After story:Devotion male reader insert version

Chapter twelve-Revelation

I yawned and shut my eyes as Kyou read examples from the math text to Fu-chan. I had to admit I was surprised that she would do something like this until she explained her goal to be a kindergarten teacher. I smiled to myself as I thought that maybe in the future she would be teaching my kids.

Yeah, right. Maybe in another life.

This would be the last 'lesson' I would do for the time being, so I could shift to my own studies. I hated abandoning Fuuko like that, but Kouko-san supported the idea as well, saying that she had planned to hire a tutor for her sister anyway, but I had at least saved her some money. It felt good to hear that, but I wasn't sure how much I actually helped. I guessed that only time would tell.

Kyou finished up with the chapter and brought her chair around to the other side of the bed to sit across from me. "You look terrible, F/n."

I yawned again. "Thanks, you too."

That apparently earned me a kick to the shin. "I'm serious," she complained as I rubbed my shin. "You've been doing this nonstop since the beginning of summer break? That's what, almost six weeks straight?" She pushed a purple lock behind an ear, leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "I'm worried that you're going to burn yourself out."

"I'm fine." I gave my stock answer.

"Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"I said I'm fine." Maybe it was because I was tired, but her questions were getting on my nerves.

"Maybe Ryou and I could cover for you-"

"I said I'm fine!" I must have jumped from my chair, since I suddenly found myself on my feet.

Kyou jumped so hard, she must have slid her chair back several inches if the scraping sound was any indication. "Don't...Don't yell at me like that...please," she said quietly.

This part of Kyou always surprised me. She was normally abrasive and sometimes acted outright hostile, but when I would lose my cool, particularly with her, she'd wither and become...well, vulnerable.

I fell back into my chair. "Sorry, Kyou. Just...tired today."

"I can see that," she said, visibly calming. "What I don't understand is: why is she so important to you?" She waved a hand toward the comatose girl. "Who is she? Family?"

I felt another pain in my heart for the girl who had been forgotten. "Her name is Ibuki Fuuko. She would have started school the same time as both of us, but she was in some kind of accident on her way home from orientation. Her...spirit, I guess...carved starfish out of wood blocks to give to everyone at the school to invite them to her older sister's wedding."

"Was that the wedding at the school in May?"

I nodded. "The problem was, as it got closer to the wedding, people started to forget her." I threw my hands up. "It seems I'm the only one who remembers her anymore."

Kyou leaned forward in her chair, purple hair cascading around her face and shoulders, and looked me in the eye. "If we weren't in a hospital way out here, I wouldn't believe any of this." She sighed. "But when you say that...I can't explain it...I suddenly feel an emptiness. Like in my heart."

I nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, that's what I keep hearing. Furukawa and Sunohara have said the same kind of thing." I shrugged. "It could be the only reason I remember is that I wrote her name down a whole bunch of times and kept the starfish she made where I could see them. And I tried to remember everything we did with her."

Kyou had been looking at me with a somewhat sad expression. "You really care about her, don't you?" she mumbled. "Poor Ryou..."

"Ryou?" Now I was confused. "What does she have to do with this?"

Kyou waved a hand. "Nothing, it's...just...don't worry about it." She definitely looked uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?"

"What if...what if Fuuko never comes out of it? Are you going to spend the rest of your life waiting for her? I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of girls, conscious ones, who would go out with you right now."

"What brought this on?"

She squirmed in her seat; it wasn't much, but enough for me to notice. "Well, ah...like Kotomi! Yeah! You're childhood friends, right? You did so much for her recently, right? I bet she's fallen for you!"

'I bet?' "I-I suppose..."

"And what about Nagisa? You've been encouraging her with the Drama Club. You've...been a source of strength for her. Don't you think she might have feelings for you because of that?"

It was my turn to squirm. "I, um...I hadn't thought about that."

Kyou was on a roll. "And there must be others! I mean, sure, you're called a 'delinquent', but that's just because you come to school late when you're not skipping. You've done a lot of good things for people. Like protecting Tomoyo by taking the blame for that fight!" She smiled slyly. "You think duty is the only reason she used to stop by to wake you up? Heck, Ryou and I have been wanting to get close to you since last year, and-" Her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes widened.

The temperature of the room suddenly dropped twenty degrees and she started scooting away from me, rapidly. "K-Kyou? Y-You and Fujibayashi...?" This was as awkward as it could get.

I really hoped that Fuuko was missing this part of the conversation.

Meanwhile, Kyou was alternating flushing and paling and, in spite of the situation, I was concerned. "K-Kyou? Are you okay?" It was a stupid question, but it was reflexive and I didn't know what else to say.

Kyou screamed. Several times, in fact. At least her hands were still covering her mouth.

"I have to go! I have to gooooo!" She bolted from her chair and fled the room.

I slouched back in my chair with a whole boatload of information to try to process. This could make my studies awkward...