I Reincarnated as the Counselor NPC in a Dating Sim, and Now Every Heroine I Treat Becomes Obsessed with Me - Chapter 22: “A Seventy-Point Morning—The Day Midori Was Late for the First Time”

Chapter 22: “A Seventy-Point Morning—The Day Midori Was Late for the First Time”

The next morning.

Something felt strange in the staff room.

When I sat down at my usual seat near the copier, the teachers around me were already whispering.

“Hojouin was late for first period.”

“What? Midori Hojouin?”

“First time since she enrolled. She’s had perfect attendance until now.”

“Maybe she’s sick. I heard she went to the nurse’s office yesterday.”

“That girl of all people… I hope she’s alright.”

Their reactions showed exactly what kind of presence Midori was at this school.

Perfect attendance.
Never late. Never absent.

It had been considered normal for her.

So the moment she was late—

The whole staff room buzzed.

Meanwhile, I felt a quiet sense of relief.

(…She slept. Good.)

Yesterday Midori left the student council room saying she would “go home with seventy points.”

And this morning—

She overslept and arrived late.

That meant her body had finally begun to be honest about its exhaustion.

After two weeks of sleeping only four hours a night, the moment she allowed herself to “go home,” her body probably collapsed into sleep.

She must have fallen asleep the moment she got home.

And then slept straight through her morning alarm.

Her perfect attendance record was broken.

Midori Hojouin’s “perfection” had gained its first crack.

The teachers were worried.

And yes, I was worried too.

But—

This lateness wasn’t a bad thing.

If anything—

Midori’s body had finally learned how to stop.

—

During first period, I saw Midori entering her classroom.

I watched her through the small gap in the staff room door.

Her uniform was perfect.
Her hair neatly arranged.
Her posture straight.

At first glance, she looked like the usual Midori Hojouin.

But her walking pace was slower than normal.

And her smile—

It was thinner.

Not the usual one hundred-percent smile.

More like… eighty percent.

Midori in power-saving mode.

Right before entering the classroom, she paused.

Just for a moment.

She took a deep breath.

Then opened the door and disappeared inside.

Seeing that breath made me certain of something.

Midori still hadn’t fully accepted the fact that she had been late.

Before entering the classroom, she needed a moment to prepare herself.

She had to face her classmates as “Midori Hojouin who was late.”

A role she had never played before.

A script she had never practiced.

She’ll be fine.

She can handle it.

—Or at least, I want to believe that.

Still… I couldn’t help worrying.

—

Lunch break.

I was eating bento with Akane on the rooftop when she suddenly spoke.

“Hojouin was late today.”

“…So I heard.”

“First time ever. The whole class was whispering about it.”

Akane continued while stuffing fried chicken into her mouth.

“Hanasaki asked her, ‘Are you okay? If you’re sick, do you want to go to the nurse’s office?’ But Hojouin just smiled like always and said, ‘Thank you for your concern, I’m fine.’”

(…There’s that “I’m fine” again.)

Midori’s “I’m fine” was different from Rin’s.

Rin’s “I’m fine” came from suppressed emotions.

Midori’s “I’m fine” came from somewhere emptier—

Words spoken from a place where emotions didn’t exist.

“What did you think, Akane?”

“Huh? About what?”

“About Hojouin-san being late.”

She chewed for a moment, then muttered quietly.

“…That girl is always smiling, right? Perfectly. Honestly, it’s kind of creepy.”

“Creepy?”

“People can’t smile like that all the time. Sure, I get angry too much. But she smiles too much. Both are weird.”

Akane’s instincts were sharp.

Through her own struggles, she could see through other people too.

“So when she was late… I kinda felt relieved.”

“Relieved?”

“Like… ‘Oh. She’s human after all.’”

I nodded silently.

I couldn’t tell Midori what Akane said.

But I would remember it.

—“Relieved that she was late.”

That meant Midori’s perfection had been intimidating for other students too.

Her perfection wasn’t only pressure on herself.

It pressured everyone around her as well.

“…Anyway, back to the bento topic.”

“Don’t switch topics that suddenly.”

“What do you want tomorrow?”

“Salmon. —Wait, no. Karaage. …No, salmon.”

“Which one?”

“Shut up! I’m deciding!”

Normal life returned.

Lunch with Akane always swung between serious conversations and stupid ones.

And somehow—

That balance felt nice.

—

After school.

Shizuku and I were drawing together in the counseling room.

Today’s theme was chosen by Shizuku: “A rainbow after the rain.”

Following our alternating drawing rule, I sketched the arc of the rainbow.

Shizuku filled in the seven colors.

Each time we drew together, her use of color grew bolder.

At first she could only draw small pictures near the corner of the paper.

Now she confidently placed a giant rainbow right in the center.

While we were drawing, Shizuku slid a memo toward me.

『Ren-sensei. I asked Hanasaki-san what he thought about Night on the Galactic Railroad.』

“Oh? What did he say?”

『He said, “Giovanni’s loneliness really hit me. His relationship with Campanella felt very real.”
And he also said, “I kind of understand why Shizuku-chan likes this book.”』

“That’s a good review. Hanasaki-kun really read it.”

『Yes. I was happy. Now there is one more person I can talk about books with.』

Reading that made me genuinely happy.

—“One more person to talk about books with.”

Someone besides me had entered Shizuku’s world.

Her world outside the counseling room was expanding.

Shizuku continued writing.

『Hanasaki-san asked, “What should I read next?” So I recommended Night Picnic. This is a book I have not recommended to Ren-sensei.』

I couldn’t help smiling when I read that last line.

—“A book I haven’t recommended to Ren-sensei.”

She wrote that intentionally.

Last time, when she recommended Night on the Galactic Railroad to Haruto, she hesitated.

So this time—

She chose a book she hadn’t shared with me.

It was Shizuku’s way of balancing things.

Keeping something special with Ren-sensei while also building a new connection with Hanasaki-san.

A very healthy choice.

“Shizuku-chan has good taste in books. Night Picnic, huh? I like that one too.”

She looked slightly troubled.

『Ren-sensei has read it too? Even though I chose a book I hadn’t recommended to you…』

“Sorry, sorry. But liking the same book is a good thing. You don’t have to keep books all to yourself.”

She stared at my face for a moment.

Then nodded.

—“I don’t have to keep it all to myself.”

I didn’t know exactly how she interpreted that.

But she nodded.

For now—

That was enough.

—

After Shizuku left, someone knocked on the door.

Three knocks.

Even spacing. Even strength.

It was Midori.

“Come in.”

The door opened.

Midori stood there.

Her uniform was neat.

Her posture straight.

But her usual smile was gone.

Even the “80% smile” from this morning had disappeared.

Not quite expressionless—

But something was there.

Something difficult to name.

“…Asagiri-sensei. Do you have a moment?”

“Of course. Come in.”

Midori entered the counseling room.

She sat in her usual chair.

Her back was straight—

But about three centimeters lower than usual.

She wasn’t leaning back, but she leaned slightly forward.

Fatigue showed in her posture.

I poured tea and placed it in front of her.

She stared at the cup.

Five. Ten seconds.

Then—

She wrapped both hands around it.

The same gesture Mio used.

The unconscious action of a tired person holding something warm.

“Today, I came without an excuse.”

Midori spoke quietly.

I was surprised.

But I tried not to show it.

“…No fire inspection. No monthly report. I simply wanted to come here.”

“You came because you wanted to. That’s enough.”

“…………”

She took a sip of tea.

“I was late today.”

“Yes.”

“It was the first time since I enrolled. My alarm didn’t wake me. More accurately… it rang, but I didn’t notice. When I woke up, it was already 7:40. I got ready and came to school, but I arrived fifteen minutes late for first period.”

She was simply listing facts.

No emotions yet.

“How did you feel when you were late?”

Midori opened her mouth—

Then closed it.

Same pattern as before.

Being asked about her feelings… and not knowing how to answer.

But this time—

She tried again on her own.

“…My legs stopped before entering the classroom.”

“Mm.”

“I think… I was afraid to enter the classroom as someone who had been late.”

Afraid.

She had just named an emotion.

Last time it was “I don’t know.”

Before that it was only physical sensations like “my hands feel cold.”

But this time—“I was afraid.”

Her feelings finally had a name.

“You were afraid. That’s completely natural.”

“…Natural?”

“Yes. You had perfect attendance, and now that record has a mark. It would be strange if you weren’t afraid.”

She looked at her tea.

“…It’s strange. When you say it’s natural, Asagiri-sensei… I feel a little relieved.”

“That’s because you confirmed that your feelings aren’t wrong. Emotions aren’t strange things. Everyone has them.”

“…Everyone.”

“Yeah. Even me. When I heard you were late today, I was worried. But at the same time, I also felt a little relieved.”

She looked up.

“Relieved…?”

“Because your body finally learned how to rest.”

She stared at me for a long time.

The condensation of emotion in her eyes was stronger than before.

Closer to tears.

“…Asagiri-sensei.”

“Yes.”

“Today… I think my score is about sixty-five points. Because I was late.”

“Yesterday you said you could only give yourself one hundred.”

“Yes. But today… I could give myself sixty-five. Even I find that strange.”

Her lips trembled.

“And… I didn’t dislike my sixty-five-point self as much as I expected.”

At that moment—

Something warm lit quietly inside me.

There are many moments when being a counselor feels worthwhile.

Shizuku’s first “Aa.”

Akane’s tears.

Rin saying “I’m tired.”

Mio saying “Thank you.”

And now—

Midori saying she didn’t hate her sixty-five-point self.

A girl who had been suffocating inside perfect armor had finally taken her first breath through a crack.

“Sixty-five points is a good score, Midori-san.”

One tear fell from her eye.

Just one.

Midori noticed it and wiped her cheek with her fingertip.

She stared at the drop on her finger, looking confused.

“…This is…”

“A tear.”

“…I know. I’m just surprised that I’m the one crying.”

“You can be surprised. And you can cry. Here, any score is allowed.”

She wiped the tear and exhaled deeply.

A long breath.

Just like Rin’s.

A breath like she was finally releasing years of chasing one hundred points.

“…Thank you, Asagiri-sensei.”

Her fifth visit.

The first time without an excuse.

The first time saying “I’m afraid.”

The first sixty-five points.

The first tear.

That day—

Midori’s life was not a perfect one hundred.

But that version of Midori—

Was far more human than any of her perfect days.