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 46: A Big Change In My Relationship With My Stepsister

Chapter 46: A Big Change In My Relationship With My Stepsister

“Damn… I completely fell asleep…”

The morning after the match, I was utterly exhausted and seemed to have fallen asleep completely without even seeing the girls off as they went home.

I looked at the clock, and it showed 6 a.m. I woke up about thirty minutes earlier than the alarm, it seems.

Considering I went to bed over two hours earlier than usual yesterday, I must have slept quite soundly. I simply overslept.

I suddenly listened closely and heard the sounds of daily life coming from the living room.

It appears Sakuya is already awake.

“Ughhh…”

I stretched widely, but I didn’t feel any muscle pain.

I didn’t feel any sluggishness or fatigue either. Did I recover well thanks to sleeping soundly?

I got out of bed and headed to the living room.

There, Sakuya, wearing an apron, was preparing breakfast.

“Oh, b-brother! G-good morning!”

“Good morning, Sakuya… what’s wrong? Your face is red. Are you feeling unwell?”

Sakuya’s face turned bright red and looked away as soon as she saw my face.

If she’s trying to do chores while hiding an illness, I, as her brother, can’t overlook that.

“Do you have a fever? Come on, let your brother check.”

I held her cheeks and pressed my forehead against hers to check her temperature.

“B-b-b-brother!? What are… what are you doing!?”

“Hmm, it doesn’t seem like you have a fever… but you were out in the scorching heat all day yesterday, Sakuya. Rest slowly. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“H-huh!? I-I’m totally fine! Super energetic, even! Brother, you sit down! You only have one day off, so you need to recover your stamina properly for tomorrow!”

“N-no, but still…”

“No buts! Brother, just stay still!”

“Okay…”

Since she insisted so strongly, I decided to obediently wait on the sofa in the living room.

I heard Sakuya mutter something about “after yesterday’s onslaught, my body can’t handle it…” but what was she talking about? Onslaught… hmm, I have no clue.

I watched the early morning news on TV while spending some relaxed time.

After a while, Sakuya brought breakfast to the dining table.

“Brother! It’s ready!”

“Thanks, Sakuya.”

Sakuya made toast and salad.

It’s the perfect menu for breakfast.

“Sorry, brother. I haven’t cooked much, so I could only make something simple…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Brother?”

Oops, I accidentally got serious.

“You woke up this early and made breakfast even though you’re not good at it. That alone makes your brother happy. Thank you so much.”

“Brother…”

“I’m glad Sakuya is my sister.”

“…I really like you.”

“Sakuya?”

“Brother, even if I wasn’t your sister, would you have liked me?”

“Not my sister…? What do you mean…?”

“I mean, even if you weren’t my brother, I’d still love you.”

“…Sakuya?”

“I love you, brother… as a man. I love you.”

…A shocking bombshell hit me first thing in the morning.

“Don’t answer right away! Come on, hurry up, or you’ll be late for school!”

Urged like that, I left the house as if chased out and joined Makoto and Kanade to head to school.

But, of course, my mind was occupied with Sakuya’s words.

She likes me as a man… huh.

It seems I was a complete idiot.

I only ever saw Sakuya as my sister, so I completely failed to notice her feelings…

“Ryu-kun? Is something wrong?”

“Are you still tired? Should you skip school today?”

No, making these two worry is not right.

I need to pull myself together.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing. I’m hardly tired anymore…”

“Got it. Are you thinking about something then?”

“W-well, a little.”

“Did Sakuya-chan confess to you or something? Just kidding!”

“…”

“…No way? Really? Right after yesterday?”

“Wow… Sakuya-chan moves fast.”

“Wait a sec, I didn’t say anything!”

“But she confessed, right?”

“…”

“See?”

“Ryu’s bad at hiding things. This is good info.”

Damn… am I that obvious?

Is it written all over my face…?

“Hehe, but that’s good… I was worried Sakuya-chan might hold back for Ryu-kun’s sake or something.”

“…So, you both noticed Sakuya’s feelings?”

“Noticed, or rather, we heard it from Sakuya-chan herself last night.”

“…Seriously?”

“What do you think, Ryu-kun?”

“…Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve always seen Sakuya as my sister… I love her, of course, but I think it’s a familial kind of love…”

“I see. We can’t really say much about this, but we’re cheering for Sakuya-chan.”

“…Is that okay?”

“Yeah! If Sakuya-chan becomes part of our family, I’d be happy!”

“I feel the same. I think I could get along well with Sakuya-chan. So, Ryu, do what you feel is right.”

“Do what I feel… huh.”

“Either way, Sakuya-chan didn’t say she wanted an answer right away, right?”

“Yeah, but… how do you know?”

“Probably, she didn’t plan to say it this morning. Like, her emotions got the better of her… She’s probably freaking out right now, like, ‘Why did I say that!?’”

“That sounds likely. Ryu’s good at catching people off guard.”

“What’s with this ‘off guard’ thing?”

“Anyway, focus on the finals first! Leave Sakuya-chan to us.”

“Yeah, Ryu, just act normal with her and don’t overthink it.”

“…Got it. Thanks, you two.”

“Leave it to us.”

“This is where we, your girlfriends, step in!”

After that, we headed to school, chatting as usual.

“Why did I say that…!?”

Meanwhile, at Ryu’s home.

There was a girl writhing in embarrassment.

It was none other than Ryu’s stepsister, Sakuya Minase.

“I-I just went with the moment and said that… No, but it’s not my fault…! He came so close, forehead to forehead… eek!”

She recalled the earlier events, and her body temperature shot up.

She hadn’t planned to confess her feelings so soon.

She had thought about confessing during her stay here, but above all, she didn’t intend to say anything until the prefectural tournament was over, so her brother could focus on baseball.

Yet, she couldn’t hold back the words spilling from her mouth. It was purely because of the joy of having her feelings understood by Ryu’s girlfriends and the overwhelming emotions from Ryu’s actions that morning, which broke the brakes on her heart, causing her to lose control.

“What if I made it so brother can’t focus on the finals because of me…?”

Her mind was filled with embarrassment from confessing, but even more with guilt over possibly interfering with her brother’s baseball.

Just then, her phone pinged. A message came through on her app, from none other than her brother, Ryu.

“W-what is it…?”

For the first time, she felt fear opening a message from her brother. She cautiously opened it:

ryu: Thanks for this morning, Sakuya. I’ll think carefully about your feelings and give you an answer, so please wait a bit. I’ll win the finals and give you my answer. In return, cheer me on properly at the finals.

(That’s just like you, brother…)

Tears welled in her eyes at the message, which considered that she might be worrying about this morning.

At that moment, Sakuya made up her mind.

Even if Ryu couldn’t return her feelings,

She would dedicate her life to him.

Even when she was cold to him, he always loved her as his sister, and she would repay that love.

…Huh? I got chills. A cold?

Getting a cold at this timing would be no joke…

I’ll make sure to stay warm and sleep well tonight.

“Yo, I heard you won the semifinals?”

“Shuji, morning. Yeah, somehow.”

“I heard you were a big deal out there.”

“Not sure about a big deal, but I did alright, I guess?”

Sitting in front of me was my friend, Shuji.

He’s supposed to be in the middle of the inter-high qualifiers too…

“How about you, Shuji? How’s it going?”

“I’m doing pretty good. One more win, and I’m in the prefectural top eight.”

“That’s awesome. So, I’ll go to Koshien, and you’ll go to nationals. We might make it together.”

“Hey, you’re already acting like you’ve won.”

“Damn right. I always act like I’ve won.”

“Yeah, that mindset’s important… Let’s both do our best.”

“Yeah.”

Different sports, but we’re like comrades fighting together.

Like Yuna, talking with fellow athletes like this is a nice change of pace. I hope we can keep inspiring each other and improve together.

After school, I did some light training for tomorrow’s match, then headed home with Makoto, Kanade, and Yuna, who joined our morning school group, to where Sakuya was waiting.

“Welcome back, brother!”

“I’m home, Sakuya.”

…Thanks to the message I sent this morning, Sakuya seems normal on the surface.

I’m managing to keep it together too.

Though, inside, I’m super conscious of it.

“Are Makoto-san and Kanade-san cooking dinner today too?”

“No, today, at Yuna’s strong request…”

“I’m cooking today!”

“Yuna-san, you can cook!?”

“How rude! I’m not as good as those two, but I’ve been living alone for a while! I’m pretty confident in my housework!”

“Really? Then we’ll leave it to you!”

“Yep, count on me!”

And so, the usual scene unfolded at my house.

Watching the four of them—Sakuya included—having fun together at my place,

I couldn’t help but feel like this future with them was something that would naturally come, almost like it was guaranteed.

…Looking back now, maybe my feelings were already decided at that moment.