Believing She Has Been Reincarnated into a Baseball Game, My Little Sister Is Aiming for the Koshien, While I Give It My All to Keep Her from Finding out That It’s Actually an Ntr Game - Chapter 48

“What? The old man’s gone missing?”

“Yes, that’s right, onii-san. Father always used to pick up my MochiMochi calls on the first ring, but since yesterday, we haven’t been able to reach him at all. When I checked with the director, he said that even though Dad was scheduled to work today, he hasn’t shown up at the academy.”

It was midday, in the clubroom. We were on the sofa.

Riko furrowed her brows in worry, and Maika shot me a puzzled glance. Meanwhile, the two sisters, sitting on either side of me, were busy kicking each other under the table. Seriously, knock it off. If you bruise those MochiMochi, plump legs of yours, it’s gonna make me sad.

The academy was on summer break, and the season was in full swing. The harsh, humid heat of summer didn’t change, no matter the world.

Which means… could it be?

“He might be dead… He lives alone, after all… Heatstroke can be pretty dangerous.”

“Onii-san, I think you could stand to be a little more kind to Father,” Riko suggested, her tone scolding.

“This isn’t the time for that, though… Fine, I’ll go check on him,” Maika said.

Dad’s home in this world was an apartment near the academy. With Maika’s fit, muscular legs, it wouldn’t even take her ten minutes to get there by bike. Plus, I carried a spare key just in case.

“You really don’t have to go to such lengths, Maika, but… be careful.”

“He might be dead.”

Twenty minutes later, Maika returned. Standing beside me as I prepared to head back to the afternoon practice, she said it with a straight face.

Apparently, when she rang the intercom, there was no response. Using the spare key, she stepped into the apartment and found a note at the entrance. I read it too—it was definitely Dad’s handwriting: “Don’t look for me. Well, unless you really want to, then go ahead…?” I tore it up and threw it away.

“It’s fine. He’s disappeared before, you know.”

And he came back alive that time too.

I mean, it’s a bit of a loss letting go of someone who basically had omniscient knowledge of every NTR scenario, but… nah, I’m not really sad about it, to be honest.

The whole NTR storyline involving Sakura Miyakotona and the Student Council heroines is pretty much gone by now anyway. Dad didn’t have much info outside of those NTR scenarios.

This world, too, has moved on, beyond the hands of the scriptwriter.

Honestly, when it comes to creating a world, maybe the writer’s power is pretty small after all. They only wrote text data from the perspective of the main characters inside the academy.

And so, after I completely forgot about Dad, I finished my afternoon practice. What awaited me was—

“Captain. Could we have a word?”

It was Nomo Makoto, the former protagonist, looking rather serious.

Speaking of which, there isn’t really a “protagonist” in this world anymore, is there?

As the other club members and managers headed to the training room, Nomo and I stood facing each other in the clubroom.

“What’s up? Don’t tell me you’re hurt or something. If you are, let me know right away.”

Our third match is the day after tomorrow. If Nomo, our starting pitcher, can’t throw, I’ll have to adjust our plans immediately.

“No, I’m in perfect condition. I intend to pitch a complete game in the third match.”

“That’s good to hear. So, is this about… oh, I get it, I know exactly what’s going on. It’s about romance, right?”

I couldn’t help but grin.

I was a little sad when that monster virgin stole my title as the Love Comedy Master. But if it’s a guy seeking advice, I should be able to help out at least.

I placed a hand on the shoulder of the young man in love.

“I get it, Nomo. You’ve been so close for so long, you didn’t even notice. But now you’ve realized how important your childhood friend, Kotone-nee, is to you. And now you don’t know how to be honest with your feelings, right?”

“Don’t joke around with me!”

“Wh-What?!”

I couldn’t help but flinch. Nomo had raised his voice so suddenly… and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me as he practically pleaded.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying! Captain, are you getting too relaxed?! We’re in the middle of the summer tournament!”

“Huh? W-Well, I mean, I know that, but…”

“Then why are you bringing up romance now?! I don’t mind that you’re dating Maika-senpai, of course! I understand that having her support has been a big boost to your performance. But my love life, or Yogi-senpai’s, shouldn’t matter to you at all!!”

“Eek…”

With such a harsh truth being shouted at me, I had nothing to say in response.

From an outsider’s perspective, Yogi’s love life, which had just been referred to as “whatever” and “irrelevant,” was undoubtedly something trivial.

However, for me, it was one of the necessary measures to hide the fact that this world was an NTR game from Riko. I wasn’t just getting carried away for no reason…

“Captain, what was with that base running in the second round?”

“A-Ah, you mean the first inning…”

I knew exactly what Nomo was referring to. Maika had lectured me plenty about it as well.

It was the second round, against Sakuin Academy.

In the first inning, I led off with a double, getting on second base with no outs.

Nomo, our second batter, hit a high fly ball, and I, assuming it would sail over the left fielder’s head, casually jogged toward third.

But the left fielder made a diving catch, one of those spectacular plays. I scrambled back to second, barely avoiding a double play, but if I had been more cautious, I could have tagged up and advanced to third. Even if the left fielder had dropped the ball, I could have easily made it home if I’d stayed closer to second base.

In short, it was a blunder. Not a question of skill, just a lapse in concentration—an error I shouldn’t have made. It was pure laziness.

Because of that, the third batter grounded out to short, and our cleanup hitter struck out. We ended the first inning without scoring.

If I had made it to third, I might have scored on the grounder, or forced the pitcher to avoid his signature forkball out of fear of a passed ball.

In the end, we won by a one-run margin, but if things had gone differently, my careless base running could’ve cost us our ticket to Koshien.

Thinking back, even though I was the runner on second, my mind had been preoccupied with the stands.

Among the spectators were Yogi’s younger brother, the student council president, and Riko, all together. Well, I had kinda brought them together in the first place. Not that being together would immediately trigger some NTR event, but still.

When I heard Riko’s enthusiastic cheer from the stands, I got distracted.

Right after the mistake, I was shaken up. I barely had time to recover during the inning change.

But Maika, with her cute yet sensual kiss, quickly replenished my energy, and her firm but sweet encouragement got me back in the game.

Thanks to her, I was able to give my best performance for the rest of the game, both pitching and hitting.

“It’s because you’re getting involved in other people’s love lives that you can’t focus on baseball! That’s why you make those kinds of mistakes!”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m really sorry about that. Now that you mention it, I didn’t even apologize to the other team members for my mistake. I always act so high and mighty, but when it comes to my own errors, I just let them slide. I’ll go apologize to everyone right now.”

“That’s not the issue! Who cares about the other team members? We’re teammates, mistakes happen to all of us! The person you should apologize to is… Riko-san!”

“W-What? Riko…? But she wasn’t mad, unlike Maika…”

That day, Riko didn’t seem to notice my mistake at all. She only praised and showered me with affection for my good plays. Well, Maika always handles the scolding when it comes to baseball matters.

“Is that so? Fine, I’m not saying you have to apologize! But you need to understand this! Captain, you’re going to take Riko-san to Koshien, aren’t you!?”

“――――”

Nomo’s earnest eyes, his serious expression, and his desperate plea pierced straight through me.

And then—

“Why the hell do I have to listen to you tell me this…?!”

I snapped.

I lashed out at Nomo, who stared wide-eyed at me in shock.

“Of course I’m taking Riko to Koshien! That’s the promise we made on that day at Koshien! I’m the one who’s going to make it happen! Nobody else has the right to interfere in our precious promise about Koshien!”

After I’d let it all out, I took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

Yeah, it was a full-on outburst. A textbook example of snapping back. Any dignity I had as captain was probably out the window.

But for some reason, Nomo’s eyes sparkled as he looked at me.

“As expected from our captain! That’s exactly what I needed to hear! Let’s go to Koshien!”

And with that, he dashed off to the training room.

What the hell… Seriously? That guy really only cares about baseball… Poor Sakura Miyakotona… No, wait, how did a guy like that even pull off an NTR scenario in the first place? He probably just did pull-ups while she was getting stolen away.

Wait, hold on a second—

“Hey! Nomo! You’re our starting pitcher in two days! Don’t do any strength training! Go home, eat, and get some rest!!”