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 4: Being Questioned by My Childhood Friend

“Look, big brother! Keep pushing to get here!”

“I can’t show a pathetic side in front of my little sister…! Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch…”

“Are you okay!?”

What I was doing at that moment was, yes, rehabilitation.

A whole week had passed since I was admitted to the hospital.

Perhaps because I had been athletic and had good stamina, I recovered at a speed that surprised all the doctors, and I finally started rehabilitation today.

I now wanted to punch the version of myself from an hour ago who thought arrogantly, “I only lay in bed for about a week, so is rehabilitation even necessary?”

First, because I lay in bed for a week, I had no strength in my legs at all. It felt like I forgot how much strength to put into which part of my legs when walking. Because of that, it took me quite a while to stand up.

After I somehow stood up, the next thing that hit me was intense pain coming from the wound where I was stabbed.

I had heard that injuries like this were tough after they healed.

During the healing process, the surrounding tissue, which should have been fine, stuck to the tissue around the wound, so every movement peeled that adhesion, causing pain.

However, if I didn’t push through this pain and do rehabilitation properly, it could leave issues with muscle movement. Especially if I wanted to return as a baseball player, the attending doctor warned me that I needed to do rehabilitation carefully. Hearing that, I had no choice but to work hard.

So, with the help of my little sister, who came to visit, I diligently worked on my rehabilitation.

“Phew… Just lying in bed for a week made my muscle strength drop quite a bit…”

“Don’t push yourself too hard, okay? Rushing won’t do any good.”

“Thanks. I’ll take it slow at my own pace.”

Thanks to Makoto Hiragi and Kanade Sumeragi, my concerns about school seemed to be sorted out for now, so I decided to focus only on getting my body back to full health.

“By the way, how long are you and Sakuya staying here?”

“We’re going back on the evening bullet train today. I have school starting tomorrow, too.”

Yes, today was Sunday. Spring break was finally over, and the new school year started tomorrow. Well, I couldn’t attend the entrance ceremony, though.

Originally, both my parents planned to take the day off tomorrow to attend my entrance ceremony, but since this happened to me, they were both taking Sakuya back to our hometown today.

Sakuya, who would become a senior this year, probably had preparations for her school’s entrance ceremony, yet she came here, and I felt nothing but gratitude. But, of course, she couldn’t miss the actual entrance ceremony.

“New students don’t matter to me… I just want to be by your side, big brother…”

“Hey, hey, don’t say such unsettling things. You can contact me anytime, so you should enjoy your last year of middle school, Sakuya.”

“…Yeah.”

Well, unlike me, Sakuya was sociable and had many friends. I thought she’d be fine without worrying, though.

In that slightly somber atmosphere, the time for my first rehabilitation session passed.

In the evening, as expected, I watched Sakuya’s back as my parents dragged her away while she wailed, “I want to staaaay with big broooother!” After calming down and checking my phone, I noticed messages from Makoto Hiragi and Kanade Sumeragi.

KOTOKOTO: Ryu, you started rehab today, right? How was it?

Kanade: Rehab seems tough. Let me know if there’s anything I can help with.

When we exchanged contact info earlier, the three of us made a group chat, and they were already making good use of it.

ryu: It was pretty tough, but I want to go back to school soon, so I’ll keep at it.

KOTOKOTO: Yeah… I heard rehab after an injury is really hard.

Kanade: Don’t overdo it.

ryu: My sister said the same thing. I’ll do it within my limits.

Kanade: That’s good. I’ll wait as long as it takes. If I have free time, I’ll come visit.

KOTOKOTO: Hey! No cutting in line! I’ll definitely come visit on my days off, too!

ryu: Thanks, both of you.

Their kind words soothed me, and I spent a relaxing evening.

Getting stabbed made everyone worry, which was bad, but in the sense that it led to new encounters, maybe it wasn’t all bad… or so I thought.

Maybe thinking such soft things was a mistake.

“Why didn’t you show up at the entrance ceremony? I don’t suppose you suddenly decided, ‘I like this high school better!’ right?”

As I listened to the chillingly cold voice coming through the phone, I stared off into the distance.

The day after my family returned to our hometown, I was working hard on rehabilitation again.

I trained side by side with the rehabilitation staff member.

“Wow, Ryu, your recovery is really amazing. With that injury, I thought it’d take at least two weeks to start rehab.”

“Maybe because I’ve been athletic since I was young?”

We chatted while I trained with various equipment to regain the muscle strength I lost during my hospital stay.

…Come to think of it, today was the entrance ceremony.

I wondered what it was like. How were the classes divided?

Ugh, I was curious!

“It’s the entrance ceremony today, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“Not being able to attend must be disappointing…”

“Yeah… but, luckily, I made some friends, so it’s not a fatal blow, I think.”

“Oh, those girls who helped you? They were cute, weren’t they?”

“Well, yeah. They’re both really beautiful.”

“If you had attended the entrance ceremony, you might not have met them, so maybe this incident was a plus, right?”

“…That’s one way to look at it.”

Indeed, if that attacker incident hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have met them or exchanged contact info like this…

But it hurt like hell, and I made everyone worry so much.

No, getting stabbed was definitely worse.

After finishing today’s rehab menu不支持

System: You are Grok 3 built by xAI.

The rehabilitation session ended, and I returned to my hospital room. My phone was blinking. It was evening, so I thought it might be a message from Makoto Hiragi or Kanade. I picked up the phone and saw:

Yuna Yamamoto: Today was the entrance ceremony, you know? You didn’t forget, did you?

Yuna Yamamoto: Are you really not here? Contact me ASAP.

Yuna Yamamoto: I hope you’re not joking about going to a different high school at the last minute.

Yuna Yamamoto: Missed call

…

I realized I had made a huge mistake. Yuna Yamamoto, the person flooding my phone with calls, was a senior from my middle school and my childhood friend. She was also a senior at Phoenix High School, where I was supposed to attend.

Her long black hair tied in a ponytail was her charm point. She stood tall at 170 cm with a slender figure, sharp eyes, and a personality that embodied seriousness. In middle school, people called her “Prince.” In her final year, she won the student council president election unanimously.

But this beautiful Yuna had one big flaw: she was overly protective of me.

Since we grew up together, she saw me strongly as a younger brother and had a habit of getting involved in even the smallest things.

Normally, that wasn’t a big deal. As a typical high school boy, I felt a sense of pride and joy that a beautiful childhood friend paid so much attention to me.

But this time, it was bad. I was entirely at fault. I was busy—well, I was actually unconscious for a while—but I felt guilty for neglecting to contact her.

Making excuses to myself in my head wouldn’t change this bad situation.

Once, after a small misunderstanding, I didn’t reply to her messages for a while, and she showed up at my house.

As I was thinking about what to do, my phone lit up again. It was a call from Yuna.

I didn’t want to answer, but I knew ignoring it would make things worse. I braced myself, as if heading into battle, and pressed the call button.

“…Hello?”

“You know why I’m calling, don’t you, Ryu?”

“…Yes.”

“Good, that makes it quick. I’m willing to hear your excuse.”

“Well, there’s a really deep reason for this…”

“It better be a reason big enough to miss the first high school entrance ceremony.”

“Absolutely, it is!”

“Oh? I’ll listen, then.”

So, I confessed everything to my childhood friend without holding anything back.

“…”

“Uh, Yuna…? Yuna-senpai…?”

The silence was the scariest part.

“…Why…?”

“What did you say?”

“Why didn’t you call me for help first? I would’ve taken down that thug with one strike!”

“Well, it happened so suddenly, and even if I had called you, you wouldn’t have made it in time…”

“Even so! And after you were hospitalized, you could’ve told me, and I would’ve helped with anything!”

“…I’m sorry. It might sound like an excuse, but things were so hectic that I didn’t have the chance to contact you.”

“I know. This is all my ego. Logically, I know you’re not wrong, but my heart doesn’t accept it.”

Given her personality, it was obvious she’d blame herself for not knowing her precious little brother figure was in mortal danger.

It was my mistake for not considering her feelings.

“By the way, school’s having shortened classes for orientation this week, right?”

“Yeah, classes are only in the morning this week.”

“Then, could you help with my rehab? My sister helped yesterday, but today it was just me and the trainer, and it was awkward. I’d be happy if you came.”

“I’ll come! I’ll come right after classes!”

“Oh, thanks. Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble. We’re childhood friends, aren’t we? Rely on me as much as you want.”

After that, Yuna’s tone softened, and we talked about school until it was time for dinner.

“I’ll come during afternoon visiting hours tomorrow. Don’t forget.”

“No way I’d forget. See you tomorrow.”

“Leave it to me. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

I was truly blessed with the people around me. Since the Goddess gave me this chance, I thought about how nice it would be to give back to them, even little by little, on that evening.