Chapter 4: Day 2
Time had slipped away from Togami, much as it always did when he found himself engrossed in a good novel. He hadn't anticipated spending so much of his afternoon in the library, but between a good book and the joy of the calm, peaceful silence surrounding him, there was little incentive to explore or do anything else. At first, he had planned to dedicate himself to the archive for the majority of the afternoon. Monokuma's words about his family's philosophy disturbed him, and there was clearly secret information being kept here. But a second glance revealed that much of what was contained were files he already knew the contents of. And if he was to be stuck in this building for 50 days, he needed to keep something fun for later, didn't he? Solving the mystery now suddenly seemed boring.
And so he decided to use the time to actually enjoy himself. Finding a seat at the table and pulling a few books from the shelves, he took an extension cord and desk lamp from the archive and set up a small reading station before opening the first of the books. It was one of his favorite classics, an easy book to dive into [at least for him], and soon the surrounding school was forgotten, with Togami transported to the world in the novel. He only stopped when he reached the halfway point of the book and glanced up at the time, where he was surprised to see it was well into the evening hours.
He smirked as he straightened in his seat and cracked his neck. "Perhaps the others have taken the hint that I don't want to be disturbed with their activities," he reflected, somewhat surprised at how his afternoon had gone by without a single interruption. "Not once did any of them come searching for me or bother me. Just the way it should be."
Closing his book, he stood from his seat and flicked the desk lamp off. "Besides, it's well past dinnertime, so that means they should all be doing other things. But I need to eat before that damned bear locks down the cafeteria." He looked down at the pile of books he had picked off the shelves, all classics, with most of them ones he had planned to read but never had the time to. He grabbed his current book as well as another, figuring it probable that he would be up late into the night, then turned and exited the library. The hallway was empty and silent, and he strode down the corridor to the stairs before coming out into the main first floor hallway. Both sets of doors leading into the gym were open, and in the distance, Togami could hear the other students playing some sort of ball game.
He grimaced, hoping against hope that they weren't stupid enough to play games around all the items they had uncovered today. If they broke anything...
Passing by the nurse's station, the school store, and two classrooms, Togami made his way towards the dining hall. The automatic lights flicked on as he entered, and he smiled upon finding the room devoid of others. Setting his books down at the long, center table, he entered the kitchen and was greeted by boxes of fruits, vegetables, and all sorts of cooking utensils and equipment.
"It would've been nice if the bear had at least hired a chef," he thought as he approached and opened the refrigerator. "Then we wouldn't-"
He blinked in surprise. Sitting on the center shelf was a wrapped plate. A sticky note was attached that had his name written on it, along with a short message. He took the sticky note and read "Togami, Saved you a plate! And bowl too! -Naegi."
Naegi? The commoner boy had cooked this? Slowly, as if it was toxic, Togami pulled the plate out. "Looks to be some sort of fried rice combination." Peeking back inside the refrigerator, he saw next to where the plate had been a small soup bowl that was also wrapped. "And what appears to be mushroom soup. The most basic of basic meals."
And yet it looked relatively well prepared. Pulling off the seran wrap, he sniffed it and smelled only fragrant scents, nothing to indicate poison or staleness. And the soup still smelled fine. Before he knew what he was doing, he put the plate in the microwave and began to heat it up. He knew the others would learn that he had indeed eaten their prepared food, thus implying he had given in to them, but Togami also wasn't in the mood for cooking anything himself.
No, if Naegi had cooked him a meal, he'd at least eat it to avoid further questions. "The last thing I need is for them to harass me about my caloric intake," he reasoned as he next heated up the soup. The very thought of eating microwaved food disgusted him to his core, but he couldn't deny his hunger, either. Grabbing a pair of chopsticks, he took a bite of the rice. "Too much salt, though there's no surprise. And obviously a very bland set of flavors. Still, it'll have to suffice." The microwave beep rang out, and grabbing a spoon and the soup bowl, Togami returned to the dining room.
He was startled to see Naegi Makoto sitting at the same table where his things were.
"What are you doing here?" inquired Togami. He approached the table and set his food down as Naegi glanced up from what appeared to be an empty notebook.
"Oh, Togami!"
"Yes, that's my name."
Naegi chuckled awkwardly, his gaze quickly flicking down to the plate of rice. "I'm happy you saw the food. I was a little worried when you didn't show up for dinner."
"I fail to see how that's any concern of yours," Togami retorted as he took his seat. Naegi was sitting directly across from him, as though there were no other chairs at the long table. "The nerve of this kid."
"Well, we need everyone in top shape if we're going to get out of here," Naegi countered, looking at Togami with a serious expression. "It's obvious that you don't care to be around us, but we need you to help as much as everyone if we're going to build these things. And I didn't want you going hungry, so I..." Togami frowned at the sincere tone in Naegi's voice, yet Naegi himself seemed flustered by his sudden confidence. Blushing, he quickly added, "A-Anyway, I'm going to make some tea before getting started on this. Do you want anything? I know you just came from the kitchen, but..."
"Coffee," Togami replied. "And not the mud that was made this morning."
"Well, I don't really know how to make coffee… Besides the instant stuff."
Togami sighed heavily. "Can no one do anything around here?" Glancing down at the notebook, he reached forward and took both the notebook and the pen from Naegi, ignoring the boy's protests. He then tore out the last page and wrote out a set of instructions before handing it back. "Tape this to the wall in the back so that everyone knows how to prepare a cup in the future," he instructed. "This should suffice."
He watched Naegi read the instructions and look up at him with a confused expression. Togami glared back, daring the brown-haired student to complain, but Naegi merely muttered, "I'll try my best," before he made his way back to the kitchen.
And once again, Togami was alone. He sipped at the mushroom soup before continuing to eat the rice. It was one of the most uninspiring meals he had ever eaten, but even Naegi had made a good point. "Going hungry in this place will no doubt make me the weakest link," he reflected. "And I cannot afford that at all costs. No matter how ludicrous this situation is, I will not be seen as the reason for us falling behind."
As he slowly ate, however, Togami's gaze wandered up to the security camera. It, too, was turned off. "Who is providing us with all this food, I wonder… Monokuma noted in the opening school assembly that the school had access to government resources. And my findings in the archive confirm that the connection is at least plausible. But why would the government set up this elaborate scheme of keeping us hostages? If this whole thing was honestly for someone's amusement, wouldn't the cameras be on?" He shook his head at his thoughts. "There's no point in considering the matter. Clearly some sort of deviant is responsible for this mess, and there's no understanding someone like that. No, the only thing I can do is focus on getting these backups done and getting out of here. Kirigiri can question and investigate the school all she wants, but that doesn't remove the metal sheets from the windows or open the front door. I'll investigate as I get bored, but ultimately, I won't solve anything until I escape this place. Then I'll make those who set up this disgusting spectacle pay."
He set the plate aside and held the bowl up to his lips. Just as he sipped the last of it, he heard the clinking sound of ceramic and glanced over. Naegi was finally coming back with two cups, moving slowly to avoid any spills. "At least he had the decency to grab saucers," Togami observed, watching as the boy set the small plates and cups down.
"I, uh, did my best," Naegi muttered, sliding the cup of coffee across the table. Immediately Togami felt a sense of dread, but he took the cup in hand and felt the steam rise. The smell was heady and strong, and he couldn't keep the smile off his face as the fragrance flooded his senses.
"Well, if nothing else, it already smells better than this morning's concoction," he noted. Letting it sit a few seconds, he then took a sip and blinked in surprise. "This is…" He looked back at Naegi, who was sipping his own tea. "Naegi."
"Hmm?"
"You're making my coffee during our stay here at Hope's Peak. No one else is to make coffee for me while we're here."
Naegi's eyes widened in shock. "You mean, it's...good?"
"It tastes just like the coffee from home," Togami thought, taking another sip. "He can follow instructions, it seems." Realizing Naegi was waiting for an answer, he merely replied, "I don't trust the others to make it like this, and this will suffice while we're trapped here."
Naegi smiled, then looked back down at his notebook. Togami took another sip before grabbing his own novel and opening up to the page he had left off. But as he did so, his gaze wandered above the book to the notebook Naegi was writing in. "I suppose it's none of my business what he's doing," he thought. "But then again, he was given a leadership position by the others, as odd as that is. If this has anything to do with his position of assigning the daily tasks, then it absolutely is within my rights to know what he is up to."
Togami closed his book and set it to the side. "What are you working on?"
"Hmm?"
"I highly doubt you're the journaling type," Togami remarked, taking the saucer in one hand and the cup in the other. Leaning back in his seat, he looked directly across the table at Naegi. "So what is it you're working on?"
"Well, Taka came up with the idea of creating a schedule…"
"Taka?"
"Ishimaru. He, uh, asked us to call him "Taka" since Hina and Hiro asked us to use nicknames." Naegi frowned, his gaze moving from Togami to the notebook. Togami sipped his coffee silently as he listened. "But anyways, while nothing is set in stone, we talked as a group during dinner about what tasks each of us prefers doing. So I'm trying to get a basic list down so that everyone at least knows what to kind of expect each day."
"And what am I marked down for, since I clearly wasn't part of this conversation?"
"Searching for items. I figured you wouldn't be interested in cleaning."
"You assumed correctly." Togami took another large sip of the delicious coffee. "So you're assigning the groups?"
Naegi shook his head. "No, n-not really. Kirigiri wants to rotate the groups this first week to see what works best. She's planning long-term, hoping to put together the most efficient groups. Like I said, nothing's really set in stone… I'm more just getting ideas down on paper, identifying who wants to do what." He chuckled and added, "This is so weird, you know? When I came here, I definitely didn't expect to be doing this."
"You and everyone else." Sighing, Togami noted, "Well, I suppose I'll let you work, then." Grabbing his book, he once more opened it and continued reading, soon becoming engrossed in the subtle politicking of the main characters. He half expected Naegi at some point to interrupt him or try to continue the conversation, but to his astonishment, Naegi simply sipped his hot tea and wrote, the most noise made being whenever he had to erase a large chunk of writing.
It was a surprisingly comfortable silence, one that caused Togami to hide a small smile behind his book. After all, he realized that this was all he could really ask for if he was to have to suffer being around others. Comfortable silence and a decent cup of coffee.
Author's Note: So I got a little excited and decided to post another chapter this weekend. This at least sets up the "coffee alliance." From here on out, it'll be one chapter per week, usually posted sometime on the weekend. Hope you all are enjoying it thus far!