I Thought I Was Dead After Getting Stabbed While Protecting a Girl From a Random Attacker, but a Goddess Gave Me a Special Reward and Brought Me Back to Life in My Original Body—Now, All These Girls Are Coming on to Me!?

Chapter 16: Meeting My Friend’s Girlfriend

“…Hmph!”

*SPAAAANG!*

“…Nice. Your pitch speed has come back quite a bit, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah. I just need to work on my control a bit more.”

“That part comes with getting used to your bigger body’s balance. You’ve still got time before the tournament, so take it slow.”

“Got it!”

Today, like always, I came to practice, and thanks to throwing a good number of pitches in the bullpen for the past week, my condition improved a lot.

With the test period starting next week, club activities will pause, so I wanted to regain my form as much as possible before then.

Today, Senior Makabe caught for me again, and I confirmed my physical condition thoroughly.

After this, it seems I’ll join Senior Nogata for pitching practice.

“Sorry, Senior Makabe, you’ve got to catch for the captain’s bullpen too.”

“Don’t worry, junior. I need to catch for any pitcher who might throw in the tournament.”

“Huh?”

“Oops, that’s still a secret. Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“Wha…?”

I feel like I just got a huge spoiler…

No, but I’ll just focus on practicing so I can perform anytime.

…

But it’s still bugging me…

—

The topic changes a bit, but in the end, Nishino came to school as usual the next day.

He greeted his close friends normally, but he didn’t talk to me, Makoto, or Kanade.

After getting rejected so harshly, I doubt he’ll mess with us anymore… but I’ll keep an eye on him without overthinking it.

As for me, I attended classes at school, practiced after school, studied at home, and spent time casually talking on the phone with Makoto, Kanade, Sakuya, or Yuna.

Living like this, a week passed by in no time.

This week, the test period begins, and club activities will stop.

After school, while I prepared to go home, Shinya, who sits in front of me, turned around.

“Hey, Ryu. You free at all this week?”

“This week? Why?”

“Wanna have a study session?”

“A study session? I think I can do weekdays.”

“Uh, I have a request, or maybe a suggestion.”

“What’s with the formality?”

“Could your girlfriends come along too?”

“…Huh?”

From what he said, Shinya has a girlfriend who goes to a different girls’ high school.

Wait, Shinya has a girlfriend? That’s the first shock.

Anyway, putting that aside for now, his girlfriend struggles a lot with studying, and it’s a miracle she even passed the entrance exam for her school.

In high school, bad grades can lead to repeating a year.

Shinya has been tutoring her after club activities lately, but he’s reached his limit.

So, he asked us for help… that’s the situation.

“Hold on. Kanade, Makoto—can I talk to you for a sec?”

“What’s up, Ryu-kun?”

“It’s rare for Ryu to call out to us.”

“So, here’s the deal…”

I explained the situation to them, and they looked at Shinya curiously.

“We don’t mind, but why us in the first place?”

“Yeah, I get inviting Ryu, but we’ve barely talked to you, Takeda-kun…”

“Well… no offense, but it’s out of necessity…”

“Meaning?”

“My girlfriend is super shy, especially around guys she’s meeting for the first time.”

“Oh, then wouldn’t it be bad if I’m there too?”

“Exactly. I thought about inviting other girls I’ve gotten close to recently, but my girlfriend is super jealous too…”

“So other girls would cause a problem… is that it?”

“That’s right… so I thought of you two, since you’re girls with boyfriends and won’t get in the way.”

“So I’m just a bonus to them, huh?”

“No way, Ryu! I really want to study with you too!”

“Alright, alright! I’m not happy about a guy hugging me!”

If that’s the situation, I don’t mind helping out.

I looked at the girls, and they seemed okay with it too.

“We’re fine with it. When’s it happening?”

“Seriously? Thanks! Can we do it tomorrow?”

“Sure. Where are we meeting?”

“How about the usual Mors?”

“Okay. Sounds good.”

And so, a sudden study session was set.

—

The next day after school, Makoto, Kanade, and I followed Shinya to Mors, a place near the station.

As expected from a nationwide hamburger chain, even though it wasn’t dinner time, quite a few people were there.

“Hey, that spot’s open. I’ll wait outside for my girlfriend, so can you grab the seats?”

“Got it. Let’s go, you two.”

“Okay~”

“Want to order something first?”

“Might be better to wait for them and order together.”

“Yeah, let’s sit and wait then.”

While we chatted and waited, I saw Shinya come in from the entrance with a girl following close behind him.

“Sorry for the wait. This is my girlfriend, Hiina Shinonome.”

“…H-hi… nice to… meet you…”

She had brown bobbed hair and slightly droopy eyes.

Her way of hiding behind Shinya gave her a cute, small-animal vibe.

“I’m Shinya’s friend, Minase. Nice to meet you. And these are…”

“I’m Makoto Hiragi. Ryu’s girlfriend.”

“I’m Kanade Sumeragi. Also Ryu’s girlfriend.”

“Nice to meet you… wait!? Both of you… are his girlfriends…!?”

“Hiina, let’s sit and calm down~”

And so, the study session group was complete.

—

“H-ha… something like that happens in anime…”

“I thought it was a dream at first too.”

“It’s no exaggeration to call it fate.”

“Wow~…”

We started by explaining how we got together… or rather, the incident that led to our meeting.

Even in a society where polygamy is common, having multiple girlfriends in high school is pretty unusual.

“Well, that’s enough about us. Let’s get to the main point.”

“Yeah, Hiina, ask if you don’t understand something, okay?”

“O-okay…”

From there, we studied with a lot of focus.

Makoto and Kanade were amazing at teaching.

They didn’t just explain things; they included practice to make sure we really understood.

Since they’re good at different subjects, we covered a wide range of topics and units, which was impressive.

“…Ryu, your girlfriends are amazing.”

“I’m realizing that right now too.”

As for the rumored Hiina, she was nervous at first, but thanks to their friendly personalities, she’s now actively asking them questions.

“…We should do this every time there’s a test.”

“Depends on them, but I don’t think they’d say no.”

While we studied hard, over two hours passed before we noticed.

“Shoot, it’s already this late?”

“Concentration’s fading, and it’s a good stopping point. Should we call it?”

“Yeah. Hiina, want to exchange contacts with us?”

“…! Y-yes, please! Nice to meet you!”

“I want to exchange with you too. Let’s do another study session.”

“N-no, I’d be the one asking for that!”

It’s great that the three of them hit it off.

“I’m gonna hit the bathroom before we leave.”

“Oh, I’ll come too.”

So I headed to the bathroom with Shinya.

—

“Um, may I ask one thing!?”

“Sure, ask anything.”

“There’s not much we’d hide.”

After Ryu-kun and Takeda-san went to the bathroom, Hiina asked us something.

“Um… what do you two like about Minase-san?”

“…Huh?”

“…What I like about Ryu?”

“You two share the same boyfriend, right? This might not be a nice way to say it, but both Hiragi-san and Sumeragi-san are so beautiful, so I thought maybe…”

“There’d be guys who’d only look at me, right?”

“…To put it bluntly, yes…”

I understand that some people might think that.

There’s no doubt Ryu-kun is the coolest, kindest, and most amazing boyfriend, but generally, women want the person they love to look only at them.

“I love Ryu-kun, but I love Kanade just as much.”

“You love Sumeragi-san…?”

“Ryu-kun accepting my feelings for Kanade was a huge deal for us.”

“…I couldn’t imagine a future without Makoto either.”

“So, you two are with Minase-san because he’s okay with you both being together?”

“That’s not it.”

My tone might have gotten a bit strong.

But I have to make this clear.