I Became an Academy Counselor

“Teacher, please come quickly! We’re going to be late!”
“Huff, huff… J-Just let me rest a bit…”
“There’s no time for that! We’re almost there, so please endure a little more!”
“I-I’m dying…”

You always see protagonists in manga or novels arriving at the scene of incidents incredibly quickly.
Why am I like this? I should have exercised more.
I didn’t exercise because I thought I wouldn’t need to fight like the students, but I didn’t expect this karma to come back like this.

No, who thinks a counseling teacher needs to rush to the scene anyway?
It’s not me who’s strange.
It’s this world that’s wrong.
I… I just wanted to be helpful to the students I like…

“I-I can’t… anymore…”
“Teacher?!”

I didn’t even have the strength to walk, let alone run.
Even when I carried heavy luggage and walked 20 km before, my legs didn’t tremble like a newborn fawn like this.
Is it because my body has changed?
Finally, I sat down, clutching my legs that wouldn’t move as I wanted.
I can’t walk anymore. I give up.

“T-Teacher?! We need to stop Orca! There’s no one else who can stop her besides you…!”
“I don’t know… She’ll calm down soon… I really can’t walk anymore…”

It’s not like Orca won’t stop until she destroys everything once she gets angry.
I rushed out following the class president because I was flustered by the unexpected news that Leo was consistently being pushed back, but…
Come to think of it, there’s actually no reason for me to go out, right?

Although Orca is violent, she’s not thoughtless enough to kill someone.
She would surely only hit him to the extent that it wouldn’t become a big problem, though she’d get disciplined. And then she’d return to the counseling room as if nothing happened.
Because she needs to come to the counseling room to sleep well.

“Let’s just go back… I can’t move anymore. Look at my legs! They’re trembling even when I’m standing still.”
“…Excuse me.”
“Huh? W-What are you suddenly… Waaah?!”

The class president, who had been looking at me with a stern expression when I suggested going back to the counseling room.
She approached me and lifted me up like a sack of rice.

“We’re really almost there, but you’re quite fragile, teacher.”
“Ugh, aah… I-It hurts… It hurts!”
“Please endure it a little more. As I have said before, as far as I know, you’re the only one who can stop Orca, teacher.”
“N-No, if you’re going to carry me, the posture…! The posture…”

Perhaps she didn’t hear my request to mind the posture.
The class president started running again.

“You’re quite light. You should exercise more.”
“Ugh, ack… S-Save me…”

I missed my former self from a few hours ago who was enjoying games.
Damn. It hurts like hell.
What kind of situation is this?

“…Look, we’ve arrived.”
“Oh, already?”
“I told you, didn’t I? That we were almost there.”

How many minutes had passed when I started complaining about the pain in my chest shaking due to the vibration and my abdomen pressed on the shoulder blade while being carried on the class president’s shoulder?
It didn’t even feel like five minutes had passed, but the class president had put me down.
Wondering what was going on, I looked ahead and saw Orca and Leo through the dust.

…We really did arrive quickly. We were almost there.
No, I thought it was a lie…
How many times have I been tricked by personal trainers who say “just a little more” and then make you exercise for over 10 minutes, or dentists who tell you to raise your hand if it hurts but ignore you when you actually do?

I resented my former self from a moment ago who thought it was just a lip service.
I should’ve just walked a little more even though it was hard.
I unnecessarily threw a tantrum and ended up with a battered body.

“…Wow, it’s cool.”

However, the pain soon stopped. 
It was because my attention was drawn to the spectacular fight in front of me.
It was just Orca one-sidedly swinging her fists at Leo, and Leo blocking with his sword, but…
Even so, it was spectacular.

The mist that forms along the trajectory when she swings her ominous-looking black arm.
I thought it was just an in-game effect, but the mist really does show the trajectory.
It’s so cool…
That’s why I particularly liked Orca among other playable characters.
There’s a coolness that makes your heart race.

I couldn’t show it because everyone would tease me for being chuunibyou, but…
Still, it’s cool, isn’t it? Isn’t that enough?
A demon-possessed person with a sad past, with a demon dwelling inside her body.
Seeing it directly with my own eyes made it even cooler.

Hnnng…

“Teacher. It’s fine to admire the fight, but shouldn’t you stop them first…”
“Ah… A-Ahem. I’m sorry.”

However, my admiration for the fight was short-lived.
At the class president’s urging, I decided to stop Orca.

“That was quite fun, kiddo.”
“Urgh…”
“Don’t act up anymore. Next time, I might really kill you.”

Just as Leo couldn’t hold on anymore and dropped his sword, and Orca was about to deliver the final blow, I hurriedly shouted.

“No harsh words!”
“…Why are you here?”
“That doesn’t matter, does it? You just used a harsh word, didn’t you?”
“So what?”
“Wasn’t one of the conditions for using the counseling room that you wouldn’t use harsh words?”

Orca’s expression suddenly worsened.
Yes, the fragrance I lied to Orca about being a relic.
To get the effect of that fragrance, she made a promise with me.
Not to use bad words, and to attend classes diligently.

She consistently attended classes. To the point where rumors spread.
I’m a teacher, so it’s easy for me to check whether she attended classes or not, that’s probably why.

But what about language?
It’s difficult to check. I didn’t really intend to withhold the fragrance because of it.
Orca probably knew this and didn’t particularly try to be careful.

But what can we do, I just heard it with my own ears? Orca using harsh words.
Well, actually, I don’t think what she said is that harsh of a word, but who cares.
Let’s just allow only proper and polite words, okay?
I just decided that.

“Ah, no. This isn’t… Um…”
“…”

Leo, who had fallen to the ground, looked back and forth between me and Orca with wide eyes.
He probably can’t believe this scene.
Honestly, neither can I. Orca cowering before someone.

“Sigh…”

As I let out a small sigh, Orca’s body shook greatly.
She closed her eyes tightly as if afraid of what was about to happen, to the point where it looked pitiful.
It would be easy to scold Orca right now, but…
I didn’t want to. How annoying were the teachers who scolded me without listening to why I caused trouble when I was young?
I didn’t want to be remembered as such a teacher by the students.

“You had hit someone again, Orca.”
“N-No. This is the first time…”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t know about the fights you started when I wasn’t watching?”
“H-How did you…!”

Huh, what? Is it true? I just threw that out there?
…Don’t tell me she really got into fights during those few days?
That’s a bit shocking.

“N-No, listen. They started the fights first! Really!”
“Hmm, I see. Then what about this fight? Did you start it?”
“…You believe me?”
“Do you want me not to believe you?”
“N-No, that’s not it…”

Orca looked at me with confused eyes, as if she couldn’t believe that I believed her excuse. She probably didn’t think I would really believe her because no adult had ever believed her until now. But I knew her well. Better than the family who abandoned her long ago. She’s not the type of child to lie about this.

“Tell me, Orca. Did you start the fight?”
“I was just walking by…”

Orca started to tell me what had happened just before, as if feeling wronged.
People looked at her with strange gazes as she was walking on the street.
Leo suddenly approached and lectured her when she glared at them to chase them away.
She was already irritated by the gazes, and when some guy she didn’t even know suddenly started lecturing her, she couldn’t hold it in and exploded.

“Is this true, student Leo?”
“Ah, y-yes… It’s true. I didn’t think such a thing would happen…”
“Alright. You can go first.”
“But…”

I looked at the class president.
Fortunately, the class president understood my intention well and pulled Leo’s arm, moving out of our sight.

“W-Wait a moment…! I-I have something I want to say too…!”
“You can say it later. Now is not the time.”

Pointing out someone’s mistake in front of others is really not good behavior.
Even if that person did something wrong. Giving someone a sense of humiliation can sometimes make a situation that could have been resolved well even worse.
So I waited until the two were completely out of sight, then spoke to Orca, who was hanging her head, in the gentlest voice possible.
To emphasize that I wasn’t angry.

“I understand that you were very angry, Orca. It must have been really hard to endure.”
“…”
“But Orca, does hitting other people change anything?”

Of course, you might be able to vent your immediate anger.
But if you try to resolve your anger immediately when you’re angry, the situation only worsens.
In the end, bad rumors will only increase, and the vicious cycle of getting angry again will just repeat.

“When you hurt those who hurt you, what’s left for you? A moment of satisfaction? Or emptiness?”

Orca was still just hanging her head.
I could see a few tears forming in the corner of her eyes that were barely visible.
What kind of emotion caused those tears?

I couldn’t know.
One thing for sure was that I couldn’t discipline her any further.

‘Orca, don’t cry… My heart aches…’
With a regretful heart, I stroked Orca’s head as she hung it and said,

“Orca. From now on, be a model student. How about trying to endure just one more time?”
“…Okay.”
“Good, let’s go back. Is there any food you like? I’ll make it for you. I’m actually quite good at cooking.”
“…Gambas.”
“Alright! Teacher will make you the most luxurious gambas!”

To prevent Orca’s mood from worsening further, I went ahead with exaggerated gestures and promptly collapsed.

“?!”
“M-My legs hurt…”

Ah, how embarrassing…
I didn’t see it because I was covering my reddened face after falling. Orca’s smiling face.

“…You’re silly, teacher.”
“Ah, ah! You just called me teacher! Say it one more time!”
“What? I didn’t say anything.”
“That’s a lie! I definitely heard it!”