I slowly made my way towards her after putting my phone back in the pocket. I stood behind her also looking through the window. The entire of the cosplay club was visible. The only anime I remembered watching was something called, 'Death Note'. The main protagonist was quite interesting but was still kind of played in his own game by death. So, I didn't really have much idea who they were dressing up to be.
I decided to call ibuki as I had no interest in seeing boys dancing in a peculiar manner and saying 'Nico Nico Ni~'.
Just as I touched her, she flinched and snapped from her daze. When she saw me, a deathly glare was directed in my direction. She grabbed my hand and dragged me upstairs. I didn't complain as I didn't want to die. After some time, I found myself on the rooftop with a glaring ibuki in front of me.
"Uh hi "I said not knowing what to make out of this situation.
She just sent a glare in my direction. Can't you be a little sweeter ibuki?
"If you rat whatever you saw just now, I won't hesitate to end your life. "She said in threatening tone.
"Oh, who is going to believe me anyway" I said in return not giving a clear response to her previous statement.
"That doesn't matter. Just forget what you saw today "She said.
I decided to dig in a little.
"Weren't you a member of track and field club? "I asked.
"I am member of Track and field club. Today was just a mistake, nothing else."She strongly rejected anymore ideas.
"Oh, I see but it didn't look like it "I said but regretted as she grabbed my collar,
"Why the fuck do you still remember that. I thought I told you to forget it" She shouted profanities at me
"Huh you know that I can't exactly forget what I see. The brain doesn't work that way. "I said to her.
"I don't care how the fuck does your brain work. But I do know how to kill you."
"Hey! We are school kids; we aren't supposed to talk about killing each other." I said acting scared for my life.
"I don't care just forget it." She said.
I sighed, "Fine, I'll tell the brain to forgot how you were staring at the cosplay club. How you wanted to be the..."
Her glare turned darker, "Do you find this fun Ayanokouji?"
I sighed, "Okay, Okay I understand, now can you leave me please? "She tched and removed the hands from my collar and went near the rooftop railing looking outside the sky.
I removed my phone and searched for something. I opened her contact which I had got when I was working with Ryūen last exam and sent her an image.
A popping sound of notification was heard from her phone and she checked it. Just as she looked at her phone screen a horrified look could be seen on her face. Which turned into rage.
"Ayanokouji" She yelled and rushed towards me.
"Oh, stop for a minute. "I called out in hopes she would atop.
That image showed ibuki looking at the cosplay club quite clearly. Anyone could make out that she was looking at the people cosplaying. Well, my photographing skills cannot be underestimated.
She frantically reached out for my phone which was now in my hand held slightly above her height.
I could imagine her cursing her height.
Realizing she couldn't reach the phone she grabbed my collar and stared with hostility.
"You have two choices. Either handover your phone and live for 10 minutes or die in two seconds."
What the hell was wrong with her. What kind of choice was this?
"Come-on don't be so angry. I'm not sending this image to anyone." I said, but she didn't remove her hand from my collar and stared with hostility.
"But it was interesting to see you enjoying..." I didn't get to say anything more as she moved to punch me which I barely avoided.
"Oh, come On. That punch would have really hurt."
I said moving away from her.
"What the hell do you want from me?" She spoke. But this time, I didn't see any anger in her voice rather I saw desperation in her tone.
I would be lying if I say that I wasn't surprised. This was not the Ibuki I knew. This was nothing like the usual one who takes pleasure in degrading Me, heck she even called me a pervert last time for no reason.
"I just want you to say why were you looking at the cosplay club like that." I asked her.
"I just decided to pay a visit to cosplay club because I felt like it okay. Was there a problem if I pay a visit to other club apart from track and field?" She asked. But I could see her lie and I wasn't going to let her escape. Because she clearly desired to be in the cosplay club, this may hold her back from her full potential.
And there was no way that I was going to let this slide. She had a lot of potential and I was going to draw it out from her.
"Don't lie to me ibuki. You and I both know that this isn't true. Tell me truth and get over with it." I pressured her a little to break her mental barriers she had put.
Ibuki gritted her teeth at my words and removed her hands from my collar and looked down.
"It is because I am a girl. "She said in a low voice.
Her words confused me. I didn't understand what exactly did she mean. She sensed my confusion and sighed.
"My birth was a mistake."
As I heard those words from her mouth, I became serious. This was much more severe than I had earlier thought. Its not everyday you hear someone question their own birth. And such talk didn't suit ibuki.
"What do you mean ibuki?" I asked her for explanation.
She tched again and asked an unexpected question, "What do you think of me Ayanokouji?"
I thought about it for a moment than answered, "Well your kind of cold. But yet you don't push away your friends. So, I can't figure you at all."
Ibuki started laughing. When she stopped, she turned towards me and said in a more serious tone," I believe that you won't tell what you hear now to anyone else."
I nodded; I wasn't the one to rat someone out just for fun. I knew my limits.
She sighed and asked me while gritting her teeth, "What if I tell you, my dad never wanted me to be born. What will you think?"
The sound of crickets and flies can be heard along with a gentle breeze blowing through the rooftop. I was surprised. It seems I wasn't the only one with family issues.
The best way here was to stay silent and let her continue. Because whatever I answer may worsen her mental state if she takes it in the wrong way.
When I wasn't answering she continued, "My father never wanted a girl child. He wanted someone to carry forward his legacy and dojo. He wanted a boy. Heck that bastard was even ready to abort me if it wasn't for my mother. She did her best to stop my abortion and I was born."
She paused for a moment, then continued,
"If anyone else would come to know that he had tried to abort his daughter his image might have been affected. So, he made the home a living hell for my mother. He didn't hurt her physically but the mental torture he put her through."
I didn't need to hear anything more. To be honest I found it disgusting that people like this existed. I know what it feels to go through that, so I can relate to it.
"From my birth, I was alone. My father didn't allow me to meet anyone else of my age. At first, I thought he was caring for me and protecting me, then I understood. He hated me. I was more on the feminine side. I too wished that I play with other girls of my age. I had no interest in sports and fighting."
One by one the words registered in my mind. This changed my entire understanding of the existence of Ibuki Mio.
"But I was still okay with it as my mother loved me with all her heart. The love she gave me far exceeded the hate directed towards me. Once I asked her, why does my father hate me so much, do you know what she said?"
She asked me. I looked at her. A faint smile was visible on her face.
"She said that it doesn't matter that my father hates me, what matters is that I love myself."
We stayed silent for some time.
"Those words might not mean anything to you, but they meant the world to me. Those words give me the strength and I began to defy my father and become who I am and want to be. I spent my time in art and music and I enjoyed it. I even watched anime while sneaking in my father's room."
Ibuki was smiling. This was the first time she was smiling genuinely. I didn't know but I felt something. It was as if I could relate with her.
"But all good things come to and end one day" She started saying,
As she said those words, the mood on the roof top tensed threefold. Ibuki's smile was lost and she just had a blank and lifeless expression on her face.
"My mother couldn't take it anymore. All that mental torture finally broke her. And then..."
She paused and her knees gave up.
"She....She...gave up on life. No more like she.... she gave up on me."
A teardrop fell from her eye. She touched the drop on her cheek,
"huh?"
She desperately started rubbing her eyes trying to stop the tears which were now flowing freely.
"No...No...No...stop it...please stop it."
I sighed. If I don't do anything she would most likely break now. That might be advantageous to me but, I remembered Ibuki's mother and her words.
It doesn't matter if someone hates you, what matters is that you love yourself
Why do I feel like those words were meant for me?
I sighed and embraced her tightly. She flinched in the sudden embrace but soon lost her will and started crying loudly.
I needed to do this, not just to make her one of my assets, but to show her, that her birth wasn't a mistake. She deserved to be in this world as much as anyone else.
She kept sobbing and between sobs she continued her story, "That day when my Mother died. Something inside me changed. I became angry on my father. More than him myself. I decided to do everything which boys do, heck I even cut my own hair short. Those hair which my mother loved. I was doing everything in my power to make him acknowledge me. And one day I succeeded. I was a rank holder in the martial art championships but still he refused to acknowledge me. Even Than.... That bastard had the audacity to say that he will not acknowledge me since I'm a girl."
She kept sobbing for quite some time.
"Ibuki, what if he doesn't acknowledge you."
She still had her face buried in the crook of my neck but she was listening to me,
"There are some relations, which matter more than blood ones. Your past might not have been the best one, but you were always loved. Your mother always loved you. It was wrong of her to give up on her life but whatever mistake she might have done; I can say with certainty that she loved you."
I could hear her gasp but I continued,
"You had done nothing by being born to her. But yet she loved you. She loved you because you were born. So how can you say your birth was a mistake."
She removed her face from the crook of her neck and just stared at me.
We kept staring at each other but she smiled. A smile in which there was no pain, she was free from the past holding her back.
She got up and wiped the remaining on her tears.
"Aren't you going to stand up pervert what is the problem with you boys."
I sighed as I stood up. She was back too normal. The normal Ibuki who wasn't serious but rather plain stupid.
I removed my phone and was about to hand it to her so she can delete the image but she just returned it, "You can keep it. I don't care. But if you tell a single soul what happened here, I'll make your high school life a living hell."
No, I was actually feeling threatened. This girl could actually make my ordinary high school life less ordinary if she wished for it. I wasn't taking any chances.
She began to leave but stopped at the door, "Hey, I uh.... Thank you." She said in a very low voice.
I decided to tease her," What I didn't hear it"
She growled and said, "Fuck off pervert." With that she was out of my sight.
I sighed and looked at the setting sun. I began thinking, what if I had someone to love me. Would I be different?
Now I was more than curious to know, what exactly felt to love and to be loved.
But now the question was, who should I love?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A.N. (Sigh of relief) Finally Ibuki's character development phase 1 success. Next volume would be kamuro's. Well what can I say this chapter was quite long. And I never watched Love live in my life, it was my sister who showed a video on youtube of Nico Nico Nii to me. Lmao that was addicting.
And we have come a long way. So now the story can go in only two routes
Ibuki x Ayanokouji
Kamuro x Ayanokouji
LoL I still don't know whom to choose but that's a story for future volumes so thanks for taking your time reading this.
Sorry If the backstory is cliche.