What a twist! The loser heroine!

"Thank you!!"

Wen Shui gently waved her hand, indicating that everything was alright.

"You've always been so helpful, Wen Shui."

A cheerful, sunny voice came from beside me.

"Who told the ball to fly right to our feet?"

Wenshui turned to look at Hakamada Sosuke, who was wearing a gymnastics uniform and had suddenly leaned in beside her, shook her head, and said in a low voice.

At the beginning of the school year, Wen Shui thought that she and the other extreme oddballs in the class were two completely different types of people.

But to Wen Shui’s surprise, after the last book signing event, he would occasionally approach her in various classes, which puzzled her greatly.

Am I really that kind of person who attracts yang energy?

However, considering that he was the person that Banami asked her to help her win over, Wenshui couldn't deliberately avoid him. She might even be able to get some information from him.

"Speaking of which, why doesn't Hakamada play tennis?" Wenshui asked Hakamada with some curiosity.

In his stereotypical view, which was steeped in light novels and comics, the tall, athletic guy in front of him was probably an all-rounder in sports, just like the roasted lemon.

"When I was little, a tennis ball hit my nose with a 'bang,' so I'm a little traumatized by it." He touched his nose somewhat awkwardly, as if he could feel the pain from his childhood.

"No wonder your hands seemed to be shaking during training just now."

"Haha, well, if only Anzu had been here back then." Hakamada chuckled.

"...?" Wen Shui pretended to be completely unaware and looked at Hakamada: "What does being hit on the nose by a ball have to do with Hanami-kun?"

"Huh? You don't know about Nuka?" Hakamada said in surprise, "Anna has always had a very accurate intuition since she was a child. If she had been there when I was hit by the tennis ball, she probably would have pulled me away a long time ago."

"That's really impressive," Wen Shui exclaimed, feigning admiration.

"Hmph, don't underestimate her, that guy's nickname is 'Lucky Banami'."

Hakamada Sosuke smiled as he looked at another court designated for girls' sports, where Hanami was resting next to the court.

Seemingly sensing the gaze of her childhood friend, she turned her head and waved towards Wenshui and Hakamada, as if to say hello.

"See, I told you so." Hakamada smiled and winked at Numizu.

Please don't make that face at me, I'm serious.

Wen Shui shifted her gaze from Banami, sighed inwardly, and then asked, "So, you wanted to see me for something?"

"Haha, you figured it out."

"You don't seem like the type to start a conversation with someone for no reason," Wen Shui honestly stated her impression.

"Then I'll just get straight to the point. There will be a field trip after this midterm exam. I'm sure you already know that, right, Numizu?" Hakamada asked as he reached out and hooked his hand onto the barbed wire behind him.

Wen Shui nodded: "After all, everyone's discussing it."

"I asked our homeroom teacher when I had some free time, and she said that everyone needs to pair up for this hike, and in principle, she doesn't really want people of the opposite sex to pair up." Hakamada deliberately kept everyone in suspense: "So—"

Wen Shui looked incredulous and pointed to herself: "So you're planning to ask me to come along??"

"Yes."

"No, wait a minute." Wen Shui quickly raised her hand slightly. "You should have a lot of friends in class, right? Why did you come to me?"

"Well, we're just friends who exchange a few words every now and then."

【So I'm not one then? ??? 】

While Wenshui stared in disbelief, Hakamada continued somewhat embarrassedly, "And besides, Wenshui, you don't seem to know this. Actually, the boys in the class generally have a very bad opinion of me behind my back."

"Is that so?" Wen Shui asked, somewhat surprised.

"Well, how should I put it, it's probably because of me... um..."

Hakamada stammered, unsure of what to say, and turned his gaze into the distance.

Wen Shui followed his gaze and met it directly with the curious look of Banami, who was looking at the two of them.

Banami looked somewhat puzzled, while Wenshui suddenly realized:

"Could it be because of Yanami-kun?"

Hakamada nodded, then looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before whispering, "You probably know Wenshui too, right? She's one of the famous girls in our class."

No, I don't know, and I don't want to know—

Seeing that Wenshui was looking down and seemed a little shy, Hakamada smiled and said, "Yakishio, Anzai, and Himegami-san are all very popular."

"Yes, yes," Wen Shui pursed her lips and responded softly.

"Then, Xingcai started pestering me every day, making everyone think that we were already a couple."

Hakamada shrugged helplessly: "Well, how should I put it? Although it was a misunderstanding, I was definitely being envied by everyone..."

"Why don't you just team up with Banami?"

To offer some romantic advice to a certain blue-haired girl, Wen Shui immediately suggested, "Although Teacher Gan Xia says she doesn't generally like opposite-sex couples, there are actually a few couples in the class, and she doesn't seem to be that unenlightened—"

"That won't do, it feels so awkward." Hakamada shook his head repeatedly: "Besides, I don't have any feelings for Anana."

Tsk, still the same attitude... I need to find a way to test the waters.

Wen Shui thought to herself and said, "But Banai always says she's your childhood friend. To outsiders, that's no different from a couple, right?"

"If all childhood sweethearts in the world could become a couple, Japan's declining birth rate wouldn't be so serious." Hakamada gave a wry smile, as if he had something difficult to say.

Why is this guy complaining about social issues like my dad?

"So, that's why you came to ask me to team up?"

"Yes, after I mentioned this to a few classmates I'm fairly close to, they politely refused me on the surface, but then they started discussing it amongst themselves."

Hakamada scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "Well, among the remaining boys, you were the first one I thought of. I feel like you get along really well with Anja, and you don't deliberately distance yourself from me because of her, so I feel like you'd be a good fit for a team with me."

Seeing this, Wen Shui began to ponder.

Although I don't know why Hakamada Sosuke has such a high opinion of me, judging from his current attitude, there's no way to persuade him to team up with Hanami.

Given her marginalized status in the class, probably no one would want to team up with her.

Why not take this opportunity to ask Hakamada why he has absolutely no feelings for his childhood friend?

[Maybe it can even help Hanami come up with a more specific strategy.]

Having silently finalized his plan in his mind, he immediately turned to look at Hakamada, whose face was full of anticipation, and nodded.

"OK then."

Hakamada's face immediately lit up with a smile, and he patted Numizu's shoulder happily: "Great! It's settled then."

Why are you so excited?

Wen Shui twisted her shoulder, which had been patted hard, and smiled helplessly.

"Come on, that's a long trip! Aren't you looking forward to it, Wen Shui? Maybe we'll go to Tokyo? Kyoto? Or Osaka?"

“What you’re talking about is a school trip,” Wen Shui quickly corrected him. “The hike is only one day long, and it will probably only take place near Toyohashi.”

“That’s interesting too!” Hakamada said with a matter-of-fact expression.

"I don't deny that."

Just as Wen Shui was about to say something more, he suddenly felt a wet touch on his shoulder. He looked up at the dark clouds on the horizon.

"It's raining," Hakamada said softly.

"Hmm, that seems to be the case." Wen Shui withdrew her left hand, which she had used for testing.

After a while, the two of them and other classmates came indoors to take shelter from the rain. When they saw the PE teacher chasing away the students who still wanted to play ball in the rain, everyone couldn't help but laugh.

After talking so much, Wen Shui also felt a bit thirsty. He leaned against the wall, took a sip of water, and then turned to look at Hakamada: "Hakamada-kun seems to be very interested in hiking."

"When you think of hiking, you probably think of mountains, right? But don't forget I'm on a rock climbing team!"

Oh, I see. I forgot about that.

"There aren't any mountains to climb near Kefeng Bridge," Wen Shui complained. "Let's get through the midterm exams first."

Upon hearing this, Hakamada's face immediately showed a conflicted expression. He seemed to have been hit hard by Wen Shui's words and remained silent.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, head bowed, "Sigh... the midterms..."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Hakamada scratched his head and said in a low voice, "Although I studied at home for a while the past two days, I still feel that math is a bit difficult."

"If you memorize the formulas properly, there shouldn't be any problems, right?"

"It's not that easy." He sighed. "I should have gone to the book club on Saturday with you, Wen Shui."

"Everyone has their own learning methods, just choose the one you like."

"makes sense."

At this point, Hakamada seemed to perk up.

He gave a slightly strange smile, then leaned closer to Wen Shui and whispered, "Speaking of the book club, Wen Shui, there seem to be some rather eye-catching rumors circulating about it lately."

"is it?"

"Yeah, I heard that on the day of the book club, someone sat at the same table with several pretty girls, and they even fought over who would teach him the problems. Oh my~ I'm so envious. It's true that good students are very popular. Wen Shui, since you were there, you must have noticed it too, right?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Shui paused for a moment. He searched his memory but couldn't find anyone who matched Hakamada's description.

What's with that kind of treatment, like the protagonist of a light novel? Speaking of which, I think I actually read one a few days ago, was it called something like "The Folding Swordsman"?

"No, I have absolutely no recollection of it." Thinking this, he honestly replied.

"I see... It seems like someone made up this story, since Anjana denied it outright."

"After all, it's just a rumor."

"Well, it's just a rumor after all."

The two boys exchanged a smile as they talked.

◇

The rain didn't seem to stop as everyone had expected; instead, it got even heavier.

After waiting for a while, the PE teacher looked helplessly at the rain and sighed. Completely helpless with the weather, he had no choice but to dismiss the class.

So everyone cheered and rushed into the locker room.

Later, although it was supposed to be self-study, how could everyone miss the hard-won break time?

The restless atmosphere continued until school ended.

As soon as the bell rang, before he could even put his textbooks into his bag, Wen Shui felt his vision dim slightly. He looked up and saw Hakamada smiling at him.

"Um... is there something you need?" Wen Shui asked tentatively.

"It's nothing, I'm so grateful you agreed to my request this afternoon." Hakamada smiled and took out his phone. "But, I don't think we've added each other on Line yet, so communication will be very inconvenient, won't it?"

"Well, that's true."

Wen Shui nodded and took out her phone.

After a while, a satisfied Hakamada put away his phone, extended his left fist, and seemed to want to bump fists with Wenshui to express their friendship.

As a result, the atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

Hakamada first looked at Onamizu Kazuhiko, who reflexively covered his chest with his hands, and then glanced at Himegami Karen, who was sitting behind Onamizu and had already shown dissatisfaction towards him.

He lowered his gaze slightly, then gave a somewhat embarrassed smile:

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do anything."

After saying that, he turned around and left the classroom.

Watching Hakamada's retreating figure, Wenshui breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out of his defensive stance.

Dealing with sunny, open corners is really something I'm not used to.

"Are you alright?" A concerned voice came from behind.

"It's alright," Wen Shui said naturally. "I won't go to the community office today."

"I know, it's a tutoring center."