When Nagito woke up his head was throbbing with a sharp pain, making him groan. It wasn't unusual for him to wake up with a headache but this one seemed worse than it normally was. As he remembered the events of the previous day he briefly worried that he'd caught the so called "Despair Fever".

He sat up and ran to the bathroom, looking around in the drawers for a thermometer. When he found it and took his temperature he sighed in relief to see that it was normal. With his immune system the way it was he was a bit surprised that he hadn't caught it.

Sighing heavily and running a hand through his hair, Nagito got ready for the day.

As soon as he stepped out of his cottage Nekomaru greeted him, his loud voice making Nagito's head throb even worse.

"GOOD MORNING NAGITO! ARE YOU READY FOR ANOTHER DAY?" The coach boomed. Nagito wanted to say something rude in return but only gave a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm really worried about the others. I hope it wears off soon." He said in return. Nekomaru suddenly patted him on the back, nearly sending Nagito flying with how strong the pat was.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine. Mikan will take good care of them. She may be a bit clumsy at times but she is passionate about her job." Nagito nodded at the coach's words.

Mikan was a good nurse, perhaps a bit overbearing, but good at what she did nonetheless. Nagito just hoped that even without a doctor the three sick students would be alright.

"We should go visit them… Oh, before I forget. Izuru said something yesterday right before we went to the hospital. Before you carried him off. What did he say?" At Nagito's question Nekomaru looked confused but then seemed to remember.

"Oh, yes! Well, it was kind of hard to understand but from what I could gather he seemed afraid of Mikan, like she was going to kill him or Hajime if we left them alone with her." He explained. "I have no idea why. I know Monokuma said he had the "Coward's disease" but he seemed especially afraid of Mikan…"

Nekomaru spoke as they walked to the third island, with Nagito silent the whole way. Why was Izuru so scared of Mikan? Did it have something to do with her being a nurse? The more he thought about it the less things made sense.

As soon as they got to the hospital, Mikan rushed over, teary eyed.

"Nagito, Nekomaru! I need your help! Izuru's locked himself in Hajime's room and he won't let me in! I-I was thinking maybe you two could talk him into letting me in so I can check on Hajime?" Mikan's voice was frantic, and it sounded like she'd been crying for a while now.

"M-Mikan, calm down. Let's go over there and see if we can get Izuru to open up. Maybe if we tell him that we're there with you he'll let you check on Hajime." Nagito wasn't entirely sure of his own words, but it wasn't a good idea to let Mikan know that with how panicked she was.

"R-right! This way!" Mikan led them to the hallway, where it was mostly silent aside from a few sounds of machinery and their own breathing. She stopped in front of a door and knocked gently.

"I-Izuru? It's me, Mikan. I brought Nagito and Nekomaru."

There was shuffling from behind the door before a soft voice answered.

"G-go away… leave us alone." It was Izuru's voice, but it sounded wrong. Nagito was used to Izuru being calm and stoic, very rarely showing how he really felt. But this voice… it sounded terrified and hoarse like he'd been screaming and crying for hours.

Nagito stepped up to the door, gently pushing Mikan aside so he could speak.

"Izuru, it's Nagito. Can you let us in please? We just want to make sure that Hajime is OK. I know you're afraid, especially of Mikan, but you can't help Hajime by yourself. Me and Nekomaru will come in with Mikan, so you don't have to be afraid."

There was a long pause, long enough for Nagito to wonder if Izuru had even heard him, before the door unlocked. Nagito opened the door to see Izuru dressed in a hospital gown sitting on the side of the bed.

Hajime was laying on the bed, eyes closed and paler than Nagito had ever seen him.

Mikan immediately tried to run over to Hajime, but Izuru stopped her, his arm shooting out.

The nurse ran into his arm with a small 'oomph'. Izuru's eyes were wide and fearful, a few tears running down his cheeks.

Nekomaru walked over to the bed and put a hand onto Izuru's shoulder, nearly making the sick boy jump out of his skin.

"It's alright Izuru, I don't understand why you're so scared of Mikan, but she won't hurt you or Hajime." He tried to sooth. Izuru shook his head violently, his hair slapping himself in the face a few times.

"N-no… she-she'll kill him. I know it. She'll hurt…" As Izuru said this Mikan was sobbing, not understanding why Izuru was so afraid.

"Izuru, it's alright, we won't let her hurt either of you. I promise. If she tries anything, we'll stop her." Nagito said, walking over and smiling at Izuru. Said boy looked up and blinked a few times before reluctantly setting his arm down, keeping his eyes on Mikan.

With that, the nurse began to check on the unconscious boy.

"He's-He's still unconscious, but his fever's gone down at least! And it looks like his ribs are only a little bruised from that-" Mikan cut herself off, looking sheepish. She looked at Nekomaru and Nagito, the former of whom only looked confused. The latter made a zipping motion over his lips, signaling her to be quiet.

"A-anyway! He looks like he should recover pretty well… well, at least as far as I know. He's not at risk for dying at the very least."

"Aw man! That's so fucking lame!" Everyone jumped at the new voice in the room and looked over to the corner where Monokuma was standing, looking furious.

"Are you shitting me right now? He's not gonna die?! That's so stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" The bear yelled, while Mikan tried to shush him.

"P-please be quiet! Hajime needs to rest!" Mikan cried, apparently not noticing how loud she herself was being.

"No way! This is so lame! I expected at least ONE of you bastards to die from this but not one of these guys is going to die?! I must be the unluckiest bear alive!" The bear's tone had suddenly shifted from furious to depressed.

"Well, that's good for us then. If you're depressed that must mean we're doing something right." Nagito replied, crossing his arms.

"Watch it marshmallow head." Monokuma growled, baring his claws.

"Actually, there's something I've been wondering. Ibuki and Izuru's symptoms are interesting. I mean, making Izuru, one of the most stoic and brave people on this island break down in tears almost every second. And making Ibuki, one of the most rebellious people on this island be so polite and obedient… did you specifically choose those symptoms?"

"Hmm… well, truthfully I had very little to do in terms of choosing which symptoms went to whom, if I had a choice I would've made it so ALL of you were infected with something deadly. But, imagine my delight when this stoic fuck-o became a giant crybaby! It's almost too perfect! Upupupu!" Holding his belly Monokuma doubled over in laughter, making chills go up Nagito's spine.

It was a laugh full of mirth at another's despair.

Despite his recent doubts about his previous actions, he still felt anger and resentment towards Monokuma's attempts to make them fall into despair. And seeing what Izuru was going through now, only made that anger grow.

Despair would only lead to a greater hope in the future, he knew that. But right now… it hurt to see one of his only, and first, friends in such a state.

Nagito took his eyes off the bear and looked over to Izuru, who was clutching Hajime's hand so tightly his knuckles had turned white. His eyes were clamped tightly shut, but tears still managed to escape from the corners.

"It's going to be alright Izuru. You two will get better soon, I promise." He said, putting his left hand on the other boy's shoulder gently.

Fear. No, terror. Despair, guilt. These feelings rushed around inside Izuru's head in a daze, blurring together into a jumble of emotions that leaked out of his eyes without his consent. Despite how ashamed he was of showing this level of emotion he couldn't stop it.

He flinched away from Mikan when she tried to put a hand on his head, the image of her with a sick and twisted smile on her face flashing in his mind, contrasting with her tear stained face in front of him.

He couldn't stop the shivers going through his body that he couldn't tell if it was from fear or the fever.

Another image flashed in his mind. Blood. So much blood. On him, on others, on the corpses around him. Blood staining the white hair of a certain boy. Hajime, nowhere in sight.

Hajime… Hajime… Gone… can't find him… where is he? He's dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. DeAD DEaD DEAD DeaD DeAd.

No… No… He's… right there. Asleep… unconscious… sick just like him. He's fine. Fine. Everything is fine.

Hajime is safe. Nagito… Nagito is there. His hand is on Izuru's shoulder, comforting, albeit slightly cold. It feels good against his too hot skin.

But… it feels wrong somehow. It almost feels like her hand. He remembers. A saw, so much blood, crunching noises, choked back whimpers of pain and a hand that doesn't belong on that body.

He blinks a few times and the feeling of wrong is gone. He doesn't feel the fake nails on this hand anymore, just slightly too long and too sharp normal ones.

He… he has to focus. He has to be able to distinguish the memories (hallucinations?) from what is happening now.

Mikan isn't trying to inject him or Hajime with some kind of poison. Nagito has both his hands. Nekomaru isn't about to crush his skull.

He's OK.

He can hear talking. Someone who isn't Nagito, Mikan or Nekomaru.

Monokuma…

That damn bear. Everything about that bear terrifies him. Makes him tremble and want to run away. But his legs won't listen, too afraid to move from his spot.

Nagito's hand tightens on his shoulder, rubbing a small circle on his back with his thumb.

Somehow, it doesn't make him feel better.

(A/N: This is a rather short chapter, mainly because I had issues writing Nagito. Beta reader position is still open btw!)