Togami stared at the poison bottle sitting innocently in Ogami's grip, so dwarfed by her large, strong hands that it only seemed a fraction of the size it had been when he'd last seen it. If this bottle really was the same one he, Kirigiri, and Naegi had done their best to seal away in the dojo locker — and with both Kirigiri and Ogami saying so, it must be — then that all but answered the identity of Ikusaba's killer. Two of the three bottles of poison were accounted for… so the only one that could have been used in the murder was the final unopened bottle that the mastermind had confiscated during Fukawa's trial.
The mastermind… or one of their agents.
But the thought sat unnaturally in his head, as awkward and uncomfortable as if he'd tried to force a pair of childhood gloves onto his hands. He looked around him, at the faces of the three girls who'd remained in this nightmare of a school even after Naegi had been taken… the girls who'd refused time and again to leave him alone… and he knew why those paranoid thoughts no longer fit.
"That evidence will certainly save time in the trial," he said at last, his unaccountably dry throat making the words sound rougher than he'd intended. "We won't have to waste time proving facts to the mastermind that the rest of us already know."
One of Kirigiri's eyebrows lifted a hair as she studied him. "Yes… I suppose it will."
For an unnerving moment, Togami had the horrifying sense that she was about to smile at him — but fortunately, she thought the better of such a bizarre act. Her expression grew grim again as she resumed her intense focus. "But that isn't the only important clue this bottle represents."
It only took a moment of swift thought for Togami to catch up with her conclusions. "Why did the mastermind leave it for us to find?"
"They should have had any number of chances to remove it," Kirigiri agreed, crossing her arms thoughtfully. "This is evidence that can only strengthen us and weaken them — exactly the kind they shouldn't want us to find. Why was it still there?"
Togami could think of a few reasons — but to his surprise, Ogami spoke before he could voice any of them. "Removing it would have skewed the playing field. Once our final battle began, they couldn't take it away and still claim any pretense of playing fair."
Not that the game had been fair from the start… what was fair about manipulating them all into committing murder by stealing the memories that would have made such actions unthinkable? What if he'd won the killing game as he'd intended, and only learned the truth about the people he'd killed after escaping? He ground his teeth together to keep from screaming his rage at the thought. God, no wonder the mastermind had been using Monokuma to laugh at them all this time… they must have looked so stupid to anyone who knew the truth.
Had that been the point? Or had there even been a point to all of this?
With those questions ringing through his head loud enough to ache, it took him several seconds to realize that one of the girls must have asked him a question. The three of them had turned to look his way expectantly, but he hadn't the faintest idea what they were waiting for.
"We were discussing how best to continue our investigation," Kirigiri said, with only a trace of impatience in her voice to hint at her true state of mind. "Though in normal circumstances I'd suggest we each work separately, in this situation it might be best to proceed as two pairs so we can mitigate any attempts at…" she only hesitated a moment, so briefly that Togami wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been watching for it, "at manipulation."
She didn't need to explain any further than that. Togami nodded. "Fine. Who —"
"Come on, darling, no way I'm letting you go treasure hunting with any other sidekick!" Jill interrupted brightly.
For once, Togami found himself in agreement — with a trial hurtling towards them, it had become more urgent than ever to discuss Jill's memories in greater detail. If they were going to fight the mastermind, he needed to understand their situation as clearly as possible.
No… wait. It wasn't just about him, was it? His instincts all told him to work alone, to hoard secrets like treasures, to make sure that he knew more than everyone around him… but against that, he could hear a familiar voice whispering to him about teamwork, trust, and friendship.
Could they all have been friends, before they'd lost their memories?
"There's something else we should discuss," he heard himself say, before he'd even decided whether he wanted to do so.
"Oh?" One of Kirigiri's eyebrows shot up in a sharp arc as she stared at him.
"Not just yet, though," he added quickly. He had no idea why Monokuma hadn't interrupted his conversation with Jill earlier, and he wasn't inclined to count on it a second time. "It might be a better time once we've gone… downstairs."
She blinked once — then nodded. "All right, then we'll go down together, so we can be on each floor at the same time."
Of course she'd only needed seconds to come up with a way to divert the mastermind's suspicions away from the possibility of secret conversations. Togami couldn't stop the brief stab of envy for how quick and clear her thoughts still were… but then it faded, overpowered by a sensation he couldn't immediately recognize. The thought of Kirigiri's capable intellect and deductive skills wasn't a negative one… no, it was almost comforting. He couldn't deny her abilities… and he was glad she was on his side.
No… it wasn't that she'd suddenly joined his side. It was that now, after so much time at odds, they were finally on the same side.
"I need to take another look at the room where we found the body," Kirigiri went on, with her usual lack of interest in his opinion of her. For some reason he didn't entirely understand, it didn't sting so much this time as it had in the past. "Ogami and I intended to do that next, in any case."
Togami had seen more than enough of that ruined classroom to last him the rest of his life. "Then I'll go back to the dojo," he decided. "It's best if we don't give the mastermind any opportunity to claim that locker was tampered with."
She nodded once more, then without further discussion she turned and headed off in the direction of classroom 5-C, Ogami hurrying behind. Togami looked after them for a moment, the two girls that at one point or other he'd believed to be traitors working for the mastermind… and he couldn't muster the slightest qualm about letting them go off to investigate on their own.
He shook his head sharply, turning away from the corridor. There was no point in dwelling on anything so useless… not when he had more urgent goals that needed his attention. He headed for the dojo entrance, Jill a grinning specter at his side. He had truths to uncover.
