Feeling like I’d rather not run into any girls, I aimed for the time when there would be no one else using the elevator. Sneaking around like this is pathetic, but I’m just that type of person. Then with the right timing, as I reached the 13th floor where Horikita lives, I pressed the chime. After waiting for a while, since there were no signs of her opening the door, I tried opening it myself and since the door was not locked, the door simply opened.

“Horikita?”.

Horikita’s room is a 1K but since there is a door installed inside too, I could not see into the bedroom. In the corridor and the kitchen that had barely changed from the time of our initial enrollment, there were no signs of Horikita.

“You’re alone right? I don’t mind if you come inside”.

I heard that from the other side of the door.

“Even though we’re in the dormitories right now, that’s dangerous” I said.

“It’s alright, even if a suspicious person were to enter now, the destructive power of my right hand will be more than enough”.

What’s that phrase supposed to mean? While thinking that, I entered the room. Then I walked into the room. Horikita had her back turned facing me and I could not see her expression, but I could not see any particular change about her.

The interior of the room too, was simple and I could not see any particular place that could be considered strange.

“I’m here. What’s the problem?”.

“If you see, you’ll understand”.

Having said that, Horikita slowly stood up and turned to face me.

And then, at that moment, incomprehensible feelings and as well as understanding emotions simultaneously burst forth from inside me.

“I see…..so that’s it?”.

“That’s it”.

I glanced away from her in understanding and towards the tip of her right arm. And there I saw a small water bottle for girls’ use that was completely engulfing her hand.

“How should I put it…this is a disaster completely unlike you. Don’t tell me you were playing with it?”.

“Don’t be stupid”.

“No, I mean it’s possible right? It feels like sandwiching a pointy corn between your hands and eating it, doesn’t it?”.

Perhaps saying something irritated her, as she swung her right arm around with a sharp expression.

“I-it’s a joke”.

“There’s no point in telling a joke if it isn’t funny. Yours wasn’t funny, it’s a failure” Horikita replied.

“That’s not because my joke wasn’t funny, it’s because I made fun of you isn’t it?”.

“This happened as a result of me washing it. That’s enough could you get it off already?”.

So that seems to be the story. I grabbed the tip of the water bottle and pulled. But when I did, Horikita herself was pulled along with it.

“It’s already bad enough that you can’t get it off yourself. Please step it up”.

If her body itself gets pulled along with the bottle, then I won’t be able to take off what normally could be taken off.

“I already understand something like that. It’s just, I’m already quite tired so please make it brief”.

It seems after having struggled for more than two hours, Horikita is already starting to get exhausted. I grabbed hold of the water bottle again. Then I added some more strength to it and pulled. Horikita too, endured the pain as she stepped backwards at the same time. But it seems she’s already used to it at this point since she showed no signs of feeling her arms being pulled off.

“This is pointless. At this rate it probably won’t come off”.

“I see, as expected…”.

It seems she had already expected that the water bottle would not come off as Horikita showed no signs of strong disappointment.

“Looks like we’ll need to rub it with soap and slowly pull it off. Let’s go to the kitchen”.

“But that would only continue this disaster, haven’t you been informed that there’s a water outage right now?” Horikita said.

That’s right. We won’t be able to use water until 12 o’clock in the dormitories. The only water that can be used right now is the water in the toilet, but I doubt Horikita would be fine with using it.

“I’ll be going to the cafeteria for a moment”.

There’s no other way except this. If I could just get my hands on some water it would be possible to pull it off. Immediately leaving the room, I headed for the cafeteria. But once there, I was assaulted an unexpected incident.

“I’m sorry but a lot more students came than expected and we’re out of water”.

The old lady at the cafeteria apologized in that sorry tone. It seems the students who needed water for their dinner had taken it all.

“I understand. I’ll buy some at the vending machine”.

“If you could please do that?”.

For just pulling an arm out of a water bottle, a large amount of water should not be necessary. About two glasses worth of water should be enough. Thinking that, I headed towards a vending machine installed near the cafeteria. But it seems misfortune tends to overlap. All the water, tea, juice and the such in the vending machine have all been sold out.

“…this is the first time I’ve seen a vending machine completely emptied…”