Togami didn't really expect Monokuma to answer his question — or at least, not with anything useful. The mastermind had obviously just made the offer of answers to toy with them, judging by that useless flood of nothing that Monokuma had spouted about Ikusaba's missing corpse. But even if the question itself didn't bring him any new information, he'd had to take the opportunity to ask. Otherwise, he'd always have wondered if maybe, maybe there had been the smallest sliver of a chance that the mastermind might act against all their proven motives, might have Monokuma open his viciously fanged mouth and say —
"You're abso-tively right! That last trial sure was different. I mean, we didn't get the outcome that I expected from the beginning at all!" Monokuma smiled brightly up at him, as cheerful and innocent as if he gave helpful answers to questions all the time.
But Togami couldn't have been more horrified if the bear had begun ticking with the countdown timer of another bomb. Every nerve prickled to life along his skin, adrenaline sizzling into his veins until his blood burned with the urge to flee. Only his years of holding his ground in high pressure situations kept him from retreating until there was a safe measure of distance between himself and the smiling bear. That… and the fierce presence of Sakura Ogami, looming just half a step behind him. If she wasn't going to flee from Monokuma's alarming shift in attitude, then he had no intention of doing so either.
So he straightened his shoulders, clenched his hands into fists so tightly that every scrape and gash on them burned anew, and looked Monokuma straight in his camera-bearing eye. "What do you mean, you didn't expect this outcome? Do you expect us to believe that you didn't know who killed Ikusaba?"
Monokuma's laughter grated through his ear, so painful that Togami wouldn't have been surprised to find blood trickling down the side of his skull. "Wow, just one day without your hearing and you've already forgotten how to listen! But that's okay — I'll let you sneak a peek at the Cliff Notes version, just this once!" He leaned forward, one paw next to his mouth as if he was preparing to whisper a secret. "I've known exactly what happened to Mukuro Ikusaba from the moment she was killed."
Togami scowled, his shoulders slumping as the tension evaporated. So Monokuma wasn't about to launch another of his terrifying information bombs… just more of his usual babbling. He didn't know whether to be relieved or furious, and the two reactions roiled together in a sickening knot. He was about to snarl out his impatience at having his time wasted on the mastermind's pointless antics — when the real meaning of the words clicked in his head. "Wait… if you've known everything that's happened, what outcome did you expect to happen?"
"Oh, that?" Monokuma gave a careless shrug. "Well, I guess it's okay to tell you now that the trial is over. I thought you were all going to vote for the wrong culprit!"
The wrong culprit…? Wrong? Ripples of white-hot lightning spasms through Togami's hands from wrists to fingertips as fury shook his body. He couldn't stand to hear such a thing, not from the mouth of that glorified puppet the mastermind used to hide their true identity. How dare they sit safe in their lair, untouched by any of the events they'd set into motion, and declare that the innocent young man they'd murdered had been anything other than the wrong culprit?
The words screamed through his head, battered against his tightly shut lips in their need to be said. His breath trembled with the need to say all of it and more, to shape all his rage and grief and pain into a verbal onslaught against the monster who had caused it all — but he knew he didn't dare. If he started down that road, he wouldn't stop until the barely-controlled storm inside him had destroyed everything in its path. He couldn't let that happen… not until he'd unmasked and punished everyone guilty of contributing to this outcome. He'd promised himself mere hours ago that he would find a way to avenge Naegi's death… and he would not fail the boy he loved again.
But he couldn't just stand there in silence either, not if he intended to continue investigating. He had to learn more, had to ask questions, had to find a way to pry his teeth apart long enough to say something, anything, and —
"Then you're still claiming that Naegi truly was the blackened from that trial?" Ogami asked, her words cutting short the maddening spiral of bewildering thoughts in Togami's head.
Monokuma grinned at them both. "Well, it would be an awful shame to break a winning streak, wouldn't it? Five whole class trials without any innocent students executed — wow, just one more and you could win a freebie!"
The bear kept babbling on, but Togami couldn't hear the rest of his idiotic rubbish. Fury roared through his ears, an empty rush of meaningless noise that almost felt as though his hearing had gone again, blown to oblivion by the disgusting tripe that had just spewn out of Monokuma's mouth.
"Liar." The word burned on his lips before he knew he'd meant to say it. "Liar! You're nothing but a cheat and a coward who manipulated the trial to save your agent from the execution she deserved. Naegi never killed anyone, everyone here knows that, and he couldn't have been chosen as the blackened! You murdered him, you and everyone else who helped you, everyone who didn't stop you, and trying to pretend otherwise only proves how much of a liar you are!"
Monokuma tilted his head thoughtfully, so casual that Togami's fingers twitched painfully with the urge to claw at the bear's revoltingly calm face. "You think I'm a liar? Are you sure? I mean, that's an awfully serious accusation to make about your headmaster!"
Togami hadn't meant to say anything that blatant, at least not before he'd found some kind of evidence to back up his claim — but now that he'd done so, he wouldn't take it back. Even if it turned out to be true that Naegi had faltered at the end, even if he'd lost hope in those last moments, that didn't matter. He should never have been put in a position where that could have happened, and Togami would not dishonor his memory by pretending he'd been anything other than innocent at the moment of his death. He glared at Monokuma, jaw clenched tight and mouth firmly shut.
"I see… so you're not gonna change your mind." A glint of fangs showed in Monokuma's smile, and the gleam in his red eye almost seemed delighted. "Then I guess there's no help for it — it's time for an extra special lesson, just for you!"
Togami narrowed his eyes. "You just lied to my face. Why should I listen to another word out of you?"
"Huh? Well, if you're determined to cut class, I can't really stop you," Monokuma said, shrugging. "But how do you expect to pass your exams if you haven't heard all the material?"
There was a time not long ago when that would have been enough. Togami could almost remember how it had felt to be that person, someone who could be swayed by the threat of missing out on information. But the boy who would have found Monokuma's words persuasive had been someone else… someone who hadn't yet been forced to watch his love's execution. He might remember… but he could never be that person again.
"I don't care what you say," he said, voice colder than any of the tones he could deliberately invoke as heir. "I'm not going to stand around listening to you lie about the boy you killed."
He'd learned long ago that strong words were meaningless without action to back them up, so as soon as he finished speaking, he turned and headed towards the door. It wasn't as though Monokuma could do anything to him for walking out, not unless the mastermind was prepared to jump straight to a second unjustified murder. But Togami was nearly certain they wouldn't escalate matters so rapidly just because he chose to leave instead of listen. And even if they did… even if they did, maybe it wouldn't be…
"I see, so juicy info isn't enough of a reward for you anymore." The taunting lilt of Monokuma's words brought Togami to a halt, just a step away from the door to the hall. "All right, then — how's this for an incentive?"
He shouldn't look, he knew he shouldn't, not for such an obvious trap — but he couldn't stop the prickling worry about just what the mastermind might consider sufficient encouragement. Reminding himself that he could always continue walking out after checking, he turned just enough for a quick glance over his shoulder —
And froze, eyes locking on the photograph Monokuma held up. His paw covered most of the image, obscuring what exactly was on it… but just above the bear's sharp claws, Togami could make out a distinctive outline of unruly brown hair.
