Naoko took his opportunity to act. He wasn't comfortable letting Bankei have control over their conversation any more than she already had. Besides, though it was hard to tell, something told him IMONO was getting impatient. That image was on that screen still, so there was little doubt that they weren't being watched closely. He had to make his words count.

"Hoshi, can I ask you something?"

Bankei snapped her attention to Naoko almost immediately. "That's quite rude, you know. I was about to say something."

"Well, I want to say something, too, so…" Naoko had a feeling that Bankei wasn't exactly being fair. After all, she had just recently cut off Yori mid-sentence. Was speaking before her so bad? Why was she looking at him like that?

"I think I'd rather hear what Naoko has to say first," Hoshi weighed in. "No offense, Bankei."

Bankei frowned. "You would, eh? That's certainly inconvenient for us."

"Naoko, you should really just ask him," Eryu said.

"Right," he nodded. "Hoshi, earlier it's been said that Sasa left at 12:40, and you left about ten minutes after that."

"That's correct," Hoshi agreed. "I left at around that time, I'm sure of it."

"How do you know that just, like, off the top of your head?" Ishi asked.

"What do you mean?" Hoshi replied, looking at her with his head cocked.

"I think what she's trying to say is that the fact that you're sure of the exact time is strange, or something along those lines," Yori explained.

"Yeah, exactly! Or, well, I'm pretty sure that's it, yeah."

"I'm starting to think there's a reason why you're sure of that," Naoko said. "And I think it might also be why you went all the way to your room."

Hoshi sighed. "You know already? I haven't even explained it myself."

"I think I know," Naoko emphasized. "Was the reason you went to your own room so that you could stop by Sasa's room and check to see if she was there?"

"Well…," Hoshi paused, "yes, that's true. After she was gone for a full ten minutes, of course I'd be worried. I didn't know where she would go exactly, but I had a feeling she might have gone to her own room, because being around all of us made her too anxious, and perhaps she simply wanted to be alone. Still, I didn't have total certainty at the time, and I just wanted to know if she was alright."

"So, you didn't go to the bathroom?" Yori asked.

"Oh, I did," Hoshi replied. "I stopped by my room for a short while to use the bathroom. I suppose that's why Takeshi and I never saw each other."

"Wait, if that's true, then that's a bit muddling, isn't it?" Mareo asked. "I'm sure that Hoshi returned before Takeshi did. If you went into the bathroom, then Takeshi arrived, went into his room, and retrieved a reed, then logically, you should've returned after he did."

"You raise a good point," Hoshi replied. "Before Bankei interrupted me, I planned to ask about just that."

"Oh, you did?" Bankei replied with an air of innocence. "Eh-heh, so sorry about that."

"Maybe Takeshi can answer this," Mine suggested. "What happened, Takeshi? Did you misplace the box and have to scrounge for it or something like that?"

"Good question," Takeshi replied. "Nah, that's not what happened. I kept it in plain sight, 'cause I didn't really feel like hiding it. I just opened the box, took out one of the reeds, stuck it in my saxophone, and that was it. It was a simple process."

"Was that all that you did in there, then?" Hoshi asked.

"Well, not quite, no," Takeshi admitted. "As silly as it sounds, making such an amateur mistake, like breaking a reed, in front of all you guys...it made me pretty self-conscious. I started to worry that maybe I was going to make a fool of myself, or something along those lines. I know it was probably irrational, but that didn't stop me from worrying about the whole thing. It's not like I wanted to embarrass myself, or disappoint anyone."

"Damn, man," Haru commented empathetically, "that's some heavy shit."

"It's a relatable feeling, if nothing else," Mariko weighed in.

"Probably," Takeshi replied. "I spent some time by myself in my room on that little train of thought. I prayed to high heaven that things would go well, but my confidence in that regard was...actually kinda iffy. I don't wanna seem like I'm acting this way because I want pity, mind you, this is just how I felt at the time."

"Well, thank you for letting us know this," Yori replied.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Kimi interrupted. "So, are we just going to have to buy that you sat around in your room for minutes on end doing fucking nothing? That's hard for me to believe. I can barely stand being cooped up in my room for a minute without doing anything these days."

"No need to be insensitive, Kimi." Yasuo said. "It's clear that he's speaking in a way he is not entirely comfortable with. There's no need for hostility, is there?"

"Huh?" Kimi replied. "I guess not. I just think it's weird he'd be doing literally nothing in his room for all that time."

"How exactly is that weird?" Eryu asked.

"Oh, my," Yasuo said to himself. "Well, mister Okane, it seems you two are at odds with one another. Perhaps there's a way to resolve this?"

"Hey, um," Mariko began, "I don't know if this is weird or not, but I think Eryu is right. It's probably not unusual that he was in his room for that long."

Kimi groaned loudly. "Oh, for fuck's sake, not this shit again."

"What?" Mariko asked concernedly. "I just remembered something Takeshi said just a bit ago. He said he...prayed?"

"Yeah, I did," Takeshi confirmed. "Is there...something wrong with that?"

"When you said that, were you being, um, literal?"

"Well, yes," Takeshi answered.

"Oh, shit," Ishi swore casually. "I didn't know you were, like, religious. What are you, exactly? Shinto, maybe?"

"Huh?" Takeshi asked confusedly. "No, I'm actually Christian."

"Ah, interesting," Bankei replied happily. "I didn't realize we had someone of a religious minority in our midst. I'm surprised we've never heard of this."

"I've never really considered myself evangelical," Takeshi explained. "Really, the only reason I haven't told you all this before is that the topic never really came up."

"Ah, and you're humble about it," Bankei said enthusiastically. "How lovely. I'll admit, I'm not a practitioner myself, but I've read much of your faith and its teachings. The Book of Revelation in particular was quite fascinating."

"...Cool," Takeshi said hesitantly.

"So, that's all well and good," Mareo said. "Shouldn't we be getting back to the topic of Hoshi, then?"

"Sounds fine," Eryu replied. "When you checked on her, Hoshi, what happened? What did you do, exactly?"

"Well, I attempted to see if Sasa was in her room," Hoshi began. "Before and after using the bathroom in my own room, I tried knocking on her door. I hoped that if she were in there, she would come out, so long as I avoided doing anything to make her worry."

"Before and after?" Naoko asked.

"Yes," Hoshi replied. "At first, I did so lightly, because like I said, I didn't want to worry her. After my trip to the bathroom, however, I became less sure of whether she was in there or not. Before I left, I knocked on the door a good deal harder, just a couple of times, on the off-chance she heard."

"Well, she wasn't there," Eryu pointed out. "So, who would've heard?"

At that, Naoko had an idea. "What about Takeshi?"

"Takeshi? How would he have heard it from his room?" Eryu asked.

"I think maybe he could've," Naoko explained. "After all, Hoshi was knocking on Sasa's door. Takeshi's room is right next to hers."

"Woah, Naoko!" Mine said, clearly impressed. "You know that off the top of your head?"

"Well, yeah," Naoko replied. "I remember that well. We handed out those papers to everyone by slipping them under their doors. And we handed them out to everyone except ourselves."

"We?" Kimi asked.

"Oh, right," Naoko said. "Yeah, Yori, Eryu and I. You two can back me up, right?"

"Right," Eryu replied. "I remember that. Takeshi's room is right next to mine, actually."

"It's not far away from mine, either," Yori added. "Alright, Naoko. You've made a good point. Takeshi, did you hear anything?"

Takeshi took a moment to contemplate the question. He looked a bit unsure, and looking over at Hoshi, Naoko noticed he was rather tense, as if he were really hoping he would say yes. This came to a close when Takeshi eventually returned back with an answer.

"A little while before I left, I'm pretty sure I remember hearing something. I guess it was like a... rhythmic thunking noise? Is that how I should describe it? Whatever it was, it was quiet, but I believe I did hear it."

"Really?" Hoshi asked, looking surprised. "When you say it was rhythmic, did it happen three times?"

"Yeah. Is that how many times you knocked?"

Hoshi sighed in relief. "Yes, it was. I must say, I wasn't sure if it was proper to expect it, but...well, that's perfect. That means I have an alibi, doesn't it?"

"I guess it does," Takeshi said, a smile forming slowly on his face.

"I'm sorry," Bankei interjected, "but I thought you believed Takeshi was not to be taken at his word."

"That was when I thought he was hiding something for his own sake," Hoshi replied defensively. "I see no reason to doubt something he's saying for my sake…" After saying this, Hoshi went quiet, as if he realized something. "My sake…," he muttered to himself.

"Very well," Bankei replied slowly. "If that's the case, then what now? Both men were suspected of hiding something. Now, that only leaves us with three potential suspects."

"And you're one of them," Yori pointed out. "Do you have anything to offer in your defense?"

Bankei let out a quiet gasp. "My goodness. I never expected you to accuse me so quickly, Yori."

"I think it's only fair," Yori explained. "After all, we've already looked at this case from multiple different angles. We've explored the idea of Kimi being the culprit, Takeshi being the culprit, and Hoshi being the culprit. At this point, I find it only reasonable to consider you next. By this point, both you and Haru have the weakest alibis, and you've been attempting to control the conversation."

"Control the conversation?" Bankei asked, seeming baffled. "When did I do that?"

"Not too long ago, you stopped Hoshi from asking Takeshi a question, then started accusing him," Eryu pointed out.

Bankei looked disappointed at this. "Oh...Well, I suppose that's true. But I swear, it was for a good reason."

"Thus far, you've made this trial much longer and more in-depth than the last one," Yori said. "I'd like to say that that's a good thing, but I can't help but feel IMONO is none too pleased with us, and may end this trial early before we reach a conclusion."

"I MAY. BUT ONLY IF YOUR DISCUSSION CEASES TO PRODUCE ANY USEFUL INSIGHT OR CONCLUSIONS. THUS FAR, YOU HAVE DONE A GOOD JOB OF DISCUSSING THE SPECIFICS OF THE CRIME. HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO SERVING JUSTICE, SO I RECOMMEND YOU FOCUS ON THE MATTER AT HAND."

"So, we need to stop wasting time," Naoko summarized.

"THANK YOU, NAOKO. THAT IS CORRECT."

"Yeah, well, I'd say it's pretty damn obvious that someone's been wastin' a helluva lot of our time," Haru pointed out.

"Wasting our time?" Bankei asked. "I do not intend to waste our time. In fact, I planned to reveal an observation or two of mine that would have saved quite a lot of our time."

"What the hell are you even talkin' about?" Haru asked.

"Well," Bankei replied, "I was originally going to explain why both Takeshi and Hoshi are among the most unlikely suspects. I made an observation, you see, and wanted to use what I said and what I've observed to get us all on the right path, so that we may end all of this properly...But, at this point, I feel if I were to say it now, it wouldn't have the same effect as I presumed it would before. Naoko, I'm surprised you haven't considered it yourself."

"Considered what?" Naoko asked.

"Well, think back to what we've established," Bankei explained. "If either of them were to be the true culprit, then there's an inherent issue. There was a crucial detail in relation to the crime in question they couldn't have been behind."

"Something they wouldn't have known of, huh?"

Naoko stewed on this idea for a bit. Logically, if either of them were responsible for Sasa's murder, then they'd have to go through the steps they'd already established. They'd have excused themselves from the game room, only to go to the equipment room to take the mallet, since that was where it was from. They'd then have gone to the music room, gotten into an altercation with Sasa, killed her, and then left Kimi at the crime scene in order to frame her. To do that, all they'd have to do was ambush her and knock her out while she was in the laundry room.

That's when it all came together.

"Of course!" Naoko exclaimed. "Kimi! She was left at the crime scene! And she must've been knocked out while she was in the laundry room, since she never changed her top, so whoever knocked her out had to have known she'd be in there."

"See?" Bankei said. "A simple, concrete reason why not to suspect either of them. I must say, it's a shame I was unable to explain it myself, but I'll humbly take credit for the revelation."

"The only people who would know about her presence in the laundry room would be those in the pool room," Mareo said. "That should include you as well, Bankei."

"It does?" Bankei asked, her head cocked. "Well, yes, I was there when that altercation between Kimi and Haru occurred. However, I claim that I had no idea that she would go to the laundry room to change."

"Why wouldn't you have known?" Ishi asked.

"I think I know why," Naoko spoke up. "I remember Yasuo bringing up the idea. The problem is, though, Bankei wasn't there when he said that."

"Ah, that's correct," Yasuo replied. "So, what you're saying is that if Kimi were to be framed, it would most likely have to have been by either myself or Haru. Well, unless..."

"What is it?" Naoko asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just thinking," Yasuo explained. "If it were indeed either of us, we would need to know where Sasa was, wouldn't we?"

"That's a fair question," Mareo agreed. "After all, I would have to assume none of you would know that Sasa had left at all. If that's indeed the case..."

"Could the killer have known Sasa would be there?" Naoko pondered. "Or, maybe just have predicted?"

"Earlier, Takeshi explained that he saw Sasa leaving the room at one point," Eryu pointed out. "Did anyone else see her enter or leave the room within the last couple of days?"

"Sorry, but I don't think people are gonna want to answer that question," Takeshi pointed out. "If they did, then that'd mean they could anticipate the whole thing, and, uh, y'know."

"I suppose by that train of thought, it could be just about any of us," Yasuo said. "Of course, in this case, you're interested in both Haru and myself. I'll need to explain things from my own perspective."

"You've both given your alibis already," Yori said. "Yasuo, you went to replace what was lost when the folding table was knocked over."

"Indeed," Yasuo nodded. "I had to go all the way to the first floor, through the cafeteria, then through the kitchen, to make it to the pantry, where I was able to find what I needed. It took some time, I'll admit."

"And what about you, Haru?" Yori asked.

"I told you guys," Haru said frustratedly. "I had to take a shit."

Mine's face scrunched up at this. "Seriously? Weren't you gone for a really long time? How long could it have taken?"

Haru scowled. "Excuse me?"

"You were gone for some time," Yori said. "Possibly around ten minutes."

"I dunno what to tell you guys," Haru said. "I had a bad time on the shitter. It happens, alright?"

Kimi smirked. "Heh. I bet you would have had a bad time. You've always been full of shit. Heyo!"

Nobody really laughed at the joke, which made Kimi pout and cross her arms. But, aside from that, it seemed like the consensus was that ten minutes was a long time to be in the bathroom. This was something that Naoko couldn't argue with, but felt that maybe there could've been some explanation. Something didn't feel right. He couldn't place what, but something felt sorely amiss.

"Listen," Haru said, "we've all had a bad time usin' the john every now and then, right? I dunno if somethin' didn't agree with me or what, but it was just a bad circumstance, alright?"

"Even if that's true," Yori replied, "surely you understand why it'd seem suspicious. You were gone longer than anyone, after all, barring Sasa and Kimi."

"And we all know how much you and Kimi have been at each other's throats," Mine added judgmentally. "For all we know, you could've planned to frame her from the start. You just needed to lie about using the bathroom."

"I didn't plan shit!" Haru claimed.

"Well, unfortunately, there's a lack of evidence to assume you weren't lying," Yori pointed out.

"No, that's wrong," Naoko cut in. "I think there's reason to believe he wasn't lying."

"I'm not aware of anything of the sort," Yori replied. "What are you referring to?"

"You, uh, weren't there, actually," Naoko explained. "Kimi was explaining how things happened from her perspective, and she told me about when Haru bumped into her. She said something about him letting out some sort of groan."

"Oh yeah, I did," Kimi said. "Not sure what that was about."

"Why don't we ask Haru?" Naoko suggested.

"Well," Haru said slowly, "I kinda started gettin' a bad feelin' in my gut. Like, real bad. When it hit, I lost my footin' and, y'know..."

"So, what?" Kimi asked skeptically. "That's your excuse? For bumping into yours truly?"

"That's what I'm sayin'," Haru said frustratedly. "What the hell d'you even want from me?"

"For all we know, you could've faked the whole thing!" Kimi yelled. "You could've been trying to get me to leave, so you could pin all this shit on me!"

"Oh, come the fuck on," Haru grumbled, starting to sweat. "You gotta be shittin' me. Is this really where we're goin'?"

Naoko, for his part, actually felt similarly. Again, something about the whole thing felt odd, but he couldn't quite place why. That is, until he looked over at Bankei and began to think. She didn't look happy. Naoko remembered, not too long ago, she claimed that she was going to put them all on the right track to uncover the truth and end things "properly". Perhaps she knew more than she was letting on? She apparently wanted to segue into doing so at the time, but Naoko had stopped her. Before, she was suggesting that Hoshi killed Sasa, despite his previous claims that he loved her. How exactly would she segue off of that, especially when Hoshi was most likely innocent?

In any case, accusing Haru still didn't feel right. The problem was that the evidence was against him, and if Naoko were to redirect everyone towards a better answer, he feared he'd have to do something drastic.

INTERMISSION

A/N: This chapter ended up being a bit longer than the previous ones, but, well, condensing all of these different beats into one chapter takes a while sometimes. In any case, as you can probably tell, the case will be wrapping up soon. Everything's gonna come together...