What a twist! The loser heroine!

"well?!!!"

Just as they were excitedly discussing who the expert Princess Ji had mentioned was, Wen Shui Kazuhiko, who had been keeping his head down, put his phone back in his pocket.

He silently put all the stationery back into his schoolbag, then got up and left the classroom.

Surrounded by the crowd, Ji Gong glanced curiously at Wen Shui's back, but the next second, his seat was taken by a girl in the class who always dressed very flamboyantly.

"So, you're a boy, right? Are you handsome? I heard that at the book club that day—"

This girl, who could be called a potential hot girl, was now a hundred times more excited about the gossip about the Himegami than she had been when she was asking for the answer.

Although she was very dissatisfied, Karen Himegami maintained her social composure in front of her classmates. After briefly examining the girl's somewhat deliberate makeup and accessories, she smiled and cleverly changed the subject.

"Ugh, talking about exams all the time is exhausting, isn't it?" she said with a smile to the classmates surrounding her. "Want to guess where we're going on this field trip?"

"Oh yeah! Maybe we'll go to the zoo?!"

"Toyohashi Park is also a possibility."

"What's the point of going to a place that's been there a million times?"

"..."

Seeing that Himegami Karen had successfully changed the subject, she smiled with relief. Just as she was wondering why there were more classmates next to her, she didn't notice that a girl had quietly left the classroom.

◇

Meanwhile, warm water was flowing through the school building's corridors.

Wen Shui shook her head speechlessly as she sidestepped two classmates who were walking towards her, jostling and looking at answers on their notebooks.

[As expected, everyone's excited now that the exams are over.]

Turning my head to look through the window into the classroom next door, I saw boys and girls wearing Shilu school uniforms. They were all unfamiliar faces, but the way they were discussing the answers with smiles on their faces was no different from the students in Class C.

We're all really the same, aren't we?

As he walked around the corner, a vibrant red color suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

Looking up at the sign, Wen Shui realized that she had arrived at the door of Class A.

"Warm, warm water."

As if she had been waiting for a long time, Kokoro, who was leaning against the wall with her backpack, straightened up as soon as she saw him coming.

She smoothed her bangs, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and then asked in a low voice, "Are we... are we going to the community office today?"

"I won't go today, someone has invited me to come."

Wen Shui shook his head.

"That's really... really amazing."

This guy is still as sharp-tongued as ever...

Wen Shui's lips twitched slightly, and he asked, "So, you were waiting for me here all this time?"

"Yes, yes." Xiao Ju nodded: "How did the exam go?"

"There's not much pressure, how about Xiao Ju?"

"I...I'm fine too."

"How confident you are."

"Well, after all, I've already reviewed everything." Xiao Ju revealed a confident smile, although Wen Shui didn't know where that confidence came from.

"And also, thank you for your help at the book club."

As she spoke, she took a small, exquisitely packaged parcel from her pocket and handed it to Wenshui.

"This, this is a thank-you gift."

"There's no need to be so polite, is there?"

Subconsciously, Wen Shui wanted to politely decline.

"Enough with the nagging, just accept the lukewarm water."

"Uh... well then."

Watching Wen Shui put his gift into his pocket, Xiao Ju smiled. She gently patted his arm and whispered, "Okay, okay, since someone has something to do with you, don't take too long—"

Just as she was about to say something more, she saw a splash of sky blue suddenly appear in front of her and Wen Shui.

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

The voice she could never forget echoed in a corner of the small school building.

"Yes, I have a few things to talk about with a friend."

Wen Shui pointed at Xiao Ju and nodded at Banami, who was stuffing a gummy candy into her mouth.

"Oh, I see..." Bana noticed that Anza's expression had suddenly dimmed slightly for some reason, but she quickly recovered. She swallowed the gummy candy in her mouth and nodded.

"I understand. I'll head out now. You two can continue your conversation."

"it is good."

Just after he finished speaking, a force that should not be underestimated suddenly came from his arm.

Wen Shui quickly shifted her gaze from Banami's back to Komari, only to find her gripping her wrists tightly with both hands, asking nervously, "Was it Banami who asked you out?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Ju pursed her lips and silently released her hands.

She lowered her head, turned her face away, letting her bangs cover her expression, and asked softly:

"We're still friends, right? Warm water."

"Of course, why are you suddenly asking this?"

"N-nothing, you...you go see Bana."

Just like before...

With her head down, Xiaoju waited for a while, but didn't hear any footsteps beside her. She raised her head in disbelief and looked at Wen Shuiheyan, who was still by her side.

"Why……?"

"Is that even a question? As a friend, I just feel it's not right to leave you here."

"……Fool."

“Repeating the same thing too many times will make people resistant, Xiao Ju.”

Upon hearing this, she laughed happily:

"N-It's none of your business."

~Eighty-seventh defeat~ Reverse movement

After finally managing to walk with a cute little animal with red hair for a while and calm her down, Wen Shui, carrying her schoolbag, arrived at the third floor of the old school building, following the location they had agreed upon on their phones.

Due to the opening of the new school building, coupled with insufficient school funding and the postponement of the student enrollment expansion plan, the old school building of Shilu High School was temporarily used as a venue for various temporary teaching activities.

At least that's what the school board says.

Although not many people come here, there is still basic lighting and electricity, and the corridors are cleaned twice a week, so there are no ghost stories circulating on campus.

However, first-year students occasionally hear rumors from upperclassmen on campus.

After school, this place often seems to be a popular spot for couples to meet.

Are you a couple...?

Pushing open the not-too-heavy iron door, Wen Shui walked into the somewhat dimly lit corridor.

The old school building occupies a much smaller area than the new one, and its structure is a simple linear arrangement. Standing in the middle of the corridor, you only need to turn your gaze to the left to see a corner of the escape ladder handrail through the hollow part of the emergency exit door.

Unfortunately, because the view is blocked, the warm water is completely out of sight right now.

He turned to look at the culprit blocking his view.

With her schoolbag slung over her shoulder and a cookie in her mouth, Anna Hanami stood in the hallway, peering curiously through the classroom window.

Wen Shui coughed softly to indicate that she had arrived, so as not to startle Banami.

These are skills he gradually mastered while spending time with Kojima Chika, and they are very practical.

"Oh, Mr. Wenshui, good afternoon."

Hana saw Anja smile at him.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

No, not at all.

After she finished speaking, she turned her head and looked into the classroom as if there were some treasures inside.

So Wen Shui walked over and stood next to her, and together they looked into the unused classroom.

The spacious classroom had only a few locked glass cabinets standing alone, with desks and chairs neatly stacked on one side, which looked like a special classroom used for experiments.

However, due to the lack of use and cleaning over a long period of time, a layer of dust has accumulated on it.

He asked with some curiosity, "What are you looking at?"

"I took a short walk around before Wen Shuijun arrived."

Banami explained, "I heard that there used to be a home economics classroom in the old school building, so I wanted to look for it, but it seems that there isn't one on the first three floors, which is a little disappointing."

Why are you looking for a home economics classroom?

"When you mention home economics, you're bound to think of cooking, right? Maybe the stove and seasonings are still usable... but it doesn't look like there are any in this classroom."

[There were supposed to be cleaning and laundry lessons, did you eat them all?]

"This is probably a chemistry lab."

He turned around, leaning against the glass window: "Even if we find the home economics classroom, we still won't be able to cook. Not only is the door locked, but even if we could get in, all the seasonings would be expired."

"I don't mind, I can bring all these and ingredients from home."

“…Okay, I acknowledge your passion for cooking.”

After a sigh, Wen Shui asked, "So, what's the purpose of suddenly contacting me on LINE today?"

"Uh, well."

She glanced at the warm water with a somewhat mysterious look.

"Let's talk as we walk."

"I have no opinion."

◇

The two followed the emergency exit to the fire escape. As they walked up, Banami said, "I told you before that I planned to start the operation after the midterm exams, Nukumi-kun, do you remember?"

"Although I don't remember very clearly, that was roughly what you meant." Wen Shui nodded, then asked with some curiosity, "But what are you planning to do? Not to mention you deliberately avoided the salt-making training before—"

"I've been running with Lemon lately! I'm hoping to become a more athletic girl."

At this point, the athletic girl, Anna Yagami, suddenly lowered her voice: "But... why haven't I lost weight yet?"

Let's not try to bring up such sad topics, okay? I'll kindly avoid them.

Moreover, this situation is very likely caused by her own actions.

"Being an athletic girl means you need a lot of energy for training!"

Wen Shui silently imagined in her heart the scene of Banami going straight to some unknown restaurant to eat to her heart's content after finishing her run, and sighed inwardly.

If that's the case, the calories you just burned will probably be replenished very quickly... It's a good thing that you haven't gained weight.

He remained silent, pretending to be temporarily deaf.

After a long silence, Banami finally broke free from her rambling thoughts about her weight.

She nimbly crossed the corner of the fire escape first, then smiled and said to Wen Shui, "By the way, Lemon mentioned when she was taking me running these past two days that she'll be participating in a competition on Sunday."

"Yes."

Wen Shui answered reflexively, then gave a strange look: "Wait, are you going too?"