He couldn't help it.

You and Diego were rivals. Sworn enemies, whatever. You hated each other. Or so he thought.

Lately, Diego had been noticing more things about you. The way you never gave up, you always committed to something, the way you helped others while not losing track of your goal... and he started to grow uncharacteristically nervous around you. He hated it. He hated every single thing about it. He was meant to be Diego Brando, strong and fearless... and here he was, acting like a lovesick fool around the one person he swore to always hate. He tried to brush it off, determined to force himself to ignore these unwanted feelings, but every time he saw you- his mouth would dry up, he couldn't speak and he started to grow nervous.

And the worst thing of all is that you despised him. There was nothing he could do. He didn't want this. He didn't want to like you at all. He just wanted to win the Steel Ball Run race, and get away from these stupid feelings.