Chapter 24: Day 24

Two days had come and gone, yet Togami was still no closer to an answer to any of his problems.

He sighed heavily and leaned against a bookshelf in the library, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple just above his glasses. Moving outside the archive, he had thought to maybe find a clue, a code to crack, perhaps even a riddle in the layout of the books in the library. He had scanned the titles of the books, examining for any less-than-obvious layouts or titles that seemed to be out of place, all for nothing. He hated the fact that Fujisaki was clearly making some sort of progress, even if it was slow-going, and Kirigiri had all but tested every door in the building, yet his own search for answers and clues was coming up short.

He had to be missing something. Monokuma wouldn't have come to him with the warning if there wasn't something to be found. Kirigiri wouldn't be telling him to stay in the archive if she didn't have faith that Togami would find something. But just what it was eluded him, making him feel useless to the investigation. And Togami Byakuya would never be the weakest link.

Pushing himself off the bookshelf, he approached the nearby table and grasped onto the cup of coffee, which was now turning cold. He stared for a brief moment at it, holding it in both hands. Naegi had made him his cup of coffee for dinner, as a majority of the students were discussing going to the gym and playing a game of soccer afterwards, meaning the lucky student wouldn't be around.

Togami felt the emptiness in the room...and suddenly, he hated it. He realized in shock it was the first night he would be spending alone, without Naegi, in nearly a week. Now, he was by himself, and he hated how it affected him. He hated how weak and vulnerable it made him feel. But more than anything, he hated how everyone's observations, from Kirigiri's snide comments to Monokuma's outright jesting, now seemed authentic. More than authentic.

It was why Togami had been banging his head against the wall, figuratively and at times literally, searching for something in the library. Anything to keep his mind off his growing attachment to Naegi. Anything to keep himself from admitting what he logically knew was happening. Anything to deny what he wanted to have happen...what he was starting to irrationally desire.

In one swift motion, he lifted the cup and drank the remainder of the coffee before setting the empty cup and saucer back down on the table. He went to return to the bookshelf when the sound of the door to the library opened. He glanced up and was surprised to see Fujisaki and Kirigiri entering, with Kirigiri shutting the door behind her. Fujisaki looked rather upset, while Kirigiri's expression was all serious.

"Found something?" he asked, knowing right away the direction the conversation would be going.

"You could say that," Kirigiri replied. The two approached and took their seats at the table where Togami's empty cup sat. Togami also took his seat, sliding the cup to the side. "But first, anything on your end?"

"No. I've been investigating the library here for something suspicious and have yet to find anything."

"But not the archive?"

"I figured I'd expand my search."

"I see."

"What did you all find?" Togami watched as Fujisaki pulled out a memo pad and flipped through a few pages. Most of it, from what Togami could see, was coding material or equations, but eventually the programmer flipped to a page with notes. She set it in front of her and sighed heavily, fidgeting in her seat.

"Well… The, um, first thing I wanted to mention," Fujisaki began, her voice already trembling, "was that I had another dream. Another… Another memory, if we're going with Kirigiri's idea. It was last night, and I quickly wrote it down this morning."

"What about?"

"I dreamt that I won a programming contest being held here at the school," Fujisaki explained. "The idea was to make something unique that we could use as students. I don't remember what I created, but you all were there. Even you, Togami. Owada, Hina, Taka, everyone. You all were up in the stands, wearing school uniforms. We all went to this school. We were all students… And the bleachers were packed. I felt so scared, but when I saw you all in the stands, I was so excited, and so happy, and…" Fidgeting again, she said, "I won the contest. Then there was a party held out in the courtyard… It must have been during summer. But Hina, Ogami, and Celeste made a big platter of sweets and teas to celebrate. We ate outside. It was warm, the sun was shining… It was so nice out." Nodding, she concluded, "Then, I woke up. But it felt so real. Everyone was exactly like they are now, but we were all such close friends… And, it just…"

Togami listened, eyes wide and mouth shut. He glanced over at Kirigiri, who was looking down at the memo pad and reading Fujisaki's notes. Finally, with a large inhale, he slowly asked Kirigiri, "How do you interpret this?"

"As another memory, and as further proof that our minds have been altered before "awakening" here," Kirigiri answered, her tone harsh. "Have you had any more dreams since we last spoke, Togami?"

"No."

Fujisaki's eyes widened. "So then, Togami, you had a dream, too?"

"A short one," Togami admitted.

"What was it about, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Just… Studying for a test with some other students."

Kirigiri glanced up and perked up an eyebrow. "And that was powerful enough to leave an impression?"

"I'm not spilling the details of my dreams to you," Togami countered, shooting her a sharp glare. "Besides, I was woken up in the middle of it by someone at my door." Kirigiri's eyes softened, and she smirked before returning the memo pad to Fujisaki.

"Well, that's not all we wanted to share. Fujisaki found something via the network that caught our attention. You know how the administration shut down the school?" Togami nodded, recalling their earlier conversation. "Well, the event that transpired didn't just affect the school. Apparently there are files on the computer indicating that the event affected the entire world."

"It's described in vague terms," explained Fujisaki. "But it all points towards some sort of collapse, or maybe a revolt. But it was the headmaster's intention to shut down the school, keep the students inside, and protect them from whatever transpired."

"If that's the case, then how does that explain why we're the only 'students' here?" Togami asked, eyes widening as he processed what was actually being said. "I would understand if the administration left and the mastermind took over this place, but that doesn't necessarily fit with this new information. Wouldn't more students be here if it was meant to be a shelter? How are we the only ones left? And where does Monokuma fit into all of this?"

"Those are questions I can't answer," Fujisaki admitted. "But I'm wondering, given my own dreams, if maybe we were students at the school...and then the event happened, and we were forced to stay?"

"That's preposterous!" Togami exclaimed. "I never would have allowed myself to be forced to stay here and leave my family behind. Not only that, but again, where are the other students? What is the deal with Monokuma and the backups?"

"Maybe we didn't have a choice," Kirigiri noted. "Perhaps the mastermind kept us here, using the chaos of whatever event took place, then warped our memories to make us forget."

Togami thought for a moment in uncomfortable silence. Suspending his disbelief was difficult, but he had to look and think at it from that angle regardless. And doing so made something click, which caused a shiver to run down his spine. "I hate to admit it, but it would fall in line with our initial hypothesis, that building backups was not the original intent of our 'stay' here," he remarked. "But then, assuming all of this is true… How much time has passed between us awakening here and the event?"

"The event happened over a year ago, according to the files," Fujisaki answered. "We may be looking at a significant amount of time."

Togami felt his body turn cold in shock. "A year…?" He slowly inhaled and exhaled. "A year potentially lost… Perhaps longer…" It was hard to fathom. "But then, what about our families? Everyone we knew from the outside world? Where have they been all this time?!"

"Here's what I propose we do with this new information," Kirigiri stated, leaning forward slightly as she spoke. "We should first begin documenting these memories, these dreams, anything that strikes us as abnormal. We can then share with one another in the hopes of triggering other memories. That may give us a timeline to work with."

"I'll write them down, but I'm not sharing all the details," Togami retorted, trying his best to maintain his voice despite the shock.

"And what do you have to hide, Togami?"

"I… I actually second Togami," muttered Fujisaki, a rush of pink reaching her cheeks. "I'm more than happy to write it down, maybe even share some details, but I don't… I don't want to share all my memories, if they are, in fact, memories."

Kirigiri sighed in frustration. "Fine, then we'll at least write them down. Share the basics. Get things moving. But we cannot share this information with the others. Imagine what they would do or say if they learned this?"

"There is also the fact that we don't have any concrete evidence to support our claims," Togami noted. "We would be inciting a riot without proof. Monokuma would be all but required to step in and perhaps enact whatever the original plan was. Given that our memories may have been compromised or altered to enact the plan indicates it wasn't meant for our benefit."

"Do we want to at least share it with Naegi?" inquired Fujisaki, causing Togami to blink in surprise. "After all, he's admitted to having at least one vivid dream like us."

"I don't think that would be a good idea," answered Kirigiri. "We need him to continue keeping the peace and keeping morale up. He's done more to organize the group events than most will give him credit for. Then there's the fact that he wears his heart on his sleeve… There's no way he would be able to hide his inner turmoil if we gave him this information."

Togami slowly nodded in agreement. "No, he wouldn't be able to keep a secret," he simply added.

"So… What are we going to do?" asked Fujisaki. "Write down our dreams and continue searching?"

"That's all we can do," Kirigiri remarked. Turning to look directly at Togami, she asked, "Do you mind, though, if I ask Fujisaki to focus on something specific this next week instead?"

"What is it?"

"My identity. What I told you about earlier."

Togami slowly nodded in understanding. "That's fine. Besides, even if we uncover the truth, we still need to stay until the guns are disarmed and Monokuma releases us."

"And you'll continue searching for information in the meantime?" Again, Togami nodded. Kirigiri stood from her seat and returned the nod. "Then we'll proceed like this for now. I'll find some notebooks in the warehouse and drop them off at your dorms tonight. We can write our dreams in them."

"Sounds fine," Togami remarked as he, too, stood from his seat and grabbed his empty cup and saucer. Fujisaki was the last to stand, and all three began to exit. When Kirigiri shot Togami a look, Togami admitted, "I'm returning to my room. I need some time to process this."

"I...see." The three exited the library, and a quick glance to the left revealed Fukawa "hiding" behind one of the pillars in the hallway and staring in their direction.

"Is there a problem with that?" he asked, rolling his eyes at Fukawa before looking back at the others.

"No, it's just very honest of you to admit."

"When I have not been honest?"

"I feel like that's a question to ask yourself rather than me." As if to emphasize her point, she glanced down at the empty cup of coffee in Togami's hand. Togami felt his face flush, and he quickly looked ahead as they descended the stairs to avoid her cheeky smirk. From their position, Togami could hear the sounds of the soccer game being played in the gym.

"I'm going to drop this off," he noted, holding up his cup and saucer. "I'll keep an ear out for the doorbell tonight."

"Sounds good. We'll go into the gym for a bit, if only to cover up and say we were just checking in on you."

Togami nodded and split apart, carrying his cup down the hallway, through the dining hall, and into the kitchen. He could feel his mind going blank as the weight of the conversation began to make its presence known. "A year… perhaps even longer. Memories erased, gone, altered. Memories of this school...of all of us as students… of Naegi and I..." His legs took him back to his dorm room, and soon he found himself lying on his back in bed, staring up at the ceiling, the door to his room closed.

Without meaning to, he closed his eyes and felt the pull of sleep. It was too early for sleep, he told himself, but the thought of opening his eyes again felt like a monumental task. He should have fought it. The promise he had made to get the notebook from Kirigiri crossed his mind. He should have organized his thoughts in preparation for the notebook. He should have reflected on Kirigiri's hypothesis. He shouldn't be taking off his glasses and setting them to the side.

But he kept his eyelids shut, felt his body sink into the cushions, and let his mind drift off until he fell into a restless sleep.