Chapter 33: Day 31

"When do you think Monokuma will actually like what we make?"

"When Hell freezes over."

Naegi scoffed and shook his head as he sipped his cup of coffee. It was lunchtime, and the morning had gone just as well as expected. Meaning Monokuma had bitched up another storm about their backup, lamented that the students had technically completed his task regardless, and assigned yet another stupid backup.

Togami took a sip of his own coffee, irritated beyond belief at how the morning had gone. He didn't get a chance to tell Kirigiri about Monokuma's warning, but Monokuma had shot Togami a look that told him that the 'failure' of the backup meant the warning was in effect. The corporate heir hated to admit it, but he was unnerved by the threat. After all, the mastermind had all the power here. He could keep them locked away for months...years…

If he was powerful enough to wipe their memories, he was powerful enough to hold them hostage for longer.

The sound of the door opening caught his attention. Naegi and he were sitting in Fujisaki's dorm room, as scheduled, and he watched both Fujisaki and Kirigiri enter. Fujisaki was carrying a tray of food while Kirigiri held two sodas in her hands. "They made us sandwiches," the Ultimate Programmer remarked as she set the tray on the round, wooden table.

"Thanks for getting these!" Naegi exclaimed, smiling warmly. Togami made it a point to avoid telling Naegi anything this morning, hoping the boy's spirit would help alleviate his stress. It had. Naegi, oblivious to Togami's thoughts, pointed at the pictures of planets on the walls as Fujisaki began to distribute the sandwiches. He smiled as he said, "You never mentioned you like space!"

"Aww, I love space!" Fujisaki returned the smile and clasped their hands together. Togami leaned forward and took two of the sandwiches, setting them in front of himself and Naegi. "I take photos all the time, or at least when I can… Obviously we can't do that sort of thing here. But I can show you later."

"Later would be better, as we have quite a lot to cover," Kirigiri remarked. Indeed, as she took her seat, she grabbed a notebook from the nearby desk. Togami had his own notebook despite the fact that he still had yet to write anything down. The dreams were seared into his memory without the need for writing, and he was planning to take notes on the others' dreams rather than his own.

Fujisaki nodded and took their seat as well. For a moment, all four focused on their bland sandwiches, and an awkward silence filled the air. Togami knew Kirigiri would start their meeting once she felt the need to move on, so he took a step back, enjoyed his sandwich to the best of his ability, and took comfort in the hot cup of coffee.

"So…"

To his surprise, it was Naegi who broke the silence.

"What investigation was Monokuma talking about when he, uh…" Peeking over at the corporate heir, he muttered, "...attacked Togami?"

Fujisaki looked at Togami, who glanced over at Kirigiri. Kirigiri shrugged, and Togami sighed in frustration. "You noted how your dreams of this school seemed realistic," Togami began, realizing that the one time he wanted Kirigiri to talk, she was staying silent. "Well, you aren't the only one having such dreams. Fujisaki and I have both had dreams that left strong impressions, and Kirigiri has experienced instances of deja vu."

Naegi's eyes widened as he quickly looked between the three. "Wait, really?! So, wait… Why are we all having dreams of this school, then?"

"That's the point of the investigation," Kirigiri answered. "I approached Togami early upon awakening in this building, and we have been looking for information on what the purpose of this school and Monokuma is. Fujisaki has also been investigating online when she can."

"We've found that, well, things aren't normal here and outside the school," Fujisaki stated. "Something happened outside over a year ago that did something to the world. Something bad. We've been here for a long time. This school hasn't functioned in over a year, shutting down simultaneously while whatever happened outside, well, happened. At least, that's our current guess." Sipping their soda, Fujisaki concluded, "Basically, we don't know how long we've been prisoners here, but we've been inside this school as students for over a year, and we knew each other before 'waking up' in the classrooms."

"Wait…" Naegi's eyes blinked twice, his sandwich evidently forgotten on his plate despite his hands still holding it. "What does… What does that even mean?"

"The dreams you're having, Naegi, aren't dreams." Kirigiri's statement was full of confidence, and Togami watched as Naegi's eyes widened in shock. "They're memories. We all knew each other, then something happened outside. Our memories were erased...and we reawakened here, captives of Monokuma. That is our current hypothesis, based on the evidence thus far."

"Memories…" His gaze slowly looked between the three, as if looking for some indication that they were joking. The serious, stern expressions that met him caused him to swallow loudly. "So we were students here, after all?" A quick glance shot Togami's way didn't go unnoticed, and Togami cleared his throat as he returned his attention to his cup of coffee.

"Why our memories have been wiped eludes us," Kirigiri continued. "And why we're building the backups, even more so."

"That wasn't the initial plan." It was Togami's turn to take charge, and he pulled out the photograph from his jacket and all but slammed it on the table. "Monokuma delivered a little 'present' for me, as an 'apology' for what happened. I found a box of photographs in the archive closet showing all of us in the classroom, though he gave this one to me for...obvious reasons. For one, what I found in the archive is proof of Kirigiri's hypothesis. Those are memories we're having. The photo I saw showed all of us in a classroom wearing what I presume were the school uniforms, as they're the same uniforms Naegi and I are wearing in this photograph. The windows weren't plated, and there was information on the chalkboard, just like a normal classroom. And despite the bear's ridiculous statements, he confirmed that these photos are real."

As he spoke, the others leaned forward, and a heavy silence hung in the air. Naegi stared at the photo in shock and, after a minute or so, reached forward and slowly slid it closer to him. Fujisaki blushed before returning their gaze to Togami. Kirigiri sipped her soda as she continued taking notes.

"Further proof is what Monokuma told me this morning when he dropped off this picture," Togami continued. "He admitted outright that our memories were wiped. Apparently there was some sort of plan in place for us, but then that plan changed. Just as Kirigiri predicted. However, rather than being upset, Monokuma, or whoever the mastermind behind him is, now finds our investigation to be humorous and has decided to let us go along with it."

"So Monokuma wants us to recover our memories?" Kirigiri asked in surprise.

"He's not going to stop us," Togami corrected as he grabbed the photo and returned it to his pocket. "At least in that aspect. But he may stop us from leaving this building."

"Why would he do that?" inquired Fujisaki.

"Because he's upset with our backups," answered Togami. "He told me this morning that we've been passing along on technicalities but that he hasn't liked any of the backups designed thus far. He informed me that, if this continues, he'll be keeping us here even longer."

"I wonder what the original plan for this place was, if it wasn't making the backups," Fujisaki muttered.

"There's little point in dwelling on that," remarked Kirigiri. She finished her soda and looked up at the group from her notebook. "If he's threatening our leaving date, then that means it's even more imperative we remember what happened so that we are on even footing with him. Right now, Monokuma has the upper hand. No doubt the mastermind knows what memories were stolen from us; perhaps they did it themselves. Only if we recall what happened and are able to piece together the 'why' of it all can we even begin to negotiate with him on escaping this school."

"So, who wants to start discussing their dreams?" asked Fujisaki. "We can go one at a time, if we've had more than one…"

Another moment of silence hung in the air. Togami managed to finish his sandwich and take a sip of his coffee as Fujisaki took another awkward bite.

Once again, to Togami's surprise, Naegi spoke first. Togami listened as Naegi recalled the dream of finding Togami in the classroom, paralyzed and in shock. He watched as Kirigiri wrote everything down in her notebook while Fujisaki listened intently. Once Naegi finished, Togami spoke next, telling them of both his dream of studying in his room with Naegi and his bizarre musical recollection. Fujisaki retold their story of winning the competition, and Kirigiri explained her recall of watching Naegi give Togami sheets of music. All things they, for the most part, already knew but repeated to get Naegi up to speed.

And then the next round started.

"Well… I, uh…" Naegi blushed profusely as he glanced over at Togami. "I had a dream about Togami and me. Just the two of us..."

Kirigiri chuckled, and Togami could tell immediately what the details of the dream were by Naegi's beet red cheeks. "Well, I think we're all pretty aware at this point that you two dated before this crisis started," she noted. Togami shot her a glare, but behind her humorous look was a sparkle of happiness that threw him off.

Togami sighed, realizing it was his turn. "I've also had another dream. It was snowing, and we were outside watching a snowball fight. Owada and Taka were hurling insults at each other. Naegi obtained hot chocolate for the two of us, and Hina wanted to know where we got it. Kirigiri, you scolded me for a paper I wrote on morality, or lack thereof, in warfare." Kirigiri smirked, and even Fujisaki chuckled.

"That sounds pretty accurate," Fujisaki noted. "Was I in the dream, Togami?"

"You were… And you were...different." He slowly looked at Fujisaki, and understanding painted itself across their features when Togami refused to continue.

"Oh…"

"Yes. That came up. And nobody in the dream was surprised. In fact, we were all very much aware and supportive."

"So then… You know? Or, I guess I should say, you remember?"

"Know what?" asked Kirigiri.

"Um… Well… I, uh…"

Togami cleared his throat as Fujisaki bit their lower lip. "It's nothing that impacts the investigation right now. Fujisaki can tell us later."

Kirigiri frowned as Fujisaki wrung their hands together. "I… I'll tell you at our next meeting," they whispered. "Just… I need some time." Looking at Togami, they muttered, "Please don't tell anyone. Not yet."

"Of course not. It's not my place. In any event, it tells us that we were here a significant amount of time. Fujisaki's dream was in summer, but mine was in winter." Glancing over at Naegi, he asked, "Do you recall what time it was that your dream took place? The one where I supposedly had a mental breakdown?"

"Well, it wasn't snowing," Naegi remarked. "I remember it being sunny...and I think we were wearing our summer uniforms." Rubbing the back of his neck, he said, "Yeah, now that I think of it, I was wearing short-sleeves. So it couldn't have been fall or winter."

"Your dream is the closest thing we have to whatever outside event occurred," noted Kirigiri. "After all, yours is the only one where one of us is reacting."

"No, I had one, too…" All eyes shot to Fujisaki, who blushed as they explained, "My first dream. The one I took the day off for. In it, I had been working on a computer program for over a year, and I was so excited to show it to my dad, who is also a software programmer. That's how it began, anyway."

Kirigiri blinked in surprise. "You've had multiple dreams?"

Fujisaki nodded. "Yeah. Two back-to-back, then another more recently. I told you of my other dream because this one was just...so hard to explain. You see, in my dream, I went to tell him about the program, but then I learned that, um, his company was...destroyed." Sipping their soda, Fujisaki inhaled as if to steady their nerves before continuing, "I got the news from a teacher. They came to me with an envelope. My dad's company had been targeted by some group. He was at work when it happened, and he… He ran away. Sent a letter to the school, telling me to be safe. He said he would work to keep Mom safe, as well, but that I should focus on staying in the school for my own protection and rely on the friends I had made."

Togami's eyes widened as Naegi gasped in shock. "He told you to stay here?"

Fujisaki nodded. "He was so sincere, too. His letter repeated the same phrase a few times. "Stay in the school. Don't leave." When I woke up, I didn't know what to make of it…"

Togami frowned. "It's one thing to be forced to stay here," the corporate heir observed, "But that sounds almost like it was our choice… As though we had the ability to leave."

"I agree," noted Kirigiri. "That seems rather bizarre."

"I mean, maybe we did have the ability at one point." Togami turned to look at Naegi, whose gaze was pondering over his cup of coffee. "Think about it, given what we know. We were all brought to this school. We were all invited to this school as Ultimate Students. And if our dreams are true, then we had a normal school life at some point, maybe even for a year or longer. Then something happened outside...and the school was closed and shut down. Could we have been given the choice to stay or leave?"

"That doesn't explain the missing memories," Kirigiri noted, "But...that's not a terrible hypothesis, either."

"But why would I have stayed, if that's the case?" thought Togami. "The Togami Corporation has all the resources and assets available to tackle any problem. Why would I choose to stay here?" Peeking over at Naegi, he briefly thought, "Did I stay...because of him?"

It was an odd thought, one that forced him to finish his cup of coffee.

"Well, I think this was a good start," concluded Kirigiri as she closed the notebook. "We should meet like this each time one of us has a dream. Togami, you should stay out of the archive from now on, though."

"I'm going to check it one more time," he argued. "I want to see for myself that that button is destroyed."

"Then be careful when you do so. In the meantime, I want to work on creating a potential timeline of events. Fujisaki, can you continue hacking into the database now that Monokuma has apparently given us some leeway?"

"O-Of course."

"What about me?" asked Naegi, glancing around at the group. "And the others, for that matter?"

"We're not telling the others," Kirigiri stated. "It would create too much chaos for everyone to learn the truth right now. Especially when we don't have a firm grasp of what that truth is."

"Focus on keeping everyone else focused," Togami instructed. "You've been good at keeping people from straying or wallowing. Continue doing that. And drop hints that Monokuma dislikes our backups to keep them engaged with their tasks."

"It just...seems wrong to keep them out of the loop."

"They'll be brought in when we're ready for them to be brought in. Until then, it's pointless."

"But if the others are having dreams, wouldn't it help us put together a timeline?"

"It would also alert Monokuma even more, and who knows if he would attack the others like he did me. You think the others wouldn't start searching through the school looking for clues as to what's going on? They'd waste time and be distracted, and then our backups wouldn't be done on time. It would lead to our deadline being pushed back at best and potential danger from the mastermind at worst."

"I… I guess you're right." Togami frowned at Naegi's defeated expression, but he couldn't lie about this like he had lied about the archive closet. There was too much at stake, and Naegi had to be aware of it, no matter the severity of the matter.

"Okay, well, I guess we should all split up then," Fujisaki remarked. "I mean, I can imagine Fukawa's stalking around outside somewhere…"

Both Naegi and Togami groaned, and Kirigiri chuckled as she stood from her seat. "Then, in the spirit of Taka, let's say the meeting is adjourned."

Togami stood and watched as Fuijsaki began collecting their dishes and piling them on the tray. Naegi offered to help, and soon they all exited the dorm room. Togami watched as Naegi followed Fujisaki, and he sighed before slowly meandering to his own dorm room.

"One conversation down...and one to go."