Tokyo.
Japan's heart—an international metropolis—now stood scarred and battered, all thanks to Kenjaku's Culling Game. Yet Taisai Tensei had no intention of letting his Little Sun fall into despair.
A bloody battle scheduled to last twenty days? The moment he entered the field, it was over within ten minutes.
Every Cursed Spirit and Curse User appearing across Japan—under Yamato, all beings were equal. In the span of a few breaths, the country was cleared. The catastrophic game was forcibly suppressed to its lowest possible impact.
Even more ridiculous was the reconstruction. It was too fast.
Collapsed skyscrapers, shattered roads, ruined public facilities—everything seemed to be repaired as if the world were playing on fast-forward, each "ka ka ka" echoing like a cheat code. It was unclear whether Japan had learned from or if, before Taisai Tensei transmigrated, this world had survived an Ultraman-level crisis and gained "infrastructure experience."
Because in just a single week after the Culling Game ended, Tokyo had already recovered to nearly eighty percent of its original state.
And Taisai Tensei?
He and his Little Sun, Kitagawa Marin, planned to return to Tokyo by Shinkansen. Not because he lacked the ability to open a teleportation gate—last week, Kitagawa suggested that since school was starting soon, they should enjoy a playful, meandering trip back.
And so, their blind-box journey began: randomly buying tickets, randomly getting off, ignoring all destinations and directions.
"Next stop is—Hakodate!" Kitagawa rose on tiptoe, poking at the ticket machine screen, her golden hair brushing across Taisai Tensei's nose. "No peeking!"
Taisai Tensei nodded with a soft laugh and let her draw two random tickets. Did this silly girl forget she'd just shouted the destination aloud?
Once the announcement played, she folded their map into a paper airplane and tossed it in a perfect arc into a trash can. "From now on, we leave everything to fate!"
At five in the morning on the Hakodateyama observation deck, wrapped in Taisai Tensei's jacket, Kitagawa was nibbling on creamed corn when she tugged his scarf. "Look!"
The morning light pierced the clouds; the bay glowed gold; frost clung to her eyelashes—yet she smiled as dazzling as the sunrise. Taisai Tensei pressed the shutter. In his lens was a sun brighter than the famed million-dollar night view.
That afternoon at the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses, she sampled squid ice cream from twenty stalls before snatching the single normal vanilla cone—his—from Taisai Tensei's hand. "You silly Boyfriend-kun, you can only eat what I've already tasted~"
After a day in Hakodate, she dragged him to the station again.
She bought random tickets, then peeked back at him with a triumphant grin, nose scrunched proudly. "Let's go—next stop!"
Their next destination: Aomori.
The moment she stepped off the train, she spotted a hot spring advertisement featuring apples floating in milky-white water.
"Apple hot spring?" Kitagawa's eyes lit up.
That night, in the fragrant bath filled with floating red apples, she suddenly pushed Taisai Tensei against the pool's edge. "Don't move."
Her fingers traced his collarbone. "This is where I bit you last time in Sapporo—Hm? Why is it gone?" Steam blurred her view of his reddening ears.
The next morning, she ran through an orchard in a yukata, scattering white blossoms with every twirl. An elderly couple offered them fresh apple juice, smiling warmly. "It's nice to be young."
Taisai Tensei noticed the lipstick mark on her cup, turned away silently, and ordered ten boxes of apples shipped back to Tokyo.
At the Shinkansen platform, Kitagawa stood on tiptoe again before the ticket machine. "Let's go to Sendai! The beef tongue there is super good!"
Taisai Tensei stuffed a strawberry daifuku into her puffed cheeks. "Didn't you say you wanted to go to Kanazawa?"
"Mmm…" She chewed while thinking, then her eyes lit up. "Flip a coin!"
The coin arced—landed—straight into the drain.
"Hahahaha—!" Kitagawa laughed until she clung to his arm for balance. "Then we'll go wherever the next train stops!"
Thus, Sendai's beef tongue became Kanazawa's gold-leaf ice cream. She snapped a selfie with the glittering cone; in the shop window behind her, Taisai Tensei's reflection framed her perfectly.
On the fourth day in Nagoya, she attempted the legendary spicy chicken wing challenge—ten wings in ten minutes. She ended teary-eyed, throwing herself into Taisai Tensei's arms, begging for kisses.
On the fifth day in Kyoto, the guesthouse owner mistook them for newlyweds and insisted on gifting them matching yukatas. Kitagawa put hers on and refused to remove it. In her words: I'm wearing this to school so those women eyeing you understand, hmph!
Then she clattered off on wooden clogs to feed the koi.
On the seventh evening, when Tokyo Tower's silhouette finally appeared, Kitagawa pulled out all their train tickets and bundled them together with a rubber band.
"This goes into our memory box." She tucked the tickets into Taisai Tensei's chest pocket, tapping the spot above his heart.
He smiled and ruffled her hair. "Alright. Whatever you say."
She wrinkled her nose proudly and immediately opened her phone. For an entire week, every joint photo, every sweet moment—the Hakodate sunrise, the Aomori bath, their Kanazawa reflections—was already plastered all over her social media. Even better, every post was tagged with Kaguya Shinomiya and a few others: "Ice Block Venom Tongue Girl," "Random Passerby," "Doujinshi Sister."
The screen lit up her triumphant smile.
She tapped her most-liked post. Below it, Shinomiya's elegant yet sour comment appeared: "Enjoy your trip. It seems some people have far too much spare time."
"Doujinshi Sister" wrote: "Material GET √"
A row of lemon emojis followed.
"Hmph hmph hmph~" Kitagawa nestled into Taisai Tensei's arms, shoulders shaking with laughter. "So sour!"
Taisai Tensei glanced at the screen, then at his Little Sun clearly marking her territory. He chuckled. "Jealous little one."
"I am not!" she protested instantly, though her smile only grew.
Dragging their suitcases, they stepped into the bustling station. Kitagawa pressed a finger to her lips, deep in thought. "Where should we stay tonight? The one with the starry ceiling? Or the one with the Tokyo Tower view? Ahh, it's so hard!"
Taisai Tensei didn't interrupt—he simply watched her agonize cutely while pushing the luggage.
His phone vibrated. An unknown number. He answered casually. "Hello?"
"Yo~ Nero-kun!" Gojo Satoru's teasing voice exploded through the speaker. "You're back?"
Taisai Tensei said nothing.
"Don't play dumb! Come to the South Exit! I'm picking you up! And I brought—"
Beep. Taisai Tensei hung up without hesitation. He turned to Kitagawa, who was still choosing between hotels. "Marin, have you decided?"
"Uuu… so hard…" She grabbed his arm, rubbing against him. "It feels like no hotel is as cozy as our own little nest~"
"Or—we could go home?" she suggested, eyes shining.
Taisai Tensei froze.
His home in Suginami Ward had been completely destroyed. He hadn't checked on it. Reconstruction calls never came. The place was likely still rubble.
Kitagawa realized instantly. "Ah! Right…"
But the next moment, she bounced back like sunshine charging to full brightness. "It's fine! Ten-kun—let's go to the taxi stand!"
She flashed a brilliant smile, instantly dissolving the gloom. Taisai Tensei's helplessness melted too. He nodded. "Alright."
They reached the taxi area—only to stop. Leisurely perched on a metal railing was an unmistakable white-haired figure. Even with a black blindfold, his smug "gotcha" expression was obvious.
Gojo Satoru.
Beside him stood his three students. Itadori waved energetically. "Nero! Over here!"
Nobara framed her face with her hands, eyes sparkling. "It really is Nero! Nero!!"
Fushiguro simply nodded. "Nero-senpai."
Gojo hopped off the railing, strolling toward them with exaggerated swagger. "I told you I'd pick you up. Why'd you hang up on me?"
He draped an arm around Taisai Tensei—only to be pushed away in an instant. "What, no place to stay?" he teased. "Your cute little house got demolished, right? Probably can't find a single tatami mat left~"
Taisai Tensei exhaled. "Didn't Nanami tell you? Don't bother me."
"Oooh, so heartless!" Gojo clutched his chest dramatically. "My fragile heart!"
Taisai ignored him, scanning the surroundings. Itadori's shout had already drawn attention.
Passersby began whispering:
"Is that Nero?"
"The guy with the sunglasses?"
"That blonde—isn't that Kitagawa?"
With the crowd growing and a few fans inching closer, he sighed. "Gojo. Speak. What do you want?"
Gojo immediately straightened, smugness leaking through the mask. "Hehe, surprise."
He snapped his fingers. "Just follow me. You won't be disappointed!"
The crowd thickened. Taisai Tensei took Kitagawa's hand. "Let's go."
Gojo whistled and led the way, with his students following close behind. Together, the group slipped through the station toward the parking lot, leaving behind a cluster of excited onlookers buzzing with speculation.