Togami didn't allow his expression to so much as flicker, even though Ogami stared at him like he'd just stabbed her in the back. He'd been aiming for exactly this reaction, after all, and the most important thing in this moment was making sure she understood he wouldn't relent on his words. Years of practice helped him maintain the cold, unfriendly sneer he'd turned on her, despite the faintly dissonant resistance of his muscles as he forced them to hold the expression.

"I haven't lied to you," Ogami said at last, her voice creaking from her throat like she hadn't used it in years. "I stopped working for the mastermind, just as I said I would. How could I continue to be their pawn after — after what they did to Hina?" She shook her head, the motion carrying on too long as it bled into a shiver that shook through her whole body. "I thought you understood."

He shrugged. "The only thing I understand is that you obviously place no value on your so-called change of heart. Or are you going to try to pretend that I'm wrong about what you were thinking?"

"No — of course I wasn't," Ogami protested, clearly bewildered by his accusation. "I was too caught up in the information you'd just told me about — about the cameras." Her gaze flickered back up towards the camera again, but this time she bit her lip and forced her eyes back to him.

And that meant that his attacks were working so far. It seemed that she still took his words at face value, so she hadn't grasped his aim. All to the good so far — but he had to keep her off balance until the effects stuck.

"Your focus on the cameras was entirely obvious," Togami snapped, his tone sharp enough to cut through any darkness clogging her ears. "What do you think told me about your lies?"

"You — what?" He had nearly all of her attention now as she tried to work out what he was talking about.

Togami raised his chin so he could give the impression of looking down at her, despite the inches she had on him. "Someone who had really made the changes you claim would have no right to let the consequences of her past decisions destroy her."

She drew away from him — which meant the blow had landed. He leaned forward, pressing the advantage before she could gather her thoughts against him.

"The world may know of your betrayal now — but those of us you betrayed already knew. You swore to us that you wanted to turn your back on the mastermind to make up for your crimes against us. If you let the guilt of your actions break you, then your words to us were meaningless, making you a liar twice over."

His words hit her hard, that was obvious. Her fingers curled into tight fists in a line of tension shooting up rigid arms to her clenched shoulders, braced as if she had to fight unbearable pressure. She'd fixed her eyes on him with all of her attention now, her gaze not even flickering towards the cameras this time. And if he could see pain and anger roiling in her glare, well, that was better than the empty despair that had been devouring her. And once she took a moment to consider his words logically, he knew she'd understand what he'd meant. He'd said nothing untrue, after all, and —

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

Togami couldn't stop his eyebrows from shooting up into startled arches at the quiet fury in Ogami's words. He'd expected her to reaction more or less as she had when she'd first fallen into dark thoughts, when she'd at least retained the ability to think and speak reasonably — but apparently that wasn't the case this time. It couldn't be, if she was making such outlandish claims.

"You don't know how it feels to learn that your name has been smeared with your sins across the entire world," she went on, words pouring out in a rush that was nothing like her usual deliberate speech. "You're talking about what I should think and how I should feel — but you can't possibly understand what it's like to realize every person alive has seen your greatest shame."

An incredulous laugh clawed its way from Togami's throat, painful and cold. "Are you joking? You're actually claiming that I don't understand how it feels to have my personal shame plastered across televisions worldwide? Don't tell me you've forgotten that Monokuma called a school assembly specifically to humiliate Naegi and me. The entire world has seen every second he and I spent together, every intimate moment we shared — so I think I understand exactly how that particular shame feels!"

Such a set-down ought to have had any sensible person groveling with apologies — but Ogami had the nerve to shake her head as if he was the one being foolish.

"It isn't the same. The world seeing what you did with Naegi might have embarrassed you — but there was nothing wrong with the actions themselves. But in my case…" Ogami closed her eyes for a moment. "The worst deeds I've ever committed have been proclaimed throughout the world. I don't intend to deny the consequences of my actions… but it is something else entirely to learn that I will forever be branded with the dishonor of them."

A sneer twisted its way across Togami's mouth at those words, uglier than the one he'd worn to snap her out of the darkness. "Is that what you think? Well, clearly aim isn't your strong point, because you couldn't be further off the mark if you tried. You might believe that my actions in regards to Naegi were unremarkable — but to my family and the people we work with, they'll leave me just as ruined as yours!"

She blinked, confusion clouding her face. "Do you mean your family disapproves so strongly of — of relationships between two —"

"Not that," he cut her off, rolling his eyes at such plebeian assumptions. "None of them would be remotely interested in who or what I have relations with, provided it doesn't impact my ability to continue the family line as expected. But with Naegi — it was more than a physical relationship. I became emotionally invested in someone I should have seen as an obstacle to winning the mastermind's game. By all their standards such a thing is an unforgivable failure… and they are unlikely to forget it no matter how much time passes."

Unlikely — hah, what an understatement. Togami had realized almost from the moment Monokuma had revealed the truth about the broadcast just how much of his life would be affected by these few weeks. He'd made a number of enemies in the process of clawing his way to his current position, and ever since he'd been proclaimed the heir, they'd been searching for a weakness to use against him. And his love for Naegi, powerful enough to keep him from playing the game, had been handed to them on a silver platter.

Even if he managed to escape the school… he'd never be free of what had happened here. He'd see it in the faces of every member of his family whenever they looked at him, derisive smirks on their lips and smug satisfaction in their eyes. He'd had to fight hard to win respect from the grown men and women he worked with, people inclined to look down on him merely due to his age — and now they would feel free to roll their eyes and return to viewing him as an upstart child with pretensions of adulthood.

"You do understand." Ogami's soft, stunned words pulled him out of the nightmarish visions, and he looked up to see her studying him intently. "Then… you weren't just saying those things to be cruel? Is that truly how you've decided to think about it?"

Togami blinked, thrown off balance by the question. A few moments ago, he would have agreed that he had chosen his words solely to pierce through her thoughts with the greatest cruelty he could muster — but that had been before she'd challenged him on his own reaction to the cameras. He'd nearly forgotten about it, in all the chaos that had happened since that revelation, but she'd brought it back to the front of his mind. And with those thoughts front and center in his mind, his own words rang through his head once more.

Someone who had really made the changes you claim would have no right to let the consequences of their past decisions destroy them.

If you let the guilt of your actions break you, then your words were meaningless.

He'd been telling himself that he loved Naegi… and if that was true, then letting himself be shamed by knowing the world had seen them would prove him a liar. He might not have had the thought explicitly, but it must have been in his head, motivating the final kiss he'd deliberately chosen to give Naegi before they'd parted ways in the headmaster's office. That had been the last kiss they'd ever shared… and if he'd allowed his shame over the cameras to consume him, it wouldn't have occurred.

"Yes," Togami said at last, shoving his memories away as he looked back at Ogami. "Yes, that's how I've had to think about it."

She nodded slowly, the last of the anger draining from her gaze. "Then I shall endeavor to do so as well."

There was something deeply unsettling about the emotions in her eyes as she spoke — something more personal than mere sorrow, but without falling into the condescending sneer of pity. He didn't know what it was… and he wasn't sure he wanted to. To avoid the sight, he turned sharply away and strode swiftly down the hall away from the data center.

As he went, he could hear Ogami's footsteps trailing after, only a few steps behind.