Togami knew he couldn't stay at Naegi's side for long, no matter how hard it was to turn away. Every second that he wasn't investigating Monokuma's disappearance added to the risk that the opportunity might slip away – and the only thing worse than never having the chance to get out of this nightmare would be having the chance and missing it. He couldn't let this pass them by, just because it hurt to leave Naegi now - not when this could be their only shot. He knew that the time would come when he would regret it if he did.
And more than that, it would hurt Naegi to wake up and find he'd been the reason the opportunity had been missed. I'd rather fight for something good than give up because we might lose it – the biting words Naegi had thrown at him yesterday echoed through Togami's head once more. Naegi had accused him of choosing to give up rather than fight, of being unwilling to take the necessary risks to find a way out of Monokuma's prison – and he'd had a point. Togami knew just how close he'd come to walking a path towards surrender, accepting defeat without trying to find another way.
But he'd turned aside from that road. He would find a way out of here. He wouldn't let the mastermind win. And when Naegi woke up – because he would, he had to – then Togami would prove how wrong the other boy's view of him had been. Naegi would understand that Togami was strong, capable, someone he could be proud to stand beside – and he'd never have the nerve to be disappointed in him again.
But for that to happen, Togami knew he had to go.
He stood before he could let himself think about what he was doing, like jumping into a deep pool of icy water. The chill hit him like a full-body blow as he stepped away from Naegi, a hollow emptiness aching along his skin where Naegi's body would fit so perfectly in his arms. He tried to ease the need for pressure by crossing his arms together, holding them tight against his body – but that did nothing to ward off this kind of cold.
Togami started to cross the room towards the door when he realized that his hands were empty. Thinking back, he remembered the toolkit falling from his hands when he'd knelt at Naegi's side. Holding onto it hadn't seemed important in that moment.
Glancing at the floor, Togami found the toolkit where it had fallen beside the bed. The impact of hitting the floor must have unfastened the cheap clasp, popping it open to let the tools spill free. Togami rolled his eyes, quickly gathering the tools to return them to their places. The toolkits were woefully simplistic, the sort of thing that might be found in a miscellaneous heap of general supplies in a common drugstore. With all the other sophisticated things Monokuma had provided throughout the school, it was a little surprising that the tools would be so shoddy – or then again, maybe it wasn't. After all, if they'd had high-quality tools, they might have been able to make more headway with the plated windows or the sealed doors. But with these – well, Togami had had a hard enough time getting the air vent lid unscrewed.
The air vent.
The knife.
Togami felt the blood drain away from his face as he realized that he'd left Naegi helpless and unconscious in a room that contained a highly dangerous weapon. And not only that, but he'd left the means to access the weapon right there in his desk drawer where anyone could take it! How could he not have thought about this before he left?
In a swift movement, Togami pulled his desk chair away from the side of the bed and over to the wall, stepping on top to reach the vent. Unscrewing the front still took a considerable effort, but in a few moments he was able to pull the grating away – to see the huge knife gleaming exactly where he'd left it.
Togami's shoulders slumped with relief. It hadn't been taken. Not that he specifically suspected Ogami of plotting its theft, not anymore – he would never have left her alone with Naegi if he thought her likely to be a threat. But with strange events going on in the school, there was no such thing as being too careful.
He reached for the knife, planning to stash it in a pocket where he could keep track of it – and paused. It might make him more comfortable to have the knife on his person at all times, but that didn't necessarily mean it was the best decision. The point was to make sure it was unusable – and if he was wandering around with the knife on him, that might well be a bigger risk than leaving it hidden.
And at this point, the air vent was probably one of the most inaccessible hiding places in the school. Anyone who wanted to open it would need a screwdriver to get that front grating off – and Togami had the last toolkit in the school in his possession. He and Naegi were the only male students left, and Naegi had given his toolkit away to Asahina. The screwdriver that had turned up during the investigation had presumably gone the way of all the other trial evidence, disposed of by Monokuma so that the next murderer could start from a clean slate.
In that case – Togami hated to think it, but that knife might well be safer here in his dorm room than in his pocket, even though that left it alarmingly close to where Naegi was sleeping in his bed. As long as he had the screwdriver with him, no one else should be able to take it.
Togami replaced the air vent grating, quickly tightening the screws to hold it in place – all except the final one. As an added precaution, he didn't quite tighten the screw in the bottom right corner all the way. Instead, he left a few turns too loose, turned so that the flat line across the top crossed the screw vertically, while all the others were horizontal. It wouldn't stop anyone from tampering with the air vent – but at least it would be an easy way to tell if someone had tried.
He slid the chair back over to where it had been at the side of the bed, carefully keeping his gaze away from the boy lying there. He didn't dare let himself look at Naegi again, not when he'd already spent so much longer here than he'd intended. If he found himself faced with the stark reality of Naegi's wounds again, he knew it would take him far too long to pry himself away. So he turned for the door and headed out into the hallway without another glance down.
Ogami stood out there leaning against the wall opposite his door, making no pretense of doing anything other than waiting for him to emerge. Togami gave her a single sharp nod to acknowledge that she'd had the sense not to wander off and delay him further. She met his eyes and returned the nod in a move deeper and more deliberate than the one he'd given her, before walking past him through the door.
"Wait."
Ogami paused, looking back over her shoulder at him.
Togami took a deep breath. "This could be a lengthy investigation on my end. I don't know how often I'll be able to check back. So if – when Naegi wakes up, tell him –" Togami frowned, his mind going blank for a moment. While there were a thousand things he would have liked to say to Naegi, none of them ought to come from someone else's mouth. "Tell him I'll see him soon. And to take better care of himself."
Before she could comment, Togami turned and headed back down the hall. It was time to return to the library.
