While Diego was heading to STARRY Performance Hall, the Hori household on the other side was welcoming guests.
Knock knock knock...
"Huh————? Who are you?"
Hori Kyosuke opened the door and saw a white-haired, broom-haired Frenchman standing before him.
After thinking for two seconds, he assumed Polnareff was a salesman and subconsciously prepared to close the door.
"Sorry, my house doesn't need French baguettes that are too hard to bite into."
Tug tug...
In a daze, Hori Kyosuke felt his pant leg being tugged. He looked down and saw a tiny Jolyne.
"Uncle Kyosuke, is Sota home? I came to play with him." Jolyne looked up.
Hori Kyosuke was momentarily stunned, then said in surprise, "Oh——! Isn't this my granddaughter little Jolyne?!"
Shock!
"Gr-Grand-Grand-Grand-Grand-Granddaughter? What's going on? Is this Jotaro's grandfather?! His voice sounds super similar!"
Polnareff, who had only come to drop off the child, suddenly turned around, so shocked he could barely speak properly.
"Hahaha, just kidding, just kidding!" Hori Kyosuke had no self-awareness as an adult whatsoever. He laughed heartily while scratching the back of his head. "You're from the Kujo family, right? Here to play with Sota today?"
"Yeah!" Jolyne nodded vigorously and explained, "It's vacation, so I made plans with him to go play at Dio-oniichan's house!"
"Sota and Kyoko are eating oranges by the kotatsu." Hori Kyosuke pointed behind him, then warmly invited the two inside. "Would this elder... teacher? of Sota and Jolyne's... also like to come in and have some tea?"
"No no, I still have things to do. I need to take little Jolyne and her friend to Dio's house later." Polnareff shook his head, feeling a strange sense upon hearing the familiar voice.
Why does Jotaro's voice sound exactly like this uncle's?!
Hori Kyosuke grabbed Polnareff's arm, the curve of his lips growing even more pronounced. "Come on, come on——. It's rare to meet, and you know my son Brando-kun, right?"
"Eh? Dio's dad?!!"
He's Jolyne's grandfather, and Dio is his son. That means Dio and Jotaro are actually... brothers?
Polnareff's brain crashed.
Jolyne, however, had no time to watch the two adults bicker. Taking advantage of their conversation, she made her way familiarly to the living room to find Hori Sota.
"Sota! Sota! Stop staying home like a shut-in! Come out and play with me!" Jolyne called out as she walked.
Sota didn't reply for a long time. Jolyne frowned and shifted her gaze to the kotatsu.
There were several oranges on the table. Hori Sota was lying motionless on it.
Seeing this, Jolyne stepped forward and shook Hori Sota vigorously. "Come on, come play at Dio-oniichan's house with me!"
"Urgh!!"
Sota suddenly lifted his head, a bit of drool still at the corner of his mouth.
"I knew you weren't actually sleeping!" Jolyne wore an "as expected" expression and nodded confidently. "Come on, let's go!"
"Give me a break, boss..." Hori Sota swayed and lay back down, murmuring in a daze, "I still haven't done my homework either. I don't have anything for you to copy..."
He was so sleepy he couldn't be bothered to think about anything.
"What are you sleeping for? How can someone your age even fall asleep." Jolyne patted him again. "And I'm not here to copy your homework."
"?!!"
Sota jolted awake and came to his senses. "Jolyne?! When did you get here?!"
"I've been standing here for a while." Jolyne rolled her eyes and complained, then let out a helpless sigh and asked, "Where's Nee-chan?"
Sota rubbed his eyes and pointed toward the nearby bedroom. "Nee-chan's studying in her room. Wait, aren't we the same age?"
"Is that so? I was thinking of asking her to come play at Dio-oniichan's too." Jolyne withdrew her gaze and said helplessly, "Then it'll just be the two of us."
"If it's just us two going secretly and we get caught, we'll get scolded, right?" Sota was somewhat tempted, but still had some concerns.
"It's fine!" Jolyne waved her hand dismissively and puffed out her chest. "My dad's friend recently came from overseas to visit our house. He said he could take me there."
"Then I'll go tell Nee-chan!"
...
——Neet's Place——
After getting out of the car, Polnareff was still holding Jolyne and Sota's hands and nagging them, clearly not very reassured about letting two little kids go play at the Dio household he remembered as terrifying.
"When you get to Dio's house, you must pay attention to safety, okay?! Don't believe what he says. Nine out of ten things he says are lies..."
"I know, I know! Polnareff-ojisan, you're so naggy!"
Jolyne broke free and ran all the way toward the neet's place. Although she didn't look back, she kept waving at Polnareff.
"Thank you for bringing us here!"
Sota expressed his thanks to Polnareff, then followed after Jolyne's footsteps while still complaining, "Seriously, wait for me!"
Only after watching the two enter the house did Polnareff turn and leave.
"Hmph... Naggy?"
"Well~, I'm really not good at this kind of thing. Jolyne's personality is just like that guy Jotaro's. I guess it's only natural since they're father and daughter..."
Polnareff turned his head away, revealing a nostalgic smile.
"If only Kakyoin were still here. He was the best at making kids happy..."
...
A few hours later...
After watching Kessoku Band's performance, Diego returned to the neet's place together with Mabel and Frieren.
"Wow wow, the music Nijika-san and the others played was really good!"
Just before entering the house, Mabel happily tucked the concert ticket Kessoku Band had given her into her pocket. In her mind, she recalled Nijika's smile that was like a little sun.
[If you have time for the next performance, please be sure to bring Elga-san and Alicia-san along too!]
Mabel raised both hands above her head and stretched. "Hehehehe... I have to go watch their performance again next time!"
"Hmm..."
Seeing that Frieren seemed a bit distracted, Mabel blinked and asked, "What's wrong, Frieren?"
"It's nothing. I was just thinking."
"Thinking about what?"
"Why there were three guitarists on stage. Which one was actually the bassist..." Frieren's thoughts were still stuck on the performance. She murmured, "It didn't seem like I heard the bass at all..."
Diego, who was walking at the very front, suddenly spoke up. "That's exactly right. The bass is the soul of the band's music. Of course you can't hear the soul."
"Well, we're home——"
"Eh? There's such a thing? Dio, you're not teasing me, are you?" Frieren asked in surprise.
Diego nodded and opened the door, immediately seeing Sota holding a towel and wiping sweat while drinking water.
"Onii-chan!"
Sota ran over to Diego's leg and looked up at him.
"Oh my god, Frieren, I'm not seeing things, right..." Mabel blinked, her mouth slightly open in shock.
Frieren almost didn't react for a moment. "Dio is actually popular with kids..."
Diego squatted down and patted Sota's head, asking with concern, "Sota? When did you get here?"
"Jolyne and I came this morning!"
"Eh—— Then where's Jolyne?"
Sota grabbed Diego's hand and pointed toward the game room. "Jolyne is playing ping pong with Elga-neesan and Alicia-neesan in the room! I got tired and came out to drink water!"
"Onii-chan, come too!"
Then Sota pulled Diego's hand toward the game room.
"Eh—— I want to play too!"
Mabel reacted and pulled the pouting Frieren toward the game room.
Ping! Pong! Ping! Pong!
The moment they entered, they saw Sui and Jolyne fiercely battling it out at the children's table tennis table.
"Mabel and the others are back?"
Sui spoke while returning the ball Jolyne had sent over.
Jolyne countered unwillingly. "Heave-ho! If I beat Elga-neesan, that'll be my 28th consecutive win!"
"Looks really fun~" Mabel picked up a paddle and asked Alicia, who was acting as referee on the side, "How do you play this?"
Alicia briefly explained the rules of table tennis. In that time, the match between Sui and Jolyne had already been decided.
"I won!"
Jolyne's face lit up with a smile. She raised her paddle high and gave Sui a hug.
"Little Jolyne is really amazing. I lost." Sui also smiled and squatted down to pick Jolyne up.
It was at this moment that Jolyne noticed Diego standing at the doorway with one hand on his hip and a smile. She waved at him vigorously.
"Dio-oniichan—— I won——"
"That's awesome!"
Because she usually practiced with Stone Free, Jolyne had quite a talent when it came to returning and receiving balls.
Seeing this, Sota couldn't help but complain to Diego. "Jolyne is always like this. She drags me into playing games she's really good at but I've never even tried before."
"If you don't want to do something, just refuse." Diego squatted down.
"I can't. She's the big sister who protects me at school!" Sota's art style suddenly changed. He wore an admiring expression and waved his little fists. "Listen to me, Jolyne is super strong! Just like this, swish swish, she beat up all the guys who were bullying me!"
Hearing this, a trace of a smile flashed through Diego's eyes.
The seed he had planted back then seemed to have already borne abundant fruit.
Thud thud...
Mabel knocked the ping pong ball on the table a few times and issued a challenge to Diego. "Hey hey, Dio, let's play too?"
"No, I'll pass."
Considering his own skill level, Diego decisively refused.
Going easy didn't suit his style, and playing too hard might crush Mabel's beginner mindset. So not participating was the best choice.
"Oh? Dio, don't tell me you're scared?"
Sui spoke up from the side, enjoying the show and not minding making things worse.
"...Huh?"
Diego slowly stood up, his gaze gradually becoming serious.
Sui clearly hadn't noticed yet and continued her output, using her ultimate "Control Dio" technique. "I can understand. After all, losing to a beginner would be pretty embarrassing, right?"
"I see. Interesting..."
Diego picked up a paddle. The room was instantly enveloped by a powerful pressure.
"!!"
Sota's expression changed. His pupils unconsciously dilated. He quickly grabbed Jolyne's sleeve and shouted, "Run!!"
Jolyne also realized the seriousness of the situation and left the room together with him.
Seeing that the unrelated combatants had left the field, Diego pressed his shoulders and twisted his neck.
"You two, come at me together."
"Hmph hmph, so you're finally getting serious?" Sui shot back with fighting spirit. "Mabel, let's go!"
"I'll say this upfront. I won't go easy like I did when playing against little Jolyne."
First round, battle start!
...
Fifteen minutes passed.
Alicia silently flipped the scoreboard over, hiding the pitifully one-sided score.
"I can't anymore~~~...!"
Mabel had already collapsed. Both her eyes had turned into big X's. Her chest rose and fell violently, and her body was covered in sweat from intense exercise.
"I see..."
"If you cut the ball with reverse spin... the spin direction will alternate back and forth. This is a perfect spin that's almost impossible to defend against..."
"As expected of Dio...!"
Sui was panting heavily, her back hunched, her loose clothing hanging down. One hand rested weakly on her knee as she continued analyzing Diego's previous attacks.
"It was a complete one-sided slaughter..."
This result was beyond Frieren's expectations.
She had originally thought that no matter how strong Dio was, he would show signs of fatigue when facing both Elga and Mabel's attacks at the same time.
But the result before her eyes was that Diego had completely gone berserk, trading ten broken paddles and eighteen ping pong balls for an absolute crushing victory. His sunken face looked like a vengeful ghost returning from hell to claim lives.
Diego grinned, feeling much better. "Hmph hmph hmph. Even the two of you together aren't my match!"
?!
Hearing Diego being so smug, Mabel gritted her teeth, filled with unwillingness. "Damn it..."
Freeze God Sword——...
She softly called for the Freeze God Sword and gripped its blade, murmuring in a low voice:
"Just you wait..."
The Freeze God Sword spread out ice and silently froze the tie of Sui's bathrobe. With a slight tug, it pulled it off.
"What did you say?"
At this moment, Sui had also stood up again because of Diego's provocative words and started the second round of the revenge match, completely unaware that the tie of her outer robe had been undone.
"Nice! The redemption match has begun! Dio!"
"Muda muda. No matter how many times you try, the result will be the same——..." Diego's voice suddenly cut off mid-sentence.
His excellent dynamic vision had captured the moment Sui's robe came undone.
Although it might be a bit vulgar to say this, Diego had indeed been aroused.
Sui served with great force. The dangerous weapon that could harm Diego also swayed along with it. "This time I'm going to win!"
"Ah?! Meow?! Wait..."
(She tried to say "not good" but it came out as "meow," you trash)
Thud!
Caught completely off guard, Diego was busy suppressing his "gun" and didn't have time to defend. He lost a point!
Sorry bro, this one's on me. I forgot to turn off auto-aim.
When playing ball, he was too busy looking at the "ball" and didn't watch the ball.
"I got a point!"
"We did it, Elga!"
Sui and Mabel high-fived to celebrate.
"I-It's invalid! Invalid! You two cheated! This is completely a sneak attack on me, Dio!"