With the bizarre world of his dream still lingering around him, it took a moment for Togami's mind to comprehend the situation. For the briefest moment, he'd almost felt relieved to see Kirigiri sitting near him, in a disorienting echo of his reaction in the dream… as though the idea that she'd been watching as he slept was reassuring rather than terrifying.

But it only took an instant for the world to realign properly for him to recognize Kirigiri for the threat she was. Tension whipped through his body, preparing to defend himself regardless of the way his muscles ached in protest. He didn't dare focus on the pain right now, not when she had the chance to strike however she wished while he was weakened. How could he have been stupid enough to leave himself so vulnerable by falling asleep —

No… wait. He hadn't fallen asleep… not exactly. Hazy memories of the moments before he'd lost consciousness came creeping back through his memory, and Togami didn't like what he was beginning to recall. He'd fainted… while trying to confront Kirigiri…? That couldn't be right… could it?

"I hope you're not planning to do anything stupid — we don't have time for you to collapse again."

Apparently that was exactly what had happened. The slimy tinge of mortification twisted through his confusion, made all the worse by the hint of heat rising in his face. It would almost have been easier to cope if he'd heard mockery in Kirigiri's voice or seen scorn in her expression… but examine her as he might, he couldn't detect a trace of amusement at his expense.

Well, that didn't mean she didn't feel it — she'd just chosen to hide the reaction, that was all. And in doing so, she'd lost her opportunity to take advantage of his vulnerability. Togami pressed his palms flat on the floor to try to lever himself up into a sitting position —

And sharp white spots crowded across his vision as the room tilted wildly back and forth. Nausea writhed through his stomach, and he collapsed flat on his back in a desperate attempt to contain it.

"Moving that fast won't accomplish anything," Kirigiri said, with what Togami felt was an inappropriate level of calmness for the situation. "Stay still until you're steadier, and then try sitting up slowly."

Following her instructions was the last thing Togami wanted to do — but he didn't seem to have any other options at the moment. His head seemed off-kilter from the rest of his body, as though another sharp movement could send them wobbling madly in opposite directions. Her suggestions of a slow, careful attempt at sitting was the only way likely to end in anything other than another humiliation. He forced himself to stay flat on the ground, waiting impatiently for the roiling in his head to abate.

She watched him a moment longer, eyes narrowed as she took in the wreck of his appearance. "When was the last time you ate anything?"

The answer to that one was easy. The last time he'd eaten anything was while Naegi was still alive.

He'd had no intention of answering… but apparently, Kirigiri didn't need to hear the words. She sighed. "Starving yourself won't help, you know. And… he wouldn't want you to suffer."

A haze of fury pulsed across his vision, turning the world sharp and red for an instant. If he could have moved, he would have tried to throttle her for those words. How dare she refer to Naegi like that? What right did she have to speak as if she understood him in any way?

But the worst part… the very worst part was that he knew she was right. Naegi wouldn't want him to be unhappy or in pain.

And knowing that only made it all the more impossible to be anything else, now that Naegi wasn't with him.

"Here — you should try to eat this, once you're able to sit up."

Without getting up or moving any closer to him, Kirigiri placed a packet of crackers and a bottle of some unnaturally blue energy drink in the space between them… and Togami couldn't help but notice that she'd chosen items that appeared to have unbroken seals. Not that it necessarily meant she hadn't tampered with them anyway… but he had to admit that if she'd wanted to harm him, she'd had plenty of opportunities while he'd been unconscious. And as much as he hated the thought of eating something she'd given him… the prospect of collapsing a second time was worse.

Slowly, braced to stop at the slightest hint of another bout of dizziness, he began to push himself upright once more. The snail's pace of the movements made him grit his teeth in frustration, especially laden with the awareness that Kirigiri was watching every agonizingly slow second of it… but he did his best to block her piercing gaze from his mind.

Once he could finally sit without the room spinning around him, he glanced back down at the food she'd offered. He meant to question it, to consider the threats, to think it over — but his body overrode his conscious thoughts. His hand stretched out to seize the crackers before he could decide against it, tearing the packet open as fast as his clumsy, bandaged fingers could manage.

The crackers were gone in moments, though he could hardly recall the taste or texture of them. He glanced back up at Kirigiri as he discarded the wrapper, eyes narrowed as he searched for any signs of mockery… but no, he didn't see a single one. If anything, some of the tension seemed to leave her shoulders when she saw him take the bottled drink as well. At least she was going to keep her ridicule to herself, whatever she might be thinking about him. Togami supposed he should be grateful for small mercies.

Not that any mercy lasted long. When she saw him take a cautious sip of the blue drink, she apparently took it as her cue to begin a new conversation. Togami bit back the frustrated groan at the end of his brief respite, doing his best to brace himself for whatever malice she intended to fling at him now that he was unable to storm away.

"I think… that I may owe you an apology."

Togami froze. Whatever he'd expected her to say… that hadn't been it. Only when the sharp aftertaste of the energy drink began to sting across his tongue did he manage to finish swallowing his mouthful of liquid. But even though his body could move, his mind couldn't quite shake free of the shocked paralysis of Kirigiri's words. Why would she have said such a thing?

There were different possible reasons… he knew there had to be. Once he would have known what they were without any effort, sorting through different scenarios by long-practiced reflex. But now… it was as though he couldn't remember how it felt to make those logical leaps. No matter how much he thought that he wanted to tear into Kirigiri's statement and parse out every possible hidden meaning… he couldn't find the way to do it. All he could do was listen to the words as she spoke them, instead of filtering them through his own interpretations.

"I shouldn't have told you all my theories so bluntly," she went on, her gaze sliding off to one side rather than meet his own. "I should have found a better way to explain it… since now I know that none of it was true. You do need to understand what happened… but there were other ways to say it. You deserved better from me… and so did Naegi."

She paused, as though she expected some kind of response. But whatever answer she might be waiting for, he didn't have it. He didn't have any answers.

After a moment that stretched too long for comfort, she sighed. "Well… there's one more thing that I need to tell you. I don't know if this is the right time or the right way… but I know that if I don't say it, the mastermind will." She took a deep breath, one hand clenching in her lap. "I told you already that I believed Naegi was the mastermind… but that's not the entire extent of what happened. After Ikusaba turned up dead, using the fake murder plan I'd concocted… I thought that this trial was the mastermind's attempt to get rid of me. And so… I fought back."