Bursts of static flickered across the empty television screen as Naegi approached it, white noise crackling through the air as Togami moved the pieces of the antenna. It looked as though the other boy was having some trouble adjusting the antenna and seeing the screen at the same time, and of course he wouldn't be able to hear the changes in the intensity of the static. After every change, he had to circle a few steps around the edge of the television so he could see the screen, scowling down at it when the blank image hadn't changed.
Naegi reached him in the middle of one of those circuits, stepping directly into Togami's line of vision before he could return to make another adjustment to the antenna. "Can I help?"
Togami blinked down at him for a moment, then gave a sharp nod. "Watch the screen and tell me if anything changes." He paused, a scowl crossing his face as he seemed to realize the obvious flaw in that plan. "Or… tap my shoulder." He looked from the sling holding Naegi's left hand to the music stand pole in his right, and he sighed. "I'll try to watch you as I make the changes."
Naegi nodded, and Togami headed around to the back of the television to begin fiddling with the antenna again. From what Naegi could see, it looked like the sort of old-fashioned device he'd seen in the old movies his parents watched sometimes. Cords connected the central blue and white box to the television and an outlet in the wall, and two small prongs at the base stuck in the air in either direction. And Togami seemed to be doing more than just changing the direction of the prongs — he was also picking the box up and moving it to different locations within reach of the cords.
The screen seemed to stay fairly well covered in static, though. Togami inched the box slowly along the bottom of the television stand, moving the antenna with every change in position, but every time he looked up, Naegi had to shake his head to say that no, there was still no difference.
"What are you hoping to see?" Naegi asked, before Togami could turn back to the antenna for a fifth adjustment.
"Some news of the world outside," Togami said, moving the antenna again without looking away from Naegi this time. "Even technology this out of date should still be able to pick up a basic over-the-air news broadcast. I want to know what they're saying about us."
Naegi shivered as the realization hit home. "I guess they probably would be talking about us, wouldn't they? I mean, it would show up on the news if just one or two teenagers went missing, let alone sixteen of us."
"And we're hardly an ordinary group of students," Togami pointed out, moving the antenna around to the opposite side of the television. "I have a presence in the international business world — one that I had intended to maintain while attending school here. My disappearance will have been noticed by people worldwide."
"That's true…" Naegi said slowly as Togami's words sank in. With the horror of the killing game overtaking every other emotion he'd felt at his admittance to Hope's Peak, he had almost stopped thinking about the fact that that his fellow classmates were widely acclaimed as the best and brightest of their generation. It wasn't that he'd forgotten that Maizono had been a famous idol with hordes of fans or that Fukawa's brilliant novels had won international praise — it was that those labels had felt less important as they'd all gotten to know one another. The people here in this school weren't important to him because they were all Ultimates of one sort or another — they mattered because they were his friends.
A sudden shift in the fuzzy white noise jolted Naegi from his memories of his dead friends, and he looked up sharply to see a few white lines scrolling across the screen.
"That's doing something," Naegi said, looking over at Togami. To his relief, the other boy was looking his way, eyebrows raised questioningly at Naegi's unexpected movement. "It's not a picture yet, but it's starting to change."
Togami nodded, reaching back to make another minute adjustment, and then another. The screen flickered more and more with every change, until finally, finally, the white lines and crackling static blinked apart into an image.
"Stop!" Naegi blurted out before he could even get a good look at what he was seeing, freezing Togami's hands in place on the antenna and locking the image in place.
And then the image registered. Disappointment sank low and sour through his stomach as he realized that he wasn't looking at a news broadcast or a sitcom or a silly commercial — he was looking at an image of himself watching the television. And not even a recording — it seemed to be a live image, since the other figure on the screen circled around the television just as Togami moved away from the antenna to join him.
"It's not working right," Naegi said, tilting his head up to give the other boy a clear view of his lips. "It's just showing another security feed."
"What?" Togami looked at the screen, and his face went pale with indignation as he understood what Naegi meant. "But — but that's absurd! Why would the mastermind need to have a security feed monitoring the room they use to observe us? And even if they did want it for some reason, why run it through a television instead of another wall monitor?"
Naegi blinked, recalling his examination of each of the screens as he'd searched for Kirigiri. He twisted around to peer up at the rows of screens on the walls around them, and once he'd found what he was looking for, he looked back at Togami. "It's not just this television. Look up there — third row from the top." He did his best to indicate the screen he meant with a nod.
Togami followed his gaze with a frown, until he saw the screen Naegi had referred to — and the duplicate image that mirrored the one on the television in front of them. "So there is a screen up there that shows this room." He looked from the wall screen back to the television. "But why would they need two views of this room, of all places?"
"Maybe it shows other views, too?" Naegi suggested. "This might just be one setting."
Togami reached out and jabbed a finger at the channel button several times — but after each press, the screen still resolved into the same image of the two of them peering at the television screen in confusion.
After several tries, he shook his head, letting his hand fall away from the screen. "Whatever this is, it's on every channel." He glowered down at the antenna. "That thing must be faulty. It's picking up the camera frequencies instead of the airwaves."
"Can you fix it?" Naegi asked, looking down at the box dubiously. It looked as though the central piece might open along its middle, but he wouldn't have known what to do with its insides any more than its outsides.
Togami paused, remaining silent for such a long moment that Naegi started to wonder if maybe the other boy hadn't read his question. He was about to ask it again when Togami sighed heavily. "I would want to research how these things are meant to operate before trying anything," he said at last. It wasn't quite an admission that he didn't know how to alter the antenna to do what they needed, but Naegi could understand what the proud boy had meant without forcing him to utter words that would make him unhappy.
Naegi matched Togami's sigh with one of his own. "And I guess the mastermind isn't going to give us the time to do that."
"You'll never know if you don't ask!"
"Yeah, but it's not like they're around to…" Naegi's voice died in his throat as he looked up into Togami's pale, frozen face. Naegi had been looking right at him when he'd heard that last sentence, but… Togami's mouth hadn't moved. And… that voice…
Slowly, praying that he'd misunderstood what he was about to see, but with the horrible knowledge that he hadn't, Naegi turned around.
Monokuma stood just a few feet behind him, head tilted in a position of polite inquiry.
Naegi stumbled backwards until he bumped into the television, but he hardly noticed as it rocked on the table. Monokuma… was here? But how was that possible? He was gone, Togami had said he was gone, deactivated and taken to pieces downstairs in the library. And it had to be true, because Naegi knew there was no way that the Monokuma who had spent weeks taking gleeful pleasure in their misery could have sat back and watched the events of the last twenty-four hours without popping up to make things even worse. He hadn't even come when they'd found the body, even though a corpse usually brought him running. It hadn't made sense, but it had all been enough that Naegi had just been starting to believe that maybe, maybe the awful bear really might be gone for good.
Monokuma threw his head back and laughed wildly, the sound screeching down Naegi's spine. "Aw, look at those faces — I knew you'd miss me! I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder — I can just hear your little hearts going pitter-patter at the fresh sight of my gorgeous self!"
Naegi grimaced. He hadn't missed Monokuma's ramblings at all. "What are you doing here?" he asked, then frowned. That wasn't the right question. "Why were you gone?"
"Gone? Who was gone?" Monokuma asked, rolling his eyes with uncharacteristic exasperation. "You ain't makin' no sense, fool!"
His voice twisted into something rough and harsh, nearly unrecognizable in its difference from his usual bright and cheery attitude — an about-face of demeanor so dramatic that Naegi found himself shaking his head. "Another new personality already? It's only been a few seconds!"
Monokuma looked back at Naegi, his head tilting ever so slightly to one side. For a moment, Naegi almost thought that the bear really had gotten deactivated again… except that the red blaze of his lightning bolt eye never so much as dimmed, glaring out at Naegi like the relentless beam of a searchlight. Naegi blinked, wishing the table wasn't behind him so that he could back up a little further. He didn't like having so much of Monokuma's attention focused on him, especially when he wasn't sure what he'd done to make it happen.
At last, Monokuma grinned at him, bright and beaming. "What can I say? I just couldn't bear the strain anymore!" He laughed at his ridiculous pun, as cheerful as if that long moment had never happened.
That only made Naegi more worried about it. What had Monokuma been trying to do? Had he just wanted to freak Naegi out, or…
A familiar hand settled lightly on his good shoulder, the warm pressure drawing his mind away from his fears. Naegi glanced up to see that Togami had circled around the television to join him, his jaw tight with suppressed rage as he glared across at Monokuma. Naegi frowned at that. Togami had never liked Monokuma any more than the rest of them, but he'd never been shy about demanding the bear provide them with information or assistance — and it had worked just often enough that he hadn't been discouraged from doing so. He should have been peppering Monokuma with a flurry of questions about his disappearance, the robot in the library, the corpse upstairs… but instead…
"What has he been saying?" Togami gritted out through clenched teeth, tearing his eyes away from the bear so that he could get a clear view of Naegi's mouth as he answered.
His mouth… so that he could read the words from Naegi's lips.
Naegi got it then, finally, and felt a little slow that it had taken him so long. Of course Togami wouldn't be able to read a robot's lips — he must not have had any idea what was happening. No wonder he was getting angry.
"He hasn't said much," Naegi said, keeping his voice low even though he was pretty sure the cameras would pick it up no matter how quietly he spoke. "Just that he's back, and… I guess he wasn't ever really gone."
Togami's eyes darted back to Monokuma for a moment. "I see. So he was only playing dead."
"Playing dead?" Monokuma made a good pretense of looking shocked. "What a terrible thing to say right to someone's face! Man, it's like you think I can't hear you or something!" He laughed again.
Togami glanced back at Naegi, eyebrows raised.
Naegi hastily shook his head. "Nothing important."
"Wow, Naegi darling, you sure know how to hit a bear where it hurts!" Monokuma's grin turned sharp and dangerous. "All right, if you're so impatient to get right to the important stuff… let's talk about that television!" He gestured at the TV behind the boys, silver claws flashing out from his paw. "After all, it's central to understanding your school life here!"
Naegi looked back at the television in case it had started showing something else when Monokuma had appeared — but no, it still showed the same scene of the three of them in the data center. "But… the antenna isn't working. It's just showing the security camera feed."
"Wrong!" Monokuma sang out. "Turns out your asshole boyfriend really is more than a pretty face — good thing for him, since he's not looking too pretty now!" The bear took a step closer, the fur on his cheeks flushing bright pink and his shoulders heaving as if he'd begun breathing heavily. "But if you are looking for the prettiest person in the school…"
"The television!" Naegi blurted out, before Monokuma could get any further with that horrifying train of thought. "You were going to tell us about the television!"
"Was I?" Monokuma tilted his head thoughtfully, all trace of his earlier manner evaporating. "Oh, that. Well, it turns out that Togami did manage to get the antenna hooked up right so it could pick up the airwaves. That's all."
Naegi stared at the bear in bewilderment for a moment, ignoring the faintly impatient fingers tapping at his shoulder. He couldn't translate Monokuma's words for Togami if he didn't understand what the bear was talking about. "That can't be right. If it's working, why is it showing this picture?"
"And here I was starting to think you were smart!" Monokuma huffed. "Fine, I'll spell it out — but pay attention, because I'm only saying it once." He grinned up at Naegi, red eye narrowing with anticipated glee. "Everything all you students have done since the killing game began has been broadcast live to the entire world!"
Author's Note: So... Monokuma is back just in time to celebrate the 200th chapter! I'm sure that terrifying and murderous robots are exactly how everyone likes to mark anniversaries! :D
I do want to thank everyone who has been reading the story up to this point - both those of you who have stuck with me from the start and those who joined in later. This story is fun to write, but part of what makes it so enjoyable is knowing that you're having fun along with me. I really appreciate all of you!
