Before Togami could demand any further answers from Kirigiri, the slow sound of footsteps behind him snapped his attention away from her. But even as goosebumps tingled along the back of his neck at the knowledge that Naegi had to be approaching, Togami refused to show the weakness of turning around to look.
What the hell did Naegi think he was doing, following Togami into this room? He'd nearly fainted at the first sight of it – he had no business trying to enter. But as usual, Naegi didn't pay any attention to what he ought to do. He edged into Togami's line of vision, frowning down at Kirigiri. "Why is there a giant knife in the middle of the floor?"
"We were just discussing that," Kirigiri told him, and the hint of softening to her voice when she addressed Naegi instead of him set Togami's teeth on edge.
"Well, I don't think we should leave it there," Naegi said, biting his lip. "Not – not with the way Jill and Ogami have been acting this morning."
So Naegi had gone to see Ogami, as well? Togami scowled. Of course he had. Why would he limit himself to visiting only two of the three psychotic girls left in the school when he had the option to complete the set?
"That seems like a reasonable suggestion." Kirigiri turned to the knife and reached out to pull it from the floor.
"I don't think so," Togami snapped, hand flying out to block her. "You aren't taking that."
She raised her eyebrows. "And just what do you think I could do with this knife that I couldn't do with the dozens of other weapons available to us in other parts of the school?"
"Whatever it is, I don't care to find out." Togami stooped to yank the knife free himself, keeping it well out of Kirigiri's reach. "As long as I have this, that's one less weapon available to you."
"So you want the responsibility of keeping it somewhere safe?" Kirigiri shrugged. "Suit yourself."
Her nonchalance made Togami want to lash back with vicious words and insults until he got some kind of angry reaction from the emotionless girl – but he didn't want to risk further argument about the knife. Not after Monokuma had warned him about the presence of a dangerous weapon missing somewhere in the school.
He didn't think it was likely to be this knife, of course. For all that it was enormous, it didn't appear to be anything other than an ordinary blade – but there was no point in taking unnecessary chances. This knife was the first new weapon to turn up after Monokuma's warning, and he didn't trust a single one of the other students with it – and Kirigiri least of all.
"But what is it doing in a room like this?" Naegi asked, steadying himself against one of the more intact desks as he frowned at the knife. "Are we supposed to think it was used in – in whatever happened here? It can't have been – it isn't even bloody!"
"The knife isn't the most important mystery to ask about right now," Kirigiri said, getting to her feet and dusting off the edges of her skirt with a hint of distaste. "What you should be asking is – why is there a room like this in the school in the first place? And after we've encountered so many locked doors, why was this room left unsealed?"
Togami curled his lip. So she thought she was smart because she'd come up with the obvious questions after looking through the room? Well, he had no intention of letting her show him up.
"It was put here to be found," he said, lifting his chin in his most imperious manner. "The mastermind wanted us to see this place. Even at the start of this, in the very first motive that we got, Monokuma has been implying that events here go beyond the fifteen of us who were imprisoned here. This room – this battlefield – is proof of it."
"But –" Naegi looked around the room, going even paler. "But that means Monokuma must have –"
"What, my fault again?"
Monokuma came bounding out to the front of the room before Naegi could finish speaking. He landed in front of the shattered teacher's desk, grinning out at them like he intended to preside over a lesson – a mockery of an instructor for this ruin of a classroom.
"Come on, now, stop trying to blame everything on me!"
"Who else is there?" Naegi said, all exhaustion disappearing from his face as he turned to glare at Monokuma. "If you hadn't done anything, there's no way the classroom would look like this!"
"No, no, no, it's actually the opposite," Monokuma said. He laughed. "What do you think – should I give you an itty bitty hint?"
"Yes," Togami said at once –
At the same time that Kirigiri said, "No."
Togami spun to glare at her. What the hell was she trying to prove? She'd spent the last few days harping on and on about how they needed to find answers, using the same excuse to manipulate Naegi into danger time and again – and now, presented with the opportunity to get a clue directly from the mastermind's mouth, she wanted to turn it down?
Not that Togami intended to put much trust in anything Monokuma said, of course – but more information was always better than none. Whatever hint Monokuma intended to give them, it would give them some idea of how the mastermind wanted them to view this room. That would definitely be valuable in determining their final goal.
"Uh oh!" Monokuma's paws flew to his mouth in feigned shock. "Looks like we've got a house divided! One for and one against – what's a bear to do with a vote like that?" He grinned. "Good thing we've got a tie-breaker!"
"Do you mean me?" Naegi asked, as Monokuma's red eye blazed straight at him.
"Well, it can't be that hard, right?" Monokuma said. "It's not like I'm asking you to choose between my pure snowy fluff and my silky midnight plushness, or something hard like that! All you have to do is decide whether you like Togami or Kirigiri better!"
"W-what?" Naegi's eyes darted from Togami to Kirigiri in a brief moment of nervousness before he shook his head and zeroed back in on Monokuma. "No. This is just about a hint, not about – anything other than that."
"Ohh? Does that mean it's a tough choice after all?" Monokuma tilted his head inquisitively. "But don't you know that you've got to choose to agree if you want to raise someone's flag? And here I was trying to give you the option to make a nice clear-cut decision."
"I don't want your help!" Naegi snapped.
"Huh? Is that your answer?" Monokuma asked. "So does that mean you're picking Kirigiri?" He shook his head, sending Togami a sympathetic look. "That's too bad! And here I was hoping we could have a touching reunion episode. But I guess it's only to be expected – after all, Naegi already picked Kirigiri's side when he agreed to let her try to kill him, right?"
