What a twist! The loser heroine!

"It's nothing." Himegami's smile remained unchanged: "I always feel that Wen Shui is quite cute."

"cute??"

"Hey hey hey."

Himegami Karen's mood seemed to suddenly become unusually good. She let go of the warm water in her hand and, humming a song, lightly skipped along the pedestrian street with a kind of dance-like gait.

"Warm water."

Suddenly, she spoke.

"Ok?"

Her long pink hair swayed gently in the evening breeze. Himegami Karen stopped and turned around gracefully.

"Don't worry too much about what other people think."

The girl smiled gently.

Wen Shui paused for a second, then looked away somewhat awkwardly.

"Anyway, nobody will pay attention to me," the boy said softly.

"Really?" Ji Gong stared at Wen Shui's face and said meaningfully.

"Don't underestimate yourself, Wen Shui."

◇

Wen Shui put her backpack into the locker at the movie theater and took out the movie ticket from her pocket.

"Even though I'm at the movie theater, I still feel a little uneasy."

He looked at the cartoon-style movie ticket, on which the movie title "Miss Rabbit" was written in artistic lettering.

If Wen Shui's memory hasn't deteriorated, this movie... should be the same showtime on the movie ticket she gave to Ayano Mitsuki on Tuesday.

Why does it have to be such a coincidence...?

Wen Shui sighed. He glanced at his Shilu school uniform, which was far too conspicuous.

It would be so embarrassing if Ayano and Yashio saw this.

Just as Wen Shui was feeling a bit troubled, Himegami Karen walked up to him with a small bucket of popcorn.

"Wen Shui, why are you spacing out? Aren't you even going to buy popcorn?" She gently poked Wen Shui's back with her elbow.

"I'm thinking about some things," Wen Shui explained. "Besides, I don't eat popcorn very often."

"Really? I see. Let's go get our tickets now, the movie won't start for a bit."

"Huh? Didn't you say there were other preparations—"

"Hmm?" Himeko asked with a smile, "Does Wen Shui want to take a picture together? I'm happy to take one."

Wen Shui smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"That's not true."

"Sigh~ But I want to take a picture."

"Can we continue filming after the movie is over?"

As Wen Shui spoke, she cautiously observed her surroundings, fearing that a tall, handsome white-haired man and a tanned sports student might suddenly appear from some corner.

[Let's get to the movie theater early, so we don't run into Ayano and the other guy later...]

"Gentlemen, you may now enter the theater. Enjoy the movie."

At the ticket gate, the cinema staff skillfully completed their tasks.

Wen Shui and Ji Gong walked through the ticket gate, and before they had gone far in the corridor, Wen Shui heard a familiar cheerful voice around the corner.

"Oh no, I forgot to buy popcorn!"

Wen Shui and Ji Gong both stopped in their tracks.

There's no mistake, that sound is the sound of burning salted lemons. So…

"I'll go out and buy it then. Lemon, wait for me a bit. There's still some time before it starts."

Sure enough, Ayano Mitsuki's voice followed closely behind. It sounded like they had just entered the theater and were now walking out to buy popcorn.

"Okay, I'll come too."

【Oops.】

Wen Shui glanced down at her school uniform, quickly pointed to a nearby movie theater, and whispered to Ji Gong, "It's Shao Shio, come in and hide for a bit."

"Huh?" Himegami didn't seem to realize why Wen Shui was avoiding Shao Shio, but she still obeyed Wen Shui's words. Wen Shui pushed open the door of the adjacent theater, and loud music immediately rushed into their ears, as if a recently released special effects blockbuster was playing in the theater.

But Ayano and Shio could appear at any moment from around the corner, so Wenshui didn't care about anything else. He led Himegami to sneak into the back row of the theater and quietly crouched in the shadow of the seats.

The sound in the movie was so loud that it was impossible to have a conversation in that environment.

Himeko glanced at Wen Shui, thought for a moment, took out her phone, and sent him a message on Line.

"Why should we avoid Yakinoshi-kun?"

After sending the message, she placed her phone in front of Wen Shui so he could see it. Wen Shui immediately realized Ji Gong's intention, and he also took out his phone and started typing on Line.

"Today, my friend Shaoyan Lemon and her friends came to watch a movie here, in the same theater as us."

"If she's just a friend, there's no need to avoid her, right?"

"It's Shao Shio's childhood friend. I suspect they might be on a date, so it's best not to disturb them."

"Is the childhood friend of the 'Salt Salt' guy named Ayano Mitsuki?"

Wen Shui raised her head and looked at Ji Gong with some surprise.

Do you know Ayano-san?

"Yes, I know him. Chaoyun has been mentioning him to me a lot."

Wen Shui paused, then helplessly covered his forehead. Oh right, Chao Yunqian was Ji Gong's friend; how could he have forgotten that?

Himegami pondered the relationship between Yashio, Asahi, and Ayano, then typed on her phone screen.

"Judging by the time, they should have already bought their popcorn, right? I'll go out and check first. If everything's alright, I'll call you out. That way, if we run into Shao Yan, we can pretend we came alone."

Princess Hime made the proposal.

"Good idea."

Wen Shui nodded to her, and then Ji Gong stood up, opened the back door of the theater, and walked out.

After a while, Wen Shui still hadn't received a reply from Himegami on Line.

Just as he was speculating about the possibility that Himegami had encountered Yashio and Shio amidst the noisy movie soundtrack, his phone notified him of a message.

"You can come out now, warm water."

Upon receiving the message, Wen Shui immediately left the theater.

As soon as he stepped outside, he froze on the spot.

Standing frozen in place alongside him was Karen Himegami, the woman wearing a mask—

Morning clouds arrive early.

◇

In the deserted cinema corridor, Himegami and Asahi stood in front of a poster chatting.

Seeing that Ji Gong seemed to have something to say to Chao Yun, Wen Shui went into the theater first, leaving the two of them alone.

"I didn't expect to run into Asahi-kun here," Himegami said with a smile.

"I didn't expect this either..." Asahi took off her mask and put it in her handbag, forcing a smile.

"It seems you and Wen Shui are getting quite close now," Chao Yun said softly, her head lowered, her tone seemingly tinged with envy.

Upon hearing this, Ji Gong sighed, "To be honest, I don't know if this counts as close. I feel like I haven't grasped the key point yet."

Ji Gong pursed her lips: "Moreover, Wen Shui seems to be very popular with the opposite sex, but he himself hasn't realized it yet."

Now it was Chaoyun's turn to be surprised. She looked up and said, "Really? Judging from his personality—"

"You didn't expect that, did you?" Ji Gong looked at Chao Yun with amusement. "You'll probably only discover his thoughtful and warm-hearted side after you've actually gotten to know Wen Shui. Wen Shui has been helping out with Xiao Ju's autograph session tomorrow... it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he single-handedly made it happen."

"Wen Shui is really hiding his true abilities."

"Haha, stop talking about me. Asahi-kun, what about you?" Himegami lowered her eyes and said softly, "If I'm not mistaken, Yamashio-kun has already—"

“I know,” Asahi Chihaya said, nervously gripping her right arm with her left hand. “She and Ayano should be seated by now.”

"Did you come along because of them?"

“…Hmm.” Chaoyun seemed to relax a bit in front of her friend, and she said softly, “I wanted to check on things. I was planning to confess at the tutoring class on Thursday… but the tutoring class was canceled because of the weather.”

As they were talking, Asahi suddenly laughed: "Ayano-kun, you've been harboring something on your mind these past few days. I could tell at a glance."

"However, it seems that someone wise advised him to consider my feelings. Otherwise, given his personality, he probably would have already come and asked me what gift to give to Shaoshio, right?"

As she spoke, Chaoyun's voice grew softer and softer.

"I'm too late..." she whispered, "Does the gods not want me to confess my feelings?"

"Do you want to give up?" Himegami held her friend's hand to comfort her.

"It was just me who held onto those expectations all along," Asahi Chihaya said with a bitter smile. "But call it wishful thinking, call it wasted effort, whatever, in the end—"

"There's one last thing I haven't confirmed."

She took the movie ticket out of her pocket.

"Whose heart does Ayano-san truly harbor?"

~Thirty-fourth defeat~ Mr. Turtle

In the pitch-black theater, advertisements for other movies were playing on the screen at full brightness. Wen Shui hid behind the seat in front of her, quietly watching Ayano and Yamashio in the seats not far away.

After seeing that the two of them hadn't noticed him, Wen Shui and Yan breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed in the comfortable movie theater chairs, their bodies weary from a long day.

"Miss Rabbit" is an animated film released seven years ago, which has recently been remade and re-released. As a film that mainly evokes nostalgia, the attendance was naturally not very good. In the nearly empty theater, even including Himegami and Asahi who hadn't entered yet, there were only a dozen or so people, although quite a few seemed to be parents with children.

Wen Shui chose a seat at the back, where the entire row of seats was empty, which was perfect for someone like him to watch the movie.

When was the last time you went to the movies?

Wen Shui remembers it was when she was in elementary school. Her parents would always take her and Jia Shu to the cinema on December 25th to watch a popular movie of the season, and then go to the family restaurant to celebrate her birthday.

Although the family rules have always prohibited celebrating Christmas, my birthday falls on the same day as Christmas, so I always feel a strong Christmas atmosphere on my birthday, which is something I can't help.

By the way, it seems that from that time on, Yoshiki would secretly throw Christmas parties at home.

As her younger sister's adorable face appeared in her mind, a smile involuntarily crept onto Wen Shui's face.

However, after I entered the second year of junior high school, my parents got busy with work and rarely had the chance to go to the movies.

Wen Shuihe stared blankly at the screen.

Ever since Yoshiki developed an interest in reading light novels, his entertainment seemed to have been confined to a small circle. Wen Shui, of course, wouldn't mind such a small thing; after all, light novels were already rich and varied enough to satisfy his intellectual needs. However—

Going out to see a movie once in a while is a nice experience.

Just as he was about to calm down and savor this unconventional movie-watching experience, a bucket of popcorn was suddenly placed on the armrest of his seat to his left, making a soft "thump" sound.

Turning his head, he saw that Himegami Karen and Asahi Chizuru had sat down one after the other on his left.

As soon as Asahi sat down, she focused all her attention on Ayano. Himegami, on the other hand, gave Nukumi a look, as if she wanted to say something.

Wen Shui poked her head out, glanced at Ayano and Yashio in the front row, then took out her phone and communicated with Himegami using the same method as before.

"How is Asahi doing now? To be honest, her sudden appearance made me a little worried."

"I understand what you mean, Wen Shui, but I think I've already calmed Chao Yun down a bit."

Himegami also peeked out and glanced at Ayano and the others, then sent a message to Nukumizu.

"In short, she shouldn't do anything drastic until the event ends."

"That's good..."

Wen Shui's slightly tense expression relaxed, he nodded, and put his phone back in his pocket.