Ohh. Except that's possibly the exact thing she could do to make Kaji feel even worse. He's seen too many kids having to act more mature, having to grow up too quickly, or having impossible burdens placed on them. To be fair, it's one of the things that still legitimately makes him angry about this entire situation; that whoever is bringing people here would choose someone like Ib, who should be having a normal childhood.

She shouldn't have to be so strong.

"It might help. Because I really want to try to fix this without you all having to fight." He looks at Ib seriously. "Especially you. I know. You've proven yourself, you were right there helping people at the Battle. With the Job powers, you can kick my butt across town and back," he smiles a tiny bit at her. "But you shouldn't have to."