Luckily for Kyoko, there are witnesses nearby.

As it turned out, Kyoko didn't have to go hunting far for people to question. As soon as Kyoko managed to use her memory and slow steps to exit the office, she came upon people in the lobby. Behind the darkness of her cosplay blindfold, she wasn't sure who. Of course, she had no idea how long they had been there. There was no reason to expect people who'd entered the lobby would be hanging around and chatting, whether they'd seen something or not; with the amount of time that had passed, they'd more likely keep going where they'd been headed for, chase after someone holding an arm full of clothes, or enter the headmaster's office to report a crime. By that reasoning, Kyoko knew the people she was meeting probably had no clues... What she needed was a chance to investigate for a trail.

Sad as it was to say, though, picking up another lead like this was impossible. She briefly entertained the idea of following a drip trail from the wet clothes, but the lobby floor was already hazardously wet from what people must have tracked in during the earlier storm. So, with no other idea, she had to engage in conversation.

Speaking of conversation, it was strange that neither of the others in the lobby had said a peep so far. She didn't understand it, until they spoke: then, she realized the silence was surely them picking their jaws up off the floor. All at once, a boisterous whoop and a shrill cry rang through the lobby. Upon hearing them, Kyoko could identify her classmates immediately.

"A fool opens his mouth and proves it, Mr. Kuwata!" The higher-pitched voice had to belong to Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator; it was accompanied by a sound like flesh hitting flesh. "Before you prove your ignorance of the fine fictional arts, I advise you to take a deep breath and let the next words out of your mouth be respectful!"

There was a quick struggle, followed by the voice of Leon Kuwata, the Ultimate Baseball Player. "The heck are you talkin' about? Givin' me a lecture on bein' respectful when you're practically droolin' on the floor? News flash, big guy: you ain't got some kinda anime shine that hides where your eyes are goin'!"

"Truly disgraceful! To imply an immortal such as myself would be swayed by various swaying bits! Any interest I may appear to be taking in certain 3-dimension details of Ms. Kirigiri's body, I assure you, are in the service of appreciating Ms. Shirogane's fine eye for fictional detail!"

Kyoko still didn't know how she was allowed to speak, but she couldn't let that line pass without inspecting it. "Hifumi... How did you know Tsumugi created this cosplay?"

"Fufufu..." The large man let out a cocky laugh, and Kyoko could picture him adjusting his small, round glasses. "Skill recognizes skill. Could there be any in the realm of our Academy with the talent to create a work of such craftsmanship besides Ms. Shirogane? Nay, I say! But, Ms. Kirigiri, the more important question comes to mind: how did you end up equipping this cursed armor?"

The detective held her tongue, figuring this would be easier for Tsumugi to explain herself. However, an awkward moment passed with no speech at all. Finally, she spoke up. "Tsu-" Kyoko caught herself, then remembered a bare minimum that might be expected of her. "POD... please explain this."

The silence continued. Quickly, Leon's voice broke it up. "Okay, forget how it happened! I got a more important question. Kyoko, uh... Did you have that blindfold thing on when you got dressed the rest of the way?"

"Preposterous," Hifumi answered on her behalf. "Sadly, we do not live in an RPG-fantasy world where clothing can be equipped and unequipped with the press of a button! An outfit so intricate could never be put on blindfolded."

"Duh, dumbass!" Leon replied testily. "I'm sayin', Kyoko clearly forgot something right? Ain't this outfit supposed to have, I dunno, pants?"

"A true dumbass opens his mouth and proves it!" Hifumi nearly repeated himself, matching Leon's volume. "Only a surface level of geekdom is needed to recognize this as 2B's skirtless variation, a canon variation, I might add!"

"Hell if I care about cannons, nerd! I'm talkin' about her body! Like, this shit's less than a swimsuit, right?! Why's a fuckin' stone-cold detective like you walkin' around school with your ass hangin' out, Kyoko?"

That was a great question, and one Kyoko had no idea how to answer in character. Was Tsumugi even watching anymore? Why wasn't she saying anything? The detective didn't think she could simply be quiet until they left. She tried to remember what coaching she'd had on the character... Tsumugi had called 2B a 'cool beauty' that she'd be well-suited to play. Perhaps... acting in her cool character wouldn't be too far off the mark? Kyoko gave it a shot. "It's none of your concern. It doesn't inhibit my work."

"She said it is of no concern, Mr. Kuwata," Hifumi agreed, his voice now concerningly coming from behind her. She swiveled in place to keep her barely-covered butt hidden from the young man. "Let Ms. Kirigiri embrace a bold new cosplay, if she desires! Besides, seeing Ms. Kirigiri investigate in this... I feel like it may awaken new inspiration! Inhibiting our work is a crime for which she may duly arrest you!"

Kyoko was about to tell the two of them she'd work better alone, before a sudden new sensation **** her to clench her teeth. "Leon?!" she shouted at the young man, who she could now tell had approached her and grabbed the back of her leotard into a wedgie. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"That's my question for you! I'm askin' ya what the hell you're doing walkin' around school in buttfloss like this? Ya can at least tell me that, can't ya?"

"Leon, you may not be the sharpest, but I know you have more sense than that." Kyoko tried to leverage her anger into a clear dangerous intent, but it was hard with her eyes hidden. Instead, it was likely the red below the bandages showed up more clearly. The leotard had already been taut, and the extra tension was pulling it firmly into her valley, forcing her to suppress a gasp. "Take your hands off me, right now!"

"I ain't touchin' you, I'm touchin' this goofy getup you're wearin'!"

Suddenly, Hifumi seemed to be trying to wrestle Leon off. "I won't tolerate this kind of un-gentlemanly behavior outside of the ink of a well-crafted doujin, Mr. Kuwata! Perhaps it is the province of a Fanfic Creator that I can... gh!... Clearly detect the boundaries of the appropriate and the absurd, and protect a 3D lady's honor!"

"Lay off, fatso! If anyone's bein' a gentleman here, it's me! I dunno what kooky cosplay bug got in Kyoko's head, but doin' this is gonna snap her out of it for sure!"

"Leon, you cad, you- Hmmm. Now that I consider it, Leon, I was expecting you to be a more formidable foe for one such as I, whose strength lies not in his pitiful mortal shell but in his immortal brain. Could you be weaker than I surmised? Could I be more powerful than I imagined?!"

"I said lay off, I'm gonna snap-"

Sure enough, there was a snap, but it wasn't the snap Leon had supposedly been going for. Instead, the leotard Kyoko was wearing, which she'd repeatedly heard and had naturally assumed was fine craftsmanship, gave a snap like a pathetic whimper, allowing the previously taut bit that protected the last dignity of her lower half to drift lazily to the position of a pointless front loincloth. The heated argument behind her halted immediately, and Kyoko quickly whirled around and put distance between herself and the two. "You idiots..."

"H-holy shit! No no, I swear this ain't what it looks like!" Leon quickly defended himself. "I was really just... aw, man, are you gonna accuse me of ****? I was tryin' to do the right thing!"

Hifumi's babbling speech countered. "Objection! I shall hold witness to the opposite, and my word shall be the bullet in the chamber that fires for justice!"

"L-like hell you are!" Leon yelled at the other man. "We were both tuggin' on it, remember?! If anything, we're both goin' down for this! No way in hell I'm takin' the fall for this alone! A-actually..." Leon paused, still speaking nervously.

"Actually what?" Kyoko questioned him, feeling the front piece and barely suppressing her reaction. The front piece wasn't like a loincloth with any real structure. She realized that even a slight shift in any direction would probably send it swaying and reveal her private area. She tried as hard as she could not to let that fear show on her face.

"Actually..." She could picture Leon's crooked grin. "Th-there ain't any cameras in this lobby. Kinda weird, now that I think of it. But, hey, doesn't that mean if Kyoko accused us, it'd be just her word against ours?"

Kyoko glared daggers as threateningly as she could from behind her blindfold while still covering her lower body with her hands. "Are you serious? As a detective, I assure you there are many means at my disposal to-" Immediately, she slapped her gloved hands over her mouth. She waited with cold sweat, backing towards the doorway to the headmaster's office slowly in preparation of what she was sure was coming.

... Instead of Tsumugi's voice, the silence was broken by two pairs of feet moving. "Don't worry about it, Kyoko, we're already forgetting it!" Leon's retreating voice shouted back to her. "No hard feelins', right?"

"I pray you remember me as the gentleman I've been, Ms. Kirigiri!" Hifumi's voice joined the other, trailing off. "Carve that detail into your sharp mind, next to the towering figure of my works!"

Shortly after, Kyoko realized she was alone again. The footsteps in the hall grew more distant. She didn't sense a single extra breath around her. Letting out a sigh, the detective backed up defensively to a wall, relaxing only slightly when she felt her flesh indent against it and could be sure she was at least modestly protected. She reflected on the variety of strange behavior she'd just experienced. "I thought I was a better judge of Leon's character than that. I can't believe he would do something that brazen in public. And Tsumugi... where has she gone off to? Well, if Tsumugi really isn't watching, I'm taking off this damned blindfold... Then, I'm going to carefully consider my next step."

She lifted the obscuring gear to reveal her eyes. Before they could even adjust to the light of the lobby, she recognized the POD camera floating in front of her and the familiar voice ringing out from inside. For some reason, it sounded slightly out of breath, but that barely registered. "Initiating override full self-destruct sequence."

"Tsumugi?! You...!" Hurriedly, Kyoko tugged the eyewear back down. "Cut that out Tsum- I mean, abort that, POD! I'm playing the part, see?!"

"Kyoko, you couldn't even protect my precious cosplay from getting damaged..." Pausing for a gasp, as if sucking in air, Tsumugi sounded exceptionally aggravated. "You didn't show any love for it at all! I'm sorry, but I'm at my limit. You've **** my hand. I'm just an ordinary girl, not a monster, so I didn't do it in front of the guys, but I'm afraid that outfit's going back to the drawing board."

There was no point in pretending to be an emotionless android anymore, so Kyoko didn't. She felt panic gripping her tight. She could tell Tsumugi fully intended to destroy the outfit, leaving her standing stark naked in the lobby. Still... "Think, Kyoko, think! This is hardly the most dangerous situation I've been in as a detective... but it could be the last, if word spreads about me streaking through the school. Isn't there some way out of this?!"