"Okuyasu Nijimura, open your eyes. It's me, Dio…"
Okuyasu Nijimura was shaken awake by Diego. Still rattled, he looked at the five people in front of him, then turned his head and realized his older brother was tied up right beside him. Suddenly remembering something, he exploded in curses:
"Wait—you're saying you're Dio? Then the reason my dad turned into a monster was all your doing, you bastard!"
Bam!
Okuyasu Nijimura's head took another brutal hit.
"Your brain wasn't great to begin with. I didn't really want to do this, but I need you to calm down first before we can talk." Diego pressed down on his head. "Josuke, heal him again."
"Mr. Diego, could you maybe be a little gentler when you're asking questions…?"
"Hm?"
"Yes sir! Mission accepted!"
Okuyasu Nijimura's eyes instantly cleared. Josuke Higashikata leaned close to his ear and quietly told him: "Okuyasu, he's not that vampire Dio. If you don't want to get beaten up, it's better to just listen to him obediently."
"Ugh… Josuke, you're a good guy. I trust you."
After that, Okuyasu Nijimura blinked innocently, looking very well-behaved, and the historic first-ever space-ability discussion conference began.
"Okuyasu Nijimura, where do the things your The Hand erases go?"
"I've always been curious about that too, but I'm not that smart to begin with. Thinking too hard just gives me a headache, so I don't know."
Diego took a coin from his pocket, turned it into a dinosaur, and placed it in front of Okuyasu Nijimura.
"Try erasing this little dinosaur with your Stand."
Zzzzt—
Accompanied by the sound of space being erased, Diego focused and tried to sense the dinosaur's presence, then clicked his tongue in displeasure.
The connection was severed. It was dead.
"Then, when you erase space, have you ever felt the existence of a spatial rift?"
"Nope."
"I see. In that case, just live a good life with your brother. Takanashi, Dekomori—you two head back to school first. I have some things to take care of and I'll head back too."
"Yes sir." ×2
A fruitless trip. Zero gains.
And wasted a coin. Heartbroken.
The historic first space discussion ended unilaterally with Diego adjourning the meeting.
On the way back to school, Takanashi Rikka put her eyepatch back on properly, cleared her throat with a fist to her mouth, coughed twice, and slowly spoke:
"By the way, my first servant—why were you there?"
"Dio brought me. He said Master was about to die."
"Ugh, he always does unnecessary things… Didn't he say he wouldn't come save me…?"
...
"And also—have you eavesdropped enough?"
Diego locked his gaze on the electrical panel inside the house, drew the Split Soul Katana from his body, and swung it forward fiercely.
"Did you think I, Dio, wouldn't notice?"
(Split Soul Katana: A classic long sword with a wide blade resembling dragon whiskers. Its ability allows it to ignore the hardness of any object and directly attack and sever souls.)
"Muda!"
Bam!
The wall containing the electrical panel collapsed entirely. The World grabbed Red Hot Chili Pepper—who had been hiding in the circuitry—by the neck and threw it straight under the Split Soul Katana. Combined with Diego's slash, Akira Otoishi, who had been lurking at home waiting for a chance to steal the Arrow, immediately let out an agonized scream.
(Red Hot Chili Pepper, Akira Otoishi's Stand. A long-range Stand dependent on electricity. It can manipulate electricity and assimilate with it. When electricity is abundant, its stats can rival Star Platinum's speed and power.)
"Aaaaaaaaahhh—!!! It hurts, it hurts! Why—there's still electricity, but the wounds won't stop at all—!!!"
The yellow duck-like Red Hot Chili Pepper clutched its head and rolled around on the ground.
"What?! This guy's been hiding in my house the whole time?!" Okuyasu Nijimura shot to his feet and glared furiously at Red Hot Chili Pepper.
"Your instincts are pretty sharp. You sensed I was about to make a move and started retreating—worthy of praise." Diego sneered. "So you were after the Arrow, huh."
"You… bastard! Don't think you can do this to me and get away with it—just you wait!" Red Hot Chili Pepper flashed and turned into electricity, flowing along the circuit to escape.
Zzzzt—
Red Hot Chili Pepper crashed into something hard during its escape and fell back into the house.
What the hell? The current was cut off—this is the first time this has happened since I awakened my Stand.
Then, in terror, it looked up and saw Diego approaching slowly, holding a black lightsaber in his hand.
(The sword embodying the Dark Elf!)
"If a sword of light can easily cut through the hardest objects in the world, then naturally a sword of darkness can sever flows of power like magic or electric waves."
"You wanted to escape along the current, huh…"
White mist escaped Diego's mouth as his eyes glowed red. The way he gripped the sword looked, in Akira Otoishi's Red Hot Chili Pepper's eyes, like a vengeful ghost come to claim a life.
Damn it! I already avoided Jotaro Kujo—why am I so unlucky? Just who is this monster?!
"Please, let me go, I swear I'll never do bad things again! My Stand's already been crippled by your sword—please—I'm begging you, I was wrong…"
"Heh—go confess to the devils in hell."
"Wait—no—no, so many dinosaurs—don't—NOOOOO—!!!"
One week later, Akira Otoishi's body was found by police in his suburban home. Stolen valuables and gold jewelry worth a total of 500 million yen were recovered.
After examining the wounds on the body, police concluded he had been fatally bitten by his own dog and died before he could call for help. The case was hastily closed.
...
At Shuchiin Academy, during break time, as the bell rang, Diego enjoyed a high-quality hypnosis session for one period and stretched comfortably.
"Dio-kun! Dio-kun! Big trouble!" Kitagawa Marin ran up to Diego's desk holding a newspaper. "They made a school ranking: Most Wanted to Date and Least Wanted to Date!"
"What does that have to do with Dio?" Diego rubbed his sleepy eyes and casually grumbled. "Anyway, I, Dio, am definitely number one on the Most Wanted list. A ranking like that has no meaning at—"
"It's number one on the Least Wanted to Date list! It's only the second day and your reputation is completely ruined, Dio-kun!" Kitagawa Marin slammed the desk hard, trying to get Diego to take it seriously.
The students of Shuchiin Academy were either children of the elite or the top students from across the country. Not to say they were all paragons of virtue and learning—at the very least, most of them had relatively normal values and didn't let their morals follow their faces.
People only pay attention to the facts they want to see. In an atmosphere of rumor-spreading, naturally no one had a favorable opinion of Diego—the guy who forcefully kissed a female classmate on the first day of school (consensual), got into Shuchiin via supplementary exam (higher value than the national exam), and then skipped school the very next day—like some delinquent thug (this part was true).
It was like a noble gentleman from the 19th century suddenly transforming into a lowlife from the slums appearing right beside them—the shock of the gap.
"What?! That's outrageous! But whatever—tell them I said thanks."
Hmph. Has my reputation ever been good? I'm only coming to school because of Hori anyway. Who cares about a flock of trend-following pigeons.
Kitagawa Marin held her head in distress, her voice carrying a hint of helplessness: "Don't just read and reply randomly… No matter how much we try to clear up the rumors for you, it doesn't work. But seeing that you don't take this to heart is actually reassuring."
Diego waved his hand dismissively, put both feet on the desk, and gave a slight push so the chair rocked back and forth.
"Relax, there's no need to clear anything up. But—you said 'we'?" Diego's eyes narrowed slightly, sensing something ominous.
"Yeah—me, Hori-san, everyone from Kessoku Band, Takanashi-san… And worth mentioning, Yoshikawa-san and the other main character of the rumors, Ishikawa-san, also came to help clear your name."
Kitagawa Marin counted them off on her fingers. When she got to Ishikawa Toru, her expression showed disbelief even from herself.
"Tch…" Diego's face darkened. He dropped his nonchalant attitude, stood up, and walked step by step over to Ishikawa Toru.
At that moment, Ishikawa Toru was leaning on the windowsill letting the breeze hit him. His eyes were red, as though he hadn't slept well.
Diego hooked an arm around Ishikawa Toru's shoulders, brushed back the bangs on his forehead, and glared at him fiercely: "Ishikawa, explain clearly—why are you helping clear my name?"
"Don't misunderstand. I don't believe in you. But I believe in Hori's judgment. Besides, you're actually a pretty decent guy. I'm just a suitor—where do I get the right to be jealous? You have to make Hori happy."
"…You're quite the character."
[I hate owing people favors. Likewise, I hate when others owe me favors.]
Diego gave a thumbs-up, looked deeply at Ishikawa Toru for a moment, thought for a second, then took out a bottle of perfume and tossed it over. Ishikawa caught it with one hand.
"Catch. It's yours."
This was a perfume that made others more likely to notice your good qualities—something Diego had obtained from a treasure chest during one dungeon exploration.
Anyway, I have no use for this thing.
Letting him become a normie would at least make it worth something.
With that thought, Diego slowly returned to his seat and continued lounging like Ge You on the chair.
Kitagawa Marin looked like she still wanted to say something, but the gyaru version of Hayasaka Ai pulled her away, giving Diego some space.
Meanwhile, the ice-sculpture Kaguya took the opportunity to enter through the back door of the classroom and stared down at Diego from above.
"Isn't that the famous young lady from the Shinomiya family? What's she doing in our class?"
"Are you stupid? The SBR Competition has always been an event where noble conglomerates show off their family glory. This time the champion was taken by a commoner named Diego Brando—Kaguya Shinomiya probably got a pretty harsh punishment from her family."
"So that means… she's here to declare war?"
"Most likely."
And just as the know-it-all predicted, Kaguya Shinomiya came to issue a challenge to wash away her previous disgrace.
"Brando-san, thank you very much for taking care of me during the SBR Competition."
"? Who are you?"
"…There's a limit to playing dumb. I'm Kaguya Shinomiya—the one who lost to you in the SBR Competition."
"Then shouldn't you be saying thank you already?"
Kaguya Shinomiya's terrifying, keep-your-distance expression failed to affect Diego at all. True to his high-EQ style of reading-and-replying-randomly, he didn't take Kaguya Shinomiya seriously in the slightest.
"So that's why I'm here to properly thank you, Brando-san!" Kaguya Shinomiya furrowed her brows, her tone full of displeasure. "I was utterly defeated in the SBR Competition. Next exam, I will defeat you fair and square and let you taste the bitterness of failure."
"Oh? So you're challenging me?"
"If that's how you want to see it, then—"
"Shut your mouth! Since you're so smart, I'm sure you already know—this means war." Diego showed an interested expression, stood up, planted both hands on the desk, and looked down at Kaguya Shinomiya from his absolute height advantage. "State your terms."
"How rude. There's no need for stakes. I won't lose, and you couldn't give me what I want anyway. All I want is the established fact of Diego Brando losing to Kaguya Shinomiya." Kaguya Shinomiya sighed, somewhat lamenting her own lack of social skills.
"…What an arrogant personality. Then how about this—the loser grants the winner any one request, no matter how unreasonable."
Nobility, picking fights, looking down from on high, arrogance.
Disgusting…
That was the impression Kaguya Shinomiya gave Diego. In his mind, she merged with the image of that pack of trash from the Zenin family.
"Acting all high and mighty—if you lose, I'll tear apart that lofty dignity of yours in a way far more humiliating than stuffing you into a shoe to make soup!"
"…Then we'll see."
Kaguya Shinomiya left without taking a single cloud with her—just as she had come lightly.
"Tch. What a pretentious collection of affectations."
...
Mini skit:
Ding…
Ryo Begs for Cash: Dio-kun~ My parents aren't home tonight. It's just me. Wanna go on a date to that new café that opened?
The World's Most Handsome God Dio-sama Himself: No. You're trying to scam me for money.
Ryo Begs for Cash: Tch… Busted.
The World's Most Handsome God Dio-sama Himself: Actually, it's not impossible. My phone's out of money. Come to my place—I'll go to the kitchen and grab some dollars to lend you.
Ryo Begs for Cash: No way. Nijika's definitely lying in wait there, ready to make me pay back Bocchi-chan's money.
The World's Most Handsome God Dio-sama Himself: No way. Nijika isn't like that.
Ryo Begs for Cash: I think she is.
Diego lost all interest in chatting, tossed his phone aside, and shouted toward the figure hiding under the sofa:
"Nijika, it's no good. Ryo's too sharp—I can't trick her into paying back Bocchi's money!"
"Fine… Wait, Ryo just posted on her profile. She says… she's deleting anyone who won't lend her money…"