Jill's eyes narrowed at Kirigiri's words, silver flashing at her fingers, and for a moment Togami thought she would let the scissors fly across the circle. But in the end, she only let the blades spin in a harmless circle instead of impaling Kirigiri in the middle of the trial. He let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding, not sure if it was from disappointment or relief.
"So are you solving a different mystery from the rest of us now, Nancy Drew?" she asked, her tone light and cheery enough to send chills down his spine. "Cause I'm pretty sure no one's been manipulating me in this one!"
"You can call it something else if you like." Kirigiri shrugged a single shoulder, as if the enraged murderer glaring at her hardly mattered. "But the fact remains that you attacked him twice without actually killing him."
"What, you wanted to see him all opened up with a few hard blades jammed in all the right places? Didn't think that was your thing!" Jill's tongue flicked out in a revolting leer. "Sorry, but I can't help you out — I'm only into my darling White Knight these days! My little fling with his personal cutie was never serious, and I'm not gonna go all the way with him unless they're both offering a two-for-one special!"
"Absolutely not," Togami snapped, even though Kirigiri didn't even acknowledge his interruption. He wasn't sure if Jill meant a double murder or some equally horrifying sexual encounter, but he was not going to let her contemplate either.
Jill flashed a quick grin at him, and that was somehow even more disturbing than when she ogled him. "No worries, darling, I know you're not the sharing type! Which is why," she spun back towards Kirigiri again, "I never meant to kill his boyfriend!"
"I'm aware of that," Kirigiri said calmly, with no outward evidence that she had to be exerting considerable patience. "You've made it perfectly clear that you didn't actually want him dead in either instance. However, even knowing it would annoy Togami, you attacked Naegi anyway."
"Sure, cause he pissed me off!" Jill tossed her braids. "Of course no one's as smart as master, but I know Big Mac's bright enough to learn running his mouth about Gloomy just ends in pain for everyone!"
"You'd think he would have understood that after your first warning," Kirigiri said. "When he and I met you in the garden, while we were exploring the fifth floor for the first time, you made it perfectly clear that you didn't want to discuss Fukawa. Anyone else who had a pair of scissors thrown at his head, resulting in a deep cut to his ear, would have known that it would be dangerous to bring her up again — but from what you've told us about the library, that's exactly what Naegi did."
"He wanted to help her," Togami interrupted, drawing Jill's attention back to himself before she could make another stupid joke in response. "He knew she was upset — it isn't any more complicated than that. Are you seriously surprised that his first reaction was to try to comfort her?"
"Considering the threat that it should have presented to his own personal safety? Yes." She didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed at such an outrageous claim, though it wasn't like he'd expected anything better from her. "As I understand it, Jill had locked herself in the library at the time, so she wasn't in any immediate danger. She'd made it quite clear she wanted to be alone for a while — isn't that right?" She raised an eyebrow in Jill's direction.
"I dunno, depends if you call barricading the door a mixed message!"
"No, I'd call that extremely easy to understand. After all, that kind of blockade should have been difficult for anyone other than Ogami to get past."
"Even I might have had some trouble, between the furniture and the door," Ogami offered, forehead creasing in thought. "Knowing how it was constructed now, I believe I would have been able to manage it, but it's a risky endeavor to break down a barricade without observing the entire structure from the start. I would have preferred to avoid it unless we had reason to think there was danger on the other side."
"Plus you'd decided to take your toys and go home!" Jill flicked the point of her scissors at her for emphasis. "You weren't up for a play date any more than I was."
"So as far as you were concerned, the door should have been secure," Kirigiri said, with the air of an unassailable conclusion. "You deliberately set up a situation where you would be alone. And the only reason that you weren't was because one person out of the entire group had a way to get around a barricaded door."
Makoto's hand would have dropped to hang nerveless and limp at his side, if Togami hadn't held it firmly in his own. "That had nothing to do with Jill. Monokuma forced those tickets on Makoto long before Jill even thought about hiding in the library!"
"That's certainly what he told us. It might even be true." She shrugged, as though it didn't matter. "Regardless of when and how he acquired those tickets, the point is that out of all of the players in the school at that time, Naegi was the only one to have them. And he didn't tell anyone else that he had an edge that the rest of us didn't even know existed."
"Using it to get into a room another student was actually occupying at the time hardly qualifies as keeping it secret," Togami scoffed. "Even if he'd intended to do so, entering an apparently closed room would be a clear giveaway that something was wrong."
"Oh?" Kirigiri's eyes flicked back to Jill. "Then you immediately questioned Naegi about his unexpected appearance in the library? You demanded a full accounting of his actions and refused to proceed until he'd explained every detail to your satisfaction?"
Jill snorted. "Sounds way more like your idea of a good time than mine! Not like I really cared how he got it — I just figured it was that bear up to some screwy shit again!"
"And Naegi didn't correct your assumption."
"I imagine he had other concerns at the time," Togami cut in. "Considering that this was about the time he found himself face to face with a vicious scissor-wielding killer."
"Aw, darling, keep dropping those compliments my way and you'll make me blush!" Jill clapped her hands to her cheeks to hide the pink tinge, giggling like a schoolgirl.
"The scissors are exactly my point," Kirigiri said, responding directly to Togami without acknowledging Jill's commentary. "He used his advantage to get himself locked in a room with a volatile killer, and then repeated the actions that had previously provoked her into an attack."
"So not only is he the mastermind now, he's an idiot as well?" Togami would have rolled his eyes if he dared take them off her. "If the situation really had developed the way you described, he would've been trying to get himself killed! It only makes sense for Makoto to do something so foolish if he's the person he appears to be, who genuinely believes the best of everyone."
"Not quite. It also makes sense if he knew Jill didn't want him dead. She just admitted as much, but she's repeated it several times — including in the trial we'd just gone through right before this particular incident." She shook her head. "No, it would have been a risky move, but not necessarily foolish. Not when everyone else in the school had every reason to save his life."
"You're saying Mahkyutie wanted me to give his arm an air hole?" A single burst of laughter snorted from Jill, dark and low rather than her usual high-pitched cackle. "Pretty sure that's not his kinda kink — and even if it was, he could've asked my White Knight to hold the scissors instead. Bet master would've done it if he'd whipped out the puppy dog eyes! Would've been a way safer way to get it done, too, without the falling furniture and head injury!"
"The attack happened as it did for a reason," Kirigiri said, apparently deciding to proceed as if Jill had made her counterargument in a rational manner. "Since the situation put Naegi's life in danger and confined him to bed, it provided him with a clear alibi for Mukuro Ikusaba's trial."
