What a twist! The loser heroine!

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Nonomura-kun.” Vice President Tsukinoki nodded to her, then turned to look at Nukumi: “In that case, let’s split up. I have the student council president’s contact information; I can ask her for help.”

President Tamaki chimed in, "Koto and I went to ask the baseball club for help. They usually train until very late and have quite a few people."

"In that case, Himegami and I will go to Class C to look for her. Maybe Komari is surrounded by people and is staying in the class."

As Wen Shui spoke, he walked out of the literary society office with the other members and locked the door behind him.

“If Xiao Ju sends me any more private messages, I will forward them to the group immediately,” he said. “If we still can’t find Xiao Ju in the end, it’s not too late to call the police then.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and then dispersed throughout the school building according to the plan they had just discussed.

Wen Shui and Ji Gong ran down the corridor, carefully observing every corner.

After leaving the west school building, Wen Shui and Ji Gong walked through the corridor to the location of Class C.

"I hope Xiaoju will be alright?" Ji Gong followed Wen Shui with a worried expression. "Since I joined the club, I've seen her come to the club office every day. Today is the first time she's missed it, and this has happened..."

"I don't know. I've already sent her a message, but I haven't received a reply yet."

Wen Shui focused her attention on surveying her surroundings, while also glancing down at her phone to check for new messages.

Pushing open the school building door that served as a partition, I strolled through the first-floor corridor for a moment. Holding my phone, I suddenly stopped at the back door of Class A's classroom.

"Oh, do."

Himegami Karen, who had run alongside him, braced herself against Wen Shui's shoulders with both hands.

The door was locked and couldn't be opened. Himegami looked through the window and saw that the dimly lit classroom was empty.

“Xiao Ju isn’t here. Has she replied on Line?” she asked Wen Shui, turning to her.

"Not yet." Wen Shui glanced at her phone and then said, "However, Senior Yuezhi just got in touch with the student council president, and Nonomura also contacted the teacher. Hopefully, they can make some progress."

"Then where are we going now?"

"I plan to go to the library and wait for news from other people."

"Sure."

◇

"Speaking of which, Wenshui, I was busy with Komari's matter and forgot to ask, was Nonomura the only one who joined the club today?"

On the way to the library after passing through the school gate, Himegami Hanako asked Onami a question.

"Yes, after all, the literature club doesn't have any attractive activities right now. They usually just get together to read, so it doesn't attract much attention."

While sending the real-time information "[Xiao Ju is not in Class C]" to the group chat, Wen Shui explained, "However, the autograph session is over, and Senior Yue Zhimu is no longer in charge of Xiao Ju's editing assistant. She has recently started arranging other activities."

"Oh, really? What kind of activities are there?" Himegami seemed very interested in this topic.

"Well, President Tamaki rejected several, but the company magazine will have to be started again."

"Journal?"

"Well, it's roughly on a monthly basis. Members of the literary club submit articles, pay for the printing and typesetting themselves, and then distribute them to each class for free."

"So, from now on, everyone will have to write things to be published?" Himegami blinked.

That's pretty much the gist of it.

"But I've never written an article before." She tapped her head awkwardly. "Won't this cause trouble?"

"I haven't written any myself. But I have been brainstorming some storylines lately."

"Hehe, really? Seeing how much you like light novels, I thought you'd actually written one." Himegami chuckled.

"Reading other people's works and writing your own works are two different things."

Wen Shui explained, "I used to think I had a lot of good ideas, but when I actually picked up a pen, most of them turned into nonsense that nobody wanted to read."

"Writing is so difficult," Himegami exclaimed.

"Don't worry, President Tamaki will help with the revisions and review. The final product of the magazine will definitely not be too bad."

Wen Shui showed complete trust in President Tamaki: "After all, the president is already a creator with many fans."

"I see. So, my work will be circulated among my classmates in the end..." Himegami Karen imagined it for a moment, then chuckled, "It feels pretty good! I'll take it seriously! What kind of article are you planning to write, Numizu?"

Wen Shui pondered for a moment.

"Hmm, it's probably a romantic comedy, since I've seen a lot of them before—"

His answer and his steps stopped at the same time, and Himegami turned around with some curiosity.

Wen Shui took out her phone, and a Line message notification was displayed in the center of the lock screen.

To his surprise, the message came not from Xiao Ju, nor from the literary society group, but from someone he had never expected.

Yana-Chan: "Warm water, come to the playground!"

Yana-Chan: "I can't hold on any longer, help!"

Huh? They're not even using punctuation?

[Strange? Didn't Hanami go to Yakishio to discuss how to become an athletic girl? Why is she suddenly sending me a message for help like Komari did?]

Wait a moment.

He recalled the conversation between Shio and Hanami in the classroom earlier.

"Oh, it's not shameful to want to train for sprinting, don't worry, I've got your back."

"A friend of mine just recently asked me to train with him. Could you two team up?"

Oh, I see. It was Yashio who dragged Hanami-kun out for a run... Then why did she send me a distress message? Did Yashio give her a good workout?

He was about to send a message: "Sorry, I'm busy right now. We're looking for Xiao Ju."

Then, his hand paused slightly.

[Oh right, Xiao Ju said before that she and Shao Yan are friends, so could it be...]

He immediately modified the message and sent it to Banami.

Warm Water: "Hana-mi-kun, is Komari-san next to you right now?"

Yana-Chan: Yes

Just as I guessed.

Warm Water: "I understand."

He first sent a message to the group saying "Xiao Ju is over on the playground," then looked up at Ji Gong, who, although showing curiosity, never peeked at his phone.

"What's wrong?" Himegami asked with a smile. "There must be some progress, right?"

Wen Shui nodded and said, "Let's go to the playground. Xiao Ju is running with Shao Yan."

"Huh? Komari and Shaoyan?" Himegami was stunned.

"It's hard to believe, but Xiaoju and Shaoshi are friends."

"What kind of new combination is this..." Himegami Karen uttered her first complaint of the day.

◇

Before long, Wen Shui and Ji Gong arrived at the playground first.

On the playground bathed in the glow of the setting sun, Shao Yan Ningmeng and other track and field team members were training in sprints. Their dark figures displayed incredible speed, which was the source of their confidence as they prepared to participate in the city-level competition.

Wen Shui stood next to Banami, who was panting and leaning against a big tree, and looked at Komari Chika on the track with amusement, and breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good that you're alright; it was a false alarm.

At this moment, Xiao Ju was wearing a tracksuit, her fluffy hair slightly frizzy, and she was running at an extremely slow pace on the track with a look of utter despair. Lacking both athletic talent and training experience, she had to stop and catch her breath every few steps.

"Although I've already explained the situation to Shaoyan, I didn't expect Xiaoju would still have to finish this lap..."

"Warm water," Wen Shui said helplessly.

So Xiao Ju sent the SOS message during a break from running... No wonder she didn't reply when I asked her again.

"Yaki-san has an extraordinary dedication to sports..." Hachimi, who was also wearing sportswear, gulped down more than half a bottle of sports drink that Himegami handed her, and then let out a long breath: "Thank you so much, Himegami."

"You're welcome." Himegami Karen gently patted her friend's shoulder and asked with some confusion, "By the way, why did Hanami suddenly decide to come and run with Yakishio-kun?"

"It's because—" Banami gasped for breath, glaring fiercely at Wenshui. But she quickly realized what she meant and turned her head to the other side, changing her words to, "It's because I suddenly wanted to run recently."

"Hehehe, I see." Himegami said meaningfully, "After all, Banami's appetite has suddenly improved recently."

"I never said I've gotten fat!" Banami huffed, baring her fangs.

Why doesn't this guy just confess?

"How are you feeling now, Hanami-kun?" Wen Shui turned around and asked.

"This is absolutely terrible!" Banami said through gritted teeth. "Yakishio-kun told me and Komari to start running the 1,500 meters right away. It took me quite a while to finish, not to mention Komari."

"After running 1500 meters, there's another 1500 meters to go. Is this really something a beginner should be doing at this stage?!"

Banami kept complaining: "Yakishio even said this is her 'Yakishio Training Method,' what kind of training method is that?!"

"You're right."

The person who answered Hanami was not warm water, but the student council president who had come with the two club presidents—Hibari Hokohara.

The president glanced at Shao Yan Lemon, who had just overtaken the slow-moving Xiao Ju on the track and was loudly encouraging her, and then shook his head: "Shao Yan may know how to train herself, but she doesn't know how to train others."

"Huh? The president knows about sports too?" Wen Shui said with some curiosity.

"I practiced track and field when I was in junior high school."

The president glanced at the roasted lemon with a slightly nostalgic look, then gently shook his head: "Really... if Xiaoju trains like that, no matter how much she runs, she won't get any results. I'll go help her."

【Huh? Help? What kind of help?】

Before Wen Shui could react, Fang Huyuan Yun Que had already started walking towards the playground.

"The president is probably planning to help Komari train." Tsukinoki-senpai and Tamaki-president walked over. "But I didn't expect Komari to specifically ask Yashio-kun to train with her running. I was really surprised just now."

“After all, they’re friends.” Wen Shui seemed to have some misunderstanding about the relationship between Shao Yan and Xiao Ju: “And they seem to have a very good relationship.”

"Huh? Is there really such a combination?" President Tamaki seemed somewhat incredulous.

[No wonder we're from the same club, we all have similar thoughts on what to say.]

Just as Wen Shui was about to say something, she noticed that Shao Yan and the president were standing next to Xiao Ju on the playground, seemingly arguing. So everyone quickly focused their attention on them.

"So as long as you keep running, everything will be fine! Xiao Ju, don't you think?"

Shao Yan cheerfully patted Xiao Ju on the shoulder, startling her and causing her to tremble all over, clearly traumatized by the hellish training she had just undergone.

"Ah, ah, yes, that's really true..." Xiao Ju gasped for breath, forcing out the insincere words from her parched throat, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Hehe, I knew it was true." Shao Yan grinned, revealing his teeth.

However, the president doesn't think so.

"There's no need to say such face-saving things, Xiao Ju."

The president looked at Xiaoju with a serious expression: "Given your current condition, even after warming up, running will only injure your body. If you want to truly achieve the benefits of exercise, improving your physical fitness is the key."

Xiao Ju had a vague sense that something was wrong.

She recalled that period in March of the following year, when Shao Yan Lemon and Wen Shui made a bet on running, with Shao Yan Lemon having to quit the club.

To help Wenshui win, she and Banami even helped Wenshui train for a while...

However, the person who helped Wenshui with her training later became the student council president, which made Banami jealous for a while.

Wait, what about the current situation...?

Xiaoju glanced fearfully at the student council president who was frowning and scrutinizing her, and then she heard the last thing she wanted to hear.

"I understand, Xiao Ju. Stand up straight."

"Eek! What, what are you going to do?!" Xiao Ju exclaimed.

"Let me check you out." The president started using his hands without saying a word: "Although I know you may not have much strength right now, please don't move around too much."

"Ouch! Wait, wait a minute! It's so itchy!"

"This is for your future training, Xiao Ju."

"Don't touch it—whoa!!!"

Xiaoju Zhihua's mournful cry echoed across the playground that evening.