Makie Akamatsu vs Midori Himeno

Makie, by contrast, lay where whe was on the mat, unmoving. Her body was covered in a sheen of sweat, and her spiked, rebellious hairstyle was now flattened with dampness. The ref quickly knelt over to check on Makie, rolling her over to check her over. If Midori was afraid that she had seriously injured the girl, then she didn't need to worry: a quick inspection by the ref determined that while Makie had indeed taken a lot of damage, she hadn't suffered anything too serious. Makie breathed softly as she was rolled onto her back, her face red and her eyes glassy.

Midori walked up to Makie and studied her for a moment sternly.

After a while, some awareness drifted back into Makie's expression. The tomboy glanced at Midori from where she lay, looking more hurt and exhausted than angry.

"Cong..congrats..." was all she managed to say.

Midori paused and then held a hand down to her.

For a moment, Makie eyed Midori warily, as though expecting her to resume beating on her. She even looked like she might refuse the hand out of spite.

Then, slowly and weakly, she raised an arm and accepted Midori's hand.

Midori pulled her up and then would go to hug her closely. With her strength she would be able to hold makie up even if her leg was hurting.

"Good match, kid. You need some training but I think you got potential."

Makie went wide-eyed in surprise. Midori had spent the better part of the match clobbering the hell out of her, and now she was....hugging her?

Even though the shame of losing burned deeply within her, she gave Midori a weak, but friendly hug back. "Th-thanks," she was able to manage. Given the state she was in, Midori wasn't so much hugging her as holding her up, her head slumping against Midori's shoulder as sweat dripped from her damp hair.

Midori slipped a card to Makie.

"This is where I work out if you are interested in training with me."

By this time Midori would allow either the officials or Maie's brothers (if they came to ring) to help Makie out.

Makie stared at the card in her hands, her expression still dazed. "Ehh....what..."

At that moment, Midori released her hug. Makie swayed for a moment, before an arm grabbed onto her own and kept her from falling. "Easy," a familiar voice said. "Try to stay on the sole of one foot. Don't use the other one if you can help it."

Makie turned her head to see Kyo helping her upright. "O...onee-san," she said weakly. She didn't want Kyo to see her like this, broken and defeated. "I...I..."

Kyo gave her a reassuring smile. He smiled so rarely that Makie knew that whenever he did, it was genuine. "I went through ten defeats in a row before I got my first victory, Makie," he said, keeping his sister propped up. "Your day will come. Trust me."

Another arm propped her up on the other side. "We're here for you, sis," Toshio said, flashing his sister a grin. "Now let's get you out of this ring."

And with that, Kyo and Toshio escorted their hurting sister out of the ring, holding her upright all the way to the exit.


Midori Himeno wins by submission