On the Beach at Night [Nagito x Reader]

Chapter 18: Text

The school day was finally over and (Y/N) was patiently waiting next to the statue in the center of the courtyard. She stood on the tip of her toes, trying to see over the top of the crowd, but there was still no sign of Nagito. In an attempt to distract herself, she turned around and looked up at the statue that was towering over her. It was an intricate stone carving of an older man with an odd haircut and facial hair, resting his hands on some sort of scepter. She brushed her fingers over the plaque at the base of the statue, feeling the indentation of each letter.

"Izuru Kamukura" she read the name quietly to herself. The memories of the Izuru she knew were now flooding to the forefront of her mind. Although he seemed incapable of showing emotions, when he finally did, it felt so genuine. For a second, she wished she could feel his arms around her again, but she quickly pushed away the thought. Right now, she needed to focus on Nagito, who may or may not even show up.

"Hey, sorry I kept you waiting." A voice startled her from behind.

"Nagito!" She quickly turned her back to the statue to face the boy who was now standing before her. "I wasn't waiting long, don't worry."

"It's not too late to change your mind, y'know. You don't have to spend time with a waste of space like me." He smiled as he spoke, like it was a normal thing to say.

Has he always been like this? She thought to herself. Retrieving memories of Nagito seemed to be the most difficult. It gave her a headache if she tried too hard.

"I'm not changing my mind. Unless you are?"

"No, of course not! It would be an honor to spend time with someone as talented as you. I just figured that someone put you up to this. Maybe you lost a bet?"

"I'm not much of a gambler. Music is more my thing." she smiled, hoping they could finally change the subject. "Anyways, do you want to grab dinner or something?"

After Nagito finally stopped questioning her motive, they decided to check out a new ramen shop that just opened up nearby the school. Once they got their food, they sat down at a booth next to the window and quietly watched people walk by as they ate.

"I think I understand now why you asked to hang out." Nagito finally broke the silence. "It must be my good luck."

"So that means you think this is a good thing?" she teased him.

"I think it takes an incredible amount of luck for someone like me to be sitting here having dinner with the prettiest girl in our class." he said straightforwardly, like he was stating a commonly-known fact. (Y/N) was so caught off guard that she nearly choked on the food she was eating.

"Nagito! You can't just say things like that..." she avoided his eyes, hoping he wouldn't notice how red her face was.

"I'm sorry if I upset you." the smile disappeared from his face. (Y/N) immediately felt guilty for making him worry.

"I'm not upset, it's just a little embarrassing to hear someone say that about me." she laughed nervously. "but thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you." he was smiling again. "It really makes me happy that you're interested in talking to me."

"I've been interested for a while, but I was always too nervous to say something until now." (Y/N) felt bad for lying to him, but it's not like she could openly tell him that she was only doing all of this as part of an undercover mission to save his life.

"I'm used to that," he admitted, "Most people seem to get nervous around me, like they're afraid or something"

"That's not what I meant, Nagito. This is a different kind of nervous." her face felt warm again, so she hurried and changed the subject. "We should probably get out of here before we get kicked out." Both of them had already finished eating, and it was starting to get dark outside. They decided to call it a night and head back to the dorms since they still had class tomorrow. Nagito offered to walk her back to her room first before saying their goodbyes.

"I had a good time." (Y/N) said once they finally reached her dorm.

"So did I." he smiled so big, his eyes weren't even open anymore. It was a sight that (Y/N) hoped to see more often.

"Hey, do you want to exchange phone numbers?" she asked nervously. He agreed to the idea and handed over his phone.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow." he smiled at her one more time before making his way over to the boys' dormitory.

"Bye, Nagito."

--
When Nagito got back to his room, the first thing he did was look at himself in the mirror.

"Of all the things my luck could bring me, why did it have to be her?" His voice was full of frustration. "Why her? Why?!" This time he was nearly shouting. His breathing became more and more heavy and he started sweating. He wrapped his arms around himself, almost like he was in a strait jacket. He knew that whenever he experienced anything good, his cycle of luck would take it away from him. He wouldn't even be surprised if (Y/N) was already dead in some freak dorm room accident that happened right after he left. Before he could continue rambling to himself, he felt his pocket vibrate. (Y/N)'s name was flashing across the screen. He opened the message.

Hey, I forgot to say thanks for buying dinner. Next time is on me, okay?! :)

After taking a deep breath and calming down a little, he responded to her. He insisted that he continue paying for their meals, since he had quite a large amount of money from inheritance and lottery winnings. Before he knew it, they were texting for the next few hours about anything and everything. They talked about their childhood pets, their favorite songs, things they could do next time they hung out, and more. It felt so normal, like there wasn't some impending bad luck waiting to take away all the happiness Nagito was feeling. But that didn't change the fact that he was feeling happy. And that's exactly how he felt right as he drifted off to sleep. His phone buzzed one more time after several minutes of his non-responsiveness.

Goodnight, Nagito. Sweet dreams.