"From earlier I've been wanting to say this—what's with you following this great one around?"
After leaving the racetrack, Diego glared unkindly at Ryūju Momo behind him, his expression making it clear he'd beat her up without a good reason.
"…What do you mean 'following you'?!" Ryūju Momo clenched her fists and shot back. Her gaze quickly swept the surroundings, searching for a reasonable excuse. Her peripheral vision caught the Kyudo Club in the distance. "Can't I just want to go to the Kyudo Club?"
Want to go to the Kyudo Club? Come on. Someone who might as well have "I want to follow you" written across her face had zero intimidation power saying that.
Damn it, why do I even want to follow this guy? He just rode the horse I couldn't ride—what's so great about that, hmph…
The two entered the Kyudo Club entrance, each harboring their own ulterior motives.
Whoosh!
An arrow struck the ten-ring on the target, radiating invisible pressure.
"Isn't this Shinomiya Kaguya? You look pretty imposing holding a bow~" Diego smiled as he took a bow down from the wall, drew it to test the draw weight, and teased, "About 15 kg. Didn't expect it—you've got some real strength~"
"I don't recall the Kyudo Club letting someone like you in." Shinomiya Kaguya maintained her iceberg-like expression, drew again, and hit another perfect ten-ring. "Are you a member?"
"Just visiting. Not welcome?"
"…"
"Hey, how about before the exam—we play a little side bet? Archery. If I lose, I'm at your disposal. If you lose, I want your…"
"Hah?!!"
Diego's tone shifted as he tapped the bento box on the table. "…bento."
Poor Diego would normally already be enjoying a delicious meal at home by now, but today he had waited for Hori to finish and go home together. He was already starving and desperately craving food.
So he had his eyes on the bento the Shinomiya family provided for Shinomiya Kaguya.
"Why bring this up all of a sudden? I'm not going to accept a new match right before the official exam…"
"You're scared? Scared of losing to me?"
"…What?"
Diego activated his provocation skill. Effect: outstanding!
Shinomiya Kaguya's unchanging expression finally cracked. Her eyes involuntarily widened slightly. To protect her family's dignity, she accepted the challenge.
Blue pupils met red ones in a tense standoff.
"Your next line is… 'The Shinomiya family's dignity will not be insulted!' …Something like that!"
"The Shinomiya family's dignity will not be insulted! …What?! What an insolent guy!"
No good—Shinomiya-san is completely being led around by the nose by Diego Brando…
She's going to lose. And lose badly.
Ryūju Momo lowered her gaze, lay down on a zabuton, took out her handheld game console, and started playing. From the corner of her eye she kept watching the clash between the two.
Shinomiya Kaguya exhaled deeply, expelling her frustration and turbidity. She drew her bow, focused, and released. The arrow struck the target 18 meters away.
Ten-ring!
Shinomiya Kaguya excelled in tea ceremony, flower arrangement, dance, and playing musical instruments. She also possessed considerable skill in aikido and naginata.
Her strongest discipline was kyudo. After losing to Diego Brando in the SBR Competition, upon entering high school she participated in the national individual tournament and took first place. In the final round she hit ten perfect ten-rings in a row, single-handedly silencing doubts about the Shinomiya family and washing away the disgrace of losing to Diego.
In Shinomiya Kaguya's eyes, archery was simply repeating the same set of motions over and over. Hitting the target was the inevitable result.
Therefore, in her mind, Diego Brando—who had barged in and proposed the bet—was like a student who desperately finished all the questions on an exam but forgot to write their exam ticket number. Failure was inevitable.
How cute…
Whoosh!
An arrow grazed past Shinomiya Kaguya's hair and struck the target 30 meters behind her with pinpoint accuracy.
At some point Diego had changed into a kyudo uniform. He stood behind Shinomiya Kaguya and the target, forming a perfect three-point line.
Ten-ring!
Diego gave a frivolous eyebrow raise, lifted his arm backward, and pointed toward the even farther 50-meter target.
Hair blown by the wind fell back down. After a brief stunned pause, Shinomiya Kaguya could no longer suppress her anger. Her face darkened instantly.
This guy deliberately stood behind me and drew his bow—just to give me a show of force!
Shinomiya Kaguya gritted her teeth slightly. Her good upbringing prevented her from showing any hysterical, unsightly rage. She walked to the side in silence and drew her bow again.
(Being too well-mannered is a disadvantage.)
50 meters;
70 meters;
Both still hitting ten-rings.
Until the distance stretched to 100 meters. Shinomiya Kaguya's arrow, lacking sufficient power, dipped slightly in midair and struck an eight-ring.
Shinomiya Kaguya panted heavily, staring fixedly at Diego's draw and release.
Whoosh!
Dead center on the target 100 meters away. Ten-ring!
Sure enough, she lost. In that case I can leave now…
Ryūju Momo wasn't surprised by the outcome. She climbed up from the zabuton, dusted herself off, and was about to leave the Kyudo Club when Shinomiya Kaguya's voice came from behind. It forcibly held Ryūju Momo in place—she decided to stay and keep spectating.
"Wait—I still have the right to raise the stakes, right? One more match—moving targets! If I lose, I'll cover your bentos for the next three years." Shinomiya Kaguya blocked Diego from taking the bento, walked to the side, and flipped the switch for the moving target.
"The rule is: whoever hits the moving target 50 meters away first wins."
With that, the moment Diego picked up his bow, Shinomiya Kaguya instantly drew and shot.
Like a student frantically filling in answers in the last second before the bell, grasping at a final straw, writing down whatever came to mind…
Unable to accept her own defeat, dominated by gambler's mentality…
I just wanted to win dinner. Shinomiya Kaguya really is an idiot…
But what this Dio excels at most is completely crushing someone in the field they're best at.
Diego drew again, squinting as he aimed. But this time his target wasn't the target board—it was the arrow still in flight.
Whoosh! The arrow tore through the air with a violent sonic boom.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. With overwhelming force and speed far surpassing Shinomiya Kaguya's shot, the arrow caught up in an instant, pierced straight through her arrow, and slammed dead-center into the target.
Crack…
The bow in his hand could no longer withstand the strain. It snapped and broke into several pieces that fell to the ground.
"The feel… seems to have recovered a little…" Diego rolled his shoulders, producing a series of pops and cracks.
Then he picked up the bento, walked over to the stunned Shinomiya Kaguya, split into a contemptuous grin, pointed his thumb downward, and slammed it down hard.
"Muda da muda! No creature on Earth can escape my dynamic vision! That pitiful look of being unable to accept defeat by a commoner… really is cute…"
(Death returned after thirty-three chapters!)
Better run quick—otherwise I'll have to pay for the bow later…
After finishing his performance, Diego pulled out his phone and pretended to browse messages boredly while walking away at high speed.
Shinomiya Kaguya showed no reaction to Diego's mockery. The scene of her arrow being pierced kept replaying in her mind. Her hands trembled uncontrollably. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
…Is this even human?
"How can someone be this cool…" Ryūju Momo stared in fascination at the figure of Diego drawing his bow.
Diego walked over to Ryūju Momo, tossed the bento to her, and spoke slowly:
"This is for you. I like that worshipful look in your eyes toward Dio."
"…Didn't you bet against Shinomiya-san because you were hungry?"
Diego waved his phone. "That was the original plan. But I just got a message saying everything's done and I can go home for dinner. Home-cooked food carefully prepared versus roadside scraps—I know which tastes better. Bye-bye, Momo Shirayuki!"
"Damn it! My name is Ryūju Momo! I'll kill you!"
Whatever. I got hungry messing around with Gold Ship at the racetrack anyway.
Watching Diego leave, Ryūju Momo opened the bento and took a bite. A flood of thoughts rushed through her mind.
The figure shooting the arrow overlapped with the figure galloping across the racetrack, deeply imprinting itself in Ryūju Momo's heart.
I hate weak men who shrink back the moment they're looked down on. I like the strong—the kind of strong who won't be looked down on by anyone. It's only natural that such men are popular with girls in relationships.
So it's only natural that I fell for Diego Brando.
I like the strong. And today, I met the strongest man in the world. Every pause he made matched my heartbeat.
After today, almost all the ugly rumors about Diego at school vanished. This violent young lady of the "Dragon Ball Gang" became member number 001 of Diego's fan club.
...
"I'm not satisfied! I'm not satisfied!!!"
Shinomiya Kaguya rolled around furiously on her bed, pounding her pillow like mad. Tearful and aggrieved, she poured her heart out to Hayasaka Ai:
"Just a little more—my arrow was just a little more from hitting the bullseye! But his follow-up shot pierced right through mine! What kind of joke is that? The one who should have won was me! Hayasaka, I'm not satisfied—"
"What a pain. Just admit defeat then. You can't beat him anyway." Hayasaka Ai let out a long sigh and set down her smartphone.
"No way! Bearing the Shinomiya name, I cannot lose. At the very least, I have to beat him once. That guy said 'really is cute~' right before he left—what a jerk! That's blatant mockery!" Shinomiya Kaguya mimicked Diego's expression and once again gritted her teeth in rage:
"What good points does he even have? Besides good grades, being popular with girls, having a cheerful and confident personality, being strong at kyudo, and looking kinda handsome… the guy is completely worthless!
A man who treats women like objects and kisses them forcefully—being with him would make anyone miserable. I can't even imagine what kind of person would fall for someone like that."
"Hey, I can't just pretend I didn't hear that. Young miss, to be honest—I don't dislike Diego Brando. I haven't reached the point of liking him, but I do feel some goodwill toward him."
Shinomiya Kaguya made a face like she'd seen a ghost, shrank back, wrapped herself in her blanket, and trembled. "Hayasaka… you actually like a man with such fierce eyes…"
"I said it's not to the point of liking. I just feel he's the same type of person…"
(PS: hh, one mama's boy, one mama's girl.)
Perhaps you've forgotten, young miss, but I still remember—Diego Brando was the one who fell into the Shinomiya family courtyard that day.
The story he told didn't sound fabricated. And I couldn't find any information on Diego from before that. All traces point to the SPW Foundation.
The SPW Foundation is said to have been investigating supernatural phenomena for a very long time…
But that doesn't matter. It's been a long time since the young miss showed any expression besides her iceberg face.
Do your best, Diego Brando—make the young miss show even more different expressions.
[That's not work suitable for an eighteen-year-old girl. You've helped me, Dio. So, when the day comes that you need to leave the Shinomiya family, call out to this ring. I'll come help you…]
[There's no need to report Kaguya Shinomiya's information to the main house anymore. I'll handle that rotten pack of rats in the Shinomiya family. You can stop doing what you don't want to do. I'll get your mother, Hayasaka Nao, out…]
A drop of gratitude…
Hayasaka Ai looked at the ring on her finger, then at Shinomiya Kaguya rolling around on the bed, and smiled from the bottom of her heart. Her worries melted away.
To think there really would be a prince on a white horse who instantly noticed my cry for help.
That's great… everything he said was true…
(Currently publishable information: Everyone in the Shinomiya family except Kaguya Shinomiya has already been turned into dinosaurs. The vast commercial empire has collapsed and become a ghost garden. The actual person in control has changed to Diego Brando.)
...
Inside Shuchiin…
"Aaaah, I'm gonna get scolded by Sakura again for being late~~" The pink-haired twin-tailed Ayasaki Remi dashed down the hallway clutching a box full of documents and files, about to collide head-on with Diego.
Diego sidestepped. She face-planted, and the documents scattered everywhere. She hurriedly gathered them back into the box and rushed toward the student council room.
On the ground, a forgotten accounting report stood out conspicuously. Diego picked it up.
"Isn't this the work Hori took on…"