Togami would never have thought he'd be relieved to hear Monokuma's voice echoing through the halls, but at this particular moment, whatever the mastermind had planned was the lesser of two evils. He took advantage of the distraction to twist his arm out of Fukawa's grip and hurried in the direction of the stairs. The rest of the students poured out of the cafeteria as he passed, and he let himself be swept into the middle of the group. Even being stuck between Yamada and Hagakure was preferable to being where Fukawa could get at him again.

As they all entered the gymnasium, something brushed his arm, and he flinched – but it wasn't Fukawa. Naegi stood beside him, close enough that their elbows touched. He glanced sideways up at Togami with a small twist of a smile, and the knot of fear that had formed in Togami's stomach when Fukawa had grabbed him eased a little.

The comfort didn't last, not when Monokuma came bouncing out to his seat on the stage with a laugh.

"Welcome, everyone! It's time for a very important school announcement about a key feature of your student life here at Hope's Peak Academy."

"So it's this again?" Kirigiri asked, her eyes fixed on the bear. "You're going to try to spur us on with another motive?"

"What? Motive?" Monokuma tilted his head like he was taken aback. "No, no, no, this is just a routine announcement from your headmaster, keeping you all abreast of the important happenings here."

"Ah, so you are saying there is something new in the school?" Celeste asked, tilting her head so that her curls swayed. "Something else to further enrich our lives here, perhaps?"

"Maybe it will," Monokuma said brightly, drawing out the words too long. "This assembly is to inform all of you that there are now cameras placed throughout the school to film your every move."

There was a moment of confused silence.

"But haven't those cameras been there the whole time?" Asahina asked.

"Yeah, since the first day," Hagakure agreed. "They'd be pretty hard to miss."

"Well, I just wanted to make sure everyone knew about them," Monokuma said. "After all, it wouldn't be fair if someone didn't notice they were being filmed, right? Right?"

"How could anyone fail to recall that we are under constant surveillance?" Ogami said, crossing her arms.

Monokuma laughed in response. Togami was starting to get a very bad feeling about this.

Kirigiri frowned. "Are you saying that one of us forgot about the surveillance cameras and did something we shouldn't have done?"

"Well, it's a little hard to explain." Monokuma paused. "Maybe it's better if I show you!"

A large white sheet unrolled over the wooden back of the stage, and images from the surveillance cameras began playing across it.

Togami saw flashes of himself kissing Naegi against the archive door, dropping to his knees in front of the other boy, falling on his back with Naegi on top of him. He heard himself gasping and moaning and dear god begging, his voice nearly unrecognizable to his own ears.

The other students were turning to stare, and Togami realized in a rush that he and Naegi were still standing with their arms pressed together. It wasn't a particular intimate pose, but with all their eyes turned on him it felt like he might as well have laid his heart open for all of them to see. He jerked away from Naegi, both of them blushing dark red.

"This isn't funny!" Naegi shouted up at Monokuma. "Turn that off!"

"What? You don't like it?" Monokuma asked. "Oh, I see. Maybe you'd rather watch something else!"

And then the images switched to the night before. Togami only got a glimpse of the projection of Naegi fastening his wrists to the corners of the bed before he slammed his eyes closed, sick horror roiling in his stomach. He couldn't watch that moment put on display for the whole group to see, like some kind of sordid trophy.

"That isn't what I meant!" Naegi sounded genuinely furious. "Turn it off!"

Togami could still hear his own breathless voice filling the room, so Monokuma had obviously ignored Naegi's demand.

Then there came the sound of sharp footsteps and a crash.

Togami's eyes flew open. Naegi wouldn't have done anything stupid, would he? Not when they'd all seen Enoshima attacked by spears in this very room.

He hadn't been quite that stupid, but it looked like he'd come close. From the look of things, Naegi had apparently stormed up to the stage and yanked the white sheet down from the wall. It didn't stop the images, but at least they were almost impossible to see against the dark brown wood of the stage's usual background.

"Oh, my, how dashing." Monokuma grinned. "What do you think, Togami – did it make your heart skip a beat?"

Togami glared at the robotic bear, cheeks and neck burning. "Shut up."

"Aw, what's that? You didn't like my show?" Monokuma laughed gleefully.

"So wait," Asahina said, slowly looking from Togami to Naegi. "Those videos – were they real?"

"Of course!" Monokuma replied, not giving either boy a chance to speak. "My security cameras don't lie!"

"I see, I see, so that's how it is," Yamada said, rubbing his chin. "The allure of opposites, the rise of forbidden passion – we are witnessing the birth of the fabled yaoi!"

Togami wondered what would happen if he just turned and walked out. Would Monokuma throw spears at him? Maybe the risk would be worth it.

"So was that it?" Kirigiri asked, her arms crossed as she stared unblinkingly at Monokuma. However annoying Togami might find that girl, he had to admit she at least knew how to focus. "Was that the only reason you called us here?"

"Of course that's not all" Monokuma said, as though the very idea were shocking. "I called you here to celebrate. After all, two of you have finally given up on returning to the outside world!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ogami asked, eyes narrowing.

"Eh? Isn't it obvious?" Monokuma tilted his head. "Everyone knows that high school relationships fall apart out in the real world – so if they're dating, they won't want to graduate! So let's give a great big round of applause for their decision to stay here, where they can be together forever!"

A series of popping explosions near the ceiling made everyone jump – but all that happened was a shower of confetti fluttered down around them. Most of it centered around Togami, tiny pink and red hearts drifting onto his shoulders and catching in his hair no matter how angrily he tried to brush them away.

"Are you trying to make some sort of point?" Togami bit out, shoulders shaking so hard that the confetti landing there bounced right off again. "Or is this just an exercise in humiliation?"

"Aw, are you embarrassed?" Monokuma cackled. "Maybe you need Naegi to kiss you and make it better!"

Someone laughed. One of those useless, spineless, pathetic idiots standing around him actually laughed. Togami thought it sounded like Hagakure, but it was hard to be certain through the red hot rage rising in him. He spun for the door, the very air of the gym choking in his throat until he was sure he couldn't breathe if he stayed in that room another second.

"Wait – Togami, wait, hold on!"

Naegi's voice cut through the red haze, and Togami found himself pausing at the threshold as a hand reached out to touch his arm. He looked over his shoulder to see Naegi standing there, concern filling his face.

And from behind him, the eyes of the rest of the group bore down on him like the rush of a tidal wave.

"Leave me alone." Togami snatched his arm away from Naegi's touch and bolted for the hall, letting the door slam shut behind him.