What a twist! The loser heroine!

I already talked to Himegami yesterday, but it doesn't seem to have had any effect.

"Chaoyun might need this later, so take it with you."

Himegami's voice echoed in my mind.

Wen Shuihe pursed his lips, took out the brand-new pack of tissues from his pocket, and then unwrapped it.

"Use this."

"……Thanks."

He handed the tissue to Chaoyun, who paused for a moment before gently taking it.

"I can't complain about anything, after all, Shao Shio has worked hard for a longer period of time."

Chaoyun wiped away her tears and said softly with a sob in her voice, "These past two days, I've kept fantasizing about what if Wen Shui had helped me back then; what if I had been able to muster up my courage sooner."

"Will the ending of the story be slightly different?"

"I feel... a little..."

She choked back tears and lowered her head, unable to utter another word.

The wet paper balls gradually increased and piled up next to Chaoyun.

Wen Shui silently stayed by her side, letting the bus she was supposed to board gradually drive away without interrupting her outpouring of emotions.

There will always be another train, won't there?

He looked at the bus trail that had disappeared into the night and gradually came to understand the unfinished words Chaoyun had said.

That's clearly a sign of resentment.

~Sixtieth defeat~ Gift

Friday, May 16th, sunny

Standing in front of the student council room, Wen Shui ate the last bite of bread in her hand and glanced down at her phone.

In the literary society's group chat, the message from the two presidents asking the members to go to the student council office was still five minutes old.

"In the end, it was me who came..."

He put away his phone, threw the packaging bag into the trash can, and then reached out to knock on the door.

"Ah, please come in."

After receiving permission, he pushed open the door and went inside.

Wenshui immediately spotted President Fang Huyuan and Senior Shikiya sitting at the table. Besides these two familiar faces, there was also a senior student wearing glasses.

President Fang Huyuan glanced at Wen Shui with some surprise: "Senior Yuezhi told me that she would send a member over. I thought it would be Himegami-kun."

Wen Shui explained, "She said she had to spend lunch with her classmates, so I came over."

“I see.” Fang Huyuan nodded, then extended his hand to introduce the unfamiliar student wearing glasses next to him to Wenshui: “This is Yasuda, the vice president of the study club, and the initiator of the Saturday reading club.”

"This is Wen Shui, the representative of the Literature and Art Society." She also introduced Wen Shui.

"Please give me your guidance." The vice president of the study club and Wen Shui greeted each other, and then Wen Shui sat down at the table.

"I called you two here today to discuss tomorrow's book club meeting."

Fang Huyuan didn't waste any words and directly stated his purpose: "Registration for the participants will close after lunch break, but judging from the current situation, the enthusiasm of first-year students is generally not very high."

Upon hearing the news, Yasuda, the vice president of the study club, calmly pushed up his glasses: "This is a predictable result, similar to what we analyzed internally within our club."

He flashed a confident smile, as if he had everything under control, but the next second he broke down.

"Vice President Yasuda, the study club has finally come up with a great idea for a club activity. Please don't treat it as a social experiment."

Fang Huyuan tapped the desk with his pen and said in a slightly warning tone, "This is the fourth time this school year that the Study Club has been unable to carry out its activities due to its so-called 'rigorous attitude' and 'scientific spirit'."

Vice President Yasuda's smile froze on his face, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

"If future club activities... or this book club meeting, are again forced to be interrupted for some reason—"

Fang Huyuan paused deliberately and did not continue speaking, but Vice President Yasuda clearly felt threatened.

He immediately said, "Please rest assured! When we get back, I will have the president abandon the idea of ​​distributing questionnaires during the book club meeting!"

The president immediately looked at Vice President Yasuda with a cold gaze: "Are you serious?"

"Yes...yes, the club president believes this will allow him to investigate the students'—"

Meeting the increasingly dangerous gaze of the student council president, Vice President Yasuda's voice grew softer and softer.

"This is the school committee's job, not something the study club should get involved in," the president said softly.

Hibari Hohara smiled, but his voice was very low: "I'll go talk to your president later."

Visibly, fine beads of cold sweat appeared on the vice president's forehead.

With dead fish eyes, Wen Shui glanced at Vice President Yasuda, who had just made his mysterious remarks.

They seem to be seriously considering how to ruin this book club.

[It seems the members of the study group are truly amazing; I've been fooled by the stereotype of people wearing glasses once again.]

The atmosphere became a bit awkward, so the president gestured to Shikiya Yumeko next to her with her eyes. The senior student stood up and distributed two papers to the vice presidents, Onomizu and Yasuda.

"Before that, let's get down to business."

Wen Shui glanced at it briefly; it was a proposal for Saturday's book club.

The president explained, "This is a plan that I proposed after I asked Secretary Shikiya to combine the activities of the Literature Club and the Study Club, and cut some parts of it. The school committee has high expectations for this book club, so they also provided some assistance."

【Huh? Did Shikiya-senpai do this?】

Wen Shui looked at Shikiya with some surprise. The latter seemed to notice his gaze, turned her head, and made a peace sign at Wen Shui with a blank expression.

It's like saying, "I'm awesome, aren't I?"

Please don't make that move, it's a foul, senior...

Wen Shui quickly refocused her attention on the somewhat brief proposal.

Um, the school committee will buy some reference books for review, and you can borrow them after the meeting if needed; everyone can share notes and review together, and students in the special program can help other students as appropriate.

Uh, do you want to share my notes...?

Although Wen Shui's handwriting wasn't particularly bad, he always felt a little ashamed to openly show his notes to others.

After reading through these guidelines, which were less of a business plan and more of a set of rules for the book club, he asked his question: "Is it really necessary to include a mock exam or something during the book club sessions?"

"The test is conducted by grade level. There are not many questions, so the time will not be too long. Most of them are practice questions targeting the important knowledge points of each subject. After the test, the answer key will be distributed to everyone for checking."

Vice President Yasuda explained, "Because most of our club members attend after-school tutoring classes, we have mock exam questions for each grade level."

[Oh yeah, I've been taking mock exams a lot at the tutoring center these days.]

President Fang Huyuan continued, "This was a suggestion from the Study Club, and it was approved by their instructor."

I see. Since the instructor has reviewed and approved it, there's no problem.

Wen Shui nodded, then suddenly realized a very serious problem: the Literature and Art Club didn't seem to have an advisor.

Before he could think it over, the president, who was writing something in his notebook with his head down, continued, "So, regarding this book club, is there anything the Literature Club and the Study Club would like to change?"

"I have no problems here for the time being," Vice President Yasuda shook his head.

"I have no problem here either."

As Wen Shui spoke, she took a picture of the book club's proposal and posted it in the club's group chat.

The rules set out by Shikiya-senpai are very clear and easy to understand, and they are all suitable for students to review. I'm sure the members of the Literature Club won't object.

[While Shikiya-senpai may act a bit eccentrically in her daily life, she's incredibly capable in student council affairs, perfectly matching the information the vice president mentioned.]

He couldn't help but look at Shikiya Yumeko, but to his surprise, his senior was also silently watching his face.

When their eyes met, Wen Shui blinked and turned her face away somewhat awkwardly.

Shikiya Yumeko raised her hand expressionlessly, touched her face, and then tilted her head to look at Nukami, as if she was somewhat puzzled.

"Secretary, the book club project can now proceed."

Just then, the president's voice rang in his ears, and Shikiya turned his head and said softly, "I understand... It can be done before school ends."

"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll go find the president of the study group first, just in case they mess up this book club again."

Having witnessed the astonishing wisdom of the study club many times, Hibari Hoshihara stood up and walked straight out the door, with Vice President Yasuda quickly following behind.

Now that only Wenshui and Shikiya-senpai remained in the student council room, he stood up and said, "Now that we've finished talking, I'll head back. Goodbye, senpai."

Shikiya gently pushed the chair back and stood up unsteadily.

"Warm water...wait a minute."

She walked around the table and step by step to the warm water.

Although Wen Shui's senior's ecological observation notes had already recorded a lot about Shikiya's behavior, Wen Shui was still a little scared by the stiff and strange steps of the senior who was heading straight for her.

He took a small step back, but still managed to stand firm: "Um, is there something you need, senior?"

“Yesterday… my uncle… called me.” She said softly, “He was very grateful to you about the book signing.”

Ah, Shikiya-senpai's uncle, I remember he was the councilor in charge of tourism in Toyohashi.

Wen Shui quickly replied, "The autograph session was just a small favor; the student council did the main work."

The senior student, her eyes, framed by white contact lenses, stared intently at Wen Shui's face before saying, "Wen Shui... seems a bit strange."

"Huh? Me? Haha, that might be a bit strange—"

“Everyone else…smiles when praised,” Shikiya said softly. “Only you…always give the credit…to others.”

"Very...interesting."

What's so interesting about it?

Wen Shui could only say, "I only went to Nagoya for Xiao Ju. In fact, the cooperation agreement related to the autograph session should have been decided a long time ago."

"Please don't... say that." Shikiya-senpai fumbled in her pocket with her hand, making a very obvious rubbing and clattering sound: "That way... the reason for giving a gift... won't stand."

"reason?"

She nodded silently and took out a beautifully packaged...candy jar from her pocket?

"My uncle said... he wants me to bring you something... as a token of my gratitude."

She reached out and handed the candy jar to Wen Shui: "But I don't know... why do this... maybe it's because of... the book signing."

Shikiya continued, "I didn't know... what your preferences were... so I... bought a gift according to my own ideas."

Is she worried that I don't like sweets?

Wen Shui quickly replied, "Oh, it's okay, senior. I also really like eating candy."

"Then... shall I accept it?"

Shiki-ya moved even closer, and Wen Shui had no choice but to accept the gift. The candy jar still held the warmth of her, making him blush slightly.

"Then I'll accept it, thank you, senior."

"Ah."

Shikiya nodded, her arms swaying slightly at her sides. According to item 32 in Wenshui's "Senior's Ecological Observation Notes," this was a sign that she was in a good mood.

She said softly, "That's... good."

Wen Shui smiled, put the candy jar back into his pocket, looked up at the clock in the student council room, and realized that there wasn't much time left before the end of lunch break, so he decided to leave.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now, senior."

Shikiya nodded, her gaze quietly following Onami to the door of the student council room.

"Warm water."

She suddenly spoke up.

The warm water turned its head away.

"Candy...it's delicious."

Wen Shui smiled helplessly.