[ he nods, listening - there's no real reaction on his face, and he puts a hand to his chin, deeply thoughtful. ]
An interesting theory, Ponta. [ a little well deserved praise first. he lifts a finger, though. ] I'll raise you a counterpoint about Nimona. Why would she drop apples as a piece of evidence? If Rita's book powers follow, then Janeway likely caught the apples with the paper, meaning they were being used against her. I suppose she could drop them as evidence on her own, as if trying to implicate, but, that may be an overcomplication.
If Nimona - who is quite close to Hanako - were going to do this, why would she implicate Hanako? And for that matter, if people did believe Reigen's completely blatant lie that he had the apple power, why would she then implicate Reigen?
[ Ponta nods as well - lots of nodding to go around here. These are valid concerns, but he's thought about both of them. ]
I'm going to need Hanako to confirm this when he's not hospitalized but... well, Nimona and Hanako are close. She could easily have known about the glitter trap that would prove his innocence. And in turn, trying to 'frame' him would clear her as well because we know she'd never put Hanako in serious danger.
As for Reigen... None of us think Reigen could be this stupid, so he was never in any danger from this 'frame'.
[ Unless we started assuming this was reverse psychology but let's not go there. Ponta is not going there. Jeeze. ]
... Recently, we had a conversation where he said to me, 'I can't change what I am.' While this is a very general statement, it stuck with me, and made me consider that perhaps the bathroom theory may not be so implausible. [ he likes hanako a lot - his brows pinch just slightly, here, when he says it, but he brushes it aside. ]
The other evidence I considered was similar to your own. The size of the uniform. The powers. Even the injury to her side could fit a generic knife, though - that is the very essence of it being generic.
I find it very hard to believe that Nimona would even begin to implicate Hanako. She is incredibly protective of him, and while that does seem safe to us, I don't believe that she would see it that way.
All of this is to say though - it is a much thinner theory than I'd like. Saya could fit these plausibly as well, but, again: I find it unlikely that she would do anything that would even remotely implicate Reigen, on the very slim chance anyone believed his powers were what he said they were.
To me, the apples in particular come from one of two places. Either from the assailant's powers, or they were dropped off by the Captain on purpose, as a hint. I hesitate to spiral further than that.
[ Evidence of personality doesn't count that much to Ponta. He's seen and told too many lies to trust in someone's 'obvious' unwillingness to do a specific thing.
But there is no decisive evidence on Nimona either way, so it's not as though he has a real counter here. ]
If she sealed the apples up in order to leave a hint for us, that'd make sense... but the killer stepped on one of the apples, even. They had to know they were there and yet chose not to remove them. To me, that seems like they wanted them to be found.
But you said you also had a completely different theory. Care to share that, too?
[ listen he mad respects this point of view, because he generally feels the same. +10 points. this is why ponta doubting in the cyoa sets him up for good. ]
I also considered Danny, but - frankly, it lacks motive and evidence. [ but sort of on that same front of "well this could have been it", relating to nimona too. ] Being able to transform into a smaller creature to dodge could explain the wild shots from that weapon, too. It was only a passing thought, though.
[ the apple bit has him make an interested noise. i, sisi, lost track of apples and tea in this trial. my brain. ]
And... perhaps, yes. [ hmmm. ] Though, sometimes we cannot account for human error. Sometimes, the simplest - or perhaps the stupidest - error is the one that explains the answer away. Along the lines of Argalia's glass in his shoes.
[ Ponta considered Danny too and then went 'okay, but why though' and left that thought aside. If Danny really used all the personal drama as camouflage though, that would have been a masterful gambit. ]
Don't remind me of the glass shoes... I'm glad Axel insisted on checking even though it seemed pointless.
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An interesting theory, Ponta. [ a little well deserved praise first. he lifts a finger, though. ] I'll raise you a counterpoint about Nimona. Why would she drop apples as a piece of evidence? If Rita's book powers follow, then Janeway likely caught the apples with the paper, meaning they were being used against her. I suppose she could drop them as evidence on her own, as if trying to implicate, but, that may be an overcomplication.
If Nimona - who is quite close to Hanako - were going to do this, why would she implicate Hanako? And for that matter, if people did believe Reigen's completely blatant lie that he had the apple power, why would she then implicate Reigen?
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I'm going to need Hanako to confirm this when he's not hospitalized but... well, Nimona and Hanako are close. She could easily have known about the glitter trap that would prove his innocence. And in turn, trying to 'frame' him would clear her as well because we know she'd never put Hanako in serious danger.
As for Reigen... None of us think Reigen could be this stupid, so he was never in any danger from this 'frame'.
[ Unless we started assuming this was reverse psychology but let's not go there. Ponta is not going there. Jeeze. ]
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Let's talk about the glitter trap. That would prove his innocence - do you mean Hanako's?
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[ a pause. ]
I'll admit, I was leaning towards Hanako... I have considered one other theory, as well, but it is not related to Reigen.
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[ It'd be on brand, but like... who wants to be on brand in this economy? ]
What was your reasoning?
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The other evidence I considered was similar to your own. The size of the uniform. The powers. Even the injury to her side could fit a generic knife, though - that is the very essence of it being generic.
I find it very hard to believe that Nimona would even begin to implicate Hanako. She is incredibly protective of him, and while that does seem safe to us, I don't believe that she would see it that way.
All of this is to say though - it is a much thinner theory than I'd like. Saya could fit these plausibly as well, but, again: I find it unlikely that she would do anything that would even remotely implicate Reigen, on the very slim chance anyone believed his powers were what he said they were.
To me, the apples in particular come from one of two places. Either from the assailant's powers, or they were dropped off by the Captain on purpose, as a hint. I hesitate to spiral further than that.
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But there is no decisive evidence on Nimona either way, so it's not as though he has a real counter here. ]
If she sealed the apples up in order to leave a hint for us, that'd make sense... but the killer stepped on one of the apples, even. They had to know they were there and yet chose not to remove them. To me, that seems like they wanted them to be found.
But you said you also had a completely different theory. Care to share that, too?
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I also considered Danny, but - frankly, it lacks motive and evidence. [ but sort of on that same front of "well this could have been it", relating to nimona too. ] Being able to transform into a smaller creature to dodge could explain the wild shots from that weapon, too. It was only a passing thought, though.
[ the apple bit has him make an interested noise. i, sisi, lost track of apples and tea in this trial. my brain. ]
And... perhaps, yes. [ hmmm. ] Though, sometimes we cannot account for human error. Sometimes, the simplest - or perhaps the stupidest - error is the one that explains the answer away. Along the lines of Argalia's glass in his shoes.
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Don't remind me of the glass shoes... I'm glad Axel insisted on checking even though it seemed pointless.
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he snorts. wryly: ] Yes. Axel's brilliance comes in surprising moments, I think.
[ temenos is so fond of him even though this is like, half an insult. affectionate.
for a moment, he seems to regard ponta, chin in his hand, before he moves the pages on. ]
... You know. I quite like this side of you, Ponta. You've a good head on your shoulders.