The elevator ride up from the last trial ground was the longest one they'd endured yet – or Togami supposed that might just be his own perception. After all, any amount of time spent trying to keep Naegi from collapsing was too long – and that didn't even take the girls into account. A traitor, a serial killer, and a closed-mouthed manipulator were the last three people he wanted to be trapped in an enclosed space with.
Not that any of them seemed overly interested in approaching him and Naegi, at least. Jill was keeping her mouth shut for once, in what had to be some kind of minor miracle. She seemed content enough to lurk in the back corner, tapping a pair of scissors against her palm and staring at the doors like she was plotting the best way to stab them.
Ogami, on the other hand, barely seemed to notice her surroundings at all. When she'd finally trudged up to join them in the elevator, she hadn't acknowledged anyone, staring down at the ground with an expression slack and broken. She'd taken things so far that Togami was starting to wonder if maybe it wasn't entirely an act – maybe she had ended up caring about Asahina a little after all. Or maybe she just wanted them all to let their guards down. It was hard to say.
But as for Kirigiri – every time Togami glanced in her direction, he found her eyes just turning away from him and Naegi. She was watching them, and she didn't care if he knew it. Togami narrowed his eyes in her direction, and though she didn't visibly react, he was sure she noticed. Well, let her. If she intended to make a fuss about trying to enforce her stupid separation rule now, when Naegi couldn't even stand on his own, he would make her regret it.
At least Naegi seemed mostly oblivious to anything else going on in the elevator, including the staring tug of war between Togami and Kirigiri. Togami suspected that only sheer determination to make it through the trial had kept Naegi on his feet this long. He stared unseeingly at the wall, and Togami couldn't tell if it was dark thoughts or sheer exhaustion occupying his mind. He wanted to ask, to hear Naegi's thoughts and understand his reactions – but he wouldn't do that here, in front of those girls. None of them deserved to share that.
When the doors finally opened to release them back on the first floor, Togami did his best to hurry them out, but apparently Naegi could only move so fast. He gritted his teeth at the obvious effort Naegi had to put into every faltering step, locking it firmly into his memory. At some point, he would find a way to get an accounting from someone for every flicker of pain that he had to watch cross Naegi's face.
The three girls quickly outstripped them without even bothering to offer to help – not that he would have accepted anyway, not from any of them. Jill still had her scissors out, Ogami looked liable to forget what she was doing and drop Naegi in her current state, and Kirigiri – well, the further she stayed away from Naegi, the better, as far as Togami was concerned. If she wanted to disappear into the dorms on her own, then good riddance.
"You can go on ahead if you want."
Togami looked sharply down at Naegi's quiet words. "What are you doing wasting your energy on spouting that kind of idiocy?"
"I'm not as badly off as I look," Naegi insisted. "I could make it back on my own."
Togami narrowed his eyes. He didn't believe Naegi would lie to him – but he had no confidence in the boy's ability to assess his own condition, either. Naegi might well genuinely think he would be okay on his own, but all Togami had to do was look at the other boy's glassy, unfocused eyes and pale cheeks to know it wasn't true.
"You can't possibly think that I would actually abandon you in the middle of the hallway," he said acidly. "You were just poisoned."
"So were Ogami and –" Naegi's voice faltered for a moment, "and Asahina, and they could still walk."
"They didn't get a dose of poison on top of a head injury," Togami snapped. "And Ogami is twice your size – any idiot could tell that the same dose of poison would hit you harder."
Naegi frowned. "I – I just don't want you to worry."
Togami's eyebrows shot up. Naegi got badly injured again, and that was his primary concern – whether Togami was worried?
"Then be more careful," Togami said. "And stop making stupid suggestions about trying to make your way back without me. If you have enough energy for that, then use it for walking instead."
Naegi gave him a half-smile at that, as if Togami had said something much softer and more affectionate than he actually had. It was still sad, still a little shaky, but so genuine that Togami's heart clenched up at the sight. God, he'd missed seeing Naegi smile – he hadn't even realized how much until right now.
A sudden, desperate desire bloomed in him to lean down and cover Naegi's mouth with his own, to kiss him until the last traces of sadness disappeared from his smile. He nearly did, right there in the middle of the hall – but the feeling of Naegi swaying against him brought him to his senses. He was obviously the only rational one here, if Naegi's unreasonable insistence that he could walk on his own was any indication – he couldn't let himself get distracted until they were safely locked inside one of their rooms.
"Come on," he said shortly, dragging his eyes away from Naegi and forcing himself to focus on the hall around them. "We're nearly there."
They'd made it nearly to the dormitory hall by that point, to Togami's relief. With every step, Naegi leaned on him a little more heavily, and Togami was starting to fear that if they'd had to go too much further, Naegi might collapse entirely. If that happened, would he be able to carry the boy to one of their rooms on his own? Naegi might be short, but he wasn't that tiny.
Fortunately, it didn't come to that. Togami breathed a sigh of relief when they finally got to Naegi's door and Naegi began rummaging through his pockets for his room key. Naegi had left the various pieces of evidence he'd gathered behind in the trial chamber, but even without that, the boy still seemed to be carrying around an absurd amount of junk. Where had he even found all of that rubbish?
Naegi's hand shook as he tried to get the key in the lock, clinking it against the edge of the knob instead. His vision had to be blurring, Togami realized, lips tightening as he tried to maintain a mask of iron control – but it was a challenge not to betray his concern when Naegi was having difficulty with something as simple as a lock. He reached out and took the key from Naegi, opening the door and hauling the boy inside.
They made it just in time. As soon as they'd crossed the threshold, Naegi's strength gave out. Togami only just managed to brace himself to take Naegi's weight as the boy sagged against him, and even so his shoulder still slammed into the wall hard enough that he knew it would bruise.
"Naegi?" Togami clutched at the boy's wrist, not daring to breathe until he finally felt a pulse beneath his fingers. "Naegi, can you hear me?"
An unintelligible mumble was all the reply he got. Better than nothing, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Most of his attention on the boy in his arms, Togami kicked the door closed before mostly dragging Naegi across the room and onto the bed. Hopefully this was all just exhaustion, and Naegi would be back to his usual self in the morning. Togami refused to let himself consider any other possibility.
Normally, he didn't think much of sleeping in the same clothes from the day, but getting Naegi to change out of his clothes was clearly a lost cause. He tugged the boy's shoes off as the bare minimum required before rearranging the blankets so that Naegi was snugly tucked in. Togami was relieved to note that at least some of the lines of tension eased from Naegi's face as his head settled into the pillow.
With Naegi settled, Togami started to take a step away – only to find that Naegi's hand had somehow ended up locked around a handful of his jacket. He looked down at Naegi, but as far as he could tell, the boy had finally surrendered to exhaustion. This seemed to be an unconscious reaction.
Slowly, trying not to wake the sleeping boy, Togami pried Naegi's fingers loose from his jacket. It wasn't good for the fabric to be crumpled like that, after all, and stressing the seams too much would tear it. He took the jacket off and laid it along the shelf at the head of the bed.
But before he could move again, fingers curled around his wrist. Togami glanced down again, seeing Naegi's eyes fluttering blearily open. Well, that couldn't be good for him.
"Go back to sleep," he instructed, since that had to be better for Naegi than trying to force himself to stay awake just because Togami was still up.
Naegi shook his head dizzily, and Togami was fairly certain he wasn't fully aware of what was going on at this point. "Stay?"
Something warm melted through Togami's chest at the question. Naegi wanted him here – wanted him here enough that he needed reassurance about it before he could let himself rest. "I'm not leaving."
This didn't seem to be satisfactory, at least in Naegi's barely-conscious state. His fingers tightened around Togami's wrist, colder than they should be. "Stay," he mumbled again.
Togami hadn't actually felt tired enough to go to sleep yet himself – but he couldn't bring himself to tell Naegi no when he was like this.
"All right," he conceded, settling himself on the bed beside Naegi. He would just lie down here for a few minutes, just long enough for Naegi to fall into a deep, true sleep. Then he'd get up and think about the trial, and try to figure out just what he would need to do from this point on.
As soon as he lay down on the bed, Naegi pressed into his side, like a kitten curling up into a patch of warm sunlight. Togami sighed and wrapped an arm around Naegi, holding him closer. If this helped him rest, he supposed it was fine. And after the past few nights in an empty bed, not knowing where Naegi was or whether he was safe, there was something comforting about having the boy in his arms at last. Togami closed his eyes, just for a moment, and let himself enjoy the peaceful sensation…
Only to have it shattered a few hours later by the creak of moment from the other side of the room.
Togami sat up like he'd been electrified, staring across the room. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, glaring at Kirigiri.
