Naegi slept until the morning announcement jolted him awake, and spent a brief moment considering just rolling over and going back to sleep. But he couldn't bring himself to do it, no matter how tired he was – he owed it to the others to join them at the breakfast meeting. He had to keep proving that they could rely on him.

So he hauled himself out of bed and prepared to face the day more or less on his usual schedule. He headed over to the cafeteria, right on time for the breakfast meeting – but when he walked in, he found that Togami was the only one there.

Naegi stopped short in the doorway, while Togami froze with a coffee cup half-raised in one hand. He looked a little tired, Naegi realized, with faint circles under his eyes and lines around his mouth – like he hadn't been sleeping well, either. Was it just nerves and anger at the other students' presumption, or did Togami genuinely miss falling asleep with Naegi in his arms?

Well, if everything went all right, neither of them would have to go through another night alone. Tonight, Kirigiri would argue for lifting the separation, and Naegi was sure Asahina would support her. He didn't think Fukawa and Hagakure would hold out against the other two. Naegi wanted to tell Togami, to let him know it was almost over and see some of the unhappiness lift from his eyes –

But it wasn't over yet. Naegi knew the separation was still in effect for now, and he didn't want to risk losing Kirigiri's tentative support by ignoring it. He turned away from the cafeteria and walked across the hall to lean against the corner of the wall by the dorm rooms. He would just wait until someone else showed up for the breakfast meeting, and then he'd go in after them so they could see he wasn't trying to sneak time alone with Togami.

But as the minutes ticked away, no one else showed up. Naegi frowned. The rest of the cafeteria had actually been empty, hadn't it? He hadn't just missed everyone because he'd focused so much on Togami? No, he was sure he would have noticed other people in the room. So where was everyone?

When he finally heard footsteps, they came from the stairs, not the dorm rooms. Naegi turned to see Kirigiri passing through the gate to the rest of the first floor, walking even more quickly than she usually did. Her eyes darted to Naegi, but instead of approaching him, she turned and headed into the cafeteria.

Naegi hurried after her, only to have to stop short so that he didn't run into her. Kirigiri had only gone a couple steps into the cafeteria, standing near the door as she surveyed the entire room with a frown.

"Has anyone else arrived yet?" she asked.

Togami was watching her with eyebrows raised, leaning back in his seat like the picture of elegant poise. "No – not much of a loss, though. I'd be just as happy if the whole lot stayed away."

Kirigiri ignored that, turning to face Naegi. "What about you – have you seen anyone?"

"Not since last night," Naegi said, icy dread beginning to chill his veins. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Possibly," Kirigiri said. "It may be nothing. They may just be running late." She brushed past Naegi and made a beeline for the dorms.

Naegi sent Togami a puzzled glance before remembering he wasn't supposed to, and then turned and hurried after her. He could hear Togami set down his coffee cup and follow, but he carefully didn't turn back to look. Instead, he focused on what Kirigiri was doing.

She'd pressed the doorbell outside Fukawa's door – not a single push of a button, but leaning on the bell without a break. Anyone inside would hear that, no matter how deeply asleep they were. As Naegi reached her, she released the button and headed further down the hall, mouth a thin line.

Well, Naegi could see what she was trying to do, even if he wasn't sure why she was doing it. So as Kirigiri began ringing the bell to Asahina's room, he went to Hagakure's door and pressed the bell there. But by the time Togami had strolled up to join them, Naegi and Kirigiri both released the doorbell buttons without a response.

Kirigiri reached out to try Ogami's door and frowned as the knob rattled. She looked sharply at Togami. "Do you still have the key to Ogami's room?"

Togami eyed her for a moment. "Yes. It hasn't left my possession since I took it."

"Good. Then you can open the door." Kirigiri stepped out of the way.

"I could, it's true." Togami crossed his arms. "But why are you so concerned that I do so? What do you think might have happened?"

"Four people are missing," Kirigiri said tightly. "Not a single one of them arrived for the morning meeting. The last time this happened, two of the missing students ended up dead."

Naegi stared at her in cold horror. "Then you think –"

"I think that we need to verify everyone's whereabouts as soon as possible," she cut him off. "We'll need to search the rest of the school after checking on Ogami. Now open the door!"

Togami shrugged. "All right. Back up, then."

"You're still going to go through with that whole unlocking ritual?" Naegi demanded in disbelief.

"Yes," Togami said, waiting calmly for them to move. "Ogami hasn't ceased to be a spy. If anything, this makes me more suspicious of her than I was before." He looked from one of them to the other. "Thirty seconds is unlikely to make a difference in what we find in there – but argue long enough, and it's possible that delay might."

Only when Naegi and Kirigiri reluctantly backed up halfway down the hall did Togami turn, unlock the door, and press the bell in his one long, three short signal. After that, he hastily joined them, keeping his eyes fixed on the door.

Naegi counted the time under his breath, every second feeling like a year. But as the thirty second mark came and went, Ogami's door remained firmly closed. When nearly a minute had passed, Kirigiri headed forward with Naegi close at her heels. She only reached the door a step ahead of him, jerking it open without any further warning.

As soon as she did, Naegi stopped short in horror. The scene was beyond anything he'd expected, even in his worst fears.

Ogami lay slumped on her bed, blood splattered across her face, hands, and shirt. Asahina sprawled beside her, one hand fallen on Ogami's arm like she'd tried desperately to reach for her before collapsing. At their feet, Hagakure had fallen facedown across the foot of the bed, his head hanging over the edge facing away from them, more blood soaking the back of his shirt. Fukawa lay beside him, turned away and half collapsed onto the floor.

Naegi's breath froze in his throat at the sight. All of his friends, lying still and bloody in a room that should have been locked? It couldn't be – this couldn't happening, it had to be a bad dream or a mistake or –

Ding dong, ding dong.

"A body has been discovered!" Monokuma's voice announced, bright and cheery and all too real.