What a twist! The loser heroine!

A cheerful and generous voice came from his partner, and even though he was wearing a large apron, it was easy to see that he had a strong physique from consistent exercise.

Even in home economics class, Hakamada Sosuke is still so sunny and handsome. He seems to be from a completely different world than me.

To be honest, when Hakamada was first assigned to her group, Wen Shui thought he had used some tricks to deliberately find an opportunity to talk to her. After all, Wen Shui still remembered how he seemed hesitant to speak at noon.

However, judging from his skillful movements as he took out the flour and poured it into the container, it didn't seem like he was specifically looking for me to talk to.

So Wen Shui had no choice but to try to start the conversation herself.

"Ah, um, nice to meet you, Hakamada-kun."

Wen Shui took two eggs out of the refrigerator and turned around, only to find that Hakamada had already put the egg mixture into an empty bowl and was about to stir it, his movements so skillful that he didn't seem like a beginner at all.

He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Wow, Hakamada seems to be quite good at cooking—"

I was so sorry, I thought you were an athletic cooking idiot before...

"Ah, well." Hakamada said with an awkward smile as he stirred the eggs. "After all, Anzu often came to my house to play when she was little. If I don't have any snacks to offer her, she'll scold me."

"Hana-chan is really going all out for food," Wen Shui Kazuhiko commented cautiously.

"That's right, because of her, I gradually learned how to cook..."

Hakamada seemed to recall his childhood memories with Hanami, and smiled helplessly. He looked at Numi skillfully preparing the filter and other utensils, somewhat surprised: "But speaking of which, Numi-kun, you don't seem to be a novice either?"

"Well, my parents are often not home, and my younger sister sometimes comes home late, so I prepare some of the meals."

Wen Shui smiled involuntarily when she thought of Jia Shu: "However, she only goes into battle occasionally; it's mainly my sister who does it."

"Oh~ it sounds like Wenshui and I are really the same kind of people." Hakamada poured the egg mixture into the strainer that Wenshui had prepared, and while the impurities were being separated, he gave Wenshui a big "I understand you" smile.

Why are you making that face like you're seeing one of your own kind? Wen Shui raised an eyebrow.

【Wait a moment--】

Wen Shui thought of a very terrifying possibility, which made his eyes widen and he even stopped what he was doing.

[Huh?! So Hakamada-san really treats Hanami-san like a little sister?!]

"Warm Water, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly standing here?" Hakamada stretched out his hand, which was covered in flour, and waved it in front of Warm Water.

"Ah, no, it's nothing." Wen Shui's eyes twitched as she continued her housekeeping internship.

It seems that Banami's intuition is frighteningly accurate.

Of course, it's not about the part where "Himemiya will take Hakamada away," but rather the part where "Hakamada will be taken away."

After all, as someone who is completely like a younger sister to your childhood friend, what do you have to offer to win over the next group of newcomers?

With a strange sense of melancholy, Wenshui glanced at Banami, who was being lectured by her partner for eating cream ingredients, and finally offered her sincere blessings for her relationship.

[Keep it up, Hanami-kun. You have a long way to go.]

After a brief conversation with Hakamada Sosuke, Nukusui discovered that this usually carefree and straightforward guy didn't seem to be the type to be difficult to get along with.

So he mustered up his courage and asked, "Um...during lunch break, it seemed like Hakamada-kun wanted to talk to me about something?"

Unexpectedly, after the words were spoken, it was Hakamada who became troubled. His movements as he handled the flour slowed down, as if he was trying to formulate his thoughts. Seeing this, Wenshui helped him while quietly waiting for Hakamada to speak.

Fortunately, Hakamada Sosuke is a well-known outgoing person in the class and is not the type who finds it difficult to speak his mind.

He spoke after a short while.

"Warm Water, are you currently pursuing Apricot Vegetable?"

His very first words were heavyweight.

"ha?!!!!!"

Wen Shui's sudden shout startled his classmate. Realizing his lapse in composure, he immediately bowed repeatedly to the teacher and classmates to apologize.

After the storm had passed, Hakamada said in a low voice, "Nuku-kun, the reaction was so strong. It seems I wasn't wrong."

"Wait a minute, there might be some of these..."

"Well, but if the person is you, Wen Shui, I'm somewhat relieved—"

Why doesn't this guy listen to others? Could he be hard of hearing? Is he the male lead?

"That's not true!" Wen Shui quickly interrupted Hakamada's strange declaration.

He shook his head vigorously, then explained quickly in a low voice, "I haven't had any interaction with Hanami-kun at all before, so why would Hakamada-kun think that way??"

"Because I saw you guys at the dessert shop on Saturday."

"Huh?" Now it was Wen Shui's turn to be stunned.

"Ah, on Saturday when I was jogging to the climbing team, I passed that dessert shop, and strangely enough, there seemed to be a long-haired middle school student staring at the dessert shop from the dark corner of the intersection—"

"Let's not talk about that middle school student anymore, let's get back to your story."

As if trying to stop something, Wenshui stopped Hakamada from speaking.

"Oh, okay, because Xingcai goes to that shop often, so I've been keeping an eye on it."

As Hakamada spoke, he scratched his head, getting flour in his hair, but he didn't seem to notice. He continued, "Then I saw you and Anzu at the dessert shop, chatting happily."

"Forehead……"

Now that Hakamada had seen it, Nukusui felt there was no need to hide it anymore, so he nodded frankly and said, "That's right. I did a small favor for Hachimi-san, so she treated me to dinner on Saturday."

"...But this is definitely not a date, you have to believe me."

"Really? But Anzu seems to be in much better spirits since she came back on Saturday. Isn't that because she went out with you?"

[As expected, Hakamada-kun is acting a bit strange too.]

"In short, I am not pursuing Hanami-kun, and we probably won't have any more contact in the future."

Warm Water shook her head, stopping Hakamada's wandering thoughts, and continued making cookies, saying helplessly:

"If she's in a better mood, it probably means there's been some progress regarding you."

"Sigh, my matter?" Hakamada pondered for a moment, then seemed to suddenly realize something.

"Ah! Speaking of which, during lunch break today, Himegami-san gave our whole class a gift bag, and I even took the opportunity to apologize to her and clear up the misunderstanding. Is this progress?"

"Well... more or less." Wen Shui turned her head to the side.

[It was clearly Hanami who wasn't going to stop you first, this guy can't even tell the difference between what's important and what's not...]

"But speaking of which, Himegami-san is really kind—Natsumizu-san should have received it too, that Nagoya specialty sweet."

"Oh, snacks?"

Wen Shuihe stared blankly at the cookie that was gradually taking shape in his hand.

"Oh? Snacks, everyone got some, but it seems like Onami wasn't in the classroom during lunch break..." Hakamada continued talking to himself.

"Ah...snacks. Yes, I received them, snacks." Wen Shui nodded.

He washed his hands in the sink and touched his pockets with the back of his wet hands.

The tactile sensation of the keychain was vividly conveyed to my mind.

Wen Shui turned her head and looked at Himegami Karen, who was showing off her skills not far away and was surrounded by people because she made animal-patterned cookies.

【dessert……?】

~The Twenty-Second Defeat~ One of the increasingly lively literary clubs

After finishing Monday's classes, we spent another long time in a special Gansu-Xia version of a life philosophy class.

Wen Shui picked up her schoolbag and prepared to head to the literature club's office.

"I'll go later."

As I passed by the Hime Palace, I heard her whispering.

Wen Shui glanced back at the classmates who were trying to get close to Ji Gong and compete for her time after school.

"Take care, Himegami." He replied softly as well, then walked out of the classroom alone.

Crossing the long corridor and the green belt between the school buildings, Wen Shui arrived at the Literature and Art Club office, only to encounter someone she hadn't expected—Ma Titian Aixing, a first-year student belonging to the student council, who was standing anxiously in front of the Literature and Art Club office, pacing back and forth. The quiet and gloomy environment around her made her feel somewhat flustered.

"Tian Aixing, you're here so early?"

Wen Shui stepped forward.

"Ah, oh dear!"

Startled by being called by name, Tian Aixing immediately took three steps back and adopted a defensive stance with her arms crossed towards Wen Shui.

"Uh, it's me, Kazuhiko Nukumizu."

"Huh? Oh, Wen Shui, good afternoon."

Realizing that the visitor was actually Wen Shui, Tian Aixing's tense mood gradually relaxed, and she straightened her uniform again.

Wen Shui walked to the entrance of the community office and saw the lock hanging on the door.

"Oh, it seems like no one else has arrived yet."

So he took the office key out of his pocket.

With a click, the door to the literary society's office was opened.

"Please come in..."

"excuse me."

Tian Aixing took the lead and walked in. After placing her schoolbag on the chair, she began to observe the interior decoration of the club office.

Besides borrowing books, she had another purpose in coming to the Literature Club: to conduct an inspection of the club. Tian Aixing wanted to see for herself whether the Literature Club was doing anything shady behind the scenes, as her seniors had said.

After all, this is what Wen Shui himself said; seeing is believing.

Thinking of this, she turned around and saw Wen Shui and Yan standing motionless at the door, staring blankly at the keychain in their hands.

"Wen Shui? Could you please tell me about the Literature and Art Club?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh. Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

Wen Shui put the keychain into her pocket and then walked over to Tian Aixing.

"As for the Literature Club, its current activities..." Wen Shui paused for two seconds, then pointed to the various books on the bookshelf: "Most of the time is spent reading."

"Aren't there any other activities?" Tian Aixing turned her head and asked.

"Well... President Tamaki originally planned to follow the previous approach, having members of the Literature Club write articles and then print out some club publications for distribution at the school."

Wen Shui explained, "However, for various reasons, this idea was not realized."

What exactly is the reason?

“Both club presidents are third-year students preparing for the college entrance exam. President Tamaki is busy with his studies, so we haven’t seen him much in the club office lately. As for Koko, she has her own novel to write.” Wen Shui pointed to a laptop on the table: “Look, this is the computer Koko uses for writing.”

[Although it was originally intended for Tsukinoki-senpai to write BL fanfiction.]

In order to avoid giving Tian Aixing, who represents the student council, any leverage, Wen Shui had no choice but to temporarily conceal the vice president's various actions.

"Ah, the autograph session you mentioned at noon, was it Xiao Ju's?" Tian Aixing suddenly realized, a look of surprise on her face: "To be able to do this much, it's truly an amazing achievement."

"That's true. To be honest, when we first heard the news, the entire literary society was shocked."

Wen Shui smiled and said, "Now, in order to complete the second review of the latest volume, Xiao Ju basically has to go to the club office to write and revise the manuscript every day after school."

"So, currently, only Yuezhi-senpai and I in the entire club can write articles. And Yuezhi-senpai's articles often fail to pass the club president's review—"

Wen Shui shrugged with a wry smile: "That's why we can't finish the journal."

“It sounds like the literary society doesn’t have many activities…” Tian Aixing’s gaze slowly moved across the bookshelf.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Wen Shui's forehead, fearing that she might utter something like "useless society" from her mouth.

Having spent so many days in the literary society, I've gotten used to the quiet environment and the gentle relationships among the people, and I've developed a sense of belonging.

"Um, Tian Aixing. Yue Zhimu-senpai is currently planning a new club activity. We also have one new member joining, bringing the total to five. So, regarding the student council—"

Wen Shui probed Tian Aixing's attitude.

"The president makes the decisions regarding club matters; I will only offer suggestions based on my own thoughts."

Tian Aixing spoke with a blank expression, making it impossible to discern her inner thoughts.

She thought for a moment, then asked, "Didn't any of the other members come today?"