"Maid, what did you say? Shinomiya caught a cold…?"
"Mm, the only thing worth celebrating is that she doesn't have a fever, just a sore throat and general weakness."
For some reason, after hearing there was no fever, Dio visibly relaxed a lot.
"How did this happen so suddenly?" Looking at the mountain of paperwork he normally never had to deal with, Dio felt a headache coming on. He quickly asked, "Do I need to go take care of her?"
(A Dio who dreams of becoming the ruler of Manhattan Island but doesn't want to handle affairs is trash.)
"No need. The young lady brought this upon herself. Having Dio take care of her would be letting her off too easy." Hayasaka Ai immediately refused. "There are dedicated attendants who will take good care of her."
At the same time, the sulking Hayasaka Ai began inwardly complaining about the master she served.
Planning to corrupt Dio's way of thinking so he would stay in the Shinomiya household forever—the young lady's "fall into depravity" plan had been nothing more than a cute conspiracy from beginning to end. But the purpose of staying up late to handle culture festival documents was actually just to go back and push this plan forward.
For the sake of chasing a man, she didn't take proper care of her body. This was entirely her own fault. I won't let anyone pity her.
A cold light reflected in Hayasaka Ai's pupils.
...
——Shuchiin, Student Council——
"…That's all. That's why I called everyone here. Shinomiya took the day off." Dio pointed at the mountain of documents beside him, taller than a mountain, and said with lingering fear, "I have to admit, only after losing her did I realize how important Shinomiya is."
He casually snatched a document back from Takanashi Rikka's hands and muttered expressionlessly, "Recently, a student reported that the diving club's recent recruitment activities were overly enthusiastic—they actually forced new students to drink vodka. How did the alcohol even get into the school? Might as well just execute them all. Next…"
"Chess club and shogi club got into a brawl? The publicity department received a death threat letter from the astronomy club? Unbelievable. Is this a movie? A yakuza war?"
"And what else… students' psychological problems. Even something like needing the student council to strategize for them about who they have a crush on. Is this something the student council should handle? Just go up and confess directly—'I like you.'"
"Are these guys even human? Not a single one of them makes sense to me…"
"Oh wait, the board game club and the Far East Magic Society are holding a joint event and want to increase their activity budget. This one I know—rejected."
With that, right in front of Fujiwara Chika, Dio unhesitatingly marked it with an X.
"Eeh?! Brando-kun aaaaaah, the board game club has a reason for wanting more funds!" Fujiwara Chika's cute face showed obvious panic as she grabbed Dio's hand and wouldn't let go.
"Oh?" Dio stared at her with a smile, wearing an expression that said "you better give me a good reason."
Fujiwara Chika broke out in a cold sweat. She took out a pure black helmet similar to a welder's helmet from her bag and put it on her head.
"What's that?"
"Level 3 helmet, also known as Spetsnaz helmet. Even if you get headshotted by a Kar98k, it can block one shot." Fujiwara Chika's explanation came from inside the helmet.
Takanashi Rikka and Dekomori Sanae's evil laughter followed. "We're planning a game event that will involve the entire school… That is… a battle royale where you can only survive by fighting, and only one person remains…"
The moment he heard "you can only survive by fighting," Dio's eyebrow twitched and he slammed the table in approval. "Approved!!!"
"Dio / Brando-kun / Boss! I knew you'd understand us!"
"Don't approve it!!!" ×n
They were met with unanimous opposition from everyone else.
Because the remaining people threatened that if he approved it, they wouldn't help process the documents, this great "gu-raising" game did not pass approval. How tragic~
The gu-raising game incident came to an end, and everyone returned to the tedious task of processing documents.
Perhaps because it had been quiet for too long, with only the sounds of flipping pages and pens on paper, the restless Fujiwara Chika suddenly excitedly made a suggestion: "Oh right, oh right! After we finish processing the documents, let's all go visit Kaguya-chan together!"
"Listen to me, I've known Kaguya-chan since middle school. When she gets sick, she completely turns into a different person!"
"If you want to see the other side of Kaguya-chan, the only way is to visit her while she has a cold!"
The other side?
Dio flipped through documents and casually complained, "It's not one of those idiotic settings where getting sick makes your personality do a complete 180, right?"
"Ah!" Fujiwara Chika cried out in surprise, stammering, "Brando-kun, y-you-you… how did you know?!"
"When someone is sick, it's when the human body is at its most vulnerable. People will subconsciously rely on someone they can depend on. That's common sense." Dio picked up the coffee on the table and took a sip, chuckling. "That's how it always goes in the anime I watched with Sota. It's really cliché."
At her words, Hori put down the document in her hands, rested her pen against her chin, slightly raised her head, and recalled seriously before laughing. "But Dio, aren't you the same? Back when you had a fever, you were calling me 'mom.' Aah, I really miss that time. That dependent, spoiled look of yours…"
"Pfft!!! Cough cough…" The coffee Dio had just drunk sprayed out. He choked badly and suddenly looked up. "How is that possible? This Dio actually…"
Dio's reaction seemed to confirm Hori's words.
A bolt from the blue struck everyone's hearts.
Sick! Dio! Calls! Mom! And! Acts! Spoiled!
Remember, Dio grew up surrounded by malice from a young age. In other words, he was very sensitive to malice.
And then, in that instant, Dio suddenly felt himself being locked onto by more than ten faint traces of malice. He felt like a piece of meat thrown into a pack of starving wolves.
One wrong move and he would be completely devoured!
What are these guys trying to do to kono Dio…
"Guh…"
Dio wanted to escape.
At that moment, a phone ringtone broke the strange atmosphere.
"Duru duru duru duru duru duru duru, duru duru duru duru duru duru duru——"
A savior has arrived!
No matter who you are, you are this Dio's lifesaving benefactor!
Dio breathed a sigh of relief and took out his phone from his pocket like it was a treasure. The caller ID showed: Josuke Higashikata.
Josuke! Are you an angel?!
So, Dio pressed the answer button.
On the other side, on a certain highway in Morioh.
Josuke Higashikata was riding his motorcycle down the highway, holding Jolyne Cujoh in his arms.
On the back seat, Stone Free had transformed into blue threads and was binding the nearly drained famous mangaka Kishibe Rohan. The motorcycle's speedometer showed 80 km/h.
Behind the two of them were several foot-shaped pieces of flesh constantly chasing after them.
Pick up the phone, pick up the phone, Mr. Dio!
If something happens to little Jolyne, how am I supposed to face Mr. Jotaro!
Josuke prayed in his heart.
Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have brought little Jolyne to see Kishibe Rohan's manga today!
Click——
"Hello, this is Diego Brando."
"Josuke, what do you need from me?"
The call connected.