Naegi couldn't help but shudder as he and Togami stepped out of the data center. That place had been bad enough when he'd thought that it was just the way the mastermind had been keeping tabs on them… but now that he knew its real purpose, he couldn't put the place behind him fast enough. It wouldn't change the fact that they were still being broadcast worldwide, for reasons that made no sense — but maybe without the evidence directly in front of them, he and Togami could find some way to start getting past the horror of it.
Because like it or not, they were going to have to deal with it. The security cameras were already trained on them as they stepped out into the hall, letting the data center door swing shut behind them. At the sound of the lock catching, Naegi glanced back behind him — but it was probably just one of those doors that locked automatically. And it didn't matter if that awful room was locked, anyway, not when Togami still had the key safely in his pocket. Not that Naegi ever wanted to set foot in there again.
As they started back towards the headmaster's office, Togami moved to put a supportive arm around Naegi — but Naegi ducked aside before he could. Togami was too exhausted to try to take someone else's weight — he needed to focus on keeping himself upright. Naegi at least had the music stand pole to help him.
"I think I can make it on my own," he said, looking up into Togami's startled eyes. That had to be better than pointing out the truth. Naegi knew Togami would hate to be told how obviously tired he was — but this way, he could keep his pride without wasting more of his precious energy. "It isn't far."
Togami stared down at him for a moment, then stepped away with a sharp nod. "If that's what you want."
Naegi wished he could say that it wasn't — of course it wasn't. What he wanted was to burrow safe and snug in Togami's embrace, letting the other boy's arms wrap around him in a barrier against the horrors of this school. He wanted to curl up in bed together and sleep and sleep and sleep until neither of them could remember what it felt like to fight to hold their eyes open. He wanted to be in a room where they could lock the door and be entirely alone, where the only person watching him would be the boy at his side.
But he knew he couldn't have any of that. He didn't dare let himself get distracted by a dream of it, not with a class trial looming ahead of them. Naegi pushed the thoughts away and determinedly thought of nothing but the floor in front of him until they made it to the headmaster's office door.
Togami reached out to try the handle. It turned easily enough, but the door itself didn't budge. He turned back to Naegi with a raised eyebrow. "Well? What's this great idea of yours?"
Naegi stepped close to the wall and leaned against it, just enough to let go of the pole for a few moments. With his hand free, he was able to reach into his pocket and tug one of the trip tickets out from the back of his e-handbook. Dried brown blood crinkled one length of it, but the text still looked readable. "Here — I think this should get us in."
"What is it?" Not waiting for an answer, Togami plucked the ticket from Naegi's fingers and peered down at it for a moment. "What the —" His head jerked up towards Naegi, eyes wide. "Is this real? Where the hell did you get it?"
"Monokuma gave it to me before he disappeared," Naegi said.
"He just gave it to you?" Togami repeated, his disbelief plain.
"Well, he said I owe him a million Mono-coins for it."
"So all it took was fake money that you can pay on credit?" Togami narrowed his eyes. "What's the catch?"
"He'll lock us in whatever room I use it to visit," Naegi said with a sigh. "That's — uh, that's why Jill and I ended up stuck in the library yesterday. Monokuma didn't tell me he was going to lock us in till after I used one." Seeing Togami's face begin to darken at the reference to his injury the previous day, Naegi hurried onward. "So I'm pretty sure this will get us through the door, but I don't know how much of our time we'll lose."
"But it would be a chance to go through a room that the mastermind has tried very hard to keep us out of," Togami said. He glanced up at the cameras. "And now that you've talked about your plan, I think it's now or never. Otherwise, Monokuma will come up with some reason why the headmaster's office isn't included." He handed the ticket back to Naegi. "You 'paid' for the thing — you use it. I don't want him to have any excuse to invalidate it."
Naegi nodded. "Yeah. Even if we lose the rest of our chance to investigate, I think this is worth it." He turned and looked up at the camera. "Uh — Monokuma? I want to talk to you."
"Aw, you miss me already?"
Naegi jumped as the words came almost immediately after he'd finished speaking. When he looked away from the camera, Monokuma was already standing in the hallway just a few steps away, grinning brightly. The mastermind must have been listening already — although that wasn't much of a surprise, not when Naegi and Togami had been talking about them.
Naegi took a deep breath and extended the trip ticket towards Monokuma, as much as his injuries would allow. "I'd like to use this."
"Huh? Now?" Monokuma tilted his head.
"Yes," Naegi said. "Togami and I want to take a trip to the headmaster's office."
"What? You mean you want to take the lovingly crafted gift I gave you so that you could better enjoy your precious school days and turn it against me?" Monokuma drew back, eyes wide with false hurt. "I never thought you could be so cruel!"
"It says I can use it on any area of the school that isn't locked," Naegi persisted. It was possible that Monokuma might come up with some reason not to honor the ticket — but he wasn't going to get put off by a distraction. "And the headmaster's office isn't locked anymore. We want to go in there."
"But are you sure you want to waste a ticket on the boring old administrative rooms?" Monokuma asked, leaning forward. "Just imagine the other heart-throbbing destinations you could go — like the fabulously romantic possibilities of the physics lab! Who knows what could happen in the shadow of the air purifier…" He leered at Naegi. "Or maybe you're only asking this because you're too shy to admit that you really want to take a trip to the sauna! You know it's a good first date when you both end up hot and sweaty, right?" He threw his head back and laughed.
Naegi gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the hot blush flooding his cheeks. "This isn't a date, and we don't want to go any of those other places. We want to go into the headmaster's office."
Monokuma sighed heavily. "I'm starting to think you aren't even trying to give my audience a good romantic subplot anymore," he grumbled. "What will your hordes of adoring fans think?"
Naegi swallowed hard at the reminder of the audience — but he couldn't let Monokuma use embarrassment to deter him, either. "I don't care what they think," he said firmly, hoping that he at least sounded as though that was true. "Are you going to let me use this ticket or not?"
"So stubborn! You must really want to get in there, huh?" Monokuma gasped. "I see, I see — it's the thrill of doing something naughty, isn't it? You started out in the library, but now you need something even more extreme!" He cackled. "Well, if sneaking into my office is the only thing that'll get you going, who am I to tell you no?" He snatched the ticket from Naegi's hand. "Remember to smile for the cameras!"
He disappeared with a last wild laugh. Naegi grimaced, shrugging the music stand pole back into his hand. "Well, that could have gone better."
"Did he refuse?" Togami looked over at the door, still oppressively closed.
"No… I'm pretty sure he agreed, actually," Naegi said. "But — well, he kept acting like we were going on a date, not investigating." He figured it was better to leave it at that — repeating all Monokuma's ramblings would just make Togami angrier.
Togami rolled his eyes. "Typical. But… he said he'd do it?" Without waiting for an answer, he reached out to try the door. It turned easily, just as it had a few minutes ago — but this time, it swung open without obstruction, giving them their first look into the headmaster's office.
The room looked like a tornado had blown through it, leaving disaster in its wake. Naegi's jaw dropped at the sight of scattered papers, emptied shelves, and overturned drawers. After all the fuss Monokuma had made about how this was the headmaster's private office, he'd been expecting… well, a working space, tidy and productive. Or at the very least, he'd thought it might be cold and abandoned, like the forgotten corners of the library where the dust had piled up. Why would the mastermind want to lock away a mess like this? Was it another scene of some long-ago horror, like classroom 5-C… or was this more recent?
Naegi started to enter, ready to begin his investigation — but Togami held out a hand in front of him before he could.
"Not yet." Togami looked into the room for a moment, then back at Naegi. "Stay here and hold the door."
"Uh… if you want?" Naegi wasn't quite sure what Togami was getting at, but he stepped into the path of the door anyway, using his good shoulder to stop it from closing.
Togami nodded sharply, then crossed the room to the shelves and tried to lift one of the thick, heavy volumes that had fallen to the floor. Naegi bit his lip when it took the other boy a couple attempts to get it, but it wasn't as though he could offer to help, not with his hands out of commission. Eventually, Togami managed to get the book back to the entrance, staggering slightly with the weight, and dropped it by the edge of the door frame.
Comprehension dawned, and Naegi edged out of the way so that Togami could position the book as a doorstop. When it was in place, Naegi stepped away from the door, letting it swing shut — until the book prevented it from closing entirely. If Monokuma had wanted to keep them stuck in the office, this ought to give them at least a little protection against it.
Naegi smiled at Togami as he looked up from the door. "That was a good idea."
The smirk he got in response made his breath catch, both comfortingly familiar and strikingly new. Naegi knew he'd never seen that particular expression on Togami's face before, and yet… he knew without even pausing to think that this was a distinctly showing off smirk, the one Togami wore when he'd done something he considered especially clever. And without quite understanding what he was doing, Naegi took a step forward, falling easily into the next step of a well-worn pattern as he tilted his head up for a kiss.
But before he could finish the movement, the shadow of a security camera in the corner of the room stopped him short. He felt the blood drain from his face, unable to tear his gaze away from the camera and everything it represented. Were people watching him at this very moment? Had they recognized the way he'd started to move into a kiss, laughing at how easily he'd forgotten the ticking clock and his endangered friends?
Guilt burned at the back of his throat, and he had to clamp his lips shut tight to hold it back. He must look like the biggest hypocrite in the world. He'd talked so much about investigating and helping his friends, and then what was the first thing he did when they finally got the chance to search one of the mysterious locked rooms? He should have known that they didn't have time to waste on kisses.
Togami obviously knew it without being told. By the time Naegi managed to look away from the security camera, the other boy had already turned to begin studying the closest bookshelf, his mouth a grim line as he glared at the titles. He remembered why they were really here… and he probably would've been annoyed if Naegi had gone through with the kiss instead of doing something useful.
Naegi did his best to swallow back his regret, turning away from Togami to begin inspecting some of the papers that had been thrown across the floor. He couldn't worry about what the audience might be thinking now. He had a search to begin.
