What a twist! The loser heroine!

The cheerful voice and the quirky nickname made it easy to guess who was causing the slight pain in her shoulder. But why did Princess Himeko's gaze seem a little strange? Perhaps it was just her imagination.

"Ah, good morning, Shaoyan-kun." Wenshui greeted Shaoyan Lemon casually as he watched her suddenly overtake him and jog back to wait for her response.

"Good morning." Princess Hime nodded calmly.

Receiving their "good morning" greetings made her even happier. Turning around, she instantly switched from a stationary step to a running posture, then dashed off, leaving only a single sentence behind.

"Thanks for everything before! I'll head to class now!"

[Um, the previous incident, you must be referring to Ayano-san, right? But why are you saying it so loudly...?]

Wen Shui paused for a moment before noticing the unfriendly stares from the other students in front of the school gate.

He then realized that the two women he had just spoken to seemed to be very famous and popular with the opposite sex.

I didn't want this to happen either...

He sighed helplessly and walked towards the school building under pressure.

After saying good morning to Komari at the entrance of Class A with Himegami, Himegami walked over and chatted with Hanami, who had just come to the school building from the bicycle parking area.

The 12k girl group was like a spotlight, attracting the attention of classmates wherever they went. Wen Shui had no choice but to slow down and leisurely follow them into Class C's classroom.

Just as she reached her seat and before she could even put her bag down, Wen Shui saw Ji Gong, who was already seated, quietly take out a note that read, "Wen?"

She took back the note, glanced at the direction of the burning salt, then looked up at the warm water with an inquiring gaze.

Wen Shui blinked, then sat down in her seat. She said softly, "I helped Shao Yan with a small favor on Monday, and suddenly she started calling me that."

Himegami lay face down on the table, covering her head with her textbook, and asked, "Was it around that time?"

“Yes.” Wen Shui nodded, and said the part about Shao Yan’s feelings that she tried not to mention: “She has a sprint competition at the end of the month, and I recommended that she go out with her friends to relieve the stress.”

"Okay, I understand." Himegami said softly, "Awen... Shaoshio-kun has been calling you that since yesterday."

Why is Princess Hime calling me that too?

"I also want her to change it," Wen Shui said helplessly, "but it seems that Shao Yan has stuck with this nickname."

Princess Ji frowned and said, "Then I'll call you that too."

"forgive me……"

"Hehe, just kidding. We can call you Warm Water from now on." Himegami chuckled, straightened up, and asked, "By the way, who's Yamashio's friend?"

"He's a boy in the college entrance exam preparation class; they're childhood sweethearts."

Himegami nodded: "I see... Just like Hanami, she was planning to go to the off-campus rock climbing team with her childhood friend after school yesterday, but it seems that she was dragged to the playground by Yakishio in the end."

Upon hearing this, Wen Shui immediately looked in the direction of Banami, only to see her lying on the table with a gloomy face, looking listless, which made Wen Shui find it somewhat amusing.

[It seems that Shio-kun has been helping Hanami-kun burn a lot of fat; congratulations!]

Himegami seemed to have received a satisfactory answer from her, so she stopped asking questions and began preparing for class.

Wen Shui wore a mysterious smile, took out the first textbook from her schoolbag and placed it on the table, quietly waiting for the class meeting to begin.

As always, Teacher Gan Xia arrived at the classroom right on time, and the noise she made as she walked onto the podium was so loud that it seemed like everyone in the next room could hear it.

After instilling her strange views into the future flowers of high school students, Wen Shui, for most of the class meeting, she still managed to retain some professional ethics, emphasizing the importance of the upcoming midterm exams.

"As this is your first midterm exam since coming to Shilu, the results of the midterm exams starting next Thursday will be on your report cards. Your parents will have to see them, so please take it seriously." Teacher Gan Xia looked dejected and waved her arms casually on the podium.

[Oh, so it seems only when it comes to such important events does Class C's homeroom teacher become serious—]

"But don't think that just because the exams are over you can enjoy the weekend!" Teacher Gan Xia gritted her teeth.

"You'll spend those two days in suspicion and fear, comparing your answers and guessing each other's scores!"

She slammed her hand on the table and unleashed the final, deadly move of her combo.

"Only in this way, only in this way can I smile while working unpaid overtime grading your papers!!!"

Ms. Gan Xia's extremely gloomy remarks plunged the entire C class into a deathly silence. However, this situation occurred every class meeting, and everyone was used to it.

Wen Shui shook his head.

I was wrong. This guy is still the same as always, completely unlike a proper teacher.

◇

It seemed that Ms. Gan Xia's radical speech at the morning meeting had somewhat intimidated the entire class, and for the rest of the day, Class C was shrouded in a tense atmosphere. During breaks, students gradually began discussing the midterm exams, and some even started taking out their textbooks to review.

This situation has calmed down the somewhat restless atmosphere during breaks, and people no longer need to specifically taste tap water to spend these breaks in a relaxed manner while maintaining good social distancing.

The school bell rang.

Wenshui picked up her schoolbag, intending to head to the clubroom. However, Himegami Karen, who sat behind her, took the lead and ran to the back of the classroom, next to Nonomura-kun's seat.

Wen Shui looked at the two girls, who hadn't interacted at all just a day before, with some surprise. He stood outside the back door of the classroom for a while, only to find that only Ji Gong came out.

"Isn't Nonomura-kun going to the club office?" he asked.

Princess Hime shook her head: "She said she'll go later."

"Eh? Why?"

“Hmm… Nonomura-san thinks that walking down the hallway with me would attract a lot of attention, so…” Himegami said somewhat awkwardly, “So, to be considerate of her feelings, let’s go to the clubroom first.”

Could you please consider my feelings, Himegami-san?

Wen Shui, feeling scrutinized from all sides in the corridor, was on the verge of tears.

The two remained silent until they reached the vicinity of the student council office in the west campus. Few students passed by there, so Himegami took the initiative to start a conversation.

"I always feel that Nonomura-kun and Nukumizu are quite similar."

Himegami looked at the closed office door and said with a reminiscing expression.

President Tamaki is on duty today, so he'll be a little late. Senior Tsukinoki isn't here either; she must have other things to do.

Do they look very similar?

Wen Shui looked surprised and took the key out of his pocket. He opened the office door, turned to look at Ji Gong who was inexplicably happy, and said, "However, her way of doing things is similar to mine."

“Yes, yes, I felt the same way when I was chatting with her yesterday.” Himegami smiled as she walked into the clubroom and put her schoolbag on the sofa. “But since I’ve already spent some time with Onami, it was easy for me to become friends with Nonomura.”

"Thank you, warm water." Himegami winked mischievously, clearly joking.

So, it turns out they learned their experience from me.

He shook his head with a wry smile, replying jokingly, "You're welcome. Next time you encounter other warm water—"

"Huh? Wasn't there only one warm water bottle?"

Himegami's crimson eyes were fixed on Onami, who was selecting books.

"That's a big mistake." Wen Shui revealed a confident smile: "Although the surname Wen Shui is not very common, Jia Shu is actually also Wen... Ouch, why did you hit my head?"

"Nothing! Read your book!" Ji Gong angrily withdrew her hand.

Wen Shui scratched his head, somewhat puzzled, but still picked up a light novel and sat down at the table.

Before he could even turn the first page, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the corridor. Looking up, he saw Nonomura practically running in from the office door.

"Huh? What's wrong, Nonomura-kun?"

Himegami was the first to notice that Nonomura's expression was not as calm and serene as usual, but rather showed a hint of anxiety and panic. She immediately got up and went to greet him, putting her arm around Nonomura's shoulder.

"There's...there's a strange person outside." Nonomura said in a low voice, glancing nervously at the entrance of the clubhouse. "He's walking towards the clubhouse."

"There are strange people at school?" Wen Shui put down her book, stood up, and prepared to go out and take a look.

Before he even reached the door, he was startled by a pale hand that suddenly appeared on the door frame and quickly took a half step back.

After the hand appeared, there was no further movement. Wen Shui quickly observed the shiny fake nail polish on the hand and understood.

While other attractive girls at school might decorate their nails in this way, there's definitely only one who would appear at the Arts Club office at a time like this.

He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Nonomura, who was still sitting in a chair, looking somewhat shaken, and said, "It's alright, it was Shikiya-senpai from the student council."

He peered out from the doorway.

Shikiya Yumeko was gripping the door frame of the clubhouse, leaning weakly against the wall, looking extremely tired.

"Senior? Is everything alright?" Wen Shui asked.

Upon hearing Wenshui's words, Shikiya slowly raised her head and glanced at Wenshui. Then, as if squeezing out her last bit of strength, she stood up and walked towards Wenshui.

"I...have no strength left..."

She spoke softly, her eyes slightly closed, and her body fell straight into the warm water.

[Huh?! What's going on?! Should I help her up? Wait, what's wrong with a girl? Should I help her up?]

A series of thoughts flashed through Wen Shui's mind. But if she didn't help her, her senior would fall to the ground in the next second.

"Ah! Senior! Are you alright?"

A gasp came from Himegami Karen.

Feeling relieved for some reason, Wen Shui quickly put her hands on her senior's shoulders.

"Hey you two, could you lend me a hand?"

"Ah! Okay!"

~Fifty-fifth defeat~ Club activities and club publication

(This chapter is a slice-of-life story with lots of dialogue. You can skip it if you want, but please vote!)

After a period of chaos, the three of them managed to get the senior student safely back in her chair.

Wen Shui was making tea for her senior, and Ji Gong sat next to Shikiya, worried that something might happen to her again.

Nonomura, on the other hand, was holding a light novel, ostensibly reading it, but actually carefully observing the strangely behaving second-year upperclassman.

I had already learned about this senior's somewhat sloppy style of dress during my observation of Nuwa in Nonomura, but this was the first time I had seen her so closely.

"Perverted..." Nonomura Touko thought to herself, staring at Shikiya-senpai's chest for a while, then turning her head to look at Himegami Karen's neckline bow, which was almost at a 60-degree angle.

She lowered her head, and then sighed softly as if she had been struck by something.

After a short rest, Shikiya-senpai seemed to have recovered some of her energy and was munching on the snacks and cookies she had bought during her last shopping trip.

Wen Shui placed the brewed tea on the table in front of her senior, then sat down at the table. The members of the Literature Club exchanged glances, and Ji Gong gave Wen Shui a look.

So Wen Shui asked, "Um, senior, is there anything I can do for you today?"

The senior student swallowed the last cookie. Strange, when did she finish it?

She began by saying, "The president... is worried about the arts club's activities... so I came to check on things."

"Ah, as for club activities, Vice President Tsukinoki is currently preparing them, so please don't worry." Wen Shui quickly explained, "The book signing event has ended, and the club magazine should be published in a while, probably."

"Hmm...the book signing event...was very well organized..."

"It's Shikiya-senpai," she said softly, looking up at the ceiling. After a long while, she didn't look down but started writing something blindly in her notebook, which looked rather frightening.

After writing a paragraph, she tilted her head and looked at Wen Shui: "Besides... publishing in the club magazine... what other activities... do you have in mind?"

"Well, this—" Wen Shui pursed his lips. It seemed that the two club presidents hadn't reached a specific conclusion during their discussion a couple of days ago, so he didn't dare to say anything rashly.

Fortunately, Vice President Yuezhimu appeared at the office entrance just in time to answer his question.

"I already have a concrete plan for the upcoming club activities."

As Yuezhimu, the senior student, entered the clubroom, she pushed up her glasses, looking confident and composed.

"Ah... Good afternoon... Senior." Shikiya Yumeko raised one hand in greeting.

"good afternoon."

Tsukinoki responded casually, placed her schoolbag on the sofa, took a piece of paper from the bookshelf, and handed it to Shikiya.

It was a bit far away, so Wen Shui couldn't see the words clearly, but she could roughly guess that it was something like a proposal for a club activity.

Himegami Karen was closer; she moved closer to Shikiya-senpai and together they read the contents of the paper.

Then, Ji Gong revealed a thoughtful expression. She first glanced at Wen Shui, then nodded slightly. This series of actions left Wen Shui somewhat puzzled.

Shikiya-senpai read very quickly; she only glanced at it twice before placing the paper on the table.

"The activity report... has no formatting errors," Shikiya said softly. "However... the Literature Club doesn't have enough members, so this activity... isn't very meaningful."

“I’ve thought about that too, so I plan to collaborate with another club,” Senior Moonwood added. “I’ve already explained the details to Hokhara.”