"Hey, Dio. Where's Jolyne?"
On the way home, Hori suddenly remembered the petite figure who always followed Diego around.
"Jolyne… got picked up by her jerk of a dad." Diego picked up the conversation.
"Eh? Isn't her dad the guy who ran off while Jolyne was burning up with fever?! How could you let Jolyne be taken away by someone like that!" Hori sounded anxious.
Even though they'd only spent a few days together, Hori already treated Jolyne like a little sister on the same level as Sota.
Noticing Hori's mood, Diego gave a soft laugh—only to have it abruptly cut off when the unhappy Hori smacked him hard.
So this is what it feels like to be domestically abused by Mom? Surprisingly kinda nice.
Since his mother had passed away early, Diego didn't really know what domestic violence felt like. He'd only ever seen other people disciplining their kids from a distance and found it curious.
"Ahem, actually her dad isn't that bad. He's always cared about Jolyne; it's just that there were more important things he had to handle." Diego poked Hori's forehead and gave an explanation.
"But Jolyne's rebellious phase is probably going to explode now."
I need to figure out a way to get Hori to slap me again.
Diego felt a lingering satisfaction.
...
Meanwhile, in Morioh, at the Higashikata household.
"Hah?! What did you say?! You bastard dad!" Jolyne shoved Jotaro away, eyes wide as she roared at him.
"I said, you are not allowed to get near Diego Brando anymore…" Jotaro paused, then spoke to Jolyne with grave seriousness—only to be immediately interrupted.
"I know!! Why are you suddenly acting like a dad at a time like this!" Jolyne pointed a finger right at him, glaring furiously.
"You—never stay home, always flying all over the world. You never came to any of my birthdays. Even when I was burning up with fever and almost dying, you still flew straight to Japan without stopping!"
Beside them, the named Higashikata Josuke broke out in a cold sweat… Mr. Kujo's daughter is terrifying. When she's mad at Mr. Kujo, they're practically identical.
"Yeah, whatever. I'm fine anyway." Jolyne shrugged and spread her arms in an indifferent gesture. "Pfft! If I'd known you were going to stop me from seeing Dio-oniichan and Hori-neesan, I'd rather die than come find you!"
Jotaro's expression darkened. He instinctively clenched his fist, then released it and tried explaining again: "…Yare yare daze. Listen, Jolyne. Diego Brando—that man is extremely dangerous. Being around him will lead to—"
"Yare yare! Shut up already, you old man!"
A bullet from years ago struck Jotaro square between the eyes, cutting off his words.
"Who the hell wants to obediently listen to you!"
With that, Jolyne pulled down her lower eyelid, stuck out her tongue in contempt, turned around, and prepared to leave Morioh.
Jotaro's face went black. He summoned Star Platinum, stopped time, and knocked Jolyne out with a hand chop.
Time resumed.
"Yare yare daze…" Jotaro caught the unconscious Jolyne in his arms and said to Josuke, "Josuke, I'm heading back for now."
"Ah… yes!" Higashikata Josuke replied hastily, watching Jotaro leave. "Bring Jolyne over to hang out sometime!"
…Whoa, Mr. Kujo is scary too.
...
Back to Diego's side.
"Speaking of which, Dio, your hair is really long. It's like a girl's." Hori stared at Diego's hair for a while and sighed in admiration.
"Huh? Did my hair come loose?" Diego touched the back of his head and realized the hair tie that usually kept his long hair bound had slipped off at some point. He grinned. "Ko no Dio's long hair is beautiful, right!"
"It's beautiful. Kinda girly." Hori took out her key and opened the door. "I'm a little curious what short-haired Dio would look like."
"Heh heh~ That would definitely be the most perfect existence in the world." Diego put his hands on his hips in an extremely smug pose. "I'm home—"
"Welcome home—"
A gentle yet unfamiliar voice greeted them.
"Ku…?!"
"…Eh?" Hori stared blankly at the figure standing just inside the door. "Mom?!"
She's actually home on a day off… that's rare.
"Auntie?!"
She looks so young…
"Yes~" Hori Yuriko smiled brightly, poked her head out, and waved enthusiastically in welcome—adorably so. "Oh my, it's Dio-san. Sota told me about you. Come in, come in, sit down."
With that, Diego was pulled over to the sofa. Sota brought over some manga to share with him.
"Kyoko is surprisingly capable. Such a handsome boy." Hori Yuriko was in exceptionally high spirits, pulling Hori along and chattering nonstop about Dio.
"Right, Kyoko. When I was about to make curry just now, I realized we're out of soy sauce. Could you go buy some for me?"
Hori Yuriko beckoned her over and whispered in Hori's ear.
"Let me talk to Dio-san alone."
"Eh? Why? What do you want to talk to him about alone?!"
"Don't ask, just go."
Hori was promptly shoved out the door.
Eh?
Seriously, why do I have to be kicked out…
...
Half an hour later.
Hori stared in disbelief at the scene before her.
Hori Yuriko and Diego had completely switched roles. Now Hori Yuriko was sitting on the sofa while Diego massaged her shoulders. The two of them were chatting and laughing happily.
"Yo, Hori. You're back!" Diego raised one hand and greeted her with a full smile.
"You two are…"
"Oh my, Dio-san's name really has such an aristocratic feel. Thank you so much for taking care of Kyoko all this time." Hori Yuriko looked Diego over with obvious satisfaction and gave Hori a little V-sign.
"Super cool!" Sota was starry-eyed beside them.
Dio's name does have a certain… wait?! What's Dio's full name again…!!
Oh no! From the very first meeting he told me to just call him Dio, and after knowing him this long I still don't know his full name. I'm done for…
"No no, I've been the one taken care of by Hori all this time…"
Hori rushed over, grabbed Diego, and dragged him straight into her room, leaving Hori Yuriko standing there completely bewildered.
"That child… really doesn't know who she takes after…"
Inside the room.
Diego was pushed down onto the bed. Hori looked at him incredulously and demanded: "Hey, Dio, what's going on?! In just a little while, how did my mom start looking at you like you're her son?!"
Diego struck a proud pose with hands on hips, wearing an "all according to plan" expression, and raised one finger as he began to lecture:
"Heh heh. No matter what, I, Dio, once mingled in the courts. Socializing with mere insects? Child's play…"
"Muda?"
Beside him, The World suddenly appeared, holding several books and flipping through them. The titles were faintly visible.
"The Art of Reading People""The Techniques of Socializing""The Secrets of Human Nature"…
Yeah yeah yeah, it wasn't actually that easy. World, you deserve a lot of credit—now get back!!!
"Muda!" The World happily acknowledged the praise.
Diego was starting to lose it on the inside, but his expression remained perfectly composed.
Hori's face darkened. She wore a rather terrifying expression, clearly thinking hard about something.
We've known each other this long… asking for his full name now would be way too late…
Hori tried imagining the scene in her head.
"Um, Dio, what's your full name anyway?"
"Hah? We've known each other this long and you still don't know my full name? We're through!"
No way!!
It would definitely turn out like that!
Is there any way to find out his full name without asking him directly…?
(There is, sis. There are nine other super useful methods like this one. For example, back in Chapter 8, if you had chosen to watch TV instead of making coffee, you would've learned Diego's full name.)
"Hm?" Diego glanced at Hori's changing expression and stopped time.
The World! Time that belongs only to me…
Diego placed his hand on Hori's forehead.
"Memory sprite, investigate quickly."
"As you wish."
"I can't just ask him directly… I'd look like such an idiot… Should I ask Sota what Dio's full name is?"
Ah… name? You've been stressing over just that…?
Seriously…
Diego returned to his pre-time-stop posture and let time resume.
What do I do… Hori clutched her head, extremely troubled.
"Diego. My name is Diego Brando. Brando is my family name." Diego sat on the bed with one hand propping himself up, smiling as he gently pulled Hori out of her distress.
"Eh? Dio, how did you…"
"Because you looked really troubled…"
In his mind, the memory flashed by of Hori once saying that Dio looked very lonely.
"I prefer you calling me Dio, but if it's Kyoko, you can call me whatever you want."
Kyo… Kyokyokyokyoko! Dio just called me by my name!
A flush of crimson quickly spread across Hori's cheeks, reaching her ears.
Eh… why "if it's me, anything is fine"?
"That's not right! What do you mean 'if it's'… Names are really important, you know!!"
"…Yeah, you're right."
The two looked at each other and smiled.
...
Names, huh?
Diego was probably sick. He lay face-down on the bed, head buried in the pillow, unable to sleep no matter how he tossed and turned. He sat up, reached into the tank, grabbed an ornamental fish, and tore into it savagely, tasting the raw fishy flavor in his mouth.
This sadness came without reason. Diego stared gloomily at the two pillows by the bed—one his, one Jolyne's.
Jolyne had said she didn't want to sleep alone at night. She'd hugged a pillow and insisted on sleeping with Diego, refusing to leave even when he tried to shoo her away.
He walked to the window. Dead leaves drifted down in the breeze. Diego reached out, caught one, and held it in front of his eyes, feeling a faint loneliness.
Even among the withered yellow leaves, a trace of emerald green remained. In the dense patterns of the veins, the character for "Sui" seemed to form.
In his memory, Sui… no, Suzailgillazegallnelbuzegillreagranzelga Elga had also cared a great deal about names.
Thoughts surged, carrying him back to the past.
"Mabel Mabel, Alicia Alicia, Frieren Frieren…" The elf stared blankly at Diego. Anyone could see the anger hidden in her eyes. "What the heck? You only ever call them by name, but with me it's always 'Miss Elf, Miss Elf'…"
"Your name? But you never told me your name…"
"But you call Frieren so affectionately? Give me a break… you stupid orc … We've known each other for a whole year already…" The elf gritted her teeth, looking like she wanted to bite him. "You tell everyone to just call you Dio…"
"Well, because Dio is the nickname my mom gave me. I treasure it a lot. I'll make this name resound through the heavens. But I didn't expect you to be so fixated on names. It's just a name—something to call a person is enough…"
"What do you mean 'just'… Names are really important!!" The elf argued back at Diego, her face flushed.
"…Yeah. So what's your name?"
"No, you'd forget it anyway even if I told you…"
"I'm serious."
Diego approached the elf with an extremely serious expression, almost face-to-face.
Feeling Diego's sincere and burning gaze, the elf gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, and shouted her full name: "Suzailgillazegallnelbuzegillreagranzelga Elga!"
"Suzailgillazegallnelbuzegillreagranzelga Elga? That's a long name. Mind if I give you a nickname? Like how my mom did."
"…Do whatever you want."
The elf's voice trembled with uncontainable joy. It was the first time anyone had remembered and spoken her full name perfectly.
"Then, how about 'Sui'? Like your emerald-like pupils. Such beautiful eyes…"
"Shortening a royal name is equivalent to disrespecting 'authority.' When I was little, I saw many reckless fools like you… and in the end, they all… Can you bear it?" The elf leaned down, smiling sweetly at Diego.
"This insult to clan and nation."
Diego's lips curved. Signs of dinosaurization crept across his face as he let out a low growl:
"Who do you think I am? The most vile and despicable criminal doesn't care about so-called 'authority.' As long as you like it, I'll seize any name for you…"
"Stupid orc!" Tears welled in the corners of Sui's eyes. Face red, she swung her arms and pounded on Diego's chest. "No no no, not that name!"
"Tch. So troublesome."
"I mean, don't call me that when other people are around!"
...
Wanting to monopolize that name? How greedy…
Speaking of which, school's about to start soon, huh…