Togami knew that Monokuma had to be lying. The mastermind could say that the voting results were true all they liked, but the facts of the situation stood in blatant opposition. There had been five students who could vote in the trial, and he and Ogami had both voted for Kirigiri. With two against the mastermind's pet detective, anyone other than her would need three votes to have a majority — meaning that it was impossible for Naegi to have won the vote fairly.
In fact, the impossibility of it was so obvious that a chill of unease had begun to slither its way down Togami's spine. The mastermind might enjoy pretending to be stupid when speaking through Monokuma, but their actions proved they were nothing of the kind. He had no trouble believing that lies were a weapon in the mastermind's arsenal — but when it came to the thought of the mastermind telling a lie that was so clearly untrue, his imagination balked. Was it possible that he was missing something?
Of course, there was also another possibility — the mastermind might have told an obvious lie for the sole purpose of causing the students to worry about it. Togami could be playing right into their hands with this very train of thought. Looking at the gleaming grin on Monokuma's evil little face, Togami could believe such a thing all too easily.
But then again, would the mastermind really tell an obvious lie about their own rules? Would they be willing to discredit the very foundation of their elaborate, carefully-constructed game, just to cause a few moments of additional distress to a single player? That idea seemed just as impossible as the first.
So if the mastermind didn't expect him to swallow a ridiculous lie… and if they weren't just dreaming up bizarre ideas for their own amusement… was there any way that Monokuma's words could be true? Numbers don't lie… meaning that the voting results really had ended with Naegi being chosen. With two votes already confirmed, was there a way it could have happened?
But no… when it was just simple addition, he didn't even need to rethink the math in his head. Even if both Jill and Kirigiri had voted for Naegi, that still wouldn't be a majority. A tie wasn't the same as a clear winner, was it? It shouldn't be, but they'd never —
They'd never had a tie before.
It ought to mean that the murderer won the trial and got to leave this nightmare of a school behind, that the rest of the students had lost due to their inability to wrangle out a majority vote — it ought to. Logically it would make sense for the rules to work that way… but that assumed that the mastermind operated based on logic. More often than not, they didn't — and if that was the case now, was it possible that the votes didn't work the way he'd thought?
Numbers don't lie… why say that unless there was a lie being believed?
Decision made, Togami looked back at Monokuma, narrowing his eyes at the bear's oh-so-helpful grin. "All right, then, if you expect me to believe the votes were accurate, tell me this — what happens when the vote ends in a tie?"
"Huh? A tie?" The bear had the nerve to tilt his head in confusion, as if he'd genuinely been caught unawares by the question. "Wow, you're right — that would be a really big problem, wouldn't it? Just imagine all the chaos it would cause if we didn't have a clear winner for the trial!"
Togami gritted his teeth at the pointless act — why bother keeping up the charade when they all knew the mastermind had wanted him to ask about this? "Yes, obviously it would be a problem! If you understand that, then clarify it — what would happen after a tie?"
Monokuma grinned at him. "It's so fulfilling to see my students chomping at the bit to learn! Ahh, it makes me feel like I've really succeeded in teaching you all the right lessons!" He put one paw to his heart and gave a heartfelt sigh, so slow and deep that Togami thought he might explode from the sheer frustration boiling through his blood.
But before he could unleash it in a furious tirade of ill-advised insults, Monokuma's eyes gleamed with the bright red that didn't match his innocent act in the slightest. "It's a tough question — but what kind of terrible, incompetent headmaster would abandon a precious student in distress, huh?" He laughed briefly, for no reason that Togami could see. "Well, then, I guess I'd better try my best, huh? Well, it's not so complicated when you think about it! I mean, if there's a dispute between students that they can't resolve themselves… it would only make sense for the headmaster to intervene, right?"
"Then you're saying that you'd be the tie-breaking vote?" Togami frowned, trying to recall everything they'd been told about the voting rules. "But you said that only the students in the game are permitted to vote."
"Ooh, a right answer when we weren't even having a pop quiz!" Monokuma said brightly. "Well, what can I say — the chances of a vote turning out in an even split were pretty low! Someone would need to have awfully bad luck for things to turn out that way, huh?"
Togami tried not to flinch at the reference to Naegi — but he knew the mastermind would be able to see the flash of pain it had caused him. He froze his face back into a sneering mask and barreled onward before that obnoxious bear could taunt him for it. "Then is that what happened in the last trial? Did you have to break a tie?"
"You want me to reveal the super-secret voting results?" Monokuma drew back in exaggerated horror. "I couldn't possibly do such a thing! After all, if I tell you who I voted for, you might be able to figure out all the votes!"
Togami ignored the nonsensical antics and zeroed in on the pertinent facts. "So you did vote yesterday."
Monokuma's paws flew to his mouth. "Oops! Uh oh, guess you ripped the truth outta me!"
"So it really would have been a tie otherwise… and you broke it." A jolt of pain through his injured hands made Togami realize he'd clenched them into trembling fists. A majority from the five students couldn't work, but this — if both Jill and Kirigiri had turned against Naegi at the last minute, this would make all too much terrible sense. "You were the deciding vote against Naegi."
Schedule note: Unfortunately, I'm having some medical issues that are being exacerbated by too much computer time. I'd hoped the 4th of July break would help... but it hasn't had enough of an effect. I'm going to have to take two weeks off, after which things will hopefully be back closer to normal. Sorry about this! :( The next chapter will be posted on July 30. See you all then!
