Since Ichinose and the others had gone shopping, Uesugi Gen was happily spending his time pying video games.

  Ding—

  A text message popped up on his phone. It was from Horikita Gakushū. Uesugi gnced at it briefly.

  To summarize—

  The school’s water supply had been cut off, and the student council members were needed to handle the situation.

  Tch.

  Didn’t see it.

  As if he’d go outside in this heat to do manual bor. No way in hell.

  Scoffing, Uesugi turned his attention back to saving the world in his game.

  About thirty minutes passed.

  Riiiiing—

  His phone rang.

  Didn’t get a reply, so now he was calling?

  Too naive. Just because he called didn’t mean Uesugi had to pick up. He could simply pretend he wasn’t there.

  Shaking his head, Uesugi mented the ck of intelligence in this year’s student council president. Then, he casually turned up the game volume.

  Another thirty minutes went by. The phone rang again.

  He continued to ignore it.

  Riiiiing~~

  The ringing was more persistent this time.

  “#@%&!”

  What’s with this guy?! He’s just like his sister—does he not understand the concept of reading the room?!

  Ignoring the call means no, you dense student council president! The fact that he even held that position had to be a sign of divine intervention.

  Annoyed, Uesugi finally grabbed his phone, answered it, and wedged it between his shoulder and ear.

  “I say, President Horikita, if the student council is really that short on manpower, I can introduce your sister as a new recruit. She’s got plenty of free time these days—either reading in the dorm or, well, reading in the dorm.”

  “And it seems like she actually wants to join. I still remember her expression the first time she found out I was the vice president—it was that ‘I’m envious, but I’m trying my best to hide it’ kind of look.”

  Ignoring the faint creaking noises from the other end of the call, Uesugi kept going with a grin.

  “Once she’s in the student council, we can just frame it as ‘training the new recruit’ and dump all my work on her.”

  “Then I’ll tell her to work hard since these are tasks I normally handle. She’ll be so grateful to me, she’ll throw herself into the work, giving it her all.”

  “How’s that? A perfect pn, right? Solves the student council’s manpower issue, fulfills your sister’s wishes, and lets me get out of work. Triple win!”

  “Oh yes, what an absolutely perfect pn.”

  A cold voice came through the phone, instantly plunging Uesugi into a frigid Arctic wastend.

  “……”

  Gncing at the caller ID, Uesugi immediately adjusted his tone, switching to that of an obedient errand boy from a tea house.

  “Oh my, if it isn’t Miss Horikita! What an honor for you to call my humble phone. Please, command me as you wish!”

  His sudden change in attitude left Horikita Suzune momentarily speechless.

  Realizing she had more important matters to deal with, she decided to let him off this time.

  After taking a moment to compose herself, she spoke hesitantly.

  “Um… suppose there’s a tortoise…”

  “Miss Horikita, there’s no one else here. You can just speak normally.”

  “Shut up and listen. It’s a very intelligent and capable tortoise. But—suppose it meets with an accident and ends up flipped on its back. Don’t you think that’s terrible? It wouldn’t be able to turn itself over.”

  “…Are you also a tortoise?”

  Uesugi’s voice sounded a little odd.

  “What?”

  Horikita frowned.

  “This reminds me of something…”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line, as if he were reminiscing.

  “My older brother used to say he was a tortoise. Eventually, I started feeling like one too.”

  “…Huh? What kind of nonsense is that?”

  Horikita was utterly baffled.

  “Haha, just think of it as me being sentimental.”

  Uesugi ughed it off. “Anyway, let’s get back on topic. You called for a reason, right?”

  “Well…”

  Horikita hesitated. “Don’t you think it’s terrible that a very intelligent and capable tortoise can’t flip itself over?”

  “I see…”

  Uesugi responded seriously.

  “Miss Horikita, suppose… YOU are that tortoise!”

  Horikita’s voice immediately sharpened.

  “I’m NOT—”

  “Alright, just tell me what trouble you’ve run into that’s got you stuck on your back.”

  A barely concealed snicker came through the phone.

  “…Fine. I do have a bit of a problem.”

  Having her situation exposed so easily, Horikita gave up and admitted defeat.

  “…Actually, never mind. I’ll think of a way to deal with it myself.”

  After reconsidering, she decided against telling him.

  Her gut instinct warned her—if she told Uesugi, with his personality, he’d definitely mock her for it.

  As she thought about it, she could already picture him smugly pointing at her and ughing.

  No way. Absolutely not!

  Horikita gritted her teeth at the thought.

  “Ugh~”

  Uesugi sighed dramatically. “You piqued my curiosity, only to leave me hanging. Miss Horikita, you are truly heartless.”

  “It’s because of that reaction that I’m not telling you!!”

  “Well then, Miss Horikita, how do you pn to solve this on your own? Knowing your personality, you wouldn’t bother others unless you knew you couldn’t handle it alone. That’s why you called me, right?”

  Uesugi’s tone suddenly became calm and steady.

  “So… just tell me what’s wrong. If you didn’t believe I could help, you wouldn’t have reached out to me in the first pce. You trust my ability to solve this problem, don’t you?”

  “You chose to trust me, so I can’t betray that trust, can I?”

  Horikita was silent for a moment before she finally spoke, voice barely above a whisper.

  “It’s in my room. Just come over, and you’ll understand. But come alone—don’t bring anyone else.”

  Click!

  The sound of a door shutting echoed from the phone, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone eagerly running.

  “……”

  Horikita stared bnkly at her phone.

  …Had she just been tricked?

  That guy totally pyed her into revealing her problem just so he could ugh at her.

  But… she had no choice.

  Lying on her bed, she stared at the bright ceiling.

  At the moment, the only person she could think of was him…

  ...

  Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!

  The urgent sound of the doorbell rang.

  Horikita let out a deep sigh, got up, and prepared herself for the mockery that awaited her.

  She slowly pulled open the door.

  “Ahaha, Miss Horikita! I’m here to rescue—”

  Uesugi’s triumphant voice trailed off as he took in the scene before him.

  Horikita Suzune stood there with her arms crossed in her usual composed manner… except her right hand was completely stuck inside a small kettle.

  “……”

  “PFFT—HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

  Uesugi burst into ughter, his cackles echoing through Horikita’s dorm.

  ---

  T/N: I hope ayanokoji gets the chill school life he wanted :)