What a twist! The loser heroine!

"Sorry, Xiao Quan, I was just thinking about something."

Xiao Quan smiled helplessly: "Anyway, it's related to your brother, right? Come on, get in the car."

"Ugh?"

Yoshiki then noticed the red sedan parked on the side of the road.

"Xiao Quan, do you have a driver's license...?"

"How can a junior high school student get a driver's license?!" Xiao Quan complained. "My uncle is driving. He's going fishing in Otowa today and can give us a ride to Toyohashi Station."

"I see, thank you, Xiao Quan."

"Why are you so polite?"

These two best friends from junior high school got into Uncle Quan's private car together.

Uncle Quan's driving skills are amazing, and he drives extremely fast. However, Yoshiki still won Uncle Quan's praise during the short journey to Toyohashi Station thanks to her excellent manners and conversation.

Ten minutes later, in the plaza in front of Toyohashi Station, Kon and Yoshiki waved goodbye to their uncle.

"Hehe, Xiao Quan's uncle is really something, saying that she'll grow up to be a good bride or something, so embarrassing..."

Yoshiki cupped her flushed cheeks in her hands, a smile spreading across her face, her little head seemingly lost in thought.

“Oh, right—” Xiao Quan glanced at her best friend, who was a serious brother-obsessed person.

[I just don't know who the groom is.]

The second half of the sentence must never be said; this is my intuition as a longtime best friend of Jia Shu.

Yoshiki took out his phone and glanced at the time.

"It's still early, it's still half an hour before 9 o'clock, let's find a good spot to observe first."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Quan pointed to the glass wall of the building facing the plaza at Toyohashi Station: "How about we go to the train station first? We can see the plaza from the second floor over there too."

"But, but then I won't be able to hear the conversation..." Yoshiki said anxiously.

Xiao Quan flicked Jia Shu's forehead helplessly.

"You're so stupid! There's nowhere to hide in this square. You'll be discovered."

“Alright then…” Yoshiki said, feeling wronged.

◇

On the second floor of the waiting room at Toyohashi Station, middle school student Yoshiki Onamizu, wearing a mask, sat at a table by the window, intently watching the people coming and going in the station square.

"Xiao Wen~ I ordered orange juice, would you like some?"

Xiao Quan walked over carrying two glasses of orange juice.

"Thank you, Xiao Quan."

Although he said that, Yoshiki didn't seem to really want to drink it.

"Don't be nervous," Xiao Quan patted his best friend on the shoulder. "Your brother hasn't arrived yet, calm down—"

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Quan felt Yoshiki's body trembling.

"Huh? Xiao Wen?"

Wen Shui Jia Shu's eyes lost their luster.

She stared intently at her older brother and sister, who were walking together from the platform towards the square—

"Himeko Hanako..." Yoshiki murmured to himself.

Following his best friend's gaze, Xiao Quan's eyes instantly focused on the beautiful girl with long pink hair next to Wen Shui.

"Is that Himegami Karen...? Wow, she looks so beautiful!" Xiao Quan exclaimed in surprise, then added casually, "Compared to—"

A chill ran through me.

"Kwon~ There's nothing to compare to." Yoshiki didn't turn around, but her cold voice was enough to make Kwon swallow the rest of her words.

[I won't say anything bad about your brother.] Xiao Quan thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Yoshiki gritted his teeth, silently calculating the distance between Himegami and his elder brother.

"Why is my brother riding the same bus as her...! Wait, that bus route is my brother's route to school!"

Yoshiki, seemingly realizing something, exuded an even stranger aura.

She carefully observed Himeko's actions: she naturally invited him to sit on the bench, naturally started a conversation, and naturally piqued her brother's interest...

"This won't do...this won't do..."

Xiao Quan looked at Jia Shu, who had fallen into some strange state, and a bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

Just then, Mr. Koba arrived beside Himegami and the other two.

"Huh?!" Yoshiki pressed against the glass, letting out a cute, strange cry: "Why is Komari Rabbit an older woman?! Her character design is not what I expected!"

Fortunately, this misunderstanding was cleared up after the real little rabbit appeared.

◇

Half an hour later.

On the JR train from Toyohashi to Nagoya, Yoshiki, who was hiding himself with sunglasses and a mask, pulled Kon to sit in a seat near the three of them, including Nukumizu.

"Good, the plan is close to success." After confirming that his older brother had not discovered him, Yoshiki felt relieved and opened his notebook while focusing his attention on the conversation between the three of them.

[Just like the previous investigation, Little Ju Rabbit, no, Senior Little Ju Rabbit, and Big Brother really get along very well.] Yoshiki's pen scribbled on the paper.

[There's no one sitting next to my older brother. If only I could sit there... No, this isn't the time to think about that.]

[Senior Ju doesn't seem to speak up much.]

[Hime is trying to start a conversation.]

[The topic has turned to light novels?! Girls like that read light novels? Wait, could it be specifically for my brother...?]

[Furthermore, she didn't use honorifics when speaking to her older brother!]

Yoshiki suddenly tightened his grip on the pen.

"Small……"

[Little Mariko actually started chatting with Princess Himeko... and she seemed completely uninhibited.]

"Xiao Wen..."

【This won't do! It seems the home interview time needs to be moved up—】

Yoshiki felt a tap on her shoulder. She quickly snapped out of her intense concentration.

"Xiao Wen!" Her best friend deliberately lowered her voice, but her trembling voice sounded like something was wrong.

"What's wrong, Xiao Quan?"

Xiao Quan didn't reply, but just stared intently at the connection between the carriages.

Following her gaze, Yoshiki's body trembled involuntarily.

The older, sexy beauty who had just struck up a conversation with Wen Shui in the station square was now standing behind the transparent glass of the train carriage door, seemingly nonchalant. But what she was holding in her hand was definitely not so nonchalant.

It was a camera that pointed directly at the three people in the warm water, with its indicator light emitting a faint green light.

"Why is she secretly taking pictures of her older brother?!"

Jia Shu immediately stood up, before Xiao Quan could even stop her. After watching helplessly as her best friend walked towards the person taking the photos, Xiao Quan gritted his teeth and followed.

"Wow!"

When Yoshiki opened the carriage door, Ms. Koba had already calmly put away the camera and turned to leave. As an experienced recorder, maintaining a calm mindset at all times was her secret weapon.

"Please wait a moment." Yoshiki's suppressed anger rang out behind Ms. Koba.

"Were you taking pictures secretly just now?"

Ms. Xiaoba raised an eyebrow, turned around, and glanced at the two girls who looked like middle school students in front of her.

"You two—" she began, "seem to know Wen Shui."

Seeing Yoshiki and Kon both stunned, Teacher Koba opened her mouth in surprise.

"You guessed right. I didn't expect two more members... even middle school students..." she whispered excitedly, "Warm Water Kazuhiko... he's truly an eye-opener—"

"Um, although I don't know what you're talking about, please delete the video you've recorded and stop."

Wen Shuijia frowned and said firmly, "Otherwise, I will call the train police."

“Xiao Wen, wouldn’t that be—” Xiao Quan quickly pulled Jia Shu.

Seeing the two react this way, Teacher Xiaoba quickly figured out the situation.

"I see, so you're here to observe the three of them too."

Teacher Xiaoba smiled and raised the camera.

"In that case, perhaps we can—"

She deleted all the previous videos without leaving any backups.

"Help each other."

◇

Inside Nagoya Station.

Teacher Xiaoba led Yoshiki and the other person around the station.

Although he was moving around without any apparent pattern, Yoshiki could clearly sense that the distance between himself and his older brother was neither too close nor too far, and he could always see all three of them clearly.

She glanced up at Ms. Xiao Ba beside her. This woman, who called herself her elder brother, was clearly a seasoned stalker...

In terms of danger level, she is probably much more dangerous than Himegami Karen.

"Where will the three of them go next?"

Standing at the corner of the station souvenir shop, Ms. Xiaoba asked. From their conversation on the train, she already knew that these two junior high school girls seemed to know everything about Wen Shui and the other two's itinerary.

"Next, we're going to a ramen shop. It's located in a small alley," Yoshiki immediately shared the information.

Although she felt somewhat uncomfortable being with Mr. Koba, she wanted to try her best to maintain this strange working relationship in order to obtain more information today.

“Is that so… In that case, we’ll have to go into the store to investigate.” Ms. Koba glanced at the casual clothes that Yoshiki and Kon were wearing.

She went into the souvenir shop and came out shortly afterward with two trench coats.

"Come on, put them on, it'll be an extra layer of protection."

"We can't accept this..." Xiao Quan and Jia Shu quickly refused.

"Don't worry, consider this my off-site assistance to you." Teacher Xiaoba licked his lips: "I originally had a date today that would have cost even more money, but since it's been canceled, I'll give you a special favor."

And so, Ms. Koba led two middle school students, who were wearing trench coats and looked rather furtive, out of Nagoya Station.

Beside a huge camphor tree in front of Nagoya Station, Mr. Koba stood in the shadows and glanced at the three people from Nukusui not far away before turning back.

"Then let's part ways here," she said goodbye.

"Isn't Mr. Koba coming with us?" Yoshiki asked, puzzled.

“I’m too conspicuous, and I’ve had contact with them, so I’ll be discovered,” Ms. Koba explained, looking up at the towering Nagoya TV Tower.

"Moreover, a place that suits me better is not far away."

She remembered that there were telescopes available on the observation deck on the 13th floor.

◇

"Thus, today's observation plan has ended in partial failure..."

As night fell, Yoshiki Wenshui locked his bedroom door and began writing a briefing in his notebook.

Kon and Yoshiki secretly followed them into the ramen shop, and in order not to attract attention, they naturally ordered a bowl of ramen as well.

But to my surprise, the ramen shop used some kind of seasoning that made the ramen smell so good...

Although the food was delicious, the two junior high school students, who were too engrossed in the food, lost sight of their target.

Even with the help of a map, the older brother had already wandered off somewhere. To prevent any accidents from happening, Quan, who had been worried for a long time, decided to forcibly take Yoshiki back to Toyohashi.