"I'd rather we not waste time," Hoshi said, looking towards Bankei strangely. "Whatever questions you'd like to ask, just tell us. We'll find the answers together."

"Ahh," Bankei responded, clearly pleased. "So, you want to search for the truth as much as I do? You must be a man after my own heart after all. Very well. First question: Sasa. She was found in the music room."

"That is, indeed, what the file we were given says," Yasuo confirmed.

"I find that to be rather odd," Bankei continued. "Let's discuss this, shall we?"

Naoko couldn't help but take notice of the fact that Bankei was openly guiding their discussion. He had an idea or two as to why, but nothing concrete. Bankei was, after all, rather strange. Still, he had a feeling that she didn't have the group's best interests at heart.

"From what I understand," Bankei said, "she was originally in the game room, correct?"

"She was for a while," Mariko explained, "but she left. I thought she might've just been uncomfortable with us."

"An understandable assumption," Bankei replied. "She was always bizarrely skittish, wasn't she?"

"So wait," Mine spoke up, "where did Sasa go?"

"Based on people's lack of testimony," Yori responded, "nobody is aware of where she went."

"Maybe she went to the music room?" Haru suggested.

"Huh?" Mine asked skeptically. "Why'd she go there?"

Haru shrugged. "I dunno. She gotta have ended up there somehow. Maybe she took a likin' to the place or somethin'."

"I agree with that," Naoko weighed in. "Sasa having gone straight to the music room from the game room actually makes a good deal of sense."

"Huh," Takeshi uttered contentedly. "Y'know, looking back, I think I can see why she'd do that, myself."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Takeshi?" Naoko asked.

"Probably," Takeshi nodded. "Or maybe not. I'm not one to pinpoint what people are thinking."

"I'm thinking about what you told me about Sasa earlier," Naoko explained.

"Ah," Takeshi replied. "Yeah, okay, that's it. I told you about what I noticed about Sasa recently. How I saw her leaving the music room and such. I guess that means that when it comes to Sasa being in the music room, there's some precedence, right?"

"I guess there is," Naoko agreed.

"You guess?" Eryu asked. "That's not solid at all. Why would Sasa even be there in the first place?"

"We think that Sasa might've had a crush on me," Takeshi explained.

"A crush?" Yasuo asked. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, a couple days ago," Takeshi explained, "when we were looking around this place for anything new, Sasa and Naoko encountered me in the music room. Sasa tried inviting me to play a board game with her and Naoko."

"A board game?" Bankei asked bemusedly. "That's not exactly what one thinks of when it comes to wanting to court someone who catches your eye. What aberrant thought process would lead to that, I wonder."

Hoshi gave Bankei a sharp look. "...Aberrant? You're really going to describe her with such language?"

"Is there something wrong with that?" Bankei asked. "It's no different from calling her strange, really. And it's true. The idea of inviting someone to play a board game to win them over is truly an aberration."

"I should point out that she said we'd been thinking about doing so, but we didn't," Naoko added.

"Well that explains it. You didn't seem too keen on her making the offer," Takeshi responded punctually.

"And you figured afterwards that she was doing it because of a crush?" Naoko asked.

"Basically," Takeshi stated bluntly.

"That's not a certainty, however," Yori weighed in. "She may have had something else in mind entirely."

"I mean, maybe," Ishi responded. "But y'know what? I wouldn't put it past her. Like, I don't want to be mean or anything, but Sasa was kind of a weird chick. That's what I always thought. Maybe board games were, like, a go-to for her, y'know? Is it really all that strange? I mean, lots of people like board games."

"I suppose you may have a point there," Hoshi admitted. "It's not like I don't enjoy board games, even if they may seem somewhat...childish."

"Eh, I like board games," Mareo simply stated.

"I prefer calling them tabletop games, but yeah, same here," Mariko agreed.

"May I make a suggestion?" Yasuo politely asked.

"What is it?" Naoko asked back.

"I just thought that maybe it'd be best to suggest other evidence to this theory," Yasuo explained. "There is still some doubt among us, it seems. To convince us all that this idea that Sasa had a crush on Takeshi, perhaps there are other pieces of information to support it."

"Is this some fancy way of sayin' you don't believe 'im or somethin'?" Haru asked, visibly discontent.

Yasuo chuckled politely. "Oh, I'd rather not take sides on this matter."

"Well, I guess it makes sense that we'd need more than one inference," Takeshi admitted. "Not sure what I was expecting."

"In this case, it's likely that any feelings she had for him were due to the Lita-22," Yori speculated. "With this in mind, perhaps we should focus on the last three days, specifically."

"Three days?" Mine asked. "Has it really been three whole days? Damn! It's been sticking around a while. I thought it wasn't supposed to last long."

"THE DOSAGE I ADMINISTERED WAS NOT PARTICULARLY LARGE. ITS EFFECTS SHOULD DISSIPATE COMPLETELY BY TOMORROW AT THE LATEST."

"I remember the dose was administered during our time together in the cafeteria, while we were waiting for whatever you were planning for us," Naoko recalled.

"PRECISELY. VERY GOOD, NAOKO."

"How the hell does that earn him a compliment?" Kimi asked bitterly.

"What's important is that that gives us a timeframe to work with," Yori cut in. "Starting at that point, for the next couple of days, she must have acted in a manner that could support this idea."

"Hmm…" Naoko pondered this, as he distinctly remembered something interesting that occurred some time ago. "When we were all together, and that argument with Kimi happened, did anyone else find it strange that Sasa spoke up, asking her to calm down?"

"Oh yeah," Ishi responded. "I know what you're talking about. That was pretty bold for her, huh?"

"A bit too bold, honestly," Naoko agreed. "But, before she did that, I remember Takeshi said that it was bad for us to be at each other's throats."

"So, you think that she did it to...impress him?" Mariko asked. "I don't know about that. She didn't seem like the kind of person to do something like that."

"But she definitely spoke up, that's the thing," Takeshi replied. "She would've needed some sort of motivation to do that, wouldn't she?"

"What does this mean for all of us, then?" Mareo asked. "Is being sycophantic a sign of infatuation among us?"

"Seems like it," Kimi agreed almost nonchalantly. "Just look at the landwhale in the room. She's living proof."

"Wha?!" Mariko gasped. "She did it again! Honey! Do something!"

Eryu turned away from her, and Naoko was sure he could hear him mutter something like "I'm so glad I'm not next to her."

"Alright, that's decent evidence, I'd say," Yasuo said. "Is there anything else, then?"

"Well, I sure can think of somethin'," Haru replied.

"Oh?" Yasuo cocked his head in Haru's direction.

"Yeah. Later that same day, on the second floor," Haru continued. "Sasa slipped by me in the hall, and Naoko said that she was listenin' in on Takeshi as he played for 'im."

"Really?" Takeshi asked, surprised. "I didn't realize. So, that's pretty much confirmation...right?"

"Yeah, I'd say it is," Haru nodded. "I'll admit, I didn't like hearin' from Naoko that Sasa was snoopin', but whaddya do?"

"So," Bankei said, getting everyone's attention, "that's one mystery solved. Sasa was in the music room since she left the game room. Now, there's another question that must be addressed."

"Seriously?" Kimi asked impatiently. "Why can't we just get to the part where we find the murderer?!"

"Oh, Kimi, there's no need for impatience," Bankei replied softly. "This is all very important, really. If we don't answer what truly happened at the crime scene, how are we supposed to uncover the truth?"

Kimi rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, of course," she replied sarcastically. "How could I have forgotten? You, the ominous pedophile, harbinger of truth! How could I possibly doubt you?"

Bankei's smile instantly disappeared, and she went stone-faced. "Oh." She paused for a time, her expression still indiscernible. "Well, I don't like what you're insinuating at all."

"Wow," Mine said, sounding almost awestruck. "That was, uh, a bit much, right? Maybe I should, uh, say something."

"I don't see why not," Takeshi told her. "It's a free country."

"Right! Thank you." Mine stood up, hands on the table. "To get things going again, I'd like to ask a question."

"You too?" Haru asked.

"Well, yeah," Mine answered with a questioning look. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"I mean, it seems to me like you want to help Bankei with her thing," Haru pointed out. "What the hell's up with that?"

"I just think she has a point," Mine replied defensively. "We have to be thorough and all that, right? Yori?"

Yori nodded. "Yes, I believe we should. Ask whatever you want."

"Okay!" Mine exclaimed, noticeably relieved. "So! Haru said something that I think's kinda weird earlier. He said Sasa was knocked out by the killer, but I dunno about that myself."

"What?!" Haru blurted out in surprise. "How does that seem weird to you?"

Mine looked at him judgmentally. "If that's what happened, then why did the killer have to suffocate her with a flute? Isn't that really, really weird?"

"So, you think there might be something we're not considering?" Hoshi asked.

"Sort of," Mine shrugged. "I just think that maybe Sasa wasn't knocked out by the killer. Maybe she was just hurt, but she was still standing."

"And then what?" Eryu asked confusedly. "Was the flute just spur of the moment?"

"That's true," Yori commented. "If that's the case, then the involvement of the flute seems rather strange."

"Whatever happened," Mareo continued, "we know there was some level of struggling between Sasa and the killer. Why the killer would use a flute in the midst of the struggle is beyond me."

"Maybe it was just, like, there on the wall? And the killer grabbed it?" Ishi suggested.

This thought process had Naoko thinking, and finally, after Ishi said this, he had an idea. "What if it wasn't on the wall?"

"Where else would it be, though?" Ishi asked. "Most of the instruments in there are hanging on the wall, aren't they?"

"Well, what if Sasa had it?" Naoko suggested.

"Sasa?" Yasuo asked, looking perplexed. "Why would she have the flute?"

"Well, we've established she went to the music room," Naoko explained. "She needed to have been doing something. Maybe she was playing the flute."

"But if she was," Mariko cut in, "wouldn't she be doing it to, I dunno, impress Takeshi? Why would she try playing the flute in order to do that?"

Naoko thought back to the observations they had made earlier. "It could've been because playing something like the saxophone was too intimidating for her. Maybe she decided instead that she could settle for playing the flute. One thing we noticed about it was that it was pretty simple in its design. If she didn't know how to play an instrument, she'd probably be drawn to a simple one."

"I suppose that makes some sense," Hoshi admitted. "You're definitely right about one thing, though. She had to be doing something in there. Playing the flute could certainly be that something. I wouldn't say it's all too absurd."

"Personally, I think that that's kinda stupid," Kimi said. "Then again, this whole conversation is stupid. All that it's doing is wasting our time."

"Finding the truth is never a waste of time," Bankei responded. "From this, we have a better idea of what occurred. Sasa and the killer fought, Sasa was struck, and then her instrument of choice was used against her. That is what happened."

"Oh, please," Kimi retorted. "If that's what happened, how come nobody heard it? Sasa must've screamed at least a little, and that's not even talking about the shit in the room that got knocked over."

"Well," Naoko weighed in, "from what I understand, noises in the music room are pretty muffled. Sasa couldn't hear Takeshi playing very well without the door open, and I just barely heard you while you were inside it."

"Oh, yeah," Kimi replied, winding down a bit. "You probably heard me gasping. Like I said, it was pretty loud."

"If sounds from the music room are heavily muffled in the hallway," Yori reasoned, "it's likely that hearing something happening inside from the game room or pool room would be nearly impossible."

"I don't see how we in the pool room would have heard anything," Eryu agreed.

"Oh! And Takeshi!" Mine cut in excitedly. "He was playing in the music room, right? That would just make it even harder to hear anything!"

"Oh yeah," Takeshi replied. "I guess that's true…" After saying this, however, he began to frown. "Actually, maybe not. I mean, I don't know when it happened, but it wasn't like I was playing music the whole time. I wasn't even in the room for a while. Sorry."

"Oh, don't feel bad for Mine," Bankei said, smiling warmly. "She's just trying to help, and she has. She's made you acknowledge something very interesting."

"I'm sorry, what?" Takeshi asked.

"The fact that you were, for a time, away from the group," Bankei answered.

"Well, you were too, right?" Ishi pointed out.

"Indeed she was," Yori replied. "Bankei, Yasuo, Haru, Kimi, Hoshi, and Takeshi. They were the only ones that had left their group around the time the crime occurred, not counting Sasa herself."

"Alright then," Eryu said, "I'm gonna take the reins for this one. Each of you, we need to know what you were doing."

"I was taking a shit," Haru said nonchalantly.

"Well...I also left to use the bathroom," Hoshi said, clearly suspicious. "And apparently, so did Takeshi."

"I, uh, did say that, didn't I?" Takeshi replied worriedly.

"We all know what yours truly was doing," Kimi said. "Or at least I hope so, but with you people, a girl like me can never be too sure."

"Yes, well," Yasuo said, his expression muted, "I also left. I returned with food and drink, as I intended to."

"And, of course, I went to the ladies room," Bankei finished.

"Well," Yori began, "already, there are some issues that need to be addressed. Haru, you told us that you didn't see anyone in the bathroom."

"Hell yeah I did," Haru confirmed. "Not sure what the fuck you two are talkin' about, but you better get to explainin'."

Hoshi sighed. "This certainly is worrisome. Look, I'll say this right now: I didn't see anyone the whole time I was outside the game room."

"Same here, actually," Takeshi said with little hesitation.

"So, we have three people who went to the bathroom at around the same time, and none of them saw each other." Naoko summarized.

"Wait, so," Mariko began, "are all of them lying?"

"Maybe not all of them," Yori responded. "But I don't doubt that we're not being told the full story. Until we can get an explanation for this, all three of you are prominent suspects."

INTERMISSION