After story:Devotion male reader insert version

Chapter twenty five-A Step Forward

"Thank you for making time to see me, sir," I said as I settled in.

"Hmm..." mused Komura-sensei. "When you called me about this, I didn't believe you were serious, I'll admit."

"Well sir, some...things...have happened over summer break to cause me to think about stuff." I had to admit; I was nervous. Regardless of the reason, I had a reputation, and contacting Komura-sensei was the first step in a very different direction.

"Hmm..." The old teacher stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Ichinose-san tells me that you have been studying under her, and quite diligently."

"Yes, sir."

"And the student body president tells me that you've been learning from her how to defend yourself."

Thanks, Tomoyo; I owe you one. "Yes, sir."

"Hmm...You seem to be more concerned about your future than before. May I ask why?"

He caught me flat-footed with that question. How would I tell him that it's because of Fu-chan? "Well, sir...that is...um..."

"Hmm..." Komura-sensei was the only person I knew who could interrupt a person with a 'hmm'. "Were I to hazard a guess, I would say 'a girl'."

My jaw dropped and he smiled enigmatically. "S-Sir! How...?" I stammered.

"Please do not be embarrassed, F/n-san. You are not the first to be motivated by Woman, and you likely won't be the last." He shifted his posture. "I must say, she would have to be a remarkable girl to warrant this much effort from you."

"You have no idea, sir," I replied somewhat absently.

"Hmm. I suspect that I do have some idea, but no matter." He stared at me for several seconds, and I became concerned that he had fallen asleep or, even worse, died.

"Sensei?"

He sighed heavily. "I will talk to the other teachers; we may be able to arrange something to help you bring up your grades. You may be late, but I believe that your efforts should be rewarded with a chance."

I couldn't believe it. Could I really earn that better future?

"I do have one question, F/n-san."

I shook myself out of my reverie. "Y-Yes?"

He fixed me with his gaze. "Why have you been truant as much as you have? I have tried to stay out of your business while supporting you, but this has concerned me from the beginning. I perceive you as an intelligent and even philosophical young man, so this vexes me."

I smiled. If I could be half as good a man as Sensei... "Well sir, the short story is: My mom died when I was really young, and my dad tried to raise me. Unfortunately we got in to a lot of fights as I got older. Right when I was about to start school here, we got in a big one that ended up injuring my shoulder," I said as I gently touched my right shoulder. "That ended any chance of me playing basketball, which I was good at. After that, he pretty much kept his distance from me, even calling me 'F/n-kun', like I was a friend of his or something. I didn't want to even be around him, so I tried to stay away from home when he was there. Because of his work schedule, that meant I would be coming in really late at night – sometimes the morning – and that really messed up my sleep schedule."

The old teacher lifted a hand to stop me. "That's enough; I think I get the idea." He paused for a moment. "How are the two of you doing now?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, we got along okay at my girlfriend's birthday party, but..." I shrugged my shoulders. "We haven't talked much otherwise. I've been pretty busy, lately."

"Hmm." Komura-sensei appeared to mull this over. "How have your circumstances changed such that you can maintain such a busy schedule?"

"Oh, I've been staying at Nagisa-san's house," I replied. "You've heard of Furukawa Bakery, sir?"

He nodded sagely. "I have. Akio-san and Sanae-san are good people, though I can't always say the same about their bread."

I snorted before I could stop myself. "Sanae-san likes to experiment, sir. Akio-san's is fine, but you have to watch out for hers." I described my first experience with Sanae's bread, which evoked a smile from the old man's face.

"Hmm. It looks like I was right to try to give you this chance." Komura-sensei stood up, and I followed suit. "Young F/n-san, I will do everything I can to give you the chance to prove yourself. All I ask in return is that you do your best; no slacking off."

"Yes sir," I replied. "I promise. I have a future family counting on me, after all."

My old mentor raised an eyebrow, then smiled kindly. "Hmm."

"...so that's what's happening," I explained to the Yoshinos and Fuuko. "Komura-sensei will let me know how things turn out and, if they turn out well, he'll have one or more dates for me to test."

Kouko clapped and shook her fists in celebration, while Yuusuke simply nodded but smiled broadly. The warmth from that felt good.

I felt a touch on my shoulder, and turned to find myself wrapped in a hug from Fu-chan. "Good for you, F/n-kun." She pulled away and looked into my eyes. "I believe you can do this. I believe in you."

At that moment I felt like I could pull a whole freight train's worth of cars with just my teeth. "Th-Thanks, Fu-chan." A thought hit me. "I guess if we believe in each other, there's nothing we can't do, huh?"

I heard a cough from the Yoshinos. "Don't go overboard, kid. There's – OOF!"

"Yuusuke, please don't rain on their parade," Kouko admonished.

Yuusuke coughed a couple more times. "Yeah, well...do your best, you two."

Fuuko and I looked at each other and smiled. She would be out of the hospital in no time, I was sure. She would go to school, and by the time she graduated...

I would be ready for her.