[He shakes his head.]

I'd be lying either way. [Since...saying he hasn't heard anything would ALSO be a lie.] So if it comes to that, I'm not going to make you "handle the actual lying part" on your own.

[Sure, he doesn't want Kaede to be mad at him but...feigning ignorance like that and letting Kokichi take all the heat would just be really shitty.]

[Especially since, again, it's not like he isn't already neck deep in a lie to both Kaede AND Kokichi.]