CounselorKoji

Invisible Weight in One's Heart

Another day, another work.

The counselor of the school, tiredly got up from his bed. His almost shoulder-length messy brown hair smoothly falls down to his face, hiding his still-sleepy hazel hue pair of eyes.

Ayanokouji couldn't run away from Hoshinomiya forever and was caught when she barged-in into his room, unannounced.

There she stayed till the middle of the night, chit-chatting with Ayanokouji about some totally casual topic that anyone can think of, while the other person, absentmindedly nodded the entire time, not enjoying it in the slightest.

The only thing he felt delighted with her company was the existence of pizza she brought along her forceful visit—there was also a cold can of beer, but he didn't bother touching it.

Ayanokouji strolled around the kitchen, switching on the coffee-maker machine—brewing his coffee.

Aside from the free food, one thing that caught his interest in the midnight talk was when Hoshinomiya changed her childish vibes into a mature and serious one over a particular topic.

He is not certain whether it was genuine or she's faking it.

Her true intentions are irrelevant to Ayanokouji. All he cares about is she will send a student from her class to him the next day.

The client's trouble sorta feeds Ayanokouji's unfathomable curiosity.

People's different kinds of struggles, small and big matters, logical and illogical issues, all of those mentioned gives him the drive to stay in his work and remain sane despite handling a variety of troublemakers.

Experimenting the knowledge he acquired in the facility to assess whether the applied intervention is effective or not.

He is half-heartedly lying to himself, thinking that he does it to help the students. While the other half was pleased with the new information he received.

Ayanokouji picked up the cup of hot black coffee from the machine, walked towards his bedroom, calmly gazed at the outside scenery through the window.

Students in their uniform walking the path that lead to the school building either solo, in pairs or in groups, early in the morning.

He blows the coffee and then sips,

“I should leave soon.”

•••

Before heading straight to his office, Ayanokouji first stopped at his mailbox, checking if someone — especially his old man — had sent him a letter or something.

He sighed in relief.

“... You sure are busy,” he muttered. “Not like I'm looking forward to hearing any nonsense from you.”

The small four-dimensional container was the same as usual—empty. Only dust accumulated on the surface, it never once had a single letter inside, however, he is not in the least surprised.

Ayanokouji slammed the small door, twisting the key, closing it.

He turned around and exited the staff building.

There was also no news from Matsuo, his butler, ever since he escaped from that man's grasp and started working in Advance Nurturing High School.

He wouldn't be surprised if he saw a report of Matsuo's body being found floating in a river considering that man's personality and as a consequence of his actions.

Matsuo was the first person that showed Ayanokouji humanity. Although Ayanokouji wouldn't flinch if he heard that the man had passed away, he will still feel a bit sad.