Jealousy
"Ah, Counselor Ophelia. Where on earth have you been? I'm sorry, but we have a mountain of work piled up. Please sign these documents." Thud. A literal mountain of papers slammed down in front of my eyes. No matter how I looked at it, the stack was easily as tall as I was. Asking me to sign all of this in a single day? They had to be out of their minds. No matter how I looked at it, the sheer volume was utterly ridiculous.
...The even more absurd part was that this pile was actually a drop in the bucket compared to what the other teachers had to deal with. Since I couldn't handle specialized tasks like they did, and they were already severely understaffed, they had simply carved off a portion of their administrative grunt work and dumped it on me. The problem, of course, was that even a mere fraction of their grunt work was absolutely murderous.
"...Counselor Ophelia?"
"I'm sorry. I don't think I can help you with this paperwork anymore."
"Pardon? W-What do you mean by that...!"
"An urgent matter has suddenly come up that requires my immediate attention."
But today, this murderous workload would finally come to an end. From the very beginning, I wasn't a regular teacher here—I was just the counselor. I had only pitched in because they begged for my help. I had done more than enough by now, so they had no right to complain. The unbearable wave of paperwork was finally over. From now on... it was time to return to my original duties. I am a counselor, not a signing machine!
"C-Counselor Ophelia! What do you mean, an urgent matter has suddenly come up?!"
"Exactly what it sounds like. I'm sorry, but it will be difficult for me to assist with administrative tasks moving forward."
"H-How can you say that...! You've been helping us so diligently all this time! What kind of urgent matter could possibly have come up so suddenly?!"
"That's just how things are. My apologies."
"W-What on earth is this work?! What kind of—!" The teachers who had been dumping their chores on me began to desperately cling to my hem all at once. Well, I wasn't entirely heartless; I understood their despair, so I felt a tiny bit of pity. But it couldn't be helped. I had to survive too. ...Forgive me!
"You remember the recent terror incident, right?"
"...How could we forget? That's the exact reason we're in this miserable state right now."
"Ahaha... Well, a problem has arisen because of it."
"A problem?"
"It seems the students are complaining of severe mental distress."
"...PTSD?"
"Yes, well. Something like that."
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It was a well-known psychological condition, commonly associated with soldiers who had survived war. Because it was frequently depicted in various media, it was a highly recognizable term. The teachers were no exception; at the mere mention of "mental distress," they immediately jumped to PTSD.
"An extreme situation like a terror attack... while we teachers might be accustomed to such things, the students certainly aren't."
"..."
Well, it was all a lie, of course! I had already used hypnosis to wipe away the memories of people dying right before their eyes—along with a few parts that featured me—which were the only things that could actually cause real PTSD. How could they have PTSD when they didn't even have the memories? At most, a student who got beaten up by a training dummy might shiver a little whenever they saw one, since I hadn't erased those memories. But to the teachers who knew nothing of this, there was no excuse more flawless than this...! This is the beauty of information asymmetry!
"I was already quite worried because I had to put their psychological counseling sessions on hold."
"...Ugh."
"The Academy's very purpose is to nurture and protect its students. I believe resolving their suffering should be our absolute priority..."
"Kh..."
"Don't you agree?"
Whew, perfect. With an excuse this flawless, absolutely no one could object to me escaping my fate as a signing machine. I scanned the staff room, utterly confident. There wasn't a single soul here who could argue with me. At their core, these teachers genuinely cared for the students and were good people. No one would ignore such a perfect justification just to dump more chores on me...!
"I-If that's the case... then we have no choice..."
"I'm so sorry. I truly want to help, but the students must come first."
"...Of course. Have a good day."
I maintained a deeply apologetic expression until the very moment I stepped out of the staff room. I kept it up as I walked down the hallway, all the way until I reached the Counseling Room. If anyone saw me looking happy, it would definitely leave a bad impression. But once I crossed the threshold of my sanctuary, I could no longer hold back my grin.
"Heh, hehehe...! I did it...!"
"Congratulations, Teacher."
"Ah, Aileen. Thank you."
"Nice acting, by the way."
"Hehe."
Aileen, who had been on standby to storm the staff room if things went south, patted my shoulder. It was a small gesture, but being praised made me surprisingly happy. Perhaps it was because the compliment came from none other than one of my favorite characters.
"Are you sure this is fine?"
"Yes, it's perfectly fine. Absolutely flawless."
I had been anxious, worrying that something might go wrong... but should I call it a stroke of luck? Not a single issue arose. In fact, things had gone so exactly to plan that it was almost terrifying.
"That's good."
"Ah, since you're already here, why don't you rest for a bit... No, wait." Silly me. I almost let the wrong words slip. I grinned at Aileen and corrected myself. "Would you... like to have a counseling session?"
"...Ha. I'd love that, Teacher. Counseling... sounds great." Aileen and I looked at each other and smiled. ...Perhaps a bit too suspiciously.
"Yaaawn..." Orca dragged her exhausted body toward the Counseling Room. Usually, her steps toward the office were light, but lately, she had been in a foul mood.
"...Is she really that busy?" Lately, even when the teacher was in the Counseling Room, she was always buried under mountains of paperwork, doing nothing but signing documents. She was so busy that she didn't even have time to light the incense for Orca, telling her it was fine to just light it herself and sleep. Orca could guess the reason behind this hectic schedule. It was probably because of that bastard who had babbled about revenge before kicking the bucket.
"If you're gonna die, just die quietly without being a pain in the ass. What a fucking nuisance." Irritation flared up, prompting her to kick the hallway wall. The fact that she couldn't even understand why she was so annoyed only made her angrier. It wasn't like she minded not having the teacher light the incense for her. And with that brat, the princess bitch, and that annoying blind woman visiting less often, the room was quiet and peaceful. She should have been happy. Yet, she couldn't comprehend why she felt so incredibly pissed off.
"Tch. Annoying." The other day, that devil bastard had talked to her, so she had tried talking back to see if she could. But when the people around her started looking at her like she was a lunatic, she had screamed at them to fuck off, which left her throat feeling raw. She remembered there was some citron tea in the Counseling Room's cupboard. She'd drink some of that and go to sleep. Grumbling under her breath, Orca made her way to the office. She figured lying down on the plush bed and getting some sleep would make her feel at least a little better.
"...leen! ...Teacher! You... no...!" "Heh, you're just so bad at... that's why...!" "Huh?" As Orca prepared to push the door open and head straight for the bed as usual, muffled voices reached her ears. The teacher's voice. Was she already done with her work? Usually, she returned much later than this. Feeling her sour mood lift slightly, Orca opened the door to the Counseling Room.
"Teacher, you're back early to—"
"Ahhh! You're too good at this! Argh...! One more round!"
"It'll end the same way no matter how many times we play. Teacher, you're absolute trash at games."
"It's because you're ridiculously good, Aileen! And of all things, you just had to use that line on me...! I absolutely cannot let this slide! I'm going to knock you down a peg!"
"Try me."
"Ngggh...!"
What in the world was going on here? Orca felt her mind go blank as she took in the scene, which was completely different from the usual quiet atmosphere of the Counseling Room. Snack crumbs were scattered all over the place. Half-empty cups of juice sat on the table. ...And there was the teacher, completely fired up, bickering and laughing with a girl she vaguely recognized.
"What the fuck..."
"Huh? ...Orca! You're here earlier than I expected."
"I'm here at the exact same time as always."
"Ah, you're right. Where did the time go...?"
"Oh, look at that. It really is late. That was fun, Teacher. It's been a while. I'll head out first."
"Already? We could play a bit mo—I mean, we can continue our counseling session if you'd like."
"Don't worry about it. If we slack o—I mean, if we keep counseling for too long, it's not good for us."
"True."
"See you next time!"
With a cheerful wave, the familiar girl walked past Orca and slipped out of the Counseling Room. All that remained was the teacher, looking disappointed as she toyed with the game controller, and the lingering traces of the girl's presence.
"...Why are you back so early? You're usually late."
"Ah, starting today, I'll be staying in the Counseling Room full-time again."
"Really?"
"Yes. Thanks to Aileen, I found a perfect excuse to escape."
"..."
The teacher's smiling face as she whispered that it was a secret rubbed Orca the wrong way. She had no idea why it bothered her so much, but she hated it. Her mood, which had lifted slightly just moments ago, plummeted even deeper than before.
"Orca?"
"I'm going to sleep."
"Pardon? ...Ah, yes. Well, sleep well...?"
Orca marched across the room, lit the incense, and threw herself onto the bed. The sweet scent of snacks and the lingering, lively atmosphere left behind by that girl irritated her to no end.
"...Fuck, why is the bed like this too?!"
"Orca?! I told you, no swearing!"
"Like I give a shit! Why the hell are there snack crumbs here?!"
"Aileen brought the snack box up onto the bed for a moment... I told her to get down immediately, but some must have spilled in that short time. I'm sorry. I'll clean it up right away..."
"Hmph."
It was the bed she always slept in. Overwhelmed by irritation, Orca abandoned her usual spot and dove onto a different bed.
"Orca?"
"..."
She was in a terrible mood. Extremely terrible. And the fact that she couldn't understand why she felt this way only made her feel infinitely worse.