What a twist! The loser heroine!

On the second floor of the Himegami residence, Wen Shui followed behind Himegami's mother and asked, "Um, Aunt Himegami, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Ah, that's how it is." Himegami's mother said as she pushed open a door, "Ren joined the literature club at school, right? I heard that Wenshui brought a whole collection of her writings to the club office, right?"

"Ah, that's right. Not only me, almost everyone in the literature club brought books with them," Wen Shui explained.

"I see. The kids in the Literature Club all love reading. Please come in, Wen Shui."

Princess Hime made room for Wen Shui to enter the room.

"This is the study," she said, pointing to several bookshelves along the wall.

Wen Shui was somewhat surprised: "So many! My father also has quite a collection of books, but it's nowhere near this many..."

"Hehe, these are all items sent from my hometown." Hime-miya's mother nodded with a smile. "I usually enjoy reading books in my spare time at home, but most of them are ancient poems. It's a pity that I leave some of the more modern books unread."

"Taking this opportunity, Auntie is planning to give each of the children who came to the gathering today a book, but I don't really know your interests, so..."

Wen Shui immediately understood what Princess Himeko meant.

"Then let me help you choose."

As he spoke, he opened a bookshelf next to him.

Himegami Kaoru clasped her hands together in gratitude: "That's wonderful~ We should make a choice before the meeting ends."

Wen Shui nodded to indicate that he understood, and immediately began searching for recipes on the bookshelf with a very clear objective.

If we were to discuss who among the members present had the most prominent hobby, it would undoubtedly be a certain beautiful girl with blue hair. And since Himegami's mother is a housewife, her family must have plenty of cookbooks and similar items.

"Auntie needs to lend a hand too, otherwise it's too slow."

"Thank you very much."

"I was the one who asked you for help, Wen Shui, you're too kind."

"Haha, then Auntie, could you please find some science fiction novels? It seems that President Tamaki has been interested in that genre lately, and he's been recommending some to us from time to time."

Himegami's mother nodded and began rummaging through another bookshelf. She knew the location of these books perfectly, but since that wasn't her intention, she gradually slowed her search and then, as if chatting casually, said, "By the way, Numizu-kun, is Kokoro sitting in the row behind you now?"

"Yes."

"Xiao Lian has always been a bit lively and mischievous. If she disturbs you during class, please don't mind."

Upon hearing this, Wen Shui paused for a moment. He carefully recalled the classes of the past two weeks, and it seemed that apart from the first day when he dropped the note, Ji Gong had not disturbed him much in class.

Reminding her of the answer to the question with a note certainly doesn't count as being disturbed; it's just that I wanted to help.

"No, Princess Hime is very well-behaved in class."

Wen Shui shook her head. Of course, she had to save face for her classmate's mother.

"Huh? Is that so?" Princess Hime exclaimed in surprise.

"Why is Auntie so surprised?" Wen Shui said jokingly.

"Hehe, Xiao Lian went to a boarding school for girls in junior high school and didn't interact with boys her age for three years. I'm a little worried that she might go too far."

Wen Shui, looking puzzled, took a thick-looking cookbook from the bookshelf.

"Hmm...do you mean...too much force?"

He was a little puzzled.

"Wen Shui, you helped Xiao Lian when you were visiting the temple for the New Year, right?"

"That's what happened."

“Then that must be it. Since junior high school, Xiaolian has taken visiting shrines very seriously.” Himegami’s mother explained while taking out books from the bookshelf and flipping through them, “She’s in her third year of junior high school and is about to finish her life at a boarding school for girls. She’s probably been looking for a male friend.”

【Huh? Is that how it is?】Warm water seemed to realize something.

"So, Xiao Lian probably sees you as someone she can trust and is ready to befriend you."

Himegami's mother explained, "But I was a little worried that she hadn't interacted much with boys her age and was afraid she would bring her all-girls school habits to Ishiru. So I referred to the methods in the guidebook and gave her special training in making friends."

"There are even guidebooks that teach people how to make friends?" Wen Shui said softly.

If Yoshiki knew that such a book existed, he would probably buy several copies to keep as a collection.

Before he could finish his association—

"Oh yes, I remember the book was called '300 Questions on Dating Strategies'," said Hime-miya's mother with a smile.

Wen Shui was so startled that she almost dropped the book by Yukio Mishima that she was holding.

The problem of using too much force should be attributed to you, right?

He was internally complaining, but naturally dared not say it out loud.

"Uh, Auntie, are you sure you didn't take the wrong book?" Wen Shui awkwardly placed Mishima's book on the desk.

"Of course not!" Hime-miya's mother immediately said, "My husband and I met in our first year of high school! And, if it were Wenshui-kun, I'd be very happy—"

"Boom!"

The study door was suddenly opened, and Himegami Karen stood outside, her face flushed.

Princess Himeko's mother and Wen Shui both froze for a second.

"Mom! What were you saying while I wasn't here?!"

Himegami Karen was so anxious that she started to stutter.

"Hehehe, Xiao Lian, don't treat your mother as an opponent."

"Who's talking about that!"

Himegami Karen quickly went to her mother's side and gently pushed her back, signaling her to leave quickly.

"Oh dear, my daughter has grown up and started to dislike her mother. I'm so sad. I'm leaving now." Princess Himeko took out a handkerchief from her pocket and pretended to wipe away tears.

Just as she was about to leave, Wenshui quickly placed Dazai, which she had just found on the bookshelf, above Mishima, and then handed the two books to Himegami's mother.

"By the way, Auntie, Senior Tsukinoki should like these two books," Wen Shui added. "However, remember to put Dazai Osamu above Mishima Yukio."

“I’ll go give it to her right away, but… is there such an order?” Hime-miya’s mother said in surprise.

"Yes, and it's very important." Wen Shui nodded repeatedly.

"Really? The world of young people has become so strange..."

After saying that, she left the study, making sure to close the door behind her.

With a thud, an awkward atmosphere instantly filled the study where there were only two people.

Outside the door, Princess Himeko quietly left, satisfied.

~Forty-fifth Defeat~

The atmosphere in the room, where there were only the two of them, was somewhat awkward.

Himegami broke the silence first: "Um, my mom is a bit love-struck sometimes, so don't take it too seriously, Wenshui."

"Haha, I can definitely tell." Wen Shui nodded quickly.

Who would give their daughter a lesson in dating theory...?

"Hmm—did she say something strange to you just now?" Himegami Karen asked, a mixture of unease and curiosity in her voice.

"They didn't say anything."

So, Wen Shui briefly told Himeko about Himeko's mother asking him to help find the book, along with their previous conversation.

"Ah... I see." Himegami nodded to show that she understood, then gave a wry smile: "Actually, what she said makes some sense, like using too much force and stuff."

She smoothed her long hair and said softly, "When I was in junior high school, I attended a private girls' school and didn't have much contact with the opposite sex. At that time, I had a very good friend who was a trainee shrine maiden, and that's how I became interested in shrines..."

"So I'm very grateful that warm water helped me on New Year's Day."

“It’s probably true, just like Mom said, that I brought some of my friendship habits from the girls’ school to Shilu.” She pursed her lips and looked at Wen Shui: “When I transferred here, were you startled by me?”

"I did feel a bit scared."

As Wen Shui searched for books in the bookshelf, she recalled the situation and frankly said, "To be honest, we only met once, on New Year's Day. Being treated like this all of a sudden felt a bit—"

"Do you hate this?" Himegami asked cautiously.

"I don't dislike it too much—"

Wen Shui immediately continued, "I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that with Himegami's personality, no one should be able to dislike her, right? I just feel that it's really beyond my imagination. I only helped with a small favor, but you treated me like someone you can trust. Is this some kind of plot twist from a novel?"

"No, it's more like they were a huge help!"

"Ugh?"

"Influenced by my friend from junior high school, I do take visiting shrines quite seriously."

Princess Hime said softly, "On the day of the first shrine visit, I wasn't feeling particularly well in the morning and almost disrespected the gods. That's the most important shrine visit of the year, how could I make a mistake?"

[I see. I didn't expect Himegami-san to have such traditional views.]

"It's not like you're going to become a priestess."

Seeing that the topic was getting a bit awkward, Wen Shui tried to ease the tension with a joke.

"No, it's just that I trust the results of my prayers." Himeko said with a smile, "When I was in the second year of high school, my aunt's child fell seriously ill. My friend and I went to the shrine to pray for her, and in the end, the surgery was successful."

"Although there is no scientific basis, perhaps my good intentions will be the force that supports the realization of my wish."

"And—" Ji Gong glanced at Wen Shui's profile, then hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Huh? And what?"

"Hmm... let's not talk about this anymore."

Wen Shui smiled helplessly. It seemed that the girls all liked to leave things unsaid, whether it was Banami or Himegami.

Of course, if the other person doesn't want to talk about it, pressing them for details would only make you seem unromantic.

So he remained silent and searched the bookshelf for guidebooks on interpersonal communication, intending to give them to Xiao Ju.

After all, just a few days ago, while Kihara was reviewing her manuscript, Xiaoju was reading a book called "How to Make a Guy Who's Just a Friend of the Opposite Sex Stare at You," saying she was studying for it. But that's not going to be on the midterm exam.

Even though the book signing was over, she was still reading books about romance for inspiration—that's a bit too much of a hardship. Wen Shui thought it would be better to give her a guidebook that would be helpful for her future development.

While congratulating himself on his good idea, he took a book from the bookshelf titled "How to Make Others Pay Attention to You the First Word".

After flipping through it casually, Wen Shui found that although the title of the book might be a bit strange, the content was incredibly solid, explaining how to judge other people's preferences from everyday conversations and improve language expression skills.

[I'll give this to Xiao Ju.] He nodded to himself.

"Wen Shui, have you chosen a book yet?" Ji Gong asked, who had appeared beside Wen Shui at some point.

"Yes, this is the last one. I'm going to have Auntie give it to Xiaoju."

Ji Gong narrowed her eyes, her gaze shifting back and forth between the warm water and the book.

"Speaking of Ju Jingyi, I remember she gave each of us a copy of 'Love in the Shadows' after the book signing event."

“Yes.” Wen Shui recalled the few books by Xiao Ju that had been put in a bag because they were too inconvenient to carry: “And she signed every single one of them.”

For some reason, Xiao Ju insisted on taking his book back. She said she would keep it for now and give it back to him after the party, which left Wen Shui somewhat confused.

"I see. Here, this is for you."

As she spoke, a book appeared before Wen Shui's eyes.

"This is..." He looked at it carefully and found that the book was titled "How to Correctly Understand Your Own Heart".

"You've chosen all the other people's books, but it seems you haven't chosen your own," Himegami Karen said with a smile. "I just picked one out for you; let's take it back together later."

Wen Shui nodded and replied, "Oh, thank you."

"If you want to thank someone, thank my mom. I couldn't have come up with the idea of ​​giving her a book."

"But you picked out the book, didn't you?"

For once, Wen Shui was surprisingly clever.

"Hmm...you know that's good...Alright, now that we've chosen the books, let's hurry up and go out."

The girl blushed slightly and hurriedly pushed the warm water out of the study.

◇

When Wen Shui arrived in the living room with two books, Xiao Ju seemed to be arguing with Yue Zhi Mu senior about something, and kept switching the positions of Dazai Osamu and Mishima Yukio on the coffee table, attracting everyone's attention.