Naegi frowned as he walked towards the gymnasium, quickly outstripping Asahina and Hagakure as he tried to match Togami's brisk pace. Why was Monokuma summoning them all again? Was it another of his motive announcements? Naegi would have thought that – but the voice from the televisions had seemed much more serious than usual. He hadn't heard any of the open glee Monokuma normally had when he tried to give them motives.

Fukawa and Kirigiri were already in the gym when they entered, but neither girl would meet Naegi's eye. Kirigiri looked steadily up at the platform where Monokuma would appear, her face unrelentingly blank. Fukawa lurked against one of the walls, twisting her braids around her hands as she simmered. Naegi sighed, looking from one angry girl to the other. Asahina was right – how were they supposed to fight the mastermind if they were spending all their energy fighting each other instead? He really needed to try to make up with those two.

But it would have to wait for later. As soon as the door closed behind Hagakure and Asahina, Monokuma bounced out to sit on the stage. "Hmm. It looks like everyone was very prompt today. Should we jump into things right away?"

"It isn't everyone yet," Asahina objected, looking around the room. "Sakura isn't here."

"Ohh?" Monokuma made a show of peering around the room, even going so far as to glance up at the ceiling and under the red cloth draped over the table onstage. "You're right! Your headmaster announced a mandatory school assembly, but one of you decided not to show up." He looked out at all of them, red eye gleaming. "It looks to me like Ogami is skipping."

"No way," Asahina said, horror crossing her face. "Sakura wouldn't do that! She's probably just running late, that's all!"

"Hmm. Do you think so?" Monokuma looked up at the clock on the gym wall. "I wonder. Okay, if we've gotta wait, I guess we've gotta. Maybe I'll overlook her being late if she walks through that door with a whole barrelful of honey for her favorite headmaster."

Except that of course, there was no chance at all that Ogami could do anything of the kind – not when she was locked in her dorm room with the key in Togami's pocket. Naegi glanced up at Togami, but he was staring off into the distance with an icy glower on his face. If it weren't for the tension Naegi could feel in the arm pressed against his own, he would have thought Togami looked completely bored with the proceedings.

When nearly five minutes had ticked away, Monokuma tilted his head. "I wonder if there's enough honey in the world to make up for being this late."

Naegi couldn't just leave it at that. "Maybe – maybe we should send a search party," he suggested, trying to sound as normal as he could. "We could go look for her?"

Kirigiri's head whipped around, and she narrowed her eyes in Naegi's direction. This time Naegi was the one who looked determinedly away and refused to meet her gaze.

"What? You want to leave already?" Monokuma asked, sounding hurt. "But my assembly isn't over yet! Why would you want to leave before you've heard what I have to say, huh?"

Asahina had gone pale. "It's about Sakura, isn't it? Something's happened to her. That's why you called us here."

"Huh? You think something could have happened to the Ultimate Martial Artist?" Monokuma asked. "I wonder what that could be."

"We should be asking you that," Kirigiri said. "After all, you're the one with the surveillance cameras."

"What? And you think I have nothing better to do than watch all of you run around all day?" Monokuma demanded. "You think my fur gets this touchable glossy sheen all on its own? I'll have you know that beauty is a time-consuming process!" He shook his head. "No, you'll just have to ask someone else where Ogami is."

"What do you mean, ask someone else?" Asahina said. "Who else is there?"

"Well, you could try asking Naegi and Togami about it," Monokuma said, tilting his head as his eyes zeroed in on them. "They might know something."

The others all turned to face them, and Naegi found himself stepping a little closer against Togami under the weight of all their stares.

"You know where Sakura is?" Asahina asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.

"I told you earlier," Togami said, unruffled. "I expect she's in her room."

"But if that's all, she would have come to the assembly," Asahina said. She glared at Togami, clenching her fists. "You did something to her, didn't you?"

"Ehh? Is the Ogre dead?" Hagakure asked, clutching at his hair. "Did Naegi and Togami take her down with a double team special move?"

"No, nothing like that!" Naegi said, waving his hands in protest. "She was completely fine when we left her in her room last night!"

"Then why isn't she here?" Asahina demanded.

"Because we locked her in," Togami said flatly.

"And why would you do something like that?" Kirigiri asked, folding her arms.

Naegi grimaced. He hadn't been sure what the best way would be to tell everyone about Ogami – but he knew that this definitely wasn't it. With the accusing stares stabbing through him from all directions, he knew that no one would be very receptive to anything he tried to explain right now.

"Oh, no no no no," Monokuma said. "We can't possibly go on with the assembly like this. Now that we know where our missing student is, we have to get her here without delay, right?"

"Fine," Togami said, glaring up at Monokuma. "You've made your point. Open the door and let her out if you must."

"Huh? Me?" Monokuma asked, puzzled. "You want me to open the dorm room door of one of my students? But what if we found her in the middle of something – indecent? No, no, I couldn't possibly do such a thing. The only way I'd ever open a student's door would be to let you guys enter as part of an official investigation. Otherwise, no can do!"

"And with the new rule about not breaking down locked doors, she can't leave, either," Kirigiri said. "Then what is it that you're proposing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Monokuma grinned at them. "If the Ogre can't come to the assembly, we'll just have to bring the assembly to the Ogre!" He laughed wildly. "See you at the dorms!" And with that, he bounced out of sight.