A/N: Been drinking lots of water cause of my fever. At this rate, my body will be more than 70% water. My temperature has dropped though, which is a good sign. Mama's homemade cooking has mostly been cheering me up, particularly her Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Here's the next chapter of "Whodunnit?"

Chapter 5: A Hidden Motive

"Akane-chan said what about me?"

Iroha's voice had a dumbfounded and rather insulted lilt to it. In the presence of the inspector and sergeant, there was little pretense in her character now. The formal veneer the Heijou president had was gone, now that she was away from the eyes of her fellow presidents. What was left was an interlaced look of suspicion and hostility about her.

'And yet, she looked like such a kind oba-san type earlier,' Sergeant Tanaka secretly thought.

Wearing a green kimono and purple haori, along with a normally relaxed face, Iroha was portrayed by others as a traditional, but approachable individual. The woman now before Inspector Etou and Sergeant Tanaka looked anything but approachable, what with the cold stare she was giving them. Inspector Etou raised his hand slightly, as though to shield the harsh question Iroha threw at him.

"I'm just asking if this is true, President Gojou, and also for your side of the story," he said. "Sometimes, everyone perceives…circumstances…in different ways."

"Akane-sama said you looked upset before the meeting was even held," Sergeant Tanaka mentioned, while looking through his notes. "If you were indeed angry, ma'am, might we ask why?"

Iroha's eyes narrowed.

One Week Ago...

The employees at the Special Sword Administration Bureau always regarded Yukari's office to be as intimidating as her. Though it had three floor-to-ceiling windows, light scarcely lit the room at all. The office was respectable and well-furnished, but everything in it looked gloomy and mysterious. As one could imagine, nobody at the bureau dared walk in without an invitation.

Iroha, however, did receive an invitation from Yukari, but it was one the Heijou president wished she ignored. She stood standing in front of Yukari's desk with a supposedly composed face. However, inwardly, it took Iroha all her strength to control the anger building up inside of her, as she clenched her fists.

"You're not taking her from me. I won't let you!" Iroha said, vehemently.

Yukari sighed, "Iroha, you may be her legal guardian, but I promise you…letting me take custody of her is for the best. I need to make things right."

"By taking away the only girl who's been like a daughter to me? The one I care for the most?" Iroha exclaimed.

Unlike her previous forceful tone, the Heijou president's voice now quavered. She prayed that Yukari could see things from her point-of-view—that what she was about to do was inhumane and selfish. Not wanting to show any form of weakness, Iroha took a deep breath and put both of her hands on the Origami woman's desk, leaning in.

"You may try and use whatever power you have left, but I won't let you take her away from me!" Iroha vowed.

She obviously had nothing else to say because she started striding towards the doors. Yukari had never seen Iroha like this, so flustered and aggravated, since their high school years.

With a curt cadence, Yukari said, "This isn't like you, Iroha. Getting all upset over something like this..."

Iroha had just put her hand on the door handle but paused at this. When she spoke, she didn't turn around to look back at the woman she now viewed as a rival.

"You wouldn't understand, Yukari-chan. You've never had a child before, so of course, you wouldn't get 'all upset over something like this'!"

Her remark stung just as she wanted it to. Yukari was quite taken aback that Iroha, of all people, could say such a thing. And there came over her normally stoic face such a pained expression that if Iroha turned around, she would've immediately felt sorry for her and regretted her words. But she didn't.

Exasperatingly, Yukari called, "Iroha, come back here right now! Iroha!"

She sprang from her chair and marched after the Heijou president. However, Yukari's pleads fell on deaf ears, only answered by the door slamming in her face.

Present Day...

"I had a lot of deadlines to finish last week concerning new student applications," Iroha answered, flatly. "Things were being handed in late and I was just stressed. Hence why I was peevish before the meeting. That's all."

She added, "We were all upset last night at the meeting. The adrenaline from how temperamental we were all getting, along with the mishap from last week…just got through my head, I guess."

It seemed like such an ordinary answer, one that wouldn't make anyone second-guess. However, Hiyori did, once she heard this from outside, and a lightbulb seemed to light up in her brain. Closing her eyes, the raven-haired girl let her sharp eidetic memory do its work. Hiyori's eyebrows tightened together, as her mind ran back over the events that happened at the Heijou Institute a week ago. There could be no doubt about it.

Catching Kanami's attention, Hiyori silently mouthed, "President Gojou is lying."

A bewildered look came upon the Minoseki Toji's face. Every ounce of her wanted to impatiently ask Hiyori what she meant, but she knew now wasn't the time. The best she could do was continue listening.

"All of us have been such good friends since childhood," she heard Iroha say next. "We get into fights, of course, as friends sometimes do. But we'll all start talking again normally, as usual, I'm sure."

Inspector Etou said, "I see. May I ask what you did after the meeting?"

The Heijou president shrugged. "Stayed in the library for maybe half an hour, then went straight to bed. I was too done in from the meeting."

"Thank you for answering our questions, President Gojou. That will be all."

Iroha gave a short, but polite bow and exited the room. Kanami and Hiyori made sure she turned down the hallway, out of sight, before going into the library. The inspector was just telling Sergeant Tanaka to call for Sana, but the entrance of the two Tojis drew their attention. One look at Hiyori's face told Inspector Etou he should pay attention.

"She's lying," the ebony-haired girl said, with serious eyes.

Inspector Etou tilted his head a little to the side. "Do you have any evidence of this?"

"I sometimes volunteer to help out with President Gojou's stuff back at the Heijou Institute," Hiyori explained. "And as a Heijou student, I've observed her enough times to know that she responds very calmly to any situation, even stressful ones. You'd think she's as cool as a cucumber in those moments."

"Also," she added, "President Gojou's deadlines were already met before last week and no applications of any sort were handed in late. And in fact…I remember last week, she left the school one day because she had an appointment with Yukari-sama at the Special Sword Administration Bureau. Came back that day looking like a wounded animal."

The other three raised their eyebrows at this. Kanami could feel her heart beating a pace faster out of fear. Although she knew one of the presidents could be the murderer, she couldn't imagine Iroha being responsible. She didn't want to believe it—that any one of them could've done it. All of them were such trusted individuals. Or were they? The Minoseki Toji thought back to the yelling she heard during last night's meeting. Could all of them be hiding secrets under a façade, like Iroha? And yet, Akane-sama and the presidents of the Five Traditions were such dutiful and compassionate people. Well, except maybe Yukina.

With downcast eyes, Kanami turned towards her father. However, Inspector Etou took no notice of her but instead started stroking his bottom lip.

"Is that so? Interesting," he murmured. "Very interesting…I wonder now…"

A/N: It seems Iroha is hiding a secret... Who is the girl she and Yukari have been arguing over? What other skeletons do the other four presidents have in their closets? Next chapter, I'm going to squeeze in two suspect questionings, Sana's and Yukina's, to speed things up. Until next time!