I hate to put it this way, but I’m currently on suspension.

However, things are a little more complicated. The difference between a suspension and a house suspension is that there is no public record of the suspension. In simple terms, it is a suspension ( temporary ). I’ve been suspended for a week. Tehehehe♪

During that period, there will be a thorough investigation of me.

But it’s strange. I was excited to be summoned to the school and thought that they would hate me, but I was not surprised at the contemptuous stares I received.

At the meeting with the principal, I told him “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Yukito Kokonoe, a.k.a. the rotten apple”. Maybe I shouldn’t have said hello. All the students’ faces were stiff. That was super funny.

The questioning went smoothly, but I was told a lot of things like “You’re speaking excessively because of the unnecessary things you did” and “Students like you have a bad influence on those around you.”

As for me, I have no intention of antagonizing or refuting in any way. They are absolutely right. Absolutely right. I agreed with them all the time, but why were others getting frustrated and getting in a knot?

Upon hearing the punishment, my sister had a rough time. She was even rougher at home. When my mother tried to ask me if it was true, my sister said angrily, “Why can’t you believe him? She cried and wouldn’t let go of me. So I ended up sleeping with her again.

I hardly sleep in my room these days. Am I a baby or something? I’m bubbling over.

However, this is just like a cool breeze for me, who has a mentality stronger than molybdenum steel. As I am used to this kind of thing, there was no need for me to worry about suspension, but rather than me, the aftermath of the commotion was spreading to the people around me.

After all, I was constantly getting calls on my phone.

I don’t remember when I knew so many people.

When I answered a call from an unknown number, I found that it was from a goddess senpai, and I also received calls from Aihara, a senpai in the board game club, and from Seido. And from his parents.

I had become friends with Mikuriya and Seido through a certain consultation. I thought they just wanted advice on relationships or wanted to ask about the difference between the Seebeck effect and the Peltier effect, but the content was unexpectedly heavy, and made me scratch my head. I was not about to give up on him after I had accepted his cheap offer, and I have fond memories of how difficult it was.

Ah, my phone is ringing again. It was Suo Senpai.

How does everyone know my address? Before I knew it, my address had leaked out. Was it the work of a registrar? In this unprecedented fever, which I have never experienced before in my life, the time may have come for me to give up the signboard of “shady loser”. However, that can wait.

What I have to think about now is myself.

It’s not right. My discomfort is growing day by day, and my doubts are only getting bigger. No one trusts me at all. My mentality is too strong. Now I don’t feel anything or get hurt.

But is that really possible?

What I lost was too much. In exchange, I felt like I had this strength I didn’t need. But when did I become like this?

If I say I’m in a period of house arrest, that’s just fine. I’ll use this time to look for clues to find myself. I’m sure it’s a necessary process to repair my brokenness.

Still, the suspension is laughable. It’s a storm of hugs.

In soccer, you get sent off for two yellow cards, but in my case, it seems I had accumulated about ten.

Before I knew it, I had become not a department store of suspicions, but a headquarters of suspicions. How nostalgic.

The legend of the evil Yukito Kokonoe is still growing and going strong. However, all of the allegations are baseless accusations, but the only one that is true is the slander and libel against Hinagi on social networking sites.

I confirmed this only after hearing the information. I had to keep my mouth shut about the reason for the slander, but it was a bitter disappointment that I had to make Sayuri sensei look apologetic.

Although the ostensible reason for the disciplinary action was the incident with Hinagi, a certain amount of time had passed since that incident. It is not reasonable to suddenly hear about the case now and punish me for it. According to what Sayuri-sensei told me secretly, there was pressure from a prefectural assembly member, but I don’t remember any grudge against him, and I didn’t know all the details.

Why was I suddenly suspended from school, that’s what I want to know the most.

It all started a few days ago when a rumor circulated in the school.

A few days ago, a rumor circulated in the school that a Senpai was being blackmailed into a physical relationship with Yukito Kokonoe.

“What is the meaning of this! Explain this!”

“Yukito wouldn’t do that!”

“I’d think so too!”

“If I don’t get a satisfactory answer, I’ll take it to the proper authorities.”

“Please, Kedou, be gentle.”

“That’s not going to happen!”

The principal’s office. Several students are cramming with the principal and Sayuri Fujishiro. The suspension of Yukito Kokonoe from school.

However, it was too vague to be called a suspension. Because no evidence had been found.

Even if it were just a suspension, the students and their parents would distrust the school and lose confidence in it, and no matter how much they asked for it, they could not force the school to expel him. Even suspending the student from school would be difficult. The compromise solution is to suspend the student. The teachers who had agreed with the principal were so exhausted that they could no longer even be seen.

The school was in a panic. The timing was extremely unfavorable. They did not want to make a big deal out of the situation and were supposed to proceed with the investigation as quietly as possible, but the backlash was so fierce that students kept coming in day after day.

In fact, the situation has already become widely known, and parents, mostly from Class B, who were outraged by the punishment, have been calling in protest nonstop, and school officials have been forced to deal with the situation.

No one could figure out why this was happening.

One of the people involved, Hinagi Suzurikawa was also interviewed, but she strongly insisted that the slander was for the purpose of defending him. When asked why she was defending him, or whether he threatened, Suzurikawa was furious and refuted the accusations outright.

The reason for the punishment fizzled out. The victim was nowhere to be found.

With the student council at the forefront of the fight, the first priority was to confirm the truth of the rumors.

Yukito Kokonoe easily answered the call to be interviewed, and at their request, without any resistance, he handed over his own smartphone. Without hiding anything, he exposed his phone’s call history, message transmission records, and even image folders.

There was nothing on the phone but family correspondence, and nothing in the image folder.

Naturally, no evidence or traces were found.

“Look at this. This is Yukitko’s room. That boy would never do such a thing!”

Yuuri showed them a picture of the Yukito’s room that she had taken with her own smartphone.

“This is ridiculous ……, this is the room of Yukito Kokonoe ……? What is he thinking!”

“Lies, right. …..This is Yukito’s room? But that’s–!”

“Yuki’s room, first time I’ve seen it. This is….”

They were all immensely moved by the strangeness of the room. Some were in tears. There was nothing in the room.

No, it was not empty, with a desk, closet, bed, etc. But there was nothing there to prove the individuality of someone living there. A room can have a personality. It would be strange if the room did not reflect the personality of the person living there, whether it be a poster of a favorite artist, a comic book, or a video game.

However, the room was inorganic. The white walls were dazzling, as if it was a hospital. It was an empty space with nothing to reflect the individuality of Yukito Kokonoe. This was the room of Yukito Kokonoe.

“I’m sure he was prepared to disappear at any time. Prepare to erase the existence of who he is. Just when things might finally be getting a little better, why are you trying to hurt him again! Enough is enough!”

Yuuri was furious. Suzurikawa and Kamishiro felt the same way. They were almost crushed by the fear of what would happen if Yukito broke down again, and wondered why this always happened to him.

“Why did you decide to punish him with insufficient evidence? This is unacceptable!”

“Calm down, Kedou! We didn’t officially decide to suspend him.”

“That’s no excuse! Currently, Yukito Kokonoe is under house arrest!”

“But we can’t just do nothing.”

“……we received a call from prefectural assembly member Tojo Sensei.”

“–Fujiro Fujishiro-sensei, stop!”

The principal hurriedly tried to stop Fujishiro from speaking, but Fujishiro continued without caring.

“There is no way I can keep this hidden from everyone! If it gets this complicated, it will eventually come out. How many students do you think are complaining? –Tojo-sensei was furious that there was such a student at his daughter’s school.”

“That’s why you got rid of him without any proof?”

“You are stalling for time. I’m going to prove that Yukito Kokonoe is innocent.”

“I had no choice, Keduo. I got a call directly from Tojo Sensei, and I couldn’t do anything, even if it was just a pretext.”

“Did you hurt Yukito for your own reasons?”

“Are you okay with that, Fujishiro-Sensei?”

“It’s not okay! I—!”

It was a stupid story. There was no reason to be so lax about it. In the meantime, that prefectural councilor, Tojo …… Tojo? Kedou realized with a snap. Maybe that person—

“Is this Tojo the father of Erika Tojo, a third-year student?”

“Tojo-sensei is an alumnus of our school and is passionate about education. He also came to observe the school. Though now it has nothing to do with us.”

Fujishiro spits it out. Fujishiro’s feelings are similar to those of the students. She also feels disgusted with herself for not having been able to stop the punishment. She has been struggling for the past few days, wondering if she is not suited to be a teacher.

“I understand everything……. So that’s how it is.”

“Hey, Kedou, what did you find out!”

Kedou was getting impatient. She was the source of the rumors. And the upperclassman that Yukito Kokonoe had been blackmailing. It must be her. If that was the case, then Yukito Kokonoe will be again—.

“It was Erika who asked her father to dispose of him. Yuuri, let’s go to Erika’s class. It seems the teachers have no intention of protecting the students.”

“Oi, Kedou, wait!”

Yukito Kokonoe is suffering alone right now! Quit messing around!”

The situation was worsening at an accelerating pace, and the end was quietly approaching, with no one able to find a landing point.

Many people have experienced that when they are absent from school with a cold, they are strangely excited even though they are not feeling well. When everyone else is studying at school, you are alone enjoying your free time, filled with such a sense of immorality.

I was enjoying my house arrest to the fullest.

“Here I am, on the riverside!”

Clear blue sky, moderate wind. The conditions were perfect. Eh, house arrest? Of course not!

I don’t care if I was officially suspended or not, it has nothing to do with me, even if they say they are going to investigate. I have nothing to be sorry for, and there is no need for me to comply with the request.

Having no time to spare, I decided to try my hand at flying a kite, the first in my bucketlist. I had been secretly planning to try someday. So I went to the riverside to have a go!

There is something romantic about these retro games, isn’t there? Like playing Beigoma or something. [TL:spinning top (traditionally made of Japanese babylon shell)]

The lady at the candy store told me that more and more adults don’t know how to roll a kite.

It was all well and good, but when it came to the stage of just floating the kite in the sky, I realized I had failed.

“…… Isn’t it too big?”

How do you fly this thing? I had been working on it since yesterday, but since it was my first experience, I didn’t know how big it actually was, and I decided to make it too huge just for the fun of it.

And now it is just before summer. Summer is fundamentally unsuitable for kite flying because of the downdrafts that occur when using the lift force.

Kite flying is associated with winter, but that is because of the updrafts that occur. The ancient traditional game of kite-flying is filled with the wisdom and knowledge of nature.

The foolish Yukitko Kokonoe and the giant kite made two fatal mistakes.

Reality is ruthlessssssssssssssssssssss!

“Bouzu, that’s out of season. Everything has its season.” [TL: This old man is calling him Bouzu]

A nice middle-aged man who was watching from a distance called out to me. He was a good-looking man in his sixties, with a deep beard and interesting mustache. I hope to become such a dandy in the future.

“Ah, Onii-chan, hello. Downforce in summer is not to be underestimated.”

“Oi, oi. Calling me Onii-chan, you’re so bad at using sycophancy! I’m not even that old. I haven’t been called that in about 40 years.”

“I thought it would make you happy to feel younger.”

The good-looking guy is slightly embarrassed and scratching his cheeks. My mother will be happy if I tell her that she looks like JD (junior high school girl), and I don’t think there are many people who would be upset because she looks younger than her actual age.

“But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a limit to what you say! But hey, isn’t this thing too big? Why are you flying a kite in the summer again?”

“It’s my first time trying it. Right, Onii-chan! I was wondering if you could help me? I realized I can’t do it by myself.”

“Like I said, calling me Onii-chan …… Well, I don’t mind helping you out, but what about school, Bouzu? Are you sure, wasting your time here?”

The good-looking old man was handsome to the last degree. His tone was rough, but he was full of kindness.

“Actually, I’m under house arrest, so I have a lot of free time on my hands.”

“Oh? Did you do something bad?”

“No, not at all. Therefore, I do not intend to comply with the punishment, but rather to enjoy this opportunity to the fullest anyway. I have no place at school or at home.”

The rate of not only my sister but also my mother’s presence in my room has been increasing recently.

I feel uncomfortable because of this. The tension in the room is so great. This is probably a ground-up attack. I’m being implicitly urged to get out of the house as soon as possible. The day when I can grow mandarin oranges on a remote island is not far off.

“Bouzu……don’t be sad! What’s the matter with you? If you have a problem, tell me. You know, kids can depend on adults as much as they want! I’m a young man with a short life ahead of me, and you have a future ahead of you, so your value to society is different. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

The handsome old man, who was a bit brittle with tears, sniffled and patted my head with his stout hand.

“I am grateful to you for your concern. But it’s only been a week or so, and I’m fine. Is Onii-chan on vacation or something?”

“Me? I’ve got to make some arrangements. I can’t just leave it to him. The guy I’ve known since he was a baby is finally getting married. I have to celebrate it in a big way.”

“Congratulations?”

“Well, I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you this, but thanks.”

I heard that Himiyama-san’s brother is getting married, too, and I’m kind of happy for him. I just wish them both a happy future at the start of their lives. A future with someone else, too dazzling for me.

“Bouzu. Yukito…… Kokonoe huh?”

“How do you know my name? Are you a psychometrist?

“Why? It’s written on the kite in big letters. Hey, you’re being rather assertive, huh?”

“I was going to draw a picture, but I couldn’t think of a design, so I thought my name would do.”

The white kite has the name “Yukito Kokonoe” written on it in big letters. It is an ironclad rule to write your name on your belongings.

“…… You’re a strange guy, you know.”

“That’s funny. I don’t know why people say that to me so often,…….”

“But you don’t look like a bad guy. I’m still a good judge of character. That’s right, Bouzu, are you hungry? I’m going to give you a treat. I’d like to hear more about it. And if you’re not busy, you can come visit me anytime. I’ll teach you how to handle and hold a fish.”

“Ooh, those are survival skills that will come in handy when I am summoned to another world!”

“You’re more or less going to be expelled soon…….”

“You seem to know a lot about it. Are you back from saving another world?”

“I’m too old to be saving the world! My grandson loves that kind of stuff, and I’ve been watching cartoons with him, and I’m getting to know a lot about it. Come on, let’s get this kite in the air!”

The kite soared high into the sky with the wind as I pulled it as hard as I could in cooperation with a good-looking old man.

[Ooooh]

The crowd cheered from a distance watching from afar. They were curious.

Housewives pushing strollers, businessmen who had obviously skipped work, and people who had stopped running to watch the kite flying, all cracked up and applauded.

“This is kite flying! I am satisfied.”

“Normally we do it in the winter. …… Why at this time of the year?”

While I was impressed, I was hit by a strong wind for a moment.

“Hyooooowaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Oi, what are you doing!? Are you all right, Bouzu!?”