The heart of Neon, an international metropolis, was now marked by deep scars.
Its avenues, once shining and full of life, had been left devastated; every ruin was a reminder of the sin sown by Kenjaku's Culling Game.
Luckily, Damian didn't want to see his little sun downhearted.
Twenty days of bloody carnage were planned? After he intervened, in just a few minutes everything ended completely.
The cursed spirits and sorcerers that had sprung up all over Neon during the Culling Game were wiped out in an instant.
Under Yamato, no matter their rank or their number, Damian eliminated them without giving them a chance to breathe.
But even more surprising than the cleansing was the speed at which the city rose again.
The skyscrapers that had fallen, the fractured streets, and the collapsed systems began to be reborn as if someone had pressed a fast-forward button.
Cranes, machinery, workers, and technology appeared in mass; each day dawned with a new stretch of the city rebuilt.
And Damian?
He and Marin made a decision: to return to Tōtsu
Not that Damian couldn't open a portal to get there in seconds, but a week ago Marin had started talking excitedly about going back to school soon, about traveling and enjoying a little before returning to routine.
So, for the first time in a long while, they decided to do it like anyone else.
That's how the trip began — buying tickets, getting off at stations, not caring about direction or destination, a "surprise" kind of trip.
…
"The next station is Hakodate!" Marin announced excitedly, standing on tiptoe to reach the vending machine screen. "Don't look where we're going!"
Damian nodded without arguing and crossed his arms, letting her do her thing.
"You know you just shouted 'Hakodate' a second ago, right?" he muttered.
Marin ignored him completely, focused on choosing two tickets.
When the station's speaker sounded again announcing the stop, she folded a map and, without looking, launched it like a paper airplane straight into the trash can.
"Done!" she said triumphantly, dusting off her hands. "From now on, we let fate decide."
…
At five in the morning, the cold of Mount Hakodate bit at their skin. Marin was wrapped up in Damian's jacket and in her hands she held a corn on the cob slathered in butter.
She suddenly tugged gently on his scarf and, eyes shining, pointed toward the horizon.
"Look, look quickly!"
The sun was beginning to peek through the curtain of clouds, and the entire bay was bathed in a gold that looked liquid.
Damian lifted the phone and took the picture without thinking.
In the afternoon, while walking among the Kanemori warehouses, Marin hopped from shop to shop, trying increasingly strange flavors.
When she got to a squid ice cream, Damian simply looked at her, not daring to taste it. She, on the other hand, mercilessly stole the only normal vanilla ice cream he had managed to get.
"Stupid boyfriend, you can only eat after I taste first~" she sang, giving the cone a dramatic lick before handing it back.
When the day ended and the sky began to fill with lights, Marin dragged him back to the station. She stopped in front of the ticket machine, chose at random again, and then turned to him with a smile.
Damian, a few steps behind, watched her silently, and when she noticed, she wrinkled her nose before taking his hand.
"Next stop!"
…
Their next destination was Aomori.
As soon as they got off the train, Marin stopped in front of a large tourist sign inside the station. On it was a hot spring pool where red and green apples floated.
Her eyes lit up instantly.
"Hot springs with apples?" she asked with excitement.
…
That night, the steam filled the air with a fruity scent. Apples floated over the hot water, giving the bath a calm atmosphere. Marin crawled closer until she had Damian cornered against the edge of the pool.
"Don't move!" she ordered with fake seriousness.
She placed a hand on his shoulder and let her fingertips slowly trace his collarbone, drawing the path of an old bite.
"I bit here last time in Sapporo…" she murmured, leaning in a little, but was surprised when she looked closer, "Huh? How did it disappear?"
The steam blurred her vision, but not enough to hide how, suddenly, her ears turned a deep, intense red.
…
The next morning, Marin ran through a small apple orchard, her light yukata fluttering with each step.
An elderly couple, local farmers, stopped to watch her with tenderness before coming closer and offering them a glass of freshly squeezed juice.
"Being young is wonderful," said the woman with a warm smile.
Damian thanked them with a slight nod and looked at the rim of the glass Marin had drunk from first, still marked with the soft pink imprint of her lips. Without thinking much about it, he bought ten boxes of apples to send immediately to Tōtsu.
…
Later, back at the station, they stopped in front of a shinkansen ticket machine. Marin stood on tiptoe to touch the screen, excited.
"This time let's buy for Sendai!" she exclaimed. "I heard the beef tongue there is suuuper delicious."
Without taking his eyes off her, Damian popped a strawberry daifuku into her mouth before she could keep talking.
"Didn't you say yesterday you wanted to go to Kanazawa?"
"Mm…" she mumbled with her mouth full, cheeks puffed out like a hamster. She swallowed the bite and her eyes lit up all of a sudden, "Then let's decide with a coin!"
She triumphantly pulled a five-hundred yen coin from the pocket of her shorts and tossed it into the air with a dramatic gesture.
"Heads, Kanazawa; tails, Sendai."
The coin spun fast, fell… and got stuck right in the grate of a drain.
"Hahahaha!" Marin doubled over laughing, clinging to Damian's arm, unable to control herself. "Then let's go wherever the next train stops!"
…
And so, the promised beef tongue from Sendai ended up turning into gold cone ice cream in Kanazawa.
Marin raised the cone with a triumphant air, looking for the best angle for a selfie. In the reflection of the shop window, behind her, Damian's silhouette appeared outlined with a calm expression.
…
On the fourth day, in Nagoya, Marin insisted on taking on the famous "fried chicken wing challenge": ten ultra-spicy pieces in ten minutes.
She went in confident, but she didn't get past the fifth wing before her cheeks turned red, tears filled her eyes, and her mouth felt like fire.
"Spicy, so spicy!" she babbled desperately before throwing herself straight into Damian's arms.
"Give me kisses, quick, quick, my tongue's burning…" she demanded between sobs, and Damian, amused, only stroked her hair before giving her a few kisses.
…
On the fifth day, they stayed in a traditional house in Kyoto. The owner, delighted with the couple, mistook them for newlyweds, and before they could explain, he had already handed them two matching yukatas.
Marin, as soon as she put it on, looked at herself in the mirror and decided she would never take it off.
"I'm going to wear this to school so those women hanging around you can see!" she declared with a proud "hmph~," spinning around so Damian could see her.
She was so excited that, suddenly, she ran out into the yard in her wooden sandals to feed the koi carp in the pond.
…
At sunset on the seventh day, the outline of the Tōtsu Tower finally appeared on the horizon. Marin, who had been looking out the window, jumped with excitement and pulled out of her bag all the train tickets they had collected over the week.
"This is going in our memory box!" she announced proudly, while tying them together with a hair tie into a small bundle and then slipping them into Damian's chest pocket, giving it a couple of taps right over his heart.
Damian looked at her tenderly and ruffled her hair.
"Alright, whatever you say."
Marin wrinkled her nose adorably before taking out her phone and quickly starting to type. While Damian arranged the luggage, she was selecting photos: selfies in front of Mount Hakodate, laughter in Aomori, ice creams in Kanazawa — everything carefully chosen. In seconds, she had filled her social media with memories from each day.
And, an important detail: in every post she tagged Shinomiya Kaguya and several other names.
The glow of the screen lit up her satisfied face as she checked comments. In one of the posts with the most reactions appeared Kaguya's reply, with the elegant tone typical of the Shinomiya family but dripping with jealousy between the lines: "Enjoy the trip. It seems some people have a lot of free time."
The rest were messages full of sharp, indirect remarks.
"Hum hum hum~" Marin hummed playfully as she read. Instead of getting upset, she hugged her phone tightly and nestled against Damian's chest, laughing mischievously, "Look how bitter they are!"
Damian glanced down at the screen and then at her, clearly "marking territory."
"Little jealous one…"
"Not at all!" Marin replied instantly, but the proud smile trembling at her lips betrayed her.
Again her fingers began to move, probably leaving "likes" on the most envy-filled comments.
…
Upon finally leaving the shinkansen control zone, they joined the flow of travelers filling the Tōtsu station.
Marin walked beside him, dragging her suitcase with one hand while the other was still busy with her phone. Suddenly, she stopped, thoughtful.
"Hmm… where would it be better to stay tonight?" she asked out loud, scrunching her face. "At the hotel with the starry ceiling or the one with the full view of the Tōtsu Tower? Ah, what a dilemma…"
Damian didn't interrupt her concentration. He simply watched her with a faint smile, pushing his own suitcase silently and enjoying Marin's expressions.
Bzz…Bzz…
Damian's phone vibrated in his pocket. When he pulled it out, the screen only showed "Unknown number."
And he answered without thinking.
"Hello?"
"Yo~ little bro Nero!" Gojo's unmistakable voice burst from the other side. "You're back already?"
Damian raised an eyebrow and stayed silent.
"Don't play dumb!" Gojo went on, smiling through the line. "Surprise! Head out the south exit. I'm here to pick you up. And I brought—"
Beep
Damian hung up without hesitation and turned his head toward Marin, who was still facing away, counting hotels on her fingers, focused on deciding.
His tone softened. "Marin, have you decided? Where are we staying tonight?"
She looked up, puffing out her cheeks in frustration. "Mmm… it's so hard to choose!"
After a second, she turned and clung to his arm, rubbing her cheek against him.
"I feel like no matter what we choose, it will never be as cozy as our own little nest~"
She lifted her face to look at him, her red eyes sparkling with a playful glint.
"What if… we just go home instead?"
The word "home" hit Damian bitterly.
Since his home in Suginami had been destroyed during Kenjaku's games, he hadn't thought about that place again. No one had called him about rebuilding or clearing the debris; he knew it probably remained the same.
Marin noticed and, immediately, her own face dimmed. She covered her mouth and stuck out her tongue.
"Ah! That's right…" she murmured, guilty.
But, being her, the sadness didn't last. With a small jump, she hugged his arm even tighter.
"It doesn't matter! I decided! Let's go to the taxi stand!"
Looking at her, Damian, without realizing it, felt the weight in his chest fade little by little and nodded.
"Alright."
Dragging their suitcases, they moved together through the noise of the station. But as soon as they stepped into the area reserved for taxis, both stopped cold.
A few meters ahead, an impossible-to-ignore figure sat casually on the railing.
White hair shining under the light, a black blindfold covering the eyes, and yet, the mischievous smile that said "found you" was unmistakable.
Damian let out a quiet, resigned sigh.
It was Gojo Satoru.
Beside him, on the sidewalk, were his three students.
Yuji waved his hand enthusiastically. "Nero! Over here!"
Kugisaki Nobara held her face with both hands, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"It's really Nero! NERO!!"
Megumi, more reserved, just gave a slight nod.
"Senpai Nero."
Gojo jumped down from where he was sitting and landed in front of them.
"Aiya~ I already told you I was coming to pick you up, why did you hang up on my call?"
Ignoring Damian's slightly furrowed brow, he threw an arm over his shoulders as if they were old friends.
"What's wrong? Ran out of places to sleep?"
The corner of his mouth stretched into a mocking smile.
"You already said it, your little house got smashed to pieces. Not even a single tatami left, right?"
Damian effortlessly brushed off the hand Gojo had placed on him.
"Didn't Nanami tell you? Don't come bother me."
"Oh~ nooo!" Gojo clutched his chest dramatically. "Nero-kun, you're too cruel! My heart… shattered!"
Damian completely ignored his theatrics and glanced around. Just as he expected, Yūji's shout a moment ago had been like throwing a stone into a pond: the murmur was spreading through the crowd.
"Eh? Is that Nero?"
"That one with white hair, glasses, and a mask?"
"Looks like it! Look, over there!"
"And the blonde next to him… is that Kitagawa?"
Some onlookers were already starting to approach with their phones in hand. Damian let out an audible sigh and fixed his gaze back on Gojo, who was still pretending to be emotionally wounded.
"Talk, Gojo. What do you want?"
In an instant, Gojo dropped his hurt expression and returned to his usual lively energy. Even though his blindfold hid his face, the satisfaction was obvious in his posture.
"Hehehe… surprise!"
He snapped his fingers and leaned slightly toward Damian, his tone sounding mysterious but also excited.
"Just follow me, I promise you'll like it."
Damian, seeing more and more people gathering around and some fans already raising their phones, didn't want to draw any more attention. Without letting go of Marin's hand, who was looking around curiously, he murmured simply:
"Let's go."
Gojo whistled in satisfaction and spun on his heels to lead the way.
His three students followed him immediately, walking toward the parking area.
________
Time: If you're craving more (and I know you are!), I have just what you need. On my Patreon, you'll find exclusive chapters. Join our community and be the first to discover what happens next!
👉 [patreon.com/Athome790]
Your support fuels me. Thank you for the support! 💖