Looks like I managed to survive.
When I first woke up, I was completely wrapped in bandages, and ordered to stay in absolute rest. My right hand was the most severely injured. They said the nerve damage was so bad that it might be impossible to move it freely again.
It was my right arm that made contact with the car. I was actually relieved that the most damaged part was only that bad.
They said there might be other lasting impairments, but considering I was prepared to die, just surviving was more than enough for me.
Almost a week had passed since I woke up, and my body was healing steadily. It looked like I’d be able to recover at home in another week.
More importantly…
“I’ll be done peeling the apple soon, so please wait. Or is there anything else you’d like to eat? Ah, are you thirsty? Or maybe you need to use the restroom? If there’s anything you want, just say the word.”
“No, I’m fine for now.”
“That’s too bad. Satoshi-kun is my savior, so if there’s anything you want, ‘anything’ at all, just tell me, okay?”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”
The way she emphasized “anything” was a bit much, but it was probably just my imagination.
Right next to my bed was Satsuki Saionji, peeling an apple.
Lately, Sakurazuki has been visiting me in the hospital almost every day. And it’s not just her. All the heroines I saved have been coming too.
Today, it just happened to be only Sakurazuki, but sometimes all the heroines come together.
The heroines from the game I played so much are coming to visit me, so I guess it was worth saving them.
Sano? That guy hasn’t come even once. I’d be troubled if he did, so it’s fine if he doesn’t come at all.
However,
“Hm? Is something wrong?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
Sakurazuki looked at me with a gentle smile, making me feel awkward and uncomfortable. I wanted to escape this uncomfortable space, but I still couldn’t move my body freely, so all I could do was turn my head away.
But that was a bad move.
“Why are you looking away…?”
“Huh?”
A chilling, terrifying voice came from Sakurazuki. When I looked at her, her eyes, devoid of highlights, were fixed on me, and a single tear was running down her cheek. And after she finished peeling the apple perfectly, she slowly put down the knife.
“If I did something to upset Satoshi-kun, I’m sorry. It was my fault, so please don’t ignore me anymore. Please don’t hate me. If I’m not needed by Satoshi-sama, there’s no meaning for me to live. So, if you could tell me what I did wrong…”
“Ah, I’m sorry! It was my fault. It’s not just Saionji, but I’m just not used to being around girls, so I got nervous.”
“That’s a lie. You called me ‘Saionji’. You’re angry, aren’t you…?”
“N-no, it’s not a lie. Sakurazuki is so beautiful and cute that I get even more nervous. See, my voice is trembling just by calling you Sakurazuki, right?”
Hearing my desperate explanation, the highlights returned to Sakurazuki’s eyes.
“…I’m sorry. I got carried away because I can’t live if Satoshi-sama hates me…”
“Then that’s good. Also, please stop calling me -sama, okay?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. It just came out.”
“I’ll forgive you because you’re cute. Ah.”
I unintentionally let my true feelings slip out, and I was so embarrassed. I wanted to disappear into a hole.
“Cute, Satoshi-sama said I’m cute. Ehehe.”
…I guess this is what they mean by a blessing in disguise.
Sakurazuki started writhing and squirming while holding her cheeks. If she was happy, then it was worth the embarrassment.
Also, my name has ‘-sama’ attached to it. It’s back to how it was.
“Ah, it’s already this late! I have a photoshoot soon, so I have to go. I’m sorry, Satoshi-sa… Satoshi-kun.”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”
I’m happy that she comes to visit me even though she’s busy, but I wish she would value her own time a little more.
Sakurazuki tried to put on her coat, which was hanging on a hanger, but she put her arms through the wrong holes, making it upside down. After somehow managing to put on her coat, she grabbed her tote bag haphazardly.
“Well then, see you later! I’ll come again tomorrow.”
With that, she dashed out of the hospital room. I could hear loud voices from the hallway, “You mustn’t run in the hospital!” “I’m sorry!”
Sakurazuki is absent-minded, so I’ve seen her make these kinds of mistakes many times in LoD. Remembering those scenes made me feel a little better.
“Alright.”
Once I was alone in the hospital room, it became quiet all at once.
I thought about browsing a book since I was alone, but unfortunately, all I had was the bag I had when I had the accident. There were reference books inside, but I didn’t want to see them anymore since the exams were over. I wasn’t such a study fanatic that I’d read a vocabulary book. My phone was apparently shattered into pieces in the accident.
“Looks like I survived…”
It was the umpteenth time I’d asked myself that question. I was prepared to die when I was hit by the car, so I hadn’t thought about anything beyond that. I fell back onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling.
“The reason I survived is probably the same as Sakurazuki and the others.”
I had been thinking about why I survived for a long time, but I finally came up with a hypothesis.
At the moment of the Bad Ending,
‘A high school student was hit by a car that ran a red light. BAD END’
There was text and a picture of me bleeding after being hit by a car.
But that was it.
I just had an accident. It wasn’t explicitly stated anywhere that I died.
However, after bleeding that much, with the words ‘Bad Ending’ and the heroines being killed off in their individual routes, it’s strange to think that I could survive.
“Even so, I wonder what those damn creators think about us surviving.”
The creators, not just the original author, must have envisioned the Total Party Kill Ending when they wrote that ending, so they must be regretting that we all survived. I feel like giving them the middle finger right in front of their faces.
“Maybe… no, that’s not it.”
What I was thinking about now was the possibility of a survival route disguised as a Bad Ending.
My hypothesis was that even if I hadn’t intervened, I, of course, and the heroines would have survived.
By not explicitly stating that we died, they left room for the people who played LoD to consider the possibility of survival.
You could think that there was a saint among the sadistic creators, but I can clearly say no to that theory.
In the first place, if I hadn’t pushed Sakurazuki away and saved the heroines, they would have all been hit by the car. If that had happened, some might have survived, but some would have died. It’s hard to imagine that everyone would have survived.
The fact that I survived is close to a miracle.
“Well, I can’t say it was a complete victory though…”
I touched my right arm, and I still couldn’t feel anything. It was there, but I couldn’t feel anything. My right arm, which used to move so naturally, had become just an ornament.
It was a stroke of luck that it didn’t have to be amputated, but it was still painful that it wouldn’t move. Even so, I will be forever grateful to it for saving my life.
Suddenly, I saw the apple that had been cut into a beautiful rabbit shape.
“Sakurazuki peeled the apple for me, didn’t she?”
I used my left hand to sit up. It was at times like these that I realized how important my right hand was. Just getting up was a struggle. I stuck a toothpick into the apple and brought it to my mouth. Delicious.
Every day, Sakurazuki and the other heroines come to visit me and bring me gifts like this. I’m really happy about it. As I said before, there’s nothing like being thanked by the girls you saved.
However…
“I’m happy that they call me their savior, but it’s a bit too heavy…”
It’s too weird that Sakurazuki calls me ‘Satoshi-sama’. I tried to get her to stop because the nurses were giving me strange looks, but it’s not working out very well.
It’s gotten a lot better than it was before, though…
However, if they think I’m rejecting them or that I hate them, they get confused. Sakurazuki was crying, but others would blame themselves or self-harm, so I don’t know who the patient is.
So, I basically let the heroines take care of me as they please. If I don’t, they’ll fall into darkness, and my mental state will suffer. If I smile and thank them for what they do, they’ll be happy. If that’s all it takes, then that’s the best way.
Well, I have an idea of why the heroines have become so devoted to taking care of me.
They probably want to get rid of their guilt towards me by doing something for me.
We often see stories told from the perspective of the person who was saved, but I want you to think about it from the opposite perspective.
What do you think they feel inside when they see the savior who saved them and got seriously injured? Wouldn’t they think, “It’s because of me…”?
If you think about it that way, their current actions make sense. So, I decided to let them do as they please until I recover. It’s not like it’s harmful to me.
“Even so, it feels a bit too excessive…”
She would happily listen to any request of mine. When I jokingly asked her to help me in the bathroom, I experienced hell. It was the moment I decided to stop making casual commands.
A wicked thought crossed my mind that maybe she would even accept it if I asked for her body, but I immediately punched that side of myself in my mind.
And so, despite being the one who was saved, my mental fatigue only continues to grow.
“It’s not like I wanted this situation… This makes me more of a god than a savior.”
I sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time.
I would be satisfied just by being saved and receiving thanks from the heroines I risked my life to save. After that, I’d be full as long as the heroines live happily.
If possible, I’d want them to find a good man other than Sano and have a happy family.
“Well, it’s just until I get discharged. I have nothing to do, so should I read a reference book?”
Someone, I don’t know who, seems to have neatly put the reference books that were scattered in the accident back into my bag. I rummaged through it and took out a math problem book with unsolved problems.
“It’s not here…”
I was also looking for another thing, but I couldn’t find it. My diary, which I’ve been using since I entered high school, was not in my bag after all.
I’ve been writing in it every day, so it would be a waste and unsettling to stop recording here.
And there was another reason why I was concerned about the diary.
“That day, someone might have picked it up and has it…”
What I’m worried about is the contents of that diary. Basically, I was just scribbling down my thoughts, so there’s a lot of embarrassing stuff written in it. The latter half is full of fear of death and a desire for revenge on the original author, so if someone saw the contents, they might even think I’m crazy. That’s way too embarrassing.
But, I quickly switched my thinking, assuming that wouldn’t happen. After all, the contents of my bag are so neatly organized. It’s unlikely that only the diary wouldn’t be put back.
Maybe it fell into a ditch or something. The most likely theory is that I forgot it at home. The day before, I had no memory due to the fear of death and the desire for revenge on the original author. I must have unconsciously done something strange.
In the first place, I’m the only one in this world who can understand that diary. If that’s the case, there’s nothing to worry about. If it was turned into the police, I just have to receive it while blushing.
Let’s just assume that.
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