Despairful Music

The Walk

"Then..." Mafuyu started, "Perhaps Tsukasa had invited her... because he had planned to kill her."

What did you say?" Saki asked. "TSUKASA WOULD NEVER KILL ANYONE!!!"

"Listen to yourself." Mafuyu rolled her eyes. "Tsukasa tried to invite only you and Kohane to a party. The murder weapon was YOUR guitar. Seems to me like he was trying to kill Kohane and blame it on you. Obviously his plans went wrong."

"HE WOULD NEVER!"

Wait a second. I wrote it off as Saki was acting strange this morning, but I think she said something important.

"Oh, also, Tsukasa said some weird thing about not showing up early, so make sure not to show up early! Last time you did that I hit you with a door!"

That's it!

"Saki! Did Tsukasa give you any weird instructions when he told you about the time of the party?"

"Well... yeah. He told me not to show up early."

"Well that sure sounds like he was planning a murder."

"SHUT UP, MAFUYU! Actually..." Saki continued, "Now that I think about it. He was acting really weird. He told me that he found hair accessories I could play with in the storage closet and that I should play with them until the party started. Then he refused to play with me and told me I should do it alone."

"So Tsukasa was trying to keep you out of there? I hate to say this but Mafuyu might be right," I admitted.

"But Tsukasa wouldn't kill anyone!" It was Nene's turn to shout. "There's gotta be a different explanation!"

"The part that I'm struggling with," Kanade cut in, "Is that even if Tsukasa had intended to kill Kohane, she's not dead. He is. I have a hard time believing Kohane would kill someone, even if it was to protect herself."

"Well who else could it have been?" Honami asked.

"We know it wasn't Saki or me," I said, "Tsukasa died between 2 and 3, as confirmed by Nene, and we were together during that time. From what I understand, Rui and Emu were together all day. What about everyone else?"

"Me and Haruka were together, like always," Minori justifies.

"I was with Ichika," said Honami.

"I... I was alone again," Kanade said.

Mafuyu answered as well. "Same here."

"I was on my own eating in the cafeteria from 2 to 3 after I finished my singing practice," Nene said.

"I was just in my room getting ready to go to karaoke," Kohane said.

"Then that's 4 possible suspects. Kanade, Mafuyu, Nene, and Kohane," I clarified.

"Is there any other proof we might have to narrow it down?" Nene asks, "Like maybe some info on what Tsukasa had been doing around that time? I think maybe trying to decide what Tsukasa's motivation in putting together this karaoke party might help. I really don't think it was murder."

"WAIT! LAST NIGHT!" Emu screamed.

"What happened last night?" Nene asked.

"Last night! When I came back Tsukasa wasn't there!"

"Came back from what?" Rui asked.

"Ah, I kinda snuck out while you were sleeping. Sorry! But, Mizuki can confirm! They saw me!"

I nodded in response. "I did."

"I wasn't gone for long. But when I got back, Tsukasa was missing! I decided to shake it off as him needing a walk too, but maybe it wasn't!"

"He did start acting strange the next morning, right?" I asked Saki.

"He did."

"So something must've happened on that walk!"