The Contradiction Between Humans

Chapter 14: Conflict

"This is certainly..." He muttered, putting his attention on the paper.

(AN, I feel like it's kind of obvious, but still...Guess who the characters were!! Also this is my first time writing in 3rd person POV, how was it?)

Mochizuki's POV

I am currently in a predicament, and a very bad one. Due to unforeseen circumstances I woke up from hearing some questionable noises. Either that or I'm misunderstanding something. I can't deal with this any longer. With that I stood up and left the tent, just to find a certain somebody there.

"Okay, what the hell are you doing?" I asked in bewilderment, not raising my voice too high to not wake up the others.

This made Ibuki's oblivious body jolt up. She was currently crouching and about to open one of the duffle bags the school gave us. Her startled eyes made contact with mine. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. It was repeated a few times before I got tired of waiting and spoke instead.

"I never knew you were into this type of shit." I expressed my amusement, making her embarrassed.

"Don't jump to your own conclusions!" She retorted, getting up and briskly walking towards me. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of conclusion I should have come to in this situation.

"You better be quiet unless you want to wake them up. Who knows what will happen when they see us late at night and not to mention alone together."

They are an annoying bunch to deal with, nevertheless it's very easy to manipulate them. Imagine putting a puppet leader to make them believe the incompetent leader can actually lead them to Class A. Just to crush that hope and make them feel ultimate despair. Even though I'm not a sadistic person, some people do deserve it.

"Ugh, you don't have to tell me that." She said, taking my kind advice and lowering the volume of her voice.

"Back to our previous conversation; would you mind telling what you were doing?" Though I had somewhat of an idea it didn't hurt to ask. Ibuki began fidgeting around which I found quite adorable.

"Well, you do you. I'll be going back to sleep. Though let me give you some advice before I leave." I moved a bit closer and stared right into her eyes, not breaking eye contact.

"Don't you dare touch my bag. If you do, I'll force your retirement earlier than expected." I warned in a serious tone unlike some moments ago.

When I moved far enough she suddenly got aggressive and tried to kick my head. In response I raised my forearm parring the kick.

"Tch, you're just like him!" Ibuki said with anger.

She kept throwing kicks at me which I easily dodged or blocked. It was impressive how much force each one had. She was fairly skilled in martial arts. Nonetheless when the opponent is also a martial artist, only using kicks won't be enough to defeat them. I closed the distance between us, requiring her to either use hand to hand combat or make one last attempt to knock me out. She chose the latter, throwing a poor excuse of a kick making it simple to duck and go to her left side.

"Don't worry you did your best, I'm proud of you."

My expression softened to the point where the last time I can recall it being remotely close was all the way back when I first got the taste of freedom. Suddenly I unconsciously moved on my own, patting her head before stroking her hair.

"Wha—uwah!" Ibuki squealed, shocked by my behavior she scowled at me.

"Unfair, isn't it? No matter how much effort you put in, the results won't change. I got so fixated on a single goal that I never realized how much I actually improved until it was too late." I pulled her closer with my unoccupied hand.