Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139843121925685/episodes/822139843145176795
“Um… all three of you? What’s wrong?”
I tilted my head, seeing their expressions freeze.
“…N-no, it’s nothing at all!”
The silver-haired girl, radiating junior-senior awkwardness, frantically tried to compose herself—
“More importantly… is your leg injury okay?”
Her gaze shifted to my left leg.
—There it was, my left leg, tightly wrapped in bandages.
“Ow!!!”
The next instant, intense pain shot through my leg.
Apparently, noticing the injured leg made me suddenly aware of pain I hadn’t felt before.
“I-I’m sorry! Of course you can’t be okay with such a serious injury…”
“Well… yeah, it does hurt a bit… By the way, is my left leg completely ruined?”
“N-no! With rehab, you should be able to walk again… supposedly. But… as for sports… it might be a bit… difficult…”
The junior-type girl looked apologetic, her face clouding over.
I see… Sports are out of the question.
“Oh, I see! Well, as long as I can walk again, that’s fine!”
Well, in my past life, I was on the soccer team and got plenty of exercise!
Maybe in this life, pouring my passion into things I can do indoors isn’t so bad after all!!!
I forced myself to act cheerful from the bottom of my heart.
—But then.
“H-huh… again…”
Once more, the three girls’ faces twisted in pain.
Had I said something wrong again?
…I don’t know.
“Um… if I said something bad, I’d like you to tell me…”
“N-no! It’s nothing at all!”
“Oh, I see…”
If they say it’s nothing, then I guess I don’t need to worry about it.
Anyway, I looked around at the faces of the three girls surrounding the bed.
Thinking about it again… it feels weird that those gal game characters actually exist in reality…!
I looked at them from left to right.
First was the downer-type gal with dyed blonde hair reaching her chest and slightly reddish eyes.
She had a great figure, a well-proportioned body, and of course, a beautiful face.
She was truly an absolutely stunning beauty.
Her name was, I think…
“Hoshimiya Yukina… right?”
“Yeah… Actually, you don’t need to call me ‘-san’. Just call me Yukina, casually. I mean, you… no, you saved us from hell, so you’re our benefactor.”
“It’s not like I’m some kind of benefactor! Don’t worry about it too much! …But hey, since you asked, I’ll take you up on it and call you Yukina!”
“Hmm… If you do that, it’ll help me too.”
But then Yukina added, “But…” and her eyes seemed to darken slightly—
“It’s not true that you’re not my benefactor. You absolutely are my benefactor. Someone who tried to save me from hell multiple times… There’s no way you’re not my benefactor…!”
“Oh, really? …Huh? Multiple times?”
What does “multiple times” even mean…?
I’m pretty sure I only saved Yukina once…
“Um… multiple times? From hell? …What exactly do you mean…?”
“Ah…”
Yukina covered her mouth with a look of realization—
“Um… don’t worry about it? I just misspoke…”
“Ah, ah, right.”
“Yeah. Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea.”
Yukina apologized softly.
Her attitude felt slightly off… but whatever.
There was no point dwelling on it further. Best to move on.
Next, I shifted my gaze to the serious-looking girl in the center with waist-length black hair and dark eyes.
The phrase “standing like a peony, sitting like a peony” suited her perfectly.
She was the very picture of a Yamato Nadeshiko.
Her name was…
“Tsukishima Tsukino… right?”
“Yes. That’s right, I’m Tsukishima Tsukino… You can just call me Tsukino too…”
“Okay, Tsukino then.”
Tsukino had a somewhat gloomy aura about her.
Her words lacked energy, and her expressions hinted at a despairing emotion.
…What the hell is going on here?
Ah, whatever.
More importantly, I had something I wanted to ask this girl.
I slowly turned my gaze to the wall of the room.
“—By the way, those thousand paper cranes over there… did you make them, Tsukino-san?”
Countless thousand paper cranes were displayed on the wall.
Probably… there really were a thousand, weren’t there?
“Ah… yes. I made these… I worked hard folding them, hoping you’d wake up…! …Ah, did I… bother you?”
“N-no, no! Thank you! I… I’ve never even gotten a thousand paper cranes before, so I’m super happy!!!”
“H-h-honestly?”
Tsukino’s face lit up brightly.
But the very next moment—
“Ah…”
My injured leg came into Tsukino’s view.
The next instant, Tsukino’s expression darkened.
Could it be… she felt guilty for causing my injury?
“You don’t need to worry too much about my leg, okay?”
“… Is that so…”
Tsukino frowned slightly.
“But… this injury happened because you saved us. Please let me help. If you need someone to push your wheelchair, just call me anytime. If you need a shoulder to lean on, I’ll be there. I… want to make it up to you, Yu-san, as much as I can.”
Tsukino stared intently into my eyes as she spoke.
“Ah, really? But seriously, I’m not bothered at all! Don’t worry about it so much, okay?”
She really is a serious girl.
There’s absolutely no need for her to feel guilty about this injury…
Finally, my gaze shifted to the girl with short silver hair and blue eyes.
She was a junior one year below me, with a somewhat innocent aura about her.
Apparently a quarter European, she was a different kind of beauty compared to Tsukino.
Her name was—
“Yozakura Karen… is that right?”
“Y-yes! You can call me Karen like everyone else…!”
“Got it! Karen, huh. Um… you’re a year junior to me, right?”
“Yes! Yu-senpai!”
Yu-senpai… Ah, right. So my name in this life is ‘Yu’.
I’d been so focused on avoiding the death end that I’d forgotten my own name.
“Yu-senpai! Thank you so much for helping us!”
Karen beamed with gratitude.
Huh… Maybe because those two earlier looked so gloomy, Karen’s brightness really hits home.
“But… please don’t push yourself too hard anymore, okay?”
She looked at me with genuine concern.
“Well… I’ll do my best to manage…!”
“… ‘Do my best’… Does that mean… you might still push yourself too hard…?”
Karen asked, looking puzzled.
“Well… I probably won’t, but if it comes down to it…”
“――No.”
Karen snapped her head down and said firmly.
Then, as if muttering to herself――
“Senpai was suffering so much… to the point of breaking…! There’s no way you can push yourself any harder than that…”
She said it in a voice that seemed about to vanish.
“I-Is that how far it goes…?”
“…That’s how far it goes. You absolutely mustn’t push yourself anymore, okay?”
Karen raised her face, flashed a faint smile, and tilted her head.
Seeing her smile… for some reason, a chill ran down my spine—
“O-Okay… I won’t push myself anymore.”
—Before I knew it, I was nodding my head.
“Hehe, if you promise, that’s fine…!”
Karen said with a beaming smile.
But… at that moment, I thought I saw something dark and ominous deep within Karen’s eyes.
I’m happy everyone’s worried about me… but I feel like I’m carrying a bit too much guilt.
Then—
“Um… everyone. My one leg isn’t such a big deal compared to your futures, so please don’t take it too seriously…!”
“… ………………”
The next moment—silence fell between the three of them.
I cautiously glanced at their faces—everyone’s expression was frozen.
…Apparently, I’d said something I shouldn’t have.
—After the three left the hospital room.
“There’s no way it’s okay, no way it’s fine… After dying like that, there’s no way it’s fine…”
“Aaaaaaaaaah… I knew it… Losing his memory… It’s my fault…”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Please… Senpai, don’t break any more, please…”
The ghostly voices of the three echoed down the hospital corridor.
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