I Reincarnated as the Counselor NPC in a Dating Sim, and Now Every Heroine I Treat Becomes Obsessed with Me - Chapter 34: “October Visitors—The Day the Counseling Room Became a Little Easier to Enter”

Chapter 34: “October Visitors—The Day the Counseling Room Became a Little Easier to Enter”

Second week of October.

After the cultural festival, a change came to the counseling room.

More visitors started showing up.

Monday. Lunch break.

“Um… excuse me. This is the counseling room, right?”

An unfamiliar girl stood at the door. A second-year. She seemed to be a classmate of the others.

“Yeah. Come in.”

“I tried the stress check during the festival, and it was interesting. —Um, there’s something I wanted to ask.”

“Go ahead. Anything’s fine.”

The girl sat down.

She looked nervous, but there was no sense of resistance.

The experience from the festival had lowered that barrier.

Her concern was—

A small worry about her friendships.

“Sometimes, I feel like I’m the only one in my friend group who can’t keep up with the conversation.”

It wasn’t anything serious, but to her, it mattered.

I listened for about fifteen minutes and offered a few different ways to look at it.

“Thank you so much. I feel a lot better after talking. —Can I come again?”

“Anytime.”

The girl left with a smile.

—“Can I come again?”

The same words as Shizuku.

But for this girl, they felt lighter.

She came casually, talked casually, and left casually.

And that was fine.

The counseling room wasn’t a place only for heavy problems.

“Just wanting to talk a little” was more than enough.

As that kind of ease spread—it would lower the barrier for those carrying truly serious worries to come.

One more came on Tuesday.

Two on Wednesday.

On Thursday, three of Rin’s soccer club juniors came together.

“Rin-senpai recommended this place to us!”

Rin’s word-of-mouth was slowly doing its job.

The girls wanted to try the stress check again, so I let them.

“My score went down!”

“Wait, mine went up though!?”

They chatted excitedly.

It felt closer to recreation than counseling, but just coming to the counseling room itself had meaning.

As the number of visitors increased, one issue came up.

Shizuku.

—

Thursday. After school.

When Shizuku came at her usual time, there were already people inside.

Rin’s juniors were still gathered, getting excited over the stress check.

Shizuku opened the door—looked inside—and took a step back.

Three unfamiliar faces.

Laughter.

A lively atmosphere.

For Shizuku, that wasn’t a “safe” situation.

I noticed immediately.

“Sorry, Shizuku-chan. —They’ll be done in about five minutes, so could you wait by the bookshelf for a bit?”

Shizuku hesitated.

Three. Five seconds.

Then—

She gave a small nod and moved toward the bookshelf in the corner of the counseling room.

She stepped inside.

Into a space with unfamiliar people—without running away.

Before, Shizuku might have simply stepped back and left.

She might have hidden her face behind a book and waited outside the door until I came.

But now—

She trusted the idea of “five more minutes” and chose to wait.

As the girls were about to leave, they noticed Shizuku.

“Ah, sorry, we were in the way!”

Shizuku gave a small bow.

She didn’t speak, but there was no hostility or rejection.

A quiet gesture of “It’s fine.”

After the girls left, Shizuku sat in her usual seat.

I thought she would write something—

But today, she immediately took out a book and started reading.

She didn’t write anything.

“Were you scared?”

Shizuku looked up.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head.

Then, she wrote a note.

『I was a little nervous. But since Ren-sensei was there, I was okay.』

—“Because Ren-sensei was there.”

I was still a condition for her.

But she entered a space with unfamiliar people.

That part was real.

I made tea, and our usual time began.

—

Friday.

The rush of new visitors had settled down, and the counseling room after school had returned to its usual quiet.

Akane came.

Earlier than usual.

The moment she opened the door, she glanced around the room.

Checking to make sure no one else was there.

“…No one’s here today?”

“Yeah. It’s free for now.”

“For now, huh.”

Akane dropped into a chair.

She crossed her arms and looked out the window.

“…This place has been pretty noisy lately. Every time I walk past, I hear voices I don’t recognize.”

“More people started coming after the festival.”

“Hm.”

“…Who’s been coming?”

“I can’t say. Confidentiality.”

“I know. I’m not asking.”

She was asking.

Definitely asking.

After a few seconds of silence, Akane muttered quietly.

“…This room used to be just me, that girl, and sometimes Kujou or Hojouin.”

“Yeah.”

“…Now there’s more people.”

There was no anger or complaint in her voice.

Just—confirmation.

But mixed into it was something faint.

Something too small to put into words.

“Akane, do you not like it?”

“It’s not like I hate it. It’s your job, Sensei. —Just…”

“Just?”

“…Don’t cut into lunch. That’s my time, right?”

“I won’t. I promise.”

Akane glanced at me—then quickly looked away.

“…Monday, karaage bento.”

“Got it.”

She took a sip of her tea, then slipped into the usual quiet.

Lunch time—

The rooftop time with Akane—that wasn’t something to give to anyone else.

Akane had confirmed that.

She needed to confirm it.

More visitors coming to the counseling room was a good thing.

But—

The unease of a “place that was just yours” opening up to others—Akane wasn’t the only one feeling it.

All five of them probably felt it, in their own ways.

For now, it was still at the stage of “checking.”

No real conflict had appeared yet.

—

The following week.

The increase in visitors settled into a rhythm.

About three to four new students per week.

Very few serious cases—most were just “wanting to talk.”

But there was one girl who stood out.

A first-year.

Her name was Satou.

A soccer club junior Rin had mentioned back in May—“she hasn’t been looking well.”

She came to the counseling room on Wednesday, after school.

“Um… Kagurazaka-senpai told me there’s a good teacher here.”

“From Rin-san? I’m glad to hear that. Have a seat.”

She sat down.

A small girl, her eyes darting around.

Not just nervous—

It felt like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t.

“Want some tea?”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

I handed her the tea.

Satou took it with both hands.

A short silence.

She took a sip—then quietly spoke.

“Um… lately, I don’t feel like going to club practice.”

“Yeah.”

“I like soccer, but… I don’t really click with the others on the team. I’m the only one who’s bad, and… I feel like I’m holding everyone back.”

“Did anyone actually say you’re holding them back?”

“No… no one said it. But… it’s like, you can tell from the atmosphere.”

As I listened, I organized her situation in my head.

A sense of inferiority about her skills.

And anxiety in her relationships.

A feeling of losing her place within the team.

It wasn’t severe—

But if left alone, it could lead to her quitting the club, and eventually even not coming to school.

Being able to handle these “mid-level concerns”—that was the real role of the counseling room.

Different from the serious cases of the five heroines—this was everyday support.

After about thirty minutes of talking, Satou’s expression softened a little.

“…Thank you. Just talking to someone makes me feel this much better.”

“Talking is important. Come again anytime.”

“Okay. …Um, Sensei.”

“Yeah?”

“Rin-senpai has changed lately. Before, she would never say anything weak, but now she says things like ‘I’m kinda tired today!’ like it’s normal. It’s like—since senpai started saying it, it’s easier for me to say it too.”

Hearing that, I was a little surprised.

Rin’s change—was spreading to the team.

Because Rin could say “I’m tired,” her juniors could say it too.

Her recovery wasn’t just affecting her—it was affecting the people around her as well.

“Rin-san is a good captain, isn’t she?”

“Yes! I really love Rin-senpai.”

She left with a bright smile.

—

After Satou left, Rin came in a little while later.

“Sensei, hey! Satou, my junior—she came here, right?”

“Confidentiality.”

“Ah, right. Sorry. —But if she came, I’m glad. She’s been a bit down lately.”

Rin took the tea and had a sip.

“Sensei. I realized something recently.”

“What?”

“When I started saying ‘I’m tired,’ my juniors started saying it too. Like, ‘Today was rough,’ or ‘I kinda want a break.’”

“…Yeah.”

“Before, everyone just held it in. Like, since the captain was holding it in, they couldn’t be the only ones to complain. —I guess I was the one creating that kind of atmosphere.”

Rin gave a small, wry smile.

“It might sound weird, but… when I got weaker, it feels like the team got stronger.”

“You didn’t get weaker. You just became honest.”

“…Maybe.”

Rin finished her tea.

“Sensei. I heard more students have been coming here since the second term started.”

“Yeah. Thanks to your promotion, Rin-san.”

“Hehe. —But that means more work for you, right?”

“Well, a little.”

“Sensei, don’t push yourself too hard. …You said it before, didn’t you? ‘At your last job, you almost burned out.’”

I fell silent for a moment.

Rin remembered that conversation.

“I want you to say ‘I’m tired’ too, Sensei. You’re kinda like a captain, aren’t you? Listening to everyone, supporting everyone. —But is there anyone supporting you?”

After Shizuku—

Rin asked the same thing.

The same question Haruto once asked—“Sensei, do you have worries too?”

“…I’m fine.”

“There it is. Sensei’s ‘I’m fine.’”

Rin pointed a finger at me.

“Sensei. The one who saw through my ‘I’m fine’ as a lie—do you really think your own ‘I’m fine’ will pass?”

“…………”

I had no answer.

She grinned.

“If it’s me, I’ll listen. Your complaints, Sensei. —I can’t do counseling, but I can at least be someone you can talk to.”

“…I’ll think about it.”

“When you say you’ll think about it, it means you won’t do it, right? I already know your pattern, Sensei.”

Rin waved and left.

Alone in the counseling room, I looked up at the ceiling.

Shizuku had said, 『Ren-sensei’s ‘I’m fine’ smells the same as Rin-san’s.』

Haruto had asked, “Sensei, you have worries too, right?”

And now, Rin had pointed out, “Sensei’s ‘I’m fine’ won’t work.”

All three of them had seen right through me.

A counselor being worried about by their clients—professionally, that was a problem.

A reversal of roles.

But—

The fact that there were people worrying about me at all—was something I never had in my previous life.

(…Well, relying on Rin’s “listening service” would be a failure as a professional. But—I’ll remember it. That when things get tough, there are people I can talk to.)

The snowdrops by the window swayed quietly in the evening light.

The number of visitors to the counseling room had increased.

This room, once a place only for the five girls, was beginning to welcome a new breeze.

That was a good thing.

And how those five girls would accept that breeze—

That was a story for what comes next.