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 45: A Story That Will Heal You

Chapter 45: A Story That Will Heal You

A little before the match ended,

A group occupied a corner of the stands.

They were members of Oomagari High School, a team that had already secured a spot in the finals.

“Phoenix High School announces a player substitution…”

“Ugh, their ace is out, and the second-year relief pitcher is no good… Is this it for Phoenix High School?”

“Baseball is unpredictable until the end. You should fix that habit of jumping to conclusions.”

“Oh, sorry, Captain. I’m reflecting on it!”

“Seriously… If only you didn’t have that cocky attitude…”

“Does anyone normally call someone cocky to their face?”

“You wouldn’t get it unless I said it.”

Two people had this conversation.

One was a man with not only impressive height but also incredibly broad shoulders that intimidated those around him.

He was Shinichiro Katori, the captain of Oomagari High School and the core of their batting lineup.

The one retorting without backing down was Takeshi Shiki, the first-year ace of Oomagari High School.

For a first-year to claim the ace number at a school that regularly competed at Koshien was an unprecedented event. In other words, it was proof of his exceptional skill.

“A first-year pitcher, huh… Having to rely on a rookie here means their roster is just too thin, doesn’t it?”

“Last year, their pitching depth was an issue, and it seems that weakness still persists this year.”

“Even if they win this, facing us without their ace will be tough…”

“Strike!”

With just one pitch, the atmosphere among all the Oomagari High School members changed.

“…Huh. They had a pitcher like that.”

“We need to rethink our assessment of Phoenix.”

These were seasoned players who had competed at Koshien multiple times and faced professional-level pitchers.

Their attention was now fixed on the first-year pitcher confidently delivering on the mound.

After the match, the Oomagari High School members hurried to prepare for scouting their finals opponent, Phoenix High School.

Among them was the first-year, Shiki, who noticed a noisy commotion coming from somewhere.

When he turned toward the sound, he saw the first-year pitcher who had just been on the mound.

Around him were a man and woman who seemed to be his parents and three women far more beautiful than any idol on TV.

“Hmm. No wonder a guy that good at baseball is popular… I’m jealous.”

Without much thought, he started to leave the scene.

At that moment,

“Big brother!”

A voice rang out sharply in his ears.

Normally, he would have ignored it and walked away.

But at that moment, by chance, he reacted to the voice and turned around. He couldn’t help but turn around.

In his eyes, he saw another girl rushing to hug the first-year pitcher.

“…She’s beautiful.”

Her short, neatly trimmed hair fluttered as she ran toward that guy.

But that didn’t matter.

Her voice, like the chime of a bell, and her femininity that remained despite her short hair.

For the first time in his life, he experienced love at first sight.

—

After somehow winning the semifinals by the skin of my teeth,

I was apparently more exhausted than I realized, and with the help of the three of them and Sakuya carrying my things, I barely managed to get home.

“Are you okay, big brother?”

“Ugh… This is hitting me hard…”

“I get it, Ryu. Pitching in such a high-pressure situation in that scorching heat must put a huge strain on your body.”

As Yuna said, the heat drained my energy more than I expected…

I managed to take a shower as soon as I got home, but maybe because the blood flow circulated through my body, my sleepiness accelerated like crazy.

I don’t even want to do anything today.

“I’ll give you a proper massage today too!”

“We’ll make dinner!”

“We went shopping with your mom just in case something like this happened.”

“I-I’m… I’m cheering you on! From the side! Go, go, Ryu!”

“…Thanks, everyone.”

Their thoughtfulness almost brings tears to my eyes…

Normally, I’d offer to help, but today I’ll take them up on their kindness.

“Come on, big brother! Lie down here!”

“Ah… I’m counting on you…”

“…An obedient big brother… Nice…”

“Did you say something?”

“Nope! Didn’t say anything!”

“Alright then…”

“Guh… How much is big brother going to tempt us…!”

Sakuya clenched her fist and grimaced for some reason.

It feels like her expression changed, but maybe it’s just my imagination.

As I received Sakuya’s massage, my eyelids started to lose the fight against gravity.

“It’s okay, big brother. I’ll wake you when dinner’s ready, so rest well.”

Sakuya’s voice is so reassuring to hear.

Then, she starts humming a lullaby. It’s just humming, but it feels like listening to a high-quality music box.

Hearing that wonderful voice, I drifted off into a world of slumber.

—

“…Is Ryu-kun asleep?”

“Yes. He’s out cold.”

Ryu-kun looked more exhausted than we’ve ever seen since we met him, so I hope he can rest well even for a bit.

While Ryu-kun rests, we prepare dinner.

We wanted to eat with Ryu-kun’s parents too, but they’re having dinner at their hotel, so they’re not here this time.

But they said we should eat together somewhere while they’re here, so I’m looking forward to that!

Since Ryu-kun is tired today, we’ll make something light.

Specifically, cold shabu-shabu pork.

Boiling the pork doesn’t take much time, so let’s prepare the cabbage to eat with it.

“Kanade, can you handle the pork?”

“Leave it to me. I’ll make it perfect.”

Even boiling it requires care, because overcooking makes it tough.

Since the pork is thin, it cooks quickly…

Cooking is great because you can obsess over details, but that’s also its downside…

Anyway,

When I glanced at the living room,

I saw Yuna staring intensely at Ryu-kun’s sleeping face.

She seems innocent but can be quite intense.

She’s probably struggling over whether to steal a kiss from defenseless Ryu-kun.

Sakuya-chan hums while stroking Ryu-kun’s head.

At some point, she slipped her knees under Ryu-kun’s head and gave him a lap pillow.

Grr… If I didn’t have the role of cooking, I’d want to give him a lap pillow too…!

No, no, I shouldn’t think like that.

Making sure Ryu-kun can eat delicious food as soon as he wakes up is important too.

After about an hour of preparation, the food was mostly ready.

I wanted to make homemade sesame sauce, but I’ll save that for another time and use store-bought for now.

“Sakuya-chan, can you wake Ryu-kun soon?”

“Okay! Big brother, dinner’s ready!”

“Uh, oh, sorry, Sakuya. Did your knees hurt?”

“Not at all! It was a happy time!”

He immediately worried about Sakuya-chan’s knees, which he rested on. That kindness is why I love him!

“Ryu-kun, today’s dinner is light cold shabu-shabu pork!”

“I made it perfectly. I’m hungry, so let’s eat.”

“Yeah… Yuna?”

“W-w-w-what? I-I-I didn’t do anything!”

“I didn’t say you did…”

Yuna is just so cute.

I hope she stays that way.

After that, we enjoyed a lively time together.

Ryu-kun dozed off at one point, and seeing his cute side, which is different from his usual cool self, made all the girls swoon, but that’s a secret from Ryu-kun.

We put Ryu-kun to bed early, confirmed he was asleep, and then prepared to head home.

Sakuya-chan asked us to walk her to the door, so we took her up on it and went to the entrance together.

Just as we were about to say goodbye to Sakuya-chan,

“Um… I want to ask you all something…”

“…? What’s with the formality?”

“Well… You’re all Ryu’s girlfriends, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, um…”

What’s wrong? It’s rare for the usually confident Sakuya-chan to hesitate.

“Does Sakuya-chan want to date Ryu too?”

Honestly, what a joke Kanade’s making.

No way that’s true!

“…Um.”

“…Seriously?”

Even Kanade let out a word she doesn’t usually use.

No, I thought Sakuya-chan really liked big brother, but…

To think it was romantic love…

Now that I think about it, there were signs…

“No! I mean! I’m not trying to get in your way or anything!”

“Sakuya-chan.”

“If you’re okay with it, I just want to be a tiny part of big brother’s heart!”

“Sakuya-chan…!”

“But if you’re uncomfortable, not at all! There’s no guarantee big brother will like me anyway!”

“Sakuya-chan!”

“…!”

“We’re okay with it. In fact, we’re happy that someone like Sakuya-chan, who thinks of Ryu-kun first, could be his girlfriend.”

“Makoto-san…”

“I agree. We can’t take care of his physical needs like today.”

“Yeah… I think I can handle that kind of care, but it’s hard to manage both myself and Ryu. If Sakuya supports him there, I’d be happy.”

“E-everyone…”

“It depends on Sakuya-chan properly telling Ryu-kun her feelings, but we want to support Sakuya-chan’s feelings.”

“T-thank you!”

It was a bit surprising, but I think with Sakuya-chan, we could build a fun family.

Imagining her in our future makes me excited.

Also, this is just my guess, but I think Ryu-kun doesn’t dislike Sakuya-chan.

I don’t know if it’s romantic, but I feel it won’t turn out badly. I’m almost certain.

Well, it’s all just imagination, and nothing starts unless Sakuya-chan takes action, so we’ll quietly cheer for her.

No, I’m not thinking anything weird!

I just want to give Sakuya-chan a little push.

I’ll share it in the girlfriend group chat later. Hehe.