Kayla, Ice Suits You Better Than Fire

Kkongkki Kkingkkang Kkongkkang—Kkongkkang, for short—said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The rest of the gallery was only half convinced. Even so, it was true that nothing sharper came to mind.

"Still. Better to at least try talking it through."

And so, chasing a lead that might actually improve things with Kayla, I reached the day of our next session.

That morning I stopped by the admin office for roll call and to pick up the day's work log, and got hit with a bolt from the blue.

"Mr. Jinsoo, what did you say to Kayla in the last session?"

"Sorry? Nothing……? I only said what was already written in the report."

"Hmm…… is that so? Well, she is an awfully fickle kid."

"Why? Did something happen?"

The woman at the desk wiggled her fingers, looking thoroughly inconvenienced.

"Student Kayla requested a change of assigned assistant."

"She what?!"

So that thing she'd said last time wasn't just bluster?

"Changing the assigned assistant before the existing curriculum is finished is unprecedented, so we refused. But she threw an enormous fit—said if we wouldn't grant it, she'd leave Academy City……."

Leave Academy City?

No. Absolutely not, you bitch!!!

You're my heroine!!!

"S-so then?"

"For now, we'd better put this session on hold. We need to hold an internal meeting."

"Ha…… so the whole thing's a bust……."

Steam might as well have been curling off my skull. Kids these days. Say a handful of words and they sulk, then go raise hell at the front desk. If she weren't a heroine, she would have eaten twice the truth bombs.

But right now Kayla stood a little higher than a scrub of a Grade 3 assistant like me. Whether the interested party was the Bureau of Ability Remedial Education or Orion Ability Military Academy, somebody was expecting something from her. Otherwise they never would have sent her here.

"Understood."

"All right. Hang in there today!"

Well. I could wait another couple of days.

Day 5 since I'd been dropped into a survival game wearing a dating sim's skin.

Kayla, they said, was still refusing reassignment. If I'd known it would go like this, maybe I should have cooed over her and patted her head at the first meeting.

How was I supposed to know the kid was going to floor it out of nowhere?!

Word was already circulating that another assistant would be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠put on her. I couldn't afford to stall any longer. Times like this, you trust the hive mind. For the record, this was also around when I started talking casual on the gallery.

Sure enough, nothing but useless replies. And then, right on cue, the hero showed up.

Kkongkkang.

So. He wanted me to pull a phishing scam.

The other users felt about the same. SSS-Rank Hunter in particular—who'd served in the Public Security Bureau, the city's Hunters, during his run—called it a pretty decent plan. In Academy City, Public Security was the most overworked outfit there was. They wouldn't spare a glance for petty garbage like this.

"Nothing else for it."

Honestly, even I couldn't think of anything better. I pulled out my phone and texted Kayla.

A reply came back at once.

"Whoa…… he was right."

Fast enough that I half suspected a macro. And the wording laid her desperation bare—she wanted this problem solved right now. So this was how people fell for phishing scams. They were so desperate they didn't even doubt it. They just believed.

"Hm."

Meeting her immediately seemed like the better call. Wait until tomorrow, let some other assistant get assigned, and the whole thing would be a wash.

Tap, tap. I sent the message, and a reply shot back just as fast as before.

In the end, I'd gone and done it.

Now the real problem was how to reveal who I actually was…….

Right. This was the Sobbing Forever-Single Virgin Gallery.

For a second I'd completely forgotten who I was asking. They'd been answering so well that I'd fooled myself into thinking they might have advice on this, too.

But seriously. What was I supposed to do?

Ability or no ability, Kayla was someone who had kept up brutal training and conditioning. They say get three high school girls together and they can take down a tank. Was I really going to handle even one?

"Tch……!"

Forget it. Since when had I ever started trouble while planning the aftermath? My ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reputation going straight to hell didn't even scare me anymore. The truth comes out sooner or later anyway, and the people who are going to stick with me will stick no matter what bullshit I pull.

I threw on some clothes in a hurry and headed for the Galaxia officetel where Kayla was staying.

When I arrived, a girl in a windbreaker with her cap yanked low was pacing near the parking lot. Anyone looking could tell it was Kayla Aleberry. And even with zero effort put into it, she still had a hell of a presence. I slid in on the quiet steps I'd drilled for covert movement and took up position at her back.

"Kayla Aleberry."

"……! God, you scared me. Why are you coming up from beh—."

The moment she registered my face, Kayla stopped cold. Panic, then shock.

"……Don't tell me. Administrative Officer Jackson from the Orion registrar's office—that was you?"

I hadn't said a word, and she'd gone and misunderstood all by herself. I almost kept the impersonation going out of pure shamelessness, then shook my head.

No. At a moment like this, coming clean was better. If the fake identity tangled and things went sideways, cleaning that up would be a nightmare of its own.

"No. I'm not Jackson. I'm Kim Jinsoo, Grade 3 educational assistant with the Bureau of Ability Remedial Education."

"What?! Then that message just now……."

"Yeah, that was me. You were dodging me so hard I couldn't even cross paths with you. I used a pretty ugly trick. I'm sorry."

At that, the light in Kayla's blue eyes started going cold, fast. Her expression locked up until it was almost frightening, and her small, neat mouth twisted.

"Y-you…… right now…… you're toying with me? Like this……?"

What was I supposed to do here? I wished a choice window would pop up, but apparently a dating sim that came with affection drops didn't bother providing that feature.

But, Kayla. You're serious, aren't you.

You want your ability to awaken. Am I wrong?

Before I tried anything else, I drove the point straight in.

"I found something strange in your records. If this works, we might actually be able to awaken your ability."

The arm that had been trembling, like she was about to punch me in the face right then, went still.

"What……?"

"The premise was wrong from the start. Not fire. Ice. There's a good chance your power doesn't emit anything—it absorbs heat and releases it again. Have you ever heard an assessment like that? From the Bureau, or from a lab?"

"……."

Her eyes wavered. Of course she hadn't. If Kkongkkang was right, once they'd concluded it was flame, they stopped testing for any other ability, afraid of snarling the circuit.

"You've got nothing to lose, so trust me just this once and try it. You've got a gas stove at home, right? Hold your hand over it for about a minute, and focus like you're trying to sweat the heat out of yourself. Ice crystals should form."

The source, obviously, was our great and glorious Kkongkkang. Kid, you owe Lord Kkongkkang a thank-you. He'd figured this out by experimenting on his own body with zero foundation, and here he was handing the know-how over like it was nothing.

"……Why? Why are you telling me this? How did you even find it out in the first place. You…… what are you, really?"

I answered the Kayla who was staring at me like none of it made sense.

"I told you. I came to help. As a teacher."

And, while I was at it.

I fully intend to win you over, too.