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 25.1: Exploding Feelings

I gazed at the raised bat with eyes that felt strangely detached.

The world appeared in slow motion. Was this the so-called life flashing before my eyes? No, I wasn’t dying.

The moment that bat reached my arm, I knew my life would change completely, yet my mind stayed very calm.

Probably, I thought this was because I had no regrets about my choice.

If I prioritized myself here, I would no longer be me.

Well… I would think about everything after it ended.

I steeled myself, closed my eyes, and prepared for the pain that would come.

The next moment arrived.

“What are you doing!”

“What!?”

An unfamiliar man’s voice echoed.

The bat stopped just before hitting my arm.

I turned my face toward the voice, and there stood a large number of police officers.

“Drop the bat immediately and get down on the ground!”

A man in a suit at the front called out to the delinquents.

“Damn it! Weren’t the cops supposed to stay away from here!?”

Saying this, the sunglasses-wearing men tried to flee in a panic, but the only exit was blocked by a flood of police officers, leaving them no escape.

At this point, they were desperate.

The mohawk man lost patience first.

He charged at the police with a strange yell, but naturally, his attack didn’t work against officers trained in martial arts, and they easily subdued him.

With that as a signal, the police moved in all at once to restrain them.

It was truly a case of overwhelming numbers; the delinquents led by the sunglasses man were quickly neutralized.

Thank goodness… I made it in time somehow.

Honestly, it was half a gamble.

First, I wondered if Shuji Kuroki did exactly what I told him.

Even if he reported to the police, would he really contact Nao Kotori on the spot as I suddenly asked?

But with this many police officers mobilized so quickly, Shuji Kuroki probably relayed the message properly.

“Are you okay, kid!?”

The police officer in the suit from earlier called out to me.

I moved my aching body with effort, stepped away from the locker, and the locker door opened with great force.

“Ryu!? Ryu!!”

This was bad; standing was getting tough.

I leaned against the wall and slowly sat on the ground.

“I told you, didn’t I? I’m tough…”

I tried to laugh as I said this, but it made Yuna’s face twist even more.

Sorry, I got beaten up so much my face might not look normal anymore.

“Idiot! You’re really an idiot! Why did you do this!”

“Why, you ask… well…!”

Ugh, just trying to talk hurt my face and mouth like crazy.

The taste of iron spread in my mouth, making me uncomfortable…

Sorry to do this in front of Yuna, but I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth.

Wow… that’s quite a bit of blood…

“Ryu!? Sorry! Is the ambulance here yet!?”

“It’s coming soon. So calm down.”

“But if this continues, Ryu will…!”

“Calm down. Got it?”

“…! Y-Yes…!”

Amazing, this suit guy silenced Yuna in an instant.

As expected, a real professional had a different kind of presence…

Once I relaxed, the pain suddenly intensified. Was my adrenaline wearing off?

Damn, with all this exhaustion, staying conscious was getting hard.

“Ryu…? Ryu, what’s wrong? Stay with me!?”

“Hey! Where’s the ambulance team!?”

“Three minutes away!”

“Tell them to hurry!”

Having nearly died once, I knew.

This wasn’t life-threatening, so don’t worry.

I wanted to say that, but my mouth wouldn’t move properly to form words.

“Ryu! Stay with me! Please, Ryu…! Ry…”

Yuna’s voice faded away.

Sorry, when I wake up… I’ll apologize properly for worrying you…

I’ll get scolded by Kanade and Makoto later… too…

“Honestly! Are you the type who can’t feel satisfied without doing reckless things regularly!!”

“…Goddess?”

“Yes! It’s the Goddess who saved your life!”

I recognized the scenery; this was the place where I first met the Goddess after nearly dying in that incident. Was it the place where gods lived… like the heavens?

“Wait, does coming here mean I’m near death again?”

My gut feeling, the pain, and the appearance were intense, but I didn’t feel much internal damage. When I got stabbed, I had a sense of life draining from my body, a certainty I was going to die.

“Oh, no, it’s not like that. I thought we’d have a little chat while you were unconscious.”

“A chat…?”

“Yes, about the perks I gave you.”

…Come to think of it, there was something like that. I kind of forgot.

But now that I thought about it, there was something that seemed like it.

“You might already have a guess, but one of the perks I gave you is this! [The ability to sound an alarm during danger]!”

“So it was that.”

At the gathering when Kanade and Makoto were approached by Koki Nishino, and this time with Yuna’s incident.

The persistent discomfort, headaches, and ringing in my ears were thanks to this ability.

“I don’t really understand the activation conditions…”

“It’s simple! The target is someone you care about deeply or someone who cares about you deeply!”

Oh, I see. That’s why the ability activated for Makoto, Kanade, and Yuna.