Akiko Takamiya vs Melody Serperior - No Disqualifications match

As soon as Akiko's head was above the mat, Melody rushed at the champ, thinking she had this in the bag.

"GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Ignoring the pain in her right leg as she ran, Melody would attempt and hit Akiko's head with her left knee with her finisher, Leaf Storm.

Hearing Melody's pounding footsteps getting closer and closer, Akiko held her breath and pushed herself out of the way at the last second, just narrowly evading what would have been a devastating blow. Rolling behind the green-haired girl, she desperately scrambled up onto her hands and knees and dove for the back of her foe's legs, attempting to grab them and trip her up.

Akiko rolled out of the way at the last moment, Melody barely stopping in her tracks. This was the 3rd time now that she failed to land the knee for the finisher. Besides that, her right leg hurt like hell from her sprint.

She couldn't turn around in time as she felt her legs being grabbed and pulled from under her, Melody falling to the ground, stomach-first.

Akiko's mind was racing as she searched for some way to get back in the fight. Recalling one of Melody's legs being hurt, the fiery haired girl quickly grabbed on to the one she at least mostly sure was the correct one. Not having the time or energy to pull off something complex, she just rolled forward and pulled the green-haired girl into a calf crusher hold.

Melody tried to get up, but she had very little energy left at this point in the match. She couldn't get up in time as Akiko grabbed her right leg, and put it into a calf crusher

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA", she was letting out another shriek of agony as her bad leg was in yet another hold. She immediately raised her hand up and almost tapped the mat.

As the final act of desperation, her right hand shot and pulled Akiko's fiery hair.

"LETGOLETGOLETGO LET ME FUCKING GO!!!"

Akiko cried out as Melody latched onto her hair yet again, the constant yanking causing her already burning scalp even more pain. Even so, it was minor considering all the other things she had already endured tonight. Unwilling to give up so easily, the fiery-haired girl stubbornly maintained her hold, using up all the remaining strength in her body in the desperate hope that it would be enough.

Melody tried to maintain the hairpull on her opponent, but she wasn't even thinking of releasing the hold.

Tears were forming on her eyes from that much pain. She stayed in the hold for another 10 seconds before finally releasing Akiko's hair and tapping the mat.

"I give up.... I give up! Let me go!

Referee called for the bell, and it sounded a second later, making Melody's loss official.

Time seemed to pass in slow motion for Akiko, as the top of her head continued to burn, every muscle in her body continued to ache, but she still refused to release her grip until she heard the words screamed out.

All the tension in her body seemed to evaporate in that one moment, leaving the fiery-haired girl to practically melt down into the mat, limbs dropping limply while she lay there breathing and panting. She sure as hell didn't feel like someone who'd just won a fight. But even if she had lost, she might have felt satisfied with such an intense battle and having gotten the chance to really cut loose.

Though she had probably let herself cut a little too loose...

The moment Akiko released the hold, Melody was clutching her right leg. She barely felt the pain in all the other parts of her body compared to pain there. Trying to move it even slightly felt like she would revive the pain from all 3 holds she suffered during the match simultaniously.

She looked at the redhead, and the champion was also spent. It was a bit satisfying for Melody to manage going toe to toe with someone who held the belt in the company and taking them to the limit, but the reality was dawning on her. She lost. And while this was her second loss in AFW, this was the first one she actually felt. She almost won, but just one mistake cost her the entire match. And outside of being angry at some of the attacks her opponent did during the match, she couldn't bring herself to be angry at the champion.

She released her leg, pain slightly dulling out, but not going away completely. The other hits Melody took on her body and head during the match (as well as her private parts) were letting themselves known. She tried to stand up, but had no strength left to that, laying on her back close to the champion as a result.

A nearby thud informed Akiko that Melody had also laid herself out nearby. Craning her neck around to glance towards the green-haired girl, she panted out, "Good... good match... Sorry I got... kinda carried away... though..."

With a loud groan, the fiery-haired girl rolled herself over onto her belly, so that she could face Melody at least a bit more properly. "So... no hard feelings...?" she asked hopefully.