Naegi sat on the floor trying to catch his breath as he looked up at the two students glaring at one another from either side of him. Togami stood in front of the classroom door, just a step beyond Naegi's reach – though from the distance in his expression, he might as well have been across the room. Togami seemed like he was barely paying attention to Naegi at all, his eyes locked intently on Kirigiri like he expected her to pull a weapon.

She, on the other hand, looked completely unfazed by the glare being directed her way. She crossed her arms and met Togami's eyes with a faint smile, as calm as if they'd just stopped to chat after meeting in the dorms.

"What makes you think I did anything?" she asked, raising one eyebrow in Togami's direction.

Togami curled his lip in contempt. "Don't try to play games with me. He has blood on his face!"

Naegi's hand flew involuntarily to the cut on his face, wincing as the touch sent another burst of pain through his cheek. When he yanked his hand back, his fingers came away red – the cut was still oozing. Naegi grimaced. Maybe he should have listened to Kirigiri and cleaned it up before doing anything else, if it was going to upset Togami so much.

But then again, if Togami was upset by the sight – then that meant he still cared, didn't it? It wasn't that Naegi liked that Togami was unhappy – but if the sight of another wound made him angry, then maybe he hadn't completely given up on Naegi after all, in spite of what he'd said as he'd walked out of Naegi's room that morning.

"And you assume the blood is my doing?" Kirigiri asked, a hint of a mocking smile dancing at her lips. "That's quite an assumption. I'd ask if you have any proof to back it up – but you would have had to be around to get that."

"I don't need to prove anything," Togami snapped. "Not when you do this every time. Three repetitions makes a pattern – a very suspicious one."

"But she's telling the truth," Naegi said, trying to interrupt the argument before it could escalate any further. "Kirigiri didn't have anything to do with this."

He might as well not have said anything. Togami didn't so much as glance in Naegi's direction, his only reaction to the words a faint twitch of the muscles in his jaw.

"Every time this happens, it's because you sent him into danger in your place," Togami said, eyes fixed on Kirigiri. "So let's hear it – just what kind of idiocy were you trying to do this time?"

"I was investigating," Kirigiri said. "You might recall the concept if you think back." She stepped forward, brushing past him as she headed into the ruined classroom, her face not showing so much as a flicker of shock in response to the horrors within. "And I intend to continue." She disappeared into the room, leaving the two boys alone in the corridor.

Naegi could see Togami preparing to either leave or go after her, and he knew he had to speak up before the other boy could.

"Wait – don't go yet!" He braced his hand against the wall and tried to lever himself to a standing position, so that Togami couldn't so easily look past him. "Please – I want to talk to you."

Togami raised an eyebrow at him, his expression dauntingly cold – but at least he didn't walk off in response. Naegi decided to count that as a positive sign.

"I wanted to explain what I meant earlier," Naegi said, staring earnestly up into Togami's eyes. "I don't think you understood. It's not that I don't care about you – I do! That's why I want to get out of here. I'd rather fight to have something good than just give up because we might lose it."

"You're accusing me of giving up?" Togami's mouth tightened. "I never once said that I wanted to stay here. I want to get out of this place every bit as much as you do. I just intend to go about it sensibly, instead of your preferred tactic of jumping heedlessly into any danger that presents itself."

"That's not what I do," Naegi protested.

"Oh, really? Then why is your face bleeding?" Togami demanded.

"That doesn't have anything to do with this," Naegi said. "I just said the wrong thing to Genocide Jill earlier, that's all."

"You always have a reason, don't you?" Togami closed his eyes like he couldn't stand to look at Naegi another second. "They didn't mean to, or it was just an accident, or no one knew what would happen. It's the same thing every time one of your precious friends gets you hurt, and you'll never see it differently. You care too much about them all."

Naegi didn't miss the bitter emphasis on that word, even if he wasn't quite sure what Togami meant by it. "I do care about my friends – of course I do. But it's nothing like the way I feel about you. I can care about them and you – it isn't a choice of one or the other!"

"Isn't it?" Togami said, opening his eyes and raising his eyebrows. "I asked you to do one thing, and she asked you to do another. Sounds like a perfectly straightforward either-or decision to me."

Naegi stared at him. "You think I've been choosing Kirigiri over you? That's – that's not it at all!"

"And yet here you are with her just hours after we argued," Togami said, gesturing back at the classroom where Kirigiri was investigating.

That made Naegi frown. Togami might have some points in the rest of what he was saying, but that wasn't fair at all. He glared at the other boy as anger began creeping up on him. "You don't get to complain about that – not when you were the one who decided to walk out!"

"I'm not complaining." Togami's mouth twisted in disdain as he uttered the word. "I'm expressing justifiable unhappiness with your repeated insistence on making terrible decisions."

"You mean because I won't turn my back on Kirigiri and the others?" Naegi shook his head. "Well, if that's it, then you're right – I won't. I'm not going to let you lock me up in a bubble because you think it might be safer. I'm not a child you have to take care of or a trophy you can keep hidden for yourself. If that's what you think you want, then – then maybe you don't care about me as much as you think you do."

Togami glared at Naegi, hot fury burning away the icy mask he'd been trying to maintain. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

But Naegi could only shake his head. "If that's what you want me to be – I can't act like that. I won't choose between you and everyone else."

"If you cared enough, it wouldn't be a choice," Togami shot back.

The anger in Togami's eyes scorched through Naegi – and almost as painful was the hurt he could see behind the anger. He'd done it again, hadn't he? He'd told himself that hurting Togami was the last thing he'd wanted to do – and that was exactly what he'd done. How could he have done this?

How could he not? Naegi knew he couldn't have said anything other than what he had, not when he believed it so firmly. Even ignoring the issue would be as good as lie at this point, when he knew how Togami felt about it. Maybe if he could have expressed himself better, or chosen different words, then he could have gotten through to the other boy – or then again, maybe Togami didn't have it in him right now to hear what Naegi was trying to say.

Despite Naegi's best efforts, one of the tears burning behind his eyes forced its way forward, trickling down his cheek to trace a line through the blood. Naegi reached up to wipe it hurriedly away, hoping Togami hadn't noticed.

But of course someone so observant would have caught that. Togami's expressed changed as he watched the tear fall. "Naegi…" He stopped, hesitating like he wasn't sure what he wanted to say. A sliver of hope began to blossom in Naegi's chest.

And then Togami shook his head, turning back towards the classroom. "Someone needs to make sure that girl isn't causing trouble in there." He headed back inside, leaving Naegi standing alone in the hallway, face damp with blood and tears.