Stargazing - [Nagito Komaeda x Reader]

Ch4 - |Sippy Cup|

I caught up to my friend, and saw him looking around in search for something. I walked up to him. "Aaand? Do you see anything?" I asked. "AH! Over there!" he shouted loudly, despite me being right next to him. He ran off again, in a different direction.

"H-hey, waaaait!" I exclaimed as I ran after him. We ran for a short distance, before Nagito suddenly stopped and I bumped into him, causing both of us to fall down.

"Owwww..." we groaned in unison. I got off the boy, stood up and brushed off the dirt and grass from my clothes. He also stood up, but started walking slowly towards something instead. I looked up at him. "What are you doing?--" I said, but then I saw it.

A young fox, backed away into a small space in a part of the hollow trunk of a tree. Nagito approached it quietly, kneeled down, and tried to pick it up... But he only ended up with his hands covered in cuts, and his spirit broken.

"I don't want to try that again and get my arms all messed up... Maybe you should try? Animals ought to listen to a person as amazing as you..." he mumbled so quietly, I didn't really hear what exactly he said. I nodded, and approached the fox with determination in my eyes.

The fox did leave a few cuts on my arms, but I managed to pick it up and carry it around. "See! I knew you could do it!" Nagito pat my back gently, praising me for a job well done. I giggled.

"But it's not running away... And it seems like its leg is broken... What do we do?" I asked with a concerned tone in my voice. "Hm... Maybe if we carry it to your mom, she would know what to do?" Nagito suggested. I thought about this solution of our problem for a few seconds, and then nodded in agreement.

"Okay, but let's hurry up... It's pretty heavy..." I muttered. "Uh-huh, got it! Follow me!" Nagito also nodded, and headed out in the direction we came from.

What came after that? It's simple: we took care of the fox until its leg was fully healed. Then, we released it back into the park. Surely, for some people this story would not be important, or maybe even boring... But it was very important to both of us: to Nagito and me. We really loved that fox. We nicknamed it Vulpix - because we were watching Pokémon on TV while mom was patching up the fox when we brought it to my house. We thought that the animal really looked like that Pokemon, so the nickname fit.

***

"I wonder what happened to that fox... Did it live happily? Or was it hunted down by predators straight away..." Nagito mumbled as he repeatedly stabbed a piece of apple on his plate with a fork, staring at it with a bored expression.

"D-don't say that!" I scolded him as I finished up my cupcake. "...Hey, aren't you gonna eat that?" I gestured at all the apple pieces Nagito left on his plate. "Ah... Not really. It's too sweet for me." he looked up at me, and then down at his dish again. "Do you want it?" he asked.

"Ah, just one bite, please?" I smiled as I opened my mouth and pointed at it. Nagito grinned, clearly understanding what I meant. He put one of the apple pieces on the fork and placed it in my mouth. Feeding each other? Yep, we did that when we were young, too. Good times.

"Hm... Yep, it's too sweet and dull. I prefer the juicy, soursweet apples." I said while chewing the fruit. Nagito sighed. "I really miss the childhood days sometimes... Children just have... So much hope in them..." his expression turned somewhat dark, and I could see him shivering a bit. "Such young, innocent hope for the bright future when they grow up... So many hopes and dreams..."

I suddenly grew worried about Nagito and his weird speech, but as I was about to say something, that darkness was gone, and he was once again smiling brightly. Was I imagining things?... I took a few sips of my coffee nervously.

"A-anyway... About that comet again... You would be unable to ser it right now, as it's visible every few years in the summer in our country. Thankfully, it will be visible on the night sky this summer! So, if you're interested, maybe I could show you..." I blurted out, blushing a bit. He crossed his arms, a somewhat worried expression painting his face. "This summer, huh..." his mind seemed to trail off in many different directions, but then he chuckled and looked at me. "Well, I guess I still have some time left, so yeah! If you really want to spend some time with a person like me, I'll gladly accept the offer."

"Have some time... Are you busy with something?" I didn't quite get what Nagito said, as he stood up and sighed. "Well, thank you, [YN], for wasting some of your precious time to talk to me..." he gave me a warm smile and bowed his head.

"Uhm... Sure! And don't say it like that! We're gonna talk to each other lots of times from now on, right? And I'm gonna take you to see the stars in the summer..." I smiled sheepishly while scratching the back of my head nervously. At that moment I could swear I saw Nagito's smile grow weaker and his eyes turn dark... But after a second it was once again, back to normal. What was up with that? I blinked a few times. Were my eyes deceiving me?

"It's a promise, then. Let us hope... That my luck will let me live to that day." his voice was barely above a whisper, when he turned around and started walking away. "Bye, [YN]... And again, thank you." I wasn't sure if he even said those words.

I watched Nagito walk away, until I couldn't see his back anymore. I could feel my heart slow down. Wait, when did it start racing anyway? Was my heart beating so fast the whole time I was with Nagito? I did not understand that feeling, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to understand.