On the Beach at Night [Nagito x Reader]

Chapter 28: Release

The road to recovery was a long one, but things were moving forward quite smoothly. Nagito was gaining his strength back to the point where he was able to walk around on his own. His stamina drained quickly, but each day showed more progress. He wasn't nearly as thin and sickly-looking as before, and some of the color was starting to return to his skin. The only thing really hindering the progress was the nightmares he kept having.

Nightmares were a common occurrence for nearly all the students after waking up from the Neo World Program. All the trauma and death they experienced manifested itself in the form of hyper-realistic nightmares. For some, they went away after only a few nights. Others, never stopped experiencing them, but instead just became numb to them. Everyone was different, but Nagito seemed to be the most affected by them.

"Hey, (Y/N)." a voice spoke from the hospital room doorway. (Y/N) turned her head to face the source of the words.

"Hajime." she nodded towards him.

"Did he have another nightmare?" his gaze darted over to Nagito who was calmly asleep on the hospital bed. He slowly made his way closer to where (Y/N) was sitting, keeping his footsteps light as not to disturb the slumbering patient.

"Yeah, he did." (Y/N) replied, almost whispering. Hajime looked at her apologetically, but he raised his eyebrows at her when he caught sight of her arm. There was a light purple bruise starting to form, almost in the shape of a hand that had been tightly gripped around it.

"He hurt you last night." Hajime didn't bother phrasing it as a question.

"It wasn't on purpose! It barely even hurts. He's just not used to his new arm, that's all." She defended. As much as she hated to admit it, it wasn't the first time she'd been hurt by Nagito since he got his mechanical arm. When he first put it on, he was a little too eager to hold her hand and subsequently squeezed all her fingers together so tightly she was sure he broke every single one of them. Luckily, there was no lasting damage, but she could tell Nagito was angry at himself for causing her pain. In fact, she made a note to pick up something long-sleeved from her cottage before he could see the bruising on her arm. There was no need for him to feel guilty about something that happened while he was asleep. He had enough on his mind.

"I don't mind staying with him at night. You shouldn't have to subject yourself to physical harm." he offered.

"So, only you're allowed to subject yourself to it? I can handle it, Hajime. I'm not as fragile as you think." her words seemed to cut through him, judging by his reaction. He flinched slightly, avoiding her unwavering gaze.

"I'm sorry, (Y/N). I know you love him and you want to be there for him. I just worry about your wellbeing. Mentally and physically." He eyed the bruise on her arm once more.

"And I worry about you too, okay?" she reached out and placed her hand on the small of his back, which was as far as she could reach without standing up also. "Just let me stay with him. Please, I have to."

"Okay." he gave in. "But I think it would be better if we relocated him. I don't think he needs to be hospitalized anymore."

"Really? That's great news!" (Y/N) beamed. "We should start preparing his cottage right away." Unlike in the Neo World Program, the cottages were unused for so long that they needed a lot of work before being inhabited.

"Well, actually..." he hesitated for a moment. "I was thinking it would be best if he just stayed in your cottage. That way, he wouldn't be alone at night."

"Oh...right." she felt her face heat up. Nagito had stayed in her cottage before when they were in the program, but as far as she knew, nobody else was aware of that fact. They kept it hidden to avoid any judgement. It was embarrassing to think that everyone would now openly know if they were living together. The embarrassment was quickly replaced with excitement. Nagito would be leaving the hospital. And if he agreed, they would be staying together. The thought of having some normalcy in their relationship was exhilarating. Without death and despair looming over them constantly, maybe they could finally get a chance to get to learn more about each other. (Y/N) realized there was still so much she wanted to know about the boy she loved so unconditionally.