What a twist! The loser heroine!

As Hanami once said, Hakamada has been focusing on her studies these past two days, and she'll probably start pursuing her after the midterm exams.

Hmm... Although I've already had her change her character attributes, the specific results won't be known until after the midterm exams. So what should I do next?

Her intuition told her that confessing now would fail, which meant she needed to increase her childhood friend's affection for her.

Send her to study with Hakamada? Regardless of Hakamada's grades, they've certainly studied together for the past 12 years, so it probably won't be very useful. Share interests? But Hanami's only interest seems to be eating… If Hakamada treats it as just a regular meal, it probably won't be of much practical use either.

Sigh, if only real life had detailed guides for increasing affection levels like in visual novels, but unfortunately, such a wonderful thing is impossible.

While lost in thought, Wen Shui was unaware of the changes around her.

For some reason, the surroundings seemed to have lost their brightness. In the darkness, a strange sense of eeriness and chill crept into his heart, causing Wen Shui to shiver involuntarily.

Before he could even react, he felt as if he had bumped into something soft and fluffy.

"boom."

"what……"

Startled by the sudden turn of events, Wen Shui quickly regained his senses and looked up. He saw a girl with long hair obscuring her face, but whose clothing looked very familiar, slowly falling backward in a strange posture.

The incident happened suddenly, and Wen Shui immediately exclaimed in surprise, reaching out to grab the girl's hand and managing to pull her back, preventing her from hitting her head on the ground.

"Are you alright?!" He applied a little force with his right hand and surprisingly pulled the girl up very easily.

So light—

Before he could utter any more thoughts, the girl twisted her slender waist like a zombie, straightening up in a bizarre motion. Her milky-white eyes stared unblinkingly at the warm water, startling him into a scream.

"Shikiya-senpai?!"

Wait, what exactly did I just bump into?!

"Warm water...?"

Just as Wen Shui was lost in thought, Shiki-ya-senpai adjusted her uniform, which had become slightly out of shape due to the collision.

She didn't question her about being bumped into, nor did she express gratitude for the help from the warm water. She simply asked softly, "Why... are you here at noon?"

"Um, because a friend asked me to take a nap together."

Wen Shui quickly looked away from her senior and then spoke honestly.

"Hmm... I understand." As if remembering something, she continued, "Did you finish the candy I gave you before?"

Hearing this question, Wen Shui was slightly taken aback. On Friday, because he was visiting the book club, he didn't have the chance to distribute the hard candies to everyone in the literature club as originally planned, so he had to take the candy jar that his senior had given him home.

These sugars were a great help to him when he was reviewing manuscripts, since the positive feedback that sweetness brings to the brain can effectively reduce the pain caused by those brilliant articles.

When I came to my senses, all I had left was an empty candy jar and the lingering taste of peaches in my mouth.

Thinking of this, Wen Shui nodded and said, "I'm done eating."

Shikiya Yumeko's long eyelashes trembled slightly. She suddenly straightened up and tilted her head to carefully observe Wen Shui's face.

Just as he was about to run away, feeling his skin crawl from her gaze, Shikiya-senpai whispered, "That's great..."

After saying that, she suddenly collapsed into the warm water.

"Wow!"

Feeling guilty for bumping into Shikiya-senpai and afraid that she might get hurt, Onami gritted her teeth and reached out to help her steady herself.

Anyway, I've helped her before...

The next second, a soft and elastic touch came from her fingertips, and the faint scent of perfume on her senior made Wen Shui's breathing pause for a moment.

She reached out to prop herself up, lifting her chin off Wen Shui's shoulder, and whispered, "Thank you..."

"Are you alright, senior?" Wen Shui asked almost reflexively.

"I'm fine..." Shikiya straightened up, walked past him, then turned back and said softly, "Good luck on the midterms... okay?"

"I will, thank you, senior."

After a half-second pause, Shikiya continued, "After the exams... first-year students... will have a field trip."

【Huh? Ah, yes, there is such a hiking trip, but why did you suddenly bring it up, senior?】

He thought about it for a moment, and then it dawned on him.

First-year students at Shilu will have a field trip, while third-year students will have a school trip. Second-year students are in between and will only have one similar field trip.

As a second-year student, I probably wanted to participate too, but unfortunately I didn't have the chance.

Thinking of this, he said, "If I have the chance, I will take some photos and send them to my senior."

Upon hearing this, Shikiya Yumeko moved closer to Nukumi at an extremely fast speed.

"Senior, senior?"

“…Line…”

She murmured softly as she took out her phone, which was decorated with cute ornaments and stickers.

Half a minute later, Wen Shui watched the retreating figure of Shikiya-senpai, turned off her phone (which was still displaying the Line page), and put it back in her pocket.

Looking around, Wen Shui breathed a sigh of relief, as the place was in a remote location and no students seemed to notice what was happening. She also remembered why the place looked somewhat familiar.

He took out his notebook, which he used to record his senior's ecological activities, from the inside pocket of his school uniform suit jacket.

During lunch break, the senior students would come to the vending machines by the playground to buy things.

The notebook clearly recorded these rules, and Wen Shui sighed.

Even with prior records, I still get startled by Shikiya-senpai's antics from time to time...

Wen Shuihe secretly resolved to pay more attention to his senior's behavior in the future to ensure his own safety, and then turned and walked into the school building.

He wandered back to Class C, and the quiet atmosphere in the classroom surprised him. He couldn't help but glance at his seat.

Behind her, Karen Himegami was resting her chin on her hand on the table, looking rather bored. Surprisingly, no one had taken her seat.

[Probably because everyone's studying.]

He glanced around the classroom, which was filled with the atmosphere of studying, and quickened his pace to sit down in his seat.

After putting the lunchbox into his backpack, Wen Shui Kazuhiko was ready to answer Himegami's question, but a girl in the row behind him remained silent, which was unusual for her.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't think much of it.

Suddenly, the feeling of being watched that he had at noon returned, but before he could find the source, the feeling disappeared. Wen Shui scratched his head, somewhat puzzled.

What exactly happened today?

And in his blind spot, by the window not far away.

Banami, who was lying on the table, silently closed her eyes.

~Eighty-first defeat~ Brewing

After class.

Standing in the corridor between the new and west school buildings, Wen Shui looked up at the sky, which was dotted with only a few clouds. A gentle breeze blew by, making her feel refreshed.

The atmosphere of exam week affected the entire Shilu High School, and the enthusiasm for club activities decreased significantly. Some students chose to study at school, while others chose to go straight home.

The corridor where I am now is usually an important stop for club activities, but now it is rarely visited.

I had just finished cleaning the chemistry classroom as a student on duty and was planning to go to the arts club office to finish my homework and review a little, but I didn't expect someone to ask me out at this time.

Why choose a place like this...?

Although it was a place rarely visited, students would still occasionally walk by in groups heading to clubs, forcing Wen Shui to step aside and make room for them to pass.

Just as he was getting a little bored and was about to recall the topics the teacher had covered in class that day, a familiar, gentle voice rang in his ears.

"Hey, Wen Shui, you're here."

Wen Shui turned around and said, "Good afternoon, President."

The person who greeted him was Shintaro Tamaki, the president of the literature club, a high school senior striving for higher education.

Seemingly because he was busy with his first midterm exams in his senior year, he didn't look very relaxed, but he still showed his usual smile: "Good afternoon, I'm sorry to have called you here so suddenly."

"It's okay, I was planning to go to the student office to study anyway."

"Busy preparing for midterms, huh?" President Tamaki said, leaning against the railing separating the corridor. "You're only a first-year high school student and you're already working so hard. You're really dedicated."

"Isn't the senior the same?"

"I'm a senior in high school, and if I don't work harder, I won't get into college. Ah, that's not the point today—"

Yu Mu waved his hand, steer the conversation toward its main point: "I heard from Xiao Ju that you've already finished reviewing all the submissions?"

Upon hearing the president's words, Wen Shui recalled the hellish experience of reviewing manuscripts over the weekend, and he twitched the corners of his mouth.

"More or less, I've selected a few that are pretty good, but new articles keep coming in." Wen Shui smiled wryly and asked:

"Should I send those papers to my senior?"

"Let's forget about it then. Let's wait until after this exam... no, until after our senior year school trip is over."

Tamaki smiled and shook his head, saying with concern, "Warm Water, you should also be careful not to overdo it. Club activities are just for leisure time after class, don't let them affect your grades."

"I understand. Reviewing manuscripts is something I do after I've finished reviewing them."

After finishing her speech, Wen Shui also offered her advice: "However, when soliciting manuscripts in the future, it would be best to clarify the submission format. The current manuscripts feel somewhat disorganized."

"I understand, after all, it's the first time we've solicited submissions. By the way, how was the experience reviewing the manuscripts?"

"Well, although some of the works... don't quite suit the general public's taste, after watching them all, I actually felt they were pretty good."

Wen Shui smiled and said softly, "Moreover, I've also had some inspiration."

"Haha, are you making some progress on the articles for the journal?"

"Yes." Wen Shui nodded.

"Isn't that great? It seems you're starting to enjoy the activities of the Literature Club too."

"Pretty much, considering I've been in this club for quite a while."

"Do you feel a sense of belonging now?"

"Hmm... I guess I wouldn't call it a sense of belonging yet—"

"Hehe, I understand your thoughts."

Shintaro Tamaki smiled with satisfaction. He glanced at Wen Shui secretly, then looked away and said, "By the way, I probably won't be in the club office for the next few days before the exam. I'm afraid Koto will be too busy with the miscellaneous tasks in the club office, so I'll ask for your help."

"Huh? Is it because of studying?"

"Pretty much."

Seeing President Tamaki nod, Wen Shui understood.

The literary society doesn't actually have much clutter. At most, it involves helping with purchasing necessary items, replenishing supplies, and cleaning during spare time. When the two presidents are away, several members also help out.

Thinking of this, he said, "It's alright, leave it to me."

The president's expression grew increasingly satisfied, and he reached out and gently patted Wen Shui's shoulder: "Then I'll have to trouble you."

"Anyway, it's not a big deal."

"That's true, but there have been a lot of students visiting lately, so we'll have to keep an eye on the things in the clubhouse to make sure they're not damaged," Tamaki said with a smile.

"Huh? Is that so?"

Wen Shui blinked in confusion. Although the book club was a product of the collaboration between the literary society and the study society, its influence was far less than that of the last book signing event. Would a lot of people really come?

"Oh, if you're curious, you can go check it out at the community office now."

After saying this, Tamaki smiled and waved his hand: "That's settled then. I'll be going now. The student council will be holding its regular president meeting on Monday, and I have to attend."

"Um, President, please wait a moment."

Wen Shui stopped the club president who was about to leave: "I heard the student council president say that the academic club has its own advisor, but our arts club doesn't have an advisor yet, right? Will this cause any problems later on?"

"Ah... the position of instructor is currently vacant due to some events that occurred before."

"That's it..."

[The past of the Literature Club is truly shrouded in mystery.] Wen Shui sighed to herself.

"I'll discuss this with Koto after the midterm exams. That's all for now, I have to go to a meeting, excuse me." Tamaki gave an apologetic smile and bowed as he left.