Togami scrambled to his feet, placing himself between Naegi and the girls in the library doorway. "Don't come any closer," he snapped. They'd have to go through him before they could attempt whatever they'd come to do to the unconscious boy.

"Would you prefer to let him die of his wounds?" Ogami asked, her voice flat and her face expressionless as she watched him. "If so, say the word and I will leave you to your idea of treatment. Remove the weapon and watch him bleed out on the floor if you like."

Togami wouldn't have flinched at a physical blow, but those words struck him hard. He knew so little about how to treat injuries – it was entirely possible that he might have inadvertently made matters worse if he'd tried to help Naegi and gotten it wrong. But what else was he supposed to do – sit by and hope the injuries got better on their own? He knew that was a surefire path to disaster.

"Then what are you suggesting – that you can do better?" he demanded, crossing his arms. He'd meant the question to come out as a sarcastic sneer – but the words that reached his ears had a strange, pleading emptiness twisting them out of recognition.

Something in Ogami's face changed at the words, the harsh chill in her eyes retreating a hair. "Yes. It's common for athletes to injure themselves while training, so I've picked up some skill with first aid."

"And that qualifies you to treat this?" Togami gestured behind him.

Ogami's gaze flickered past him, skimming over the expanse of the bloody scene. "No. I do not claim to be a doctor – but I'm the best option here." She looked back and met his eyes. "Do you want my help, or should I go?"

Togami hesitated, two sets of instincts warring within him. Ogami was a traitor, a spy who'd spent weeks deceiving them all and helping the mastermind keep them in this nightmare. She'd been ordered to kill one of them, even if Monokuma had since lifted the command. And that wasn't even taking into account the fact that when he'd last seen her a few hours ago, she'd been so sunken in despair that she hadn't even bothered to clean the days-old blood and grime from her skin. She was the last person he wanted to trust anywhere near Naegi, and he had to struggle not to scream at her to get as far away from him as possible.

But – when it came to the question of medical treatment, she had a point. Much as the fact galled him, Togami knew he wasn't up to the task of giving Naegi's injuries the treatment they needed. He could curse himself as much as he liked for not using some of his earlier free time to read up on first aid – but that wouldn't help now. It made sense that Ogami might have more of the necessary skills to help Naegi than he did.

The two impulses clashed through his head in the seconds that he stood between Naegi and Ogami, thinking through possibilities and trying to decide what to do. She was a traitor – but she could help – but he couldn't trust her – but he had no other choice – the thoughts flashed round and round in his head in a maddening chain of questions. How could he let her near Naegi? How could he not? Once choice could give her the chance to hurt Naegi, an injury that would be his own responsibility for letting her have the chance – but the other would hurt Naegi by his own inaction.

A chance or a certainty, that was what it came down to. And he couldn't choose to do nothing.

"Fine. Do it." Togami stepped out of the way, giving Ogami a clear path to the other boy. "Help him."

Ogami gave him a single nod before entering the room. Togami kept a close eye on the girl as she approached Naegi's side, and when she knelt beside the wreckage of the shattered bookcase, he positioned himself less than an arm's length away. If she tried something suspicious, he would catch it – and find a way to stop her.

But she didn't try anything like that, at least not immediately. Instead, Ogami examined both Naegi and the debris around him with quick, efficient movements, apparently unmoved by the blood spilt through the area. Togami tensed when she first reached out to touch Naegi – but all she did was check his pulse, then make some minor adjustments to the position of his limbs to make his injuries more accessible. The scissors occupied her attention the longest, a deep frown lining her face as she peered at them from every angle.

Finally, she looked up, leaning back away from Naegi for a moment as she met Togami's eyes again. "Well, he certainly seems to be making good use of his talent."

Togami blinked, not sure what to make of the apparent non sequitur. "What?"

She sighed. "I don't know if it's good luck or bad, but this isn't a fatal injury. The scissors missed any major arteries – if they had done otherwise, he wouldn't have survived long enough for anyone else to arrive. It might still have gone badly without quick action, but it looks like the bandages and the pressure slowed the bleeding enough to keep him alive."

Alive. All Togami's joints seemed to give way to sudden weakness, and he slumped down with a single exhaled breath shaking through his cold lips. He'd thought so, he'd repeated the words to himself, but hearing the confirmation from someone else made it real in a way it hadn't been before. Naegi was alive, and he would stay that way.

"His recovery won't be easy," Ogami went on, glancing back at Naegi's arm. "Not with the limited resources we have available to us here." She shook her head. "Even in ideal conditions, he would need stitches, medication, physical therapy – things too far beyond my skills."

Togami gritted his teeth, swamped by hatred for everything this prison around them represented. If they'd been anywhere else, mere mention of the Togami family name would have brought the best doctors in the world to Naegi's side without delay. He could have had surgeons, therapists, whatever it took to fix something like this and make the injury disappear as if it had never been. If they weren't in here –

But he couldn't dwell on that now. He redirected his scowl at Ogami, straightening again to look her in the eye. "Then what do you expect to do now? Do you intend to abandon him just because you can't fix everything with a wave of your hand?"

"No. I'll keep doing what I can," Ogami said. "But I'm going to need your help."

"Anything." The word was out of his mouth before he made the conscious choice to say it.

She nodded. "We have to move him out of that mess – which means removing the scissors." She took a deep breath, half-closing her eyes in thought. "I – I think I can do that part, but that shelf isn't entirely stable. If it moves during the process, it could make the injury worse. I'll need someone else to hold his arm and the shelf steady while I do."

"Done," Togami said at once.

She gave him a long, assessing look. "There will be more bleeding once it's out – a great deal more. You'll have to remain still."

"Yes, I assumed as much. I'll manage."

She frowned, twisting to glance behind her. "Is Jill still here? Perhaps she might handle it better."

"That murderer is not coming anywhere near him!" Togami snarled, leaning sharply forward. "I've said I'll do it. Tell me what you need and let's get on with it!"

Ogami sighed. "All right, if you're sure. Then before we begin, I'll need something to staunch the blood flow when it restarts."

Togami glanced around the library, but he didn't see anything that might do as a bandage. Presumably that was why Jill had had to tear her own clothes to hold the scissors in places.

Her clothes…

Togami shrugged off his jacket and offered it to Ogami. "Will this be enough?"

She looked it over and nodded, pulling his room key out of the pocket and handing it back. "It should do for now. All right, then. Put your hands here and here." She indicated two places on Naegi's wrist and elbow, where Togami could hold Naegi's entire arm in place. "Try to hold the shelf as well."

Togami put his hands where she'd said, trying his hardest not to focus on whose arm lay limp beneath his grip. It was easier if he kept his eyes away, and so instead of looking down, he watched Ogami instead as she moved across from him, face intent on the boy below.

She reached down to take hold of the scissors, tilted her head to judge the angle – and drew the silver blades out in a single smooth motion. Togami held Naegi's arm firm against the shelf as she did, not letting the flesh twist or tear as the scissors came away. Something wet oozed over his fingers, warm and sticky – but he didn't look down, not until Ogami had his jacket pressed hard against Naegi's arm.

Slowly, Togami released his grip, giving Ogami better access to wrap the jacket in place to slow the fresh bleeding. So that was all she'd needed – just a few moments of pressure? He couldn't understand why she'd seemed to doubt that he could do it.

He raised his hand to readjust his glasses – and saw bright red stains dripping from his fingers.

Blood.

Naegi's blood.

Togami stared down at it, the roaring rush of wind in his ears drowning out anything else in the room, as black spots bloomed at the edges of his vision.

Naegi's blood was on his hands.

Bright red seemed to consume his vision, flooding out until it was all he could see – until the darkness bled into it, and he felt himself collapse.