The world tilted around Naegi as he found himself suddenly thrust from a half-dreamed tidal wave of images into a world that seemed stark and empty and cold by contrast. The sharp, solid colors bled out across the bright visions and the deafening silence drowned out the cheerful sounds, overwhelming the dreams until this harsh reality was all that remained.

And as the dreams evaporated, the pain came rushing back to fill the void they left in his awareness. His head throbbed, his chest and back ached, and his arm – his arm

Naegi's breath hissed through his gritted teeth as he tried not to cry out. His arm hurt, worse than any pain that he could remember feeling. This wasn't some tiny cut or scrape that could be put to rights with a bandage and some rest – this burrowed deep into his flesh, sending screams of agony through places he hadn't known could feel pain. He clenched his fingers in a desperate attempt to stave off the pain.

"Don't do that!"

A warm weight pressed down on Naegi's left hand, forcing his fingers to relax out of a fist. Naegi tried to turn to see what had happened – but he found that his body seemed heavier than it had ever been, as though weights on his limbs resisted his every move. He tried to turn only his head, but even that small effort sent stars bursting behind his eyes.

But then someone leaned forward into his limited line of vision. Ogami, Naegi realized. Sakura Ogami was standing beside him, one hand holding his painful arm steady.

"Try to lie still," she said, frowning down at him with concern. "I know that you must be in a great deal of pain, but moving will only make your injuries worse."

Injuries? She couldn't still mean the puncture from the poisoned needle, or the blow to the head he'd gotten days ago in the hidden room, could she? Or… Naegi could vaguely recall hitting his head when he'd woken up in the morning, but he wasn't sure how Ogami could have known about that.

He opened his mouth to try to ask – but the words rasped across his throat like sandpaper, turning into hacking coughs. He felt each cough shudder through every nerve of his body, multiplying the pain he already felt, until his throat finally eased.

"You're probably dehydrated," Ogami said, once he'd stopped coughing. "If you're able, you should drink something while you're awake." She studied him for a moment. "I would like to help you sit up."

Sitting up sounded like a great idea – laying flat on his back, unable to see anything but the ceiling, was already making Naegi uncomfortable. He'd never particularly minded relaxing in bed before, but that was when he had the ability to move if he chose.

Ogami slid a slow, careful arm behind Naegi's shoulders, and in spite of himself Naegi's breath hissed out in shock at the rawness of movement against his skin. He closed his eyes and tried not to gasp again as she lifted him just enough to shift the pillow behind him. When she moved her arm away to settle him back in place, Naegi found himself propped up in a half-sitting, half-reclining position. He blinked his eyes open again just in time to see Ogami holding out a glass of water with a straw pointed towards him.

"Here," she said, moving it close enough that he could drink from the straw without trying to hold the glass on his own. "Try to drink as much of it as you can."

It was a little disconcerting to try to drink from a cup someone else was holding, but as soon as Naegi took the first sip, he forgot his discomfort with the concept. Cool water flooded into his mouth, a fresh, clean taste that washed away the sour tang that had coated his tongue and throat, and he found himself craving more like he'd spent hours in the heat. He hadn't even realized he'd been so thirsty, not until the water smoothed away the rough dryness of his mouth and throat.

Before he knew it, he'd emptied the glass. Ogami looked pleased as she set it aside, before turning back to peer at Naegi again. "Are you feeling a little better?"

Mindful of what had happened the last time he'd tried to speak, Naegi took a fortifying breath before opening his mouth again. "Yes," he said, keeping his voice soft and low. It wasn't entirely accurate, since his arm still hurt, though not as badly as when he'd tried to move it, and his entire body felt like a mess of aches and pains – but the water had helped. He didn't think he was going to start coughing again, at least.

And that answer must have been right, because it earned him a small smile of relief from Ogami. "Good. You had us all very worried, you know."

All? Naegi's gaze automatically flickered out across the rest of the room, looking to see if any of the other students might be nearby. He didn't see anyone else in the room – but as he glanced around, he did see a thick red carpet rolled across the floor, a delicate flower vase on the table, and a music stand with a violin propped up beside it. None of those things had ever been in the bland, empty dorm room he'd been given – but he still recognized them.

This was Togami's room. He'd been sleeping in Togami's bed. Yes, he'd done that before, but never by himself, with the other boy nowhere in sight. How had he ended up back here? And more than how – why? His memory might be fuzzy and unreliable about recent events, but he remembered the shock and fury of their fights with bitter clarity. Togami had been too angry to speak to Naegi without attacking – why would he have let Naegi into his room when Naegi had a perfectly good bed of his own right across the hall?

Or did he? Something bad had obviously occurred, even if Naegi couldn't quite remember it at the moment. What could it have been?

He looked back at Ogami, steeling himself to try to speak again. "What happened…?"

Her eyes widened. "You don't remember?"

"No…"

"I see." Ogami's eyebrows knit together as she examined him even more closely than before. "Well, there was –" She hesitated. "There was an incident in the library, and you were quite badly injured. Genocide Jill stabbed you through the arm, and then a bookcase fell on top of you both."

Jill… and her scissors… and a bookcase? Silver flashed before Naegi's eyes, and his stomach lurched with the sudden, dizzying sensation that he was falling backward. Wild laughter echoed unsteadily in his ears, and red eyes shone bright with barely-suppressed emotions.

"Is she… okay?" Naegi asked, not quite able to sort through the scraps of confusing memories on his own.

A small, sad smile crossed Ogami's face for a moment before her expression melted back into concern. "Jill is fine. Unfortunately, you are not. You lost a great deal of blood, and I suspect you may have hit your head when you collapsed."

Had he? He supposed that would explain a lot – the exhaustion, and the headache, and the dehydration. It didn't tell him why he was in Togami's room, though.

"I don't know how severe that head injury was," Ogami continued, frowning. "And your memory loss is worrying. I'm going to try to determine if you have a concussion." She raised a hand with one finger extended. "Please try to follow my finger with your eyes."

Naegi obediently kept his gaze trained on her finger as she traced slow patterns through the air. His aching head made it a little difficult to maintain concentration, and he would have liked to close his eyes and rest, just for a moment – but he didn't want to make Ogami any more worried than she already was. He persevered through to the end, when she finally dropped her hand back to her side.

"You're able to track with your vision," she said. "And your pupils seem normal. Those are both good signs. Do you feel nauseous or dizzy at all?"

"Dizzy… not nauseous," Naegi answered.

She considered him for a moment. "Does your head feel fuzzy? Are you able to remember other things?"

He'd remembered those fights with Togami all too well, even if he wished he hadn't. "Yes…"

She didn't look convinced. "Do you remember your name?"

He smiled shakily. "Makoto Naegi."

She nodded slowly. "What's the name of this school?"

"Hope's Peak Academy."

A little bit of the tension around her eyes eased. "And the year?"

"2012."

Ogami went still. "What?"

Hadn't she heard him? Naegi tried to raise his voice a little. "2010."

She gave him a long, dubious look. "That wasn't what you said the first time I asked." She sighed, shaking her head. "You aren't showing the physical signs of a concussion, but you seem disoriented. It might be a side effect of the blood loss instead of the head wound, but I don't know enough to tell the difference."

"Is that… bad…?" Naegi asked.

Ogami met his eyes, and her expression softened. "You needn't worry about it. Just try to rest."

"But…"

A sad smile touched her lips. "I see he knew you wouldn't want to rest properly. Maybe you'll listen to your boyfriend if you won't to me."

Naegi went cold, the word boyfriend knocking the breath out of him like a punch to the gut. She had to be referring to Togami – but the other boy had never actually been his boyfriend, not really. And whatever he'd been once, he certainly wasn't any longer, after the fights they'd had.

"Togami left a message in case you woke up before he could return," Ogami said, apparently not noticing Naegi's distress. "He said to take better care of yourself, and he'll be back to see you soon."