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 6: Meeting a Familiar Teacher at School

Another week had passed since I did rehabilitation with Yuna.

In the end, Yuna visited the hospital two more times to help with rehab, but we ended up doing almost the same amount as my middle school training. I still wondered if that really counted as rehabilitation.

And today, I finally reached the momentous day of my discharge.

Man, breathing fresh air properly felt so refreshing.

I went to the hospital rooftop and courtyard a few times, but the feeling of breathing outside air as an inpatient was quite different.

“Alright, that’s all the luggage.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Since it was Sunday, my whole family came to help with my discharge. And, of course, that meant:

“Big brother! Is it okay if I put all this in the trunk?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ve got the stuff I’ll carry by hand here.”

“Got it!”

My little sister, Sakuya, was with us too.

It had been a week since we last saw each other. I worried she might have cooled off and said something like, “I hate you, big brother. Stay away from me.” But, thankfully, that was just my imagination.

My cute little sister was quite a well-known athlete at her middle school and had club activities. I wondered if it was okay for her to skip them, so I asked.

“It’s fine! I train hard usually, so skipping one day won’t get me in trouble!”

“You’re skipping?”

“Just kidding! I told them, ‘I’m going to help with my brother’s discharge!’ The teacher said to say hi to you, too!”

“I see. That’s fine then…”

Sakuya took after Mom with her super serious personality, so if she said it was okay, it probably was.

Besides our family, two other people came to the hospital.

“Congratulations on your discharge, Ryu!”

“Congrats. Now we can go to school together.”

“Thanks for coming, you two.”

Yes, Makoto Hiragi and Kanade Sumeragi were there.

As promised, when I told them my discharge date, both immediately replied, “We’re coming!”

It was a Sunday, and I thought they might want to hang out with new friends from high school, but:

“We can hang out with friends anytime, but your discharge celebration only happens today!”

“You’re too polite about weird things, Ryu.”

They said that, so I gratefully accepted their help. The more hands, the better, right?

As for Yuna, who’d usually show up for something like this, she had a practice match for her club and couldn’t come.

When I told her about my discharge right after it was set, she said:

“What time? 10 o’clock? If I knock everyone out by then…”

So, we politely declined her visit. Preventing crime was the way to go.

“Makoto-san! I’ll take that!”

“Thanks, Sakuya-chan.”

“Sakuya-chan, are you thirsty? I’ll get you a juice.”

“Really? Thank you!”

The three of them seemed to get along well already, which was great. Sakuya and Makoto were both super sociable, and Kanade wasn’t picky with words. Once they understood each other’s personalities, they hit it off nonstop.

“Is this the last of the luggage?”

Mom put the final bag in the taxi’s trunk.

Two weeks in the hospital meant a lot of stuff, including clothes, piled up. It would’ve been a nightmare to handle alone.

I was grateful to everyone who helped.

Returning home after two weeks was a big deal.

Well, I hadn’t lived in this house for even a month before, and half of that was in the hospital, so I didn’t feel much attachment yet.

But then, a problem came up.

“T-T-T-This is R-R-R-Ryu’s h-h-house!”

“Stop sounding like a broken radio.”

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

“Stop with the deep breathing.”

Yes, it was those two.

I felt like their personalities were crumbling more each time we met. Were they okay? Were they managing school life properly? Their drastic changes made my maternal instincts kick in.

“Big brother… I didn’t plan to meddle in your friendships, but… are they okay?”

“They’re just a bit excited today… probably…”

Hey, you two, even a younger girl was worried about you.

They’d probably calm down with time… they had to, or I’d be in trouble.

For now, I decided to help my parents with some light cleaning. The house was dusty since no one had been home. This wasn’t escaping reality. Definitely not.

“Sorry… for the embarrassing display.”

“I just got a little carried away. Sorry.”

It was definitely more than a little, but I wouldn’t point that out. I was mature, after all.

“Thanks so much, both of you, for today.”

“This is nothing! It’s not even close to enough thanks!”

“Makoto’s right. I plan to do a lot more, so be ready.”

“Haha, I’ll look forward to it.”

“For now, there’s school tomorrow. Should we pick you up?”

“Yeah… I’d appreciate that. I’m nervous about the route.”

“We’ll come by around eight.”

“Yeah! I’m excited for tomorrow!”

Yes, tomorrow was finally my high school debut.

…I was getting nervous!

The next day, I put on the Phoenix High School uniform for the first time, and the reality of starting high school hit me. Man, this was nerve-racking.

Starting a new life in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people was daunting. If Makoto and Kanade weren’t there, I’d be terrified.

As I thought about that, the intercom rang.

“Morning, Ryu!”

“Good morning. Nice to meet you officially from today.”

“Same here. I’ll be a bother, but please bear with me.”

I joined the two, and we headed to school.

The school was about a ten-minute walk from my house, which made sense since we chose a place close by.

We chatted casually as we strolled along the school route.

But then, we hit an unexpected problem.

“…Aren’t we getting a lot of attention?”

“I knew this would happen…”

“As expected. But it’s not a big deal.”

“You two knew this would happen?”

“Not exactly knew, but I thought it might.”

“You’re tall and handsome, Ryu. People notice when a guy like that walks to school with girls.”

Putting aside whether I was handsome, both of them were strikingly beautiful. Naturally, people would wonder about our relationship.

“Sorry. I didn’t think this through.”

“We don’t mind, so don’t worry about it, Ryu!”

“We choose to be with you. Even if you’re considerate of us, we still want to be with you.”

“…I’m really blessed with friends.”

“…It’s huge.”

“I was shocked when I first came here. I thought it was a university for a second.”

“It lives up to its reputation as a rising school.”

We arrived at Phoenix High School, despite the stares.

The first thing that caught my eye was the massive school building. Though made of brick, the light brown walls had a modern design that didn’t feel old at all.

The size was overwhelming. It felt bigger than the university I visited once with my dad for a college athlete’s training.

“Ryu, you need to go to the staff room first, right? The shoe lockers are this way!”

I had to change into indoor shoes first. Makoto guided me there, with Kanade following at a slight distance. She seemed to be glaring at the surroundings, but it was probably my imagination.

I’d pretend it was.

Makoto led me to a large glass-walled area filled with countless shoe lockers. The school’s scale matched its large student body. The size and number of lockers were on another level. Everything felt overwhelming.

“Let’s see, your attendance number is 20, so… here!”

“Put your gym shoes on the top shelf and your dress shoes in the bigger space below.”

I followed their instructions, stowed my shoes, and changed into indoor ones.

“The staff room is this way. Follow me.”

Now Kanade took the lead. As she walked ahead, Makoto stuck close to my right side.

“…Isn’t that a bit close?”

“N-N-Not really! I think it’s a normal distance for friends!”

“…Is it? Okay then.”

She wasn’t holding my hand or linking arms, so it was fine.

“Here’s the staff room. Wait a sec.”

Kanade knocked on the staff room door.

“I’m Kanade from Class 1-3. I brought Ryu Minase, who’s starting school today.”

“Come in!”

The voice responding to Kanade, likely a teacher, sounded familiar.

Specifically, it reminded me of Ms. Nao Kotori, my homeroom teacher from my first and second years of middle school. No way, though.

Prompted by Kanade, I entered the staff room.

“Excuse m—”

“Long time no see, Ryu.”

“What are you doing here, Ms. Kotori?”

As expected, sitting on a desk to greet us was none other than my middle school teacher, Ms. Nao Kotori.

Her flowing light blue hair draped over her shoulders, and her beautiful appearance made her the school’s Madonna back in middle school. If I remembered correctly, she came to our school right after her teaching internship, so she was still in her mid-20s. Her gentle way of speaking added a certain allure, almost seductive, beyond her age.

We got close after an incident in middle school. I was struggling mentally, feeling distant from my sister and dealing with baseball issues, and she listened to my problems, helping me a lot.

I was shocked when I heard she was leaving the school for personal reasons when I entered my third year. I never imagined she’d be working at Phoenix High School.

“Wait! You know Ms. Kotori, Ryu?”

“Yeah, she helped me a lot in middle school.”

“That’s an incredible coincidence. It feels like fate.”

“Fate’s a bit dramatic. But I’m happy to see you again, Ryu.”

“Same here. I’ll be in your care again.”

I bowed to the teacher. She said, “Still so serious,” and stood up.

“Let’s head to your classroom. Everyone’s waiting for the ‘hero’ to arrive.”

“What?”

Wait, what did she just say?

I had a really bad feeling about this.

I glanced at the two behind me, and they were whistling terribly and looking away.

…Ugh, I suddenly felt reluctant to go to class.