Togami waited for a response, looking around the hall to see if Monokuma might finally show himself – but nothing happened. The hall stayed as empty as before, silence hanging in the air around him with suffocating force.

If anything was going to get a reaction out of Monokuma, this attempt to get through the headmaster's door should have done it. That limited the range of possibilities rather drastically – either Monokuma had completely changed his method of interacting with the students with little provocation, or he really had been rendered unable to respond. And the longer the silence persisted, the more Togami was starting to think it might be the latter. It could still be a trick, of course, he hadn't ruled that possibility out – but he didn't see what benefit the mastermind would gain from such a ploy.

So if Monokuma really wasn't answering, the next question was – what should he do in the mastermind's absence? He would need to stay just on this side of any rule-breaking, of course, just in case the mastermind had orchestrated this to lure them all into flouting the school regulations, but that still left a few possibilities.

And foremost among them had to be the one right in front of him – the door to the headmaster's office. Togami had begun trying to break through it to see if he could get Monokuma's attention – but maybe he should forget about that and focus on breaking in for real. Even if the broken lock on the headmaster's door meant that it no longer fell under the rule about locked doors, there was nothing stopping Monokuma from creating a new rule about barricaded doors, or even specifically about this room. As long as Monokuma was determined to remain silent, it might be a good idea to take advantage of his absence.

Togami studied the door again, identifying the place where the wood showed the most impact, and then aimed another kick at that spot, identical to the last. But this time, the blow sent a sharp jolt up his leg as the unforgiving wood of the door connected with the same part of his foot as the last kick. A gasp of pain hissed through his teeth as he set his foot carefully back on the ground, testing to see if he could bear to put weight on it.

His foot throbbed as he gingerly let part of his weight rest on it – but it didn't buckle. Nothing broken, then, that was a relief. He hadn't realized just how different it would be to kick solid wood repeatedly instead of a punching bag or a practice partner. Togami glared at the splintering section of the door, noting the miniscule changes from that last strike. He couldn't keep this up long enough to make a serious difference, not in the dress shoes he was wearing.

Well, there was no reason he ought to bother with it. He'd been the one to pursue the investigation because it was likely to require brain power – but if it needed muscle, Ogami would be a much better choice. She'd have a much easier time breaking through the door than he would – and he could wait with Naegi while she worked.

With that plan in mind, Togami left the headmaster's office hallway and headed briskly back for the stairs. Although Monokuma did seem to be out of touch for the time being, there was no telling how long his absence would last. He didn't dare dawdle, not when he was already using precious time to return to trade places with Ogami.

But as he began hurrying down the stairs, the clatter of running footsteps rang out below him. Togami's eyes narrowed at the sound. Ogami and Naegi were safely tucked away in his dorm room, and while he hadn't locked the door, he didn't think either of them would leave. Kirigiri might still be roaming around the school, but he doubted anything would make the calm girl lose her cool enough to run. No, the most likely source of those footsteps had to be Genocide Jill – and while he could think of plenty of reasons for her to run down the stairs, none of them were good. He sped up in pursuit.

And sure enough, he turned the last corner and hurried down those last few stairs onto the first floor just in time to see the tail end of Jill's braids disappearing into the clinic. The room where, as far as she should have known, Naegi would have been recovering from her attack.

Fury seared red lines of fire across his vision, and before he knew it he'd torn through the clinic door after her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Huh?" Jill whirled around, a brilliant smile spreading across her face at the sight of him. "Aw, White Knight, I knew you couldn't quit me! What –"

"What are you doing here?" Togami snarled, taking another step towards her. "I told you to stay away!"

"Sure, and then you came running in here after me!" Jill laughed, her fingers tapping away at her sides in a frantic rhythm. "Talk about mixed messages!"

Togami glared at her. "Do you find it amusing that Naegi is still unconscious from the wounds that you inflicted?"

That wiped the smile off her face as a shiver twitched through her whole body. "What, still?" She twirled to look around the clinic. "Then where is he?"

"Not here," Togami said shortly. "And if you think I'm about to let you near him, you're greatly mistaken."

Jill shrugged, her eyes darting around the room like she couldn't quite hold them steady to one place. "I remember, baby – keep my distance till he gives the order otherwise."

"If you remember, then why are you lurking around here trying to find him?" Togami demanded.

"I wasn't!" Jill tilted her head with a frown. "Well, I was – but I was really looking for you."

Togami stared at her in disbelief. Did she even bother to listen when he spoke? "I told you –"

"Stay out of your way, I know," Jill said, whirling a hand in a wild dismissive wave. "But baby, things have changed. I went back into the library after you left, and – well, you're gonna want to see it."

Togami crossed his arms. "Why? Have you attacked someone else?"

"Man, you always jump straight to blaming the serial killer!" Jill shook her head. "No way, it wasn't me this time."

Togami froze. "Wait – are you saying that there really was another attack?"

Jill produced another pair of her wretched scissors, twirling it in flashes of agitated silver. "Baby, I don't know what it was that happened in there. That's why I came down here looking for another pair of eyes – you've gotta see it for yourself."

Togami glared at her for a moment, taking in the details that he hadn't quite processed during his first burst of rage – the twitchiness, the darting eyes, the inability to stay still for more than half a second together. What could shake a hardened serial killer like that, after the countless corpses and blood-soaked murder scenes she'd seen?

He'd wondered if something else had been happening elsewhere in the school. Maybe this was it. And if so, he didn't think he dared ignore it.

"Fine," he said at last. "Show me what you found."