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 24: A Premonition Leads Me to This Story

*This episode contains a lot of violent expressions. Please read with caution.

Today, I felt a bit strange.

After club activities ended, it was after school. Today, Kanade and Makoto had extracurricular activities with the newspaper club, so I walked home alone for the first time since the school year started.

At first, I thought the feeling came from loneliness, but it seemed different.

Ever since club activities ended, I felt an indescribable unease, like something called me.

At first, I tried to ignore it.

But if I didn’t go in the direction of the call, I would suffer intense headaches or nausea, like during that mixer.

No, really, what was wrong with me?

This clearly wasn’t normal sickness.

With no choice, I followed my senses and headed into town.

I walked along the main street, but no matter how far I went, the unease didn’t fade.

This wasn’t good at all.

Even if I felt a bit sick, I decided to turn back and head home. But the next moment—

“…! You bastard!”

“…Kuroki-kun?”

From a narrow alley off the main street, Shuji Kuroki appeared, his face covered in wounds, barely able to breathe.

“…! Please! Big Sis!”

“What happened to Yuna?”

“No time to explain…! That person acted as a decoy to save me…”

“What about the police?”

“I already called them! But they said it’ll take time…”

“Where is she?”

“Where…!?”

“Tell me the location. Now.”

“T-The factory just past this alley…”

“Also, call the school and ask for Ms. Kotori. If you explain, she’ll help.”

“Y-You… why Ms. Kotori… Wait! What are you doing…?! Damn it, everyone’s crazy!”

I turned my back on Kuroki-kun and ran toward the alley.

I saw the factory, but as I got closer, my headache grew worse.

This feeling felt familiar.

To move lightly, I left my club bag and bat case at the entrance.

A ringing like an alert sounded in my head.

I trusted my senses and ran toward the source of the ringing.

Inside the factory, an empty space stretched out, but I didn’t see Yuna.

Then—

Crash!

A noise came from above.

The second floor?

I looked around and saw an open door nearby.

“There…!”

I rushed through the door and found stairs and another door, forcibly pried open.

I didn’t hesitate.

I ran up the stairs. Beyond them, I saw the backs of six men and, through a gap, Yuna holding a bamboo sword, facing them.

The dim room made details unclear, but she seemed cornered.

I looked around for something to use as a weapon.

I noticed a heavy brick lying at my feet.

I picked it up and threw it with all my might at their backs.

“Guh!”

It hit. A man in sunglasses, struck in the back of the head, collapsed onto the man next to him, unconscious.

“Boss!?”

“Who the hell—Gah!”

Using the chance, I closed in and drop-kicked a mohawked man nearby.

Then, grabbing Yuna’s hand, I dove through a door behind her.

It was a locker room, with several lockers big enough for a person, but there seemed to be no escape route.

“Damn…! A dead end…!”

“Ryu, Ryu!? Why…!”

“I happened to be nearby. Then I ran into Kuroki-kun.”

But this wasn’t the time for talk.

The other four men entered the room, spotted us, and slowly closed the distance.

Luckily, they all seemed unarmed…

I didn’t hesitate to decide.

I grabbed Yuna’s hand and ran to the back of the room.

At the very back, I opened a locker and, using my momentum, pushed Yuna inside.

Normally, she’d resist easily, but maybe because of an injury, she didn’t fight back much, which was fortunate.

“What are you doing!?”

Ignoring Yuna’s confusion, I closed the locker door and stood in front of it.

“…What’s your plan, bastard?”

“Who knows?”

“Mess with us, and we’ll kill you.”

“Go ahead. If you want to fight Yuna, take me down first.”

Haha, I never thought I’d say something like this in real life.

Now, it was a test of endurance.

Would I give up first, or would the police Kuroki-kun called arrive first?

If he followed my instructions, the police should come quickly.

I had no intention of giving in.

Let’s see who wins this fight.

“If you don’t want to get hurt, move.”

“Hand over the girl quietly, and we’ll let you off for injuring the boss.”

“Scary. How much is an apology worth? Will one ‘sorry’ do?”

“…I’ll kill you.”

With that, one man kicked me hard in the stomach.

“Guh…!”

Unable to absorb the full impact of an adult’s blow, I crashed into the locker behind me.

“Ryu!? Are you okay!? Ryu!?”

No good. This would worry Yuna unnecessarily.

“You’re acting tough with just this? Pathetic—Gah!?”

Next, a fist hit my face.

So this is what it feels like to be punched. It hurt a bit.

Then a knee slammed into my stomach.

“Guh…!”

Pain and intense nausea hit me.

Stomach acid spilled from my mouth.

“Tch, disgusting.”

“Move, or you’re done!”

Another kick hit my side.

Still, I didn’t plan to move from the locker.

I could endure this much.

“Ryu! Stop it, please! I don’t care what happens to me!”

“Hey, Yuna, you know how tough your childhood friend is, right? This is nothing.”

“No, really, stop… Ryu, you’ll die…”

It’s okay, I won’t die.

If things get bad, I’ll ask the Goddess to bring me back.

So don’t worry.

I wanted to say that, but my earlier words seemed to enrage them, and a flurry of blows left me unable to speak.

I cut my mouth in several places, tasting blood.

Blood from my head kept my right eye from opening.

My clothes hid it, but finding an unbruised spot was harder now.

“Damn… why’s this guy so tough!”

“Get a knife!”

“K-Killing’s too much, right…?”

“Huh!? You were slashing at the girl earlier!”

“T-That was in the heat of the moment…”

“Useless!”

At least stop hitting me to vent. It hurts, you know.

“What the hell are you guys doing…?”

“Boss! You okay!?”

“Okay…? Like hell I am!”

“Fubeh!”

The sunglasses guy was back.

Along with the mohawked man, who also regained consciousness, he carried something.

Wait, that’s my club bag from outside the factory.

“Phoenix High School baseball team, huh? They’re strong, right?”

“…Who knows.”

“I’ll let the baseball team star choose.”

“Choose what?”

“Hold him.”

“Y-Yes.”

Two men grabbed my right arm.

“Your bag had a glove too. You’re right-handed, right?”

“Who knows.”

“Hahaha, your face is twitching, baseball boy!”

I could guess what he planned to do.

This guy was a real piece of trash.

“I’ll give you two choices.”

“I’ll hear you out.”

“First, hand over the girl quietly.”

“That doesn’t leave me much choice, does it?”

“Just listen. If you don’t hand her over—”

“We’ll take your right hand.”

The moment I heard those words, the locker behind me shook harder than ever.

“Stop! Please stop! Do whatever you want to me! Ryu, Ryu…”

“Hahaha! That’s it! That’s what I wanted to hear! Come on! The girl’s saying it too! It’d suck to lose baseball, right? There are tons of girls out there. No one’ll complain if you ditch one.”

“That’s right…! You have people you care about already…! Don’t worry about me! You know me, right? I’m strong. No matter how much they toy with me, I’ll never break…! So, please, stop…”

My mind was scarily calm.

Even thinking about losing my right hand, I didn’t feel a shred of panic.

Was baseball this unimportant to me? No, that wasn’t it.

Why was I doing this again?

Right, when I heard Yuna was in danger, my body moved on its own…

I thought I’d do anything for Yuna…

Come to think of it, it was like that back then too.

The sunglasses guy took a metal bat from my bat case and held it over my right hand.

My right hand or Yuna.

My baseball career or Yuna.

No need to weigh them. Both were important, obviously. But—

I’d be letting my seniors down. Sorry. I don’t think I can fight alongside you anymore.