Author's Note: As of today, I am back home and finished with various holiday festivities, so regular updates will be resuming for the foreseeable future.
Togami headed directly into the cafeteria, scowling around at the empty tables. He'd never been here so early before, just moments after the morning announcement had played. He'd always preferred to wait until the rest of the students had finished their meeting so that he didn't have to deal with any of them. And now here he was, first one through the door, as if he was eager to attend their tedious daily gathering. The thought made him want to gag.
Well, he wasn't going to let the others find him sitting around waiting for them, at the very least. He headed back into the kitchen to prepare some coffee. Hopefully the caffeine would help get rid of the headache the morning's antics had already given him – and maybe the preparation time would be enough for Naegi to make it to the dining hall, as well.
But when he returned to the main room of the cafeteria, coffee in hand, Naegi wasn't the person who'd arrived. Kirigiri sat at one of the tables, frowning and tapping a pen against a small notebook. She looked up as he entered, raising her eyebrows at him.
"I'm glad to see your newfound resolution to be more helpful hasn't fallen to pieces," she said, eyes as blank as ever. "I did wonder if it might."
"I'm not here to see you." Togami emphasized this by choosing the seat as far away from her as possible.
She watched him a moment longer, then turned back to her notebook. Togami wondered briefly just what she was writing over there – but it probably wasn't anything interesting. After all, keeping a written record of important information would be stupid, when there were cameras spying on them at all times.
Instead, he turned his attention to his coffee, watching the door out of the corner of his eye as he drank. Naegi would have to arrive soon, wouldn't he? After all, he always made a point of attending these morning meetings to see his so-called friends – he wouldn't start skipping out now. It was just a question of when he'd arrive.
Togami refused to let himself dwell on the possibility that Naegi wouldn't arrive. He hadn't seen Naegi since they'd separated yesterday, and the awareness that he didn't know where Naegi was gnawed away at him. Anything could have happened in the intervening hours, and he wouldn't know about it. There hadn't been a body discovery announcement, but there wasn't much comfort in that – not when Naegi trusted everyone in the group enough that he would probably have opened his door in the middle of the night to let a potential killer walk right in.
And it wouldn't even need to be a deliberate murder attempt. For all that Naegi kept insisting he was fine, Togami had still been able to see the flashes of pain when he turned his head wrong, the moments of unexpected dizziness, or the way climbing all the stairs made him more tired than it should. Head wounds weren't something to treat lightly, but Naegi would probably try to shrug his off, given the chance. Togami could see him doing so all too easily, and ending up collapsing half-conscious somewhere after pushing himself too hard.
The door opened, and Togami looked sharply towards it – only to scowl when he realized it was just Hagakure. The wild-haired young man shot a nervous look in Togami's direction, then headed over to cower beside Kirigiri. Togami rolled his eyes and decided to ignore them both.
It only took another few minutes for the door to open again, but this time, Asahina entered, Ogami trailing reluctantly at her heels. Togami stiffened at the sight of Monokuma's spy joining them as if she were no different than any other student.
"So you're not even going to pretend to any shame about facing the people you betrayed?" Togami asked, his voice clear in the otherwise silent room.
Ogami started, looking up at him like a spooked wild animal, but it was Asahina who answered, eyes flashing with anger. "I don't think you've got any room to talk about people who ought to be feeling shame."
"I've been nothing but helpful and honest with the lot of you for the past few days," Togami said, glaring at her. "It's not my problem if you don't like the truth."
"You wouldn't know truth if you met it on the street!" Asahina snapped back, and she looked like she would have gone on if Ogami hadn't begun backing towards the door again.
"This was a bad idea," Ogami said, when Asahina turned back towards her with a questioning look. "Togami is right, Hina – I don't belong among you anymore. The way things stand now, my presence can only make the situation worse."
"That's not true!" Asahina said, stomping her foot. "You have just as much right to be here as any of the others!"
"She lost that right when she chose to work for the mastermind," Togami said, crossing his arms.
"You –"
"Hina, stop." Ogami's fists clenched, and it looked like she'd actually summoned up some tears at the corners of her eyes. "I appreciate all that you've done to defend me, but – it's enough. You've done enough."
"Sakura –" Asahina reached out towards her, but Ogami's eyes flickered down to the fresh bandage wrapped around Asahina's arm.
"No." Ogami's voice broke on the word. "You were hurt, Hina – because of me."
"It wasn't your fault, it's because they wouldn't –"
"Because of me," Ogami repeated. "And it can't happen again. Stop defending me. Stop fighting with the others."
"But –"
"Promise me," Ogami said, not giving Asahina enough time to formulate a protest. "If – if you do still consider me a friend, then do this for me. Stop fighting. Stop arguing. Stop making the cracks in the group worse."
Asahina stared up at Ogami. "This is really what you want?"
"Yes."
"Then – fine." Asahina clenched her fists and looked away. "Fine, if that's really what you want. I'll try not to fight about it anymore – but nothing will make me stop believing in you."
"Hina –" Ogami swallowed. "Thank you. You've been a better friend than I deserve." She looked around the room once more. "I – I should go. It will be better if I'm not here." With that, she turned and walked out of the room before Asahina could stop her.
Togami watched her go with narrowed eyes. That was quite a little show that Ogami had put on – and he couldn't help but notice that she'd chosen to do it in front of most of the other students, rather than when she and Asahina had been alone in the nurse's office. What could she mean by it? Was she acting on the mastermind's orders here, or was this all part of some other plan she'd cooked up herself?
He watched as Asahina hesitated at the door, then slowly turned away to droop into the nearest chair, staring down at her hands. Could she be in on whatever Ogami was doing? He was inclined to think that she was just stupid and stubborn, getting manipulated herself rather than trying to trick others – but he couldn't rule the possibility out. There was the chance –
The sound of the door opening again shattered his train of thought, and he twisted sharply around in his seat. There was only one person left who usually attended these meetings but hadn't arrived yet – it had to be –
Naegi stood in the doorway, his eyes immediately seeking out Togami's as a bright smile spread across his face.
