Togami could feel the last few pieces of the puzzle presented by this murder clicking together in his head. With this motive, he finally had an answer to the one problem that had held him back from attacking Kirigiri with all his strength — the question of why. If Ikusaba had been the mastermind's agent and Kirigiri had been another mole, why would one of them turn on the other? They should have been allies in a fight against the other students, not true competitors for the title of blackened.

But if Ikusaba had been the first to act against Kirigiri, it all made sense. He couldn't be sure exactly what Ikusaba had meant to do with her little revelation, but it had certainly forced Kirigiri into revealing information she'd intended to keep secret. It could have been a malicious attempt to reveal Kirigiri's true affiliation, or it could have been something far more sinister… but either way, she'd given Kirigiri too much warning of her plans. And rather than wait to see it through, Kirigiri had chosen to strike back.

Togami looked back across the circle, his attention focusing on Kirigiri once again as the other students mouthed their way through silent discussion. She just watched the argument flowing past her, taking it all in without so much as a hint to give away what she thought of the speakers. It was all too easy to see her turning on her former ally with the same emotionless mask frozen on her face.

Well, no more. He wouldn't let her manipulate another supposed ally to their doom — he'd drag her to the execution room himself before he let that happen. It was time to reveal everything she'd done, with enough proof that even Naegi couldn't argue for her innocence any longer.

"There's one other part of the murder scene that we haven't discussed yet," Togami said, taking care to project his voice loudly enough that it would cut through whatever inane tangent the others had decided to drag the trial down. "And the fact that the bomb destroyed it makes it all the more critical."

The others all turned to give him their attention with gratifying speed, frowning as they gave his words due consideration. He dismissed Ogami and Jill — they hadn't seen the scene at all, so there was no way either girl could have any idea what he meant. And Kirigiri still managed to keep her composure, at least for now. But Naegi…

"You mean the note, don't you?" Naegi asked, the words slow to form on his pale lips. "You said that before the bomb went off, you found a note pinned to Ikusaba's chest."

"That's right." Togami smiled. No matter how reluctant Naegi had been to speak the words, he'd answered the question in the end — that was what mattered. "Whoever killed Ikusaba didn't just stab her with that knife to distract us from the poison — they also used it to pin a note to her chest labeling her a traitor."

"A… traitor…?" Ogami's eyebrows knit together. "Then… are you saying that it was the mastermind who killed her, after all? I thought we'd determined that it had to be one of us."

"No, we were right the first time — the fact that we're at the class trial means one of us has to be the killer," Togami said, cutting off that train of thought before Kirigiri could seize on the opportunity to hide her crimes. "The killer — and the person who wanted us all to know that Mukuro Ikusaba was a traitor. And there's only one person among us who Ikusaba had the opportunity to betray." He crossed his arms and looked straight across the circle.

Kirigiri met his gaze with a calmly raised eyebrow. "That's quite an accusation from someone without any proof."

Togami narrowed his eyes at her. "Excuse me?"

"I didn't find this note when I checked the room just before the trial began." Kirigiri began twisting her thin braid around one finger.

"Of course you didn't!" Togami snapped. "Didn't you hear me say that the explosion destroyed it?"

"I'm not the one whose hearing is going." At the twitch of a smile on Kirigiri's lips as she made the insult, bloody red bubbled across Togami's vision.

"Then you ought to know why you didn't find it!"

She shrugged. "Maybe. It's quite convenient, isn't it — that this critical piece of evidence only existed when you were alone in the room with it? It might appear to support your version of events… but with the timeline as you've described it, no one can confirm your claims." Her gaze flickered to her right. "Unless you intend to change your story now. What do you think, Naegi — have you suddenly remembered something differently than you told us before?"

When Togami followed her gaze, he wasn't at all surprised to find the other boy looking hurt by his supposed friend's implied accusation. "I wouldn't do that," Naegi said, and even without hearing the words Togami could tell exactly how much earnestness would burn in them. "I wouldn't lie to any of you — especially not about something this important."

"So you're saying we can trust you?" Kirigiri asked, and Togami just knew there had to be cruel mockery in her words. "All right, then — did you see this note Togami claims he found?"

Naegi's eyes flickered between the two of them, and Togami could see the boy's throat bob as he gulped before answering. "Well… no. I told you, I only went into the classroom after the explosion happened. I never saw Ikusaba's body before that."

"So what you're saying is that we have only Togami's word on the matter," Kirigiri concluded. "That doesn't sound very decisive to me."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd love to discredit me," he sneered back. "But unfortunately for you, I don't need to invent evidence to prove what a manipulative snake in the grass you are."

Kirigiri seemed to laugh briefly at that, probably in an attempt to ridicule his accusations. "Is that so? I'd say it sounds like more of the same complaints you've made against me ever since you stopped hiding on your own. Haven't you considered the possibility that you can dislike me personally without needing to turn me into an enemy?"

"I didn't have to turn you into an enemy," Togami retorted. "You've been one from the start — and I have proof."

And there, finally, he saw the first fissures beginning to thread their way across her stony mask. A hint of uncertainty flickered ever so slightly across her face, faint lines creasing around her eyes and lips twisting towards a slight frown. It only lasted a fraction of a second before she had her facade in place again — but that didn't matter. He'd seen a glimpse of what lay beyond it now, and he wouldn't relent until he'd torn her false calm away entirely.

"As we got close to the end of the investigation period, Naegi left the headmaster's office to check on Ogami on the first floor," Togami continued, locking his gaze on Kirigiri with all the single-minded intensity of a falcon preparing to swoop. "But I stayed behind to keep searching. After all, there could have been any number of important clues hidden in there, and we didn't know if we'd ever get a chance to look again. And it's a good thing I didn't give up — because it meant I was able to find this."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the academic calendar with a flourish. The others leaned forward, squinting towards him to try to get a look at the document. Jill seemed to be babbling about something, but he gave that the lack of attention it deserved. Ogami looked wary, and beside her, Kirigiri had her stoic mask back in place. But to his left… Naegi stared not at the paper, but at Togami himself, like he was waiting for an executioner's axe to fall.

Togami had to look away, turning back to the paper before the sight of Naegi's pain weakened his resolve. "This is an academic calendar for Hope's Peak, quite a number of years ago. Since we were all meant to be the incoming class, none of us should have any connection to the school before we arrived — but according to this calendar, that isn't quite true. This calendar is from the year a brand new headmaster began his term as the leader of Hope's Peak, and the very first day of the new semester says as much."

He tapped the writing on the calendar as he read the words aloud. "The Inauguration and Presentation of Keys to Headmaster Jin Kirigiri."