Haruka Tenou vs Kyo Akamatsu

"Two..."

Kyo continued to remain motionless under Haruka as the countdown went on. For all intents and purposes, he seemed unconscious, a testament to the power of Haruka's finisher. He made no movements to break the pin as the ref's hand came down for the final time.

"Three!"

The bell rang, signalling the end of the match.

Haruka lay on top of Kyo a bit almost as if snuggling against his strong chest then she chuckled slightly.

"You...you still alive down there...?"

Kyo thought he heard the muffled sound of a voice somewhere in the background, seemingly speaking directly to them. After what felt like an eternity, he opened his eyes, allowing blurry, unfocused light to filter into his vision. Initially, everything was just a haze of colours. Slowly, however, everything began to resolve itself. He saw the lights of the arena directly above him, heard the crowd cheering for some reason, and felt something warm against his chest.

"Huh...wha..." was all he managed to say, still dizzy from the clothesline.

Haruka would start to pick herself up slowly. She was worn from the match but the feeling of victory gave her some new strength and she would reach a hand down to him.

As Haruka stood up and offered him her, hand, Kyo suddenly understood. He had lost. He had been confident about that match, and had even held the hope of winning. Now, in his first match since his brutal beating at the hands of Shizuka Tsuzaki, he had suffered another major loss.

Somehow, though, defeat didn't taste so bitter this time around. Maybe this time it was because he had lost fair and square, against an opponent who had fought honourably. If there was one thing he knew, it was that there was no shame in losing to a better opponent.

Gingerly, he reached an arm up to accept Shizuka's hand. Slowly and achingly, he managed to pull himself up, finally staggering to his feet. His body shone with sweat, and his blue hair clung damply to his head, but despite all that, he managed to crack a smile.

"Good match, Tenou-san," he managed to say, giving Haruka a sporstmanlike pat behind the shoulder. "It was an honour to face you in the ring."

His face suddenly reddened when he thought when he had tried to pin her midway through the match, and the embarassing situation that had come about from that. "Um...about earlier...uh...I apologize if, um...don't take this the wrong way, I wasn't trying to, um..."

Despite herself, Haruka would give him a kiss on the cheek.

"So, what are you doing after the match?"

The kiss caused Kyo to blush deeply as he stared wide-eyed at Haruka. "Ah...T...T...Tenou-san," he stammered. "I...um...no offence...not that I'm not appreciative, but...um...I thought you preferred other girls?" Kyo hoped what he had heard was true, otherwise he realized he might have accidentally insulted Haruka with his assumption.

"Oh...so you don't want to go out?"

Gives him a challenging smirk.

"Eh..." Kyo brushed the back of his head. The mixed signals Haruka was sending was doing his head in worse than any clothesline. "Yes...I mean, no...I mean...you're a very attractive woman, but it would be kind of awkward if you're...you're, um.." He frowned, realizing that Haruka was deliberately messing with his head. "If you do, Haruka-san, then certainly," he said with a slight grin of his own, rising to the challenge.

Haruka with a grin jerked ehr ehad to the back sending some sweat flying.

"I must smell like ass now so I am going to take a shower. Meet you out back in an hour?"