Kirigiri still hadn't appeared anywhere on Naegi's map by the time he'd managed to get himself ready to face the day. He'd hoped that maybe those extra minutes would be enough, but she was still as absent as before.
Naegi frowned down at the map, hesitating just outside his dorm room door as he tried to decide where to go first. If he'd known which direction Kirigiri had gone when she'd left the bathhouse last night, it might have given him some kind of hint about where he could start looking for her – but between his exhaustion and his worries, he hadn't thought to pay attention to where exactly she'd been headed.
Well, most of the locked areas of the school had been on the fourth floor, hadn't they? But when Naegi thought about trying to climb up all those stairs again, after how hard it had hit him yesterday, he couldn't help but wince. Yes, he'd gotten just barely enough sleep last night to take the edges off his exhaustion – but he could still feel it stinging at the backs of his eyes or slowing his limbs with just a little extra heaviness, just waiting to overtake him again if he exerted himself too much. He'd nearly collapsed twice yesterday, and it was all too easy to think that it could happen again today.
And if he was honest with himself, Naegi had to admit that searching the school again wasn't what he actually wanted to do right now. Without his conscious direction, his eyes drifted further down the hall towards Ogami's dorm – where Togami still was, according to the map.
Naegi stared at the door, fighting the urge to move towards it. He wanted to throw the door open and insist that Togami hear him out one more time, so that he could offer the apology that he knew he should have given at the start. He wanted to explain everything he'd realized yesterday, now that he was awake enough to find the words to do it. The warm contentment woven throughout his dream last night had only made it worse, when Naegi had woken up to feel it evaporate – and it had left him with the stark understanding of just how badly he wanted it back.
But pursuing it now would be selfish. Naegi bit his lip and forced himself to turn away, heading down the hall in the other direction. He had to search for Kirigiri. They'd both known she would be taking a risk by agreeing to Ikusaba's deal, and she hadn't returned to tell him whether it had been okay or not. Naegi knew that was much more important than any personal drama he might be having, no matter how much his desire to fix his love life might occupy his thoughts. He was the only one who would know if Kirigiri was in danger. Once he'd found out whether she was safe, he could think about trying to fix his relationship with Togami.
Of course, if Togami had been on his own, Naegi wasn't sure if he would have had the strength to stick to that resolve. But the other boy hadn't been alone and approachable – he'd been in Ogami's room for a surprisingly long time, considering his earlier suspicions that she was still working for the mastermind. But if he was starting to get past that, even if it was just enough to have a conversation alone with her – well, Naegi didn't want to interrupt that. If the remaining students were going to have a prayer of working together against the mastermind, that was one of the bridges they'd need to figure out how to rebuild.
As the stairs heading up from the first floor came into view, Naegi's steps slowed until he came to a halt at the bottom of the staircase. He looked up, biting his lip as he debated. Did he really want to try to do this?
Kirigiri's face flashed before his eyes, wearing that last sad smile she'd given him moments before walking out of the bathhouse to risk her life for the rest of them. It didn't matter if he wanted to do this – he just had to get through it, that was all. He didn't have another choice. He set his jaw, made sure he had a solid grip on the handrail, and began the slow climb up the stairs.
But when he reached the second floor, he paused, another thought occurring to him. If it really was true that one of the reasons Kirigiri might not be showing up on his map was that she was in an area without any cameras – well, there was an area like that on the second floor. He didn't think the hidden room had had any locked areas that Ikusaba might have opened, but maybe it was still worth checking out. He left the staircase and headed over to the boys' bathroom – and paused, hand on the door.
He'd promised Togami that he wouldn't go back into the hidden room without telling him first. Okay, yes, he'd made that promise when they were still together, so it would be reasonable to assume the promise ended when the relationship did – but Naegi knew he didn't want that relationship to be over. And if that was the case, then didn't that mean the promise wasn't over, either?
Naegi dropped his hand from the door, taking a step back. No. He wasn't going to break his promise, not again. Maybe if he'd known for sure that he could help Kirigiri by going back into the hidden room, his answer would be different – but as long as it was just speculation, he wouldn't go without telling Togami first. He would show Togami that he could keep his promises, that Togami's concerns did matter to him – even if it was a little late. He'd just have to hope that it wasn't too late.
He turned, preparing to head back for the stairs and continue his slow trek upwards – but before he could, a loud crash rang out from the other side of the second floor.
Even before he'd processed the sound, Naegi was already running in its direction, one hand outstretched along the wall so that he didn't pitch forward as his sudden change of pace sent the world tilting around him. He tried not to let himself look at the stomach-churning whirl, focusing instead of the solidity of the floor beneath his feet and the steadiness of the wall at his side.
As he approached the library door, he could hear other noises – not quite loud enough to carry as much as that first crash had, but still enough to make it plain that something unusual was happening in there. He couldn't hear any screaming or any other indications that someone might be in trouble – but after this long in Hope's Peak, he knew enough to be alarmed by anything out of the ordinary.
Naegi grabbed the library door and tried to throw it open – but only a few inches in, it crashed into an obstacle with a resounding crack, snapping it back towards him. Jerking backwards to avoid being hit, Naegi lost his balance and toppled to the floor in a painful heap.
What had that been? Why had something been in the way of the library door? Ignoring his protesting joints, Naegi hauled himself back to his feet and tried to open the door again, but more cautiously.
The same barrier stopped it a second time, no matter how much of his weight Naegi tried to put behind the door. He craned his head at the gap, and he could just manage to see that the obstacle seemed to be one of the waist-high bookcases, fallen on its side and knocked far away from its original place in the middle of the floor. But the bookcase wasn't the only thing he could see.
Even from the narrow glimpse that the door afforded, Naegi could tell that the library was in ruins. Books had been flung in all directions, scraps of shredded paper littered the floor, and slashes had been gouged deep into the walls and furniture.
And in the middle of it all, he could see Genocide Jill, kneeling on the floor and clutching a half-shredded hardcover book to her chest.
