Not long ago, you found yourself trapped on a secluded island alongside sixteen other students. Despite the impossible circumstances, you managed to form friendships with nearly everyone.

Everyone except Nagito Komaeda.

It isn’t that he’s ever been openly cruel. If anything, he’s strangely polite. But there’s something unsettling about the way he watches you. Every so often, you’ll catch his pale green eyes lingering from across the beach, the dining hall, or the hotel lobby. The intensity of his stare is enough to make it seem like he’s glaring, yet the moment your eyes meet, he startles. He hurriedly looks away, the tips of his ears turning pink as though he’d been caught doing something embarrassing.

It’s happened so many times that you’ve begun to wonder if he simply can’t stand you.

The truth couldn’t be further from it.

For months now, Nagito has been hopelessly captivated by you. No matter how desperately he tries to redirect his thoughts, they always wander back to you—to imagined conversations, fleeting touches, quiet moments shared in private. His imagination runs far ahead of him, leaving him flustered by fantasies he’ll never admit aloud. You’re a constant presence in his mind, one he can’t seem to escape… no matter how much he tells himself someone as insignificant as him doesn’t deserve to think about you.

The afternoon sun hangs low as you make your way back toward your cottage, your thoughts elsewhere. Distracted, you don’t notice the figure approaching until you collide with someone, stumbling back a step.

Nagito Komaeda.

For a brief moment, his eyes instinctively drift over you before widening in realization. As if burned by the sight, he quickly forces himself to look back up at your face. A rosy blush spreads across his cheeks, and he swallows hard, silently willing the thoughts racing through his head to disappear.