Chapter Text
Hazuki Mishima is a fantastic jiu-jitsu grappler and the jewel of the storied Mishima martial arts dynasty, whose tentacles spread across the Japanese fighting scene.
She mauls people on the ground with nonstop aggression, constantly searching for submissions and executing holds with immense brutality. It’s a pace that very few people can keep up with and a pressure that very few can withstand, and this skillset has made Hazuki skyrocket up the ranks of the Japanese scene.
When it comes to accolades, she’s a black belt and has victories in multiple competitions to her name. This includes a couple of professional MMA fights that she won purely by grappling talent, with only barebones standup training. Her opponents have no chance against her, her timing on takedowns is utterly superb and she latches on submissions with incredible speed, sporting a manic smile on her face while she does it.
Why isn’t she the undisputed #1 grappler in Japan? Because of an unlikely kryptonite: Sei Itou.
Sei doesn’t come from any kind of silver-spoon fighting dynasty: After Dark BJJ, where she gained her black belt, was a small-time academy in a rundown area of Tokyo owned by her auntie, Natsuki. Wording is important here, though: since the rise of Sei Itou, Natsuki’s academy has been small-time no longer.
From the start of her competitive career, Itou has proved herself to be an extremely tough out. Her extremely impressive work ethic and dexterity combine with a hefty dose of creativity to create one of the most fearsome guards in the game. It has happened over and over again: a poor, clueless opponent in a dominant position keeps her eyes off Sei for one second, and the so-called “Blue Flash” finds a triangle or heel hook, God knows how.
She can simply submit you from anywhere, and it is never truly over until the clock hits zero. This style has made her a black belt, but it doesn’t work every single time…unless she’s facing Hazuki Mishima. The prodigy’s arrogance makes her more susceptible to Sei’s never-say-die style than anyone else in the jiu-jitsu world.
As such, while Sei is usually knocked out from most competitions much earlier than Hazuki, any time they happen to face off, the former defeats the latter. This kryptonite has kept Hazuki from reaching the upper echelon of tournaments four times now, but the fourth might have been the most humiliating. It goes like this…
Hazuki Mishima and Sei Itou were going to face off in the second round of the Tiger’s Den Invitational, or TDI. Held on a yearly basis by legendary kickboxer and trainer Teru Tokugawa, who owns an academy named the Tiger’s Den, the TDI is one of the most prestigious tournaments in Japan’s fighting scene and hosts 32-person knockout brackets for both kickboxing and no-gi jiu-jitsu. The winner takes home around 15 million yen and a ton of media exposure.
Earlier on the day, the kickboxing tournament had been utterly steamrolled by knockout artist Ran Kurosawa, who continued her still-undefeated rampage on the Japanese kickboxing scene. Her girlfriend, Himeko, looked jubilant at her side afterward.
For everyone else, it was a cute display of affection. For Hazuki, it was a painful reminder of how single and lonely she was, with her only company coming in the form of her sister — the ruthless trainer at the Mishima dojo, Mirai Mishima, an utter pain in the ass — and a bunch of meaningless hookups.
If Hazuki somehow won, there would be no woman at her side to celebrate it with. No one would be truly happy for her. Sei, meanwhile, had her auntie and a group of friends who seem nice enough. Envy ripped through Hazuki’s heart.
Keeping her head in the game had always been something she struggled with, and at that moment, the mix of having to face her most dreaded rival and all of these feelings boiling up was just eating her alive.
Fifteen minutes before the fight, Mirai gave Hazuki a stern talking-to. Something along the lines of “you can’t let this random girl from a lesser known gym get another one over on you”. If only it were that simple.
Regardless, the fear of disappointing her older sister motivated her in some twisted way.
The fight started well enough. Hazuki secured the first takedown and quickly took top position. She trapped Sei’s legs with her own, creating a half-guard position, and, from there, she could just coast to victory.
Nothing is ever that easy, of course. Keeping a talent of the level of Sei Itou down for the entire ten minute time limit is a Herculean task. However, without having her legs wrapped around Hazuki’s back, there wasn’t much Sei could do.
Over the course of the next six minutes, Hazuki kept a careful, if boring, wet blanket strategy on Sei. She attempted just enough submissions for the referee not to step in — though, TDI refs rarely did that anyway — and batted away every attempt to reverse the position by her (one-sidedly) loathed opponent.
With around three minutes left, overwhelmed by the jubilance of finally seeming like she was going to beat Sei Itou, she let her control of Itou’s legs slip, creating an opening for Sei to close her guard. Suddenly, the position has become much more dangerous for Hazuki.
To defeat Sei, Hazuki would have to be mentally spotless for the next two minutes and forty seconds. That quickly proved to be something she is not able to do.
With Sei’s legs moving up to threaten a triangle choke, Hazuki tried to move her head forward and thus protect herself from the reach of her opponent’s offense. However, as she did that, she forgot to take into consideration the positioning of her neck, and got quickly wrapped in a guillotine choke.
Her nemesis wasted no time in rolling over to full mount and hiding her hand below her abs, thus creating a mounted guillotine with immense pressure. Hazuki’s neck hurt like it never had before and oxygen became more and more scarce. This choke was hell, but even worse was the despair of knowing she was about to lose again. She thought of the earful Mirai was going to give her.
In a desperate attempt at escaping, Hazuki pathetically kicked her legs back and forth to no result other than wasting her energy further. Then, she tried to pry away at Sei’s grip, but to no avail, as it was simply too tight. With all her options wasted, she faded.
Hazuki Mishima’s arm went limp, and the referee stopped the fight. Sei Itou had defeated Hazuki Mishima once again. This time, by choking her out cold.
Regaining consciousness, Hazuki saw Sei celebrating with her friends. She recognized Haruka, Juri, and Teru’s girlfriend Yuki. Mirai, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen.
Envy and frustration rapidly welled into tears in her eyes. Sei was happy, beat her every single time they faced off, had friends, and didn’t have to deal with the expectations of a massive family name on her back. Instead, she could live freely, knowing every single win was an overachievement, and every win over Hazuki was a massive upset that wouldn’t soon be forgotten.
Even worse, upon noticing that Hazuki had woke up, Sei was walking over to her. Here came her most infuriating habit: showing sportsmanship to her defeated opponent and shaking her hand. Needless to say, Hazuki fucking hated it.
“Save your pity, Itou. I don’t fuckin’ know what you do that for, but save it.” Hazuki said, holding back tears and the tantrum that would come with them.
Sei frowned deeply in a way that made Hazuki feel more than a little guilty.
“I’m…sorry, Hazuki. You did great,”
“Not great enough, clearly.” Hazuki cut in briefly, a bitter tone striking right at Sei.
“I’m serious, dude! Your advantage was huge at the start. Your top pressure was crazy, I got off with a lucky break and one thing led to the other.”
“Bullshit! These ‘lucky breaks’ have happened four times now, I haven’t beat you once.” Hazuki retorted, frustration dripping out of her words.
Sei was silently thinking, so the redhead carried on.
“If you’re here to rub it in, then just shut up. Go back to your friends. I have no one to go back to before my sister fucking kills me, so cherish it.” Her voice grew louder.
The blonde girl made her move. “You don’t have to be alone, you know?”
Hazuki was speechless, so Sei pressed forward.
“I’ve been dying to know more about you. Me and my friends are going to Sandwich Queen after this, and I’ve got the green light from them to bring you too.” Sei was smiling from ear to ear. Her sheer volume of happiness was contagious, and Hazuki was not immune.
She snorted. “Sandwich Queen? That place is gross.”
“It’s just an excuse to hang out! Promise!”
Hazuki was over the moon, but her body doesn’t exactly know how to fully express that, so she puts it together the way she knows how.
“Whatever. Better than getting an earful from Mirai, I guess.”
And so, Sei Itou and Hazuki Mishima went from one-sided rivals to friends in a matter of thirty minutes.