Togami froze, staring down at the photograph in disbelief. After Maizono's corpse had been removed along with all other evidence of her murder, he'd never expected to see her again — and yet there she was, smiling as if she didn't have a care in the world, clearly recognizable for all that he'd only known her a few days.

And she was next to Naegi. She was touching him, pressing against his side with her hand resting on his arm. Togami could even see the delicate pink tips of her nails where her fingers curled around Naegi's bicep, and for a moment red-hot rage burned across his vision at the possessiveness of the gesture. How dare she lay a hand on Naegi as if she had any claim to him, when she'd treated him as nothing more than a tool in her failed murder plot?

Except… whenever this photo had been taken… she hadn't done it yet. She couldn't have, not when she and Naegi stood bathed in golden sunlight beneath a clear blue sky. This couldn't possibly have been taken in the midst of the killing game, with the bolted windows and the imposingly locked door. Perhaps when she'd smiled so innocently at the camera, she hadn't yet had an inkling that she would brutally betray the boy beside her.

But in that case… just when had this picture been taken? He knew they'd had some sort of connection in the past, that much had come up during the first investigation — attending the same school when they were younger, he was almost certain that was it. Middle school, maybe? That would fit with the brown uniforms they both wore.

But he'd thought that the two of them had only known one another in passing. This picture, with their happy smiles and easy touches, suggested much more than that. At the very least, they'd been good friends, close enough that Naegi's faith in her motives might not have been so blindly naive as it had seemed. And at most… Togami's eyes dropped again to the pretty pop singer's hand on Naegi's arm, and revulsion twisted through his stomach.

It was all too easy to see this as a picture of a happy couple, swept up in a sugar-sweet first relationship. He could see the outlines of it in his head, all shy blushes and nervous handholding, storybook dates and tentative first kisses. It couldn't have lasted long, not when Maizono had abandoned her previous life to devote herself to her ambitions as an idol… but these few weeks with Naegi had certainly taught Togami that it didn't always take a long time for emotions to run deep. She might have been with Naegi long before he'd even known Togami existed.

Thinking on it, Togami supposed that he'd known, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he probably wasn't Naegi's first relationship. As innocent as he seemed, Naegi had still known how to match him in their first explosive kiss — and afterward, no inexperienced virgin could have taken the lead so smoothly. Someone else must have touched Naegi before him… but replacing that vague idea of "someone" with the face of a girl who'd betrayed Naegi made Togami's fingers itch with the urge to rip the photo in two, severing Naegi from that girl forever.

No… no, he couldn't risk tearing up the portion of the photo showing Naegi, not after enduring so much to get his hands on the picture. Togami took a deep breath to calm himself, forcing his fingers to relax their grip on the paper. He could think this over rationally, and hunt down a pair of scissors to slice Maizono's face away later. He could preserve this image of Naegi in a brief moment of happiness, without the constant reminder that she had been the cause. He looked away from the photo, lest the image break his fragile resolution.

"Are you all right?"

Togami blinked at the unexpected question, looking across at Ogami with a start. Caught up in the whirlwind of confusing questions that the picture had caused, he'd all but forgotten the girl was still in the room with him. It seemed ridiculous that he could have lost his awareness of someone as dangerous as a wall of walking muscle… but the photo had left him more off balance than he'd expected.

"Of course I'm fine," he said, hoping the brusque response would forestall any further prying questions. It was bad enough that she'd seen the picture of Naegi with Maizono — the last thing Togami wanted was to have to discuss it.

"But that picture… something about it almost appeared as though…" Her voice trailed into silence when his glare intensified. "Very well, never mind."

Togami gave her a single sharp nod, sliding the photo into the back of his e-handbook so it would remain uncreased. He tucked it safely into his pocket beside Naegi's key and forced himself to his feet. "Now come on — we've wasted enough time here."

Ogami frowned, eyes darting over him from head to toe for some inexplicable reason. "You mean… you intend to return back to your investigation immediately? But after so many shocks, shouldn't you —"

"I said that I'm fine!" Togami snapped, shoulders stiffening at the implication that the mastermind's tricks had left him unable to think clearly. "It will take more than a bizarre photograph to stop me from investigating."

He knew his voice had been steady and firm, but even so, her frown didn't clear away. "Then do you plan to continue through the night? The nighttime announcement will be sounding shortly."

He would have sneered at the thought of continuing to acknowledge the restriction Celeste had imposed on nighttime activities — but a dull pang in his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten all day. The idea still sounded about as appealing as shoveling sawdust into his mouth… but he didn't want to risk collapsing from something as stupid as malnutrition. "I have every intention of returning before that happens." He scowled, not liking the way his words had sounded like a concession. "But not yet — I'm going to finish here first."


Junko drummed her fingers on the table as she watched Togami putter uselessly around the wreck of a classroom. He was so close to where she wanted him, she could feel it… but the silly boy kept resisting the truth with all his might. For someone who never hesitated to force others to confront painful truths, he was being awfully hypocritical now that he was on the other side of it!

But he could only avoid the revelation for so long. After that big fat hint she'd dropped, it was only a matter of time before he understood what had happened. The only question left was whether she'd see it coming with enough warning to make some popcorn before the real fireworks could start.

Not that anything would happen while he insisted on rummaging around up on the fifth floor, though. Junko heaved a sigh and began a quick scan of the other monitors. It never hurt to make sure everything was back on track, especially after all the recent deviations… but even so, the empty screens were still boring, boring, boring. Maybe she should call up Monokuma in the cafeteria to give Jill someone to play with.

But before she could take more than a step toward the control room, a faint rustling stopped her in her tracks. That hadn't been from one of the monitors. She spun in the direction of the sound — and a wide grin spread across her face at the sight of Naegi shifting restlessly as sleep began to recede. Clearly boredom wasn't going to be an issue now!


Note: Hopefully that marks the end of the last break I'll have to take for a while. Fingers crossed! The update schedule is going to be one chapter a week on Sunday. See you next week!