Togami carefully scrutinized Naegi as the other boy took a moment to consider his response. Yes, Naegi did look much better than he had during both of Togami's previous visits, with a little more color to his cheeks and less trembling to his movements. He could sit up on his own now, without leaning against the pillows and headboard — that had to be a good sign. And speaking didn't seem to knock all the wind out of him the way it had before.

But none of that necessarily translated to an ability to get out of bed, let alone climb the long flights of stairs up to the fifth floor. All Togami's insides twisted into knots at the thought of pushing Naegi too hard, only to see the boy collapse midway up the stairs and plummet down to the floor.

But then again, if Ikusaba really was the one doing this, there was nothing to say that Naegi would be any safer if Togami left him here in the dorms. After all, Ogami had been knocked out fairly easily, and she hadn't sustained any of the injuries currently impairing Naegi's ability to fight back. Even locking the door wouldn't be a guarantee of safety, not if Ikusaba was the one behind all this. The mastermind would be a fool to leave themselves without a way to get past the dorm room locks. And while a barricade might be enough of an additional barrier, Naegi was in no shape to construct one.

No, if it was a case of danger competing with danger, Togami would prefer to keep Naegi by his side, where he could keep an eye on the trouble-prone boy. If Naegi wasn't up to climbing the stairs right now, then both of them would just have to wait here until he felt stronger. Togami wasn't going to leave Naegi alone with a murderer on the loose.

But after a long moment of contemplation, Naegi took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. I think I can get up."

Togami eyed his determined expression dubiously. The long pause for thought did suggest that Naegi hadn't just blurted his answer out blindly… but on the other hand, Naegi had clearly believed he'd been up to traipsing all over the school two days ago, too, and it had left him too exhausted to climb down the stairs on his own.

"I really am feeling better," Naegi insisted, clearly feeling like he had to give a longer answer in response to whatever he saw on Togami's face. "I've had a really long time to sleep, and my arm can hardly move at all in this sling. I'm sure I'll be fine if I don't try to move too fast."

Togami sighed. "All right, then." He pushed himself to his feet and slid an arm around Naegi, so that he could take some of the smaller boy's weight as he tried to get up. "Let's see how well you manage standing, and we'll go from there."

Naegi gave him a determined nod, then used his good hand and Togami's supporting arm to try to struggle to his feet. A small gasp hissed through Togami's teeth as some of Naegi's weight fell on his arm, feeling heavier than it should have considering the past times he'd supported Naegi. He scowled fiercely, holding his arm steady more through force of will than muscle as Naegi leaned on him to stand. He would not let the already injured boy drop to the floor — it simply wasn't an option, not matter how much his arm wanted to shake under the pressure.

But finally, after an eternity of gritting his teeth and clenching his fingers, the weight eased as Naegi regained some of his equilibrium, using the side of the bed as well as Togami's grip on his shoulder to balance himself. His attention freed from his own need to stay on his feet, Togami looked down to scrutinize Naegi again after this latest exertion.

He'd half expected to see Naegi swaying on his feet and gasping for breath, as he'd been on the stairs coming down from the fifth floor the other day, but to his surprise, Naegi did actually seem to be managing. He wasn't recovered, that much was obvious in the lingering pallor of his skin and the lines of strain across his face, but he wasn't as badly off as he could have been. He'd gotten to his feet, and he seemed to be standing without too much difficulty.

But standing wasn't good enough. He needed to be able to move around, to walk, to climb. And he would have to be able to do those things without relying on Togami to support him, since this first attempt had shown that the effects of the drugged air still hadn't worn off entirely. Would Naegi be strong enough to endure the search they needed? What if he only made it partway to the fifth floor and then his energy gave out? That would leave them both entirely at the mercy of the murderer. Was the information they could learn from a search really worth that risk?

Togami sighed. "I don't think this is a good idea."

"What?" Naegi frowned, looking a little indignant. "But you said to try getting up, and I did! Okay, I didn't do it by myself but —"

"That's not what I meant," Togami cut him off. "Yes, you stood up, but how long do you think you can stay this way? How many stairs can you climb before it's too many?"

"You're the one who just said we need to go upstairs," Naegi objected.

"I know. And we do — but that doesn't matter if we can't get there." Togami shook his head. "We should wait here, at least for a little while longer. If we wait until Ogami sleeps off this drug, that would give us more options. We could —"

"No!" Naegi's sharp glare stopped him mid-sentence. "We can't just hide down here. One of our friends is dead!"

"And she won't get any less dead no matter when we go up there," Togami countered. "There hasn't been a body discovery announcement, so it isn't as though we have to worry about time limits or trials. We can wait and do this safely."

"But we don't even know who it is," Naegi said, tilting his head up to look at Togami with wide, miserable eyes.

Something clenched around Togami's heart at the sight of that expression on Naegi's face. It was wrong for Naegi to look that unhappy, even in the midst of this horrible killing game. Naegi's safety was more important than his happiness, Togami knew that — but it was hard to hold on to that knowledge when Naegi looked like all the joy had been sucked out of his soul.

"I have to know," Naegi said, with an obvious effort at keeping his voice from trembling. "Please — I have to know if I let her go to her death."

Togami closed his eyes. It always came back to Kirigiri with Naegi, didn't it? But… in this case, at least, Togami supposed he could see where the other boy was coming from. From everything they'd discovered from searching the dorm room, it was looking more and more likely that the body upstairs belonged to Kirigiri. But it wasn't certain, not until someone had seen her with their own eyes — and uncertainty could destroy the mind in a way that cold fact wouldn't. The not knowing would tear at Naegi's peace of mind, putting more unnecessary stress on him and halting his recovery.

And if Togami had to be honest with himself, it wasn't doing him much good, either. Who was their enemy in this case, the mastermind or one of the other students? He didn't know, and until he knew, he couldn't make a solid plan.

With a sigh, Togami opened his eyes again and looked down to meet Naegi's unrelenting gaze. "All right," he said. "I'll figure out a way to get you there safely."