Naegi frowned as they entered the dining hall. Ogami was there, but she stood with Asahina, as usual. It was going to be hard to get a chance to talk to her alone, wasn't it?

"Let's discuss what we all discovered," Ogami said, once everyone had trickled in and taken their usual spots.

"So where were you guys?" Naegi asked her. "I don't think I saw you upstairs."

Asahina was the one who answered. "We found a big shelf of chemicals in the chem lab! It had an all-star cast of nutrient additives and supplements."

"Oh, there was a chem lab up there?" Naegi frowned. "I guess we must have missed it."

"Well, you should definitely check it out!" Asahina said. But then her face fell. "It wasn't all good stuff, though. It also had a bunch of different poisons."

"Ah." Togami nodded. "I knew there would be something."

"They were clearly labeled," Ogami told him. "It would be very hard to grab one by mistake."

"But easy to do it on purpose." Togami frowned. "Poison adds a new twist to the game. Someone could kill now without being anywhere near their victim. Very interesting."

"I thought you were going to stop treating this all like a game!" Asahina glared at him.

"I can think it's interesting without intending to try it myself," Togami said, not sounding phased in the slightest by her annoyance.

"I guess it's good that we're all aware of something so dangerous, though," Naegi said. He shivered at the thought of poison sitting right out there in the open, mixed in with other normal supplements. "It's too bad the poison couldn't have been behind one of the locked doors."

"Oh, yeah, there were a bunch of locked doors on the new floor, weren't there?" Hagakure said, nodding. "The data center and the headmaster's office, right?"

"The headmaster's room?" Asahina's face lit up. "I bet we'd find a lot of clues in there!"

"Not with the door locked, we can't," Togami said, rolling his eyes.

"Who cares about a stupid lock?" Hagakure said. "With the Ogre on our side, breaking down one measly door should be no problem!"

"What was that?"

Monokuma bounced out to land at Hagakure's side, giving him an innocently questioning look when he yelped and scrambled to move away. "I didn't say anything!" Hagakure protested.

"Oh, no, please continue. I insist," Monokuma said. "It sounded like you said I've got the nicest butt on the whole block. Was that it?"

"Hell no!"

"Well, I know you couldn't have been talking about tearing down the door to the headmaster's office," Monokuma said. "That's my room, you know – or it is now, anyway. And you want to bust it down?" Monokuma raised a paw, and wickedly sharp claws slid out. "You seriously don't want to piss me off."

"No – I was just kidding!" Hagakure protested hastily.

Monokuma sighed heavily. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but if you're going to have those kinds of thoughts – then I have no choice but to add to the school regulations! Breaking down a locked door is now prohibited!"

With that pronouncement, he disappeared again, just as all their e-handbooks beeped to announce the addition of the new rule.

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy," Togami said darkly.

"But if he went so far as to make a rule about it, then there must be something important in the headmaster's office," Ogami said, frowning as she thought it over.

"We can't do anything about it now, though," Naegi said. "Not after he made that rule."

"So that's it, then?" Hagakure asked. "Nobody found any clues, or a way out?"

"Well – I wouldn't say that," Naegi said. "Togami and I did find something in the office." He looked around. "You all remember the picture I found on the third floor, right? Well, we found another one just like it, but with Yamada, Celeste, and Maizono this time."

"So it was real? You saw this one, too?" Asahina asked, looking over at Togami skeptically.

"I saw it," Togami said, shrugging. "I can't say if it was a genuine photograph, though."

"But if it is real, that means everyone in it had some kind of hidden connection, right?" Naegi asked. "Something that we just don't understand yet."

"It was obviously just a distraction," Togami said. "We found it directly after seeing the locked headmaster's office. The mastermind must have wanted us to worry about the picture instead of what might be in that room."

"But Monokuma did go out of his way to say it was real," Naegi said, frowning. "I mean, we could just write it off as a lie, but –"

"But you trust Monokuma's word over the people who have died?" Kirigiri interrupted, her icy gaze piercing into him. "Is that what you're saying?"

"What?" Naegi stared at her. "No, that's not –"

"I'm shocked." Kirigiri smiled at him, sharp and pointed. "After everything you've said about how we all need to trust our friends, you refuse to do the same."

"Or maybe he's just learned that some of his friends aren't quite so trustworthy after all," Togami said, crossing his arms and glaring at Kirigiri from his place at Naegi's side. "When you mislead your so-called friend, you can't very well complain about the consequences."

"I see." Kirigiri looked from one boy to the other. "So it isn't just the dead students – I rank lower than Monokuma, as well, is that it?"

"No, of course not!" Naegi said. "I just meant that we should consider all the possibilities, that's all."

"Come on, guys, stop fighting, or all your good luck's going to float away," Hagakure said, rubbing at his wild hair. "There's no way Monokuma didn't fake that picture."

"He's just trying to confuse us," Ogami agreed. "You shouldn't listen to anything Monokuma has to say."

That statement made Naegi pause for a moment – not because of what Ogami said, but because of how she said it. There was something in her tone that rang in his aching head like the words he'd heard her say to Monokuma the previous night. The steel core of determination in her voice, rejecting Monokuma's insidious lies – it was the same.

And that reminded him that right now, he had something else to worry about than the fact that Kirigiri was mad at him.

"I'll try not to worry about the photo for now," Naegi said. He still wasn't convinced they should ignore it, but until he could come up with a stronger argument, there wasn't much he could do about that. "Is that everything that everyone found?" He looked around the group, seeing a series of half-hearted nods. That seemed to mark the end of the meeting, as Kirigiri turned to stalk out of the room in a swirl of silvery hair.

"About time," Togami muttered as the others began to drift apart. He looked at Naegi and raised a challenging eyebrow, as if to ask if he was ready. Naegi nodded slightly, taking a deep breath. Yes, he was. He had to be.

He walked over to where Ogami and Asahina were chatting. "Uh, hey, Ogami – do you have a few minutes? There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"All right," Ogami said. "Go ahead."

Naegi looked over at Asahina. "Well – uh, actually, it might take a little time. Could we go somewhere to talk about it?"

"Huh? You're not going to start cheating on Togami already, are you?" Asahina asked, eyes widening. "I know he's a huge jerk, but you should break up with him first before you try to win Sakura's heart!"

"No, of course not! It's nothing like that!" Naegi said hastily. "And – he'll be there, too, actually."

"Whoa, both of you?" Asahina's jaw dropped.

"I'd just like to talk to you," Naegi said, deciding that his best bet was to ignore Asahina's misunderstandings and focus on Ogami instead. "Can we?"

"Well – can it wait until tomorrow?" Ogami asked, turning to glance up at the clock. "I'd like to get some rest. I've been feeling worn down all day."

Naegi wasn't surprised to hear that, not after the way she and Monokuma had fought. But – he hated to have to do this, but he didn't think delaying was an option, either. Togami didn't seem like he'd accept any delays, not now that he knew the subject of Naegi's secret – and really, he'd made a good point that waiting on this issue could be dangerous.

"Sorry, but I don't think it can," Naegi said. He bit his lip, then decided that he needed to let her know what he meant. "It's about something that happened yesterday – after the trial."

Ogami went still. "Is it? I see. Very well, then." She looked over at Asahina and hesitated. "I – I'll talk to you later, Hina."

"Okay, sure!" Asahina said with a smile. "I guess I'll go find some dinner, then. Let me know when you're done, and I'll make you something, too!" She turned and made for the kitchen.

Naegi looked up at Ogami. "So –"

"Long conversations are best had over a bath, don't you agree?" Togami interrupted, taking a few steps closer. His eyes settled on Ogami with a dark malevolence that Naegi hadn't seen since Monokuma had first announced the killing game's rules. "It's the perfect place for everything to come clean."

Ogami eyed him for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, that would make it easier."

Without another word, the three of them left the dining hall, crossing over to the bathhouse. Naegi knew that entering it as a group of three right now was risky, especially since Alter Ego was still in there – but they couldn't very well have a conversation about spies where the mastermind's cameras could overhear them. The bath was the only option they had.

Once they were inside, Togami shut and locked the door, leaning against it with his arms folded and his lips pressed tightly together. It looked like he intended to keep his word about not talking, at least for now. Naegi nodded to himself and looked at Ogami.

She'd seated herself on one of the benches, hands on her knees and shoulders tense as she looked up at him. "So, then – what do you want to discuss?"