So I don't think that the priest was the culprit of the crime, but I do think that he was the one who framed the MC. I think that maybe the culprit went to the church to confess his sins, and the priest took it as an opportunity to get the MC to stay with him. He mentions that they've gone drinking together, so the priest might've managed to plant evidence on Ichiro that led to him getting arrested easily.
Idk there's a lot of obvious flaws in my theory, but there's no way the priest is innocent, he's gotta be guilty of SOMETHING.
Oh, so I'm guessing that Sayaka went to the science faction, learned that the Familie group is experimenting on children and using them as livestock, and saved Kurumi.
It doesn't really mesh well with the continuous use of memory blockers to prevent her from leaving her side though. I wonder if every character Kurumi meets will use her for their own personal gain.
maybe she’s obsessed with kurumi and wants to keep her by her side but can’t cause kurumi wants to find hikari
That does seem like the most likely scenario, but its a pretty cruel thing to do, so I wonder if they'll actually go that route, or if she'll have a more morally correct reason.