What a twist! The loser heroine!

After noticing that Wen Shui had turned to look at her, she couldn't maintain her calm demeanor anymore. Ji Gong winked quietly and gestured with her chin toward his drawer, seemingly urging him to look at the note.

Oh no, she seems completely oblivious to how adorable she is doing all these things.

Wen Shui, whose face had turned red without him noticing, quickly turned around and reached for the crumpled paper in the drawer.

After taking the paper, Wen Shui glanced around the classroom and, finding no one paying attention to her, unfolded it like a thief.

The note was small, with a short sentence written in neat and beautiful handwriting on the crumpled paper.

"Want to take a lunch break together?"

Without any apparent reason, the boy immediately hid the note in his pocket.

Ten minutes later.

"So, this is the last question we'll be discussing today."

The math teacher glanced at the clock in the classroom. Today's lesson seemed to be going exceptionally smoothly; he finished what he was going to say two minutes early. Normally a relaxed teacher, he simply sat down at the podium and began tidying up his lesson plan.

"Well, there's still a while before get out of class ends, so I'll stop here for now. If you need anything in the last two minutes, feel free to come and ask me."

"Students can discuss the questions they just asked, as long as they don't disturb other classes."

Since the teacher had said so, the students in the class started to discuss it quietly among themselves. Of course, the topic of discussion was not math problems, but the lunch break that was about to begin.

"Warm Water classmate."

Himegami Karen lay on the table, looking at the back of Wen Shui's head, and whispered:

"Do you have any recommendations for a place to take a lunch break?"

【I don't know either, because I usually eat alone at my seat.】

Seeing the boy fall silent, Hua Lian pouted slightly in disappointment. She secretly opened her phone, and her chat history with her friend from a few days ago came into view.

"Chihaya~ Is there any quiet place in Ishizuki?" — "Ah, is Karen transferring here?"

"Yes, I should be able to report tomorrow."

"A quieter place, please~ Are you saying I have to go on the very first day?!" — "I've waited five months!"

"Oh dear, I can't do anything with you~ [Picture] Here you go, this is the rooftop of the old school building. You can go up from the fire escape. I'll take you to visit it tomorrow."

"Sigh~ Chihaya actually knows about such a remote place?" — "It faces the playground, so it's better for monitoring the situation in case of emergency."

"Haha... It sounds a bit scary, but thank you so much! I'll definitely treat you to a meal sometime when I have time!" — "Mhm."

Himegami Karen put her phone back in her pocket and, taking advantage of the moment when no one was looking at her, secretly poked Onami's back.

Seeing the boy's electric-like reaction, she smiled slightly and whispered—

"Come find me on the rooftop of the old school building."

"Jingle Bell……"

Just then, the bell rang, and the math teacher, who had been waiting for the bell, rushed out of the classroom first.

The students looked at each other—

"Hime-kun, want to grab some bento together?!" someone extended an invitation.

Once one person takes the lead, others will naturally follow suit, and soon all the girls in the class were eager to join in.

To the students' surprise, Karen Himegami took her lunchbox out of her bag and stood up abruptly.

"Everyone, I'm so sorry, I already had plans to meet a friend I haven't seen in a long time." She bowed slightly apologetically and clasped her hands together, asking for her classmates' forgiveness.

"I'll go with everyone next time I have the chance! It's a promise!"

Princess Himegami waved to her classmates without any rudeness, then turned and walked out of the classroom with an air of nonchalance.

Just before leaving, she glanced at Wen Shui with expectant eyes, pretending to be casual.

"Sigh, what a pity..."

"Yeah, I was actually hoping to get along well with her..."

After Princess Hime left, the atmosphere in the class suddenly became somber.

Seeing this, Wen Shui waited for about half a minute, then looked down and took out her lunch: a piece of coconut bread, and then quietly left the classroom as if nothing had happened.

Before leaving, he made a point of observing his classmates' reactions, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that everyone remained unmoved.

Well, in the end, no one would believe that someone like me, an outsider in the class, would have a relationship with Himegami-kun.

With these thoughts in mind, Wen Shui strode towards the old school building.

The old school building wasn't far from where Wen Shui's classroom was, but it was a place rarely visited. Wen Shui slowly climbed the escape ladder, its paint peeling off to reveal red rust.

The long, winding staircase made Wen Shui involuntarily drift into memories—

◇

On the night of the New Year's visit to the shrine, Onami sat in a chair in her room, playing with the 5-yen coin she had received from the visit.

"Hime-no-miya, Hime-no-miya Karen..."

Wen Shui repeated the name of the girl he had just met today. Having no friends throughout his junior high school years, he was now lost in thought because of this unexpected encounter.

"Why would a girl like her be interested in me..."

"Click."

That was the sound of the doorknob being turned. With her parents not home, Wen Shui knew without even guessing who it was.

"Brother, are you still awake?"

Feeling a soft touch in her arms, Yoshiki gently leaned against her brother.

"Hmm... I'm thinking about some things."

"Is it about that girl from this morning?"

"As expected, you can't hide it from Yoshiki."

Yoshiki smiled, took the coin from Wen Shui's fingertips, and examined it carefully for a long time with his brown eyes.

"5 yen... I see, so this is the flag..."

Yoshiki lowered his head and murmured in a low voice that was different from usual, so soft that even Wen Shui couldn't hear him.

She took out a small, transparent box, opened it, and solemnly placed the coin in the center of the box.

"Make sure you keep this coin safe, brother."

"Yoshiki, what's the point of doing this?"

Wen Shui felt that Jia Shu seemed a little off today, but didn't pay much attention to it.

He lifted the transparent box, letting it refract colorful light spots under the bedroom light.

“If you meet her again in the future, brother, please return this to her.” Yoshiki looked at the coin and said slowly, “It is said that this kind of ceremony is called returning a debt of gratitude, and it will make the friendship even stronger.”

"Hmm? Is this some new setting?"

“Yes, it’s a new setting, brother…” Yoshiki’s voice trailed off: “After all, it’s best to take down a tough opponent as soon as possible.”

"Hmm? Did Yoshiki just say something?"

"It was probably just sleep talking, elder brother. I'm very sleepy, I'm going to sleep now."

"Go back to your own bed and sleep..."

◇

Wen Shui reached into his waist pocket, and the unique, hard texture of the transparent box containing coins brought him back to reality from his reverie.

"Does returning to one's roots strengthen friendships?"

"They weren't even friends..."

Wen Shui shook her head, took her hands out of her pockets, and continued walking upstairs.

The spiral escape staircase is actually quite short at the very end leading to the rooftop, so short that Wen Shui can turn around and see the clear blue sky dotted with a few clouds.

As you ascend the last step, a touch of pink gradually spreads across the oil painting-like background.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Wen Shui."

Himegami Karen stood with her hands behind her back, leaning slightly forward, and offered a casual greeting not far from the stairwell exit.

She wasn't looking at the playground, nor at the sky. In her crimson eyes, there was only the figure of Wen Shui and Yan.

A gentle breeze ruffled her long hair, and the girl, with a bright smile, waited quietly for him to speak.

"..."

Wen Shuihe wanted to say something.

But when faced with Himegami Karen, who seemed to be radiating the aura of a female protagonist, all those cool, cheesy lines she had learned from light novels, which were clearly lingering on her tongue, suddenly vanished.

"Sorry, I didn't know the way and it took some time."

Finally, the boy, his face slightly flushed, looked away and uttered a hollow sentence.

"Pfft..."

Princess Hime could no longer hold back.

"What's there to apologize for?" She stuck out her little tongue cutely and made a face. "I shouldn't have said 'I've been waiting for you for a long time,' after all, Wen Shui is indeed not good with words."

【That's a bit hurtful, Himegami-san. I'm going to cry.】

Sensing the change in atmosphere, Wen Shui quickly spoke up, wanting to take control: "Um, is there something you need from me?"

"Just like we said in class." Himegami Karen smiled and looked at Wen Shui: "Catching up with a friend I haven't contacted in a long time. After all, this friend and I haven't exchanged messages for five whole months since we added each other on Line, right?"

As she spoke, she straightened her skirt and sat down on the tiled platform of the rooftop.

"Warm Water, do you know what the best way to catch up with old friends is?"

She tilted her head to look at the warm water.

"W-what?"

"It's a dinner party, hehe. Dad says that at dinner parties, old friends rekindle their friendships, and even complete strangers can make friends, so—"

"I'd like to have lunch with Wen Shui."

After the girl finished speaking, she patted the spot next to her, and her gentle feminine aura seemed to solidify, turning into shimmering points of light.

Wait, wait a minute, isn't this moving a little too fast? And your dad was probably referring to a drinking party, right?

Wen Shui froze on the spot, unsure of what to do in the face of the girl's enthusiasm.

After waiting for a while and finding that Wen Shui hadn't moved, Ji Gong puffed out her cheeks slightly as if she was angry.

She stood up, grabbed Wen Shui's hand, and dragged him to sit down next to her.

"Warm Water!" She cleared her throat, feigning seriousness. "I've been holding back from talking to you in front of my classmates all morning! Do you know how agonizing that is for someone seeing an old friend?"

Kazuhiko Nukumizu, who was about to respond with "our relationship hasn't reached the level of friends yet," was stunned after hearing this.

Recalling Himegami Karen's suggestive advances towards him that morning, and noticing her deliberately defying his social desires to meet him alone, could it be...?

She was being considerate of my feelings...

Why would you go to such lengths for me?

"What do you mean by 'this is the case'?! We're friends, aren't we? Shouldn't friends take care of each other?" Princess Himegami shouted back.

Uh, I've finally said what was on my mind...

Now that things had come to this, and there was no longer any way to avoid the question, Wen Shui said, "It was just a brief encounter, nothing special..."

Before she could finish speaking, Princess Hime covered her lips with her hand.

"It's nothing..."

"Then, may I ask, what should Himegami Karen do—"

"How can I become Wenshui Kazuhiko's friend?"

Himegami Karen, her gaze fixed intently on the warm water, posed her question, word by word, with utmost seriousness.

~Eighth Defeat~ Himegami Karen Launches a Powerful Attack