Naegi trudged down the hall away from the dorms, trying not to feel too disappointed at how his attempt to talk to Fukawa and Hagakure had gone wrong. Rebuilding trust would probably take time, and he shouldn't expect to be able to do it in just one conversation. They were talking to him now, even if they were still upset – that was progress.
It did leave him at a bit of a loss for what to try next, though. There was only one person left that he hadn't tried to talk to yet, and he wasn't sure what to say to her. Kirigiri had been mad at him even before the problem with Ogami had set off the cycle of suspicion, and he still hadn't had a chance to apologize for that. Did he still need to settle that fight, or should he try to solve the new one first? Would she even listen if he tried?
Well, actually, he supposed she might listen today. She'd gone off with Togami, hadn't she? And not because he'd made her – she'd been the one to ask him. So maybe that meant she was ready to listen, if he could come up with the right thing to say. He knew he'd have to be careful about it, though – he definitely didn't want things with Kirigiri to go wrong like they had with Fukawa.
Of course, one of the problems with trying to talk to Kirigiri was that Naegi was never entirely sure where she would be at any given time. Most of the other students tended to stick to a few of the main areas of the school, but Kirigiri wandered all over the place, investigating every stray corner for clues. That was probably why she'd been the one to find that hidden room.
Well, Naegi knew that if he were going to try to investigate someplace, he would probably pick one of the new areas. With that in mind, he headed for the stairs leading up to the fourth floor, beginning the lengthy trek up them. There really were a lot – but he supposed it made sense that a school as prestigious as Hope's Peak Academy would need a lot of space. Still, it didn't make it any easier to have to run up and down them all the time.
He stopped for a moment midway up the stairs to the third floor, exhaustion spinning through his head. He'd been so tired the past few days, even more than usual, like he had lead weights dragging down his feet instead of just his normal shoes. It was probably the additional stress of everyone fighting, on top of the already-tense situation – he just wasn't getting enough rest. Maybe he should have given himself a break instead of trying to climb all these stairs again.
Actually, a break sounded really nice. Without consciously thinking about it, Naegi found himself sinking down to the steps, the world tilting oddly around him like the floor wasn't quite level. He leaned his head back against the cold wall, closing his eyes and bracing one hand on the floor. If he just sat here quietly for a few minutes, he was sure he'd be fine.
"What are you doing?"
Naegi started, eyes flying open as he looked shakily around. He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been sitting there in a daze, but it had definitely been longer than he'd expected. He looked up the stairs towards the person who'd spoken, and saw Kirigiri standing there, surveying him with a small frown.
"Nothing." Naegi winced at the way his voice shook a little, and tried again. "Nothing. I was just sitting down for a minute."
Kirigiri eyed him a moment longer. "You do remember there's a rule against sleeping anywhere but in the dorm rooms, don't you?"
That startled Naegi into a much more alert state, and he used the stair railing to haul himself to his feet. "I definitely wasn't sleeping!"
"Hmm." Kirigiri's gaze tracked the way he had to grip the railing to stay standing. "Well, fainting might not qualify as sleeping. You're probably fine."
"I didn't faint, either," Naegi started to object, but then he stopped and shook his head. "Well, that doesn't matter. More importantly – I was looking for you. Can I talk to you?"
She tilted her head. "About?"
She didn't look particularly welcoming, but at least she wasn't storming off, either. Naegi decided to take it as a hopeful sign. "I want to explain what happened over the past couple days. I'm really sorry –"
"Don't bother," she cut him off.
Naegi's face fell. "But –"
"You didn't tell me about Ogami because you wanted to confirm it with her first, and then Monokuma called that assembly before you got a chance to explain," Kirigiri said, sounding bored. "That's what you wanted to tell me, isn't it?"
"Then – you already know?" Naegi frowned in confusion.
"That explanation was obvious from the start," she said. "The issue has never been about what you want to say – it's about whether we can believe you." She pursed her lips. "You want us to trust you, but you don't trust the rest of us."
"I do," Naegi said, stung by the accusation. "I'm sorry if –"
"I don't need apologies," she interrupted. "You've made your choices clear. It's more important to figure out what to do from here than to rehash what's already happened."
"What do you mean?"
She crossed her arms and studied him for a long moment, and Naegi tried not to fidget uncomfortably under her scrutiny. Finally, some of the icy tension in her posture thawed, just a little. "I want to take you somewhere."
Naegi blinked. "Where do you want to go?"
"You'll see when we get there." She brushed past him and continued down the stairs. "Let's go."
As blunt and uncompromising as Kirigiri's order was, Naegi found himself feeling a little more hopeful as he followed her back down to the first floor. It seemed like she was taking him along on some part of her investigations, just like she'd done before. She might not want his apologies or explanations, but maybe this was what she wanted instead – a chance for him to prove that she could rely on him after all.
With her usual brisk pace, Kirigiri reached the first floor long before Naegi did, and he only just caught sight of her heading for the bathhouse as he made his way to the bottom of the staircase. By the time he entered the bathhouse changing room, she was already sitting on a bench with Alter Ego's laptop in front of her.
"Did you want to talk to Alter Ego?" Naegi asked, looking from her to the computer. "Is this about the data analysis results?"
"No. His role with that is over," she said. "But today, Alter Ego asked me to bring others to see him. He apparently has something he wants to ask us."
