who it was, but I had a strong feeling I knew her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to take over the shop for a little while and give instructions to another maid the way Kushida did."

This is the kind of trouble that no one expects. 　

I knew immediately that this was a problem that I had to deal with.

PART 6

It is difficult to find a specific person at a cultural festival where many people of all ages and genders are present. 　

And if you can't predict where they went, it's even more difficult. 　

While operating my cell phone, I sigh in admiration at the overwhelming information network.

I am amazed at how fast and accurate it is.

Within minutes of making the call, you can have the location information.

Not in the direction of the Keyaki Mall or the dormitories, but behind the indoor pool complex. When I arrive there, I see Kushida's backside, dressed in an out-of-place maid's outfit.

"So, I'm not going to repeat myself-" 　

I was not sure if she was having a heated conversation or not, but she was shouting quietly at the person she was talking to.

"Wow~"

Meanwhile, the other person immediately recognizes me and instructs her to stop talking.

"Huh... Why is .... Ayanokoji-kun here....?"

"If our ace queue helper has gone missing, it's only natural I'd look for you, right?"

Although a substitute maid is taking over as her position as the queue person, I'm not sure how well they can keep them engaged.

"I thought I was free from there , but you've found me out."

I was actually keeping an eye on her the moment she left,

"Unfortunately, I've created an alliance with someone I can rely on now. No matter where you go, I always know where you are."

Even Amasawa doesn't seem to have any idea, but she didn't bother asking.

"She was going to go right back after this. Right?"

"She's right. I feel bad about sneaking out without telling you, but I also wanted to talk to Amasawa-san for a while."

"That's no reason to leave for 10 or 20 minutes though."

"That's..." 　

Kushida knew that the first priority was to keep the line clear and to keep the customers coming back.

That is why he abandoned customer service to handle the situation. 　

She would not leave her position unless she had to.

"Whatever it is between the two of you, we're busy with the cultural festival. Can you guys talk about it some other time?"

There is no need to go to the trouble of choosing today as the day to have a conversation with each other.

"Are you not surprised to see to combination of me and Kushida talking with each other."

"No." 　

I really didn't know that they had a deep connection until now.

But today, with this timely contact, I understood everything.

The mind takes over and produces even information that seems unnecessary.

Why was Kushida so determined to expel me from the school on the unanimous special exam and why did he take such a reckless gamble? 　

If a student from the White Room was behind it and forced her to do it, it would make a lot of sense.

I could also see why they would take action at this festival, where it was so easy to get around.

After school, Kushida had declined the invitations from her classmates and always headed somewhere else.

She was going somewhere after school, but her behavior was now consistent.

The person in front of me, Amasawa, still didn't realize that I had arrived at the answer.

"I'm sorry, Ayanokoji-kun, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I'll be back as soon as I can. I really want to talk to Amasawa-san."

"I know where you're getting at here, but that's enough Amasawa-san."

"Your eyes are so naughty, aren't they? They reveal everything about you."

The tip of her index finger pressed against her lips in a seductive manner, but she was not really talking about anything sexual. 　

It was an action to hide the fact that they are wary of me seeing through them.

"Kushida, Amasawa and the other person were taking advantage of your weakness regarding revealing your past. That's why you forced the class to get involved in that commotion from the unanimous special exam in order to expel Horikita and me. Or maybe they were already involved in some way even before that."

"Eh?"

She could neither confirm nor deny what I said, but I must've hit the target.

"Let's stop it here now, senpai. Now is the time for me and Kushida."

"I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen. Kushida is a necessary part of the class and she needs to fill her role as a maid. I can't let you have her."

"What do you mean by that? I've done nothing wrong."

"You may be right, but what about 'the other'?"

When I answered, for the first time, there was a change in Amasawa's attitude.

Immediately afterwards, Amasawa, with an eerie smile on her face, grabbed Kushida's wrists.
"What!?"

She then stands behind Kushida, pulling her in her right hand and forcefully sealing her mouth with her left hand.

"Do you by any chance have any idea who the 'other one' is?" 　

The reason why he suppressed Kushida's mouth before asking me the question was because she knew the person firsthand. 　

In other words, she knows the identity of the other white room student.

Therefore, she was careful not to let the name of the person slip out of Kushida's mouth.

"I think you know who I'm talking about, Kushida-senpai. If you say something bad I'll expel you, okay?" 　

Kushida's face contorted in pain as her right arm was gripped tightly.

"That's not like you, Amasawa. "It seems you're being cornered pretty hard."

"Every action tells a story."

Kushida, who was enduring the pain, would not understand the true nature of this conversation.

Amasawa herself did not know how much I really knew.

"Let's talk about it again later, just the two of us, next time. Please be quiet and pretend you didn't see this and leave, Ayanokoji-senpai. If you do that, I'll let you go in about 10 minutes."

"And if I refuse?"

"I might make Kushida-senpai rendered useless here."

Saying this, she gripped her right arm even tighter.

"Aaaah!?"

"I'm a pretty girl, but I can easily break an arm or two."

"Then let's give it a try. Either you break Kushida's arm first, or I'll stop you." 　

The distance between me and Amasawa was about five meters.

"Are you actually serious?"

"Is this in response to your folding? Or is it because you think there's no way that I can stop you?"

"Both."

"Then you are mistaken on both counts. Take this seriously." 　

Laughing, Amasawa loosens her grip on Kushida's right arm, albeit slightly.

At that moment, I kicked the ground and dove into the spot where Amasawa attempted to break her arm.　

My right hand slides down Kushida's arm to he rwrist, and as my left hand goes around from her mouth to her back, I grabbed Amasawa's right hand.

"No way..."

It must be a defensive instinct.

In an instant, she abandoned the action of folding Kushida's arm, shifted her attention to this side, and tried to clench her grip to make a left fist. 　

However, without giving her a chance to make a further move, I caught Amasawa and blocked her body movement. 　

Just as Amasawa had done to Kushida earlier, I turned around and twisted her to the ground.
"Ka-ha!" 　

By pushing her so vigorously to the ground, Amasawa lost her breathing for a moment and became breathless. 　

Her heavy breath causes a slight dust storm.

"Oh ..... that was a little unexpected."

"Did you think there wasn't that much difference between you and me?"　

I can tell by the look in her eyes.

Amasawa's pride, which she always held so high was now deeply wounded.

"You mean... I miscalculated you...?"

"Perhaps."

Amasawa's combat skills learned in the white room are real. Horikita and Ibuki, who have trained properly, and Ryuuen and the others, who have learned to fight on their own, will never be able to beat Amasawa. 　

However, whether or not they can compete with me on equal footing is completely irrelevant.

If your opponent's skill level goes up from 5 to 20 or even 30, but if mines is close to 100, it's the same thing.

"Since when did you know you could beat me?"

"Since the moment we met".

"If that wasn't a line from you Ayanokoji-senpai, I would've told them they were being too cold."

"I'm going to take this opportunity to say that since you seem to think that the 'other one' might push me out of school, have you ever wondered why I've never asked for his name?"　

The smile slowly fades from Amasawa's face.

I have never willingly tried to find the other white room student.

"It's because they never had a chance against me in the first place."

"You really mean that, don't you, senpai?"

"It's not you who doesn't understand that, is it, Amasawa? 　

If you had only half-heartedly practiced martial arts, they would not have had any real feeling for it yet. 　

But Amasawa was different. 　

In those less than 10 seconds of total movement, the match was already decided by a wide margin.

"Both you and the other should have challenged me at an earlier stage. You should not have taken the long way around while getting other people involved."

"You understood why I contacted Kushida-senpai, didn't you?"

"It all connected just now. And now something unexpected is about to happen."

"I.. don't even know what to think."

"After 3:00 p.m., I want you to stand guard in the student council chambers, but you must not be seen by anyone. Then you will have all the answers." 　

I was able to see Amasawa's strength gradually slacken, and I released the restraints. 　

I'm not sure how much more force is needed.

"We've wasted a lot of time. Let's go back to the maid cafe."

"Huh, are you sure?" 　

Amasawa stood up, but showed no sign of moving, as if he was in a state of lethargy.

"Don't worry, your past won't be exposed."

When I started to walk away, Kushida hurriedly followed me.

"How can you know that for sure, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Who knows, but you can trust me."

".....Just who even are you, Ayanokoji-kun?" 　

I'm sure she's seen my conversation with Amasawa and the fight that took place earlier, so it's inevitable that she would be questioning me.

"I don't know anything about fighting... but I know what you just did wasn't normal."

"It's not uncommon for classmates to learn martial arts. Horikita, Ibuki, Ryuuen and Akito should be strong fighters even if they are self-taught. Also it's hard for a girl to compete against a boy."

The difference between men and women was overwhelming, as explained above.

Whether or not Kushida is convinced by this is another matter.

"You're going to have to go back soon as you can and help them get the lines straightened out. Please."

"Yes, yes, that's right."

Kushida bowed her head as if she had made a decision.

"Thank you for helping me..."

An unexpected thank-you from Kushida. 　

Of course, she is more easily outmaneuvered than most people. 　

She is the type of person for whom expressing gratitude itself is a simple matter of doing so.

"I know you don't think I'm truly grateful, but that's okay. I just felt like I needed to say that even if you think it's a lie..."

"I didn't do anything serious. It's more like a natural thing for a classmate to do."

"So you don't consider me to be in debt to you, right?" 　

She emphasized that part, and I thought about it for a minute, but then I couldn't back out.

"Of course." 　

If I did consider her to be in debt to me because of what happened, they wouldn't really be able to repay me.