Kirigiri breathed out a long sigh, like his answer had lifted a weight from her shoulders. "I'm glad you understand. I would have continued to investigate without your help – but it will be easier with you."

Naegi couldn't help but smile a little at that affirmation of their partnership. Kirigiri spent so much time masking her thoughts that he couldn't always tell how she really felt about his assistance. He knew she wouldn't have bothered working with him if he'd been a hindrance – but it was nice to know that she actually thought he could help.

"Okay," he said, nodding decisively. "So which of the locked areas are we going to first?"

But Kirigiri shook her head. "We aren't going to any of the locked areas."

Naegi blinked at her. "But you just said –"

"Do you honestly think you're up to going anywhere other than to bed?" Kirigiri cut him off with a stern frown. "Sitting down for a few minutes may have let you catch your breath, but the minute you get up, you'll be right back where you started." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Or are you going to try to pretend you can climb all the way up those stairs again?"

Naegi's head ached at the thought of attempting even a few steps, let alone the many flights of stairs between them and the locked areas of the school. And even if he could manage to get to wherever they were going – what then? An entire day of investigation had left him too tired to be much use.

"But I thought you wanted my help," he said.

"I do," Kirigiri said. "I need you to draw Monokuma's attention while I sneak into the areas of the school that Ikusaba has unlocked."

"But if Ikusaba is helping us, why would we need to distract her?" Naegi asked, frowning.

"I don't know if she's the one who has actually been operating Monokuma," Kirigiri said. "That may have been the mastermind themselves, or the two of them may trade off as needed. She didn't have time to address every detail of the mastermind's plot. But I think that forcing someone to use Monokuma to interact with you would limit their ability to observe what else is happening at that time."

"How would it do that?" Naegi asked.

"Ikusaba implied that there are limitations to her ability to observe us," Kirigiri explained. "I'm almost positive one of them is tied to using Monokuma to interact with us. From the way she spoke, it sounded as though it isn't possible to monitor us and control Monokuma at the same time. If Monokuma is the mastermind, drawing their attention would distract them. If he's Ikusaba, it will provide her with a plausible reason for missing my actions."

"I guess." Kirigiri's explanation did make logical sense, but Naegi couldn't help worrying about it. "But – look, the last time we tried to distract the mastermind, it failed. Do you really want to try the same thing that got Alter Ego killed?"

Kirigiri went still, closing her eyes. "I'm not planning on dying," she said, her voice so soft that Naegi had to lean forward to hear her. "The mastermind may have beaten me last time – but now, I know where I went wrong. This time, I won't lose."

Naegi stared at her, wondering just what was lurking behind that calm face and faint smile. When she said that she wouldn't lose to the mastermind, he believed her – but that didn't reassure him as much as he would have thought. This girl would fight to the bitter end to find the truth she sought – and woe betide anyone who got in her way. Naegi shivered at the chill of her smile – he was glad not to be on the wrong side of that expression.

"So – all you need is for me to get Monokuma's attention?" Naegi asked at last. He sighed. "It doesn't sound like very much help – not when you're going to be sneaking into dangerous territory. I just wish there was something else I could do."

Kirigiri opened her eyes, frowning at him. "Of course there's something else. Haven't you realized it yet?"

"Um." Naegi blinked at her. "No?"

"I need you to be my failsafe in case something goes wrong," Kirigiri said, as though it should be obvious. "This plan's risks are worthwhile because any outcome has a gain for us – but those gains are only valuable if someone knows about them. As I said, I don't intend to die during this plan – but I've been wrong before. If I've miscalculated, at least one of the people left behind will need to know the truth."

"You mean – if Ikusaba is trying to trick you?" Naegi asked.

Kirigiri nodded. "She specifically instructed me not to tell anyone else about her. She claimed to want to limit the chance that it would get back to the mastermind."

"Then – if she's really going to work with us, wouldn't she get mad that you told me?" Naegi asked.

"And if she isn't, this could go very poorly for me," Kirigiri said. "And besides – I want to trust you, Naegi." She looked away, a hint of pink rising in her cheeks at the admission. "I hope that I can."

"Of course you can!" Naegi assured her at once. "I'm not going to turn on you. We're working against the mastermind together!"

"I thought you'd say that." The smile that touched Kirigiri's lips seemed a little sad – or maybe it was just Naegi's imagination. After all, why would Kirigiri be sad about his answer? He'd been working with her almost from the start of their imprisonment here. After all the plans they'd already tried, what else would he say?

All the plans – including the last one, involving the fake murder plot and leading to Alter Ego's death. The entire thing had been a disaster, and after Monokuma's malicious revelation to Togami in the ruined classroom, the fallout wasn't over yet. Naegi didn't want to repeat those mistakes, not if there was a way to avoid them.

"Uh – Kirigiri?" he asked hesitantly. "I know that secrecy is important here, but – well, what would you think about having more than one person to be your failsafe?"

She stared at him blankly for a moment, until her expression shifted into something stiffer. "You want to tell Togami about this."

Naegi nodded. "Well – yes. I think after what happened today, we all saw why we shouldn't hide things from each other."

"We also saw that he's incredibly irrational when it comes to you," Kirigiri said tartly. "This plan will dangerous enough without his dramatics."

"But he only got so upset because I didn't tell him something important, and Monokuma used it against us," Naegi argued. "Look, I know this is your secret, not mine, so I won't tell him if you really don't want me to – but all of us are stronger when we work together. The mastermind can't turn us against each other if we don't leave them anything to exploit."

"That's… true," Kirigiri agreed reluctantly. "And Togami is intelligent, when he bothers to look past his own arrogance. I wouldn't necessarily object to involving him – but only if he's capable of being reasonable about it. I don't want to deal with another round of him screaming about how this is all part of my evil plan to murder you."

"I don't see how he could think that," Naegi said. "You're the one who'll be taking the risk this time." He bit his lip. "So – it's okay to tell him about it?"

Kirigiri sighed. "Fine – if you really must. But make sure he understands that he has to be careful about it. This is too important for him to disrupt because you two are having a spat."

"Right," Naegi said, nodding hastily. "I'll be sure to explain that."

"Okay." Kirigiri stood and headed for the bathhouse door. "Then if there's nothing else you need to say, I'm going on ahead." She looked over her shoulder at him, just before leaving the room. "The rest is up to you."