I Was Reincarnated as a Stepping-Stone Character in an Eroge, and by Breaking the Heroines’ NTR Flags in Place of the Protagonist, They Ended Up Falling for Me - Chapter 43 - My Future, Your Life

Chapter 43 – My Future, Your Life

“Whoa! Tsuyoshi-kun! Look here for a second! It’s a garden eel! A garden eel!”

Do garden eels really get you that excited?

Hinano was enthusiastically waving me over with a bright smile, and I let out a sigh as I walked toward the garden eel tank.

The five-hour-long surgery was a success, and Hinano’s condition is steadily improving. After completing her rehabilitation, she was discharged from the hospital.

And now, using the ticket I gave her the other day, we’ve come to the aquarium.

Hinano says it’s an aquarium date, but… it doesn’t seem much different from usual.

Peeking into the tank next to Hinano, I could see many garden eels swimming back and forth.

I suddenly looked at Hinano’s profile as she was staring at the garden eels next to me.

Sakurai Hinano. I had forgotten because she was so noisy, but she’s extremely cute and very popular. Easily one of the top-tier girls in our grade, both in terms of looks and social standing.

Right now, I’m on an aquarium date with such a girl. There’s no way I wouldn’t be excited. Truth be told, I’d already caught myself being captivated by her at least twenty times today.

“…Somehow, garden eels look a lot like penis.”

And just like that, my romantic feelings vanished.

Feeling embarrassed about the state I was in just a short while ago, I turned my gaze back to the tank.

“Well, it’s been almost two hours since our date started, Tsuyoshi-kun. Don’t you have something to say to me, Tsuyoshi-kun?”

After we’d finished looking at the garden eels, I was walking through the tunnel tank when she stopped and started saying that.

Something to say? Huh, what is she talking about?

She seemed dissatisfied by my reaction and did a quick twirl in front of me.

“This outfit… I splurged on it a bit, you know…”

I see. She wants me to compliment her.

“Uh… it looks nice?”

“‘Nice,’ huh? And?”

“Uh… it suits you really well.”

“It suits me… and?”

She wants more? Seriously… My lack of vocabulary is being thoroughly tested.

Um, what should I say? Damnit, if it was going to end up like this I should have asked Chiaki to teach me a few things.

Come on, I’ve got to use my brain to the max now.

I’ve got to come up with words that will satisfy Hinano!!

“…I think it’s very cute.”

My brain really isn’t all that impressive, huh… damn it.

“Well, I’ll let it slide this time.”

Hinano nodded in satisfaction at the words I’d managed to squeeze out and started walking again.

Good. It seems that I said the right thing.

“Master, it’s common sense to compliment a girl’s outfit first on a date. If It was any other woman, she would’ve slapped Master and walked off.”

Really? Going on a date is hard.

Feeling firsthand the difficulty of a real-life event, we reached the main tank of this aquarium.

“Wow…”

It was such a mystical sight that I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

The world before my eyes was filled with water and fish, and I felt as if I was immersed in the ocean.

“Shall we sit down for a bit?”

Hinano sat on the sofa, designed with an underwater rock motif, and patted the seat next to her.

We’d been walking quite a bit. Taking a short break would be nice.

I sat next to Hinano and looked at the tank in front of me. Many kinds of fish were swimming happily.

“Just sitting here in silence is boring… Tsuyoshi-kun, tell me a fun story.”

Hinano suddenly made another unreasonable request.

Hinano is asking for some really troublesome things today. This might be the most troublesome thing she’s ever said.

However, today is to celebrate Hinano’s release from hospital, so I have to meet her requests as much as possible.

… A story she’d enjoy, huh?

In front of us are many kinds of fish.

“So, what should we have for dinner tonight? Fried horse mackerel? Miso-glazed mackerel? Maybe steamed sea bream with turnip sauce?”

“Are you serious, Master?”

Uh-oh. This isn’t good.

“…Hah~ Honestly, Master, you have zero sense of romance.”

Said the girl who said garden eels look like a penis…

“…How’s your heart doing?”

“It’s in great condition! No signs of rejection or anything! I think this heart and I are a perfect match.”

Hinano spoke cheerfully.

It seems my heart was doing its job, steadily beating for Hinano now.

“…Why did you go to such lengths for me, Master?”

“Such lengths… You mean everything that happened this time?”

Hinano nodded. Her eyes looked at me seriously. The hustle and bustle of the aquarium somehow felt distant.

It wasn’t because I felt sorry for her or anything noble like that…

“…Hooked up to a bunch of machines, trapped in that fear of death creeping closer, clinging to the hope that ‘maybe’ a donor would come through… I just didn’t want to see Hinano go through all that.”

I didn’t want to see that… It was my self-centered ego.

“……”

And… that night, when I saw Hinano like that, she looked so painfully similar to the person I used to be.

Back then, hooked up to machines, I kept desperately hoping for someone to save me. I couldn’t bear the thought of being asked for help now and not doing anything.

“In the end, it was just my own self-satisfaction.”

“But thanks to your self-satisfaction, my life was saved. Please don’t forget that.”

As she said this, Hinano rested her head on my shoulder.

“…What’s the matter? Are you tired?”

“No, not at all~ I just think you’re way too in love with me, Tsuyoshi-kun~ That’s all.”

“…I’m going to keep making you work hard for me, so don’t laze around.”

“How terrible…! Master, you beast! You devil! But I like that about you too.”

Hinano giggled and continued to stare at the large aquarium.

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T/N: Dem, Hinano is cute~ Who expected she got the same disease that killed the MC in his past life… Also, based on the story, it seems Tsuyoshi now has Hinano’s heart until a donor is found? So he’s on a 6 month timer…

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I Reincarnated as the Overpowered Male Lead in an Erotic Game and Had Already Slept with One of the Heroines~