What a twist! The loser heroine!

Since it was getting late, Asahi and Nonomura had already left, and Tsukinoki-senpai was nowhere to be seen. In short, when they returned, the clubroom was practically empty.

Wenshui put away the club office key, pulled out a chair and sat down at the table, glancing up at Banami, who was rummaging through her bag on the sofa.

"Apricot? What are you looking for?" Himegami asked, looking at Hanami with a puzzled expression.

"Hehe, everyone helped me so much today, I feel a little bad about it."

Seeing this, Banai lowered her voice and chuckled mysteriously twice, then took the things out of her bag.

"Ta-da~ This is a special edition chikuwa that I queued up for yesterday. It's really delicious, everyone should try it!"

As she said this, she first threw a cylindrical packaging bag in front of the warm water.

Wenshui picked up the chikuwa and looked up at Banami, who was smiling at her with gratitude in her eyes.

"Thank you." He nodded.

"I should be the one saying this."

After saying this, Banai turned around and gave each of Komari and Himegami a bamboo wand.

Himegami Karen first refused the chikuwa that Hachimi offered her, then reminded her, "I won't eat these. Speaking of which, it's almost closing time, Anja should go home too."

"I know, can't you let me stay a little longer?"

"No, if you keep doing this I'm going to call your aunt."

"Huh?! Hua Lian, when did you find out my mom's phone number?! Please don't call her, please!"

"Hmph, we'll see how you perform."

Unfortunately, her best friend's lament did not sway Himegami's mind. In the end, she obediently left the club office, and Komari followed Hanami away.

"Well, we'll be going now."

"Be careful on the road."

With the sound of the door closing, only Himegami and Nukumizu remained in the Literature Club's office.

Wen Shui looked down at the bag of chikuwa in his hand. This food, made by mixing fish, flour, and seasonings, seemed to be quite popular in Toyohashi. It was said that there was a factory in the east that specialized in making chikuwa, but he didn't eat it often.

He tore open the packaging, took a small bite, and felt the chewy texture linger on his teeth. The flavor of the fish was enhanced by the seasonings.

It's actually quite delicious.

He opened his eyes wide in surprise. The taste of this chikuwa was completely different from what he had eaten before. Could this be the so-called "special edition"?

[Hana-kun's methods for finding delicious food are truly superb.]

He leaned back in his chair, chewing on the bamboo wheel in his hand while letting his mind wander.

Meanwhile, Princess Himeko, holding a bamboo wheel, walked over and sat down next to him.

"Wen Shui, why aren't you going back yet?" She looked up at the person chewing on a bamboo stick and asked in a low voice.

"I'm waiting for someone." Wen Shui turned to look at Ji Gong. "Besides, you didn't go back either, did you?"

"I'm waiting for someone too," she replied softly, gripping the bamboo wheel tightly in her hand.

"Oh, are you waiting for Tsukinoki-senpai?"

Wen Shui immediately displayed his extraordinary wisdom: "Speaking of which, where did the senior go? I think her backpack is still here."

"I'm not waiting for my senior."

Faced with this wooden-headed man, Himegami was a little speechless: "She went to the student council to submit her club activity report for the reading club, and she won't be back for a while."

"I see."

"I already said that on Line, Wen Shui should check her messages more often in the future."

"In that tense situation just now, who had time to look?"

As Wen Shui said this, she took a bite of the bamboo stalk.

"Hey, that's true."

Himegami Karen glanced down at the chikuwa in her hand and silently put it into her pocket: "What could have caused Anja to faint? Koba-sensei said it was due to external stimuli. Is the Literature Club some kind of stimulating place?"

"It could also be due to the stress of studying recently," Wen Shui casually offered an excuse.

"It's only the first midterm exam, there's no need to push yourself so hard..."

Himegami murmured, "I just asked Anja, but she won't say anything. I'm a little worried."

How can I possibly talk about superpowers, especially since it involves you?

After thinking for a moment, Wen Shui finally spoke up: "Since Banami doesn't want to talk about it, it means she has her own ideas. She should discuss it with her family, so we don't need to worry about it."

"Yes, you're right. It seems necessary to talk to her mother about this." Himegami said as if suddenly realizing something. "It wouldn't be good if she still planned to keep it from her parents."

"Isn't that necessary..."

Knowing all too well about what Hanami intuitively felt, he hadn't taken it too seriously and spoke reflexively, but he seemed to have forgotten that from a normal person's perspective—

"No need for that. Fainting at school is already a very serious matter. Wen Shui should take better care of the other students."

Hime-kyo, being a normal person, nudged Wen Shui twice with some displeasure, then asked, "Speaking of which, I was just about to ask, Wen Shui, are you waiting for someone? Who are you waiting for?"

Just as Wen Shui was about to answer, she heard footsteps outside the club office, and then the door was opened from the outside.

"Gu Du should be submitting an activity report to the student council... Ah, we're here, please come in, Vice President Ma Ti."

The person who opened the door was Shintaro Tamaki, the president of the literature club, who had previously invited Wenshui over for a chat.

Following behind him was Ma Titian Aixing, the student council vice president carrying a schoolbag.

"Oh! Wen Shui and Ji Gong, you're both here."

Tamaki raised his hand in greeting: "The president's meeting has ended. I saw that Vice President Ma Ti seemed to have something to do in the club office, so I brought her along. Since you're all here, I'll go to the student council to find Koto first."

Upon hearing this, Himegami Karen first glanced at Tenai Hoshi, who walked nervously into the clubroom, then turned to look at Onami with a puzzled expression, as if to say, "So, the person you've been waiting for is her?"

Wen Shui shifted his gaze from the departing figure of President Tamaki carrying his schoolbag. He nodded to Himegami, after all, he had an appointment with Aisei on Saturday, saying she would return the book on Monday, and he couldn't very well stand her up.

Then he saw Himegami squint her eyes, puff out her cheeks cutely, and turn her head away from looking at someone.

What kind of expression is that?

"Excuse me, I'm here to return a book."

Tian Aixing's words drew Wen Shui's attention back. She put her schoolbag on the table and took out several books she had borrowed earlier.

The Natsume Soseki edition was carefully wrapped in a book cover and marked with various colored stickers. It was clear that Tenai had thoroughly read these books.

She bent down very solemnly and handed the book to Wen Shui with both hands.

"There's really no need to be so formal."

Wen Shui smiled awkwardly. His upbringing instilled in him at home made him stand up and accept the book from Tian Aixing with both hands.

heavy.

"Um, well, about that thing we agreed on before, please don't forget, Wen Shui."

Tian Aixing suddenly whispered.

【Huh? About what happened before? Oh, it was the one from Saturday.】

Wen Shui suddenly realized and quickly nodded: "Don't worry, I won't put them in the journal."

As he said this, he put the book into his schoolbag.

"That's good." Tian Aixing breathed a slight sigh of relief when she saw Wen Shui's actions.

Seeing that there were other people in the office, she hurriedly picked out several books from the bookshelf that seemed to have been chosen long ago.

"Um... I plan to borrow these books this week, and of course, I'll borrow them again later—"

Himegami, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "Masato-kun, you don't need to be so reserved. You've already returned the books you borrowed twice before, so the club president and everyone else are quite at ease with you."

"Um... I wasn't actually talking about that."

Tian Aixing whispered, then turned her gaze to the warm water.

【Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?】

Wen Shui thought of the promise she had made with Tian Aixing.

Does she mean she'll continue writing a book review...?

Then, realizing what he had done, he nodded.

Seeing this, Tian Aixing was relieved and contentedly put the books into her schoolbag.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you today, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Watching Tian Aixing practically flee from the clubhouse, Wen Shui shook his head with amusement. He opened his backpack and took out his physics textbook.

"Everything is finally done."

As he said this, he placed the textbook on the table.

"Yeah... wait? Why did you take out your physics textbook?" Himegami asked curiously.

"Didn't you say you wanted me to tutor you in physics?" Wen Shui blinked, somewhat puzzled. "I figured I had some time, so I thought—"

"Oh no, how could I forget this?"

Upon hearing this, Princess Ji hid her face in her arms, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Seeing her make this move, Wen Shui tentatively asked, "Then... do you still need tutoring?"

"Of course I want it!"

She stood up and took out her physics textbook and workbook from her schoolbag.

Watching her movements, Wen Shui seemed to have thought of something, and scratched her cheek, whispering:

"Speaking of which, Princess Himeko."

"Ok?"

"I thought you would be very curious about what Tian Aixing just said."

After all, Princess Himegami had always asked her strange questions, so this time she didn't ask any, which made someone feel a little uncomfortable.

"I am a little curious, after all, you were talking about it so mysteriously."

Himegami Karen sat down and smiled at Wen Shui: "However, I didn't intend to ask any more questions. Since Masato said that on purpose, it proves that she doesn't want me to know."

"In that case, it would be a bit too much for me to ask deliberately."

"You really are always thinking of others," Wen Shui remarked.

"Hmph, let's not talk about that anymore. When does the physics tutoring start, Mr. Wen Shui?"

"I'll start when you stop calling me that."

"Tch, stingy."

~Eighty-fourth Defeat~ An Unexpected Invitation

Tuesday, May 20th, cloudy

"Hey, take this!"

"Don't act like a teenager at a time like this! Haha!"

[It actually looks quite professional.]

Leaning against the green-painted iron fence, Wen Shui let her body rest for a moment after exercising, while looking past the figures running on the field not far away and towards the large dark clouds rolling in the sky.

Today's PE class was quite relaxed. The teacher took the students from Class C to the tennis court, gave them a brief lesson, and then let them have free time. There was no mandatory one-on-one practice.

So several students in the class with tennis skills took this opportunity to show off their skills, displaying their youthful spirit through their athletic movements.

By the way, Shilu High School also has a tennis club, and it seems to be quite popular, much better than the arts club which almost went out of business.

Just as Wen Shui was thinking about the literary society and its publication, a service error on the court caused the tennis ball to mischievously roll to his feet.

"Oh, sorry! Could you help me throw the ball?"

Wen Shui snapped out of her daze, picked up the ball, and tossed it back to the center of the court. The student who had made the request immediately smiled and thanked her.