After story:Devotion male reader insert version

Chapter nine-Confession

After yet another week of 'lessons' (with a lot of help from friends) Fu-chan appeared at the school on Sunday again, looking more solid than the last time. By this time, summer break was a little over halfway done, and I was starting to feel burned out. Even with the help of the others I felt like I couldn't do the hospital visits much longer.

But, surprisingly, even stronger than the exhaustion was a pressure from within to...move forward...when it came to Fu-chan.

I'm not even sure when this feeling started. When I first met her back in April, I had no idea the...adventure?...that we would end up on together. In the end, she did most of the work while Furukawa, Sunohara and I mostly stood around or played practical jokes on her, but I really wanted her to succeed in giving everyone starfish carvings to invite them to her sister's wedding.

I know that as I went through her struggles with her, carving the starfish, staying with the Furukawas, and eventually being forgotten by them along with everyone else, Fu-chan and I grew...closer, somehow.

It's like I told Kouko-san at her wedding: I loved her.

I still do.

I need to tell Fu-chan that, and why.

She sat at her usual desk, still working on sewing starfish patterns onto her blanket.

"Hey," I greeted.

She looked up for a moment. "L/n-san," she replied with a smile before returning her attention to her work.

I rubbed my hands against my pant legs, wiping off the sweat as I approached the desk across from her. I still wasn't sure how I was going to confess to her, but I knew that I had to; the pressure from my heart demanded it. Hopefully I could find a way to address it in the flow of the conversation. "Fuuko...could we talk for a bit?"

Fuuko looked at me again, this time putting her work down and extending her hand. "Have you come to confess your love to Fuuko?"

I nearly fell out of my chair. She had to either be joking, or able to read me like a book. "Ah-well..."

She withdrew her hand and resumed her work as though nothing had happened. "Fuuko knows that she is amazing after all. Fuuko is the most amazingest of all girls." Her bravado had returned, though something about her seemed...like she was holding something back. "It's no wonder L/n-san's here to confess." She refocused on her sewing.

I had a feeling that she was teasing me, but I decided to respond to her honestly. "A-Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about..."

Her smile faded as her work dropped out of her hands and onto the desktop. "What."

I was too nervous to look her in the face, so I lowered my eyes to the desktop while rubbing my hands on my pant legs again. "I'm...I admit that I'm afraid that this will ruin our friendship, but I can't keep this to myself any longer."

However, I was determined to confess to her face, so I forced myself to look back at her. "Fuuko...you are a very important part of my life. All the talks we've had, the situation with your sister's wedding, even trading jabs in the hallway..." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "I've enjoyed those times a lot."

Fuuko averted her eyes while blushing, but said nothing, which only added concern to my nervousness.

"I like the way you are about starfish. I probably won't ever like them the way that you do, but I like the way that you like them, like you don't hold back. You like them, and you're not embarrassed for liking them."

"You have a drive for something; Y-you worked so hard to get people to attend your sister's wedding! I admire that; I haven't had any drive since my shoulder injury."

"You're not afraid of sharing your thoughts and feelings with others. I still don't like being called 'weird guy', but I admire your honesty and courage in calling me that."

I rose from the desk and backed away to a safe distance. "I like you as a girl, Fuuko, and am asking to be your boyfriend." I bowed and waited for her reply. So much for 'flow of the conversation'.

No answer.

It seemed like an eternity passed, but I held my bow.

Still no answer.

Realizing that I probably shouldn't have expected an answer so soon, I straightened back up. "I-I'm sorry for dropping this on you so suddenly; it was thoughtless of me." I rubbed the back of my neck again. "Just...let me know when you have your answer. I'm sorry." I bowed quickly and headed for the classroom exit.

I was about to leave the room when I heard: "W-Wait!"

Even though my heart was pounding and my face felt like it was on fire, I stopped and turned back to her.

Fuuko was still seated at her desk, head down, but I could hear her voice as clearly as if she were standing right in front of me. "L/n-san said many nice things about Fuuko. Thank you."

She paused a moment. "But L/n-san is wrong about one thing." She held the blanket like she was trying to snuggle it, so I started to slowly walk back to her. If she needed comforting, I wanted to help if I could.

I was about halfway back to her when she raised her head, but looking straight ahead instead of at me. Something about her expression stopped me. "Fuuko is afraid of one feeling. Fuuko feels it every time she is around F/n-kun."

I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at the way she used my first name.

She put the blanket down as she slowly raised herself from her desk and just as slowly started to make her way over to me. Her hands were folded in front of her and her head had lowered again. Facing me but not facing me.

She stopped a short distance away. "When
F/n-kun is around, Fuuko's heart beats faster. Fuuko's chest feels tight. Fuuko feels very hot." She began to tremble. "Fuuko hates these feelings. Fuuko likes these feelings."

I tried to steady my nerves. "I-I'm s-sorry if I've hurt you somehow."

I was desperately trying to figure out something else to say to put her at ease when she suddenly launched herself at me, throwing her arms around me and sobbing. "Fuuko, what-!"

"Fuuko likes F/n-kun! FUUKO LIKES
F/N-KUN!" she sobbed into my chest.

My eyes suddenly felt watery, and before I knew it I was wrapping my arms around her shoulders and resting a hand on her head. "F-Fuuko...you, too...?"

"YES! YES!" she wailed as she hugged me tightly as though to absorb me into her very being. "PLEASE BE FUUKO'S BOYFRIEND!"