Chapter 22: Day 21

Togami thought it would be more of a challenge to contain his curiosity, but by the third break day, even he was exhausted from the excess work. Hiro and Kuwata's wounds had healed enough where they could return to work the following day, but that meant Togami's previous days had been full of finding items, tending their wounds, and distracting himself from his desire to search the archives high and low. He thought for certain that, once their day off came, he would be rushing to the archives to tear them apart. Now, the very thought felt overwhelming.

Clearly he wasn't the only one struggling. As the other students finished cleaning their dishes, Togami watched them all slowly exit the dining hall, most of them muttering about returning to their dorms, napping, or going to the bath to relax. He himself entered the main hallway only to come to a halt, indecision plaguing his mind. "I need to know if there's any proof of Kirigiri's claims," Togami thought, his gaze landing on the hallway that he knew would lead to the stairway. "The very notion that our memories have been tampered with is insanity. It's not something I want to consider. But it would explain why we can't remember how we got here...or what happened to this school." Just thinking about such a monumental revelation caused Togami's shoulders to sag, however, and he felt the weight of the search pressing down on him.

"Hey, Togami?" Blinking at the familiar voice, Togami turned and saw Naegi approaching him, that carefree smile across his face. "Are you doing anything today?"

"Not particularly," Togami remarked, crossing his arms over his chest as he spoke. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I know the rec room is open today, and, uh, you said I needed to practice my pool techniques…"

Togami's eyes widened, and before he could catch himself, a small smile crossed his lips at the invitation. "I suppose I could spare some time to play a few rounds," he answered.

"Awesome! When do you want to play?"

"We might as well get this over with sooner than later. After all…" Pointing at the other students, he noted, "Most of them won't be bothering us this morning, if their behavior is anything to note."

Naegi chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I thought about napping, too, to be honest. But I feel like that's kind of a waste of the day off, ya know?"

Togami smirked at the obvious cover-up. After all, Naegi still hadn't broached the topic of the incident in the medical wing, and if an opportunity was knocking, it was clearly doing so now. And yet Togami found himself nodding and following the other student down the hallway towards the stairs. "Might as well get this out of the way and be done with it. I'd honestly be surprised if he even wanted to play pool in the first place."

Climbing the stairs to the third floor, the two soon entered the empty recreation room. Just as they entered the room, however, Togami closed the door shut and leaned against it. The action was enough to get Naegi's attention, and the boy turned and blinked in surprise as Togami crossed his arms over his chest once more. "Naegi…" He sighed. He didn't want to be aggressive, but gods did he hate wasting time. "Is this really about billiards? Or is this about what happened a few days ago with Kuwata and Hiro?"

Naegi's jaw dropped, and a light blush spread across his cheeks. Togami smirked, figuring he had confirmed his suspicions, when Naegi replied, "I mean, I did honestly want to play some rounds of pool with you. I… Not that I'm not curious about what happened, b-but…"

Togami's eyes slowly widened as the truth hit him. "Wait… So this…"

Naegi chuckled awkwardly and chided Togami, saying, "I think you're giving me too much credit. Kirigiri told me to let that whole thing go. I didn't want to bug you about it and upset you… I honestly just wanted to play a few rounds and relax since these last few days have been kinda brutal."

"And why would Kirigiri say that?" Togami frowned, recalling some of her words from their last conversation. "She thinks she had a memory of Naegi and me… So why would she tell him not to ask me about what happened? And, more importantly, why does that bother me?"

"I dunno. But if you don't want to play, that's fine," Naegi remarked, looking directly at Togami. "I just figured–"

"That's not what I meant," Togami interrupted. "I simply decided that if you were interested, I would answer your questions now, before we started playing."

"I mean, of course I'm interested!" Naegi exclaimed, spreading his hands out as he spoke. "You just seemed so confident, like you knew exactly what to do. I wouldn't even know where to start with how big that gash was, but you cleaned it up without any problems. I thought for sure we'd have to convince Monokuma to let us out of here somehow."

"Monokuma won't let us go," Togami replied. "I did what was necessary."

"So… Then how did you know?" Naegi's expression turned serious as he put his hands in his pockets. "Did it have something to do with what Monokuma said?"

It was Togami's turn to frown. "So you heard that conversation?" he slowly asked.

"Not really. The only thing I could hear before he left was how you were, um, 'bedridden' at some point." Naegi's eyes filled with worry as he asked, "Were you sick for awhile?"

Togami scoffed, realizing how late into the exchange Naegi had entered. "No, I wasn't sick," Togami answered, still leaning against the door. Something in the back of his mind told him Fukawa was no doubt standing outside, staring at the back of his head through the circular window, but he brushed it aside. "I was injured rather badly. Enough that I wasn't able to return to a normal schedule for a few weeks."

Naegi's eyes widened. "What?! What...happened?"

"I've told you enough about my family that you should've put it together by now. We had to fight for what we had. And not just in the resources, but in obtaining said resources. My family's inheritance system is not guaranteed. So many of you probably assume that I was just born into wealth, that I was handed it at birth. That couldn't be further from the truth." Inhaling as anger at such a notion shot through him, Togami steadied his breath before continuing. "I had to fight each and every one of my half-siblings, all fifteen of them, to get to where I am today. One of those fights was with my violin. I proved a half-sister was incompetent at learning instruments, and she was removed. Each time I won, the family disowned the half-sibling and sent them away. If I wanted to keep the Togami name, if I wanted to be the next heir of the Togami clan, then I had to keep fighting and keep winning. Else I would be exiled from the family, stripped of everything, even my own name, and cast out with commoners."

"But… But that's…" Togami wasn't surprised to see the mixture of emotions across Naegi's face. Sadness, anger, confusion, all of it and more. To a commoner, it would sound brutal, maybe even barbaric.

But to Togami, it had been reality, uncaring and unforgiving.

"One of my fights with a half-brother led to my knowledge of basic medicine," Togami continued. "We were to have a fencing duel, winner take all. I was adequate with fencing, but my half-brother wasn't, and I thought it was a curious bet. I let my curiosity get the better of me and accepted. He brought a real sword to the fight, and my father watched and waited. He didn't stop the duel as I anticipated. So with a fencing saber, I had to ward off my half-brother's attacks."

Pushing himself off the door, Togami took a step towards Naegi, whose face was so pale he looked ready to be sick. "I managed to survive by disarming him and demanding he concede, but by then, I was already numb from the pain. My fencing armor was cut apart, and I was bleeding heavily. I collapsed shortly afterwards. My father stated I won, but the damage had been done. I lost a lot of blood. I was unconscious for a few days. Then, when I came to, the nurse whom they hired didn't seem to care that much for me. I had to assume she was either another test or that a half-sibling had bought her out. I took as many supplies as I could and bandaged myself up with the research I had available. By the time I was fully healed, I had read through three medical books just out of boredom."

Naegi didn't speak. He was staring, listening, but with a look that fluctuated between disgust and pity. Togami sighed at the expression. He shook his head. "I don't need any of your pity. I won, after all. I was chosen. I'm the last remaining child, the first youngest son ever to lay claim to the Togami name. With that name, and with those sacrifices, I'll do great things. That's all there is to it. And, to ultimately answer your question, that's how someone of my standing and lineage learned the proper way to clean and manage wounds. From the battle that I won."

For a few seconds, the two merely stood and stared at one another. Togami began to wonder if it had been a mistake, if he shouldn't have told Naegi, when the lucky student slowly approached him until he was standing a mere step or two before the corporate heir. Looking up directly at Togami with a set jaw, Naegi whispered, "I'm sorry."

Togami's frown deepened as his eyebrows knit in confusion. "For what?"

"For the fact that I… I'll never not be able to feel sorry for you for going through that," Naegi stated. "I couldn't imagine fighting my sister for something like my last name. I couldn't ever imagine it… And I wouldn't want to. But to be honest, that's not even the part that really bothers me."

"Then what part does?" asked Togami, feeling slightly uncomfortable with how close Naegi was to him. Their gazes were still locked on one another, yet despite his discomfort, Togami couldn't look away. Naegi's eyes seemed to be taking in Togami's expression, as if seeking some answer.

And then, taking Togami completely off guard, Naegi raised his arms and took that last step forward. He wrapped his arms around Togami and pressed his face against his chest. With hands pressed gently against Togami's back, he whispered, "I don't like the idea that you were hurt."

Togami would have laughed at the simple answer if he wasn't so taken aback by Naegi's forwardness. Yet again, the other's response threw him off balance. Looking down at the head of brown hair pressed against him, Togami felt his heart beat rapidly inside his chest. He should have pushed Naegi away. He should have been reviled by the lack of personal space. He should have been mortified by the lack of propriety.

But he didn't. He couldn't.

Instead, he placed his hands on Naegi's shoulders, then let his arms slide around Naegi's back and underneath the hood of his hoodie until he was practically returning the embrace. A soft warmth spread all throughout his body where Naegi was touching him, reminding him of the feelings from his dream. He had to fight, literally fight, against his body that sought to betray him. More than anything, he suddenly wanted to rest his head on top of Naegi's. His hands wanted to grasp onto him. His arms wanted to tighten. His body wanted to do things that his mind vehemently warned against.

Togami realized he had been silent for far too long. "You… You really don't have to worry about that," he stuttered, hating how his voice matched in volume, as though the two were sharing a private moment.

"I don't have to… But I do."

"Well don't. We're here in this school now. Monokuma isn't going to hurt me, and neither will any of my former half-siblings."

Togami could have sworn Naegi tightened his arms around him just slightly, but before he could question it, the boy released his hold and took a step back. Swallowing, Naegi nodded and said, "No, I promise… I promise Monokuma won't hurt you."

Togami smirked, letting his own hands fall back down to his sides, ignoring the loss of warmth as Naegi took another step back. His heart was still beating heavily in his chest. His eyes locked onto Naegi's once more, and the passionate concern emanating from Naegi's gaze was practically enough to overwhelm him. Doing his absolute best to appear unfazed, Togami adjusted his glasses and said, "You don't have to worry about that. We've been here for three weeks now, and he hasn't truly threatened any of us. Worry about yourself, Naegi."

Naegi blushed and nodded. "Okay. And, uh… S-Sorry...about all this."

Shaking his head, Togami replied, "Stop apologizing. I offered to tell, and now you can stop worrying about it."

Naegi chuckled. "It was really obvious, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was. Now come on, let's play some billiards, since you said you were genuinely interested in doing so." Watching as Naegi nodded and approached the pool table, Togami sighed before taking another step forward, doing his best to ignore the pounding in his chest.