"Hey, Hyoudou!"

Suddenly, a teacher came into the classroom and called out to Hyoudou Kenji, a first year junior high school student, making him jump in surprise.

As he moved over to where Kenji was sitting with an angry look on his face, the male physical education teacher looked down at him.

"It seems Sakurada's skirt from class 3 was stolen during the fourth period gym class just now. Please hurry and return it."

"Um, well... I don't know"

"Don't lie!"

The PE teacher slammed his desk.

Then he looked at Kenji as if he were trash.

"Who else but you would do something so insane? If you just confess quietly here, I might be able to let this go peacefully. Huh?"

"I, I really don't know anything"

When the teacher seemed annoyed with Kenji's continued objections, Kenji's friend, Kasugayama Tomoya, who had been chatting with him, came to his rescue.

"It's true. Ken... Hyoudou-kun was with us all day today. At the very least, he didn't have the means to steal like that."

"That's right. This guy has been with us all this time, you know? Or, were we complicit in such pointless things?"

The other student, Takatsuki Yosuke, a light-hearted boy with dyed brown hair, glared at the PE teacher with annoyance.

The two have been friends since their early elementary school days, with Tomoya the intellectual, Yosuke the playboy, and Kenji the quiet one, and although they have very different personalities, they somehow get along well and have been deepening their friendship ever since.

Tomoya in particular had a great personality and good grades. In addition, his father was a member of the PTA, so he had a certain amount of credibility.

And the same thing happened to the class, with criticism directed towards the PE teacher.

"I don't know much about it, but isn't it cruel to target your younger brother just because your older brother was a problem child?"

"Hyoudou-kun is one of the most serious kids in class..."

The PE teacher looks uncomfortable as he is subjected to cold stares from the class and steps back.

Tomoya continues,

"If you say so, then you must have evidence that Hyoudou-kun stole a girl's skirt, right?"

"That's..."

The stammering physical education teacher.

The physical education teacher treats Kenji as the culprit because he is the younger brother of a problem child who is an alumnus of the junior high school.

Perhaps realizing that things were not going any further, he retreats, stating that he will find evidence immediately.

"It wouldn't be like that unless it was fabricated."

Yosuke sticks out his tongue.

Tomoya puts his hand on Kenji's shoulder.

"It was a disaster, as always."

"Yeah...thanks to everyone for helping me."

I laughed in relief, but Yosuke scratched his head with an amused look on his face.

"What are you talking about? You did nothing wrong, so act cool."

"…Yeah"

Even though he was being comforted, Yosuke complained.

"Really? It's all Kenji's fault!"

Kenji's older brother was a graduate of this school and committed numerous indecent acts with his friends.

Because of this, the teachers and the current third-year students, as well as the second-year students who had heard various things from the third-year students, were wary of Kenji, the younger brother of the third-year students.

It was a relief that the first-year teachers and the teachers who had started working at the school after Kenji's brother graduated were still on Kenji's side.

Kenji had intended to take the junior high school entrance exam and not attend this school.

(If only my brother hadn't taken the entrance exam for Kuoh Academy...!)

The school has changed from an all-girls school to a general school.

Kenji had originally intended to take the entrance exam for the junior high school there, but his older brother passed the high school entrance exam, which put Kenji's plans on the back burner.

As he showed signs of slight irritation and fatigue, Yosuke changed the topic.

"Oh, by the way, it's summer vacation. My brother is going to take me and his friends to the beach. Do you want to come?"

"Kyoji-san?"

"Yeah! Apparently my brother's friend's relatives run a small guesthouse! We'll be able to stay there! Most of the people there are my brother's friends, but they're nice people so it'll be fun!"

Yosuke's older brother, Kyoji, is a university student and, according to his younger brother, is not the cleverest but knows a lot of interesting things.

True to that assessment, Kenji also had the opportunity to do a lot of interesting things.

They gave me a ride with them on a large motorcycle.

When Kenji, who isn't good at sports, was invited by Yosuke to join the baseball team, he even accompanied him to practice.

During spring break, I was taken camping to celebrate my entry into junior high school.

To Kenji, he was someone he loved more than his own brother.

"Yeah! I'm going! When?"

"After August starts. I'll tell you the details later on my smartphone. What about Tomoya?"

"I'll go. I'll finish my summer homework soon and have some free time anyway. I don't want to spend my summer vacation going to cram school all the time."

"Is this sarcastic...?"

Even while they were playing around, Kenji was smiling.

Although problems arise, Kenji still has fun days.

"I'm home"

When I came home from junior high school, my mother greeted me.

"Welcome back, Kenji."

"Yeah. I'm back, mom. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Nothing in particular... why?"

"You know, the house has suddenly gotten bigger, right? More people are living here now, so it must be hard work, cleaning and all that."

"It'll be fine. We have a Roomba. Rias and the others will help with the housework."

Recently, members of my brother's club have started living in the house.

So I decided to renovate my house.

The house is so much bigger than it was before.

For some reason, I felt something was off about that, but I'm sure it was just my imagination.

I change my clothes and finish today's homework before my brothers come home.

After I finished that and was playing a mobile game, my brother and his housemates came home.

They each greeted each other by saying "I'm home" and went inside the house.

To be honest, Kenji doesn't like his roommates.

As Kenji enters puberty, there is a wide variety of beautiful girls around him that are a nuisance to look at, but he still feels uncomfortable suddenly treating strangers like family.

I think they are all good people, and I don't dislike them. However, I am quite perplexed by the sudden decision to live with them.

Even with Asia and Rias it was hard to accept.

Still, he can't just ignore them, so with a depressed feeling, Kenji heads over to where Issei and the others are.

"Welcome back, everyone"

Kenji's smile tightened.

When he looked, his older brother, Hyoudou Issei, had returned home with his face swollen as if he had been punched.

I've seen that face many times before.

Rias explained with a wry smile to the frozen Kenji.

"Today, Issei was looking at Koneko's classmates while they were changing. Koneko got so angry that she punched Issei."

As Rias explained, Koneko awkwardly looked away in front of her younger brother.

However, when Kenji heard that, his face turned even paler.

"S-sorry! Tojo-san!"

Kenji bowed his head, bending his waist in a "U" shape. It looked as if he was ready to kneel down on the ground if he wasn't forgiven.

While everyone around was confused by his attitude, Koneko looked confused and made him stop.

"...Ah, lift your head...I'm not angry anymore...okay?"

Unable to bear his desperate behavior, he emphasizes that he has forgiven him.

Issei sighed when Kenji didn't lift his head.

"It's all over now. Besides, it's not your responsibility to bow your head, is it?"

Issei's attitude seemed to say, "What are you doing?" Kenji clenched his fist so hard that he thought he might draw blood.

(Even if the peeping party was just playing around, the person being peeped on was not...!)

Moreover, Rias said it was a class, so Koneko wasn't the only one affected.

However, since it was clear that if I made a fuss here I would just be dodged, I decided to accept it.

"I see. Sorry. I'll be back in my room until dinner."

Kenji runs away.

Xenovia, who was watching this, asked Issei a question.

"Maybe you brothers don't get along?"

"No, I don't think that's the case. He's just going through a bit of a rebellious phase right now."

In the past, she would often follow Issei around, calling him "Big Brother."

He's become aloof and rebellious in recent years, but Issei thinks that it's just because he's getting older.

"But, even though I want to get to know her better...she won't let me talk..."

Asia looks down sadly.

It's rare for Kenji to start a conversation on his own, and even when he does talk, it's clear he wants to end the conversation quickly.

"I'm sure you're just nervous. Everyone is so beautiful! You'll get to know each other soon!"

Issei's optimistic words caused smiles to form in the faces of everyone present.

"Ahh! Shit! Shit!"

Kenji hits the pillow in a desperate attempt to control his violent urges.

He is angry at his insensitive brother who refuses to understand other people's feelings, and at his girlfriend who refuses to punish him for his behavior.

More than anything, the fear of not feeling like he belonged in his home, which had changed so much, was a growing stress that tormented Kenji.

"Where are we…?"

Tired of the sense of unease and doubts that were growing day by day, he buried his face in the pillow he had been hitting.

Just as I was thinking about falling asleep, I heard a knock on the door.

Was he calling for dinner?

With that thought in mind, I opened the door to my room.

And there it was

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