Note: And I'm back, after a lovely holiday with my family! I'm now rested up and ready to get this trial moving again. We have one more short chapter as I get back into the story, but things will be back on the normal schedule of Sunday/Thursday updates now.
As Naegi stared across the circle at Kirigiri, Junko propped her chin on her hands, smiling fondly at the boy's wide open face. He really was such a nice boy, wasn't he? Too nice to hide any of the vibrant emotions playing out in his changing expressions! Why, everything he was thinking was right there for anyone to see!
Well… maybe not just anyone. You had to know what you were looking for, after all, and a few key players were still terribly in the dark! Junko's gaze slid around at her other classmates, a hint of mischief curling through her grin as she considered what each of them must think they were seeing.
Poor Ogami, the bulk of it had all whooshed right over her head, hadn't it? It looked like the only thing she saw when she looked Naegi's way was how close the kid was to collapsing. Well, that was only to be expected! Really, it was such a waste that she'd been one of the ones to make it this far — Ogami wouldn't have noticed much even if she weren't blinded by guilt and grief.
Not that Ogami was the only one of the students with a penchant for missing the crucial details. A flash of glittering silver drew Junko's attention across the circle to the third most prolific murderess in their class. Genocide Jill had always been a lot sharper than Ogami — and much sharper than Fukawa had ever been, hah! Junko grinned to herself, then sighed. Too bad Fukawa wouldn't get a chance to hear that pun — no one got mad like she could! Man, Junko sure would miss being able to rile her up into a rant!
But hey, getting the genocider was a heck of a trade-off! Junko had never met Fukawa's other half during the school year, and it was a crying shame they wouldn't get to chat face to face! It was probably for the best, though — after all, her memories hadn't gotten wiped with Fukawa's, and a short attention span could only distract her for so long. If Jill had cared enough to pay attention to something other than her beloved White Knight for more than thirty seconds, she might've put together some pretty dangerous conclusions! For sure she would have spotted that her classmates were acting strange. The constant risk that the girl could destroy everything that Junko had been working towards sent a delicious shiver of uncertainty down her spine, and she rewarded Jill with a grateful grin. Way to keep things interesting!
And speaking of keeping things interesting… Junko smirked over at the most volatile star in her show. Togami's eyes were locked on Naegi, and steam practically rose up from the top of his not-so-perfectly-styled-anymore head as he failed to catch his precious little boyfriend's eye. Naegi'd gotten himself way too wrapped up in his worries about Kirigiri to see the countdown to an explosion ticking through the heir's expression… and happily enough, he had exactly the right ammunition to make it count.
Junko snickered to herself as Togami's eyes narrowed in Naegi's direction. It sure would be fun to enlighten him about just what was going through his sweetheart's head right now — but of course she knew she couldn't. Switching plans too soon was a surefire way to failure! Besides, how could she possibly expect her friends to learn anything if she went around handing them the answers all the time? She'd been so very generous with the hints lately — if she wasn't careful, she'd start spoiling them!
At least, the ones who weren't making an effort to spoil things for themselves. Junko's bright red fingernails tapped out a sharp staccato rhythm as she turned to watch Kirigiri. Man, she really had underestimated just how fast their resident Nancy Drew would manage to get enough information to make trouble! She had to hand it to the girl, Kirigiri sure knew how to get things done!
Pity she hadn't thought just a little bit harder about what it was that she was doing.
As Junko watched, Kirigiri let her gaze lock with Naegi's for a few oh-so-significant seconds, one of her eyebrows twitching upward as she tilted her head in the barest hint of a nod. Junko let out her most theatrical gasp — surely her beloved classmates wouldn't be using prearranged signals during an exam, would they? Why, that would be nearly as bad as if she'd caught them passing notes! As a conscientious headmaster, she couldn't possibly allow such a thing to stand.
Except… as Junko looked from Kirigiri to Naegi, she let her shoulders slump with dramatic relief. Whew, that was a close one — she would've hated to have to institute a new punishment mid-trial! But fortunately, it looked like that signal couldn't possibly have been prearranged.
Not when they both thought it meant something different.
As Kirigiri watched Naegi, it was almost impossible to read any reaction from her stoic iron mask — or at least it would be for anyone who'd never had a chance to practice interpreting "emotionless automaton detective" expressions. But since Junko had had years to perfect her technique, she could see through the facade without a problem.
Poor Kirigiri was feeling awfully frightened, now that she could feel the lovely trap closing in on her — but it wasn't just that. She was angry, all cold and sharp beneath the smooth mask. A giggle burbled up as Junko considered what that could mean.
But Naegi, dumb as a post when it came to female emotions, didn't see a speck of it. He gave Kirigiri a small nod in return, agreeing to whatever it was she'd told him she was doing. Junko let out a wistful sigh. Naegi was always so willing to go along with his friends, even when he didn't remember why he ought to trust them — she did miss that about him. Watching other people manipulate her friend just wasn't the same!
But as Naegi geared up to begin speaking again, Junko turned her attention back to the trial. She didn't want to miss a minute, not now that she could see what was coming. She grinned. This ought to be fun!
