Togami didn't waste much time in his room after the morning announcement. The best time to catch any of the other students had always been at their breakfast meeting – he'd never really appreciated having a set time to check in with the others before this.
He was the first to reach the dining hall, which was a surprise. He'd been under the impression that Kirigiri was usually there first, keeping a sharp eye on the door so that she knew just when the others arrived. Still, he hardly objected to having the chance to prepare the ground. He got himself a cup of coffee from the kitchen and settled down in a chair facing the door to wait.
And wait. No matter how many minutes ticked away, none of the other students appeared. Togami frowned, twisting around to peer up at the clock. Had he gotten to the cafeteria later than he thought? But no, it wasn't even eight o'clock yet – the other students should have been there. What could have stopped them from coming?
A chill ran down Togami's spine as he looked around at all the empty chairs. In all four of the murders they'd investigated, the victims had been discovered because of their failure to show up for the breakfast meeting. If someone wasn't here who should have been – well, that was a red alert that had to be taken seriously.
What if something had happened last night, after he'd retreated to his room? It would have had to be something fairly significant, to affect all four of the remaining students – but then again, the dorm rooms were soundproofed. He wouldn't have heard a thing unless someone had rung his doorbell, so if something had happened out in the hall after he'd locked himself in his room…
Naegi had been in the hall. The world seemed to go white before Togami's eyes at the realization. He'd assumed that Naegi would have gone back to his own room after the nighttime announcement to rest, like any reasonable person would do in Naegi's situation – but Naegi had repeatedly demonstrated his inability to view his health in a reasonable way. And he hadn't been alone – he'd been with Kirigiri. And whatever that girl's real motivations might be, it was an undeniable fact that that she had been involved in multiple incidents that had put Naegi in serious danger.
Before he consciously thought about moving, Togami was on his feet and heading out the door. The rest of the floor was as empty as it had been when he'd passed through earlier – no other students came rushing up, babbling inadequate apologies for their abominable lack of punctuality. He made a beeline for the dorms, approaching Naegi's room at just a hair under a run. His hand flew to the doorbell –
And paused.
Togami frowned, his own actions catching up to him. He was doing it again, wasn't he? He'd made a decision based solely on emotions – it had been his fear for Naegi that had sent him racing out of the cafeteria, not a well thought out decision to investigate a strange occurrence.
He let his hand fall away from the doorbell, feeling it clench into a fist as it returned to his side. He couldn't keep reacting like this, without thinking his plans through. Say he did ring the bell – what would happen then? If he got no answer, he'd be no better off than he was now. And if his emotions had led him to misjudge the situation again – if Naegi just opened the door with some perfectly reasonable explanation of why he hadn't been at the meeting – what then?
No. He couldn't bear the thought of standing in front of Naegi, looking that much of an obviously lovesick fool. It was possible that he'd misunderstood Naegi's reaction to his feelings – but it was also just as possible that he hadn't. If he was going to approach Naegi again to try to ascertain the truth, then he needed to do so in a way that would be under his own control. He couldn't let the conversation start because he'd gone rushing out to check that Naegi was safe – not when the balance of power between them tilted in Naegi's favor already.
It all made perfect, logical sense – but none of it got rid of the anxiety gnawing at the back of Togami's mind. What if something really had happened? How was he supposed to balance saving what remained of his pride against the possibility that Naegi might be in trouble? If he just knew for sure that something was wrong, that would be one thing – but the unanswered questions left him unsure of the right course of action.
Wasn't there anything else he could do? If he wanted to find out what had happened to the students who should have been at the breakfast meeting – well, there were three other options he could take.
Kirigiri wasn't even worth considering – the less time he had to look at her obnoxious smirk, the better. And even if he went to her for information, he doubted she'd tell him anything worth knowing – if she even answered her door at all.
And as for Genocide Jill – well, judging by the wound on Naegi's face yesterday, losing her alter ego had left the serial killer even more unstable than she'd been already. Seeking her out alone sounded like a good way to get himself pinned to the wall with scissors.
Which left only one person. Togami frowned, looking down the hallway towards Ogami's room. He wasn't terribly enthusiastic about facing down Monokuma's pawn on his own, especially when she could break him like a twig – but on the other hand, Monokuma had said that her order to kill someone had been lifted. He supposed there was nothing stopping her from choosing to do so, just like any of the rest of them – but surely the mastermind would prefer to keep their pawn on hand as a way of manipulating the game, rather than letting her put an end to things.
Of course, now that Togami thought about it – did Ogami actually know that her order to kill had been rescinded? Yes, Monokuma had told him about it – but that didn't mean the message had gone any further. In fact, Togami wouldn't put it past the bear to "forget" to mention it to Ogami until it was too late.
Assuming that matters hadn't progressed that far already. The air around Togami grew colder at the very thought. Was it possible that Ogami, believing herself still in the grip of the mastermind's demand, had finally chosen to act at some point during the night? No, surely she wouldn't have done something like that – not so soon after the last trial, when she'd seemed to feel some genuine grief about Asahina's fate.
He had to find out. Togami turned away from Naegi's door and headed down the hall, eyes locked on Ogami's room.
