“Hahaha~”

  Sitting on a chair, watching Horikita Suzune walk around awkwardly with a kettle stuck to her hand, Uesugi Gen couldn’t hold back his ughter again.

  “Can you stop ughing already?”

  Horikita snapped, clearly embarrassed.

  “Sorry, sorry. But this is so like you—getting your hand stuck in a kettle.”

  “I was just washing my cup and stuck my hand inside…”

  Miss Horikita muttered defensively, her face slightly flushed.

  Uesugi stepped closer, taking her right hand in his and examining it thoughtfully.

  “If your hand fit in, it should be able to come out.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought when I was washing my cup. And yet, here we are.”

  Horikita sighed, rubbing her temple with her free hand.

  “It’s probably due to friction and air pressure, making your hand press tightly against the kettle’s inner walls.”

  Uesugi nodded, analyzing the situation seriously.

  “…By the way.”

  Horikita narrowed her sharp, fox-like eyes at him. “Didn’t you come here to help me?”

  Ever since stepping into her room, this guy had done nothing but ugh at her, then casually sat down as if he had all the time in the world.

  “Rex. If you get too worked up, your muscles will tense, making it harder to pull out. Besides, you’ve already been wrestling with that kettle for two hours—you must be tired, right?”

  “…Even if you’re right, can you not make it sound like I lost a fight against a kettle?”

  “Isn’t that exactly what happened?”

  Uesugi grinned.

  “#@%&!”

  “I swear, I’ll hit you.”

  Horikita raised her physically-enhanced right hand in warning.

  “Alright, alright.”

  Uesugi wisely chose to surrender. “Let’s give it a try and see if we can get it off.”

  Horikita silently extended her kettle-bound right hand, signaling him to take the other end.

  “Not like that. You’ve already tried pulling it out by force, didn’t you? And failed.”

  Instead of pulling, Uesugi grabbed the kettle and led her toward the kitchen.

  “If even you couldn’t yank it out, that means the friction is too strong. You’ve already got a red mark around your wrist.”

  Horikita gnced down at the red ring around her skin, saying nothing as she let him guide her.

  “If you keep forcing it, you’ll just end up hurting yourself. Worst case, you’ll leave the skin inside the kettle. It’s better to use soap and water.”

  “…You do realize the school’s water supply is currently shut off, right?”

  Horikita reminded him in a quiet voice.

  “……”

  Uesugi wordlessly turned around and pulled her back out of the kitchen.

  “You could’ve reminded me earlier to bring some water. Luckily, Shibata gave me some, so it should be enough. Wait here, I’ll go grab it.”

  Horikita hesitated for a moment, wetting her lips slightly, but ultimately didn’t object.

  ...

  “Wait, at least let the soap water soak in first before pulling!”

  Seeing Horikita immediately try to yank her hand out the moment she poured the soap water in, Uesugi quickly stopped her.

  Watching her stubborn determination, he let out a helpless sigh.

  “…Do you always insist on solving everything alone?”

  “Just now, too—you knew the easiest solution was asking me to bring water, but you chose to have me come up here first to try brute force instead, just so you wouldn’t owe me a favor.”

  Horikita fell silent for a moment.

  “I just… I’m not used to it. Not used to having someone this close to me.”

  “…No, it’s more than that, Miss Horikita.”

  Uesugi’s tone was calm.

  “The real reason you refuse help from others isn’t just discomfort. It’s because deep down, you believe that accepting help means showing weakness. That if you rely on someone else, they’ll think you’re weak.”

  “You don’t want others to see you as weak. More importantly, you don’t want anyone to believe that the great Horikita Manabu’s sister is weak, do you?”

  “That’s why you always insist on doing everything alone. Even things you know you’re bad at. Even when you fall, you keep gritting your teeth and pushing forward.”

  “……”

  She said nothing, but her silence was answer enough.

  “Then, let me ask you this—how do you think I see you?”

  “…Obviously, as a weakling.”

  Horikita muttered under her breath.

  She had never won against him even once.

  At this school, where strength dictated status, he was universally acknowledged as the most outstanding first-year. Meanwhile, she was just another student from the so-called "defective" Css D.

  “Nope.”

  Uesugi shook his head.

  “To me, you’re neither strong nor weak. You’re just a stubborn girl.”

  He reached out and lightly ruffled her hair.

  “Strength is always retive. You think your brother is strong, but to me? He’s just as ordinary as you are. You two even share the same uptight personality.”

  “But that doesn’t stop other students from seeing him as a ‘strong’ person.”

  “In the same way, if you really believe that relying on others makes you weak, then fine—just rely on me instead. No matter how strong or weak you become, in my eyes, you’ll still just be that same stubborn girl.”

  “And after that, you can keep pushing yourself to become strong. Not just in my eyes, but in the eyes of everyone else, too.”

  “…That’s an awfully arrogant thing to say.”

  Horikita swatted his hand away, looking him straight in the eye.

  “I don’t care about being seen as strong by just anyone.”

  “I want you to acknowledge me as strong.”

  “Oh~?”

  Uesugi smirked, mirroring her confident tone. “That’s a bold cim.”

  “Getting me to acknowledge you as strong will be much harder than surpassing your brother.”

  “Shut up. If I say I’ll do it, I will.”

  “Before that—”

  Horikita extended her right hand toward him.

  “Help me get this thing off.”

  “With pleasure.”

  Uesugi gave an exaggerated bow, then gripped both ends of the kettle. With a light pop, the kettle slipped right off.

  “There. See? Something you struggled with for two hours was solved instantly with a little help.”

  He handed her the kettle.

  “…I still think that if I can solve something alone, I should.”

  Even as she spoke, Uesugi had already bolted out the door.

  “Hey! Why are you running?! It’s not like I can’t say thank you!”

  Horikita shouted after him.

  “No need to thank me! Consider that photo my payment!”

  “…Photo?”

  The next moment, her phone buzzed with an incoming message.

  On the screen was an image—her, walking forward with the kettle still stuck on her hand.

  “YOU BASTARD! WHEN DID YOU TAKE THIS?! DELETE IT RIGHT NOW!!!”