What a twist! The loser heroine!

Readers strolled among the bookshelves, carrying lists and putting the books they wanted into their bags, clearly having come prepared.

Many popular light novels have already sold out. Wen Shui knew he couldn't just sit idly by, so he quickly stretched his body and took out the shopping list he had made the night before from his pocket.

"Time to get to work, Yoshiki."

He looked at his sister.

"Oh! Yoshiki will do his best!"

Yoshiki raised her little fist, making a hard-working expression, her bright eyes looking incredibly cute.

So, half an hour later.

"Hmm, let me see... Where is 'The Gloomy Step-Sister's Agenda for Change' again...?"

Wen Shui held the list and looked at the bookshelf with some confusion.

"Here you are, elder brother."

As if she had been prepared, Yoshiki handed the book to Wenshui.

"Ah, this is a huge help. By the way, did I really put this book on my reading list?"

He glanced at the effeminate-looking girl on the book cover and asked with some confusion.

Yoshiki smiled slightly: "Brother, the answer is yes."

"Huh? Really? But I remember last night—"

“My elder brother was too tired last night, and he fell asleep after writing down these book lists.”

Yoshiki reached out and touched Wen Shui's cheek with concern: "Is it because you're too tired from studying that you mistakenly thought you wrote other books?"

【Huh? Oh, I see.】

Wen Shui raised the book list in her hand, which now only had a few books left to buy.

"I Have Too Many Little Sisters", "Can Gods Be Little Sisters?", "My Little Sister's Cooking Skills Are Max, She'll Feed Me Even in Another World"...

Are these really the books I listed last night?

Never mind that. I guess I've been reading too many light novels of other genres in the club lately, which has led to a lack of "little sister" energy in my body.

Seeing her sister's smile, Wen Shui nodded gently.

"Oh, so I'm someone who really likes light novels with younger sister themes."

Yoshiki's smile grew even brighter as she leaned closer and gently took her brother's arm.

"After all, your elder brother likes Yoshiki the most, right?"

"Then why bother—"

The sound of warm water abruptly stopped.

Sensing something was amiss, Yoshiki looked up.

"Brother?"

Wen Shui's gaze lingered on the bookshelf not far away.

The petite girl stood up, her deep red hair drawing attention.

Wearing her school uniform, Komari Chika was putting a light novel into her backpack, which looked quite heavy, suggesting she had been browsing for a long time.

Following Wen Shui's gaze, Jia Shu also spotted Xiao Ju.

"Ah! It's Senior Xiaoju!" she exclaimed joyfully and ran towards Xiaoju.

Xiao Ju, who was already a little nervous, immediately shrank to the side when she heard the noise. She only breathed a slight sigh of relief after seeing that it was Yoshiki.

Seeing this, Wen Shui followed and greeted Xiao Ju.

"Good morning, Xiao Ju. Hmm? Why are you hiding behind Jia Shu?"

"W-Why is warm water here?" Xiaoju peeked out from behind Jiashu.

Is it really that abnormal to go out with your sister on the weekend?

"Uh, no, that's not it... Eek!"

She seemed to gradually calm down and let go of Yoshiki's clothes, but Yoshiki grabbed her arm and let out a soft scream again.

Wen Shui glanced at Jia Shu, who was already clinging to Xiao Ju, and asked, "Speaking of which, why did Xiao Ju only arrive at this time? Before, she always came to queue up before the store even opened."

"My mom went out to work, and I have to take care of the little one at home."

While dealing with Yoshiki's advances, she explained, "Now that Mom is home, I have time to come out."

"Wow, Senior Sister Ju can even take care of children?! How virtuous she is!" Jia Shu's eyes immediately lit up, although Wen Shui didn't know why her sister was like this.

"Ugh...virtuous...whatever...uh..." Xiaoju was caught by Yoshiki's arm and didn't know what to say for a moment, so she could only make strange, untranslatable sounds from her throat.

Seeing that Xiao Ju had inexplicably blushed, Wen Shui quickly said to Jia Shu, "Hey, Jia Shu, Xiao Ju is about to start swearing in this state, so get away from her."

"Huh? Is Senior Xiaoju the kind of person who likes to swear?" Yoshiki stared wide-eyed at Xiaoju beside him.

"No, no! You idiot, you warm water, go, go die!"

"Um... Senior Ju, I'm also from Wenshui, you know?" Yoshiki said somewhat awkwardly.

"Uh-oh! I'm sorry, well..." Xiao Ju blushed, her eyes darting around, and steam even seemed to rise from the top of her head.

"Idiot Kazuhiko." She hesitated for a long time before finally whispering.

[Hmm, it really was targeting me. By the way, why are you so panicked?]

Wen Shui sighed and glanced at her watch. It was already 10:30; it was time to go home.

So he said to Yoshiki, "Yoshiki, we've bought almost all the books, it's time to go back."

“Okay, elder brother, but before that—” Yoshiki looked at his brother, and then at Komari who had just directly mentioned his brother’s name.

"Senior Sister Xiao Ju".

She whispered, "Would you like to come over for lunch?"

Upon hearing this, Komari Chika's mouth dropped open, and she froze on the spot.

"Right now...to your house...?"

Wen Shui raised an eyebrow: "Jia Shu, is this really on today's schedule?"

"Hehe, since it's a chance encounter, the itinerary naturally needs to be changed." Yoshiki revealed a mischievous smile: "Didn't we already make plans with Senior Komari to come to our house to play?"

[Before? Oh, I think it was the autograph session.]

Wen Shui thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay then. Anyway, Mom and Dad aren't home today, so we should have enough ingredients from yesterday."

"Huh?! Dad, Mom and Dad—aren't home???"

Xiao Ju became increasingly flustered.

Why is this guy so nervous? Why is he suddenly fixing his hairstyle?

"It's normal for friends to visit each other, right? Come on, Xiao Ju, take a deep breath, inhale—exhale—"

"Oh, oh, hiss—ha—"

Perhaps it was the effect of taking a deep breath, or perhaps it was the way her friend addressed her that calmed her down; in any case, she seemed much calmer.

"I...I understand. I'll go to...your house at noon." She took out her phone, seemingly contacting her family.

Wen Shui took the somewhat heavy schoolbag from her hands and thought for a moment.

"Wow, this backpack is really heavy... But if you come to my house, what will you do if you don't bring your textbooks to the book club this afternoon?"

"Don't worry, it's all in my schoolbag." Xiao Ju smiled nonchalantly, "I forgot to take it out when I was packing yesterday."

[It's amazing you could even admit that your mistake turned out to be a success; you have such a strong heart.]

Now that she had decided to visit Wen Shui's house, Xiao Ju immediately perked up. She quickly straightened her Shi Lu uniform, secretly annoyed at herself for not wearing more attractive clothes, and then walked to Wen Shui's left side, which was not occupied by Jia Shu.

"Have you notified your family yet?" Wen Shui asked.

"I've already told my mom."

"I see. Then we can buy the rest of the books next time."

The three of them went down the stairs together. The miscellaneous books section on the first floor was very crowded. Xiao Ju couldn't help but grab Wen Shui's wrist.

After paying for each light novel, she stepped out the door. Moving from indoors to outdoors, Wen Shui reached out to shield her eyes from the somewhat glaring sunlight.

In the narrowed field of vision caused by the obstruction, another familiar face appeared, walking towards him with a look of surprise.

Toyohashi is really small.

Wen Shui sighed inwardly and stepped forward to greet him.

"Good morning, what a coincidence, warm water."

"What a coincidence, Ayano-san, what brings you to the bookstore today?"

The tall and slender Ayano Mitsuki smiled and said, "I'm currently studying, so I came to buy some practice materials."

"Is this for the afternoon's book club?"

"Ah, I've heard about that, but I won't be going this afternoon."

[It's probably because of Asahi-kun...]

Before Wen Shui could speak, Ayano explained, "I have to attend a study dinner with friends this afternoon, so I can't go to the book club."

I see. There are even more unfamiliar terms now. In short, it's a gathering of top students from Yangjiao, right?

Thinking this, he nodded: "I see...that's a real pity."

"Haha." Ayano scratched his head a little embarrassedly, then glanced at Yoshiki and Komari next to the warm water.

"Um...can we talk in private for a moment?"

The understanding Jia Shu immediately walked over to Xiao Ju and took her hand: "Brother, Xiao Ju and I will wait for you at the station."

"Oh that's fine."

After watching the two leave, Wen Shui and Ayano went to a quiet corner next to the bookstore. Before Wen Shui could even stand still, Ayano spoke up:

"I'm going out with Lemon tomorrow, oh dear, watch out!"

Wen Shui stumbled and almost fell, but luckily Ayano caught her and she regained her balance.

"You scared me—" Wen Shui leaned against the streetlight and breathed a sigh of relief: "Did you call me here specifically to say this?"

"Oh... I feel a little excited, but I'm also a little embarrassed to share it with someone." Ayano pushed up her glasses shyly. "Warm Water, you should understand this feeling, right?"

Haha, I'm really sorry I'm not in the mood for that.

"Then congratulations!"

"Oh... congratulations and all that..." He chuckled to himself, making Wen Shui seem to see a bit of Xiao Ju's shadow.

Wait, is this guy going to deliberately come to me every day to show off his affection from now on?

Wen Shui suddenly had a bad feeling.

Ayano stared at Wen Shui's face for a long time before finally whispering, "Thank you, Wen Shui. You really are a good person."

"Why are you suddenly saying something like that...?"

"Look, you've helped so much with what happened between me and Lemon. Even for a friend, it's hard to go to this much trouble, isn't it?"

Wen Shui was stunned for a moment, but Ayano, who was still a little excited, didn't notice Wen Shui's expression at all.

"Wen Shui must have other things to do today, right? Then I won't bother you any longer. Anyway, thank you very much."

After patting Wen Shui on the shoulder, Ayano Mitsuki left with a smile.

Wen Shuihe stared blankly at the departing figure of his acquaintance.

[...For the sake of friends? Who are these friends?]

~Sixty-Third Defeat~ Book Club Part One

After lunch, Xiaoju Zhihua put down her chopsticks with satisfaction.

"Thank you so much for the hospitality."