She watches as the scene unfolds. The moment Jinno-sensei cast his lightning Alice towards Mikan, Amy quickly directed her barrier Alice, in front of Mikan - though she makes it invisible and absorbing the shock rather than simply reflect. But...

What? Why is it the power is so strong? - Amy was shocked due to overwhelming power stem from the lightning Alice, which is far stronger than the one she shield against during her exam years ago. Then, the barrier cracks and bursts, unable to absorb it all. Some of it hits Mikan, thankfully it was of much lower voltage compared to its initial.

Then, Jinno cast it again in which Hotaru quickly come to rescue, throwing a reflection mirror to mikan- hence reflecting the lightning back to Jinno, causing him to faint.

Right afterward, Hotaru pulls Mikan away from the scene and runs away- not before she threw a questioning glance to Amy. In which Amy just shrugged.

Thank goodness I decided to cast in the barrier and make it invisible last minute - even if mikan had nullification Alice, that much voltage will really hurt her.

Amy then throws a look towards Jinno who currently spawl on the floor- faint. She wondered why Jinno cast such a bolt of strong lightning in the first place.

It's as if he purposely cast it strong so that Mikan quickly injured and moved out of this school. I know the reason is ESP, but is there something else going on to cause him to act rashly?

I wonder...

She just settles down on her small couch, flicking through pages of her journal when her door is knocked.

"C'mon in~"

The door swings open. Hotaru, in her nightgown with indifferent face, stands at the doorway.

"Good evening, Amy-san"

"Good evening. Please close the door behind you and take a seat."

Hotaru walked towards a comfy chair, the opposite of Amy, and take a seat. Meanwhile, Amy took out a can of hot chocolate and tea.

"Tea or cocoa?"

"Tea please."

"Alright"

As she silently brews the tea, Hotaru quickly asked,

"How did you know?"

"A... good information network and decent deduction ability are the main contributors. No matter how you think of it, the school reaction towards Mikan and her Alice is way too strange to remain indifferent about. Then all you need to do is a little digging and voila! Though I can't give you all the appropriate reasoning yet. Oh, and here's your tea. You can add sugar if you want."

"Thanks for the tea... but, Amy-san, even with decent networking and all, you couldn't possibly guess the situation that happens in the class just now, right"

"Well, I forgot how smart you are. I was hoping you did not notice that. Let's see... have you heard of premonition? So I have something like that. If someway, somehow things happen, I will have that 'premonition' so too say"

Though, it's not completely a lie. - Amy keeps her thought to herself. Listening to Amy explanation, Hotaru fell into deep thinking. Then,

"So what you are saying now is that more bad thing will come on her way?"

"Not only her. But she will be one of the main victims"

"Then, your offer from before, it is to help her, and others too?"

"Yeah, you could say that. So how's that, you wish to join?"

"What do we need to do first?"

At this answer, amy satisfied. That's good enough for now. Because now, she officially gains another comrade. With a very eager smile, she took out a piece of parchment with a layout of building sketch on it.

"First of all, we will build our base"

After discussion by discussion, they finally stop. it was already midnight by then. Hotaru, after reading it through for the last time, she asked,

"Amy-san, the whole plan is quite solid and all. And we do need a base for everything that may happen from now. But there's still one more thing that bugs me. This whole area will be protected by the barrier Alice, yes? You even propose a design to fully utilize the barrier Alice stone as to conceal the base from other things. But the problem is..."

"Yes?"

"The problem is, where do we get it? As far as I know, that Alice is quite rare in itself. But there are few of them of course. But, none of them strong enough except for the middle school principal. And from this design, it's obvious that it will require multiple strong barrier Alice stone to protect it. How will you procure it? Surely you won't asked the principal yes?"

"Well, that is correct. We do need to find a way to procure multiple of it. And there's no way I'm going to ask it from her."

"Then?"

"Well remember how you were shocked when I first introduce my sister to you. That she has 2 Alice- each of them were strong for someone of our age?"

"Ah! Perhaps you have another Alice- the barrier Alice?"

"Yes and No. Yes, I do have a barrier Alice but it is not my second Alice. I only have one. To be more accurate, the shield Alice is a name I created to covers my true Alice - The barrier. The shield that I occasionally conjure, that is just a branch of many capabilities of my barrier Alice."

"Oh, I see. No wonder you implement it in the planning..." Hotaru seems to think for a while before asking again,

"Amy-san, I have... one last question. Why did you hide it?" Listening to the question, Amy just smiles. She seems to contemplate for a while before giving her answer.

"Let's see.. hmm... initially, I wanted to register mine as barrier Alice. But then, my Alice is slightly stronger than normal. You could say, mine is almost on par with the middle school principal. Considering the ESP personality, I doubt I will steer clear of him if he were to know the full extent of my capabilities.. so I decided to keep quiet. I also don't want to attract the attention of our middle school principal. Who knows, she might question as to why I have a strong barrier Alice - a defining trait of her lineage"

"I see..." Hotaru nodded in understanding. She looks at Amy once again and understands- she is not someone to be mess with. To have such a clear mind and a very meticulous way of doing...

Hotaru can't help but see Amy as fearsome and worthy of respect.

Then, they conclude their discussion tonight. both of them retire to their own bed and sleep; hoping that everything will proceed smoothly.