What a twist! The loser heroine!

The group chatted idly as they walked.

The library of Shilu High School is located not far from the east side of the new school building, and the group arrived at the gate in no time.

Pushing open the door and sitting behind the counter, the library committee member in charge of library affairs immediately noticed the four of them.

"Are you members of the literary society?"

The library committee member lifted her fair, slender face from behind the computer. Her hair was tied in a braid, hanging down from her shoulders to her front. Judging from the school badge on her sleeve, she was probably a second-year student.

"The student council president is currently reviewing the results. If you need to find her, please go to the second floor."

"Thank you very much." Wen Shui nodded to the library committee member.

The library at Shilu High School is a newly built facility in recent years. It is not very large, but it has successfully combined the study room and the library, and also made room for several new special-purpose classrooms.

Wen Shui had been here a few times before, and he was very interested in the green ceiling.

The stairs leading upstairs weren't too far, right next to the entrance. When the group arrived on the second floor, they saw the president standing next to the bookshelves that had already been arranged.

Wen Shui noticed that the study desks and chairs, which were originally separate from the bookshelves, had been put together to form several large tables, separated by the bookshelves. There were also signs with the grade level on them, presumably to distinguish students from different grades.

Hearing footsteps, the president turned around, waved and greeted them: "Ah, everyone from the Literature and Art Society, good afternoon."

She pointed to the study area that had already been arranged and explained, "According to the study club's plan, the second floor area is divided into three large areas by bookshelves. The first-year students have the fewest participants, so they have the fewest tables and chairs, and their seats are located on the outermost edge. Each bookshelf is filled with reference books that are appropriate for their grade level, making it convenient to borrow them at any time."

After the president finished his brief explanation, he smiled at Wen Shui and the others and said, "You are all members of the Literature and Art Society, so you can go and see the situation. If you have any needs, we can make changes tomorrow morning."

"Mmm." Himegami Karen nodded in response and led Asahi and Komari toward the first-year students' area.

Wen Shui, on the other hand, focused her attention on the lockers at the entrance on the second floor.

"Huh? I remember there weren't any cabinets here before?"

He stood next to the locker, puzzled.

"Ah, I specially asked someone to move it over here," the president explained with a smile.

“These cabinets have been sitting in the warehouse for a while, so I thought I’d take them out and use them. Maybe they can stay here even after the book club ends.”

"It really took a lot of effort," Wen Shui exclaimed.

"It's just simple physical work." The president chuckled. "The library committee member in charge of management is quite remarkable; they manage the reference books for each grade very well."

"When I sent people over, I thought it would be a lot of trouble to sort it out, but now it seems that I was overthinking it."

"That's really awesome."

Wen Shui was also somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected that such a quiet girl would have such strong management skills. The second-year senior was really impressive.

A short while later, Himegami returned. It seemed that Komari and Asahi had run into Tenaihoshi at the bookshelf, and the group was chatting.

"Hime-kun, what are your thoughts after the visit?" the president asked with a smile.

"Oh dear~ how should I put it—" Himegami Karen thought for a moment, "It's probably just the atmosphere of a normal study room."

[The translation is pretty ordinary.]

The president smiled and nodded, saying, "That's true. Unlike the last book signing event, which was heavily promoted, this book club is only for Shi Lu's students, so there's no need to add any other elements."

"Is there anything else that needs to be changed?" the chairman asked.

Himegami nodded: "I think it's fine as it is now."

"Where's Wen Shui over there?"

"me too."

Wen Ping said calmly that he wasn't particularly interested in that aspect.

The president nodded and turned his gaze to Xiao Ju, who was talking to Tian Aixing in the distance.

"The vote is currently two to zero, and the Literature Club has already approved the plan." The president nodded. "Then let's leave it at that for now. I'm really sorry to have called everyone over on Friday."

"Oh, it's nothing. The literature club was also planning to borrow books anyway," Wen Shui said.

"Is that so? Then I won't bother you any longer."

Wen Shui glanced at Xiao Ju, who was still discussing something with Tian Aixing, and decided to go downstairs to find the library committee member herself.

"Ah, is Wen Shui going to borrow a book?" Seeing this, Ji Gong immediately moved closer to Wen Shui and nudged him with her shoulder: "Do you need my help?"

"sure."

◇

The two went down the stairs and Wen Shui arrived at the counter where the book committee member was located.

"Excuse me, I'm Kazuhiko Wenshui from the Literature Club. I'm here to borrow a book from the library."

As he spoke, he handed the girl behind the computer a list of books that he had already prepared.

"Okay, please wait a moment."

The female student stopped typing, stood up, and took the book list from the warm water.

"I will take photos and enter the book information into the system, and then return the book list to you immediately."

Wen Shui glanced at the female student who served as the library committee member. She had long, slender limbs, a delicate and refined face, and was quite cute despite not being dressed up.

[She's somewhat similar to Nonomura-san; perhaps she'd be a good fit for the library committee position... However, her presence is rather weak, which might cause some work-related trouble.]

He nodded to himself; indeed, this was how a library committee member or a member of the arts club should be. One could say exceptionally quiet, or perhaps even a little resilient—

"Warm water..."

Ji Gong subtly poked Wen Shui's waist, interrupting his reverie.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Don't stare at girls, it's very rude," Himegami said softly.

Where can I find it?

Wen Shui had no choice but to deliberately avoid eye contact and then retrieve the book list from the library committee.

"The photos have been taken. If you can't find the corresponding book, you can come to me for help, Wen Shui."

"Ah, okay—"

He nodded, but Ji Gong answered first, "Don't worry, he's very good at finding books! It won't bother you!"

[Huh? When did I acquire this skill?]

Wen Shui then thanked the library committee member and, together with Ji Gong, searched for the books they wanted to borrow on the first floor, referring to the list.

Most of the books on the list were marked with their locations, so finding them wasn't too difficult. After wandering around for about ten minutes, many of the books on the list had already been put into the cloth bag.

"Okay, next up is 'Madame Pearl'."

"OK."

Standing on a wooden ladder as tall as a person, Wenshui took the books off the bookshelf according to Jigong's instructions.

"Hmm... Why won't you let me come?"

She stood next to the book ladder, angrily snatched the book from Wen Shui's hands, and said with a somewhat displeased expression, "That book ladder looks really interesting, Wen Shui, look, it even has wheels."

I know it has wheels even without looking; it was just being used a moment ago.

Wen Shui sighed helplessly: "Because you're a girl, and you're wearing a skirt—"

"...warm water."

Himegami put the book into the bag and rolled her eyes at him, saying, "The skirts in Ishizuki High School uniforms aren't that short. You've been watching too many romantic comedies."

"Um, sorry, I'm just worried that some strange plot developments might occur."

Wen Shui looked at Ji Gong, somewhat embarrassed, and tried to cover up her mistake: "Besides, what if you fall down the ladder of books and get hurt, right?"

"But you might get hurt too, right?" Himeko's crimson eyes were fixed on Wen Shui. "You always like to care about others, but please take good care of yourself too."

"Um... well... I'll be more careful in the future—"

Unable to withstand Himegami Karen's gaze, Onami's eyes began to wander.

"Warm water, when you talk to a girl, make sure you look her in the eyes!"

“Uh, but Princess Hime, you just said that would be very rude—”

"Those are two different things."

[Is that how it is? There are so many rules when talking to girls.]

~Sixty-second defeat~ An unexpected encounter

Saturday, May 17th, sunny

I sat in my seat and listened attentively to the sound of the tram running.

Kazuhiko Nukumizu looked out the window. The old town and new buildings blended together in his view. Toyohashi City was still the same as before.

Every Saturday morning was his agreed-upon time to read with his younger sister. After realizing he had neglected her last time, this schedule became unwavering.

The only thing that could possibly make Wen Shui go out at this time on Saturday morning is—

"Come, elder brother, ah—"

Warm water obediently opened its mouth, and the tip of the tongue felt the touch of gummy candy. Taking a gentle bite, the cantaloupe-flavored jam instantly filled the taste buds.

"Delicious," he muttered to Yoshiki sitting next to him, chewing on a gummy candy.

"Hehe, do you still want it, elder brother?"

"Ah."

So I popped the second candy into my mouth. This time it was pineapple flavored, and it was delicious too.

"Brother, what time does the book club start this afternoon?"

"Hmm, it's probably around two o'clock. Why are you asking? Does Yoshiki want to go too?"

"No, it's just that I wanted to confirm the time to see my older brother off," Yoshiki said with a smile. "High school knowledge is too difficult for Yoshiki, hehehe."

[I wonder who's secretly studying their first-year high school textbooks at night. They're overdoing it, my dear sister.]

Wen Shui helplessly patted her younger sister's head, then raised her hand to check the time.

It had been almost two hours since the Jingwenguan Bookstore opened. The reason she hadn't gotten up earlier and missed the best time to buy was that Jiashu had secretly turned off her alarm and then crawled into her bed while her parents weren't home.

[Jia Shu said she's under a lot of pressure from studying lately and wants me to sleep a little longer. Oh, what a considerate little sister she is.]

Wait a minute, if you want me to sleep a little longer, why not just turn off the alarm?

"Luckily it was Saturday, otherwise my perfect attendance bonus would have been gone."

Wen Shui had always been critical of Jia Shu's malicious intentions, but after seeing his younger sister's adorable smile, he couldn't bring himself to blame her even for a moment.

Yoshiki is so adorable, I'll forgive her one more time.

but……

"I wonder if I'll make it to the bookstore now." Looking at the tram tracks, Wen Shui murmured to herself, "I've been looking forward to the third volume of 'Taking a Hot Girl to Slay Dragons' for a long time."

"Please rest assured, elder brother, everything is under Jia Shu's control. We will definitely be able to buy all the books on today's list."

Wearing a bright yellow dress, Yoshiki smiled confidently.

"Really? Then I'll look forward to it." Wen Shui replied cooperatively.

◇

The tram stop wasn't too far from the Jingwenguan Bookstore, and the brother and sister walked for a few minutes before arriving at the bookstore.

Due to the new stock, large promotional posters and billboards were put up outside the bookstore, attracting many readers. Although quite some time had passed since it opened, there were still many customers coming and going.

"Oh dear, elder brother, there are quite a few customers in the shop."

As Yoshiki said this, he naturally took his brother's hand.

"Hurry up!"

"Ah."

She nodded.

After passing through the lobby and taking the elevator, the Wen Shui siblings arrived smoothly at the section selling light novels.