Sitting by himself in the library with a book open in front of him did nothing to improve Togami's temper. When he realized that he'd been staring down at the pages without reading a single word for the better part of the afternoon, it only made the fury roiling through him worse. This was intolerable – he couldn't even concentrate on his book any longer, not with these unrelenting emotions battering at him every moment.

Togami dropped his head into his hands, closing his eyes against the rest of the world. What was wrong with him? Barely a week ago, he could have sat here without a thought for anyone else, immersing himself completely in one book after another. But now, the words blurred in front of him, leaving him unable to focus on anything other than what might be happening in the rest of the school while he was absent.

So this was what it felt like to care about someone else – this constant awareness of another person's wellbeing, prickling along his skin every time he tried to think about something else. If this was what caring about someone meant, he wasn't sure if he'd ever genuinely cared about another person in his life. It wasn't a trait that his upbringing had encouraged, turning family feeling into competitiveness rather than compassion. And every other time he'd felt some faint stirring of emotion towards another person, he'd easily been able to channel it into something more aloof, more distant, more negative.

Only Naegi had resisted the usual patterns of his life, had challenged him to become something more than a competitor in a game. Only Naegi had changed him – and now he wasn't sure how to fit back into what he'd been before.

So maybe the trick was not to try. Togami stared down at his book a moment longer, evaluating rather than reading this time. Suppose he did manage to succeed in forcing himself to concentrate – what did he gain by sitting here and reading? Before, the benefit had been isolation from the others in a space where he could monitor any approaches, as well as a moderately entertaining way to distract himself from the situation. He'd meant to keep himself alive for as long as possible until he'd decided whether to make an attempt at a killing, and holing himself up away from the others and their nonsense had seemed like the best way to manage it.

But now, like it or not, he'd ended up thoroughly enmeshed in their nonsense. The situation had changed from the way it had been when he'd chosen to hide himself away, so it followed that his response should be different as well. After all, he'd always been of the opinion that it was better to face an unpleasant reality head-on than to try to live in a dream world.

Togami stood, abandoning his book on the edge of the table. He was done sitting hidden away in the library while the rest of the students decided to act without him there. They'd forced this separation by threatening to refuse to talk to Naegi or himself, hadn't they? Well, since they'd gotten their end of the bargain, maybe he should remind them of their side of the agreement.

Leaving the library, Togami decided he might as well head back downstairs, towards the cafeteria. There were usually at least one or two people loitering there at any point during the day, and he didn't have Naegi's patience for combing the entire school in search of specific people.

Sure enough, when he opened the door, he saw Hagakure drop a teacup with a clatter, sloshing liquid across a table.

Wonderful. Togami grimaced as Hagakure yelped and shook his apparently scalded fingers. It would be him, wouldn't it? Maybe he should just turn around and pretend this had never happened.

"You're here to do me in, aren't you? Oh, man, did you already poison my tea? Am I done for already?" Hagakure stared at his teacup in horror, then flung it away, sending the last drops scattering across the floor.

Togami sighed. On the other hand, maybe it would be better not to let this idiocy go unchecked any further. Hagakure had never been especially intelligent, but at least he'd been moderately more coherent before this.

"How exactly do you think I poisoned your tea from another room?" Togami said, crossing his arms. "You made it yourself, didn't you?"

"You could have your ways," Hagakure insisted. "You were in that poison room for a reason, weren't you? And now you're seeking me out, getting me alone to do who knows what!"

"If you hadn't been part of that stupid separation ploy, we wouldn't be alone," Togami pointed out darkly. "Naegi would be with us."

"Both of you?" Hagakure looked stricken with terror. "No, no, that'd be even worse! With two people against me I'd have no chance at all!"

Togami resisted the urge to rub at his temples. "You must be joking. Do you actually believe that Naegi is capable of plotting coldblooded murder with me? He wouldn't hurt a mortal enemy, let alone one of you – the people he keeps calling friends."

"Yeah, but that could all be a cover," Hagakure said, waving a finger in Togami's direction. "You know that whenever there's a serial killer who makes the news, they always do interviews with the neighbors who say 'he was such a nice boy' and 'we never suspected it.'"

"So you suspect Naegi because he's too nice?" Togami frowned, the complete lack of logic making his head hurt. "All right, fine – then what about me? Do you intend to accuse me of being too nice?"

"You already told us you want to kill people!" Hagakure said. "Of course you're suspicious!"

"Right. Of course you wouldn't be consistent in your idiocy." Togami rolled his eyes. "Well, I've managed to endure several minutes of your presence without attempting to kill you, which probably entitles me to some kind of medal. That ought to prove that I'm not out to murder you."

"No way, man," Hagakure protested, shaking his head vehemently. "No, we're alone, but anyone could walk in through the open door. It's safe as long as there are other people around, you know?"

Togami wasn't sure how that assertion fit with Hagakure's claim that Togami and Naegi were more dangerous when together – but arguing the point didn't seem like it would get him anywhere. "Fine, then – if you equate the presence of others with safety, I assume you would support the idea of everyone staying together for safety's sake."

"What?" Hagakure looked baffled, probably by the multi-syllabled words he'd used.

Togami sighed. "I'm suggesting that those of us who are still alive stop splitting up, so that we can keep track of each other and prevent anyone from acting alone."

"Oh – I see." Hagakure nodded slowly, rubbing his chin as he thought it over.

"So you'd agree with the idea?" Togami pressed.

"Huh? Agree with it?" Hagakure stared at him. "No way! I see what you're trying to do – you just want me to support your schemes so that you can take us all out at once!" He scrambled to his feet and made for the door. "No way would I ever agree to any of your ideas!" And with that, he ran out.

Togami scowled at the tea dripping off the table where Hagakure had been sitting. Well, that had gone about as poorly as he'd expected, considering the person he'd been trying to address. He probably couldn't have said anything that would have gone any better.

Naegi might have managed it, though. Togami had seen the boy do it time and again, pinpointing exactly the right words to get people to listen to his arguments. He'd even managed to break through the solid barricade of stupidity surrounding Hagakure's few functioning brain cells once or twice – he would at least have had a chance of salvaging this mess.

It wasn't an issue of arguments or logic, not really. If that had been all, Togami knew he could have convinced everyone to listen to him already. No, the problem here was likability and trustworthiness – two qualities he apparently did not possess. None of the others had ever really wanted to listen to him if they didn't have to, and with the current situation making him look suspicious, they'd all seized the chance to ignore him.

Ding dong, ding dong.

As Monokuma's nighttime announcement rang out from the television monitors, Togami sighed and headed away from the dining hall. The entire day had been a disaster, with everything going wrong from the moment he'd left his room.

And apparently it wasn't over yet. As he approached the dormitories, Togami heard the minor commotion of voices raised in disagreement. He slowed, trying to determine who was involved – and to his surprise, he saw Asahina and Ogami standing at the corner between their two dorm rooms.

"You have to sleep somewhere!" Asahina was saying, hands on her hips. "And it's against the rules to sleep anywhere but a dorm room!"

"I understand your concerns," Ogami said, her voice heavier than usual, "but Hina, I won't stay in your room tonight."

"I don't mind!" Asahina insisted. "Sharing the bed is okay, or I can sleep on the floor –"

"I can't put you out of your own bed." And then Ogami looked down the hall, a shadow falling across her face as she met Togami's eyes. "Ah – and it seems I won't need to."

Asahina turned around, and her eyes narrowed when she caught sight of Togami. "You. You've still got Sakura's room key."

Togami crossed his arms, staying well out of range of either girl. "Of course I do. I'm hardly going to let it out of my sight."

"Oh, yes, you are," Asahina snapped. "You're going to give it back to Sakura so she can get into her room again."

Togami stiffened. This morning, he'd told Naegi that he'd been prepared to hand to key back over to Ogami if she'd asked to have it – but that had been before the rest of the students had decided to treat him and Naegi like enemies while allowing Ogami to roam free. It might not do anything to negate Ogami's threat, but with the way Asahina was glaring at him, Togami wasn't inclined to do anything that she wanted.

"No." Togami lifted his chin, putting on his most imperious manner. "I'm not contributing to your ability to wander the school at night. Sort out your own sleeping arrangements however you want, but I'm not giving you that key back."

"Oh, really?" Asahina clenched her fists. "And what if we decide to take it?"

"I imagine you'd be able to get it off me fairly easily," Togami said, holding his stance steady. Even if worry had begun to chill his veins at the thought of the two athletes attempting to attack him, he would never let a quiver of it show. "In fact, if you want to escalate matters to physical violence, why stop there? You know how this game works, and it isn't about anything so paltry as fists and thievery."

"You think I can't?" Asahina took a step forward, and might well have gone further if Ogami hadn't laid a restraining hand on her shoulder.

"Not you, too, Hina," Ogami said, a spasm of what looked like hurt flashing across her face. "Please. Don't act like this because of me."

"It's not you," Asahina said. "It's because of him. No one would miss him – we'd all be better off if he weren't around."

Before Togami could say anything in response to that outrageous claim, Ogami was shaking her head. "You can't start thinking like that. You can't give in to what the mastermind wants."

Togami eyed Ogami for a moment, frowning as he wondered just what her angle was with all this. Was she still trying to portray herself as some kind of victim? It hardly seemed necessary, not when Asahina had bought the act already.

When some of the tension went out of Asahina's shoulders, Ogami looked over at Togami. "You can keep my key, if it matters that much to you, but I would prefer to spend the night in my own room. Would you open the door?"

"No!" Asahina objected. "He won't let you out again! He'll just leave you in there to starve!"

"What, and get named as a murderer in the shortest class trial possible?" Togami rolled his eyes. "Be serious. If you'd all bothered to listen to me instead of jumping to the most ridiculous conclusions possible, you'd know that I never thought that locking the spy up would be a workable solution to the problem."

"So you're saying you'd open the door again?" Asahina said skeptically.

"I suppose I'd have to." Togami glanced at Ogami. "Provided you follow the same safety precautions as before."

Ogami nodded. "That seems reasonable."

"No, it doesn't!" Asahina snapped. "So you have safety precautions for you – but what about for Sakura? If you have her key, you could get into her room any time during the night and do anything you wanted!"

"Why would I want to go into the spy's room?" Togami asked, curling his lip. "What would that do other than give her an opportunity to kill me?"

"Whatever you're planning to do, I'm not waiting to find out," Asahina said. "If you're going to lock Sakura in her room overnight, you're locking me in with her."

"What?" Ogami's eyes flew wide open. "Hina, no – you have your own room, you'd be much more comfortable there."

"I don't care about being comfortable – I care about you being safe!" Asahina said. "And if you're alone in a room that only he can unlock, you definitely won't be safe. What if you just mysteriously turned up dead in the morning?"

Ogami closed her eyes and swallowed. "I – I see your point." She looked from Asahina to Togami. "Very well, then – unless Togami has objections."

"I don't care if he does!" Asahina glared over at Togami.

He gave a bored shrug. "What do I care if you want to risk your life? If the mastermind gives her the order to kill overnight, at least the crime scene will be contained."

Asahina looked like she wanted to say something more, but before she could, Ogami tugged her further down the hall to give Togami the space to approach her door. Once they were a safe distance away, Togami pulled Ogami's key from his inner jacket pocket and unlocked the door, retreating as soon as it was open. Asahina's eyes went to the key in Togami's hand, but despite a moment's hesitation, she followed Ogami into the room rather than press the issue.

Once the door was closed, Togami made sure it was securely locked before stowing the key away again. At least that meant two of the other troublesome students were safely out of the way. With any luck, Ogami really would take the chance to kill her supposed friend, proving herself as the true threat and getting eliminated by the resulting trial in one move. As far as Togami was concerned, that would be the best solution on all counts – because other than that, he couldn't see a good resolution to the situation at all.