"Was that sentence just now something he said himself?"
After Kita Ikuyo's condition improved somewhat, Hayasaka Ai spoke up and asked.
"Yes!" Kita Ikuyo nodded affirmatively. "Hayasaka-san, do you want to go talk to teacher? I can try to contact him."
He said it himself, huh…
Perhaps I can roughly guess what he has been through…
Hayasaka Ai's fingers gently rubbed the rim of her teacup. After blowing on it to cool it down, she took a sip. A conclusion formed in her heart: "No need. I think I know where he is right now…"
...
Hayasaka Ai declined the others' offers to help, even though Shinomiya Kaguya was among them. Her reason was that her operation plan could not have outsiders present—having other people around would only get in the way.
She left STARRY, hailed a taxi by the roadside, and told the driver to head to the Shinomiya main residence.
"Hmm~~~!"
Hayasaka Ai stretched lazily, leaned back in the seat, and began thinking.
A sudden drastic change in behavior style, from a psychological perspective, is generally due to an imbalance in the person's inner cognition, needs, or state, or a major external stimulus breaking the original behavioral pattern.
Hayasaka Ai leaned toward the idea that Diego had experienced the impact of a major stressful event—for example, the death of a companion from another world, or suffering a major setback—causing his brain to switch coping modes for self-protection.
"Still, it's hard to imagine what kind of setback would make Dio, who crossed worlds, switch his coping mode…"
Hayasaka Ai muttered to herself.
While Hayasaka Ai was thinking, the car engine's humming gradually grew lower, finally cutting off with a whoosh. The vehicle came to a steady stop by the roadside.
The driver called out to Hayasaka Ai: "We've arrived at the destination."
"Ah, okay, thank you." Hayasaka Ai quickly responded, gathered her belongings, and got out of the car.
In front of the gate of the Shinomiya main residence, Hayasaka Ai quietly complained: "So expensive!!! Next time I'll have the Shinomiya family's servants pick me up on the pretext of official business."
So, Dio, will you be by that swamp?
Hayasaka Ai looked up at the sky, then recalled Diego's embarrassed state when he fell into the swamp. She covered her smiling lips with her fist and walked step by step toward that swamp ecological park.
As expected, Diego was standing by the swamp, holding a glass bottle in his hand. Inside the bottle was a ball of flame.
"Why would the maid miss come here?" Diego did not turn his head.
Hayasaka Ai stood with her hands behind her back, her tone light: "This Mr. Dio, this is the Shinomiya residence. As a maid, being here is the correct thing for me."
Diego played along and asked with a smile: "Oh? Then what happens if an outsider trespasses without permission?"
"It would be troublesome if someone other than Miss Kaguya discovered it." Hayasaka Ai made a dragging motion and answered playfully, "They would be thrown out."
"Don't tell me they'd be dragged on the ground and thrown out. That's too scary! Please don't do that to me…" Diego raised both hands in surrender.
"Dragged on the ground… That must be because the guy who trespassed was too heavy! A beautiful and delicate maid miss couldn't lift him." Hayasaka Ai approached Diego, snatched the bottle from his hand, examined it carefully, then said somewhat teasingly, "Suspicious fellow."
Diego was taken aback for a moment, then helplessly pressed down the brim of his hat and muttered under his breath: "Evil little thief."
"Then, as punishment for being caught, you are sentenced to come to my house for dinner." Hayasaka Ai tossed the glass bottle back. "My mom has always wanted to meet you. She told me to bring you over for a meal as thanks."
"..." Diego caught the bottle and fell silent for a while. Finally, he let out a long sigh. "If that's the price for being caught, then fine."
Only then did Hayasaka Ai break into a bright smile and ask again: "That's more like it. By the way, what's the fire inside this bottle?"
"Nothing much, just a Demonic Flame Dragon that can destroy this world. If the bottle had broken just now and released the fire, it could have revived." Diego spoke with an indifferent attitude, even sounding faintly regretful.
"Cough cough cough cough cough cough…"
Hayasaka Ai coughed violently. Realizing she had nearly destroyed the world, a chill ran down her spine and she was badly frightened.
"Why is such a terrifying thing kept in a small broken glass bottle?!"
"What does it matter? If it revives, I can just kill it again."
"It does matter! And it's a very serious matter!!"
Hayasaka Ai's hands were shaking as she spoke.
"Didn't nothing happen in the end?" Diego pouted, then sniffed the air a few times. "Sniff… sniff sniff… Right, how is Aunt Nao doing? Does she have any preferences?"
"My mom? My mom is a big liar. She always promises things she can't do… Speaking of which, I need to send a message to remind her and ask if she's free tonight."
Hayasaka Ai's brows furrowed slightly. She took out her phone from her bag and quickly began typing a message with her fingers, her tone carrying a hint of complaint: "She's busy, and very cold. She's not very interested in her daughter. She rarely came to parent-teacher meetings in the past."
"She probably thinks it doesn't matter how my life turns out…"
"OK, the message is almost edited. Send!"
Ding-dong…
The notification chime came from behind Hayasaka Ai.
"I never thought that way, you know."
Diego tilted his head and looked past Hayasaka Ai toward the person who had arrived.
Ignoring the traces left by time, that person looked almost exactly like Hayasaka Ai. Her hairstyle was a shoulder-length bob. She wore a wine-red wide-brimmed hat, a light blue stand-collar shirt paired with a red gem brooch.
Diego didn't need to look to know this was the unfamiliar scent he had just smelled—Hayasaka Ai's mother, Aunt Nao.
Hayasaka Nao was currently tilting her head slightly, her eyes wide and round, carrying a trace of innocence and bewilderment.
"Mom!" Hayasaka Ai turned around in surprise, showing none of her earlier dissatisfaction.
Hayasaka Nao looked at Diego and asked: "This handsome boy is Diego Brando, right?"
"Yes, Aunt Nao. I am Diego Brando." Diego quickly stood at attention.
"Ever since Little Ai no longer had to follow the main family's orders and could interact with Miss Kaguya as she wished, I've always wanted to meet you." Hayasaka Nao removed her hat, held it in front of her chest, and gave a slight bow. "It's truly presumptuous. I've owed such a great favor and only today am I expressing my thanks to you."
"Mom…" Hayasaka Ai tugged at Hayasaka Nao's clothes.
Hayasaka Nao patted Hayasaka Ai's head, her voice carrying a hint of affection: "Little Ai, don't make trouble. Didn't Mom teach you? At times like this, you should properly express your thanks to others."
"Yes! I've already expressed my thanks many times!"
Hayasaka Ai's cheeks instantly turned red. She didn't know what to do, but she didn't pull away from her mother's caress.
[Dio, you have to be a good child…]
Diego froze. He stared unblinkingly at this heartwarming mother-daughter scene, his mouth slightly open and unable to close.
"If Mom were still alive…"
I really envy you, maid miss…
He couldn't help but murmur softly.
Fortunately, his voice was very quiet and the two in front of him didn't hear.
"R-right… Mom, can we have dinner together tonight…? " Feeling Diego's intense gaze, Hayasaka Ai blushed and turned her head away, asking haltingly.
Hayasaka Nao agreed readily: "Sure. Let's all go eat something delicious together."
"Yes! I want to eat yakiniku and sushi!" Hayasaka Ai linked arms with Hayasaka Nao.
"Mom wants to eat fugu sashimi."
Diego's gaze grew increasingly dim.
As if sensing something, Hayasaka Nao turned her gaze to Diego and asked with a faint smile: "What about you, Brando-kun?"
"Ah, me?" Caught off guard, Diego also answered haltingly, "Um… fugu sashimi is fine."
"Good…" Hayasaka Nao showed a gentle smile.
However, she immediately turned her head and covered her mouth with her hand, whispering to Hayasaka Ai: "What a cute child. He feels like the type you'd want to tease even if it costs money."
"Your personality is really bad, Mom…" Hayasaka Ai felt helpless about her mother's joke.
"I won't say it again, but Little Ai, don't you really feel he's the type that's very endearing…"
"Mom!"
Sensing that Hayasaka Ai was angry, Hayasaka Nao stopped joking.
She became serious, waved at the two of them, and said goodbye: "Well then, I still have things to do, so I won't stay long. See you tonight."
"Bye, Mom!"
Hayasaka Nao left.
After the elder left, Diego relaxed considerably and teased: "I didn't expect the maid miss to have a mother complex. That cold-faced messaging earlier was actually acting spoiled, right?"
"Eh~~ Does Dio have the right to say that?" Hayasaka Ai frowned and immediately retorted.
"Of course. I don't have a mother complex."
"For example, remembering exactly what flowers Mom liked? And taking care of them even more carefully than yourself?"
"Maid miss, you…!" Diego was momentarily at a loss for words.
After holding it in for a long time, he finally managed: "That's filial piety!"
Hayasaka Ai couldn't help but laugh: "Hahaha, there are times when Dio admits defeat with his words too!"
"But we really are quite similar." Hayasaka Ai wiped away the tears that had overflowed from laughing. "At least when it comes to Mom."
"Hmph, so what!"
"Then I'll just say it straight. Dio, are you in a hurry to go back because you want to go to the Land of Soul's Rest to chat with Mom?"
"…There's that reason, but I think the string in my head has snapped." A trace of surprise flashed in Diego's eyes as he explained, "Not long ago, my last means of contacting my hometown broke, and it broke because I lost. Even though I said I would never lose again…"
Once you have had something, you can't accept losing it.
"So that's how it is."
Hayasaka Ai paced back and forth, her mind heavy as she thought about something.
Rustle!
After going back and forth like this for five minutes, Hayasaka Ai finally stopped and stomped heavily on the grass.
"Although I really want to say some words to make you stay, but…" Hayasaka Ai spoke, then suddenly paused and quickly lowered her head.
When she lifted her head again, tears were streaming down her face. She spoke solemnly: "I support you, Dio! Go! Return to the world that should have been yours!"
No matter how much time passed, she was still that crybaby coward.
"…Whether I can go back or not is hard to say. It's still in the trial stage." Diego softly comforted her. "At least wait until after dinner before trying."
Hayasaka Ai's face turned red as she muttered softly: "That's true…"
"The current plan is to use sufficiently powerful magic to kill the Demonic Flame Dragon, obtain a magical power reaction comparable to a Demon King's self-explosion, and try to create a space-time rift again at the entrance that was opened back then. Maybe that way I can return…"
Today's match: both sides win!
(The fugu sashimi in the evening was delicious)
...
The next day, the giant body of the Demonic Flame Dragon fell from the sky above the Shinomiya residence. The massive magical power collision did not tear open a space-time rift as expected.
Diego's expression was gloomy. His entire body bathed in fire, he slowly descended from the air and collected the remaining flames of the Demonic Flame Dragon to prevent it from reviving again.
In a certain corner of the street, a man in a white windbreaker was watching all of this. He pressed down the brim of his hat, turned around, and left.
"Yare yare, stealing…"
To be continued...