Many things can anger a fighter. An opponent that toys with them, someone that just won't stay down and in many cases, a direct insult. But none of those things were happening to Kurobe, he was facing something far more annoying; an opponent that isn't paying attention to him.

  At first glance, it looked like Kurobe was dominating the match without giving his opponent any chance to counter, but there were many times since the beginning of the fight where Natsumi would have been able to strike back but did nothing instead. She had barely moved from where she was standing at the start and she was in deep thought.

  All Natsumi did from the beginning of the match was to fend off the incoming attacks while thinking about what Orie had said to her.

  "I have finally seen your true self"

  "I finally know you"

  She couldn't muster up the courage to ask him what he meant because she was too afraid of his answer. She was afraid of the truth.

  "If the real me is a monster..." Natsumi mumbled

  "How could I expect love from him?"

  "How could I expect love from anyone?"

  "Do I even truly love him..."

  "Or am I just pretending?"

  "How can I trust my own thoughts "

  "How do I know my feelings are true?"

  Countless thoughts ran through her mind as she navigated the arena, she was still deep in thought when a rock hit her temple at high speed and she fell to the floor. She touched her temple where she was hit and observed the blood on her hand and then she remembered that she still had a match to fight.

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  "Finally!!" Kurobe exclaimed

  "Finally, you have turned your eyes to me" he said looking at Natsumi who was staring back with half her hair bloodied.

  "All it took was a little rock to get your brain working"

  "And here I was, thinking you weren't just lucky to have made it this far"

  "They matched you up with the weaklings and now all those Victories have gotten to your head"

  "Despite that I thought you would at least pose some challenge but now it has become clear that you are no match for me"

  "So be swift in losing to me"

  "You need enough strength left to watch your man die at the finals"

  Not many people heard what he said but those that did knew it was not an appropriate thing to say. There were too many layers to what he was implying and even though many agreed with what he said, no one was comfortable with him saying it out loud.

  There is a saying "when your words of intimidation gets to the heart of your enemy, something breaks and if what breaks is not confidence, then it will be bones, most likely yours".

  "If we heard this man correctly..." The voice in Natsumi's head said

  "... He thinks we are weak"

  "... Are we?..."

  "... weak?"

  "No" Natsumi replied

  "No I'm not" she said as she took a deep breath, and as she breathed out everything within the barrier froze. Then she looked up at her opponent and said "you can resume throwing the stones now, your voice is more annoying"

  "Oh, he looks pissed" Ellie said as she looked at Kurobe

  "But what's he gonna do?" Orie replied

  "Not throw the stones?"

  "He better start moving before the match ends quicker than it should"

  Natsumi's movement suddenly got faster. She was no longer blocking the incoming attacks, everything was pure evasion. Kurobe tried to maintain the distance between them but she was steadily closing in. This was not how she normally fought, she had not shot a single icicle since the beginning of the match and no other of her long distance moves were used. This was noticed by some but her intentions remained unclear.

  Meanwhile, Kurobe decided that he was no longer going to hold back. Truly, he was but he made it look like he went all out at the beginning. This was his usual tactic; show off big and flashy moves to make his opponents think they'd seen it all, and then when their guard is down, a little rock ends the fight. Kurobe may already look like a threat when he causes earthquakes and flings huge boulders but those who have fought him know that he is most dangerous when he starts throwing pebbles.

  "I could end this in an instant" the voice in Natsumi's said as she ran across the arena, evading rocks that flew as fast as bullets.

  "We could do that" she replied

  "But where's the fun in that?"

  With a wide grin on her face and a glint in her eyes, Natsumi charged at her opponent as if without any care in the world, laughing loudly as she deflected and dodged every attack that came at her. Soon the distance between them was closed and she was right in front of him with her first strike.