Faced with Kirigiri so soon after their last argument, Togami would have walked away without acknowledging her — but he didn't have that option. Jill stopped short at the sight of the other two girls in the hall, and Togami didn't have the strength to keep moving forward unaided. He shot at impatient glance at Jill, but the vicious glare she was sending towards Kirigiri made any potential irritated commentary fall unspoken from his lips. While he'd never been foolish enough to forget that Jill was a coldblooded serial killer, he'd never seen her look the part more than she did in that moment.

"Well, look who came to check out her handiwork!" Jill's sharp bark of laughter pierced the air. "Or are you here to add the finishing touch to your masterpiece?"

Togami frowned at the implication that Kirigiri had been responsible for his actions — but before he could object, Ogami stepped forward. Though she was looking at him, he couldn't miss that she'd also put herself between the other two girls.

"I'm relieved to see you here," Ogami said, the words almost painfully sincere. "I was concerned that — that something might have happened." Her eyes flickered towards the makeshift bandage wrapped around his arm, before she hastily looked away.

But that was more than long enough for Togami to realize what she meant. She'd known what he'd meant to do. He hadn't seen her since he'd fled from the cafeteria an eternity ago, but something in his behavior must have given her reason to suspect. Even so, it seemed impossible that she could have guessed —

But she might have learned another way.

His eyes shot to Kirigiri. She'd kept her poker face as cool and unruffled as ever, but she wasn't quite fast enough to hide where she'd been looking. The last moments of her examination of the bloodstained evidence at his wrist told him everything he needed to know — she'd been the one to see right through him. He hadn't even known his own intentions himself until he'd had the blades pressed to his skin, but somehow — somehow she'd known.

Of course she'd known. The ashen remnants of his hatred for her twisted in his gut, but even the realization of what she'd been trying to say to him outside the bathhouse couldn't bring the hate back to its former blaze. Whatever fire had been in him had long since gone out, leaving only a great gaping emptiness within him as he recalled her words when she'd tried so hard to stop him from leaving the dorms.

I am not letting you walk off by yourself.

I'm not worried about the game — I'm concerned for your wellbeing.

You aren't in this alone.

He'd barely registered her meaning when he'd first heard them… but now they echoed through his mind with a clarity that had seemed impossible before. She'd seen his state of mind more accurately than he could have… and she'd known that after he'd understood the full truth of what had happened to Naegi, he'd wanted to die.

Except… what he'd learned hadn't been the full truth. Not if he believed Jill's claims about two missing years. If she was right… if all this really was some sick charade of a past that no longer existed… then he could have died without knowing any truth at all.

He should probably be grateful to Kirigiri for preventing such an outcome. Togami gave her another dubious glance… but before he could decide whether he did indeed feel relieved that she'd sent Jill after him, her eyes narrowed.

"Has Monokuma told you anything about our conversation?"

All thoughts of gratitude vanished as the other half of their argument came back to him. Kirigiri had intended to challenge the mastermind… using Naegi's death as a weapon. "Don't tell me you went through with it."

"We don't have the luxury of waiting," Kirigiri said. Though her voice didn't betray an ounce of remorse for her callous actions, her eyes did flicker momentarily towards the nearest camera. Of course she wouldn't be able to hint at any weakness with the mastermind watching… but Togami found it surprisingly easy to think that the emotions might be there behind her mask.

"And since you're prowling the school rather than hatching some new plot, I assume it went according to your plan."

"That's right," she agreed. "The mastermind is going to take us on directly. We'll be redoing the trial to solve Ikusaba's murder — and every other mystery in the school, as well." She watched him with guarded eyes for a moment, then added, "And the trial will include every surviving student. If we fail, all of us will be executed."

If she'd said as much earlier, he would have been angry that she'd taken this deal on his behalf, ignoring his clear refusal to take part in her plan. But now that he had the answer to one of the mastermind's mysteries… now that he knew enough to understand just what this school might be hiding…

Ding dong, ding dong.

Togami froze, eyes, shooting toward the nearest television screen — but no, it was just the morning announcement that always played at seven. He watched the message through to the end, just to be certain the mastermind hadn't decided to try anything sneaky, but it was the same recording they'd heard every other morning. Only when the screen flickered back to black did he let himself look away, a slight breath of relief escaping his lips.

He wasn't the only one. As he turned back to the others, he could see the same dubious relief on their faces. "Well, at least we still have time remaining to continue our search," Ogami said, though the twist of her mouth made it clear she didn't find much comfort in the words.

"But not so much that we can afford to waste any of it," Kirigiri said, very nearly managing to sound as brisk and unshaken as usual. "We have to succeed in this investigation if we have any hope of surviving this game." She met Togami's eyes, her gaze carefully not flickering anywhere near his bloodstained wrist, and the hand that usually reached for her missing braid curled into a fist at her side. "Will you be participating in our investigation?"

Togami had to admit that it was a fair question, however much he might despise the reason she'd asked. As far as she knew, he had no reason to fight for survival… and if survival were the only reward, he wasn't sure he would have. But now that he knew one of the mastermind's secrets… now everything had changed.

"Yes," he said, meeting Kirigiri's gaze without flinching. "I intend to investigate."

She held his gaze for a long moment, long enough that Togami began to wonder what she thought she could see — and then with a single sharp nod, she broke the staring contest. "All right. If you intend to help, you should know what we've discovered so far." She glanced at Ogami. "Show them what we found in the dojo locker."

Ogami nodded, reaching into one of her pockets… and Togami knew before she even completed the gesture what she had hidden there. He wasn't surprised at all when she pulled out a bottle of the same poison they'd sealed in a dojo locker, still sealed and intact as when they'd last seen it.