What a twist! The loser heroine!

Shiki-ya yawned slightly, her exaggerated fake nail polish shimmering in the sunlight. She slumped weakly into the chair, as if the cleaning work had exhausted her.

"Hime-miya... told me... that you are... Wen Shui from the Literature Club."

"Yes."

"What...are you doing here?" She slightly turned her white eyes, as if to prove that she was still alive.

Uh, but these contact lenses are still a bit scary...

But in order to get the book back, Wen Shui braced herself and said, "Well, when they checked my bag this morning, a member of the student council accidentally took one of the books I brought."

"I came to the student council to get my books back."

"What kind of...students?"

"Ugh?"

"appearance……"

"Ah, she's a girl with straight bangs and black hair, she looks very proper and well-behaved..."

“I understand…” Shikiya-senpai suddenly stood up, seemingly very interested in the girl: “Her name is… Tenaihoshi.”

"Tianya Star?"

“Tiara…star”.

Shiki-ya-senpai emphasized Tenaihoshi's name intermittently: "Today... she's not here."

"Did you go to the infirmary?"

"No...she...is the elected...vice president, so...she didn't participate in the preparations."

Wen Shui nodded and said, "Oh, that's a pity. I'll come back and ask again on Monday. Sorry to bother you."

"Wait a minute..." Shikiya suddenly leaned closer, staring at Wen Shui with his white eyes: "Help me clean—"

Before she could finish speaking, Shikiya collapsed limply into the warm water, as if all her strength had been drained away.

"Wow!"

"Senior!! Are you alright?!" Ji Gong hurriedly went to pull her up.

"Don't, don't touch those weird places! It's... it's weird warm water!" Xiao Ju rushed over as well.

"This is beyond our control!!!" Wen Shui, who was being tightly pressed against by the zombie-type hot senior, shouted in protest, on the verge of tears.

Kids, I think I need to go to the bathroom again.

After a moment of chaos, Komari and Himegami hurriedly carried Shikiya, who was still slightly conscious, out of the activity room and rushed to the infirmary.

For no apparent reason, Xiao Ju called him a pervert and threw three "go, go die" sips of warm water at him. Just like Shiki-ya-senpai had just done, he collapsed onto a chair in the activity room.

Recalling this "spectacular" day, Wen Shui forced an extremely ugly smile.

"In the end, why did they make me, a member of the arts and culture club, clean the student council's activity room?!"

Well, what's done is done, let's mop the floor first.

Wen Shuisheng stood up dejectedly, picked up the mop, and was about to clean up the red ink on the floor.

"Deng Deng~"

An unfamiliar cell phone sound effect rang out in the quiet activity room.

Wen Shui took out her phone, and the red buoy on the Line app caught her eye.

Open Line, and you'll see a friend request quietly sitting in the "New Contacts" section.

"Yana-Chan"

"Ya-na...Yana...Yanami?!"

Oh... I remember...

Please, after this is done, I'll treat you to dinner this weekend.

The voice of Hanami echoed in my mind.

Wen Shui stuffed her phone back into her pocket and let out a heavy sigh.

Sure enough, social interactions and such—

This is such a hassle.

A corner of Intermission Bookstore

Sunday, April 11, 2021. It has been almost half a month since the start of the first year of high school.

At 7:40 a.m., the weather was clear.

Jingwenguan Bookstore opens promptly at 8 a.m. every day, but by then many people have already formed a long queue in front of the door. The reason is simple: the latest batch of physical light novels has been released.

Many fans eagerly awaited the release of the latest volumes of popular works such as "Even Angels Have to Work?!" on this day, causing their wallets to shrink.

Kazuhiko Onamizu, who had been reading light novels since junior high school, naturally got up very early as well.

He looked down at the long list of pre-ordered books clutched tightly in his hand. Most of them were excellent works carefully selected for him by his sister, Yoshiki, though there were also a few quirky books that had become viral online.

As a discerning reader who pays close attention to the plot, Wen Shui wouldn't normally add those toilet paper books that rely entirely on illustrations to her reading list. However, recently, having joined a literary club and saved up some spare cash, so—

He glanced at the fourth volume of "Why I Can Hear Her Inner Thoughts," which was at the very bottom of the list.

"Well, I'll buy some toilet paper this time, just for MIFia-sensei's illustrations."

Wen Shui felt her clothes being tugged and lowered her head.

Xiao Ju Zhihua, whom I had arranged to queue up with in the arts and literature community group yesterday, was standing right next to me.

"Warm water, have you had breakfast?" she asked.

"No, I plan to go to the bakery next door after I buy the books..."

"Then, here you go." Xiao Ju took out a small croissant from her bag and handed it to Wen Shui. "If you don't eat breakfast in the morning and have to queue up, you might faint."

Wen Shui took the bread, glanced at the barcode, and it seemed to have just been bought from a 24-hour convenience store.

"Then, I'll pay you back 100 yen later."

"No, no need for that." Xiao Ju buried her face in the thin scarf, making it impossible for Wen Shui to see her expression. "Wen Shui, Wen Shui can just eat it directly."

Wen Shui recalled the memory of when she first met Xiao Ju and they ate lunch together during their lunch break.

"Really? I remember you were eating your younger siblings' leftovers before, Xiao Ju—"

“The past is the past, the present is the present,” Xiao Ju quickly said. “Recently, the situation at home has improved.”

"Oh, um... thank you." Wen Shui tore open the packaging bag, took out the bread, and took a bite.

"Guhehe~"

A chilling laugh from her aunt rang out behind her.

Wen Shui, with bread in her mouth, turned around and saw that Senior Yue Zhimu was adjusting her glasses, which reflected the bright sunlight.

"Shintaro, those two are really close~"

“Yes, yes,” echoed Tamaki, the senior student next to her.

That's right. After seeing that Xiao Ju and Wen Shui had arranged to meet tomorrow, the two presidents of the Literature Club also said they would come along.

As for why Wen Shui didn't send a private message to Xiao Ju? It's because he hadn't added Xiao Ju on Line and forgot that there was a function for private messaging in group chats.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ju, after seeing her hard-won opportunity to be alone ruined by that idiot Wen Shui, was so angry that she rolled around on her bed and cursed "Idiot Kazuhiko" for half an hour.

-

"By the way, what brings the two presidents here today?" Wen Shui asked.

President Tamaki immediately replied, "We're here to buy some review materials—"

[Oh right, both club presidents are third-year students, so they definitely need to focus more on their studies—]

"I'll also buy the latest volume of 'Girls' Paradise Is Only Open to Me,' which I've been looking forward to for a long time."

President Tamaki spoke loudly, a resolute expression on his face.

[I take back what I said earlier; the club president isn't exactly a normal person either.]

"What is that?! Shintaro! Stop just flirting with the girls in books all day long, okay?!"

Wow, Senior Moonwood used a chokehold technique!

"Didn't you also spend most of yesterday night talking to me about 'It's Possible Between an Emperor and His Favorite Minister'?!"

"What?! Shintaro, don't push your luck! That's just a normal hobby!"

"Then mine is just a normal hobby!"

"I'm telling you to look more at the people outside the books!!"

Seeing the two senior club presidents suddenly start bickering, Wen Shui smiled and calmly turned her head away.

Ah, these two are flirting again.

"Have you two come to the wrong place? Your original plan was to go to the city hall, right? Well, I'll pay for a taxi to take you to the marriage registration office."

While inwardly ranting and raving, Wen Shui smiled wryly at Xiao Ju Zhihua, who was looking at him with the same expression, as if they were telepathically in sync.

Then, as if on cue, the two of them shook their heads helplessly at the same time.

"Hehehe, Shintaro, look, they really do have a good relationship."

"No, no!"

Why is the reaction so strong only with warm water?

◇

On the second floor of the bookstore, Wen Shui, carrying a full shopping bag, took down the last book from the shelf, Volume 4 of "Why I Can Hear Her Inner Thoughts".

"Why does toilet paper that only relies on illustrations sell so well..." Wen Shui muttered to herself, frowning. "Sigh, I'll just have to wait until I get home and see what exciting things are waiting for me in the new issue."

He put the books into the shopping bag, then turned around and said, "Xiao Ju~ Have you picked out the books?"

"Not yet..." Xiao Ju held her little list and searched on the bookshelf.

"Can't you find the book?" Wen Shui raised an eyebrow. "Should we ask a clerk?"

"Ah, no, no need, it's in this section." She pointed to the top book on the bookshelf next to Wen Shui, "The Hidden Love Club in School," and said, "This is the only one left."

"OK, here you go." Wen Shui casually took the book down and put it in Xiao Ju's shopping bag, glancing at Xiao Ju's book list inadvertently.

"Wow, Xiao Ju, you bought so many romance novels!"

"Stop rambling, this is all for researching materials." Xiao Ju quickly hid the book list.

"Source?"

Wen Shui and Xiao Ju walked side by side to the counter to pay.

It wasn't until the bookstore clerk bowed to her in gratitude and she and Xiao Ju walked into the coffee shop that Wen Shui belatedly realized with surprise, "Ah, I see. Xiao Ju, you really do write novels."

"So, you're writing a romance novel..." Wen Shui looked at Xiao Ju with a suspicious gaze, her expression saying: I don't believe someone as shady as you can write a romance novel.

When Xiao Ju saw Wen Shui make that expression, she immediately raised her hand and gently nudged Wen Shui's waist.

"Wen Shui, what kind of look is that? It's so rude. Go to hell." Xiao Ju said in a low voice, "Who said you can't date if you're in a shady spot?"

"Huh?" Wen Shui asked in surprise, "Xiao Ju, you're studying this too?"

"W-what?"

"Even if it's a dark corner, you still have to fall in love," written by Kuonto-sensei. Xiaoju, what you just said sounds similar to the book title.

Clearly, Wen Shui saw Xiao Ju's body suddenly tremble.

"Xiaoju?"

"Ah, ah, no, nothing," Xiao Ju stammered. "Then, then I'll go, go read it tonight."

While chatting, the two arrived at the café that had opened in the library.

Due to the recent bus route changes in town, the bus that Xiao Ju takes has had several fewer trips a day, with the next bus not departing for another two hours.