Naegi couldn't bring himself to move as the body discovery announcement played out over the televisions. He closed his eyes against the awful scene as the recording finished, dread snaking through him as he waited for it to play again.

But there was silence.

"There was only one announcement."

Togami's words jolted Naegi out of his daze, and he opened his eyes to see the other boy frowning at him. "There could still be another."

"I don't think so," Togami said. "The rules say the announcement is supposed to play immediately after three or more people discover a body. And if nothing else, the last case proved that multiple bodies would require multiple announcements. If there was going to be another one, it should have played right after the first."

"Then – they're still alive?" A terrible hope lit a fire in Naegi's chest as he turned back to the bodies sprawled across Ogami's bed. The sight was still horrible, but – maybe not quite as bad as he'd assumed.

Kirigiri had already crossed to the bed, leaning over Asahina to press gentle fingers to her neck. After a long moment, Kirigiri looked up and nodded. "Alive, but her pulse is very weak."

"What happened to her?" Naegi asked, forcing himself to take a step closer.

"It's too soon to say." Kirigiri circled the bed to bend down towards Fukawa. But just as her fingers touched the other girl's neck, a hand shot up to clamp around her wrist.

"Well, look who's trying to get all up close and personal!" Genocide Jill leapt to her feet, grinning inches away from Kirigiri's impassive face. "Sorry, but there's no room for girl on girl action in this woman's heart!"

Kirigiri twisted her wrist out of Jill's grip, turning back to the other two bodies on the bed. Jill watched her, interest sparking in her eyes as she took in the scene.

"Wow, what was Gloomy getting into? Not the ones I would've picked – the only three people I want to wake up in bed with are my White Knight, Master Byakuya, and Togami darling!"

"No – that's not what this is." Naegi tried to keep his voice from shaking. "We just heard a body discovery announcement. I'm glad you're all right, but – but it looks like someone else isn't." He looked over at Kirigiri, who had her fingers resting on the pulse point on Ogami's neck. "So? Is she…"

Kirigiri carefully removed her fingers and stepped back. "No. She's alive as well."

Which only left one option. Naegi's gaze snapped to where Hagakure lay across the foot of the bed. "Then – you mean –"

"Yeah, he doesn't look too good," Jill said, bending sideways to put her head at the same angle as Hagakure's. "Not that he ever did, but that big ol' crack on his skull didn't help him any. Some people have no appreciation for the artistry of a good murder. Anyone can just whack away like that!"

Naegi didn't want to look closer, but he knew he had no choice. Slowly, he made himself circle around the side of the bed, so he could see the other side of the scene more clearly. Hagakure's head had fallen over the side of the bed, blood dripping down his neck and through his hair to pool on the floor below.

Kirigiri knelt at his side, avoiding the pool of blood as she felt against his neck for a pulse, but Naegi didn't need to see her shake her head to know the truth. This close, he could see the unsettling stillness of Hagakure's body, unmistakable as anything other than a corpse.

"What happened?" Togami asked, peering down as Kirigiri continued her examination.

"We didn't make it in time," she said, parting Hagakure's wild hair with careful fingers. "Someone acted before we arrived."

"Someone?" Togami raised an eyebrow. "Why dodge the issue? I think we all know who the most likely murderer is."

"Ooh, you've already worked it out?" Jill asked. "That's my White Knight for you – brains and beauty in one sexy package."

Togami ignored her. "The mastermind ordered their spy to commit a murder – and here a murder is, right in her own room."

"You think Ogami did this?" Naegi asked, turning to him in horror. "But – no, she said she wasn't going to work for the mastermind anymore!"

"Which is exactly what any spy would say after getting caught," Togami countered.

Naegi looked over at Ogami, still unconscious on the bed. He couldn't believe she would have done this, not after everything she'd said about taking the battle to the mastermind – but if she hadn't, who did that leave? It seemed just as unbelievable that Asahina or Fukawa would have done it. There hadn't even been a new motive to create a fresh incentive – no one had any reason to kill now.

He took a step closer, careful not to disturb the blood on the floor as he approached the bed. Neither Ogami nor Asahina had moved, not even with a conversation happening right beside them. "Are they all right? Why aren't they waking up?"

"I don't know." Kirigiri didn't look up from her examination.

Naegi looked at the two girls on the bed, trying to scratch up his courage, and then reached out to lay a hand on Asahina's shoulder. She didn't respond, so he gritted his teeth and tried gently shaking her. Her head twitched and her eyelids flickered, but she still didn't open her eyes.

Faced with that failure, Naegi leaned over to try Ogami instead. She groaned low in her throat when Naegi laid a hand on her arm. Encouraged by that response, he shook her arm slightly – and her eyes started open. "What – Naegi?"

Naegi breathed a sigh of relief. It was one thing for Kirigiri to declare the two girls alive, but it didn't feel real until he could see Ogami awake and speaking. "I'm so glad you're all right."

"What do you…"

And then the scene around her seemed to sink fully into her mind. Her gaze locked on Asahina's hand resting on her blood-splattered arm, and her face went pale. "Hina!"

But at the sound of Ogami's voice, Asahina's eyes blinked open. "S-Sakura?"

A deep sigh of relief shuddered from Ogami's throat, and she leaned towards the other girl, head dropping to hide her expression. Asahina frowned – but as she looked across the bed, a look of deep horror crossed her face. She turned away, burying her face in Ogami's side, but that didn't quite muffle her sobs.

"Well, isn't that a touching moment?"

Naegi jumped as Monokuma came bouncing out to the middle of the room, beaming at them brightly.

"Two vibrant young schoolgirls sharing a tender embrace in bed – if this moment gets any more touching, I'll have to raise the rating and check IDs at the door!" Monokuma laughed, the sound a horrible contrast to the awful, bloody scene around them. Asahina's head jerked away from Ogami's side, her tearstained face going pale at the insinuations.

"Spare us the stupid jokes and get on with it," Togami said, pinning Monokuma with a cold stare. "You have information for us, don't you?"

"Aw, I guess it takes more than a little fanservice to get your blood pumping," Monokuma said sadly. "All right, then. Maybe this will do it!" He pulled out a stack of folders. "It's the Monokuma File!"

He threw the folders at each of them, and Naegi had to fumble to catch his without letting it drop onto the bloody floor. By the time he looked up, file safely in hand, Monokuma had disappeared again.

The others were already flipping through their folders, so Naegi opened his as well, skimming through the limited contents.

Monokuma File #4

Victim: Yasuhiro Hagakure

The time of death is estimated to be around 6:00 in the morning. The body was discovered in Sakura Ogami's locked dorm room, along with the unconscious bodies of Sakura Ogami, Aoi Asahina, and Toko Fukawa.

The victim suffered a blow to the head, resulting in significant blood loss.

"Then – it's true? Hagakure is dead?" Ogami asked, looking up from the file to stare at the body lying across her bed.

"Obviously," Togami said shortly. "But the more important question is which one of you killed him." He crossed his arms and glowered at her. "Though I think we know the answer already."

"You… believe that I did this?" Ogami's face settled into heavy lines, and she looked down at the ground.

"I do," Togami said. "Unless you have another suggestion."

"Accusations can wait until we've gathered all the evidence," Kirigiri said, standing up so that she could meet Togami's glare at a level. "After all, I don't think your question is the most important one to ask."

Togami raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Before we can think about who killed Hagakure, we need to think about how," Kirigiri said calmly. "More to the point, how they did it here. After all, that door was locked." She looked around the room. "How did anyone get in here in the first place?"