Togami would have liked to think that somewhere behind Monokuma's controls, the mastermind had flinched backwards at the accusation. There was no way to know, of course, not when none of them had ever seen the mastermind's mannerisms in person — but still, he could take some satisfaction in the idea that he'd forced the mastermind to react to his words. It might even be true — after all, he'd thrown the truth of their actions in their face when the trial had barely started. Only the most controlled of opponents could stay calm in the face of such a tactic.
Not that he'd ever find out, though. All he could see was the puzzled tilt of Monokuma's head as he gave them all his most innocent wide-eyed stare. "Huh? Me? But haven't you heard that bears can't be guilty of murder? We're just following the instincts of an animal when we kill, after all — it takes a real live human to get that genuine murderous intent!"
"Yes — a human like the person behind that robot," Togami shot back.
Monokuma twisted around to check the space behind his chair. Togami rolled his eyes at the ridiculous pun, and he could hear Jill's exaggerated groan even from so far away.
"Not that," he said, cutting off whatever idiotic joke had been planned as a follow-up. "The human who's operating the robot in front of us. The mastermind."
"Ohhhh!" Monokuma shook his head. "You really need to be more specific about these things, you know! Good communication is absolutely critical for a class trial — otherwise we might end up with some tired old sitcom scenario that would be resolved in minutes if everyone just talked to one another." He grinned at them. "And where's the fun in that, right?"
"Pretty sure no one's having fun here but you." Jill flicked the points of her scissors towards Monokuma with an emphatic flourish.
"Really? Aw, that's too bad!" Monokuma grinned. "So you wanna end early?"
"No. We aren't stopping until we've solved the school's mysteries." Kirigiri narrowed her eyes. "And don't think that your attempt to change the subject got past me. I agree with Togami — the mastermind was the one behind Mukuro Ikusaba's death."
"Is that so?" Monokuma shrugged. "Well, this is a class trial, you know — if you want to make an accusation, you've gotta prove it!"
"Gladly." Kirigiri tilted her head towards Ogami. "I think you should have the evidence we need."
Ogami blinked, clearly taken aback when all eyes swung to zero in on her. "Me? I — I'm not sure what —"
"She means the poison bottle," Togami interrupted, scowling at Kirigiri. Her behavior now reminded him a little too much of the obnoxious way she'd acted with Naegi, refusing to share what she'd deduced and prodding him to solve mysteries on his own. It had been bad enough when they'd only been facing off against one of the other students — but now that they were up against the mastermind, there was no excuse for her to withhold information like that.
Once she'd been given the necessary information, Ogami wasted no time in pulling out the bottle. The light shining up from her podium only left a narrow space illuminated, but she did her best to position the bottle so that as much of it as possible could be seen.
Of course, that didn't stop Monokuma from leaning forward and squinting at it in a ridiculously exaggerated show. "Eh? Whuzzat? Did you stop by the cafeteria before showing up for the trial?"
"Only if you've started decorating the kitchen supplies with skulls," Togami said, rolling his eyes. He wouldn't have been surprised to see the symbol of deadly poison show up on food the mastermind had left for them to eat, but fortunately it had never been an issue. If their supplies had been laced with anything, it hadn't been labeled.
"You know what it is," Kirigiri said, finally picking up the thread of her own argument. "This is the last of the three bottles of poison that could have been used in Ikusaba's murder — the bottle that we sealed in a dojo locker before Ikusaba's murder occurred."
"Sealed and burned the key," Togami added, just to make sure it was clear.
"Oh? So no one could've gotten into that locker, is that what you're saying?" Monokuma tilted his head. "Not even with an extra special key and a sneaky hidden lock?"
"It doesn't matter whether someone could have gotten into the locker again," Kirigiri said. "The point is that we didn't — otherwise the poison bottle wouldn't still be there, intact and unopened."
"And since Fukawa used one bottle of poison during her murder plot, that only leaves one bottle unaccounted for." Togami smirked up at the robot. "The unopened poison bottle that you confiscated after it was used as evidence in the fourth trial."
"Wh-what? You mean you've solved a murder with basic arithmetic?" Monokuma drew back in shock — and then stopped the motion halfway through. "Yeah, right! Your math only works if you're abso-tively convinced about where that last bottle was. Who's to say I didn't hide it in an exciting goodie bag for some lucky winner in the class?"
Because they hadn't. Togami knew they hadn't, without even turning to see the expressions on the three girls' faces. Their actions before and after the fifth trial, the way they'd argued and accused one another, none of it would make sense of any of them had been behind Ikusaba's murder.
Ogami had been the one to drag him from the dark emptiness that had initially consumed him after that trial. She'd helped him try to learn the truth about what had happened to Naegi even before they'd been charged with solving the school's mysteries.
Jill had found him in the garden… and she'd stopped him from making an irrevocable decision. She'd opened his eyes to the real horror of the mastermind's game, telling him about the two years of memories they'd all lost.
And Kirigiri… she'd been the one to convene this trial in the first place, the one to challenge the mastermind and fight to end the game. She'd told him the truth of her mistakes, her fears and her missteps, everything she'd done that had led to the last trial's hideous finale.
None of them had done what the mastermind claimed. It didn't fit with everything he knew, everything he'd learned. It was impossible.
"Aw, out of comebacks already?" Monokuma heaved a sigh. "I'm starting to think you guys just aren't into this anymore."
"That's because your argument is ridiculous," Togami said. "The four of us all know we didn't do this."
"Eh? The four of you?" Monokuma tilted his head. "Oh, well, sure if that's the issue — no complaints here!" He grinned. "After all, Makoto Naegi was the culprit you all chose, remember?"
Schedule Note: And that's where I'm going to have to leave you for a couple weeks. I hate to do this so soon after the last time, but it turns out that Real Life doesn't actually stop just because I have important story writing to do! Next chapter will be posted on March 31, 2019.
Thank you for being patient with me as I try to balance reality with the much more interesting fanfic world in my head! :) See you in a few weeks!
