Author's Note: Just an FYI - I will not be posting next week, as I will be away on vacation. I'm planning to post the next chapter on 06/23.

Chapter 42: Day 38

They all stared awkwardly at one another as they sat in Fujisaki's room. Fujisaki was no longer typing away, having found the page she needed with the information on the Tragedy that was available. Kirigiri had her notebook open and was scrolling absentmindedly through the pages. Togami sipped his coffee, and Naegi leaned against his side, purposely setting their chairs close enough to one another for him to do so. Togami glanced down and frowned at his boyfriend; he had felt Naegi tossing and turning all throughout the night. A few quick questions confirmed that it hadn't been due to dreams or nightmares, but rather, Naegi just couldn't stop thinking. About his family, his sister in particular. About what the world outside was going to be like when they finally escaped this place.

And this meeting was about to make things even worse.

"We would have been working towards graduation by now…"

The statement made Togami sigh. "We would have been working towards a lot more than that," he stated in response to Fujisaki's comment. "And it looks like, for all intents and purposes, we did have a normal school life at one point or another in this building. We were students of Hope's Peak before this Tragedy began."

"Those photographs Togami uncovered and our dreams can all testify to that," Kirigiri stated. Togami frowned, noting the harshness in her voice. Whatever she had discovered yesterday in that classroom was throwing her off her game. He could see it in her posture and expression. For perhaps the first time since they awoke all those weeks ago, she was truly unnerved by the information presented. He doubted she slept much at all the previous night. "We had normal classes. Wore a school uniform. Had relationships. Then the Tragedy occurred… And we woke up. With no memories of it."

"What have you found out about it?" asked Togami as he glanced over at Fujisaki.

"Did Monokuma even let you find info?" inquired Naegi.

Fujisaki nodded as he typed furiously away on the keyboard. "He did, and the years indicated also match what I found in my search," Fujisaki muttered. All eyes turned to him as he stopped typing and looked up from the screen. "I searched the term 'the Tragedy' in the archives and found a few files. One was mocking me for looking… I think Monokuma is going to slowly feed me the articles, at this point. Everything I'm seeing has to be from him."

"So basically you're just telling us what he's telling you?" Togami spat in disgust. "Our investigation has become an entire game to him."

"Be that as it may, it's still information we need," Kirigiri remarked.

"But is his information… Is it even accurate?" asked Naegi. "I mean, what if he's lying to us…?"

"It's a hopeful thought, but probably incorrect," Togami noted. "At this point, we can be certain that Monokuma is setting us up each step of the way. He purposely gave us time off to investigate. He purposely set the key in the tower so that we could uncover new information. He purposely left the date on the chalkboard. This whole investigation is now his toy. But be that as it may, he wants us to learn about this Tragedy. He wants us to uncover what happened. Why is anyone's guess, but if he gave me that photograph, I highly doubt he's lying to us now."

"But we can't let that stop us," Kirigiri insisted.

"I just don't understand why he'd tell us this now…after all this time…" Naegi trailed off.

"Perhaps because the truth is going to be…less than pleasant," Togami conceded. "And perhaps he thinks that the truth will keep us from our ultimate objective."

"You mean the back-ups?" asked Fujisaki.

Togami nodded. "If we are so distraught by the information we find, if we become obsessed with putting together the timeline and recalling our thoughts, it's not difficult to picture a future where we miss a deadline. And then we're trapped here for even longer, playing right into his hand."

"And he gets to watch us suffer the entire time," Kirigiri added. "The cameras still aren't turned on, but it's obvious he is watching our movements." She clenched her hands tightly into fists as she whispered, "In the end, he gets to win, no matter what."

"So let's get moving," Togami declared. "Fujisaki, what did you find?"

"Well, for starters, I found the Tragedy was indeed a worldwide event," Fujisaki began. "There's evidence pointing out things happening in all different countries. It's hard to find any sort of pattern… Some of the events described are whole governments collapsing, while others are just small riots or rallies. But the Tragedy is consistently described as, well, 'the biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history.'"

"'The biggest, most'... What?" Naegi stuttered.

"That sounds ridiculous," Togami scoffed.

"I thought so, too, and figured it was something by local media," Fujisaki stated. "But no, it's repeatedly referred to as that…um, phrase. It looks like it manifested in a lot of ways, but the overall picture I'm getting is that, outside, well… It's a total collapse. There's articles of entire blocks of New York City being smashed and destroyed. Pictures of buildings in Paris burning. An article about rioters closing down the government in London. Lots of violence."

Togami slowly looked over at Naegi, who was appearing paler with each statement.

"But the dates on the articles also show a lapse of time. Months passed between each event. So I'm thinking we attended Hope's Peak for a year, then things started to happen. We were still here when the Tragedy began…and probably whenever the administration disappeared."

"They didn't disappear," Kirigiri practically hissed. "They are here. One of them is. I know it."

And that's when it clicked. Togami's eyes widened as he turned to look at Kirigiri, who stared over the rim of a teacup with eyes like slits. "She wants answers on that classroom…from her father," he realized. "She wants to know if her father oversaw what we found in that room. If he was perhaps even responsible for it. After all, if we did stay behind…then her father would have overseen us. That's why she wanted time alone in that classroom."

"So we were all accepted in 2010," Naegi noted. "Fujisaki's info states the Tragedy started in 2011…but the date on the board read 2012?" When Togami nodded, Naegi observed, "So we were here for at least a year having normal classes."

"That also aligns with something peculiar I said in my dream," Togami remarked. "Clearly we all had dorms, and I made an off-hand comment to Naegi that nobody would keep him from my room any longer. I wonder if that implies what our previous hypothesis was…that we agreed to stay. Or that we had no choice but to stay. Obviously policies changed if I was no longer concerned with the administration."

Fujisaki nodded. "I remember how scared I was in my dream when my father called… That must have been when things were starting. If the riots outside were affecting Japan as well, and I can't see why they wouldn't have, maybe that's why Dad kept telling me to stay. The school was a place to hide from this Tragedy."

"And the dream Naegi had of you, Togami, alludes to that, as well," Kirigiri pointed out. "The one of you going catatonic. That news must have been related to the outside world, to this Tragedy, in some way."

Togami frowned and took another sip of coffee. "It must have…" he trailed off. Before he could control him, his arm wrapped around Naegi's shoulders, bringing him slightly closer. Naegi didn't seem to mind in the slightest, and Togami could feel the tension in Naegi's posture.

"So then, do you think Monokuma erased our memories because of the Tragedy?" asked Fujisaki. "To get rid of our bad memories?"

"If he did it for that, he wouldn't have gotten rid of the good," Togami countered. "Nor would he have trapped us here. No, I don't for a second believe it was for good intentions. Monokuma did not do this to our benefit; there was another reason for this. And now we'll probably need to rely on those painful memories if we actually want to solve this mystery."

"But now we have more pieces of the puzzle than before," Kirigiri concluded. "We know now, without a doubt, we were former classmates. We spent over a year here. We attended classes. The Tragedy happened, and we woke up here after Monokuma distorted our memories. At this point, we just need to know if the Tragedy has resolved itself outside and what happened to the rest of the students here, as well as the administration. Anything we remember is just to add to that timeline. But we finally have a clear end goal to this chaos."

"I'm certain Monokuma will continue feeding articles to you, Fujisaki," Togami remarked. "He'll want to keep slowing us down."

"Hey guys… If this is seriously a worldwide event…" Naegi swallowed as he looked around. "I know I keep getting shot down, but the others should seriously know about this."

"I have to admit… I thought the same thing when I was reading these articles," Fujisaki added. "This is bigger than anything we thought. Everyone's going to be affected."

"The school festival is tomorrow," Kirigiri retorted. "I don't want to ruin the mood."

"Plus if we tell them right when we receive the final blueprint, we might as well tell Monokuma we want to stay longer outright," Togami argued. "I believe it would be best to share this information once we have more concrete details on what's happening outside. After all, if our timeline is correct, months have passed between the events of the start of the Tragedy and now. The Tragedy may be over, for all we know."

"True…" Togami frowned at Naegi's lack of conviction.

"Let's at least get through the festival and the first day of the new blueprint," Togami stated. "I'm not saying we never tell them. I'm stating that we wait for the appropriate time."

Naegi nodded, as did Kirigiri. "Well, I'm going to continue searching," she stated as she stood. "Keep me posted, Fujisaki."

"Will do…" The three watched as Kirigiri left the room, and Fujisaki frowned once the door closed. "Did I…do something wrong?"

"What did you guys even find yesterday?" asked Naegi, who turned to look up at Togami. Togami sighed and moved so that Naegi released him, then stood from his seat.

"Something very unpleasant," Togami admitted. "And something that should wait until after the festival."

"Oh… Okay," Fujisaki muttered.

Togami sighed again. "It's not for lack of trust. It's just...very disturbing. And Kirigiri requested to investigate it by herself, given her family's connection to this place. We will wait until she gives us the okay to search, just to be polite."

Naegi stood as well and nodded. "Sounds…okay, I guess."

"I'm going to continue looking for articles," Fujisaki stated.

"Sounds good. We'll see you tomorrow in the music hall, then."

"Oh, that's right! You're playing music for us." For the first time that day, a smile crossed Fujisaki's lips. "Well, I look forward to it!"

Togami nodded and felt Naegi clasp his hand in his. Together, the two exited the dorm room and closed the door. "Come on," he whispered, leading Naegi to his own dorm. Entering, the two walked in, and Togami led Naegi to the bed.

"Wh-wha–"

"Sit down." Without even giving Naegi a chance to argue, he pulled Naegi down to sit on the edge of the bed. He then looked directly at him, taking in his disturbed expression and tense posture. He placed his hands on Naegi's shoulders and nodded. "Listen to me. I need you to know that I'm not purposely keeping what we found from you. I promise. All right?"

Naegi's slow nod answered him. "All right…"

"I don't like hiding this from you. And I won't for forever. But I'm not going to sit here and let you think I'm lying to you."

Naegi's eyes slowly widened at the words. "Togami…"

"We're going to figure this out. Together. I promise. But for now, let's just… Let's just think about tomorrow. About the festival. About how you're going to have fun and avoid their stupid distractions to spend time with me, and I'm going to play the piano, and I–"

His speech was cut off by Naegi leaning forward, grabbing his collar, and pulling him into a kiss. Togami returned it forcefully, pushing Naegi back onto the bed and crawling on top of him, needing Naegi to understand that what Togami was doing was out of care, not spite. Naegi pulled him forward, hands grasping onto his shoulders as though for dear life, and Togami could feel the desperation in his kiss. Before he knew it, their jackets were taken off and tossed aside, with Togami straddling Naegi. Naegi hungrily kissed his lips, pulling him closer and closer.

But Togami stopped despite his body telling him otherwise. Sitting up, he looked down at Naegi, who looked up quizzically at him. "Here… Turn over," he whispered, blushing at realizing the implication of his meaning. He quickly pushed himself off and to the side, and Naegi chuckled before rolling onto his stomach.

"Okay, so–"

Togami carefully positioned himself so that he was straddling Naegi once again without putting all his weight on his lower back. Placing his hands on Naegi's shoulders, he began to rub them in soft, slow circles. Naegi seemed stunned by the motions, but a quick, soft moan told Togami he needed this. "Just relax," he muttered, moving his fingers delicately along his shoulders and into his neck.

An awkward, silent handful of seconds passed before Naegi whispered, "Are you…giving me a back massage?"

The words made Togami blush. "Would you rather I didn't?"

"N-No, this is… It feels…really nice." Giggling, Naegi admitted, "It's just not what I expected from you."

"I can stop, if you wish."

"No, keep…keep going. It feels really good."

"Good. That's the point." Removing his hands, he admitted, "It'd be easier without the hoodie."

Naegi clumsily took it off, still pinned underneath Togami, and tossed it to the side. Togami smiled, feeling the soft fabric of Naegi's green t-shirt and skin underneath. He returned to pressing into his shoulders, rubbing them in slow, gentle circles.

"Can I ask why you're doing this?" Naegi asked as Togami began to move down his arms.

"Because you're stressed, you haven't slept well in two nights, and what we just learned probably doesn't make you feel any better."

"So you're…worried about me?"

"Of course I'm–" Huffing in frustration, Togami moved his hands deftly down Naegi's spine. "Just be quiet and let me do this. You deserve a moment to rest after everything you've done here."

The 'thanks' muttered by Naegi was replaced by a groan as Togami hit a knot in his back. Togami was thankful that Naegi couldn't see him; he could feel his cheeks redden from embarrassment at doing this. Yet he instinctively knew this would help. "I probably did this before for him," he pondered, moving gently up and down his spine. "Hopefully this works…"

It seemed to. As the minutes passed, Togami could see the tension begin to fade in Naegi's posture. He seemed to sink further into the mattress, and his breathing evened out. Finally feeling his knuckles crack, Togami took a second to stop and stretch his hands. He went to return when Naegi whispered, "Can you…lay down with me?"

Moving once more on instinct, Togami leaned down and wrapped his arms gently around Naegi's waist. Repositioning himself, he laid on top of Naegi rather than beside him, doing his best to keep his weight from crushing him. He then leaned forward and kissed Naegi on the neck before lying his head next to his. "Did that feel good?" he whispered, closing his eyes to avoid Naegi staring at him.

"It felt great," Naegi whispered back. The genuine tone caused Togami to smile. "Thank you so much."

"You're quite welcome."

"But now I don't want to get up…"

"We don't have to. I have my music prepared for tomorrow. We can stay here."

"Okay… Maybe just for a little bit?"

Togami tightened his grip and kissed Naegi once again. Naegi turned his head to return the kiss. It was slow and sensuous this time, not desperate like before. The way it should be. Pushing against Togami slightly, Naegi rolled over so that he was now facing him before pulling him back down into the kiss, maintaining its slow pace. As he did, Togami meticulously worked his hands underneath Naegi's shirt, feeling the warm skin underneath, and sighed as he felt Naegi do the same to him.

"I think we're staying here for more than 'a little bit,'" he pointed out. Naegi's bright smile made him smile in return, and before he could say anything more foolish, he kissed Naegi and continued letting his hands roam, knowing they had the entire day to enjoy each other's company.