If there was one thing that Togami truly wished that he could hear in this trial, it was the tone of Kirigiri's voice as she answered his question.

"Of course I don't deny it."

He could see the words flying across her lips, almost too quickly for him to be able to read through the dry prickles of exhaustion in his eyes, but there was only so much he could learn from watching her speak. She'd always been so very good at keeping her feelings off her face that he couldn't see a single trace of whatever she might be thinking, now that he'd cornered her into admitting her knowledge of the poison. But if he could hear her answer, woven through with surprise or dismay or anger, he knew he'd have a better idea of just how close to breaking she might be.

But with his hearing still nothing more than winds rustling thick and heavy in his ears, he could only watch as she pasted a cold hint of a smile across her face. Her attitude suggested that this had been part of her schemes all along — but he knew she had to be pretending.

"I'm perfectly willing to admit that I was the one who took the third bottle of poison from the chemistry lab," Kirigiri went on, crossing her arms and meeting his eyes in could only be a show of bravado. "I said as much to you and Naegi a few days ago, in case it slipped your mind."

"Oh, I remember," Togami snapped, the whole conversation about her supposedly fake murder plan flashing through his mind. "Believe me, I haven't forgotten a single word of it."

"Is that so?" Kirigiri raised her eyebrows, pretending that she genuinely meant the words. "Then I'm sure you also remember why it's no longer important that I'm the one who took it." Her gaze slid away from him. "You know, right, Naegi?"

The sight of his boyfriend's name on that girl's lips sent red-hot fury blazing across Togami's vision. How dare she ask for his help now, when she could feel the force of Togami's accusations tightening around her? She had no right to act like she had any claim to Naegi's aid during this trial, not when she'd betrayed his trust and manipulated his actions time and again.

But when Togami finally forced himself to turn and look in Naegi's direction, of course he found the other boy already frowning, reaching back into his memory for the answer to her question.

"You mean… because you didn't have the poison anymore," Naegi said, too focused on Kirigiri to notice Togami's scowl. But at least he'd remembered to keep standing so that Togami could read his lips even while he addressed the other side of the circle — there was some satisfaction in that. "You put it in one of the dojo lockers and got rid of the key — that's what you're talking about, right?"

Togami tore his gaze away from Naegi's too-pale face just in time to see Kirigiri nod. "Of course," she said, her expression far calmer than she had any right to look. "I can't imagine it would have slipped your mind, since you and Togami were both there to confirm the poison bottle was still sealed when we locked it away. As I recall, Togami even burned the locker key himself."

She would try to bring that up as some mockery of a shield now. Togami's lip curled into a sneer — but before he could answer, he saw the others glance to his left. He looked over, just in time to catch most of the nonsense Jill spewed his way.

"— going all pyro now, baby? Cause hey, maybe a prison cell wouldn't be so bad if I had my White Knight there to keep me warm!" Jill's piercing gaze scorched his skin like a sunburn, and he found himself a little relieved that he couldn't hear her laughter as she threw back her head with wild hilarity. "So what, you couldn't bear the thought of anyone else trying to kill you the same way she did? Wanted to keep it a special link between you and her? I never thought you'd be such a romantic!"

Togami grimaced. "Don't say that kind of garbage, you'll make me ill. I wouldn't share anything with that lunatic — and even if I were forced into it, that poison wouldn't count. She had plans for it before Fukawa ever did." He pointed a sharp finger across the circle.

Kirigiri had the nerve to look bored. "I don't see why you're acting as though I've been hiding it. You only know about it because I told you."

"Told you what?" Ogami asked, her bewilderment plain. "What are all of you talking about?"

Togami scowled at the girl — why was she delaying them from finally pinning Kirigiri down on all the crimes she'd committed? He would have liked to unleash his frustration on the issue of trial participants who couldn't even be bothered to keep up with events — but he forced himself to swallow back the angry words. Ogami wasn't the true target of his ire, and it wasn't her fault that she didn't possess the natural abilities to keep up with his deductions. And besides, he would need her on his side to take Kirigiri down at the conclusion of the trial, so it would behoove him to make sure she could follow along with what he was saying.

"The night before the last class trial, Fukawa wasn't the only one concocting a murder plot," Togami announced, looking from Ogami to Jill. They were the only two who hadn't been present for these events, after all, so they were the ones who needed to hear this information. "That same night, Kirigiri was gathering the components she would need in order to enact a plan to murder Naegi."

He could see Jill's scissors flashing through wild gestures in the corner of his eye, but he didn't bother turning to see what idiocy she was saying. He kept his narrowed gaze on Kirigiri, watching for any cracks in her perfect mask of composure. But no, he hadn't broken her yet — she didn't even flinch in reaction to his words.

But when he looked to the side, he saw that Naegi had reacted enough for them both, looking as though someone had driven a fist into his stomach. Togami's heart twisted at the sight, squeezed too tight within his ribs. His words had put that look on Naegi's face —

No. No, it wasn't his actions, not really. Kirigiri had done it, by her betrayal of the boy who'd called her his friend. All Togami was doing was to reveal her treachery. He gritted his teeth against the pain, trying to harden his heart against it.

He couldn't let his love for Naegi weaken him now, not if he wanted to protect the other boy. He had to think past the softness of those emotions and force back the urge whispering through his mind that he should just give in to what Naegi wanted. If he could just get them through this trial, there would be more than enough time for gentleness later.

For now, he had to focus on the feelings that could give him the strength to soldier through exhaustion and bring this trial to the conclusion they needed. He turned away from Naegi to look back at Kirigiri, embracing the hatred that boiled through his veins at the sight of her cool, collected gaze. He wouldn't let her hurt the boy he loved again — and he would wipe that smug look off her face, no matter what the cost.

"Yes, I thought you'd probably bring the murder plot up," Kirigiri said, shrugging as if his words didn't even matter to her. "You seem to have quite conveniently forgotten the key part of it, though — the fact that it was a fake murder plot."

"According to you," Togami shot back.

"Not just me." Kirigiri let her thin braid coil around one finger in a twisting spiral. "Naegi confirmed it, as well."

Togami's lips pressed tightly together as he looked over just in time to see Naegi agreeing with almost pathetic eagerness. "That's right — Kirigiri didn't really want to kill me. I told you already, we worked it out ahead of time that she'd just pretend to do it."

"And what, were you gonna pretend to be a corpse?" Jill demanded. "Why bother faking it? No one would go for the knock-off brand when the real deal's sitting there for the taking!"

As much as Togami hated agreeing with Jill about anything, he had to nod. She'd zeroed in on the key point immediately — but of course she would when it was a question of killing. "Whether you convinced Naegi of your intentions doesn't matter — the point is that you've had all the ingredients for murder prepared ever since that night!"

"But Naegi wasn't killed," Ogami protested. "Ikusaba was the victim in this murder."

An involuntary jolt of horror shuddered through Togami at the thought of Kirigiri actually succeeding in her scheme against Naegi. Thank god it had only been Ikusaba instead. "The choice of victim might have changed, but the method didn't. Kirigiri used the same method she'd already prepared for Naegi to kill off Mukuro Ikusaba."