"I'll admit. Even if you could've snuck up on Haru, I don't see how you would be able to chase down Hoshi," Naoko said.
"Well, good," Bankei responded. "It's good to see that you have not yet entirely lost your rationality."
"Are we sure that Hoshi would have run away, then?" Yori asked. "The idea of him fighting back doesn't seem impossible, but depending on who the killer was, running could very well have seemed like the best option to him."
"That's a good point," Mariko replied. "Hoshi never seemed to me like he was easy to scare, per say. I guess if he ran, he might've done so because he thought he'd die otherwise. That, or he didn't think he could stop Haru from being killed, so he tried to get away and tell the rest of us what was going on."
"So what we're saying is that Hoshi would've either tried to fight back, or tried to run," Eryu reasoned.
"Sure," Mine replied. "Like I said, that's why they call it a fight or flight response."
"Yes, I remember you used that term," Yori said. "Still, it's not as though those are the only two possible responses when faced with danger. I believe there should be at least one other major response."
"That would be freezing, I think," Naoko replied. "Fight, flight, or freeze. Maybe instead of immediately deciding to run or try and stop the killer, Hoshi was unsure of what to do next, and he stayed put, at least for a little while."
"I suppose limiting our thinking to a simple 'fight or flight' dichotomy would be a poor idea," Mareo figured. "Even still, if Hoshi had hesitated, it would still make sense to assume he would be able to come to a decision before being attacked himself."
"Yeah, and what would make Hoshi hesitate, anyway?" Mariko asked. "Would it have been seeing Haru being attacked? Or maybe just the sight of his blood?"
"Maybe it had something to do with the killer," Naoko suggested.
"What do you mean by that, Naoko?" Ishi asked. "You mean like how the killer was stabbing Haru? Because that just sounds like what Mariko said, but, y'know, more specific."
"No, that's not what I'm referring to," Naoko said. "I was thinking about whether or not who the killer was would change how Hoshi responded. Depending on who it was, I'd imagine he'd react differently, wouldn't he?"
"Sure, I guess," Kimi shrugged. "It all depends on what would make him hesitate, and not just run away from the jackass with the knife."
Well, it looked as though they'd looked away from Bankei being the culprit, at least for the time being. That was fine, really. Naoko had the distinct feeling that he was still on the right track to some extent. He just wanted to hear everyone else's arguments before going forward with his idea. There was still a chance he was discounting a more likely possibility, even if it wasn't obvious.
"Depending on who it was," Takeshi began, "I'd imagine seeing them commit murder would be especially shocking."
"Like if he was on especially good terms with them, for instance?" Mareo asked.
"Well…that sounds like that'd be me," Mariko admitted hesitantly.
"True, but you also can't fit in the lockers," Kimi remarked. "So…what else? Maybe he hated them?"
"How would that make him more hesitant to act?" Takeshi asked.
"I dunno, just an idea," Kimi admitted.
"I think if the killer had some sort of power over them," Yori said, "they may have been able to force him to stay put."
"Force him?" Mine asked. "That sounds kinda extreme. I don't think any of us would be able to affect him like that."
"No, that's wrong," Naoko interjected. This was exactly where his mind was heading. "I think there could be a way that the killer could've kept him from acting one way or the other."
"Kept him?" Takeshi asked. "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean."
"Well, maybe not in a physical sense," Naoko explained, "but depending on who it was, it seems like it could be possible that he could've been forced to do something he otherwise wouldn't want to do?"
"And that would be to stand still?" Mine asked confusedly. "Sorry, but I still don't know why he'd let someone control him like that."
"He already was controlled, though, wasn't he?" Naoko argued. "Remember earlier, when we talked about how Hoshi seemed to feel about Bankei?"
Bankei went from relaxed to aggressively defensive in the blink of an eye. "Excuse me? I thought we were moving away from your nonsense fantasies."
"Bankei, are you saying it's not strange that Hoshi would agree to help take care of you, even though he didn't seem to like you very much at all just a couple of days prior?" Naoko questioned. "That seemed strange to me, even when he first volunteered. And according to Mariko, it wasn't like he was content doing so. What exactly could you have had him do to make him so off-put just by speaking about you?"
"As I've said before, I have no idea what was going on in his head during that time frame," Bankei replied sharply. "Besides that, however, I cannot say the work I had him do was particularly off putting. Is there anything particularly undesirable about, say, carrying a feeble young woman to the ladies room?"
"I mean, that sounds kinda okay, I guess," Ishi supposed. "Better than the alternative, y'know?"
"At this point, I can't say I'll just buy the idea that the things you had him do for you were entirely mundane," Eryu weighed in. "You could easily just leave out anything that would incriminate you."
"Well, there's no proof that I had him do anything of the sort, is there?" Bankei countered.
"Even if there's nothing concrete, I think there might be something that would suggest you had him running some odd errands," Naoko replied.
"What would that something be?" Yori asked.
Naoko already had that something in mind, fortunately. It was something that seemed kinda interesting to him at first, but only after getting to where they were at the moment was he able to start piecing things together. "Takeshi," he began, "do you remember that book that Hoshi suggested you give Haru?"
"Yeah, I do," Takeshi replied. "What about it?"
"Well, Mareo brought us the book after you specifically mentioned it," Naoko explained. "Yori apparently wanted to take a closer look at it. She noticed that near the beginning of the book, one of the pages was stuck to the page next to it. Apparently there was some sort of substance on it that was keeping them stuck together."
"...A sticky substance?" Takeshi asked confusedly. "That's weird. What could that be?"
He looked over for a moment, as did Naoko, as they had both apparently noticed that Ishi was seemingly trying to hold back laughter. Takeshi, for his part, looked unpleased.
"I think I know what it is," Naoko eventually answered him. "It's tape residue."
"Tape residue?" Takeshi repeated back. "That stuff that gets left behind when you peel off tape?"
"Exactly," Naoko replied. "I haven't looked through many of the books in the library, but I find it weird that it would seem like someone might have used some sort of sticky substance on the inside of the book."
"Couldn't it have just been left behind by one of those sticky bookmarks or something?" Kimi asked.
"I find that to be unlikely," Yori replied. "I felt the area that was sticky. When it came to both the size of the area and where it was on the page - around the middle, specifically - I don't think a sticky bookmark tab would make sense. Besides that, though, I can't say I've seen any of those in this facility."
"Neither have I," Mariko added. "Hoshi and I looked. We couldn't find anything that was explicitly meant to be a bookmark."
"Then why exactly would there have been tape inside the book in the first place?" Mareo asked.
"Well, remember when we talked about the idea that the killer might've given Haru a note telling him to go to the PA room?" Naoko asked. "Well, maybe the killer didn't have to just give it to him while he was sleeping. They could've done so in a way that was more indirect…like through a book."
"And the note would have been kept in place through use of tape," Yori continued.
"Exactly," Naoko replied.
"What about the key, then?" Kimi asked. "Didn't you guys make a big fuss about how the killer would've had to go into Haru's cell to get the key?"
"Oh, yeah," Eryu recalled. "Hoshi could've done that, too. Maybe the key was put into the book along with the note."
"If the note was given to him in such an indirect fashion," Bankei countered, "then whoever gave it to him surely would have known about it. Takeshi did that, did he not? I can't say I've ever had any real control over him."
"I only gave him that book because Hoshi insisted that Haru would love it," Takeshi spoke up. "It sounded good to me, and I didn't wanna turn down his request."
"If you didn't know about the note hidden inside the book, then you theoretically could have given it to him at any time," Bankei argued. "What was the killer supposed to do then? Poison Haru's food every day and hide in a locker in the PA room every night? The killer would not be able to know when you gave it to him."
"Didn't you say you noticed that I took a copy of the Bible out of the library?" Takeshi pointed out. "Who's to say the killer, or Hoshi, or whoever else couldn't have done the same?"
"Of course!" Eryu replied. "They'd just have to check the library every night to see if the book was there. If it wasn't, then they'd know you gave it to him. Smart thinking, Takeshi."
"Oh, uh…thanks," Takeshi replied awkwardly.
"Takeshi is right, Bankei," Naoko said. "It seems to me like it's very possible there was a reason that book specifically was recommended by Hoshi."
"Who's to say he didn't bring up the idea to Takeshi on his own?" Bankei questioned. "Why would I even have him do such ridiculous things?"
"As part of a murder plot, it seems," Mareo responded. "That's the direction we seem to be going in, after all."
"And you really think he would cooperate with such a scheme?" Bankei challenged.
"Perhaps you didn't tell him of your plan," Yori suggested. "You could have kept him in the dark as to the real reason why you had him do specific tasks. You may have even told him to go to the PA room yourself, him not knowing that you intended to kill him. Perhaps you specifically killed him to keep anyone from being able to expose your plan."
"If I had him do all that, he certainly would have caught onto what I was planning to do at some point," Bankei argued. "I have little doubt he was much smarter than you're giving him credit for. Just because he helped take care of me doesn't mean he would simply agree to such enigmatic requests."
"I guess he wasn't necessarily obligated to do so, yeah," Naoko replied. "There would need to be some other reason why he'd want to do whatever you asked of him…and I think I know what that might be."
"What's that, Naoko?" Eryu asked.
"Well, do you all remember those secrets we were given about each other?" Naoko asked. "They were handed out basically at random, and told each of us something really personal about another one of us."
"Oh, yeah, I remember," Kimi responded. "That's how I found out somethin' kinda funny about Mariko."
"Uh, yeah," Mariko muttered warily. "I think mostly we've tried to just sort of…move past that. I have, at least. I know something about Haru, and honestly, I can't say I ever felt like judging him for it."
"I'm kinda in the same boat, yeah," Takeshi agreed. "I can't say I know how personal these secrets of ours get, but after what happened with Keiko…I dunno. Seems like too much of a sticky subject for me to really get into."
"Say, who here has Bankei's secret?" Kimi asked out of the blue.
"Yasuo did," Naoko answered. "I'd imagine he never told anyone. The thing is, though, Bankei knew Hoshi's secret. We knew that as soon as we got them because she lied about the one she got, and when Haru showed it to Hoshi, he seemed more scared than I'd ever seen him before. Maybe even after."
"Ah, I know where you're going with this," Eryu replied. "Blackmail. You're saying she blackmailed him."
"Basically, yeah," Naoko confirmed. "That would explain why he volunteered to help take care of Bankei, and why he'd continue to do so, even though he didn't seem to like doing so."
Bankei looked doubtful of this, but nonetheless seemed as on-edge as she'd been for quite a while. "You don't even know what his secret is," she argued. "How do you know it would be enough to successfully blackmail him?"
"Well, you still know what it is, right?" Takeshi asked. "If it's a bad enough secret, then maybe."
"Well, yes, I do remember it," Bankei admitted. "Would you like to know what it is?"
Mariko shook her head, clearly frightened by the offer. "Please don't. I don't wanna hear it."
"Even if she told us, it could just be another fake one, like the one she used to trick us into looking at ours," Eryu pointed out. "All we need to know is that it was bad enough to scare Hoshi. Naoko said so himself, and I have a pretty good memory of that, too. If it scared him that badly, it must've been good enough to blackmail him with."
Bankei gave him a harsh grimace and began to gracelessly fiddle with her hair with her non-busted hand. "Well, if what I wanted to do was to blackmail him into being my servant, I would need to speak to him, wouldn't I? However, as I was bed-bound at the time, I would need him to come to me, a prospect which is-"
"Woahwoahwoah! Hang on a minute!" Mine interrupted.
"Mine!" Bankei snapped. "What do you think you're doing interrupting me? Do you know how utterly improper that is?"
"I-I'm sorry, Bankei," Mine apologized. "It's just…I remembered something, and I wanted to say it."
"You remembered something?" Naoko asked.
Mine nodded. "Yeah. I must've almost forgotten about it. Bankei…was that why you had me ask Hoshi to go and talk with you?"
"Excuse me?" Yori asked, confused. "When was this?"
"It was the day after she was attacked," Mine explained. "Near the end of the day, I paid her a visit. I talked to her for a bit, and she asked if I could ask Hoshi to visit her, too. I figured at the time that she wanted him to talk about what happened between them at the end of the last trial, or something like that, but…"
"The morning after they had their meeting, Hoshi volunteered," Yori said. "If there was ever a time for him to be blackmailed, it would be during that meeting."
"And from there, we know what happened," Eryu continued. "You plotted, got Takeshi to help with your plan without him even knowing, and there in the PA room, you killed Haru. You could've coerced Hoshi to stay by playing up his secret, and he'd stay put. You then went up to him, stabbed him in the throat, and let him fall then and there. If he stayed put, you wouldn't even need to chase him down, or move his body, or anything."
It looked like everyone was on the same page as Naoko now. Bankei had a history of deceit that was hard to deny, and given whatever she must've known about Hoshi? She almost certainly could've blackmailed him into helping her, even unwittingly. Then, Naoko supposed, she'd need to talk him into not running away somehow. What exactly she'd need to say to do so, Naoko had no idea, but if it were true, Bankei would be able to answer. The thing was, though, it didn't look like she was willing to admit to anything. She was clearly furious, but at the same time, it looked like she was still trying to restrain herself. When she began to speak again, her voice seemed a bit…unsteady, as if she was trying very hard to make sure not to raise her voice.
"So, you're saying that I told him to go there, and he did so. And all that other nonsense. Interesting. Completely, utterly moronic, but interesting nonetheless. I should point out, however, that that can not be the case."
"Why?" Naoko asked.
"Simple," Bankei answered. "In fact, it's so simple I'm surprised you haven't pointed it out yet. If I told Hoshi to go to the PA room at the specific time, then he should not have had a note telling him to go there on his body. I would have to assume it wasn't the one given to Haru, given how sparse it was on detail. Whatever note that would have been given to Haru telling him to go to the PA room late at night would have to specify which night that was. Perhaps something like 'the night after you received this book' if your asinine theory is correct. Thus, the note on Hoshi's body was not the one given to Haru. What purpose would Hoshi's note serve when I could give Hoshi a very simple instruction he couldn't refuse in person?"
"You planted it on his body, obviously," Eryu surmised. "You wanted to confuse us, and make us think that the two had killed each other, so you threw in a note when you were tampering with the scene."
"So, it was all to create a false narrative, then. Is that what you're trying to say?" Bankei asked with a hateful glare.
"What other reasonable possibilities are there at this point?" Eryu argued. "You're clearly hiding something, and I'd say it's obvious what it is. You tried to mislead us, and now your plan is falling apart!"
"Oh, really?" Bankei's demeanor shifted a bit. She was fuming beforehand, but after saying that, it looked like she was starting to calm down, if only a little bit. She still looked like she was staring daggers at Eryu, though. "I must say, I find that a bit insulting."
"In what way is it insulting?" Yori asked.
"Is it not obvious?" Bankei replied. "You really think that after two successful trials, I assumed that I could trick you so easily? The entire idea that they killed each other was dubious from the start, was it not? You still considered it, of course, since it was the most straightforward and obvious conclusion, but if the last trial is any indication, having an obvious conclusion isn't good enough for you."
"Of course it isn't," Yori replied. "If we don't think this through, then we could very well be killed. Settling for the obvious conclusion would be reckless."
"In that case, it's not like you would necessarily buy the idea of them having killed each other, even if the evidence supporting it seemed concrete," Bankei said, seeming to have calmed down almost entirely. "I could very well have taken my chances with something simpler if I wanted to. I could have limped down to the third floor, went into Haru's cell, and killed him in his sleep. So long as I was careful not to leave much evidence behind, the crime would be unsolvable. Why would I choose to craft a flimsy false narrative?"
"Don't tell us you're trying to convince us that they just killed each other!" Eryu snapped. "I don't care how ridiculous a plan like that sounds! The simple fact is, someone killed the both of them, and it definitely wasn't each other!"
"The 'plan' that you're suggesting is far too ridiculous for someone like myself to rely on," Bankei argued. "But…well, I suppose I should accept that no matter what, you will accuse me of being up to something. Perhaps…I should make my confession now."
"Fucking finally," Kimi sighed.
"I know what you're thinking," Bankei said. "But…well, you see, that thing you said, Eryu, about how I was hiding something, and plotting in secret…that's entirely correct."
Suddenly, Bankei's largely neutral expression gave way to a wide grin as she took in those around her.
"I have had a plan of mine. A secret plan…and it has just succeeded. And with flying colors, no less!"
"It…has?" Mine asked confusedly.
"What? I don't…" Mariko clearly didn't know what to say.
"Seriously?! Why the fuck is this still going?!" Kimi shouted impatiently. "Just admit you killed them already, you fucking bitch!"
"Eh-heheheh," Bankei laughed. "Come now, Kimi. You may be an impish wretch, but I would hope you would be a tad less impatient. If not for my sake, then for your own."
"You say that like I have a reason to give a shit about you," Kimi retorted. It was only after saying that that she registered something else entirely. "Wait. The fuck did you call me?"
"Fact of the matter is," Bankei continued, ignoring Kimi, "I'm not going to admit to being a murderer. That would be a terrible idea by all accounts. There is little in the way of solid evidence, after all. That, and it's simply incorrect."
"If it's incorrect, then why have you been acting the way you have?" Naoko asked. "You got really angry once we started to seriously accuse you. That seems odd. For you, I mean."
Bankei locked eyes with Naoko and smiled. "You're right. It is odd. I knew full well that it would seem strange to you. I tend to try my best to restrain myself, and my true emotions. It's very difficult at times. In this case, though? Showing anger helped guide things in this direction. I've finally gotten the moment that I wanted before, in its full glory and without any interruptions on your part."
"I dunno if it's just me, but I have no idea what's going on right now," Ishi commented.
Bankei glanced over at Ishi annoyedly. "I can't say I'm surprised," she muttered, before looking back at Naoko. "What I am surprised about is you, Naoko."
"Me? What about me?" Naoko questioned. "And for that matter, what did you mean by before?"
"Do you not remember, or do you just not understand?" Bankei asked. "If it's the former, that's…concerning. I hope you can at least remember what someone said mere moments ago, because you're going to need that, at the very least. Someone said something, just a bit ago, you see. If you understand the moment I wanted back then, and what it was, you should understand full well what I'm talking about."
Naoko met her eerily happy look with one of complete bafflement. What was she talking about? She said that she knew her anger would help lead them to their current suspicions. If that were the case, then would that mean that she wanted to be accused? If that were the case, then all that that would lead up to would be a full-on confession, right? Well, actually, no, since he hadn't confessed. She just said she got the 'moment' she wanted. What moment was that, and how did he interrupt her like she's saying he did? And she said that she got it just moments prior to his current train of thought, and someone responded to it. As in, they responded to it in a certain way? Because then…
The realization hit Naoko like a ton of bricks. The 'moment' she got to experience. She said what she wanted to say out loud, to everyone, and it did get a response. One that stood out from the others. If the moment she was denied 'before' was what he thought it was, then…she was telling them exactly who really did it. Sure, she was being indirect about it, but she must've known he could figure it out.
The problem was, though, he heard the responses her 'moment' got, and the one that stood out…
"Hang on…," Naoko got out. "I think…I think I understand."
"What's she trying to say, Naoko?" Mariko asked.
"It's…" Naoko didn't like what was coming next, but he knew he had to say it. "She's being very cryptic. A lot of you are probably really confused, and I understand why. Mine, your response to what Bankei said."
"Huh? What about it?" Mine asked.
"She said she had a plan, and it had just succeeded, and you said 'it has?'."
"Well…I guess I did, yeah," Mine responded warily. "Does that…mean anything to you, or…?"
"Why did you say that?" Naoko asked. "I mean, that kinda makes it sound like…you knew about the plan."
Mine's eyes widened in shock. "H-huh? I didn't realize it sounded like that, I, um, I…"
"Naoko, in the last trial we participated in, did something very unfortunate," Bankei said aloud to everyone. "He interrupted me when I was just about to disclose something very important. It really muddled the experience for me. It would have been much nicer had he not, and I was able to have my moment."
"What are you getting at now?" Eryu asked angrily. "What 'moment' are you teasing us with?"
Bankei gave Eryu a look that Naoko had never seen from her before. Her wide eyes, her toothy smile…It was hard to place how exactly it seemed to him, but the best word he could think of to describe it was…cold-blooded.
"I'm talking about the moment where I expose the killer, of course. Isn't that the best part of these trials? The reveal? Well, here it is now. The ever-so-delightful reveal. Presented flawlessly to you all through a joint effort between Naoko Koga…and myself."
INTERMISSION