After story:Devotion male reader insert version

Chapter nineteen-Two Steps Forward,One Step Back

The next morning, I woke to find Nagisa gently shaking me. "L/n-san, wake up."

"What? What time is it?" I managed to ask through the fog.

"It's 8:30! You'll be late for your studies if you don't hurry up!"

I muttered my token swear word and quickly got myself washed, dressed and headed to the door.

I was stopped on the way to the door by Nagisa, who was still in her pajamas. "I'm sorry, L/n-san; I'm not feeling well, so I couldn't make lunch for you."

I felt the hammer of guilt pound on me. "Don't worry about it. I'll manage. Just take care of yourself and rest, okay?"

She returned my nod. "Okay. You take care, too."

She padded off to her room as I left.

I found myself hesitating at the door to the library. I didn't know how Kotomi would be after the way yesterday turned out. At some point, I'd have to face it...well, her.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

"F/n-kun..." Kotomi was sitting in her usual spot, on a cushion, with books around her.

"Sorry I'm late," I said as I stepped into the library. "I had trouble sleeping last night."

"I understand, F/n-kun. Yesterday was hard for both of us." Was that a look of compassion on her face?

I knew what I wanted to say, I just didn't know how to say it. "Uh, Kotomi-chan?"

"Yes?" She still gazed at me like I was the only thing in her world. An impressive girl.

"Look...if you don't want to...you know...be my teacher any more..."

Kotomi quickly got up from her cushion and hugged me, causing me to tense up. "F/n-kun, I love you. If you are happy with Fuuko-san, then I am happy for you." She let go of me and held me at arms' length. "I...am sorry for my outburst yesterday. I admit that I expected you to reciprocate my confession because of our friendship..."

"I'm sor-"

She put her fingertips to my mouth. "Please don't apologize, F/n-kun. I want you to be happy, even if you're not...with me." Her breath shuddered as she lowered her hand. "Can we...still be friends? I understand that it would not be easy at first, but I would rather have you in my life as a friend than to lose you completely."

I didn't know what to think; for being so childlike, Kotomi was surprisingly mature. She would certainly be a force to be reckoned with after high school, let alone after college!

"I'd like that," I finally answered with a heavy smile.

Her face lit up and she made her way back to her cushion, only to switch direction to the table; I guessed she caught herself mid-way. "Do you need more help with parabolas? Or shall we move on?"

I hated parabolas, and now I had more reason to hate them. "Let's...move on. I'll try to figure the rest out on my own."

Kotomi opened the English textbook. "I think you're ready for sentence structure and their terms." She looked up at me expectantly. "Are you ready, F/n-kun?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. I'm still 'F/n-kun' to her, so everything's going to be all right.

"And...there you go!" Yukine smiled as she placed a rice omelet in front of me along with a cup of coffee. It was more of a breakfast meal, but I wasn't going to complain about free food.

I looked down at my plate and felt a little guilty; the food seemed so artistic that I almost couldn't bring myself to eat it.

Almost. I was hungry, after all. "Itadakimasu!"