"Let's be reasonable about this, please," Yasuo said. "Looking at the facts, both of us, Haru and I, left the group for our own reasons. However, only one of us has proof of this. I do. You simply excused yourself and spent ten minutes doing something that...well, while I can't speak for everyone, shouldn't have taken nearly that long. I don't understand why we're accusing me, instead."

"Hey! Speak for yourself," Haru retorted. "I'm not the one who got put on the spot 'cause of some bad bowel movements."

"Well, you may claim that," Yasuo replied sharply, "but there's no evidence for it that we've seen. I have the evidence I need."

"Yasuo, you're being…" Naoko trailed off for a moment. "Well, you're being pretty negative, you know that?"

"You're making that observation now?" Mareo asked. "He's been pretty negative ever since we started interrogating him. As much as I don't like to see it, I don't blame him."

"Well," Naoko replied, "I just remember Yasuo saying earlier that he doesn't like to be negative."

"Not when I don't have to be," Yasuo corrected. "That's what I said, Naoko. I avoid being negative when I don't have to be. Currently, I'm being accused, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, so I think I have the right to be firm."

"Okay, that's fine," Naoko acquiesced. "Can you elaborate on that point you made? About overwhelming evidence to the contrary?"

"Contrary to the idea of me being responsible for this...this," Yasuo explained. "I think the most obvious piece of evidence would be the fact that I returned with what I promised. I said I'd bring food and drink to replace what we lost, and I did. If I went through all these different steps, then went all the way to the pantry, I would be gone a lot longer. Not to mention the fact that I would have run into at least one other person along the way."

"You raise a good point," Yori admitted. "You would have only been able to either go to the pantry or the music room, not both."

"Of course. Thank you," Yasuo sighed.

"But," Yori continued, "that doesn't necessarily mean you did the former."

Yasuo blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm just saying, it's possible that you planned ahead somehow," Yori explained.

"What are you saying, exactly?" Eryu asked skeptically. "Are you saying he could have put what he brought back somewhere?"

"Aha!" Naoko exclaimed. "That must be it! He'd need to hide it all somewhere where it'd be easy to get to, so he wouldn't have to go all the way to the pantry."

"So, what are you saying, exactly?" Yasuo asked. "I hid an armful of chip bags and soda cans somewhere on the second floor?"

"You certainly could've," Naoko replied.

"I disagree," Yasuo said firmly. "The simple fact is, there's nowhere that I could theoretically hide them. This room has nowhere to store those items, and neither does the music room, nor does the equipment room. I couldn't hide them in the game room or pool room, for obvious reasons, and if they were in the laundry room, Kimi would likely have spotted them. Why would I risk her seeing something I would attempt to hide? It's not as though I would assume she would suffer memory loss."

He raised a good point. There was no obvious way that he could store such a quantity of items ahead of time. He could probably do so if there were something to actually store them in without anyone noticing them. He'd just have to plan things ahead of time, and they hadn't really ruled out the possibility that he could've.

"If you did what we think the killer did," Naoko pondered aloud, "you'd go straight back to the pool room from the music room. You'd have just left Kimi at the crime scene to frame her, like we said earlier. So if you were to hide things ahead of time, it'd be in there…"

Then it hit him.

"Wait a minute! There is a space in there where you could've stored them. In the music room, there's a grand piano right in the middle."

"There is," Yori agreed. "And I noticed that its lid was propped open, when it was closed previously."

"Wait, so, you can store things in a grand piano?" Mine asked curiously.

"I didn't pay close attention to the interior, but probably," Naoko surmised. "I've seen the inside of a piano before."

"Don't worry," Yori chimed in. "I looked inside it, myself. There was almost definitely enough space."

"So, wait a moment, excuse me," Yasuo interjected nervously. "You're saying I planned the crime to such a ludicrous degree? But...when would I even be able to come up with such a plan?"

"What the hell d'you mean by that?" Haru asked accusingly. "You'd just need to know it was there. We've all been in there once or twice, at least. Anyone could've come up with the idea, dummy."

"I'm sorry, Haru, but you're being very disrespectful right now," Yasuo replied. "And I disagree. That's not something that just pops into your head, I wouldn't say. Sure, I've been inside, but no more than anyone else."

"What about when you went and spruced up the music room and the game room?" Eryu asked.

"I'm s-...Oh, um…" Yasuo stopped himself mid-sentence and trailed off. He sounded for a moment like he was going to give some sort of retort, but no retort came from him.

"Yasuo was screwing around in the music room and game room?" Ishi asked. "When'd that happen?"

"Yesterday," Naoko replied. "He was helping set up for the party. He was one of the people we listed as helping with the party on those sheafs we handed out, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Ishi said. "I saw you guys doing that. And, like, I checked out mine, too, but you guys didn't say he'd be doing that. I flipped through the thing and all you gave were people's names."

"Well, maybe it would've been clearer if the roles everyone played were listed, then," Yori supposed.

"Uh...Yeah, maybe." Eryu seemed rather embarrassed to admit that, Naoko noticed.

"Wait a moment," Bankei interjected confusedly, "you said you 'flipped through' it? That's an odd way of putting it when there were only two pages, including the cover."

"The point is," Naoko said, changing the subject quickly, "he'd been in there plenty. He could've certainly figured out he could've used the grand piano to store items."

"Even if I did, Naoko," Yasuo responded, "there's a major issue with what you've just suggested."

"What's that?" Naoko asked.

"You're saying I prepared an alibi for myself beforehand. And yet, the only reason I left the group at all was because of the accident that occurred, when the folding table fell. The point we've made about the music room is one thing, but how could I have known that such a thing would even happen?"

"Oh. Oooh!" Mine exclaimed in understanding. "You're talking about when Haru threw Kimi into the table! That's a good point."

"Hey!" Haru interjected. "I didn't throw her! I pushed her!"

"Well, you still did it, didn't you?" Mine insisted. "You pushed her, like a big bully!"

"What?!" Haru shouted.

"Mine, dear," Bankei said firmly. "Haru may be brutish, but there's no need to act so uncouth yourself. Let me ask him instead: Haru, would you kindly explain your past actions to us? Please?"

That utterance of "Please" was probably meant to be patient, but it sounded much more demanding than anything.

"Jeez, are you two dating or some shit?" Haru remarked. "Seriously, I told Yasuo myself that I didn't mean for it to fall over. It's not like I knew that the table would come crashin' down."

A few seconds passed, and Haru seemed to come to a startling conclusion. He shot an angry look towards Yasuo.

"Hey!" He shouted. "You fucked with the table so it'd fall, didn't you?!"

"What?!" Yasuo responded, looking shocked. "What do you think you're doing, Haru, suggesting I could've done such a thing? You're obviously just trying to weasel your way out of this."

"And you're bein' way ruder than you're supposed to be," Haru shot back. "What happened to you callin' us by our last names?"

Yasuo stopped suddenly, and took a deep breath. "I took up that habit when I felt I could trust you all enough to use such a formality. At this point, however, you're being far too disrespectful. After this, once we're all on speaking terms again, perhaps I'll continue doing so. We are supposed to be friends, after all."

"Really? You started calling us by our last names because you trusted us, and considered us friends?" Yori asked.

"We'd known each other for long enough at that point, I'd say. Yes."

"That's funny," Naoko said. "Then why haven't you ever called Sasa by her last name?"

"Because doing so isn't proper," Yasuo quickly and forcefully claimed. "And this is all off topic. Simply put, there was no way I could have had anything to do with the folding table falling over."

"I don't know about that," Naoko replied. "I think that something might've happened to the table itself before the accident occurred. You see, the folding table was held up by clamps, and when we were examining the table afterwards, the clamps were undone."

"And you think I had something to do with that?" Yasuo asked rhetorically.

"Of course he does, dammit!" Haru shouted. "Hell, you were the one loiterin' around it!"

"That's no proof that I tampered with it. Even if, theoretically, it could stand while its clamps were undone, the table was covered by a large cloth. I would need to crouch down, lift up the cloth, and undo the clamps underneath."

"...That's…" Mareo looked troubled. "Well, you're not wrong, I suppose."

"Couldn't you have just, like, done it, then?" Ishi pointed out. "Y'know, tamper with the table? You'd just have to do those things you just said."

"I could have," Yasuo admitted. "However, if I did, it would have been very noticeable. There would be no way it wouldn't be noticed in a crowded room."

"Well, I wasn't there, so I guess I can't say otherwise," Takeshi admitted. "Hey, Naoko. You were in the pool room, so lemme ask you something: Was there a point when you guys wouldn't have been able to see him do something like that?"

"Wouldn't have?" Naoko asked. That specific wording intrigued him. Couldn't have seemed out of the question. The room, while dimmer than normal, was lit up the whole time, and the only time that Naoko could remember Yasuo being alone in the room was at the beginning of the party, when people went to change clothes...But if that were the case, wouldn't the table have fallen over at some point earlier? Naoko could swear it fell over around 50 minutes into the party. All it'd take was for someone to lean on it for it to fall over, surely. If the clamps came undone, it'd have to happen during the party, and it wouldn't have been seen if...what?

Well, there was one possible explanation.

"I remember there being something that happened a little while before the table fell over," Naoko began. "There was a remote that controlled the music player in the room, and I remember Eryu accidentally sat on it, and the volume skyrocketed, and it really got our attention."

"Wait a minute," Eryu stopped him. "All that was meant to be a distraction? That's...Does that mean it wasn't an accident, then?"

"Don't worry, sweetie," Mariko said lovingly. "You-"

"Wait a minute, shut up," Kimi interrupted, "I gotta say something. Naoko, buddy, I dunno what to tell you, but...Just, how the hell could that have been planned?"

"How?" Naoko asked. "Well, for starters, you were using the remote earlier, weren't you? Where did you last see it?"

"The folding table, I guess?" Kimi shrugged. "I put it there, that's why."

"So Yasuo could've had access to it," Naoko reasoned. "I also know that it happened while we were talking. Eryu stood up, we started talking, and he sat down again. With that in mind, it might've been predicted and planned by someone who was observant enough."

"Observant?" Mine asked. "Super-ultra-mega observant, maybe."

"Eh," Haru said curtly. "Yasuo was plenty observant, alright."

"Eh?" Mine responded, face contorted in disbelief.

"Nah, seriously," Haru continued, "that guy was crazy strange back in the party. I remember him movin' around the room, givin' people shit, and he was as damn efficient as the finest craftsman. He gave me a drink before I even realized I wanted one. Freakiest shit ever."

"Oh, definitely," Eryu agreed. "He did that for me as well, while Naoko and I were talking…" His eyes widened. "Wait a minute…"

"That's when he could've placed the remote," Naoko finished for him.

"My ability to read people and gauge their needs and wants may be finely honed," Yasuo admitted, "but I don't see how or why I would ever use it in such a manner."

"Well, as for why," Naoko replied, "it's simple: What happened then got everyone's attention, and got people looking towards the opposite end of the room from where the folding table was. You could've undone the clamps then. What happened with Haru and Kimi was just what you would've needed, even if you didn't plan for it to happen. It would've probably just been convenient."

"...Given what you've laid out," Yasuo said slowly, "yes, I would have to agree. However, this is all based on assumptions, and so is this plan that you're suggesting I came up with. I don't see why you have to assume what happened was all a part of some sort of semi-impromptu plan. All that would be needed was something as simple as a lie that I needed to go somewhere, such as the bathroom. Haru used such an excuse, but you seem to be on his side, and I don't understand why."

"It wasn't an excuse," Haru insisted. "It was the truth. I had to take a shit, so I did."

"And you expect me to take that at face value?" Yasuo asked. "We're both the prime suspects, are we not?"

"It sounds like there's still the possibility that what Haru claimed could have been a lie," Yori weighed in. "Perhaps it would be best to look at this by making a hypothetical assumption. Let's say Haru is telling the truth. Why exactly did his bathroom break take ten full minutes?"

"Hey, I thought you said you didn't want to pry into my bowel movements," Haru responded bitterly.

"I haven't been planning to do so, actually," Yori said. "But, earlier, we've established that right before you bumped into Kimi, you groaned. You think that maybe you might have had something that didn't agree with you, didn't you?"

"I think I did, yeah," Haru replied. "It's not like I ate anythin' weird, though. It just happened."

"Well, what about what you drank?" Yori asked.

"What he drank?" Naoko repeated back. The idea hadn't crossed his mind, but he thought he knew what Yori was suggesting. "Hm...That drink you spilled on Kimi. That was the one that Yasuo handed to you, right?"

"Well, yeah," Haru confirmed. "What, do you think he slipped somethin' into it to make me have to use the john?"

"He might have," Yori speculated. "Doing so would mean that there was someone else at the pool party who would potentially be left without a solid alibi. Of course, whether we have access to something that could fulfill that purpose is not something I'm immediately aware of. I'd hope someone here can confirm this."

"You know that what you're describing is a laxative, correct?" Mareo pointed out. "Perhaps you might think it improper to use the term, but...whatever. Perhaps IMONO can tell us."

"I WOULD RATHER AVOID PROVIDING SUCH INFORMATION. HOWEVER, I WILL SAY THAT THIS FACILITY IS STOCKED WITH A VARIETY OF GOODS THAT MAY BE USED TO PROMOTE LONGEVITY AND GENERAL WELLBEING. THESE INCLUDE ANAESTHETICS, MEDICATIONS, AND VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS, AMONG OTHER ITEMS."

"Okay," Mareo replied. "With that in mind, it would make sense for us to have access to purgatives. Perhaps in the medical room?"

"IF YOU WISH TO SPECULATE, THEN I WILL NOT STOP YOU. WHILE WE ARE ON THE SUBJECT, HOWEVER, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL STUDENTS INGEST A VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENT FROM THE MEDICAL ROOM WITHIN THE NEAR FUTURE. DOING SO SHOULD HELP MITIGATE ANY VITAMIN D DEFICIENCIES CAUSED BY LACK OF SUNLIGHT."

"That's completely off topic!" Eryu demeaned.

"IT WAS MERELY MEANT AS A POLITE SUGGESTION. PLEASE, CONTINUE AS YOU WERE."

"Fine, then," Yasuo replied with notable anger. "Speaking in regards to what's been said, I suppose I can't stop you from taking these isolated incidents, and coming to the conclusion that it was all because of my own meddling. However, there is one issue that I have with your reasoning that I believe you cannot dispute."

"What is it?" Naoko asked.

"It relates to what you claimed previously," Yasuo explained. "You think that I attempted to use a hammer to kill Sasa, only to use a mallet to incapacitate Kimi. However, there is an issue with that: You've said yourselves that Sasa had a head wound that matched the mallet. If that's the case, then I think what happened is clear: Sasa was attacked with the mallet, not the hammer."

"What does that change?" Mariko asked. "You could've done that, couldn't you?"

"Not nearly as easily as Haru could have," Yasuo claimed. "If Kimi was knocked unconscious by a strike to the head with a mallet, wouldn't the same thing happen to Sasa, rather than her simply being dazed, yet still somehow able to fight back? I propose that the supposed struggle between Sasa and the killer never occurred. Haru, with his great physical strength, could have rendered both unconscious easily. Any inconsistencies could be explained some other way. Perhaps Haru himself modified the crime scene."

Naoko was beginning to get confused. He was quite sure that they were all on the right track. If so, Yasuo was still trying to deflect blame, and was getting desperate. Perhaps Haru would have an easier time knocking them both unconscious than he would have. And he certainly could've modified the crime scene if he wanted to...but in that reasoning, Naoko realized exactly how to shoot down Yasuo's supposed contradiction.

"Simply put, it doesn't matter what Haru claims. The mallet was used to commit the crime!"

The words were there. Naoko just had to say them.

"Sasa was already dead."

Yasuo whipped back noticeably. "I'm sorry?"

"You said that Haru could've tampered with the crime scene to make it look however he wanted," Naoko explained. "But so could you. I think we were right about the hammer. It fell to the floor and was never used the way it was meant to, and the killer-"

"Yasuo," Kimi said between fake coughs.

"...The killer could've struck Sasa on the head with the mallet after the struggle occurred," Naoko continued. "Doing that would be a lot easier than rearranging the whole crime scene."

"Wh-?" Yasuo began to sweat again, seeming increasingly tongue-tied. "I wasn't trying to insinuate that-that it was completely fabricated! That indentation in the floor could have been...It could have…"

"Well, someone is certainly looking desperate to come up with an excuse," Bankei said happily. "This didn't exactly go the way I was hoping it would, but...well, this is good enough for now. Naoko, would you kindly give the little recap you gave last time? Perhaps I didn't say it, but I thought it was a nice touch."

"Seriously?" Naoko asked. "Okay. I can do that. In fact, I think that'd be for the best. Yasuo, I'm really sorry, but I'm going to lay out how I see this. If you have any issues with anything I suggest, you can stop me. Otherwise, I want to just get this over with. Is that okay?"

Yasuo didn't say anything. He was sweating up a storm, he had his teeth clenched shut, and was looking down at the table, but not a word escaped him.

"Okay, here goes…"

Naoko took a deep breath. This was going to take a while.

"For any of this to have been possible, two assumptions would need to be made, those being that Sasa would leave the party in the game room, and then go to the music room in her quest to win over her crush. These assumptions could have been made by just about anyone who observed her behavior and what she'd already been doing. Someone who was in love with her themselves fits that bill perfectly.

"At the pool party, the killer did a couple of things before leaving. First, they took the first good opportunity available to cause a distraction, in order to be able to rig the folding table to fall without anyone noticing. After that, an accident needed to occur, and one did, most likely a result of something that happened after slipping some sort of laxative into Haru's drink. Doing so would lead to someone else lacking a solid alibi, and also indirectly led to the accident that the killer needed to excuse themselves. Before they did, though, they also suggested that Kimi, who was part of the accident, go to the laundry room. This would be important later.

"The killer went to the music room, bringing a hammer with them. Sure enough, Sasa was there, and they fought. The hammer that was meant to be used to attack her fell during the struggle, so the killer had to improvise. So, the killer grabbed a flute that Sasa was using, and jammed it down her throat, suffocating her. After that, the killer didn't stop there, but also took the opportunity to frame someone, since the situation allowed for it.

"The killer left the hammer in the equipment room and grabbed a mallet. Going into the laundry room, the killer ambushed Kimi and struck her with the mallet, causing her to become concussed. After that, Kimi was taken to the crime scene, where the killer also struck Sasa's body with the mallet, in a further attempt to confuse the investigation and make Kimi look guilty. Finally, for a good alibi, the killer grabbed some food and drinks that they had stored in the music room ahead of time, in the grand piano, in order to deflect suspicion.

"And there's only one person who could've done all this. That's you, Yasuo."

Naoko wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the whole thing. It wasn't like he was enjoying the discomfort it gave Yasuo. After he finished, he saw that the man was having difficulty coming up with a response.

"Well...That's...That's all very…"

Yasuo let out a frustrated groan.

"I don't understand how this all could've happened the way it did. Kimi seemed so obvious, and now you've all chosen to accuse me over Haru? Ridiculous. Don't the both of them have perfectly visible reasons for why they may have wanted to kill that bitch?"

That last statement generated quite a few shocked reactions from the group. Hoshi looked flat-out disgusted by his language, in fact, and Naoko could understand why.

"Oh…" Yasuo said, his anger subsiding. "...Oh my...I can't believe that that slipped out. I just...Good lord, so terrible of me."

"Y'know," Haru spoke up, "for a second there, that really had me goin'. I'm hopin' we can take that as a confession? Fuckin' please?"

"Y-yes," Yasuo responded meekly. "I...I did it. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Hoshi met Yasuo with a neutral expression, but looked like he was struggling to maintain it. "Why? Just...Why?"

"THIS CAN COME LATER. EVERYONE, PLEASE, MOVE TO THE GYMNASIUM. IT IS TIME TO VOTE."

At IMONO's urging, everyone filed out, and traveled all the way up to the gym, where that giant screen had already been lowered down. Everyone's phones prompted them to vote, and they did so silently. Once they were done, the results were displayed on the screen.

"VOTES: UNANIMOUS"

"YASUO BANDO: GUILTY"

A/N: Welp, this has been a long time coming, but it's over now. The killer has officially been uncovered, and, well, I wanted it to be someone unexpected. So, who better to be found guilty than Yasuo? Admittedly, though, writing this Author's Note, it now hits me that this is only a couple steps away from a flat out "The Butler Did It" plot twist. Funny that.