Shinichi tilted his head and laughed, tossing aside his umbrella and letting the rain drench his body.
"You're also human. Isn't it natural to make changes for someone who means something to you?"
"You're right. I can understand why my daughter was deceived by you..." Maruo seemed to have regained his composure, speaking calmly, but the motion of rolling up his sleeves didn't cease.
"Actually, if you swear to love only one person from now on, I might close my eyes and treat you as my future son-in-law."
Shinichi waved his hand. "Interesting to discuss such impossible things? Father-in-law."
"Quite boring, so there's no reason for you to call me father-in-law." Maruo sighed softly.
"...Ebata, prepare the ambulance and further compensation."
Ebata held the umbrella, his always narrow eyes slowly opening a slit, and said gently, "Sir, it's not that serious."
"Don't worry, even if it's just scratches and bruises, I'll make sure he gets the best medical treatment." Maruo loosened his tie a bit, speaking emotionlessly.
"Consider it as repaying the favor I owe him from before."
"Pfft!" Shinichi heard this and couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Hahahaha, I really don't know where you get that confidence. Do you think I won't fight back?"
Shinichi cracked his neck twice. After making a clicking sound, he narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at him through the rain curtain with a focused gaze.
"Sorry, but I think I'll disappoint you. I'll just feel a little guilty. Besides, I'll have to use the fighting skills Yotsuba taught me to face her father later."
"This is truly disgusting."
After Maruo stepped out from under the umbrella, his suit quickly got wet in the rain, but he didn't care and walked towards Shinichi with firm steps.
Shinichi clenched his fists, lunged sideways, and stood there with a serious expression on his face, waiting earnestly for him to approach.
One step, two steps.
Maruo suddenly stepped forward, his palms like knives on an operating table, swiftly breaking through the rain curtain.
Just as everything turned into an odd situation, a 17-year-old boy and a man in his thirties were fighting over five women in the rain in the park.
Someone stood up and shouted to them:
"Wait a minute!"
It wasn't Ebata who spoke.
But Nino, who had been hiding behind a tree to spy, finally jumped out to stop them.
Regardless of who wins, she didn't want to see such a scene... If she didn't fully expect that they would actually attack each other directly, Nino wouldn't have hidden there for too long and would have jumped out sooner.
"I didn't tell you, are you too naive?! Even elementary school students wouldn't want to fight with someone in the park while soaking wet in the rain!"
Hurrying between the two of them, Nino looked at both of them slightly embarrassed by the rain, picked up Shinichi's umbrella from the ground, handed him umbrella, and then stood under the umbrella with him.
"...Nino, how do you know about this place?"
Maruo ignored his daughter's biased behavior.
"What, do you want to blame me for coming out to stop you from fighting each other now?" Nino put her hands on her hips with an unhappy expression on her face. "Not that I want to argue with you, Dad. You're already in your thirties, and you're still the director of a big hospital. Now you've come here to duel with a high school student in the rain... Not to mention the others, if Ichika, the others, or even mom see it from heaven, what do you think they'll think?"
"..." Maruo remained silent, taking a towel from Ebata and slowly wiping the water droplets from his face.
Shinichi smiled and defended him:
"You don't understand this, Nino. In the face of so many identities, he is a father first and foremost, no matter how important the face is, it cannot be compared to his love for his daughters."
Nino said irritably, "That's the situation, so you have to stop saying a few words!"
"..." Maruo stopped, and the towel slowly lowered, revealing his cold eyes.
"Asada-kun, you deliberately made me angry from beginning to end."
"Logically, when I called you and asked you about their relationship, you should find ways to reassure me or even persuade me to accept your stupid idea."
"But not only did you not do that, you also deliberately used your arrogant attitude and sarcastic words to provoke my emotions, making me lose my calmness and creating a situation that was almost out of control."
"You must have called Nino here, right? Did you want her to hear our conversation? Or perhaps the conversation earlier was actually a 'show' specially designed by you?"
"The closer you look, the more you can see... Are you calculating something?"
The indifferent voice fell into the rain, sounding serious and questioning.
"Calculations..." Nino was surprised that her father could say such long things at once, then looked at Shinichi with a face full of astonishment, and said with a little disbelief, "So Shi-kun, did you arrange all this?!"
"You told me your address and deliberately told me not to come, just so I could see you arguing with my father?"
Facing Nino's seemingly hurt gaze, Shinichi stretched out, saying calmly with a smile.
"Of course not. I didn't know if you would go to the student council room, and I didn't know if you would call me, and I couldn't lie to you. Of course, I told you the address first. What could I do if you didn't listen to my advice?"
It's because he knew her preferences and what Nino hated, so Shinichi chose to confess at that moment rather than seriously fool her.
"S-Sorry, I misunderstood you." Nino bowed her head in embarrassment, but then raised it in confusion, "But, you knew I would come, right? Then why did you do it with my father..."
"Because whether you come or not, what I want to do won't change."
Shinichi held the umbrella in his hand and looked at Maruo.
"Nakano-san, can your daughter be entrusted to protect me from now on?"
"Impossible." Maruo answered instantly.
"I'll just say it once. Asada-kun, even if you now swear to me that you only like Nino, I won't entrust any of my daughters to someone like you."
As long as Shinichi had the idea of 'I want it all', even for a moment, there was a possibility of cheating after marriage.
And the likely target of his infidelity would be Nino's sisters, his own daughters, a future humanitarian tragedy would soon occur.
So at this moment, no matter how sweet Shinichi's words were, Maruo wouldn't allow him to continue to approach them, let alone marry them, they couldn't even date.
"My father said so, swear to try it first, maybe he will change his mind!" Nino had completely turned outward, pushing Shinichi's shoulders urgently.
"Quick, swear you only like me! Oh wait, let me record your voice first..."
"..."
Maruo turned his gaze away from Shinichi and ordered Nino:
"Nino, leave him and come back with me."