Daisuke Takeuchi vs. Hagiwara, Sakura - Part III (The Final Confrontation)

Despite the Idol wrestler being unresponsive in his Dragon Smother and body scissor submission, Daisuke was relentless in his effort and kept squeezing until the match was over. His legs continued to crush her while his underarm was firmly pressed against her to smother her out effectively. He grabbed her arm and raised it high above them to drop it once, then twice and when the time came for the third and final time....Hagiwara sprung back to life!

"N-Nani?!" he gasped when he saw her hand stop to drop right at the end. Suddenly, her body jerked up and she smashed her elbow into his body again and again. Daisuke let out a loud groan and after the third strike to his stomach, he released Sakura completely and rolled over onto his back clutching his own body.

"Hagiwara-chan?! Anata o osaerunoni nani ga hitsuyōdesu ka [Hagiwara-chan?! What's it going to take to keep you down] he said panting heavily while looking up at the ceiling of the sauna whilst down on his back on the wooden floor.

Nothing. Nothing is going to keep me down. That was what she wanted to say with all the steely determination she felt stirring in her heart. Her body however wasn’t allowing her voice to do much of anything at the moment. As Daisuke separated them, she found herself limping rolling over onto her chest, face down against the varnished wooden floor. It wasn't too long ago she had chastised her opponent for the ridiculousness of making them wrestle in oil… this however was even more absurd. How could anyone wrestle in a sauna? She drew in a ragged breath, coughing as she half inhaled a few strands of her hair in the process.

What was the plan here? She didn't know. The only thing Sakura could believe in was herself and until she couldn't fight anymore, she would. Her palms made a wet slapping sound as they hit the floor and her arms strained to lift her weight. Her body felt heavy, weighed down by sweat and exhaustion. She turned slightly, enough to see Daisuke through clinging strands of wet hair, affixing him with a piercing look that made her seem so much fiercer than she felt at the moment.

“I told you…” She rose up onto her knees, wobbling unsteadily as she held her hands in front of herself to keep balance. “I wasn’t going to let you win… not even once. So…” She reached back, finding one of the raised sitting benches in the room. Using that for support she started to rise to her feet. “You are going to need to be better if you think you stand a chance.” Sakura shored up her footing, itching a heel to the bottom of the raised bench, shifting her weight to stand ready to grapple again without the need for a handhold.

There was only pride on the line at this point, nothing else. He had already lost the series and was going to hold up his part of the bargain of admitting Sakura was the better wrestler at the end of this but perhaps at least he could have done this by winning their third match to save some face. Sakura clearly did not want that- she wanted to stamp it firmly between them that she was better and that Daisuke was unable to beat her even once! So that there was no room for any doubt.

The dragon smother and body scissor seemed to be the end, he had smothered her out in this stuffy sauna room while squeezing the life out of her with the body scissor. Her arm dropped twice but suddenly...she sprang back to life! Frustration, anger and confusion came over the wrestling prince who had no idea how she kept coming back! In the end, she managed to pummel his sides with her elbow strikes forcing him to let her go as the two were down on the floor. next to each other- wondering what was next?

While Sakura was working her way back up to her feet, one small step at a time, Daisuke was still down on his back. He heard her speak and he gritted his teeth, clenched his fist in anger as he slowly sat up before pushing back up to his feet at around the same time as her. "Better? You arrogant little...I am the best...I-I shouldn't be losing to someone like you!" he said. He had tried everything, using the oil to put her at a disadvantage, challenging her to a pro-match and now even in the sauna, she seemed to be pushing past the odds against her every time.

He would raise his arms up, walking up to her as he was ready to clinch up! There was only one person who was going to leave this sauna room as the victor and that was going to be Daisuke!

Sakura remained stoned faced as Daisuke seemed aghast at her words. It was hard to keep from smirking wondering if Rio would be proud of her at this moment. While she often extolled the virtues of her drive to be the best to anyone who would lend an ear, this time it was said intentionally to strike a nerve. She wanted to get into his head, make him angry, make him sloppy… the way things were going right now, she wasn't sure she had the strength to overpower him if they actually locked up. It was hard to gauge how tired he was but she knew her own limits well enough. Think smart, use the arena, and get the upper hand.

When Daisuke moved in, Sakura stepped forward to feign she was looking to tie up with him. Just before they made contact, she dipped low, grasping out with her arms to try and wrap them around his midsection. She would swivel hard, circling to his back on the heels of her bare feet before planting herself. With all the muscle she could muster, the idol wrestler tried to heft him up backward, trying to slam him down across his shoulders with a held german suplex.

This match was supposed to be his redemption but somehow Sakura had managed to push him this far. The dragon smother and scissor was supposed to be it but she managed to even comeback after that. She refused to go down to be pinned, refused to submit and now even refused to be knocked out which left wondering what Daisuke had to do to put her down. Clearly, her time training with Misaki and rivalry with Rio had made her a better wrestler.

Still, they were ready to go all-out once more to finally end this. Once he went in to tie up, Hagiwara would wrap her arms around his mid-section instead. "Nrgh! That's not going to work" he said raising his arms up in the air to try and hit her back with a double axled handed strike but she would go behind him in a slick move, still having her arms around him she would lift him up and slam him down in a mighty German suplex.

He cried out loudly in pain and shifted over onto his side but the damage had been done.

Sluggish as she may have felt, her form was perfect as she drove Daisuke into the hard floor of the sauna. Back arched, she held him suspended on her head and shoulders as her muscles ached at the strain. It took her a moment to recall there were no pinfalls here… no referee to count to three. That was fine. Her fingers clenched, interlocking with each other as she let her body flop sideways, trying to drag her captive opponent with her and roll the both of them over so he was on his backside. From there, she would try to rise again, dragging him along for the ride with or without his help. Holding his body close, she steadied herself again. If he couldn't muster up a fight, she would throw herself backward again, this time trying to not just bring him up and over, but hurl him across the room with a release suplex.

This had to be one of the toughest matches he had wrestled, certainly due to the conditions. There was no way Sakura was finding this easy either and despite her high and mighty statements, she certainly did not have left in the tank. All he had to do was slowly grind and chip her away until she would finally falter. However, that was easier said than done because there was just something about her never quit attitude that Daisuke could not shake off.

She drove him to the floor with the suplex and held her form but let him go when she realized there was no pin. She certainly held him for more than three seconds so in an official match she would have won. She pulled the two over, forcing him down to the floor for a moment before hugging him tight to pull him back up along with her. "Hah...no wait....stop..." he pleaded with sweat dripping down from their frames he offered no resistance until she would go for a release German suplex!

His flew across the room to the wooden entrance door, his back hit the door hard causing it to fling open and the wrestling prince broke through the door to be thrown out of the sauna room! A cool breeze of fresh air blew into the sauna room and the failsafe of the room caused the steam to no longer flow in. Meanwhile, Daisuke was down and out on the hallway floor!

Sakura’s back slapped the floor with a dull wet sound, a sting of pain shooting up her back but a small price to pay for launching Daisuke. She watched in silent awe as he toppled through the door, sending a few chips of wood flying when the door was forced open despite the handle being secure. She winced at the damage to the doorframe and her opponent, who took a bit more of the brunt of the move than she had even intended. She took in a greedy breath as the steam kicked up in a swirl, starting to flood out of the sauna and let some cooler air trickle in. It felt nice against her sweat soaked skin. With a groan she turned over onto her side, forcing herself to pause on hands and knees.

“Looks like that's it.” A voice came from beyond the doorway, out of eyeshot from Sakura but she could hear them well enough. A young man pushed off the wall beside Daisuke, eyeing the wrestling prince for a moment. They were garbed in black slacks and a striped shirt, Tension’s logo emblazoned upon the breast of their shirt. So there was an official on hand after all, just outside the sauna. He stepped wide around the bits of splinted door, peering in to look a slightly confused Sakura over.

“The winner by disqualification, Hagiwara Sakura. Congratulations Ms. Hagiwara…” The referee carefully stepped over Daisuke as if he were nothing more than a wet floor hazard, moving to the doorframe. “Hey, normally I wouldn't do this but since I don't know when you will be back around Tension or Osaka… would you mind signing an autograph and maybe taking a selfie? I’m a huge Sweet Diva fan.” The official flashed a small smile as if to apologize for the request, which didn’t really make it any less inappropriate given the circumstance.

Sakura couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, dropping back to sit on folded legs inside the sauna. “I’ll tell you what, let me get cleaned up then I can say hello to anyone backstage that wants to meet with me…”

The heat and intensity of the match seemed to have gone up-a-notch and that was definitely not just due to the sauna room. Hagiwara delivered a thunderous German suplex, making Daisuke smash through the door and fall down on his back on the outside. He would scream in pain, clutching his back as it got the attention of the AFW official who was waiting on the outside. Once he realized that one of the conditions had been fulfilled i.e. no one leave the sauna room, the one who left was to be DQ'ed.

Immediately, he called for the bell and declared Sakura the winner. After the win though, he began some small talk with the Idol as he was clearly a fan and wanted to get a selfie and autograph. Meanwhile, Daisuke would groan and shake his head as he slowly but surely was starting to get back up to his feet- only just realizing what had happened.

"W-wait...what?" he would say in a exhausted tone but clearly shocked. The fact that even the official seemed to be impressed by Sakura and wanting her autograph seemed to piss him off even more. "There is no way...no way in hell am I going to accept a loss like this" he would say with his teeth gritted and fists clenched. Rage, frustration and jealously got the better of him and he could no longer hold back the resentment he felt for Sakura.

He got back up and ran towards her, clobbering the back of her head with a vicious forearm strike and followed through by sandwiching the official who was collateral damage. "Is that it huh? Is that how you want to win? A technicality? Get up...this isn't over until one of us can't wrestle anymore" he barked.

Daisuke would wrap his arms around her waist and squeeze her mid-section, looking to push her back all the way into the concrete wall!

“Daisuke, it's done.” Sakura said with a breathy sigh, shaking her head as she pushed herself up to her feet. It was clear to her that the Wrestling Prince still had a long way to go. It wasn’t that he didn’t have wrestling skills, but his attitude was all wrong. She was reminded of Elena and the resentment her friend had harbored back during their rivalry. It wasn’t a healthy way to approach problems or grow. Hate only gets you so far before it eats you up.

She flashed the referee a small apologetic smile on behalf of Daisuke and started for the way out, content to hit the showers and change her clothes. She hadn’t suspected the sudden violent turn, even with emotions running high, so when her opponent bum-rushed her she was caught by surprise. The elbow shot caught her full-on, sending her tumbling to the floor in a daze.

All she could do was groan, unable to respond to his demands to rise. It wasn’t as if he gave her much of an opportunity either, grabbing hold of her and shoving her to the wall.