Togami didn't often find himself at a complete loss for words… but faced with the enormity of this revelation, he didn't know how to begin. He'd spent years honing his words and voice into weapons that could win whatever goal he had in his sights, but his vocabularies of biting venom didn't seem to encompass the words he needed now. How was he supposed to explain that the mastermind's cruelty when further than any of them had imagined?
His mind flashed back to that moment in the data center when he'd finally understood what the mastermind had done. He'd demanded that Naegi tell him the truth… but he hadn't understood what he'd been asking of the soft-hearted boy. He'd seen the horror in Naegi's eyes, the soul-stricken pain that could only come from a new twist of the mastermind's plan — but now he recognized the desperate confusion that had been there as well. Over and over, Togami had insisted on being told the awful truth… and it had hurt Naegi to put the horror into words.
But Naegi had been kind. He cared about the people he spoke to, feeling the hurt himself if he realized he'd caused pain. Togami knew better than to leave himself so vulnerable to the whinging emotional neediness of every idiot he had to address. It didn't matter if his words slammed into their intended recipient with all the forced of a physical blow, not when he had no reason to concern himself with their wellbeing.
And so with the memory of the icy-eyed heir he'd worked so hard to become firmly in mind, Togami fixed his glare on the data center door, crossed his arms, and let the knife-edged words fly.
"The feeds from the mastermind's cameras are being broadcast around the world."
She met the declaration with silence, stretching out through interminable seconds. When the explosion had filled his ears with rushing emptiness, he'd longed for the relief of true silence… but now the stillness of the air prickled along his skin until he couldn't help but shiver. What was keeping her from answering? He'd been prepared for shock, anger, humiliation, any number of emotional outbursts… but he hadn't expected her to have no reaction at all.
Had she failed to understand him? He'd thought that he'd used words simple enough for even an athlete to grasp, but perhaps the horror of the idea was too complex to convey with a single sentence. She could be confused and waiting for him to provide further clarification.
When the pressure of the silence became too much to bear, he finally turned his head to look at her… and any thought that she might not have understood his meaning evaporated. Ogami had slumped back against the wall, one trembling hand braced at her side to hold herself upright. She'd lost all color in her face, her bloodless lips twisted tight together as though she feared what might escape if she let them part. And her eyes… even if he'd felt the urge to try to meet her eyes, he couldn't have done so. She looked upward, gaze locked on the nearest camera… and guilt howled out from her broken eyes as plainly as if she'd screamed it aloud.
Paralyzed with dark thoughts as she was, Togami doubted she'd realized how long she'd been standing there in silence. Possibly she'd even forgotten about his presence, if the shadows in her head had grown powerful enough. They'd consumed her for a time after Asahina's death, and this revelation seemed to have brought them all rushing back. Only the threat that the death toll might increase had been enough to jolt her out of that despair… and even if such a thing would work a second time, he had no interest in raising her protective instincts towards either of the two other girls.
In that case, if she was weak enough to let her guilt destroy her so thoroughly… then he would be better off without her. Another pair of hands might make his investigation easier, but he didn't need her. He could leave her behind and still accomplish everything he needed to do.
But instead of walking away, Togami found his gaze drawn back to the pain in her eyes. The knowledge that his words had triggered that pain sent a shiver of disquiet through him, faint but nonetheless noticeable. He didn't like the reaction written so clearly across her face, and even looking away from her didn't ease his discomfort.
Perhaps it was the striking similarity to his own response on learning the truth about the mastermind's cameras. Shame had seized control of his body in that moment as well, scorching his cheeks with fiery humiliation and driving him away from Naegi as if physically repelled. The cameras had poisoned a span of the precious time he'd spent in Naegi's company, ruining his ability to find brightness in the other boy's touch… so it was only natural that he would hate seeing the same effect occurring in another person. It was as though the mastermind was winning yet another victory before his eyes — and in that moment Togami decided that this was one battle he wouldn't let them win.
One sharp step forward put him directly in her line of sight and let his mouth curl upward in a derisive sneer. "So it seems I was right to call your redemption a lie."
The words hit their mark, and Ogami flinched back from the unexpected blow. Hearing him say such a thing had hurt her… just as Togami had known it would. He'd deliberately aimed for words that would echo the darkness in her head, and as her eyes focused on him with sharp betrayal, he knew that he'd chosen them correctly.
If Naegi had been beside him, the softhearted boy would have been outraged at the way Togami had spoken to a girl already in pain. Naegi would have chosen kindness, offering gentle words and comforting tones… and if Naegi had been the one to try, it might have worked. But Togami knew he had no such kindness to use, even if he'd been inclined to offer it. Cruelty was the only path he knew that could pierce through the darkness in her mind and reach her… and so cruelty was what he would use.
