Naegi stared at Ogami in bewilderment, not sure what to think of the message that she said Togami had left for him.

He said to take better care of yourself, and he'll be back to see you soon.

The words didn't sound like the boy who'd snarled angry words at him on the fifth floor hall, or the one who'd stormed out of his bedroom in seething fury. No, those were the words of the boy who'd slept in his arms, who'd helped him walk back from the trial grounds, who'd looked into his eyes with a smile that had meant something. They were the words of the boy Naegi missed, with a desperation that rivaled the physical pain throughout his body. And with the iciness in Togami's manner towards him over the past couple days, he hadn't known if he'd ever see that boy again.

"He… said that?" Naegi asked softly.

Ogami nodded. "He didn't want to leave, but – well, something came up that he had to investigate."

Investigate? A chill of fear slithered down Naegi's spine, with a sharpness that cut through all the other pains clamoring for his attention. What kind of investigation could have sprung up to demand Togami's attention so suddenly, compelling the paranoid boy to leave two people alone in his bedroom?

Naegi knew Togami still insisted on hanging onto his suspicions of Ogami even after everything she'd said and done to prove herself, considering her a potential danger to the lives of everyone else in the school. If he'd given her free rein of his room without any supervision – then that had to mean whatever he was investigating was an even greater threat. And when it came to life-or-death investigations here in Hope's Peak…

He'd been unconscious. If there had been an announcement, he wouldn't have heard it. And while Ogami had mentioned both Togami and Jill, she hadn't said a word about Kirigiri. If there really was an important investigation going on, Naegi would have expected Kirigiri to be right in the middle of it – unless there was something preventing her. Something that must have happened when she'd gone off by herself to search an unspecified area of the school, in defiance of Monokuma's obvious wishes.

"What?" Naegi asked, his voice croaking out from a throat that had suddenly gone too tight. "What happened?"

"What?" Ogami frowned at him for a moment before understanding dawned on her face. "Ah – no, that isn't it. I apologize for the unfortunate word choice. It isn't one of Monokuma's official investigations. No one is dead."

Naegi closed his eyes for a moment, the tension in his throat easing to let him exhale a long, slow breath of relief. Every time he'd discovered one of the other students dead, it had been terrible – but he didn't know how he would have coped with the nightmare of learning that one of his friends had died while he slept. And if it had been Kirigiri, when he'd helped her begin her search…

But it hadn't been. No one was dead, Ogami had said so. Naegi couldn't believe that anyone who had endured so many of Monokuma's trials would be able to lie about something as important as who was still alive.

But if she hadn't been talking about a murder investigation – what had she meant?

"Then… what is it?" Naegi asked. "What… is Togami investigating?"

Ogami sighed. "I didn't want to worry you, since none of us fully understand what is happening yet. But it seems that something has happened to Monokuma."

"What?" Of all the things he'd thought she might have said, that hadn't even been a possibility. Monokuma's presence had been woven through the air of the school from the moment he'd appeared, both worryingly absent and unnervingly everywhere. What could have happened to him?

"He stopped responding to any attempt to contact him," Ogami went on. "And he turned up in the library, apparently deactivated. Togami felt that he had to try to determine what might have caused such a thing."

Naegi blinked, trying to process what she was telling him. If this was true, it would definitely explain why Togami had left. This was the first time Monokuma had shown any kind of weakness – if they could find out what had happened, maybe it would be something they could use. Anything that could make Monokuma go silent, even for a little while, could be a really important clue. Maybe this was the start of something good.

Or maybe it was the opposite. All of Kirigiri's revelations from the previous night flashed through Naegi's memory, everything that she'd told him about her meeting with Mukuro Ikusaba. Kirigiri had thought it was possible that Ikusaba was the one who controlled Monokuma, not the mastermind – and if that was true, it put an entirely different spin on Monokuma's silence.

Could the mastermind have discovered Ikusaba's betrayal? Kirigiri had been so careful to keep their conversation away from the security cameras, but what if Ikusaba hadn't been equally cautious? The mastermind might have had ways to keep tabs on her that she hadn't known about. They could have known about the plan she and Kirigiri had concocted all along. After all, could it really be a coincidence that something strange had happened to Monokuma so soon after Ikusaba had offered to change her loyalties?

And it wasn't just the situation with Monokuma – Kirigiri had disappeared into the hidden places of the school, where even Naegi's new handbook function hadn't been able to track her. Naegi had already been worried about the fact that she hadn't returned yet – but now, combined with the other events that had happened while he slept, her absence seemed downright ominous.

And none of the others knew about it. Kirigiri hadn't told anyone other than Naegi about her contact with Ikusaba or her plan to search the school. But if Togami and Jill were investigating Monokuma's disappearance – they didn't have all the facts they'd need to understand what they might find.

"I need… to talk to Togami," Naegi said, trying to swallow back the fear rising through him. "Right away."

Ogami laid a steadying hand on his shoulder. "Please try to calm down. I understand that you're concerned, but he gave me his word he wouldn't take unnecessary risks. He'll return as soon as he can."

"It's not that," Naegi insisted. "There's… something he should know."

She frowned. "What?"

Naegi hesitated. Kirigiri had given him permission to share her secrets with Togami – but not with any of the others. And – his eyes flickered towards the security camera – he didn't know exactly what was going on behind the scenes, not for sure. If he said the wrong thing and gave away just what Kirigiri knew, he could turn a merely bad situation into a deadly one.

"Something important." Naegi knew even as he said the words that they sounded small and inadequate. "Please… just tell him that."

But Ogami shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I promised that I would protect you on his behalf. Leaving you here alone would break that promise."

"Not long," Naegi protested. "Just a few minutes."

"During which time you would be alone and unguarded."

"I'll be fine."

"Naegi…" Ogami sighed. "You have no idea how severe your injuries were, do you?"

"What?" Naegi blinked at this sudden shift in the conversation. What did his injuries have to do with anything? "You said… it was just my arm."

"Yes," Ogami said. "But a stab wound piercing directly through your entire forearm is no minor injury, even apart from the collapsing bookcase. You lost a great deal of blood, both during the injury and when we had to remove the scissors to free you from the wreckage – and there was a very real risk that it might have been too much." She met his eyes, her expression grim and somber. "Naegi, you nearly died."