As everyone sat down, IMONO's voice returned.

"THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING. NOW, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THIS IS AN UNUSUAL CASE. THE EXACT CIRCUMSTANCES BEHIND THE DEATH OF BOTH HARU AND HOSHI ARE CURRENTLY UNCLEAR TO YOU. EVEN STILL, YOU ARE ALL EXPECTED TO COME TO A SUITABLE CONCLUSION AS TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES BEHIND THEIR DEATHS. IF YOU ARE INCORRECT IN YOUR CONCLUSION, EXPECT A SUITABLE PUNISHMENT."

"Your word usage seems rather vague," Bankei pointed out. "What exactly is that supposed to imply?"

"Well, to answer that question, we should explain the state of the crime scene for everyone in here," Mareo suggested.

"That's a good point," Naoko agreed. "Not everyone here has seen the crime scene themselves, after all."

"Sounds good to me," Ishi said. "So, anyone here wanna give us the details?"

"I suppose I could give a decent summary," Mareo said. He stopped for a moment to clear his throat, before beginning his own explanation of their basic findings. "Haru and Hoshi were found in the physical activity room, as you should already know from the file we've been given. They were found face-up, opposite to each other in a pool of dried blood. As for their wounds, Hoshi was slashed around his neck and upper chest, with a single, deep stab wound that likely went through his jugular. Haru, by contrast, was stabbed repeatedly in the torso, and similarly to Hoshi, he was likely hit somewhere vital. What was most interesting, however, was the fact that both of them had a knife, which were both still on their person."

"Wow, that's…quite the description," Mariko responded after a short pause.

"Well, it's not really a full description," Eryu pointed out. "We also found some other items on them."

"True," Mareo replied. "But, even without taking those into account, the crime scene itself leaves some very concerning implications."

"Concerning implications?" Kimi repeated back in bemusement. "All that says to me is that they killed each other."

"It seems as though it's a definite possibility, yes," Yori replied.

"So, wait a minute," Mine interjected. "If that actually was what happened, then what does that mean for us?"

"That depends," Naoko replied. "I can't remember being told what would happen, in that case."

"I INDEED HAVE NOT SAID MUCH IN REGARDS TO THAT POSSIBILITY. SIMPLY PUT, IN THE CASE OF A MUTUAL KILL, BOTH INDIVIDUALS CAN BE CONSIDERED RESPONSIBLE FOR EACH OTHER'S DEATHS. SINCE THEY ARE ALREADY DEAD, PUNISHMENT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR ANYONE, SO LONG AS THIS IS ACCURATELY DETERMINED BY THE REST OF YOU. IT WOULD BE SHAMEFUL TO ACCUSE SOMEONE OF A CRIME THEY DID NOT COMMIT, EVEN IF THERE IS NO TRUE CULPRIT TO BENEFIT FROM THIS."

"So, what you're saying is that even if they killed each other, we still have to figure out who did it?" Takeshi supposed.

"I SUPPOSE THAT IS INDEED A DECENT WAY OF PUTTING IT. NOW, WITH THIS BEING SAID, PERHAPS YOU SHOULD BEGIN YOUR DISCUSSION ON THIS MATTER."

IMONO wasn't wrong, exactly. It sounded like even if none of the people currently alive could be held responsible for what happened, they still needed to verify that this was indeed the case. So, with all that information fresh in their minds, their task in front of them was clear: They needed to determine whether or not this really was a mutual kill. Naoko, for his part, wasn't entirely sold on the idea, but he definitely couldn't speak for everyone.

"Honestly, just based on what Mareo said, this seems like an easy case," Kimi began. "They both had knives on them, so obviously they attacked each other with them."

"If that was the case, then there must have been some sort of struggle between the two," Yori said. "However, there doesn't seem to be much evidence of this. The room itself is rather open, with most of its contents off to the sides."

"Sounds like we need to focus on the two of them," Takeshi surmised. "Based on what Mareo said, Hoshi would've had to get a few good stabs on Hoshi during their fight."

"Well, sure," Mine replied, "but Haru would also have to have been swinging his knife around, trying to cut him open."

"Seriously? It couldn't have been that dramatic," Kimi argued. "Besides, Haru would've had to have gotten that stab in at some point."

"No, that's wrong," Naoko cut in. That was about the point he realized just what had been bothering him about the 'mutual kill' idea they were discussing. Something about it just didn't make sense.

"I'm sorry, what?" Kimi asked with notable frustration. "What the hell is so weird about what I said?"

"Well, what you said made me realize something about Hoshi's wounds I hadn't considered before," Naoko explained. "Haru had that knife in his right hand. That isn't that weird on its own, given that that can be said about Hoshi, too. But Hoshi's wounds don't really match up with that fact."

"And that's because?" Kimi asked expectantly.

"The stab wound that Hoshi had was on the right side of his neck," Naoko revealed. "If they were facing each other, Haru's right would've been Hoshi's left, meaning that if Haru had a knife in his right hand, he probably would've tried stabbing the left side of Hoshi's neck."

"Oh! That's a good point!" Mine said.

"Well…" Kimi paused before letting out a tired sigh. "Okay, yeah, I guess that makes sense. I just wish we were fucking told about that little detail."

Mareo held up his hands defensively. "Alright, I understand. I suppose I could have been more specific with my explanation. Apologies. Even still, I want to point out that that claim, in itself, isn't perfect."

"Why's that?" Mariko asked. "Like Naoko said, Haru's knife was in his right hand. Couldn't he just swing his knife right to left?"

"He could have, yes," Mareo admitted. "But even still, much like what Mine said earlier, Haru would have been attempting to slash at Hoshi in the midst of their struggle. If he were doing so, he could have, for example, slashed right to left, only to deliver a stab to Hoshi's neck as he swung from left to right."

"Wait, though, why wouldn't he just try to slash at him again?" Mine asked. "Stabbing from left to right sounds like it'd be harder."

"Perhaps it would be," Mareo replied. "That would depend on quite a few factors that we cannot be sure of. Still, that possibility aside, if Haru was able to stab Hoshi on the right side of his neck, that would likely be an indicator that he, at one point, saw an opportunity to do so and took it."

"I think that if he'd find an opportunity to stab Hoshi in the neck, he'd do so on the left side of his neck, not on the right side," Naoko argued.

"Well, again, there's a lot about what could have happened between the two of them that we aren't sure of with our current understanding of the crime scene," Mareo repeated.

Unfortunately, Mareo had a point. While Naoko still felt skeptical of the idea they were going through, they couldn't just discard it just because it didn't "seem" right. The possibility still existed, and it seemed as though they needed to consider it for at least a little while longer.

"It seems there's still not much to go off of at the scene of the crime," Yori commented. "Whatever happened between them looks to be far from being solved."

"What about what led up to it?" Takeshi asked. "Do we know anything about that?"

"Well, if you want my input," Bankei began, "I think it's strange that both of them had knives on them. It's almost as if they came prepared."

"Yeah, I guess it kinda does seem that way," Takeshi agreed. "That'd mean they brought some of those knives we got in the kitchen."

"I guess Hoshi could've, like, gotten a knife from the kitchen," Ishi supposed. "It's not like any of us would be there to stop him."

"Well, sure, that's a given," Mariko responded. "But what about Haru? Wouldn't he need to get a knife from somewhere else?"

"I agree with that," Naoko weighed in. "It looks like that's exactly what he had to have done."

"Well, yeah, totally," Mine agreed. "Otherwise, they probably would've bumped into each other on the way there. I'd imagine that'd be pretty awkward."

"So where the hell did Haru's knife come from?" Kimi asked. "I thought that was where we kept all the damn knives."

"That's because it is," Yori replied. "However, we noticed that Haru's dinner plate was still in his cell, and it lacked a knife."

"That means he could've taken the knife from his dinner plate to use as a weapon," Naoko finished.

"Wouldn't that depend on whether or not he was, y'know, actually given one?" Ishi asked.

"I'm sure he was," Takeshi said. "I was the one who gave him his dinner in the first place."

"Oh. Okay, yeah, that makes sense," Ishi replied in apparent understanding. "Withdrawn."

"So, both of them had easy access to knives," Naoko said, trying to get the conversation on track. "At this point, I think it'd help if we could establish a reason as to why they'd both bring a knife with them."

"Considering the fact that they were privately meeting one another late at night, I would imagine they would be concerned for their safety," Yori reasoned. "It's possible that they could have come to a similar conclusion, that being that they needed to be able to defend themselves. Something not too different occurred in the first case, with Keiko."

"Oh yeah," Kimi said in remembrance. "I remember that, vaguely. She brought a knife to defend herself. Kinda funny she'd do something like that, with how sunshiney she acted."

"To be fair to her, she was simply following a suggestion given to her by Yori herself," Bankei pointed out. "Now, given what we know, it seems quite possible that something similar to that incident did indeed happen here. Much like Keiko, one of them might have accidentally exposed their weapon, causing a knee-jerk reaction that cost them their lives."

"...Perhaps," Yori replied slowly, seeming like she was trying to sort something out in her head.

"Look, if we're talking about what led up to this hypothetical knife fight, we need to address the real important questions," Eryu cut in, seeming to also notice something about Yori. "We need to figure out why they met up in the first place, and for that matter, how Haru ended up getting out of his cell."

Naoko nodded. "That'd probably be for the best. We should figure out which one to start with, though."

"Between the two of them, him being out of his cell seems like it'd be the simplest," Mine said. "He could've just been let out by somebody."

"Who would that somebody be, exactly?" Kimi asked skeptically.

Mine frowned. "Well, I guess if one of us did, they wouldn't want to admit to it. Still, I guess it could've been Hoshi."

Naoko listened to this idea, and gave it some consideration. If this was an isolated incident, only between the two of them, like they had been basing a lot of their assumptions on thus far, assuming the only one of the two that wasn't locked up made a good amount of sense. Still, Naoko couldn't help but notice an issue with that reasoning.

"If somebody else let Haru out of his cell, then I don't think Haru would've had his cell key on him," he said.

"Ah, that's right," Mareo replied. "We did indeed find Haru's cell key in his pocket. That would obviously imply that he acquired it at some point."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know that," Mine apologized. "So, I guess if somebody did let him out, they'd have had the key."

"Correct," Yori responded. "And yet Haru apparently had it in his possession, even as he was killed. That would imply that Haru somehow got ahold of the key, and used it to unlock his cell."

"I can't recall ever being in the holding cell room, but…" Kimi paused for a moment. "I mean, is that even possible?"

"Are you asking if it'd be possible for him to unlock his own cell from the inside?" Naoko asked. "I think he would be, actually. The bars of the cell aren't too close together, so I'd imagine he could fit his arm through it."

"Considering the width of his arms, I feel like that's a pretty shoddy design, then," Kimi half-joked. "So how'd he get his hands on the key in the first place? Was it hanging on the wall outside his cell, within arm's reach?"

Eryu shook his head. "It was in a box on a desk more than an arm's length away from his cell," he informed her. "There's no way he could've gotten it by himself."

Naoko remembered him saying something like that previously, and even hearing it again, he couldn't exactly disprove it. If it wasn't within arm's reach, Haru couldn't grab it. There wasn't anything in his cell that seemed like it could help him reach it. And even if he got the box it was contained in, would he even be able to put it back? Probably not. There just wasn't a way he could see for Haru to get the key by himself. It had to have been given to him. But who gave it to him? And, for that matter, how?

Well, the former seemed hard to answer. The latter, however, not so much. Someone (such as, say, Hoshi) could potentially have just given it to him through the bars at some point. Of course, it also seemed possible that that same someone could have utilized a method that would be more inconspicuous. The question was whether or not a more inconspicuous approach would even be practical based on what they knew about the case thus far.

And, well…no, it didn't seem like that was the case. After all, thinking about it logically, whoever gave Haru the key would have to go into the holding cell room just to retrieve it. At that point, what was stopping them from just handing him the key? A desire for anonymity? Again, they'd have to enter the room, and would definitely be seen by Haru while doing so, unless he was asleep or something. If he was asleep, that would probably mean that it happened at night, and thus whoever gave Haru the key, whether they were Hoshi or anyone else for that matter, could have just placed it into his cell through the bars, and let Haru find it in the morning.

"Someone must've taken the key from the box and given it to Haru through the bars of the cell," Naoko concluded. "That someone must have gone into the holding cell room to get it, of course, so I'd imagine Haru must've seen them, unless he was asleep."

"I don't remember Haru saying anything about anyone other than you or I entering the holding cell room," Takeshi said. "Then again, we didn't actually talk that much. I didn't exactly want to pressure him into making small talk, and he seemed wrapped up in his reading, so maybe that doesn't account for much? I dunno."

"I would imagine that if someone entered the room to give him the key to his own cell, and he accepted it, he wouldn't feel obligated to tell anyone," Mareo pointed out. "That would certainly ruin any such plan to escape from his cell, which is exactly what he ended up doing."

"That aside, we know that Haru's cell key was given to him at some point," Yori said. "Him not being able to get it on his own is an easy conclusion. What isn't an easy conclusion is why he was given his own cell key in the first place. I'm afraid we will have to answer this question if we're to come to a definitive conclusion as to what truly happened between Hoshi and Haru."

INTERMISSION