coming up short, here. She’d done better than most would’ve. She should be proud of that.

More than anything, Kaede wanted that voice to shut the fuck up.

Yes, she’d done her best. So what? It wouldn’t erase the fact that she was fucked up. It wouldn’t change the fact that her arm was inches of way from getting yanked clean off of her shoulder. It wouldn’t matter, not one bit. Not to her, and damn sure not to Yuki.

Kaede clawed at the floor, scratching hard enough to leave a claw mark on the tiles, and threw her head about. She was a wild beast trapped in a snare, thrashing about, hoping for any sort of reprieve. In this case, she would get it, too - Yuki let go of the hold. True to form, though, that only meant things were going to get worse from here on.

The next thing she knew, Yuki was lifting her up, hauling her up while she held her arm tight, canceling any thoughts of fighting her way to free. She did release her from that, but only so she could reached out and grab Kaede’s face, digging her claws deep into the sides.

With that hellish hold locked in tight, Kaede was brought up, then came crashing down, smacking hard into the floor. If Yuki was trying to knock the fight out of her, she was on her way to doing that in spades, as the impact left her spasming, her kicking about in random spurts.

But Kaede wasn’t done all the way yet. With the arm that could still work, she vainly pulled at Yuki’s arm, a desperate bid to pull her grip off, working on sheer reflexes at this point.

Yuki had to at least admit there was a bit of doubt in her mind, some worry that Kaede would wiggle her way out before slam. There were at least three openings in her haste that would have cost her back in the underground. Kaede seemed to have smartened up as of late, it wouldn’t have been too big of a surprise to see her escape one of her holds for once.

Seems her worries were misplaced in the end. The punkette hit the ground with a sickening crash, enough to let Yuki feel the tremors pass underneath her feet. Kaede, evidently, was feeling a bit more than that, between the kicks and bit of spittle that she could feel beneath her palm. The little twitches her body made after was a pretty nice touch, too. That at least seemed to knock some fight out of her.

True to her trademark, Kaede kept fighting the grip even when the chips were down. That was a bit of surprise, honestly, considering how thoroughly she’d been slammed into that less-than-forgiving concrete. Any more force should have knocked her out. The punkette only seemed to get more and more wiry with each passing day.

Too bad that wouldn’t save her. She was going to need plenty more than that, and Yuki could only hope she brought it next week. This week, though? She was done.

Yuki reeled her arm back, picking that thick head of Kaede’s back up off the ground, only to slam it back down again. And again. And again. And again. And one more for good measure. Once she was confident that the punkette was dazed, she’d plant herself on top of her, leaning down and wrapping her arms around Kaede’s neck with a front headlock, letting her drift off to sleep with the most surefire method she could muster.

By all rights, Kaede should’ve been unconscious right about now, and it was as if her body seemed to know it. Her consciousness would fade in and out, like someone was flicking a light switch that controlled her brain. On and off, on and off, as she tried to keep herself awake. She wasn’t so out of it that she couldn’t realize how hopeless this situation was, but it didn’t matter. A wolf didn’t just give up when its leg got caught in the snare, so why should she be any different?

If this were a tv show, one of those silly cartoons Kaede watched as a kid and didn’t admit to watching these days, this would be the part where she would raise up, make a daring last stand and somehow get the better of her foe, reaching deep to wield some incredible power. Cue the theme song, the action lines, and the roaring dialogue.

This was reality, though. In reality, the heroine had her head slammed against solid concrete. Again. And again. And again.

By the third she was on her way out the door, only conscious enough to tell that Yuki was wrapping her head up, and have a weak, half-laugh at it. Kind of a waste of time, really. She shouldn’t have bothered.

There were a few spasms, some light kicks, but those were pure reflex, the last sputters of a car before the engine called it quits. Kaede was out. All the way.

Four down, one to go.

Yuki had to take a breath. That was something she hadn’t expected to be doing here this month. Not until the last week, at least.

Like usual, their bout hadn’t been particularly long, but Kaede was clearly eating a full breakfast. She wasn’t just more aggressive, if that was even possible, it looks like she was actually starting to use her brain for once. Analyzing a threat. Looking for weaknesses, and when she found them, pressing them until they fell down. An actual intelligence when it came to fighting. Reaching out of her comfort zone.

Someone was starting to grow fangs. Getting sharper. Faster. Quicker. If she stayed on this course, she might even catch Manami’s attention. In a favorable way, for once.

Didn’t matter, though. It wasn’t like she had enough time to make it through. One more week, one more fight. Unless Kaede had an infinitely stronger twin sister tucked away in her closet, then she wasn’t expecting much to change. This session had changed things. For better or worse, Yuki was going to have to take the next run seriously. Even if nobody else knew about it, losing to the punkette was going to be an irreparable scar on her consciousness for years to come. She could just feel it.

She sucked in a bit of air, exhaled, then stood back up. She picked up her gym bag, hit the lights, and stepped out into the hallway. She closed the door behind her without a glance behind her. A knowing smile grew on her lips as she walked down the corridor towards the exit.