Benikage vs. Kozue Kaburagi - Out of the Shadows

Up and over, time it right, clear the ropes, get just the right height, grab her by the head and-

BOOM.

Kozue snagged Benikage’s head and sent it crashing into the mat with her full weight, getting all the weight she could’ve wanted into the move. It shook the ring with rattling impact and did the job she needed it to do, laying her foe out and leaving her to stare up at the ring. Prime pinning material.

”Fuck yes.” Kozue sat up, pumped her fist the rolled over and flopped chest-to-chest with Benikage, pulling up her leg to secure the pin, trying hard not to think about how good her opponent’s breasts felt mushrooming against hers.

The referee dropped fast and started up the count. ”1…!”

For all of the earlier critiquing Benikage had done in regards to Kozue's shoddy fighting stances, she still acknowledged the force and impact behind her blows should the New Jersey native ever actually connect with them. Which was precisely why Benikage had dedicated most of her energy into dodging and evading instead of blocking and countering, the seasoned kunoicihi preferring to not even risk absorbing even one errant strike for fear of where it could lead.

And in this case, it lead to Benikage already reeling and an easy target for a sudden slingshot DDT that only sent her into more of a concussive, groaning daze. Beni's eyes remaining sewn shut to the world as she recognized her leg being elevated, a compressing softness against her chest, and the referee slapping her hand against the canvas.

"One!"

"Two!"

.....

...but what should have been the three count was instead replaced by sudden silence and the referee jostling Kozue's shoulders to look behind her...and at Beni's other leg over the bottom rope.

Kozue was going to win this. She was going to beat Benikage. Beni. Fucking. Kage.

She was shivering with every slap of the mat, brimming with anticipation at the thought alone. After she got thrashed by Super Pirate - twice - she’d been afraid that her time in Friction was going to take a nosedive right from the start, sinking the moment she left port. Beating the older ninjette was the exact sort of thing she needed to put her name on the Tokyo map. Maybe even get herself into title rotation…

Her hopes and dreams were put on hold the moment she felt a bump from below, and looked up to see Benikage’s foot draped on the rope. ”Pfft. Lucky bitch.” She huffed and blew out some steam, trying not to get too frustrated over Benikage’s escape. No reason to get too mad. She still had this. She was still winning.

”Okay, you want to be stubborn about this, got it.” She stood up and grabbed Benikage by the hair, forcing her to rise up as well if she didn’t want her roots getting torn out. As soon as she was on two feet, Kozue would grab her by the wrist, twist hard to the side, and send her running off with a hard Irish Whip towards the far corner.

To be defeated by this charlatan gallivanting around as a true kunoichi was now an outcome was Benikage fighting fervently to prevent. Benikage not sensing one iota of respect, honor, or reverence from Kozue for the traditions that Beni held steadfast to ever since she was a child. It was utterly shameful for her to have been so thoroughly rattled by this opportunistic and insolent child now pinning her to the canvas.

Luckily, for all of Kozue's duplicitous cheap shots and blindsiding kicks, Benikage was could still ascertain where she was in regards of ring awareness. And simply lifting her leg up and pivoting it to the side was a much more effortless manner of denying Kozue her cheap victory rather than struggling to break out of a well-implemented pin.

Benikage felt and heard the fowl-mouthed frustration emanating from Kozue as her huffing breath blew some hair strands out of Beni's grimacing face. One that would become further twisted in pain from the strenuous stinging of having her jet-black locks tugged and strained, her hands patting at Kozue's wrists as she reluctantly went along for the ride that eventually had her being flung into the nearest turnbuckle. Last second thinking had her turning in place to land spine first with a wincing groan and both hands grasping the top ropes. The renowned kunoichi hunched over and seemingly defenseless as Kozue continued riding the wave of momentum that put her in dominant control of the match in the first place.

It was faint, but Kozue could make out what the commentators were saying over to the crowd, hearing one of them bullshitting on about ‘ring awareness’, talking like it was some magical ability that only the most skilled wrestlers could ever hope to possess. If Kozue had more time, she would’ve gone over and gagged at them to make sure they understood her opinion on it. Benikage just lucked up and happened to land close enough to the ropes for her to look over and touch it. Whoop-dee-shit.

It wouldn’t matter, really. Not when Kozue was hauling her off and setting her up for the killshot. How much good would ‘ring awareness’ be when she was taking a nap on the canvas?

The second she tossed Benikage away with the Irish Whip, Kozue dashed in the opposite direction, moving to the turnbuckle. She leaped up just in time to place a single foot on the middle pad, then vaulted off it, gaining just a little bit of extra kick as she came dashing back towards Benikage at full steam.

When she was close enough, Kozue threw her body forward into a somersault, using it to build up one final burst of momentum before she cashed all that force in with a forearm aimed at Benikage’s chest.

Hubris always came before the fall. And Kozue was demonstrating a considerable amount of it now after having cheated her way into having the upper hand. Her first act of hubris was concerning herself more with what the commentator's were saying at ringside rather than the actually match underway. And her second, was by thinking it wise to take a veteran kunoichi, whose main strengths were her speed and agility, and put her into a high velocity situation where she felt most the comfortable. Benikage couldn't imagine a purer example of an ambitious youth acting brashly instead of carefully considering her next maneuver...

Benikage's corner trembled slightly before she settled into it, both hands gripping the top ropes with her judgmental gaze centered squarely on the New Jersey native taking far too long in showing off her acrobatic skills. Not to say they weren't impressive in their own right, but they were a textbook example of wasted motions and flashy theatrics simply for the sake of showing off. Benikage steadied her heaving breathes as she examined her opponent's movements carefully...the apex of Kozue's jump after her somersault signaling Beni to leap into action.

Quite literally, actually. The kunoichi had seated herself on the top turnbuckle while Kozue was tumbling, allowing Beni the perfect vantage point to leap towards Kozue and tuck her knees against her modest chest. Both of her hands would interlock behind her foe's head to drag her down to the canvas in an elevated lungblower from at least six feet in the air.

There was a lot of kick in Kozue’s step as she sped towards Benikage, eager to bury this fossil and start building her Friction career on top. If - no, fuck it, when she won this match, they’d forget about her getting ragdolled by that crazy pirate bitch, they’d forget about all that shit with Reira and Killer King and whatever the hell she had with Johnny. Her career would be on the right path. Finally.

So when she tumbled, she threw her all into it, intent on drilling Benikage with all the force she could muster. Which kind of made it a shame that she wasn’t there anymore.

Well, no, that was wrong. She was there. Just not where Kozue expected her to be. Instead of being prone in the corner, she was leaping off, flying towards her, grabbing her, and-

”Guhfuck!”

That was the sound that flew out of Kozue’s mouth as her ribcage made an intimate acquaintance of Benikage’s knees, and she truly understood how this move got its name. The air was sent flying out of her body as she thrown back from the impact. She landed on her shoulders, flipped back, and came to a rest on her knees, one hand placed to the canvas while the other nursed her aching chest. That was all she could do for the moment, hissing as the pain ran its course.

Wrestling record keepers would be the first to realize that Benikage has technically not conducted a solid offensive maneuver that was not merely a counter attack or reaction to Kozue's movements. It was a testament to Benikage's resourcefulness that this was even the case, and probably a sign that the seasoned kunoichi had perhaps been holding back since the matches onset. At first, Beni felt that she still needed to see more of the New Jersey native who was professing to be a kunoichi before she could give a full assessment. So Beni withheld her judgment and appraisal of her skills, until now. Having seen more than her fill of this disrespectful genin...at best.

Benikage collapsed to her back and remained sprawled out with the impact leaving her winded. But in dramatic, if a tad show-offish, bit of agility, Beni would scrunch into a ball on the back of her head and spring over herself in a flawless kip-up. An unsympathetic glare directed straight at the brash genin as she straightened her posture while reaching back to finally undo the wedgie that had been yanked from her plump backside ever since Kozue had hauled her back into the ring. Her blushing embarrassment being ample motivation in finally taking the gloves off against Kozue...

Beni would bide her time patiently, carefully examining her target until Koz was back on her feet and was the signal for Beni to take off sprinting. A nimble hop would seat her comfortably on Koz's shoulders and nestle her head between Beni's soft but tensed up thighs with nuzzling contact against her crotch. A pendulous momentum being used to swing Beni backwards and plant her palms on the canvas for an attempted and ring-shaking frankensteiner.

A lungblower. God, that sucked. Kozue had done it on a few people in her time, but that was the first time it had ever been done to her, and god did it suck. She felt like crap all over her ribs, like she’d taken some kind of large bat to all of them at once, and all she wanted to just lay there and wallow in the pain.

But that would mean Benikage getting the better of her, and fuck that. Fuck that hard. How did she even pull that off? It had happened so fast, been so swift that Kozue didn’t even properly register it. Luck? Had to be dumb luck.

Kozue was intent on proving that, too, and had even started to open her mouth to let her know how little she was affected by Benikage’s move. The thighs around her head shut her up quick, however. She was sent flipping forward, head over heels, only to be dropped on her skull as Benikage hit her with another of her favorite moves, hammering her skull into the canvas. The shock ran through her system and left her awash in agony, but not so out of it that she didn’t realize the trouble she was in.

Knowing she needed to make some space, Kozue rolled away and under the ropes, coming down to her feet on the outside of the ring. She stumbled about on her feet, cradling her skull as she wobbled forward.

Benikage would not have expected such an undisciplined practitioner of the ninja arts to know how to properly defend against her takedown. Especially since she had practiced it against men twice her size, muscle mass, and who were hired as security guards to whatever government facility Beni was infiltrating that day. Her pitch black hair flowing along with rest of her nimble figure in a swirling exhibition that ended with Kozue's profanity infused head being slammed into the canvas with a jarring impact that sent ripples throughout the ring ropes and a slight wiggle to Beni's curvy backside.

Spinning over to her back and hauling herself back to her feet faster than most would have anticipated, Beni narrowed her eyes at Kozue only doing what the kunoichi expected Koz would do. Retreat. Same as before. A tactic she previously offered mock praise to, but was now in no mood to placate or show mercy to. She narrowed her eyes and aligned herself perfectly before taking off in a sprinting blur towards the New Jersey native who had her back turned to the ring and the irate kunoichi whose congeniality she had scorned.

While most in the audience were expecting a baseball slide kick, Beni would exceed those expectations by instead shooting herself through middle and bottom ropes for a decidedly more impactful missile dropkick that would propel Kozue straight into the barricade at the front row of the audience.