Yae Mochizuki vs. Kozue Kaburagi - Twin Shadows

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Pinfall, Submission, or KO.

Love at first sight? No. No, Kozue didn't believe in that bullshit. She’d seen too much, been through too much crap in her life to get that romantic about things. Lust at first sight, that she could do, but she wasn’t about to say you could have something so complicated by just coming across someone out of the blue.

But ‘like’ at first sight? That was something she could do. And she could tell, she liked Yae. She liked the way this woman smiled, that little crazy grin that she’d seen on her own face whenever she watched her best matches back over. She liked the way she was ready to fight and cut through all the bullshit. She liked the way she didn’t overreact to a little shit-talking, was down for a little verbal sparring before they got to business. And she really, really liked that Yae carried around a little flask for on-the-spot jolts. A good idea, and one she’d be stealing after this match.

She reminded Kozue of herself, which somehow made her want to beat her up even more than normal. There was probably something deep and psychological to it all, but fuck if she had the patience to figure it out right now.

”Thank ye kindly.” Kozue took the offered flask and gave it a little sniff - not out of distrust, just out of habit. When her nose approved, she took a mouthful, swished it about, and gulped it down with a refreshed sigh. Unique taste. Definitely some vodka in there, Kozue knew her vodka, but it was mixed with some stuff she didn’t recognize. Warm, but warmer than room temperature, didn’t just get there sitting in her pocket.

The referee was tapping her foot, wanting to kick this off, but Kozue wasn’t in a huge hurry. They’d be going at mach speed soon enough. ”Good shit.” She took one more, quick sip for the road, then handed it back. ”And our blood’s red, same as everyone’s. At least 100 Proof, though, so don’t burn anything close to it.”

And that was it for the foreplay.

Kozue stepped back and started bouncing on her heels, getting limbered as she moved from foot to foot. How long had it been since she’d had a match, a real match? Not sparring? Too long. So many new tricks to try out. So much to show the world. And she got to do it with someone like this, who probably had so many little surprises of her own. Could not have asked for more. Hell, half of her thought this was some setup by Benikage, a little welcome back present. If that was the case, she’d have to give her teacher a little kiss the next time they crossed.

That thought just made smile stretch an inch or so wider, gave her an extra burst of energy, and when the bell finally rang an eternity later, she unleashed it all at once. Wrestling tradition dictated that you started off a match slow and steady, did a lock to gauge each other’s strength and see where you stood, before you got into the real meat of things. Fuck that - Kozue didn’t want to know how strong Yae was, she wanted to see her speed. She came in like a flash, closing the gap so fast that the referee had to leap out of the way like a speeding car was crossing the ring.

Instead of going straight to Yae, she jerked to the side at the last possible second, popping to her side, and from there she spun around and threw out a slick roundhouse kick aimed at her foe’s face. Nothing special, but if Yae wasn’t what Kozue thought she was, it would be enough to drop her flat on her ass.

A test. The first of many.

Yae’d been saving this particular mix for a special kind of night, but she couldn’t say a few months back that she imagined sharing it. She was kind of protective of her drinks, 'specially her flask. There weren’t many things she missed from her old life but there were one or two things that she didn’t readily just hand off to someone else. Not that she was one to be called insecure. Or paranoid. Or any other word that could fit someone that most likely had a kill order on their head back home. You know, simple things.

But it was even rarer that she got the feeling she was getting from Kozue. A familiarity that she found so touching. Spunky, eager, stylish. She didn’t see those features in many other places outside of a mirror. At the very least, Jersey people knew their drinks. Hopefully they knew just a little more than that.

"Don't gotta. I'm bringing the boom either way." She swiped the flask back with a grin and tucked it away into her pocket. She leaped back a few feet to her side of the ring, tucking her hands into her pockets with a knowing smile. One that didn’t budge an inch even after the bell rang out and the referee took a step backward as quickly as possible.

Wasn’t fast enough. Yae had her ebony gaze locked on the Jersey ninja from word one, since the moment she appeared out of a puff of smoke and peeked her face out from behind that ornate mask. Her eyes watched her body from head to toe, looking for any sudden movements, any hint in her posture that might give away a few tricks in that seemingly scant attire. She had her locked. She couldn’t breathe without her noticing it. All of a sudden, Akane found herself on her back.

And then she was right next to her. The kunoichi’s eyes drifted to her left and found the front side of a boot careening towards her face and the grin still smiling white before it. Good speed, even better form if a little orthodox, but that was no doubt the point. It all happened too fast to comprehend as her blood turned cold and filled with adrenaline. Her mind didn’t have a single clue what to do. Her body had a few ideas, on the other hand.

She ducked back at the last possible moment, dodging the kick like a limbo stick only at the cost of a strand of hair on her bangs. The blue streak that sailed over her swept it away into the air. Yae’s hands hit the floor and caught her before the ground. Her feet came up before she kicked one out to her side, looking to return the favor with a quick headstand kick before she attempted to kip herself forward back on two feet.

When Kozue watched this match back - on Youtube, because she didn’t like paying $20 a month for the AFW Network, kind of a ripoff - she would laugh her ass off when she saw the referee fall on her ass. She felt a little bad for Akane, it wasn’t her fault, but given her and Yae’s styles, there was no way their match could start off at anything less than full mach speed. It was simply the only gear they had.

At the moment this happened, though, she didn’t even notice. She heard something fall off to the side, but she didn’t even process what it was until a few minutes later. Now, in this instant, her only thought was for the woman in front of her. The rest of the world didn’t exist.

She wasn’t surprised that her kick missed - she would’ve been disappointed if it did, really. That would’ve been a clear sign that this woman wasn’t on her speed, and while that didn’t mean she wasn’t a threat, it would mean she couldn’t keep up. What did surprise her, though, was the way her attack was avoid, as Yae, threw herself back into a handstand. Reflexes kicked in and Kozue threw her whole body to the side just in time to avoid a kick from a position that would’ve caught most wrestlers off guard - and nearly had her, too. Tricky little bitch, she loved it.

Kozue threw herself into a cartwheel to make more space as Yae did her kipup, and both their feet touched the mat at nearly the same time, with her ending up at her opponent’s side in a crouch. Wasting little movement and time, the New Jersey Ninja pounced low and slid along the mat as she swung her legs low, aiming for Yae’s ankle with a sweep. Whether it connected or not, she’d keep swinging that leg, twist her entire body along with it, and push up from the floor, rising back up in the next instant with a whirlwind kipup, hoping to be ready for whatever the next moment brought.

And through all of that, she couldn’t stop herself from laughing every other moment. Fucking loving this.

She was glad Kozue was enjoying this. Yae was getting into this too.

Quicker than expected if she was being honest. Reading that flyer, AFW seemed like one of those schemes too good to be true. She hadn’t dwelled in the modern world long enough to get a sense of false advertising, but there were doubts. Strong ones. The federation had the kind of stipulations she liked best in a fight and everything after, sometimes during. But it was still a business at the end of the day. Still established. “Mainstream”. There were plenty of renowned fighters on the list, but Yae was “professional” in her own right. Could there really be anyone in Japan that could give her what she wanted?

God. Who would’ve known what three minutes your doppelganger could change?

Two seconds in and she was almost knocked out cold by a kick to the face. Four seconds and one of her best surprise attacks had met nothing but air. Six seconds and her legs were about to be taken out from under her and leave her dead on the floor. In the next two, who knew? Her ebony gaze was wide, only getting more into this with every beat of her quickening heart. That thin smile on her face was threatening to become something else.

Yae jumped off the floor, narrowly avoiding Kozue’s sweep as she threw herself in a backward flip. She moved too fast to get more than a glimpse of her opponent’s beautiful recovery, but Yae had a way to make it up to her. Her feet touched the middle rope for only a second before she sprung herself straight back into another spinning somersault. Her rotation stopped midway and she kicked her leg out in a long crescent arc, coming like a glaive down on the Jersey girl’s head.

Oooooh, lookie-lookie. Kozue was almost surprised when her sweep sliced into nothing but air, catching a fleeting glimpse of her foe jumping into the air. Yae managed to dodge that little sweep? Not bad. It was the sort of attack that would’ve caught her off guard if it had been done to her in the pre-Benikage days. She wasn’t just fast, but she had good reflexes, and was able to keep her head in the game. ”Where the-

‘Where the hell’ve you been hiding?’ was the question Kozue wanted to ask, but she found herself short on time for such words when she stood up, because there was a foot coming towards her head like a headsman’s axe. How had she even gotten that much height so quick? Did she bounce of the...ha, yeah, Kozue could see the middle rope vibrating still. Yae had done a somersault off it from a backflip. Holy shit.

She would’ve laughed at the realization if she’d had any time too, but she was short on that. Instead, her mind was focused on the next move - she was sure she could avoid this, but what was the best way to do it? She could jump to the side, jump back and get out of the line of fire altogether, sure. In the back of her head, though, she could hear her mentor whispering.

’Strike from the shadows.’

As Yae flew through the air, Kozue threw herself forward and ducked into a low roll, swinging about on her back as she tumbled so she could end up in a crouch facing her opponent’s back the moment she touched down. A single second to act. Just that.

Kozue sprung from her crouch with legs wide open, trying to wrap them around Yae’s head from behind before she could escape. With her neck locked, it was all academic - she tossed her body back, pulled Yae’s head along with her, and attempted to send her flying with a reverse ‘rana.

Well, shit.

Yae was a cocky person. She had no problem admitting that. It was a luxury that came with being able to back up your shit one-hundred percent of the time. She liked to consider herself the best at what she did and while she’d met more a few people that could pose plausible exceptions to the rule - Jersey Girl potentially included depending on how much fun this ended up being - she was sure she could keep pace with even the best that crossed her path.

So when she lost Kozue for a moment, vanished for a brief instant in time in the second before her leg hit the ground, could she call that a blow to her ego?

“Well look at yo-gaaaandtheresmyneck…!” It took Yae a second to realize what exactly was choking her. A normal person - a boring person - would have gone for the rear choke. Maybe just kicked her straight in the back of the head. Not here. When Yae felt herself listing backward, she knew what was going on. Couldn’t remember the last time someone had thrown her with just their legs. Might have been that chick she rowed with in that Shikoku stakeout. Damn that was hard on the neck.

Back then, though, it had a bit more of an MMA flavor. In this ring, with the other chick with the headband, she was seeing a ninja at work. Fluid, graceful, damn fast, Yae was thrown straight over and was about to have her head spiked to the floor. Definitely would have knocked her out if she was only half as aware as she was now.

A major headache and a pretty girl sounded like a fun mix on any other night. This evening, though, she had to look out for number one. Only a second before impact, Yae’s hands slapped to the canvas and threw her legs forward, taking the brunt of the shock to her palms before her head followed suit. By going with the momentum rather than fighting it, she was able to fall into a rolling motion rather than drive straight down. A subtle motion, but one that saved her as she plopped free from Ninjette’s legs and tumbled in a roll towards the ropes.

Nearly fell out of them too. Honed reflexes saved her from the spill, as her hands reached out to grab the middle and bottom ropes before she swung her legs out and turned herself back around, tiger feinting her way back into the center. She entered the ring with a single roll before she stopped on one knee. Her ebony eyes flashed up to spot Kozue, rising slowly back up and never losing sight passed the shade of her violet bangs. Beneath the shadow, she could make out that cheeky smirk stretching to one cheek.

Someone was into this.

Kozue could do a reverse-rana before she trained with Benikage. In fact, it had been one of her favorites, on the rare occasion she could get into the right position to pull it off. But it was always trickier than the front facing version, even though it always had more surprise going for it. The body didn’t bend as well backwards, so you had to put more yank into it, and you tended to be too close to the ropes when it happened, so you always had the risk of smacking your neck on the ropes.

When it worked, it was a thing of beauty, sure, but even her best attempts always had a sloppy flavor to them. The roll was a little too slow, didn’t have the heft she wanted, lacking in the follow through, that sort of thing. Now, though, the difference was clear - she executed the move with the practiced ease that only came from hours of repetition. No hesitation, just a clean, deft move, her body moving as if it were hooked to wires. It was so clean that she even landed on her feet right afterwards, which meant she was in a prime position to take advantage of the opening she’d just made. Yae was good, but someone had to get the upperhand. Might as well be her.

Now, all she had to do was flip forward after the throw, spin about in mid-air so she was facing Yae’s direction, lan on one knee, then-

”Well. Shit.”

Those were about the only two words Kozue could think to muster when she saw Yae only a few feet away, in a mirror image of her own pose. How? That was the question, but figured it out before she could even ask it. The vibrating ropes behind her told the story. Must have grabbed them and swung her way back inside. Hot damn, that was slick, had to admit. Judging by the way the audience applauded, they agreed.

Kozue rose up to her feet, nice and slow, keeping her gaze level with Yae every inch of the way. When they both fully stood, she finally broke away from the copycat act, just to give her props.

”Not.” Clap. ”Fucking.” Clap. ”Bad.” Clap. ”You’re good. Damn good. Gonna feel a little bad putting you down.”

Kozue backed away and dropped back into her stance, going for something more traditional than the one she’d had before. Right leg out, left leg back and bent, right arm out, left arm back to the chest, hands open. A good ready stance, one Benikage would approve of. Or at least not scold her for taking.

”Just a little.”

Whoa, okay. Should’ve laid off the extra swig.

She was putting on a good face, but she was starting to sweat. Not from exhaustion, oh no. Fuck no. Before she’d gotten started with her promo, Yae snuck a few gulps of her flask to dull the nerves a bit and get herself oriented. She did her best talking slightly sloshed when she thought about it. Made sense for the reveal, maybe not so much for what came after.

That cheat tactic was coming back to bite her hard. She hadn’t at all expected to be doing this much rolling around so soon. It had been a while since she’d traded blows with one of her own kind, almost forgetting how much the speed and power could ruin your equilibrium if your head wasn’t on straight. Even worse that these Jersey chicks were apparently a bunch of firecrackers. Kozue wasn’t an inch like her contemporaries back in Iga. Bouncy, slightly wild, knew her drinks. Yae should have been born in America.

Daydreaming could wait for later, though. Right now, she was just making the effort to slowly stand, hiding her footing carefully to not give anything away. It was only when Kozue started clapping that she dropped her guard. Plenty in the front row started to clap along with her. The purple-haired newcomer blinked a few times. Her old clan didn’t believe in clapping. Or encouragement. Or fun. The concept was still slightly foreign to her, but she got the gist.

A smile crept its way onto her face in no time at all, holding her arms out wide, putting one leg back and giving a curtsy little bow Kozue’s way. Playing it up by spreading her trench coat like a dress. She was fucking around, but deep down it did feel nice to have some praise thrown her way that wasn’t money or a kunai.

“At least one of us will.” Yae crouched low, hands out to either side with a wry grin, looking to all the world like she was about to charge Kozue right down the middle. And she was...basically.

The kunoichi broke into a brisk lunge straight down the center. It was only a couple of steps from hard impact that Yae switched gears. Stopping on a dime, she flipped forward into a backflip with her left leg cutting a crescent arc skyward, aiming straight for the Jersey ninja’s chin in a somersault kick. Whether the kick landed or not, she was going to keep coming. Assuming she could land safely on her feet, she would already be in a crouched position. The perfect posture to leap into the air with a flying kick to the chest, chasing Kozue the first sight she caught of her.

Kozue could almost hear Aunt Beni giving her crap for letting her guard down in the middle of a fight and showboating, and she knew damn well there’d be a text message on her phone when this was all over on that very subject. Her master would want something crazy in retribution - twenty minutes of polebalancing if she was in a good mood, waterfall meditation if she wasn’t. But fuck it, some things were worth the pain.

Besides, it was just a little intermission. She could tell from that in Yae’s eye that they’d be back to business at full steam soon enough.

Kozue wiggled into her stance, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice, having gotten a good first taste for what Yae could do. It was still too early to be giving a full evaluation, but from what she could see, they were at least on the same page when it came to their speed stats, and there was probably no telling who had a height or weight advantage without a tape measure and a scale. Hell, the biggest difference she could see off right now was that Yae was packing more heat in the chest area. No shit, 95% of the roster could say the same.

So it was coming down to skill, then. Good. This was exactly the sort of thing she needed to kick her new run off and show the world what the new, improved Kozue Kaburagi was working with.

Yae wouldn’t keep her waiting too long, either, moving in at breakneck speeds to kick off the second chapter. Kozue started to move in to cut her off, only to have that idea shut down when her opponent beat her to the punch - or kick, rather. She hand to slam the breaks down at the last second and jerked her upper body back, doing the limbo and avoiding a foot that would’ve knocked her chin off if it connected.

Her fellow ninja turned that move into a somersault, something that could’ve left her wide open, and Kozue was all about capitalizing. She leaped up the moment Yae touched down and began to raise her leg, thinking she might have the chance to score an axe kick while she was in a perfect position for it, crouched down like that. Not a chance.

Yae burst up like a loaded spring, whipping that lightning leg at her chest, catching Kozue as she rose. She scarcely had time to get her arms across her chest to block the move, but there was no saving her from the momentum it created. She was knocked off course, sent to the floor at an awkward angle, coming down on her shoulders.

But she could work with this. Instead of just hitting the canvas, she threw her legs up on impact and added to the backwards force, using it to keep rolling off her shoulders and pop to her feet. She didn’t stay there for very long, however, as she bounced off the ropes and came straight towards her foe once again, keeping up that precious pressure.

”Got something for ya!” She leaped forward and planted her hands on the floor, looking like she was going to flip into Yae for a moment. Instead, she stopped in mid-flip and walked backwards on her palms, jabbing her feet at Yae a couple of times. She brought her body around and swung her legs out, spinning them about in a wide windmill, trying to catch her with the wild move, before she brought it altogether and push off the ground, popping back to her feet in a single motion.

She could actually do this sort of thing before her ninja training. Benikage just taught her how to weaponize it.

Fucking got her.

Took longer than she expected, but suppose that was AFW for you. Kozue was making her work for it every step of the way and she had no expectations that that would change anytime soon. Plenty of tricks up those metaphorical sleeves. Denying her skill as a ninja was as stupid as it was dangerous, but that just made the idea of kicking her senseless even more savory. And she was right.

She did an admirable job of dodging the first strike, but the follow-up was what was going to hurt. The kick landed crisp and gave her that snappy sound she was looking for. Kozue hit the ground first and the next few seconds were already playing out in Yae’s head. First she’d follow up with another somersault kick, but this time throw it forward and drive her heel right into the skull. Then she’d go to work with submissions and lock her legs around her head to get that fight out of her. Then when she was nice and complacent she…would...

....what the fuck did Kozue just do?

Yae landed on her feet bewildered. There was nothing wrong with her kick. Her leap was perfect and all the power she could put into it landed flush.

She leapt back thinking she was going for some kind of flip. Nope. Handstand kicks. Hadn’t seen that one in action since she was a trainee. This was one of those moments where Ninjette’s smaller height helped her out. Her legs didn’t have to go far to hit Yae where it hurt. The snake-eyed kunoichi raised her arms as they struck toward her face, expecting a long-term assault as she was pushed towards the ropes.

Didn’t happen. She wasn’t exactly sure what happened, again. Her eyes were mostly hidden behind her arms, but the next hit came so swiftly and suddenly she thought a second person had come in and nailed her from the side. An iron leg sliced into her ribs, reeling her forward in time to catch another in the chin that put her facedown on the floor. It was only when she raised her head to catch a glimpse of Kozue flipping back on her feet that the puzzle pieces fit together. Fancy move. She’d have to catch that one on the playback.

Had to keep her head in the game for now. Being on the floor wasn’t doing her any favors. Before she could let Kozue have a chance to capitalize, Yae rolled onto her back, closer towards Kozue, and kicked back onto her hands with her legs raised. Rather than popping up to her feet, she fired her legs off in a rapid series of quick strikes to tag Kozue from waist to face. If she could land a few of them, she could bring herself to a handstand and land back on her feet. Not quite as flashy as the Jersey devil’s, but y’know. Beggars and choosers.