What a twist! The loser heroine!

"Ah."

He picked up his schoolbag and left the classroom.

Halfway there, my phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket.

Yana-Chan: "Um... what did you and Kusuke talk about?"

"He's planning to join me on this hiking trip."

Yana-Chan: "Huh? Is that how it works?? Why doesn't he contact me?"

"He might not be too willing." (Warm water)

Yana-Chan: "Alright then..."

Why does this guy look so unwilling to accept defeat?

Looking at the now-static rice ball avatar, Wen Shui shook his head with amusement and put his phone back in his pocket.

I'm not going to steal your childhood sweetheart.

~Eighty-fifth defeat~ So she made a decision

The classroom, enveloped in the sound of rain, was quiet and deserted, with the unique scraping sound of chalk scratching across the blackboard ringing out incessantly.

"Okay, that's the optimal solution to the last trigonometric function problem in the mock exam."

The teacher, wearing glasses and with gray hair, wrote down the last number.

He tossed the chalk into the designated box and clapped his hands: "If you have trouble with the calculations, writing out the steps can still get you a lot of points."

The elderly professor, who had once taught in the mathematics department of a national university, took off his glasses and said in a low voice:

"The questions have been explained. You can calculate your scores yourselves. Please don't make a fuss."

"The difficulty of the questions may vary from school to school, so the scores of mock exams can only serve as a rough estimate. Although the first midterm exam in high school is not very important, it can still give teachers a general assessment of you, so make the most of it."

After reciting these routine lines, the old professor glanced at the clock, which was about to signal the end of get out of class, then sat down behind the podium and closed his eyes to rest.

Wen Shuiheyan, who was listening attentively, copied the teacher's solution into his notebook, nodded to himself, and gave his original answer a fairly good score.

"How does it feel?"

Sitting next to the warm water, Asahi turned to look at his exam paper and asked in a low voice.

Wen Shui touched her chin: "It was better than the last mock exam."

"After all, today's class is specifically designed to reinforce math skills," Chaoyun said with a smile. "In the last mock exam, quite a few people didn't even score 80."

"Oh yeah, I'd actually prefer to get some extra help with physics. Maybe everyone struggles with math."

After saying this, Wen Shui glanced at the girl who had already written down her estimated score of 98 on her test paper and couldn't help but gasp.

Of course, that doesn't include her.

Having already felt the subtle differences in scores during mock exams across various subjects, I awkwardly looked away.

Chao Yun's midterm exam scores would probably rank her in the top ten at Shi Lu...

He had previously asked Asahi Chihaya about her study methods during a break at her cram school out of curiosity, and she simply replied:

"Just memorize all the contents of the textbook and the appendix bibliography first."

Chao Yun's words silenced Wen Shuigan for half the class period, and he then deeply understood the difference between himself and these top students.

He looked at his exam paper again.

Well, I'll be more comfortable if I don't make things difficult for myself. A math score of around 92 is not bad at all.

Just as Wen Shui was comforting herself, the bell rang to signal the end of get out of class.

The old professor on the podium immediately stood up as if by reflex, put his lesson plan into his briefcase, and then said to the students in various school uniforms below:

"The weekend is around the time of the high school entrance exams, so the two classes this Thursday and next Tuesday will be canceled. The tutoring center will send you a text message notification later."

After saying this, he immediately strode out of the classroom. It's hard to imagine that such a sprightly figure could be found in a man nearing 70.

Wen Shui and Chao Yun packed their bags. He was about to raise his hand to say goodbye to Ling Ye, who was sitting in the front row, when he suddenly stared at the empty seat and froze.

[Yeah, Ayano took the day off today.]

He awkwardly withdrew his hand, then whispered to Asahi Chihaya, "Sorry."

"It's fine."

She smiled, seemingly not taking it to heart.

When the two arrived at the entrance of the cram school, the rain that had lasted for almost an afternoon had stopped.

Asahi put the umbrella back into her schoolbag, then looked up at the still-lingering dark clouds.

"There's been so much rain lately; the rainy season in Toyohashi really comes on time."

"After all, summer is almost here," Wen Shui said, lifting the shoulder strap of her backpack.

"Hehe, I hope it doesn't rain on Sunday when Lemon plays."

"That's true—wait, what?"

Wen Shui turned to look at Chao Yun with some surprise.

"Why are you looking at me like that? It's written on the bulletin board in every class, isn't it?"

Chao Yun chuckled lightly: "Hehe, after all, Lemon is Shilu's track and field ace, so it's impossible not to pay attention to her."

"...I was just curious why you suddenly brought this up."

As Wen Shui said this, she walked out of the cram school with Chao Yun.

"What happened before happened too suddenly, and Lemon must have misunderstood me as well."

As Chaoyun carefully avoided the puddles on the ground, she explained, "I plan to take advantage of the lemon competition to explain things to the two of them properly."

Wen Shui pursed her lips, unsure how to respond.

“Ayano took the day off today to avoid me,” Asahi said in a low voice. “If I don’t make things clear, he’ll be in a difficult position.”

"Yes, I think so too." Wen Shui nodded.

“Tutoring classes are quite expensive, and Ayano’s family isn’t exactly wealthy… I can’t let his studies suffer.”

After a long pause, Chao Yun smiled and asked Wen Shui as if seeking confirmation, "Those two should be dating already, right?"

After a long silence, Wen Shui finally nodded in response to her probing gaze.

"That's it..."

Chaoyun withdrew her gaze and said in a low voice, but quickly revealed her usual smile: "Then I'm relieved."

"……rest assured?"

"At the time, I thought Lemon had misunderstood, but since they've started dating, it means the misunderstanding has been cleared up, right?"

Right.

Wen Shui recalled what had happened before.

Asahi was worried that the final misunderstanding would cause a rift in the relationship between Ayano and Shio, and she even felt guilty about it.

Even though Asahi Chihaya became the defeated heroine, she was still...

"You should have let it go a long time ago."

As she walked onto the deserted bus stop, she suddenly whispered.

Upon hearing this, Wen Shui suddenly seemed to have a flash of inspiration and said, "Um... actually, there's something I've always wanted to ask you—"

Meeting Asahi's somewhat puzzled gaze, he continued, "That day at the planetarium, when you suddenly stood up as if you had made up your mind... if Banami and I hadn't been there, what were you planning to do?"

Upon hearing this question, Asahi Chihaya was slightly taken aback.

Then she sighed, as if completely relieved:

"My plan at the time was... to run away."

"Escape?"

"Yeah, at that time, I felt a little tired and felt like I couldn't beat Lemon at all."

She said softly, "This wavering feeling should have been let go a long time ago. Thinking about it this way, maybe I should thank you and Banami-kun. After all, a short pain is worse than a long one."

A ray of sunlight shone through the dark clouds, making her distinctive, smooth forehead sparkle and highlighting the carefree smile on her face.

Don't say that...

Wen Shuihe frowned.

For the first time in his 15 years of life, he felt an overwhelming urge to refuse anyone's thanks.

"Hehe, Wen Shui, are you going to cheer on Lemon on Sunday too?"

"Ah...yes, that's right."

He nodded somewhat reluctantly, his expression not exactly expectant.

Asahi Chihaya narrowed her large, chipmunk-like eyes slightly and moved to stand in front of the warm water.

"When I go to explain things to those two, please come with me."

"Um...me?"

"Don't you want to?"

"No, that's not it, I just don't want to hear what you're saying..."

Upon hearing Wen Shui's reply, Chao Yun forced a stiff smile.

"Then help me out from where you can't hear it."

She reached out and pointed at Wen Shui's face in the air: "However, please don't show that expression now."

Then she continued:

"Otherwise, seeing such lukewarm water, I might cry."

Seeing Chao Yun's somewhat downcast expression, Wen Shui was stunned for several seconds until the bus slowly pulled into the station before she came to her senses.

He responded with a wry smile:

"I really can't do anything with you, so I'll just go with you."

~Eighty-sixth defeat~ Completely different

Friday, May 23

The two-day midterm exams passed in a relatively relaxed atmosphere.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the exam.

After watching the proctor take the last chemistry exam paper from the student on duty, Wen Shui's tense thoughts, which had been running for two days, gradually relaxed.

Compared to the mock exams he had taken in cram schools, the questions released by Shilu High School were significantly easier, and he was quite satisfied with the exam.

Of course, this doesn't guarantee a good ranking.

[I still have quite a few problems with science subjects. If things are still like this by the end of the semester, I might as well switch to humanities in my second year of high school.]

After the teachers finished organizing the test papers and left the classroom, an astonishing commotion suddenly erupted in the once quiet school building.

The school was already past dismissal time, but no one left the school buildings. Each class was caught up in a frenzy called "checking answers".

In Class C of the first year, since everyone was still not very familiar with each other's academic level, they still divided into several small groups to discuss as usual.

Seeing more and more female classmates crowding towards her, and knowing that they were there to get answers from Himegami Karen, Wen Shui did not rush away as usual.

He sat in his seat, looking down at his phone, the sounds of the girls surrounding Himegami talking all around him.

"Hey! Hime-miya, how did your chemistry exam go?"

"It's so-so, I'm not very good at science subjects."

"Are you kidding me again? Didn't you do well on your physics test yesterday?"

"Hmph, that's because a master gave me guidance."