Naegi sat on the edge of Togami's bed, doing his best to sort through the items Ogami had kept within arm's reach while she'd kept vigil over him during the night. He'd thought that maybe he'd find some kind of alternate method that the culprit might have used to knock Ogami out, something that he and Togami might have missed in their initial search… but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
With a sigh, he picked up the water Ogami had ordered him to drink before she'd left, the weight of the heavy cup trembling in his hand as he brought it to his lips. It rushed cool and fresh through his mouth, washing away the sticky dryness he'd hardly realized was there. He could have drunk the entire glass straight down, but after only a few gulps, he could feel the liquid sloshing as his hand shook. It was still barely half-full when he hastily set it back on the edge of the nightstand, before he could lose his grip and send it spilling across the floor.
At least Ogami would see that he'd made an effort when she came back. And maybe if she noticed that, she'd be willing to help him go elsewhere to investigate. Even the thought of approaching the stairs again made his vision blur with exhaustion — but there were other places he could check. The trash room or the nurse's office might hold some clues, if he could manage the trek to look at them.
There had to be something that he was missing, some hidden crumb of information that he hadn't found yet. He'd gone into every trial feeling unprepared, not sure who the culprit could be… but he'd always felt as though the truth was somewhere in reach, if only he and his friends could find their way to it. But now, with Ikusaba's murder, nothing made sense. Every time he thought he'd figured something out, it only led to more questions, each harder than the last. And the answer, the horrible answer that kept staring him in the face, was so horrible that he didn't know if he could bring himself to believe it. He dropped his head into his free hand, trying to fight off the ache throbbing from his temples at the unsolvable questions.
"Naegi? What are you doing?"
Naegi jumped at the sound of the last voice he'd expected to hear. He twisted sharply towards it — and saw Kirigiri standing there, just in front of the door.
He stared at her blankly, not quite able to process the sight. She looked exactly as she had the first time he'd seen her in the entrance hall, cool and unruffled and pristine. She'd been gone for so long, he'd been sure that something terrible must have happened... but here she stood, whole and well as if she'd never disappeared at all.
"You're okay!" The words burst from him in a flood of relief. "You're still alive!"
"Of course I am." Her words were as brusque as ever, and not so much as a flicker of emotion passed over her face. The only thing that betrayed her state of mind was the way she crossed her arms, one finger tapping against her elbow, a minute reflection of the busy whirl of thoughts he knew had to be running through her mind. "But from the look of things, I should be saying that to you. What have you done to yourself while I was gone?"
Naegi blinked, and then glanced down at himself, realizing what he must look like to her. Bloodstained clothes, arm in a makeshift sling, pale and shaky from blood loss — he was walking evidence that something terrible had happened after she'd disappeared. He'd only been tired and a little dizzy when she'd left, symptoms that would have gone away with time and rest — it must be a pretty big shock for her to come back to see him with fresh injuries.
"I got into some trouble in the library," he said, hedging a little around the true cause of his wounds. He didn't want to mention Jill or her scissors, not if he didn't have to. "But it doesn't matter — we dealt with it, and everyone's okay now. More importantly, what happened to you? Where have you been?"
"What kind of trouble?" Kirigiri ignored his questions as thoroughly as if he'd never asked them.
"Well… a bookcase fell on me." He hoped that would be enough. No good could come of pointing a finger at Jill right before they would all have to face another trial.
But Kirigiri seemed to know the rest anyway, her sharp gaze aimed directly at his arm without a trace of a smile. "It must have been a very sharp bookcase."
"Something like that," Naegi said uncomfortably. At least it didn't seem like she was going to force the issue… so he decided to press before she changed her mind. "Will you tell me where you've been all this time now? Please, I was really worried about you!"
"No."
Naegi probably shouldn't have been shocked by the blunt response, but it still hit him like cold water to the face. He'd thought that he and Kirigiri had finally been working together again before she'd disappeared. They'd explored the fifth floor together, and she'd confided in him about her secret meeting with Ikusaba. Even if Togami's suspicions were right and she hadn't been telling him everything, they'd at least been allies in this fight… hadn't they?
"Not yet," Kirigiri corrected herself, a few lines forming around her mouth as her lips tightened. Her eyes flickered off towards the cameras, just for a moment.
He saw what she meant then, and a twist of guilt threaded its way through his mind for suspecting her. Of course she wouldn't want to share what she'd been doing where the mastermind could overhear them. She'd gone to a great deal of trouble to keep her meeting with Ikusaba hidden… and if there was any chance that she might have learned something valuable, she'd want to keep it secret at all costs. And there was only one place in the school where they could reliably discuss secrets.
"Then… do you think you might feel like talking after a bath?" Naegi asked hesitantly.
Kirigiri tilted her head a fraction to one side, the painful pressure of her gaze boring into him until he almost wanted to back away. He didn't know what she could be looking for that intently, or if she was able to find it — but after a long moment, she gave a single sharp nod. "Yes. There are some things that need to be said."
Without waiting for a response, she turned and headed for the door. Naegi stared after her for a few seconds before groping hurriedly for the music stand pole. He hadn't realized that she would want to go to the bathhouse now — he'd thought that they could go there to discuss everything after the trial was finally over. After all, the investigation of Ikusaba's murder really ought to be their priority at the moment — it wasn't like Kirigiri to ignore an approaching class trial so completely.
Not unless she'd found something really important.
With that in mind, he reluctantly used the pole to lever himself up off the bed, taking care not to jar his injured arm as he stood. It ached anyway, with a constant dull burn that promised painful retribution if he acted carelessly. He really would have liked to take another of the painkillers that Ogami had given him earlier… but even if he'd been able to get a bottle open one-handed, anything that had been in this room could potentially have been drugged. Naegi sighed and put the thought out of his mind, heading out of the room after Kirigiri.
He'd just finished locking the door behind him when heavy footsteps came hurriedly down the hall in his direction. He looked up to see Ogami bearing down on him, alarm sharp on her face even from a distance.
"Is something wrong?" she demanded as soon as she was in earshot. "Why are you leaving the dorm room?"
"Kirigiri asked me to go with her," Naegi explained. He glanced around — but the mysterious girl was nowhere in sight. She must have headed into the bathhouse already. "She came back, and she seems okay — but she wants to talk about something."
"Kirigiri?" Ogami's eyes widened. "She's resurfaced from wherever she's been all this time? But — what does she want?"
"I don't know. She hasn't told me yet." Naegi began making his way towards the bathhouse.
Ogami kept pace at his elbow, a deep line creasing its way across her forehead as they walked. She kept glancing down at Naegi every few steps, and not quite as though she was checking to make sure he was okay. Naegi had the disconcerting feeling that she wanted to say something to him, but he wasn't sure what that could be. Maybe she was waiting until they reached the bathhouse, so that she could speak without the mastermind overhearing them.
But as they entered the bathhouse, rather than seize the opportunity to say whatever was on her mind, Ogami dropped back a pace so that she was just behind Naegi's left shoulder instead of at his side. Naegi blinked a little in confusion, but before he could ask what she was doing, Kirigiri stepped forward from the other side of the room.
"I see that you brought company." She crossed her arms and surveyed them both, eyes darting back and forth between them like she was assessing something. She probably was, Naegi supposed — she always seemed to see a thousand things he missed.
"I gave my word that I would watch over Naegi in Togami's absence," Ogami said.
Naegi grimaced at that wording — was Ogami following him because she and Togami had decided between them that he needed a babysitter? "I'm feeling a lot better," he insisted. "I really don't think I'm going to collapse again or anything."
Kirigiri's eyebrows lifted. "Again?"
"Well… I was unconscious for a little while," Naegi admitted. He glanced down at his injured left arm, still cradled in its sling. "And… I guess I'm still not completely recovered."
"It certainly looks that way," Kirigiri said, fingers tapping against her elbow as she stared at him. "You make the perfect picture of injured fragility. I'm not surprised you've found yourself with a second bodyguard."
"I don't need to be protected!" Naegi objected, stung by the way she'd said the words. She didn't think that he liked having someone hanging over his shoulder in case his health failed him, did she?
"No, I suppose not. You've always been stronger than you seem." The faintest hint of a smile crossed Kirigiri's face at the words, before her eyes snapped towards Ogami. "And so he'll manage perfectly well when you leave."
Naegi nodded slowly, realization dawning. Whatever Kirigiri had wanted to say in the privacy of the bathhouse, it had to be related to her investigation into the mysteries of the school — a search that she'd only shared with him. No wonder she'd been a little shorter with him than usual when he'd appeared with another student in tow — she was reluctant enough to tell him her secrets, let alone a second person. Of course she'd insist that Ogami leave before she said anything of substance. It was probably a mark of how important this conversation was that she hadn't immediately left the bathhouse on seeing an unexpected person enter.
He turned to look up at Ogami. "I'm sorry — but I think she's right. She and I should talk about this alone."
Ogami looked from Naegi to Kirigiri. "I'm not certain that is a good idea."
"I won't do anything strenuous," he assured her. "I'll sit and rest the whole time. And if anything happens, Kirigiri will be right here."
"Of course I will," Kirigiri agreed. "I intend to keep a very close eye on him."
"See?" Naegi said, trying his best to sound encouraging. "I'll be fine."
"Well…" A frown twisted across Ogami's face, like she was trying to think her way through a complicated question. "If you're sure this is the best way to approach matters…"
"I am," Naegi assured her.
She sighed. "Very well. You're far smarter than me. I will trust your judgment." She looked over at Kirigiri again. "And when I see the others, I will inform them that Naegi is with you."
Kirigiri nodded. "Feel free."
Confusion flickered across Ogami's face, like she'd expected a different response. "Then… I'll do so." She took a step towards the door.
"Actually — could you do something else first?" Naegi asked hastily, before Ogami could leave to head upstairs. He was pretty sure that if Togami heard Kirigiri had reappeared, he'd immediately rush downstairs to talk to her — whether he was up to dealing with the stairs or not. "I never got the chance to investigate the library. Would you go in and take a look around?"
"If you wish," Ogami said dubiously. "Is there something you want me to look for?"
"Nothing specific," Naegi said. "But it's related to what's been happening, and no one's looked at it yet."
"Very well." Ogami gave the pair of them one last look, then nodded and headed out of the bathhouse.
Once she was out of earshot, Naegi looked back at Kirigiri. "So… what did you want to talk about?"
But she tilted her head, giving him an assessing look. "You really aren't doing well, are you? She's right — you should sit down."
"I guess." Naegi supposed he had just told Ogami that he would, after all.
He started to drag himself across the floor to one of the benches — but to his surprise, Kirigiri stepped briskly over to help, placing a supportive arm at his side so that he didn't have to lean quite so much weight on the music stand pole. He would have protested that he didn't need the help — but having her there to steady him did make it easier to settle onto the low, backless bench without losing his balance.
"Thanks," he said, giving Kirigiri a smile as she sat down across from him.
She didn't return the smile, expressionless as ever. "It would look very suspicious if you collapsed while alone with me."
Naegi shook his head. "You don't have to worry about that." He leaned forward. "But more importantly… what did you want to tell me that you couldn't say in front of the cameras?"
