"I’ve been thinking this for a while, but... are you... a person from the White Room?"

"Eh..."

At the words spoken by Tsubasa-chan, I couldn’t process what I had just heard.

'That’s strange... she’s supposed to find out about my identity a little later than this!...'

Even if we were both sent in to expel Ayanokōji Kiyotaka... Tsubasa-chan was originally just an ordinary person, and from the White Room’s perspective, she was no more than a disposable pawn... she wasn’t expected to succeed from the beginning, and she shouldn’t have been told about the identities of the fifth generation White Room students...

At least... that’s how it was supposed to be in the original world...

"Hmm~? What are you talking about~? What does the place where the President of the United States lives have to do with me?"

"You don’t have to play dumb. I have proper certainty on my side..."

Certainty, huh...

But... unfortunately, Ichika-chan hasn’t done anything in front of Tsubasa-chan that would reveal she’s a White Room student~

"Back during the Partner Written Exam... you remember how Hōsen-kun made his move on Ayanokōji-senpai, right?"

"Of course~! But... what about it?"

"At that time... you described your relationship with Ayanokōji-senpai as... ‘a senior and junior from the same middle school,’ didn’t you?"

"Ah..."

Only now... did Ichika-chan realize she had made a basic mistake.

Back then, I got carried away after successfully trapping Hōsen-kun...

Thinking about it calmly, in that situation... I should’ve said, ‘a senpai who introduced me to the upperclassman who became my partner’...

"Ayanokōji-senpai... no, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka never attended middle school... I’ve already confirmed that. And yet you confidently claimed to be his junior from middle school... that’s the proof. Do you still have anything to say in your defense?"

"Ugh..."

As I desperately twisted my mind trying to come up with a way out...

"Ichika-san... please tell me the truth yourself. Otherwise... I won’t be able to see you as a friend anymore..."

"Tsubasa-chan..."

Even knowing that I was raised in the White Room established by the man who took the life of someone important to her... Tsubasa-chan is still willing to be my friend...

Then there’s no way I can choose not to accept that chance now!...

"Yeah... that’s right... I, Amasawa Ichika... am a fifth-generation White Room student, and a junior of Ayanokōji Kiyotaka."

"I knew it... ugh... of all people! Why did it have to be you!?"

When I answered honestly, Tsubasa-chan exploded in anger... and even then, she was desperately suppressing it with what little rationality she had left.

If I had lied... she probably would’ve shown even more anger than this.

"From the way you’re reacting... it seems like you know about the inner workings of the White Room too?"

"I was only told a handful of information... ugh!"

"Tsubasa-chan, you don’t have to force yourself to say it. I don’t want you to remember painful things."

"But... but!!!"

I know about Tsubasa-chan’s past... just hearing it makes it clear how rotten the adults connected to the White Room are...

"Ichika-san, don’t you feel anything? I heard you lived through harsh days because of Ayanokōji Kiyotaka’s father! And yet... you’ve grown attached to Ayanokōji Kiyotaka! I just can’t understand it!"

Sure, in the original world... I did think those days of constantly undergoing the advanced curriculum in the White Room were painful...

...But you know?

"No... it’s because Ayanokōji Kiyotaka existed... that I found a goal to live for. He was a prodigy who completed an even more advanced curriculum than me! I wanted to become someone who could stand beside him someday! Because of that, I was able to enroll in this school while keeping my emotions intact and enjoy my school life! There’s no way I could resent him!"

Partway through, I almost couldn’t even understand what I was saying myself...

That’s how much... I love Kiyotaka-senpai...

"...So in other words... Ichika-san... you have no intention of driving Ayanokōji Kiyotaka to expulsion?"

"Yeah! Kiyotaka-senpai finally gained his freedom! I want him to keep enjoying his school life and come to understand all kinds of emotions! That’s why I want to support him!... for Matsuo-san’s sake too!"

"Wha..."

I didn’t miss how shaken Tsubasa-chan became at that last part...

"Ichika-san... I’ll take my leave for today. However... my belief that Ayanokōji Kiyotaka shouldn’t be at this school hasn’t changed..."

"Well... if your past is that heavy, Tsubasa-chan, it’s not something you can change so easily... but let me just say this, okay? I’ll always... be on your side!"

"I see... well then..."

And just like that... Tsubasa-chan left with a dark expression.

'Tsubasa-chan... you’re not in the wrong, you know?'

I called out to her in my heart as she walked away... but I wonder if it reached her?

* * *

"Haa... haa..."

Nanase returned to her room, out of breath... and collapsed onto her bed.

“Listen, Nanase-san. Because Ayanokōji Kiyotaka escaped... Eiichirō-kun died, you know?”

The words of Acting Director Tsukishiro, the one who brought her to this school, surfaced in her mind...

'...I will never forgive Ayanokōji Kiyotaka!... I’ll definitely drive him to expulsion!...'

Something like another personality sleeping within Nanase continued to cry out with hatred.

'I... I...'

“Yeah! Kiyotaka-senpai finally gained his freedom! I want him to keep enjoying his school life and come to understand all kinds of emotions! That’s why I want to support him... for Matsuo-san’s sake too!”

'I?'

But the words of the girl with pink twin-tails she had just been talking to kept resurfacing in her mind...

'No! If I do that, Ichika-san will be sad! I... I’m... Ichika-san’s friend...'

With those words, she temporarily regained her original self, Nanase Tsubasa.

‘Nanase-san, is that really okay? Your beloved Eiichirō-kun is crying in heaven, you know?’

“No... it’s because Ayanokōji Kiyotaka existed... that I found a goal to live for. He was a prodigy who completed an even more advanced curriculum than me! I wanted to become someone who could stand beside him someday! ...Because of that, I was able to enroll in this school while keeping my emotions intact and enjoy my school life! There’s no way I could resent him!”

'I... I...'

As the former girlfriend of Matsuo Eiichirō, should she drive Ayanokōji Kiyotaka—her enemy—to expulsion...

Or as Amasawa Ichika’s friend, should she support Ayanokōji Kiyotaka together...

There were only two paths...

'Ahh... someone... please save me...'

In the end, that entire day... Nanase’s inner conflict continued...