Yuki Kazikura [D] vs. Renee Steinhauser

A numbing pain was shooting all through Yuki's leg; from the knee down, she couldn't feel anything. Her face was locked in a grimace, and the world around her had fallen into a haze. With that one well-placed blow to her knee, Renee had knocked the Japanese girl for a loop, leaving her crumpled on the canvas. For a moment, she was paralyzed from the pain; all she could do was rub at her leg to try and will the sensation back into her body. But before that could happen, Renee rolled her over and planted a knee against her back. She let out a groan as the air was pressed out of her lungs against her weight, and as Renee yanked up on Yuki's hair, her teeth clenched in a wince. Yuki was already hurting, and now Renee was putting all the more pressure on her scalp, bending her into an arc!

But what hurt Yuki most of all wasn't the pressure on her back, or how Renee was grabbing her hair. It was the blow to her heart and her pride, as Renee forced her to face the camera and started to berate her for all the pain she was in. At that, the newcomer's blood ran cold. If Renee had her way, Yuki thought, her first outing in AFW would cement her as nothing more than a hopeless failure who couldn't be strong enough to stand up for herself when she needed to most. But Yuki wanted nothing less than to show the world she deserved a place in the spotlight. The greatest defeat Renee could ever deal her was to shatter her chances in front of the whole world. Yuki couldn't let her do that! She sucked in a deep breath, and her brows furrowed as her eyes squeezed shut to stifle her tears. Even if it hurt, Yuki needed now more than ever to fight back.

"It isn't over-!" Yuki shot back. "I won't let it be-!" In defiance, she grabbed for the mat beneath her, trying to pull herself across the ring and toward the ropes. She had to get the leverage she needed to break free!

Renee was enjoying berating Yuki under her while some jeering from the crowd started raining down on her. She wasn’t gonna take Yuki seriously. She was just a jobber in her eyes as well as someone who should’ve never been in this match. However, her opponent gained some determination and managed to slide out of Renee’s pressing knee.

Now on all fours, Renee smirked as she was liking the new determination coming from Yuki. Maybe she had some fight left in her still. Though, Renee had the advantage still but decided not to press forward. Instead, she got up and taunted Yuki to come at her. Seeing how much passion she gave Yuki now, this was gonna be a return match she’ll definitely appreciate.

“Alright. Now we got ourselves a match. So what are you gonna do now, Yuki? What is this jumped-up indie star got in store for me?”

With Renee's knee digging into her back, Yuki could feel the air being pressed out of her lungs. Her eye twitched and her brow furrowed under the pressure - but she also knew one thing. She couldn't let Renee win like this! Determined to stand up to her, the joshi wrestler clawed at the mat, dragging herself across it one inch at a time. She hissed as she felt the tension on her scalp from where Renee pulled at her hair - she could feel a few strands pull free of their follicles, and she let out a yelp as they did. But she stayed firm, only grasping the canvas tighter. And with another hard yank, Yuki managed to finally crawl out from under her foe!

The crowd let out a cheer as she broke free of her opponent's grasp, in what was surely a show of her iron will and determination. Yuki's eyes were still watering from the pain in her head, and she brought up a hand to rub at her scalp to try and dull that pain. But when she looked back up at Renee, Yuki knew that there was no time for hesitation. Even if she hurt, she had to be ready to take the fight to her opponent!

"We can start with this-!" Yuki shouted back in defiance. Hopping up onto her feet, she pivoted her weight around and threw a kick aimed squarely for Renee's midsection! If that hit, she'd follow it with another superkick, this one aimed at her jaw!