Hitomi Fujishima vs Cassie Elliot

Cassie was a little nervous for her match. It was her first in AFW, first in Japan, first in... whatever style AFW matches would be considered. Pro wrestling? Mostly? She'd seen matches and there was a huge range in the other girls, stylistically speaking. While that was in itself a little unnerving, it was also pretty exciting. Think of all the new things she'd learn here!

What she was really nervous about was the presence of cameras. She didn't mind competing. Well, she loved competing. She dreamed about competing. But she was still super shy when it came to people looking at her, especially when some of those people had cameras and more people were watching her on TV or whatever. She wanted to just cover up with a huge bathrobe or something, but then everyone would think she looked like an idiot, so she guessed that the costume she made would have to be the way to go. Even though she was worried too that people would laugh at how she looked in that too. She did have a cape. But... she liked the cape. The cape was the awesome-est thing ever.

She had started warming up that morning, taking a nice long run and drilling techniques on the mats in her apartment. Throughout the day she made sure to eat right and keep her energy at a good level, and by the time she was on deck backstage she wasn't thinking at all about if her body was ready to go. She started running through some strategic ideas in her head... she didn't really know anything about her opponent, which made it harder, but she was confident in her abilities. Her [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMqmWFzJhYY:2gzk94mo]music started[/url:2gzk94mo].

She took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself and bounced on the balls of her feet to loosen up, then she took the first step out from behind the curtain.

Wow. The...people.

She froze for a couple seconds and darted back behind the curtain. She felt dumb. She heard someone laugh at her. She closed her eyes and took another breath. Now or never.

Cassie made her Friction debut by walking sheepishly out to the middle of the top of the entrance ramp. She smiled nervously and waved to the sea of noisy people that were watching her from the stands. There was nothing this big in Canada. Not like this. Once she started her walk down the ramp and set her eyes on the ring she felt a surge of excitement. The nervousness melted off her face and a beaming grin replaced it. She jumped up excitedly a couple times before reining herself in and walking purposefully to the ring. She climbed the steps and ducked under the middle rope.

She took a couple respectful bows to the audience, unsure of exactly how to act in public in Japan, then she fell over backward in the middle of the ring. She took a moment, just laying there, staring up at the lights... it helped to relax and focus and center her. She got the idea from Caol Uno. She liked Caol Uno.

With one final wave she stood and went to her corner. She took off her yellow and white cape and folded it neatly before setting it in the corner next to the turnbuckle. She thought for a moment and took off her gloves too, putting them on her cape. She was left with just her [url=http://i55.tinypic.com/2r4hbwg.jpg:2gzk94mo]yellow and white long sleeved leotard and her tall white boots[/url:2gzk94mo]. She fixed her eyes on the top of the ramp and waited for her opponent to make her entrance. She was ready.

While Cassie was on the ramp, moving towards the ring, Hitomi was busy just getting dressed. Her more traditional Japanese garb wasn't quite as easy to slip on as a leotard, though to her it was a bit more comfortable. She never was one for too tight clothing. Soon a stagehand ran over to her dressing room, telling her to get on stage quickly. Hitomi waved him off, tightening her obi sash and grabbing her fan before walking out towards the ramp.

As she stepped out onto the ramp, the song "Cross Over" by 9nine played over the speakers. A lot of the people in the crowd recognized Hitomi, though they were surprised by this change, since Hitomi normally had a piano performance. What many of them didn't know was that Hitomi actually had a voice role in the anime for which this song was the theme, so it was cross-promotion in a sense. Either way, the crowd cheered her entrance, especially since they knew her fairly well.

Hitomi waved at the crowd as she walked along, at times even teasing the crowd a bit, using her fan to hide her face as she winked at certain males. After a short while, she found herself at the base of the ring. Hitomi leaped up, then vaulted over the top ropes, landing daftly on her two feet. She gave the crowd a final fan-wave, before shutting it and sticking it on the back of her sash.

Cassie walked out to the middle of the ring and stuck out her hand to Hitomi. "Hi, I'm Cassie, it's nice to meet you."

She looked around Hitomi with some concern. "You're wearing a lot of stuff for a fight... maybe you could put the fan in the corner until we're done?"

Being face to face with her first AFW opponent was pretty awesome. Thrilling, even. She couldn't wait for the match to start. She wondered if she had to be in her corner for it to start or if they started in the middle... there were so many different variations on pro wrestling-type things in Japan she couldn't be sure. She looked questioningly at Hitomi with a nervous smile.

"Pleased to meet you too!" Hitomi said, grabbing Cassie's hand in the usual polite handshake, "Hitomi Fujishima, I hope we can have a good match." While doing so she took a good look at her opponent. She was quite obviously a foreigner, not just from her looks but also from her accent. She didn't look particularly threatening, though of course Hitomi knew that she couldn't really judge before the match even started. And her clothes were functional, less easy to get in the way than Hitomi's more traditional garb

"My costume represents Japanese tradition," Hitomi said, as if that made it completely acceptable for her to be handicapped by her clothes, "And don't worry, the fan's not for fighting. But if you're afraid, I guess I'll get rid of it." Hitomi let go of Cassie's hand, took a step back while taking out her fan. She whipped it open then tossed it out. It spun in several lazy circles until reaching the crowd.

Hitomi returned to her corner, leaning against the turnbuckle while waiting for the match to start.

Cassie turned and walked back to her corner, waiting to show her dismay until her back was to Hitomi. "I never said I was afraid." she said quietly.

She bounced in place to stay loose. She was focused, her eyes shut. When the bell rang she quickly took the middle of the ring. She stood in a squared-up grappling stance, hands in front, knees bent, her feet set in a solid base. She wasn't too worried about being faster than this girl, she either was or she wasn't. She just needed to see how she moved to get a feel for which approach she'd need to take with her first offense.

All traces of uncertainty and sweetness had vanished when the bell rang. She was almost expressionless, determined, and ready to go. It was time to show these Japanese girls how they did things back in Ontario. She beckoned with one hand for Hitomi to come get her.

Hitomi's smile never left her face as she advanced. Cassie got all serious, but Hitomi still had all her cheerful attitude, although in her mind she was observing and noting everything about Cassie. The girl had a good stance, and she seemed like she knew what she was doing. But Hitomi knew that she was young and probably lacked experience. This was her first match after all!

Hitomi took a few slow steps forward, not really rushing into any attack. Instead, she raised her hands in a challenge, offering Cassie a test of strength.

Without hesitation, Cassie feinted with her hands as though she would take Hitomi's offer to lock up and immediately dropped her center down to shoot. She lunged forward, wrapping an arm around Hitomi's right leg and stepping in with her right foot to try to leverage a trip. The quicker she put Hitomi on her back the better; up close she looked stronger than she first thought.

"Huh?" Hitomi gasped in surprise as Cassie suddenly ducked underneath her guard. She tried to take a step backwards to get away before Cassie could attack, but the girl already had her arms around her leg, and within seconds Hitomi was falling over backwards. "AH!" Hitomi gasped out in pain as she landed on her butt. Hitomi would quickly attempt to kick Cassie and free her leg, not wanting to give the girl too much of an advantage.

"Umph!"

Cassie received a reminder that this was a fight and not a grappling match. Hitomi's foot caught her in the stomach, though it wasn't totally unexpected. Still, by reflex she grabbed the ankle and wrapped an arm around it, tucking Hitomi's foot under her arm. She turned to roll Hitomi over onto her stomach and step over her to straddle the girl so she could bend her captive leg back.

It was funny, she thought, that following her single the very first offensive move she goes for in this new place was a single leg crab, a pro wrestling move of all things. Dad would've been angry.

Hitomi was surprised her kick didn't make Cassie let go. She couldn't stay surprised for long though, since Cassie was already moving her into a submission, easily flipping her over and putting her into position. Hitomi couldn't let Cassie complete the hold, or else she was in for a lot of pain. So she reached back as far as she could, to try and grab Cassie's ankle and unbalance her, keeping her from locking the hold in.