On the Beach at Night [Nagito x Reader]

Chapter 24: Break

"(Y/N)?" the familiar voice called. She could see the light attempting to break through her closed eyelids. Her eyes fluttered open to see a pair of heterochromatic eyes staring down at her, filled with concern. She still felt disoriented, but less so than the last time she remembered waking up in the same pod. If she was awake, did that mean everything was a success? Or a failure...?

"Izuru!" she tried to sound energetic, but her voice was groggy and hardly louder than a whisper.

"(Y/N), don't strain yourself. How are you feeling?" He asked calmly.

"Stiff, but fine. Surprisingly kind of tired after being asleep for so long." she flashed him a weak smile, but it seemed to be convincing enough.

"Let's get you out of there." He extended a hand to her. She had enough strength to stand upright, although still a little wobbly. Before he could let go of her hand, she quickly pulled him into an embrace.

"Izuru...you knew the whole time. Why didn't you tell me?"

"About you and Nagito? I wanted you to remember for yourself. It's not my place to tell you who you love."

"He's okay, right? Can I see him?" She gave a slight nod towards the already empty pod.

"He's alive, but not in the best condition. I had to perform an emergency operation to fix his arm, so he's probably still sedated. You can see him if you'd like, but it's best if we let him rest for a while."

"What was wrong with his arm?" she looked at him inquisitively.

"During his time as a Remnant of Despair, he sawed off his own arm and replaced it with...someone else's." He seemed like he was hesitating at the explanation, but there was no point to keep it a secret anyways. His arm was missing, it was going to raise questions regardless. "It was done crudely and there was an infection, so I had to remove more than what was already gone. It'll take some time to heal, but he'll be alright."

"I want to see him." Her voice was firm.

"That's fine, but I will warn you, it might be difficult to see him in his current state."

--

When they arrived at the hospital, (Y/N) was quick to realize that Izuru wasn't lying about what he said. Nagito looked so frail compared to how she remembered him. He was thin, and his eyes were plagued with dark circles underneath. His left arm was reduced to only a bandaged stump that sat limply beside him. He was completely asleep, but he didn't look like he was resting peacefully. It pained her to see him like this, but she didn't want to look away. All the recent times she remembered seeing him were in the Neo World Program. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him in the flesh like this. Without realizing, a few tears escaped her eyes.

"He'll be asleep for a while, but you should be here when he wakes up." Izuru told her.

"You should get some rest. You've been working so hard."

"I can't sleep yet while there's a chance he wakes up soon, but I wouldn't mind a coffee break."

"Deal." She smiled at him.

"I'll go get a pot started. Meet you in the hospital lobby." He said before exiting the room.

(Y/N) sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle Nagito too much. She placed her hand on top of his only remaining one for a moment. It was startling how cold he felt. She pulled the blanket up to his neck, making sure every part of his body was covered. Brushing his hair out of the way, she gently planted a kiss on his forehead before heading down to the lobby.