A/N: Gave this one an additional week. As I said in a previous A/N, writing this trial has turned out to be a more lengthy and difficult experience than I initially thought it would be. I suppose hindsight is 20/20, really. In any case, things should pick up next chapter.

"I still don't like the idea of anyone else being involved in this," Naoko admitted. "Especially if it means that one of us could be considered 'guilty'. Still, it looks like at the very least, someone else was involved in this."

"That someone very well could have orchestrated this entire case," Yori replied. "Of course, I should point out that no matter the exact role that this other person played, it would be most reasonable to conclude that they killed at least one of the two of them."

"How do you know they had to have killed either of them?" Takeshi asked. "Couldn't they have just done whatever was necessary for them to end up killing each other? I don't think that idea's off the table just yet, is it?"

"Good question," Yori replied. "That would depend on whether or not that would lead to them being considered 'guilty'. IMONO?"

"WELL, IF YOU MUST KNOW, IN THAT CASE, THEY WOULD BE CONSIDERED NO MORE OF AN INSTIGATOR OF THE MURDER THAN THE REST OF YOU. SO, I SUPPOSE FOR YOUR PURPOSES, THEY WOULD NOT BE GUILTY, AS GUILT IS ASSIGNED ONLY TO THOSE THAT DIRECTLY KILLED ANOTHER."

"Well, with that in mind, then I think it only makes sense to assume that whoever else involved in this would be considered guilty by IMONO's standards," Yori said.

"Why's that?" Mariko asked.

"It's simple," Yori began. "Whoever led to this incident occurring is in as much danger as the rest of us. They could die depending on how we vote. If they led to their deaths indirectly, without killing either of them, they wouldn't be guilty. Thus, they would have no choice but to admit to it, to save themselves and the rest of us."

"How would we know they'd be telling the truth?" Mine challenged. "They could just say that they gave Hoshi that note or something, and we might believe them. But they could be lying to trick us! Or, they could say that and be telling the truth, but we might not believe them and think they're trying to trick us!"

"That's a fair argument, sure," Yori conceded. "Though, even still, I think this train of thought could, at the very least, cast doubt on the idea that someone caused this incident to occur unintentionally. All it would take would be a claim during our investigation that they had performed an 'errand' for either Hoshi or Haru shortly before last night to help solve this case."

"But what if they didn't know about the ruling about guilt that IMONO just established?" Naoko questioned. "They might have kept quiet out of fear. Even if they figured they wouldn't be considered guilty based on what we already knew, they could still doubt themselves, and decide against saying anything."

"That's…" Yori paused. "...I suppose that's possible. It's not a pleasant thought, but it's still possible. It would be nice to think those here had been fully transparent, but that's not exactly realistic anymore, is it?"

"Oh, hey, Mine, what was it you said about the 'other person' we're talking about?" Ishi cut in. "You said they might've given Hoshi the note, right?"

"Yeah," Mine replied confusedly. "What about that?"

"Well, I was just thinking about it," Ishi explained. "It makes sense to me. I dunno about anyone else, but, y'know, if Haru couldn't give Hoshi that note, someone else probably could've."

"Would that mean they wrote it themselves, or that they gave it to Hoshi after Haru wrote it?" Naoko asked.

"Wrote it themselves?" Eryu said, seemingly to himself.

"If the latter was the case, then they would have had to provide Haru the writing materials as well," Bankei pointed out. "After all, like Naoko said, he had nothing to write with."

"Would that imply that said individual gave Haru the writing material after he specifically asked them to give it to him?" Mareo asked. "If so, they would also have to take back the pencil that Haru would have used to write the note. Otherwise, it surely would have been found in his cell, or on his body."

"Yes, that's a fair point," Bankei replied. "Of course, how exactly the interaction occurred doesn't seem entirely clear. Would anyone here happen to have any ideas?"

"I don't know. That seems like a hard question to answer," Mariko said.

"Well, no matter how exactly it occurred," Bankei said, "I find it to be a bit of an odd premise. After all, Haru couldn't exactly count on someone to come and visit him, only for them to agree to give him some material to write with, and then take the resulting note and pass it on to someone else. That seems far too contrived. Certainly, at the very least, he would have to have gotten them to come by his cell, somehow."

"What the hell do you mean somehow?" Kimi questioned annoyedly. "We already know that Haru had Naoko and Takeshi on speed dial, and could get him whatever he asked for. What the hell do you think we are, huh? Braindead?"

"By 'on speed dial', you're talking about his transceiver," Takeshi replied. "Yeah, he could've…Wait. You're not saying you're accusing us, are you?"

"Hey, don't look at me," Kimi said, holding her hands up defensively. "Bankei was the one who was sayin' it. She just wanted to be vague or some shit. You wanna blame someone for this, blame her, 'cause I'm not gonna say I like what she's saying."

"Well, neither of us have said anything about doing that," Naoko responded. "I can tell you I never had anything to do with that note. I don't think Takeshi did either."

"Thanks, Naoko," Takeshi replied gratefully. "And yeah, sorry guys, but I can't say I had anything to do with this, either."

"Well, I suppose that that narrows things down for us," Bankei commented. "Now, the only probable way either of you could have been involved in this is if either of you are guilty."

"Wait, what?" Ishi interjected. "I don't get it. Didn't we debunk that just now?"

"We established that prior testimony is not infallible," Bankei explained. "They're saying here and now that neither of them were involved. Thus, with what we now know, they're either both telling the truth, and they had nothing to do with the note, or one of them is lying, in which case they're attempting to deny their involvement, and thus hide their guilt."

"But wait," Mine chimed in, "what about what I said about them being accused anyway? Yori seemed like she agreed with me."

"True," Bankei replied. "At the same time, though, now that they've both made their claim, it's not as though they can take it back. In regards to them both, they're either completely innocent, or they're guilty. That is my opinion on this matter."

"Look, I'm not lying," Takeshi affirmed. "I made the mistake of lying last time, and it caused a lot of trouble, so I don't wanna do that again. Besides, I wouldn't kill anyone in the first place."

"Well, yeah, I can't exactly say I consider you to be particularly bloodthirsty," Kimi responded contemplatively. "Then again, that's what I thought about Yasuo, and he still bashed me in the fucking head."

Takeshi sighed. "Okay. Yeah, that's true. I know Yasuo was a great guy, and he still…He still did what he did. Still, the circumstances behind that were really weird. I don't know if that's a good comparison."

"That's an interesting point," Yori weighed in. "His desire to kill Sasa came from some strange emotions of his which seemed at odds with how he normally acted. I'm not sure what motive you would possibly have to kill either of them, let alone both of them, but unlike last time, there doesn't seem to be anything that would fuel a specific desire to do so."

"Methinks that even if there was, it would have to be quite strong," Bankei figured. "After all, it would have to be something that could override his strong religious beliefs, wouldn't it?"

"…What?" Kimi responded, dumbfounded.

"Eh-heh," Bankei chuckled. "I'm sorry, do you not remember? Takeshi here is christian. His religion considers murder to be a very grave offense."

"I feel as though the vast majority of ideologies considers murder to be a grave offense," Mareo pointed out.

"Yeah, and he's lied before, too," Kimi added. "He said it himself that he did. Just because it's not kosher doesn't mean he couldn't find a reason to do it."

"That's not…" Takeshi began to say. "...You know what, nevermind."

"Lying and murdering are not comparable, even in a religious context," Bankei countered. "That's why the only type of lying prohibited under the Ten Commandments is perjury. And, well, this may be called a 'trial', but by no means are we under oath, so make of that what you will."

"Nobody gives a shit about your religious trivia," Kimi snapped back maliciously. "If you're gonna accuse Takeshi and Naoko, the least you can do is not fucking flip-flop on your arguments. Is Takeshi suspicious to you or not?"

"Him? No, not particularly," Bankei admitted plainly. "Being a man of faith, I have my doubts on whether or not he would be able to stomach a prospect such as murder. Yes, I can imagine he spent his time before bed the other night reading from the Good Book and praying for our salvation from this cold, sterile purgatory."

"I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT DESCRIPTION."

"I kinda agree with you on that, I guess," Mariko supposed. "But then again, just because somebody's religious doesn't mean they're any more moral than anyone else."

"That's quite true," Mareo agreed. "Also, could he really have been reading from 'the Good Book'? I'm not entirely sure of how much access we have to religious literature."

"You're not?" Takeshi asked. "Because there's actually a shelf in the reading room full of religious text. I took a copy of the Bible from there a while ago."

"That seems like that would be the case," Bankei replied. "I remember looking through that shelf's contents. I could swear there was a spot on the shelf that was missing, as if someone had taken a book out of it."

"So what you're saying is that you don't think Takeshi did it?" Ishi asked. "Because then that'd kinda imply that Naoko did it…even though Naoko is like, a really nice guy in general."

"I don't really like the idea of Naoko being the culprit," Mine said nervously. "Do we really have to accuse him?"

"Well, I feel that between him and Takeshi, he seems to be the most likely," Bankei reasoned. "And to counter Ishi's point, I should address the fact that, as Takeshi said before, one's niceness does not keep someone from committing murder."

"Even so, I'd need to have some sort of motive, wouldn't I?" Naoko argued. "Haru and I got along just fine, and I didn't have anything against Hoshi, either." He felt a great deal of rising concern at the situation he was being put in. Bankei really seemed to be eyeing him as a prime suspect now, and he had a hard time thinking of a way to undermine her argument, let alone outright debunk the idea. While he wasn't the only one that could have done it, he was in a decent position to get himself involved in the first place. At least, that was what Bankei seemed to be thinking.

"The motive does seem rather tricky in this case, yes," Bankei supposed. "Then again, it could be as simple as wanting to leave. That was the case for Michio, was it not? Certainly, that prospect could be considered to be enough of a motive for any of us…yourself included."

"Alright, that's it!" Eryu interjected angrily. Obviously, he'd been holding his tongue for quite some time before said interjection, because at that point, he looked to be completely fed up.

"Oh my," Bankei said quietly. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes it was!" Eryu answered. "I'm sick and tired of sitting back while you control the conversation! You've been treating Takeshi and Naoko as prime suspects, even though we have no reason to suspect they'd have anything to do with what happened to Hoshi and Haru!"

"It's not as though I was the one who brought them up as potential suspects in the first place," Bankei pointed out, eyeing Kimi. "And besides that, I never said that Naoko and Takeshi were prime suspects. Merely that they had an opportunity to involve themselves in a plan by Haru to meet Hoshi at the scene of the crime."

"But we still don't know if Haru planned this out himself," Eryu countered. "In fact, you seem to be ignoring a very real possibility here."

"And…what would that possibility be?" Bankei asked.

"It's simple," Eryu began. "I started thinking after Naoko brought up the idea that the other person involved in this case could've written the note we found on Hoshi. That's something that you apparently decided to ignore."

"I wanted to explore the other possibility," Bankei explained. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not really," Eryu replied. "But, I think it's oddly convenient for you that you chose to push us into discussing the second possibility first. After all, who among us has been accused of forging letters before?"

Naoko realized just what Eryu had been thinking of. The note. He said himself it could have been written by the guilty one among them. And like Yori said, said guilty person could have orchestrated the entire incident, and if the note was really forged, then that had to have been the case. But now Eryu was accusing Bankei of forging the letter, not unlike what happened after the last trial. Said accusation, to say the least, did not seem to sit well with Bankei at all.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Bankei replied, seeming annoyed. "Not wanting me to accuse your friend of murder I understand, but…Are you trying to accuse me in kind? Because that is just patently ridiculous."

"Is it?" Eryu asked. "You're the one accusing Naoko without strong evidence or a decent motive. The motives we've had thus far haven't just been about escaping, and the idea that Naoko would have such a weak motive to commit a double murder is insane to me. How is it any different if I were to accuse you?"

"I would say it's different in the sense that you would be trading an improbability for a borderline impossibility," Mareo argued.

"I hate to say it, but I kinda agree," Mariko weighed in. "I mean, I know you don't like her, but accusing her now? That'd be like accusing a guy in a wheelchair…" Mariko paused, a look of familiarity creeping in on her face. "...Well, now that I think about it..."

"Wait just a moment," Yori interjected. "So, Eryu, are you accusing Bankei? Your language seemed oddly uncertain."

"I'm bringing up the idea, at least," Eryu explained. "She's obviously avoiding talking about the possibility that would make her suspicious."

"Well, in my defense, I believe the possibility you're referring to is less likely to bear fruit than mine," Bankei said. "I wouldn't say there's much evidence against the idea that Haru could have masterminded his meeting with Hoshi, compared to the idea that a third party played that role."

"Why do you think that?" Naoko asked. "Both seem fairly likely to me. Or, at least, they would be if I wasn't sure of my own innocence."

"Well, it's good to know I'm not the only one here capable of being accused of bias," Bankei responded humorously. "But I think it's likely since, being alone for multiple days, Haru had all the time he needed to plan the meeting to discuss…whatever scheme the note on Hoshi is supposed to imply. In fact, he could have had it planned as far back as when he was left locked in his own room."

"Really?" Naoko asked contemplatively. That didn't seem right to him. Their time investigating in Haru's room was fairly thorough, and they had no evidence from it to assume that he, for example, wrote the letter that would find its way into Hoshi's hands. Still, even ignoring that, if that was indeed the case, and his plan to meet with Hoshi started in his own room, then there was a problem. "If Haru had started planning while in his room, then he made a serious lapse in judgment during that time."

"What do you mean by that?" Takeshi asked.

"Well, while we were investigating his room, we found his apron still on his bed," Naoko explained. "We saw he left it there when we took him to his cell. If he was planning on meeting Hoshi to talk about some sort of plan, then I feel like he wouldn't have left it there. After all, if he had worn it when going to meet Hoshi, he would've been less vulnerable to being attacked, wouldn't he?"

"He might've been, yeah," Mariko replied. "I remember it was made out of some sort of leather. Then again, maybe it would end up getting in the way?"

"Well, I don't think it ever hung loose on him," Ishi said. "If it did, then sure, not wearing it might help."

"No, I don't think it would," Naoko replied. "It looked form-fitting, and didn't seem like it'd restrict any of his limbs to any noticeable degree."

"Well, no matter what the case happened to be," Bankei responded, "just because he went in unprepared doesn't mean he didn't plan it himself. Even if it somewhat lowered the chances that that was indeed what happened, I still find it much more likely than if he and Hoshi were both tricked into meeting one another."

Naoko raised an eyebrow. "Really? I'm afraid you'll have to explain yourself, then."

"With pleasure," Bankei replied.

INTERMISSION