The first thing Togami realized when he regained consciousness was that he didn't know where he was. The tiny, confined space was dark, and something cold and metallic wrapped around his entire body, constricting his movements.

What the hell had happened? He remembered arguing with Naegi, ending with the other boy storming into his room, and then – what? He hadn't gone back to his room, but he couldn't remember what it was that he'd done instead.

Whatever it was, it had obviously been a poor decision. He'd been focused on his argument with Naegi, distracted by the wretched feelings that wouldn't get out of his head, and he'd let his guard down enough that someone had managed to attack him.

At least they hadn't killed him immediately – just imprisoned him. Togami tried to test the metal around him, checking for weak points. Could he get out of it?

It didn't seem like he could. Every time he tried to turn or bend, either the metal wrapped around him wouldn't cooperate or he ran into the edges of the space where he'd been confined.

Where had the kidnapper put him? There couldn't be that many out of the way places where he could be hidden for long. Togami considered the different areas of the school. There were really only two options, from what he could recall – either the cabinet in the rec room or the locker near the pool. Togami scowled. While people did go to both areas, neither was very frequently used. It could potentially be a long wait for someone to find him.

Unless that someone was the person who had kidnapped him. Togami was under no illusions that this might have happened for some innocent reason. There was only one possible reason that he would have been taken out of commission.

This was a trap. One of the other students had finally chosen to make a move in the killing game, and they had settled on him as part of their plan. He doubted he would be a victim at this point – he would probably be dead already, if that was the culprit's intent. No, if he was alive but imprisoned, there had to be a different goal.

He was being framed.

A dark grin curled across Togami's face. So one of the others thought they could take him on, was that it? They'd seen Monokuma's videos and decided that he'd be an easy mark? Well, he'd have to show them just how thoroughly mistaken they were. They wouldn't be able to keep him in here forever, not if he was meant to take the fall for their crime during the trial – and that would give him the opportunity to turn the tables on them.

Which one had it been, though? That was the real question, and Togami didn't have enough information to decide at this point. He wouldn't mind facing off against Kirigiri, but he suspected that if this were her scheme, she wouldn't have left him alive. But the others –

Ding dong, ding dong.

Even through the metal container, Togami heard the body discovery announcement playing. So the game had begun again. The culprit had gotten far enough with the execution of their plan to go through with a murder – and he was stuck here, trapped and unable to investigate. He didn't even know who –

Who had been killed?

The question struck Togami like being plunged into cold water, ice chilling him down to the bone. Someone had kidnapped him, presumably with the intent of framing him for murder. Who would people be most likely to claim he'd killed?

Naegi's face flickered before Togami's eyes, and he couldn't breathe.

The body discovery announcement had already sounded. Whoever the victim had been, they were already dead.

Togami closed his eyes and forced shaky breaths of air in and out of his frozen lungs. Worrying about what might have happened was pointless. Someone would have to arrive to let him out of here soon enough, so that he could participate in the trial, and he would find out who the victim had been then. There was no reason to assume the worst. After all, wasn't it just as believable that he would try to kill his psychotic stalker?

Unless Fukawa was the one who had done it. She'd clearly gone off the deep end – well, further off than she'd already been. And if someone was going to tie him up and leave him in a closet, Fukawa did rank fairly highly on his list of suspects. It was easy to imagine her doing this.

And even easier to imagine her going after Naegi. The boy still believed everyone here was his friend – he probably would have gone trustingly off to his doom, just because she asked him. Togami had a sharp, stabbing vision of Naegi crucified with scissors, blood smeared across the wall around him, and his stomach heaved at the idea. The image seemed utterly, viscerally wrong, an affront to the entire universe. Naegi deserved far better than dying alone and betrayed.

He wanted to believe it couldn't be true – but he knew it was a real possibility. Naegi would be the perfect victim, and thanks to Monokuma's videos, it would be easy enough to convince the others that Togami been the one to do it.

Ding dong, ding dong.

Togami jolted out of the downward spiral of his thoughts at the sound of the bells ringing again. Was it time for the trial already, or –

Another body discovery announcement played.

He frowned. A second announcement – did that mean a second body? There were two victims? The rules did allow for a maximum of two killings, so it wasn't out of the question. If that was the case, it meant this was the most coldblooded killer they'd faced yet. In any other circumstances, he would be enjoying the challenge this promised.

But now, with the fear of who the victim could be, he couldn't think of it as a challenge. He couldn't bring himself to care if the trial was a little more interesting, not when Naegi might be one of the victims. Was this how the others felt every time – this sick, sinking feeling that something precious had been stolen and could never be retrieved? If so, Togami wanted no part of it. If he thought it might have stopped the horrible ache in his chest, he would have torn his heart out without a second thought.

Click clack.

Togami froze. Had that been a noise? He thought he'd heard something, but it was difficult to tell through the metal. He concentrated, trying to stay as still as he could.

Click clack.

There it was again. It sounded almost like – footsteps? Yes, like the step of heels on a hard floor. Someone was here.

Togami banged his arm against the edge of the container, sending a resounding clang through the air as metal clashed with metal. Whoever it was would have to hear that, no matter how much the metal container muffled the noise.

There was a long pause – too long for comfort – and then the door to the container cracked open, letting in a few rays of light. Togami squinted in the sudden brightness, hoping against hope that maybe his assumptions had been wrong, maybe it would be Naegi who rescued him –

"What is this supposed to be?" Kirigiri asked, crossing her arms.

Togami glowered at her, even though she probably couldn't see it through the metal wrapped around him. He never liked seeing the irritating girl, and this time was even worse than normal, since she'd had the nerve not to be Naegi. "Don't just stand there, help me out of this thing."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Togami?"

"Obviously."

She didn't move to help him, because of course she wouldn't. "How long have you been in there?"

"I haven't the faintest idea. I was unconscious for part of it, so it may have been since last night." Togami hesitated. He hated the idea of asking Kirigiri for anything – but he had to know. "I heard the body discovery announcements while I was locked in there. Do you know who was killed?"

Before she could respond, more footsteps sounded from outside Togami's line of vision. "Kirigiri, is that you?" That was Asahina's voice. "Is that – oh! You found him!"

"Apparently," Kirigiri said, a faintly amused smile on her lips as she eyed Togami.

"Right. I knew it! I'll go find the others!" Asahina's footsteps ran off into the distance again.

Kirigiri didn't say anything as the other girl left, but the look on her face grew from a faint smile to a full smirk. Togami didn't like either expression. If she wasn't going to answer his question, the least she could do was help him get this thing off him.

Maybe he could get it off himself, now that he wasn't in the locker anymore. He shrugged his shoulders and twisted – but no. The thing was stuck on tightly. There was no way to pry it off.

"What are you doing?" she asked, watching his attempts.

"Trying to get this thing off me," Togami growled back.

"You can't get it off yourself?"

"If I could, I would have done it already!"

She looked at him a moment longer, then shrugged. "There's a clasp in the back. Hold on."

Once she finally deigned to undo the clasp, she was able to help Togami get the contraption off him. He shook himself free – and finally got a good look at the thing he'd been wearing. It was a cartoonish robot suit, painted with offensively garish colors. His lip curled at the sight. Apparently the culprit hadn't been content with framing him – they'd wanted to humiliate him, too.

But that didn't matter. It was just a stupid suit, and he could worry about why the culprit had used it later. Right now, there was another answer he needed. He turned back to Kirigiri.

"You didn't answer my question. The body discovery announcements – whose were they?"

But she shook her head. "I don't know. I wasn't there for either discovery, and I haven't seen everyone yet."

He glared at her. "Don't play games with me! Is Naegi alive?"

She tilted her head and studied him, like he was a specimen under a microscope. "It would bother you, wouldn't it? If it were him?"

That question didn't even deserve the courtesy of an answer. Would it bother him? Would it rip out the piece of his heart that Naegi had gotten his hooks into? He had no intention of telling her.

But then – then the door from the changing room opened, and –

The purest relief Togami had ever felt bloomed on his face when he saw Naegi walk into the room, alive and unharmed and so perfectly whole it made his heart ache again. He wanted to run across the room and snatch the boy into his arms, to reassure himself that Naegi was alive and safe and that whatever else had happened, it wouldn't be Naegi's death they had to investigate. The only thing holding him back was Kirigiri's gaze on him, watching and silently judging the way she always did. Togami had to content himself with looking at Naegi, drinking in the sight of the boy as he stood in the changing room door.

A smile had spread across Naegi's face when he'd seen Togami, like it was an automatic reaction. That made Togami feel better about his own expression – at least he wasn't the only one visibly vulnerable.

But then the smile on Naegi's face faded. Why was he doing that? Togami didn't quite understand. Naegi looked over to the side, and his gaze fell on the bizarre robot suit, focusing like he recognized it. When he looked back to Togami, it took a moment for Togami to understand the emotion in Naegi's eyes.

He looked betrayed.