The New Guy meets SEME!

Mitsuru continued her constant offense as she would begin to focus on Shido's other arm with a textbook transition to an armbar! The transition spoke to Shido's instincts, as it was something that he'd experienced before. As standard and commonplace as this move was, a cross arm breaker was no joke, and could lead to a quick submission or injury if uncontested!

"No!"

Putting his blushy feelings aside for a moment, Shido would grab the arm Mitsuru was after with his now free arm and try to prevent her from fully extending it to complete the hold. Regardless of whether or not this worked, he would then roll back onto his feet and try to lift the tactical female wrestler off the mat using both arms, hoping to counter by sitting out and slamming her between his legs for a pin attempt!

Shido responded well to Mitsuru's application of the armbar, his instincts kicked in right away and he tried his best to prevent her from folding the arm flat against her chest. Meanwhile, Shido had rolled up to his side and was getting up and grabbing hold of her waist.

Anticipating the bumpy ride, Mitsuru showed off her prowess for technique by unlocking her ankles briefly as her back began to leave the mat. With a bit of muscle control, as Shido slammed down she yanked herself towards him. She winced and grunted as her back hit the ground, but her legs found their target, her right leg getting over Shido's left shoulder as she re-hooked her ankles together. Now rather than an armbar she had a lovely triangle choke in the works.

The application left something to be desired, right now it was more of a tight squeeze than a choke thanks to the brief stunning pain Shido brought with his slam. She was indeed on her back and he over her, which could constitute a pin if she didn't have him in such a hold. If all things went to plan, she just needed a few seconds to correct her positioning and the move would be golden.

Shido was impressed with how Mitsuru seemed to always have an answer for anything he could come up with. He was well aware of the dangers posed by falling victim to a triangle choke, especially hers. As he's been put through enough holds at this point to know that Mitsuru's leg strength is anything but lacking!

Shido could have tried to play it safe and attempt to evade the choke, but he was already relying on instinct up until this point and backing away now just seemed like less fun. He would lean into her and try to further press her shoulders to the mat, slamming the mat once to gesture a one count and hoping Hikaru would follow up with the subsequent ones. Of course, leaning into her and trying to get leverage to pin Mitsuru would allow for easier application of the triangle hold. She had already secured Shido's arm and closing the distance would just ease the process of wrapping her thighs around his neck and the arteries within it. But it was a risk Shido was willing to take.

Counting out loud would be exert himself more than he needed to and would only make him fade faster, should the hold be applied in its entirety. Shido would simply utter "H...hi" as he initiated the pin, looking up at her and blushing slightly, trying to facilitate some dialogue

Despite clamping her thighs down and compressing Shido's neck in a slightly less than perfect triangle choke, he was proving himself to be a worthy opponent by insisting on going for the pin. Even if she managed to choke him out so quickly, his body was going to slump forward and she'd still be in the pinned position. On the other hand, she might not get another chance like this one, and the desire to capitalize on it was quite strong.

"Oh! One!" Hikaru quickly jumped out of his seat, scrambling to slap the side of the ring once he realized what he was supposed to be doing. He had been so caught up in watching that he forgot he volunteered to be the ref. "Two!" he spat out again quickly, to make up for the slight delay he had in starting the count for Shido.

As the two count was announced, Mitsuru knew she would not finish Shido before the count finished. But maybe there was a chance to salvage the situation? She had control of his upper body and he was hunched over her to make this count as a pin, so perhaps she would be able to move him. "Goodbye" Mitsuru grinned as she threw her entire body to the side. This had a dual effect, making her shoulder leave the mat to cancel the count out, and also giving her the possibility of maneuvering Shido onto his side.[/color]

"Ack!! " Shido yelped as he was tossed on his side, thus preventing the pin fall after the two count!

Trying to salvage yet another sudden counter, he would use to momentum to roll once towards the ropes, reaching for them with his leg! A valiant effort given the circumstances, but just not enough! Shido was small and didn't have limb length going for him as far as strengths go. He would just barely be out reach, fading fast in the triangle choke with only one eye open!

"I...don't suppose.....we can talk about this?" Shido would offer in jest. He was beginning to go limp, his neck being thoroughly wrung by Mitsuru's thighs! Still blushing slightly, his eyes would close as it appeared he had reached his limit!

"Not a chance, sweetheart"

Mitsuru is successful in dragging Shido down onto his side, but he cleverly uses the motion to roll himself over closer to the ropes. He shoots a leg out for the ropes and snags the top of his foot over the bottom rope. Immediately Hikaru calls out for a rope break and Mitsuru complies, unclenching her thighs and releasing Shido's arm back to him.

From there she rolls backwards onto her knees and pops up to her feet. Shido could use whatever time he wanted to recover, as she promptly turned on her heel and retreated to SEME's corner so she could tag into the giant Ryuu.

Ryuu pries the ropes apart so that Mitsuru can easily climb out, and then proceeds to enter himself. He crosses his arms over his chest as he looks at Shido with a stern and blank face. The newcomer reminded him of another spunky shortstop he had faced recently. Ryuu was also patient, he waited without complaint for Shido to get back up and into position.

Shido rubbed his neck and took a few moments to shake it off and rise to his feet using the ropes. He had noticed his opponents were willingly giving him time to recover.

"Thanks for the breather, guys.....but wouldn't it have been smarter to just stay on the offensive?" he'd ask as he surveyed his now much larger opponent and tried to think of how he would go about trying to contest him. In truth, the match up looked intimidating at a glance but the challenge of a larger and stronger opponent just sparked his resolve to try his best!

"Looked like you needed it" Ryuu shrugged as Shido prodded for an explanation as to their halt in momentum. Ryuu had only just met the guy, so there wasn't a whole lot of motivation to hit him when he was down. To top that, this was just a friendly spar rather than a cut-throat match. Ryuu cleared his throat and untangled his arms as he assumed a ready position to match Shido.

Upon noticing his opponent's hesitation to attack a larger opponent, Ryuu would break the halt in the flow of the match by acting first. He came at Shido with arms raised like a bear, but then switched tactics and punted his foot forward. He aimed to land a boot square in Shido's chest to knock the wind out of him.

"Very kind of you to notice! Haha" Shido answered in a lighthearted tone. He would use the ropes to lift himself to his feet. The juxtaposition between himself and Ryuu was immediately apparent. The man was a giant, and not just in comparison to the much shorter, Shido. Still, he didn't belabor the odds and Shido smiled at the challenge.

He would notice Ryuu approaching him with his long arms extended, but he would also notice Ryuu shifting his feet to prepare a kick. Though to Shido's surprise, it was one that he immediately recognized! "Did Mitsuru teach you that one?" He commented, thinking back to his match with Hikaru.

Shido would attempt to slip past the big boot and close the distance, hoping to grab the one leg Ryuu was using to stand and keep his other leg airborne. If all went well, he'd pull the big guy off his feet and onto his back, all while still keeping hold of his leg! From here, he'd attempt a jackknife pin!(though hooking just one leg, not both like in the gif)

Ryuu's kick was powerful and slow, slow enough that Shido was able to liken it to what Mitsuru had done despite the difference in technique. He made no effort to verbally quip back at the newcomer, instead focusing on the man's approach. Shido grabbed at Ryuu's legs, clearly trying to overturn his balance. Rather than show Shido how futile that effort was gonna turn out, he decided to go along with his plan.

Ryuu made a controlled fall onto his back and observed as Shido nimbly flipped himself about to try on a fancy pin. That was enough to satisfy Ryuu's curiosity for now, and he sprung instantly to action. His hands found the back of Shido's thighs and shoved him forward with a mighty effort. He slid Shido clean off of him and onto his back onto the mat, and then climbed atop for a bland pin of his own. However, Ryuu rested his elbow atop Shido's sternum and rested all 195lbs of his weight there. It was hard to tell if Ryuu was being serious about the pin or not, or if he was just curious to see what Shido was going to do again.