Hakuda Matata [Lerna/Asami

Lerna smiled lightly and raised her hands up into a stance, slowly beginning to close in just a little as she took a slow steady breath, trying to center herself. Ignoring her instincts.... just.....focus. She didn't even oggle Asami as they peeled a bit of layer off, instead trying to ......find herself. Try to push out the distractions that might try to peel her from doing this right. Both external......and internal.

Imagine fighting with a form like that

She went very still, ignoring the voice inside of her. With the low groan of coils straining rock and wood echoing through her soul. She moved in and executed a forceful forward palm strike aimed at Asami, short, quick, rapid, nothing powerful, but something sharp to try and break a guard, following up the attack with an upward swing of her leg, aiming a roundhouse to try and hit the woman in the shoulder. But..... she remembered so many ages past. And subliminally....she imagined her tail raising to help her with her balance. But no tail was there, and so that kick went too low, instead swinging in towards Asami's hip as Lerna would stagger slightly, briefly put off balance as she fought against old habits.

THUMP.
Her leg connected, but was snared rather than hitting properly, Lerna winced just a little as that correction came. Heh, supposed she should expect this sort of situation. A spar really did just turn into a lesson when you were with a teacher. Nope...no Lerna....don't let that thought get away from you now.

Her hand flashed out, aiming to grab at the front of Asami's shirt and getting at least a partial grip of the woman's shoulder. HEr entire body swung, yanking the woman towards herself and swinging the other side of her body in. This time, with Asami anchoring her, she was suddenly fluid. IN a sharp, quick strike, she aimed to pull Asami straight into a hard, sharp knee strike to the woman's opposite shoulder, aiming to adjust her grip and then wrap an arm around the woman's head. Trying for a headlock that she could use to try and find better purchase on the older woman.

This was generally how these things went. Lerna always struggled with neutral position engagements. But once she had another person's body to anchor herself, and use their weight, her competence went up significantly. As a result, the girl had come to favor throws and grapples considerably, as she meneuvered best when using them. But , alas, for an expert like Asami, that only made her all the more predictable. And while Lerna HAD been able to pull the occassional win from her classmates, she still had yet to best the teacher. And quite often, the other students would pick up on Asami's counters and Lerna would again dip into a losing streak until she herself adjusted.

At the very least, this was a more ....intense Lerna. This wasn't her usual throw or grapple, but something at least starting off with a strike of sorts. TRYING to find ways to mix it up.

Lerna was surprised that she managed to hit the woman with that grab! Her eys dilating for just an instant as her knee swung in and went wide! But she was still able to get that grapple! A grin spreading across her face as she LOCKED her grip onto the woman. She had a feeling that some sort of counter was about to hit, but when she suddenly found herself flying through the air, being thrown, she FOCUSED, her tenacity sharpened for just an instant as she put ALL of her energy, not even on keeping the air in her lungs, but on making SURE that her hands stayed clamped onto the woman's shirt and shoulder as She was pulled, and then the woman's body SLAMMED back into her! A loud GRUNT escaping her as the air left her lungs! She toppled over Asami, flipping over the sortof combination throw into a backstrike that had hit her, her feet THUMPING into the ground.

But that hold stayed, Even if she had lost her grip around the woman's head and lost the headlock, she just worked with what she could. Her best grip was on the shoulder, so her other hand abandoned the woman's shirt, coiling around Asami's middle and then locking her arm around the woman's torso, admittedly forcing the woman into her own navel and chest to smother her, but with a powerful twist of her body, she attempted to transition it into a pinning hold on her, using the woman's shoulders to try and leverage Asami onto her back with Lerna weighing down ontop of her!

If she succeeded, she would Immediately, post up with her legs, raising her ass up into the air so that her entire body weight was weighing down on her Instructor, also moving her lower body out of reach of being grabbed or leveraged for an escape. Attempting to end the little bout by pin!

The serpent had a GRIN across her face as she managed to wrestle Asami down onto her back! So excited, in fact, that she forgot a key component to an attack like this: Tucking the head down. She'd been so focused on eliminating anything in her lower body thatAsami could grab onto: she forgot what....NORMAL people considered their most vulnerable area: The head. IN a snap decision on her teacher's part, Lerna was treated to a sight that probably a solid 70% of the male students, and maybe 20% of the female students had probably had thoughts about at one point or another: Asami's lower body flying toward her, thighs suddenly taking over her field of vision.

Oh my.

WHUMP! The sound of air collapsing around her head as suddenly Asami's thighs locked around her neck and pressed into her ears from either side was something that people probably didn't know about. It was loud. Both the rush of air, and then the dull thump she heard as the femoral arteries were practically pressed in like earmuffs, giving her an HD quality surround sound of the woman's heart. Her grip TIGHTENED on reflex as a result of the shock, and a low groan spilled out of her throat as she SHOVED her shoulders up, trying to push them up between the thighs and her neck. Though honestly to a limited effect! For just a moment...she actually grinned, highly entertained at the attempt to snag her like this! And her grip VICED down, clenching the woman as she attempted to PRESS down and force the air out of Asami's lungs! That is......until she remembered.

Ah right....she had to pretend to breathe. And she ....SERIOUSLY had to ......debate. On one hand....she could just....Not? But ....dammit. She couldn't just take the win. SHE knew she won, this leg hold would accomplish nothing, even if Asami actually tried to snap her neck, which frankly she could care less about. But for her cover? Goddammit....she had to ....just pretend to start losing strength. Her grip shook and trembled slightly and .....slowly....she started to ..loosen her grip, retightening a few times as if she were fighting against it! Rocking from side to side as if to trry and peel her head from the woman's thighs, but ultimately....the little timer she got in her head ran out. MUCH to her chagrin... and she ...slumped. Her arms going limp, and her face planting against Asami's ....person.

Defeated.
But honestly, who was the REAL winner here?

Lerna was a bit startled when she felt that hand against her own, was....she trying to tap out? Once she started her little act though, she felt the woman .....worriedly ...squirming out of her? She was perplexed by the sudden concern. She'd just passed out a little, was that ...dangerous? She'd choked out a few people before, and sure she may have gone over- aaaaaaaaaah. She was worried about having put too much pressure on. She found herself getting flipped over and pulled up against her Teacher, blinking rapidly and grunting just a little as she coughed hoarsely. Oh wow her throat really WAS in a bit of rough shape.

"Mfine-. kghrrrrrh! Just....whew...I'm good... all good!" She asserted, blinking rapidly as she caught her breath. blinking for a moment when she realized just ....was she being cradled? Looking up, she saw the worry in Asami's eyes. Ah yes, perhaps she should have tapped out. She had been so focused on emulating what would have actually happened she forgot that was even an option, putting on a sheepish smile. "Hey hey hey, I'm alright see?" She turned her head left and right. "No broken bones, no brain damage that wasn't already there." She noted with what she hoped was a charming smile to assauge some frankly unexpected concern. Sometimes when her Sensei was in battle mode she kinda forgot that there was a caring woman under that mask of brutality.