After story:Devotion male reader insert version

Chapter twenty eight-Beginning of a Dream

It felt good walking around the high school grounds with Fuuko. I hadn't been back since graduation two years ago, so she was able to show me some of the things that had changed since then. Most of it was cosmetic; new paint jobs mostly. Even with that, I still felt a sense of nostalgia.

"Remember this room?" Fuuko asked, as we stopped in front of a very familiar classroom.

I smiled and raised my hand, to which she smiled and gave a 'high-five', this time without her ending up in pain, and then we entered the room.

I stopped just inside the door and looked around. The smell was the same, the look was the same...but we were different.

Fuuko made her way over to the desk where she had spent many hours carving blocks of wood into her beloved starfish. She reached out and traced a finger along the top before slowly settling into it.

"Good memories?" I asked as I settled into the desk next to her.

She looked over at me with a sad smile. "Good memories. Happy, but sad."

"Are you going to miss this place?"

She nodded. "I will but, at the same time, I'm glad to be done." She sighed wistfully. "I think I'm ready to move on."

I thought about the small box in my pocket. "I'd like for us to go to the park. Is that okay?"

She smiled slyly. "Which 'the park' are you talking about?"

I hesitated. "The, uh...one in front of Furukawa Bakery?"

She considered it for a minute. Then: "Sure. Let's go." And she took my hand and led me out of the classroom.

"Now that I'm here, I realize how much I missed this place."

Fuuko sat on one of the swings, kicking her feet and causing the swing to sway. We had arrived at the park just as dusk was settling, bringing a comfortable coolness to the air.

I leaned back in my swing and let a breeze tickle my face. "Yeah, same here."

"That's right; you stayed at the Furukawa's while visiting me in the hospital, didn't you?"

I nodded with a wistful smile. "Yup, I did."

She swung for a while before stopping again. "Why did you want to come to the park?"

My nerves flared up again. "Well...I, um-"

"Fu-chan! Oh, and L/n-san!" The familiar friendly voice of Nagisa rang across the park. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

I looked up and smiled as Fuuko called, "Nagisa-san! Hi!"

Nagisa jogged across the park to where we stood. "This is a surprise! What brings you out here?"

Fuuko started to answer. "Well, F/n-kun wanted-"

She was interrupted by Nagisa grabbing her hand. "Actually Fu-chan, I need to talk to you for a minute. Is that okay?" She alternated a worried look between each of us.

Fuuko looked to me, and I simply gestured toward them. "If you're okay with it." I had to admit, though, I was getting annoyed with the interruptions. But this was Nagisa, so it was hard to get too mad.

Fuuko looked back to her friend and nodded, so Nagisa led her away rather quickly to a distance where, I assumed, I would not hear their conversation. I could hear their voices, but I couldn't understand what was being said.

It was interesting to watch, though. Nagisa held both of Fuuko's hands in her own while talking to her excitedly. At least it looked excited. Fuuko looked my way a couple of times, but Nagisa shook her hands, causing Fuuko to look back at her. Eventually, Nagisa released her hands while still talking and gesturing, while Fuuko clasped hers in front of herself, her head slightly bowed.

Finally, Nagisa lowered her hands, apparently finished with whatever is was she wanted to say, and just looked at my girlfriend. Then, she reached out, took Fuuko by the shoulders, turned her towards me, and appeared to push her towards me.

For some reason, Fuuko looked uncomfortable as she walked back toward me, as Nagisa stayed behind. When she got close enough, I asked, "Fuuko, what's-"

"PLEASE MARRY ME!" she blurted out with eyes squeezed shut and hands balled into fists, causing me to flinch.

"F-Fuuko?" I stammered. "What brought this on?"

"P-Please marry me!" she yelled again, but not as loudly as before. "Be-Be-Before another girl confesses to you!"

I didn't intend to be mean, but I had to chuckle at that last statement. "You...You want me to marry you, you say?"

With eyes still shut, she nodded.

"Well," I said, chuckling lightly again, "that's going to make this somewhat anticlimactic."

Her eyes opened. "What do you mean?" They then widened as I pulled out the small box that I had been carrying around all day and lowered myself to one knee.

I held the box out to her. "Ibuki Fuuko: Will you be my wife?"

Fuuko started to tremble, and I could see Nagisa in the distance, with her hands over her mouth.

Fuuko reached out with shaky hands and took the box from me and managed to open it. The ring inside caused her to gasp. "Oh, wow..." She held the box out to me. "Would you..."

Smiling, I took the box and removed the ring. After placing the box on the ground beside me, I took her hand and slid the ring on. "Can I take this as a 'yes'?"

She had been examining the ring on her finger when my words reached her. "Huh? Oh!" She gasped. "F/n-kun! Oh, YES! YES! Ohmygod, YES!" She threw her arms around me, knocking me the rest of the way to the ground.

She crawled across me until she could plant her lips on mine. "Mmph!"

I must have blanked out from the sensation, because the next thing I knew, Nagisa was helping me to my feet while laughing. "Congratulations, you two!"

I chuckled awkwardly as I got back on my feet. "Thanks, Nagisa-san."

We shared a laugh together until I noticed that Nagisa wasn't laughing anymore. "What's wrong?" I asked.

She waved a hand, but I could see tears in her eyes. "It's nothing. I'm just tired, I guess." She looked toward the bakery. "I'd better get home." Without another word, she walked quickly toward home. I could hear what sounded like sobbing as she entered the front door of the bakery.

I turned to my now-fiancée. I had a feeling that I knew what was wrong, but... "What happened, Fuuko? Do you know why she's-"

Fuuko also had tears in her eyes as she looked toward where Nagisa had departed. "This wasn't easy for her, F/n." She looked up at me. "She loves you a lot, and to see you propose to me..."

My heart went out to the dear, sweet girl. "Will she be okay?"

"It'll take her a while I think, but...yeah." Fuuko looked back at the bakery. "We just need to be good friends to her."

I allowed her words to sink in, along with all of the events of the day, and all of the events of the last two years, before offering her my arm. "M-May I see you home?"

Fuuko wiped her eyes before gracing me with a smile and wrapping her arms around mine. "Sure."

As we headed to her home, I thought about the future. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, what challenges, what joys, what heartaches may come?

One thing was for certain, though: Whatever life would bring, I wanted to experience it with the 'child of wind' by my side.

The End