Naegi stared at Monokuma, a familiar dread creeping through his veins at the bear's too-cheerful words. The air itself seemed to grow heavy around him, the same way that it did when Monokuma summoned them all to the gym to hear his latest motive. He didn't know what Monokuma was about to say – but whatever it was, he knew that it wouldn't end well.
"That's okay, really," Naegi tried to say, hoping that maybe, just this once, Monokuma would change his mind. "You don't need to give me anything!"
"Huh? But didn't you go through all the trouble of calling me out because you want something from me?" Monokuma asked. "No, no, you don't need to be shy about it – I understand! You called me in the middle of the night because you just couldn't wait another second to get your paws on one of these!"
With a wild flourish, Monokuma waved his arm to produce a thin, shiny piece of paper, pinched between his gleaming claws.
Naegi eyed the paper with trepidation, remembering all too well the other dangerous documents Monokuma had distributed in the past. "What's that?"
"Aha, so your interest piques at the sight of it!" Monokuma laughed. "I'll have you know that this is the rarest of rare items, the highly coveted prize bestowed only after a mortal has truly proven themselves worthy – the legendary trip ticket! This fabulous prize can be redeemed for the opportunity to whisk the student of your choice away for a full-day bonding experience!"
Naegi blinked. "That's it?" With the way Monokuma had been building the ticket up, he'd been expecting something much flashier. Unless… "Wait, what do you mean, 'away?'" His breath caught in his throat. "Could we use that ticket to – to leave?"
"Better!" Monokuma said brightly. "The trip tickets can take you to such exciting locations as – the garden! The music room! The school store! And many more of the exciting Hope's Peak locations, all for the low low price of just one million Mono-coins!"
Naegi sighed, shoulders slumping back against the wall. He should have known that an idea like that would be too good to be true. "No thanks."
"What's that? You don't want one?" Monokuma had the nerve to look shocked at the very idea.
"Well, I can go to the garden or any of those other places any time I want, even if I don't have a ticket," Naegi said, shrugging.
"But it wouldn't have the thrill of going on a trip!" Monokuma said. "Just imagine how much more exciting the cafeteria could be if you and a special someone spent all day there!"
"Why would I want to sit around in the cafeteria all day?" Naegi asked blankly.
A slow grin spread over Monokuma's face. "Oh, I see what you're doing. You thought you could get one over on your headmaster – but you can't fool me!"
A burst of icy terror flooded Naegi. Did that mean Monokuma had worked out that Naegi was trying to distract him from Kirigiri? Or worse – what if Ikusaba's claims about how the cameras worked had been wrong? The mastermind might have been watching both Kirigiri and Naegi right from the start, and now he'd worked out what they were trying to do –
"You're trying to negotiate!" Monokuma laughed. "I shouldn't underestimate you – you're so much smarter than you look! All right, if that's how you want to play it, then take this!" He flicked his wrist, and a second ticket split out from the first. "Two for the price of one!"
Naegi tried not to look like he was breathing a visible sigh of relief that this was all Monokuma had meant. "Uh, still no," he said. "Sorry. I don't have a million Mono-coins."
"And you'd let a little thing like that force you to pass on this opportunity of a lifetime?" Monokuma asked with a horrified gasp.
"Uh – yes?"
"How about if I sweeten the pot?" Yet another ticket fanned out from between Monokuma's claws. "Count 'em – that's one, two, three amazing trip tickets! You won't find a better deal anywhere in the school, I guarantee!"
Naegi frowned. Was Monokuma going to keep offering him more and more of those worthless tickets until he finally accepted? If that was the case, Naegi was starting to think he might as well just give in and take the things before Monokuma decided his refusals weren't entertaining anymore – if it weren't for the price tag. Sure, he'd been collecting the coins he'd been finding scattered throughout the school, but he doubted he'd even found a hundred, let alone a million. And agreeing to pay Monokuma money he didn't have, even if it was in a fake currency, sounded like a dangerous idea.
"I still don't have that many Mono-coins," he said. "Offering me more tickets won't change that."
"Huh? So you really don't want to go on a series of heart-throbbing trips?" Monokuma tilted his head. "Or is it that you're afraid the student you want to go with might not want to spend time with you?"
Naegi couldn't help the way his thoughts flashed to Togami at those words – the other boy's hard eyes and cold words, the way he'd stormed off without so much as looking back once. Togami had certainly made it pretty plain that he didn't want to spend more time with Naegi – but he couldn't dwell on that right now, not with the way Monokuma was grinning at him. Not when Kirigiri's safety could depend on his ability to keep Monokuma's attention.
But before Naegi could respond, Monokuma was nodding to himself with a dark little chuckle. "Oh, I get it now – I see what you've been holding out for! All right, then, you've got it. Along with these trip tickets, I'll throw in the ultimate grand prize – an e-handbook upgrade!"
And as Monokuma said it, a sharp jolt came from Naegi's pocket – the same pocket where he kept his e-handbook.
With suddenly cold fingers, Naegi reached into his pocket to pull out his handbook. He was almost afraid to open it – but he knew it was better to find out the truth. He flipped the cover open, and the words Update In Progress glowed back at him from the screen.
Naegi looked back at Monokuma. "What did you do to it?"
"Oh, nothing much," Monokuma said. "I just added in a special new feature that will let you enjoy your trip tickets to the fullest – that's all."
Naegi decided not to press the issue of the trip tickets again – not in the face of this new, alarming revelation. "What kind of feature? Is it going to explode?"
"Explode?" Monokuma shook his head. "No, no, no, you'd need at least three more upgrades before you unlock the handbook's explosive capabilities! All I did was add in something extra to help you out – you know, if your boy-toy decides to run off and hide from you again instead of taking advantage of your new prizes!"
"What do you mean?" Naegi asked slowly, not liking the sound of that at all. He might not like it when Togami didn't want to talk to him – but he definitely didn't want anything that Monokuma meant him to use to stop that from happening.
"I've given your handbook a tracking feature!" Monokuma beamed at him. "Now you'll know exactly where any other student in the school is, at any time of the day or night! No one will be able to hide from you now!"
Naegi looked reflexively back down at the handbook, just in time to see the Update message clear away. The usual map of the school appeared, but this time, overlaid on it, he could see little icons hovering over different rooms. On the dormitory floor, he could see Ogami, Fukawa, and Togami in their respective rooms, and he could even see himself in the center of the floor, opposite a tiny Monokuma icon.
It looked – useful, actually. Now he wouldn't have to spend ages searching the school to figure out where any of the other students were. All he'd have to do was look at his map, and then he could go straight to them.
But why would Monokuma do something that would make his life easier? Naegi looked up at Monokuma again, frowning a little. Was it possible that this wasn't actually the mastermind – that this was Ikusaba? Could this be part of her plan to give them the tools to fight against the mastermind? If so, this would be a really valuable one – he could even use it to keep track of Kirigiri when she was doing the dangerous work of her investigation.
In that case, maybe he ought to stop arguing so hard against it. Maybe he ought to just accept what Monokuma was offering and pretend he didn't realize the implications.
Naegi took a deep breath, then looked back at Monokuma and smiled. "You're right, this does look like a good upgrade."
"I knew you'd see it my way!" Monokuma threw his head back and laughed. "I'll put the bill on your tab. Enjoy your trips!"
And with that, Monokuma disappeared, the three tickets fluttering to the ground where he'd stood.
