Ichinose, you will regret it.

"Well, the trouble I've run into... forget it. I'll figure out a way to solve it myself."

Horikita Suzune thought about it again and again and decided not to tell him about it.

Her intuition told her that if she told Uesugi Gen about that incident, he would definitely laugh at her loudly because of his bad character.

As she thought about it, Horikita Suzune couldn't help but picture Uesugi Gen pointing fingers at her in her mind.

For this kind of thing, yada… absolutely yada!

Horikita Suzune thought with a dark face.

"Hey~"

Uesugi Gen's regretful voice came, "You aroused my curiosity and then didn't tell me, Miss Horikita, you are such a heartless woman."

"It's because of your reaction that I didn't tell you, okay?!"

"Then, Miss Horikita, how do you plan to solve this? With your personality, you would never bother others with something you can handle on your own. You called me for help because you knew you couldn't handle it alone."

Uesugi Gen's voice suddenly became calm.

"So... tell me about the problem you can't solve. Since you didn't choose anyone else but chose to ask me for help, it means that you believe in my ability, right? You believe that I can solve this problem."

"You chose to believe in me, so I can't let you down, right?"

Horikita Suzune was silent for a moment, then spoke softly.

"It's in my room. You'll know when you come over. Just come alone. Don't bring anyone else with you."

"Snapped!"

The sound of a door closing came from the phone, as well as the sound of someone running impatiently.

"..."

Horikita Suzune stared blankly at the phone that had been hung up.

I feel like I was deceived by him...

That guy was just trying to laugh at me when he said that...

However, there is nothing we can do about it.

Horikita Suzune lay on the bed looking at the bright white light.

Who told me that he was the only one I could think of right now...

"Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!"

The doorbell rang urgently.

Horikita Suzune sighed deeply, stood up, and prepared to face the guy's ridicule.

The door was slowly opened by Horikita Suzune.

"Ahaha, Miss Horikita, I'm here to save you—"

What caught Uesugi Gen's eye was Horikita Suzune, whose right hand was stuck by a small kettle, but she still kept her signature arms crossed over her chest.

"..."

“Shhhh~hahaha~!!!”

The sound of Uesugi Gen's goose-like laughter came from Horikita Suzune's dormitory.

102

Chapter 102: Strong and Weak.

"Hahaha~"

Sitting on a chair and watching Horikita Suzune walking with a kettle swinging around, Uesugi Gen couldn't help but laugh out loud again.

"I said, could you please stop laughing?"

Horikita Suzune said angrily.

"Sorry, sorry. After all, it's totally like you to get stuck in the kettle."

"I was just putting my hand in there while I was washing the cup."

Miss Horikita blushed and quietly defended herself.

Uesugi Gen walked closer, took Horikita Suzune's right hand, and observed while holding his chin.

"Since you can put your hand in, there's no reason you can't get your hand out."

"I was thinking the same thing when I was washing the cups, and it ended up leading to this situation."

Horikita Suzune agreed with what Uesugi Gen said, and then used her only remaining hand to support her forehead with a headache.

"It's probably because of friction and the air pressure inside the bottle that your hand fits tightly against the inner wall of the bottle."

Uesugi Gen analyzed seriously from the side.

"anyway……"

Horikita Suzune narrowed her fox eyes and said, "Didn't you say you were coming to help me?"

The guy in front of her laughed at himself as soon as he came in, then found a chair and sat down by himself, with no intention of helping her solve the problem.

"Don't worry. Being too nervous will only make your muscles stiff. Besides, you've been fighting with the kettle for two hours straight. You must be pretty tired, right?"

"Although what you said is true, please don't make me sound like a weakling who can't even beat a kettle, okay?"

"Is not it?"

Uesugi Gennin said with a smile.

"#!"

"Hit you!"

Horikita Suzune raised her right hand, which had a physical attack bonus, and threatened.

"All right."

Uesugi Gen decisively chose to surrender, "Let's try and see if we can pull it out."

Horikita Suzune silently extended her right hand with the kettle forward, indicating that Uesugi Gen should hold the other end.

"That's not it. You must have tried to pull it out by force just now, but failed."

Uesugi Gen grabbed the other end of Horikita Suzune's kettle and dragged her into the kitchen.

"If you can't force it out yourself, it means the friction inside is too great. Your hand now has a red mark around the mouth of the pot."

Horikita Suzune looked down at the red circle above the mouth of the pot, and was silently pulled by Uesugi Gen.

"If you continue to pull it out forcefully, you might hurt your hands and leave the skin inside, so it's better to use soapy water."

"Have you forgotten that we are currently experiencing a water outage?"

Horikita Suzune reminded quietly.

"..."

Uesugi Gen turned around and pulled Horikita Suzune out of the kitchen.

"You should have reminded me to bring water. Luckily, Shibata gave me some. It should be enough. Wait for me to get it."

Horikita Suzune moistened her lips but didn't say anything to stop him.

……

"Wait a minute, at least wait for the soapy water to seep in before pulling it out."

Seeing that Horikita Suzune was thinking about pulling her hand out by herself as soon as she added the soapy water, Uesugi Gen quickly stopped her.

Looking at the stubborn girl in front of him, Uesugi Gen sighed helplessly.

"Do you really want to solve all the problems by yourself?"

"Just now, just like that, you knew that asking me to bring water would be a simpler solution, but in order not to owe me more favors, you chose to ask me to come up and try to pull it out by force."

Horikita Suzune was silent for a while.

"I'm just...not used to...not used to someone being so close to me for the first time."

"No...it's not just that, Ms. Horikita. The real reason you refused help is because you feel that if you accept help, it would be a sign of weakness, and others would think you're weak, right?"

"You don't want others to think of you as a weakling, and you don't want others to think that the sister of the excellent Horikita Manabu is a weakling, right?"

"That's why you're alone. Even if you're not good at something, you never ask for help from others. You grit your teeth and rush forward alone. Even if you fall, you keep going forward."

"..."

She lowered her head and remained silent, but she had already given Uesugi Gen an answer.

"So, let me ask you a question. How do you think I see you?"

"A weakling, no doubt."

Horikita Suzune whispered.

I have never beaten him once. In this school where strength is paramount, he is undoubtedly recognized as the best first-year student, while I am a member of Class D, which is known as the defective class.

"No, in my opinion, you are neither strong nor weak. You are just an ordinary stubborn girl."

Uesugi Gen approached and touched Horikita Suzune's head and said.

"Whether a person is powerful or not is always relative. You think your brother is powerful, but I just think he's just as ordinary as you. You and your sister even share the same rigidity."

"But that doesn't stop other students from thinking he's a strong person."

"Similarly, if you insist that accepting help from others is a sign of weakness, then just accept my help. After all, no matter how strong or weak you become, in my eyes you will still be that stubborn girl."

"Then you work hard to grow and become a strong person in the eyes of others."

"That's a really arrogant statement."

Horikita Suzune pushed away Uesugi Gen's hand, looked at Uesugi Gen and spoke in a firm tone.

"I don't want to be a strong person in the eyes of others. I want you to admit that I am a strong person."

"Oh~"

Uesugi Gen responded in the same tone, "That's a truly arrogant statement."

"It's much harder for me to admit that you are a strong person than for you to surpass your brother."

"Stop talking nonsense, I will definitely do what I say!"

"before that……"

Horikita Suzune stretched out her right hand and said to Uesugi Gen, "Help me pull it out."

"We are happy to help."

Uesugi Gen bent down like a gentleman, stretched out his hands, and gently applied force on both sides, and the kettle was pulled out with a bang.

"Look, that thing you spent two hours working on can be solved in no time with help."

Uesugi Gen handed the kettle to Horikita Suzune and said.

"No, I still think that things that can be solved by one person should be solved by one person."

As he spoke, Uesugi Gen had already run out of the room.

"Hey, why are you running so fast? I'm just not used to being helped, not like I can't say thank you!"

Horikita Suzune shouted at Uesugi Gen.

"No need to thank me, just consider that photo of yours as my reward."

photo?

The next moment, Uesugi Gen's message came.

It was a photo of Horikita Suzune walking forward with a kettle in one hand.

"Asshole, when did you take this photo? Delete it immediately!!!"

103