The warm morning light filtered softly into the quiet bedroom.
"..."
Damian opened his eyes lazily, still half-asleep. His hand moved instinctively toward the warm side of the bed, but it only brushed against the sheet.
?
Then he remembered: Marin had gotten up early to go to the airport to pick up her father, Saburō Kitagawa.
He was just starting to sit up, supporting himself with one arm, when—
Bang
The door burst open.
Standing in the doorway was Rin, wearing an apron clearly belonging to Marin, covered in anime characters, and holding a kitchen spatula in her hand—completely out of place with her usual elegance.
"Damian!" she exclaimed, both annoyed and flustered. "You're still not up?! Didn't Marin-neesan tell you that today you had to take Sakura and me to school?!"
Her eyebrows rose, and her twin tails swayed sharply, reflecting the golden sunlight pouring through the window.
Still drowsy, Damian looked at her, his mind taking a second to catch up. Then he remembered Marin's insistence before bed.
"Ah…" He slapped his forehead and smiled in resignation. "Right, right. I remember now."
He stood up and threw off the sheet. He was wearing only dark athletic shorts, his torso completely bare, his muscular body gleaming in the morning light, every line of his frame defined.
"Uwahhh!"
Caught off guard, Rin's face shifted from fury to sheer shock. In an instant, her cheeks, ears, and even her neck turned bright red.
"I-Idiot! Moron!" she shouted, pointing the spatula at him. "Put something on, exhibitionist!"
She spun around so quickly she almost tripped over her slippers and ran out of the room, the sound of her footsteps fading down the hallway.
Damian let out a low laugh, amused by her clumsy reaction.
And just as he was about to head to the wardrobe, he noticed something at the door.
Peeking through the slightly open frame was a small head of short, straight violet hair.
It was Sakura Tōsaka.
Her large violet eyes watched him curiously, bright and unashamed, lacking her sister's exaggerated sense of modesty. When she saw Damian looking back, she smiled with a mischievous glint.
Damian smiled in return. "Good morning, Sakura."
But Sakura's smile grew even wider. "Good morning, perverted brother-in-law."
Damian's smile froze.
'This… ah…' he sighed inwardly, saying nothing.
Ever since everything had ended in Fuyuki, Rin and Sakura had moved into his house three days later.
With Gojo's help, Damian had quickly signed the guardianship papers. Since then, he had been living with three new residents: Rin, Sakura… and Artoria.
Artoria's arrival had almost caused a domestic crisis. Marin had looked at him with teary eyes. "Damian… Damian-kun… do you not love me anymore?"
It took him quite a while to explain everything. With Rin as witness, he finally managed to convince her that Artoria was merely a "close companion," not a "new lover."
Only then did Marin stop crying, return to her usual energy, and even help decorate Artoria's room, preparing a grand welcome dinner.
It had been almost half a month since the three of them had moved in, but the most noticeable change was in Sakura: she was no longer the shy girl she used to be, and her former insecurity had completely vanished.
But Damian hadn't expected her to become so sharp-tongued.
"Perverted brother-in-law~." Sakura tilted her head, her innocent smile contrasting with the venom in her words. "Marin-neesan's voice was really loud last night."
"W-What!" Damian almost choked. "That… that was because…"
"Because what?" Sakura asked with innocent eyes. "You don't need to explain, brother-in-law… I already know everything."
Damian rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
Since when had this little girl become so bold?
"SAKURAAA!"
Rin's furious voice echoed from the kitchen. "Stop bothering that pervert and come set the table!"
"Coming!" Sakura replied with a giggle, sticking her tongue out at Damian before hopping away down the hallway.
"..."
Damian stood still, massaging his temples. Then he sensed another presence—this one at the end of the hallway.
Artoria was standing there, watching him silently. She was wearing the home clothes Marin had bought for her: a T-shirt with teddy bear prints and loose sweatpants, a complete contrast to her usual knightly image.
"Good morning, Master." Her voice was serene as always, and she bowed her head slightly. But Damian noticed a faint, suspicious twitch at the corner of her lips.
"...Did you hear everything?"
Artoria didn't answer directly. She only said, "I hope that, in the future, Master will be more… discreet at night."
Damian pressed his hand to his forehead again. Perfect. Now even Artoria had been influenced.
He finally understood why Japan's birth rate was so low: with the slightest noise, the whole house knew.
Were the walls made of paper or what?!
Muttering to himself, he seriously considered moving to a larger house.
And above all, one with much thicker walls in the bedroom.
He threw on the first things he found—a T-shirt and a pair of long pants. He washed his face and brushed his teeth in a rush before opening the door to the dining room.
!
But a dense, invisible pressure struck him the moment he stepped inside.
Sitting at one side of the table was Kaguya. Her hands were neatly folded on her knees, and a perfect smile graced her face.
Behind her, slightly to the side, stood Ai Hayasaka, her maid. She wore her maid uniform without a single wrinkle, her expression calm, though her eyes quietly analyzed every corner of the room.
In front of them, Rin looked like a cat ready to pounce. Her arms were crossed, her chin lifted, and her eyes locked on Kaguya with sharp intensity.
Beside her, Sakura smiled sweetly, wearing an innocent expression, though her narrowed eyes betrayed that she silently sided with her sister.
The only one completely oblivious to the tension was Artoria, seated in the center.
With the grace of a queen, she held a teacup delicately with both hands, and in front of her sat a small strawberry cake. Her focus was solemn and unwavering, as if nothing else existed in the world.
"…"
Damian raised an eyebrow and entered calmly.
Kaguya turned her head at the sound of the door. Upon seeing him, she and Ai bowed at the exact same moment, their synchronization so perfect it looked choreographed.
"Good morning, Damian-kun."
Kaguya's voice was clear and flawless, but devoid of emotion. It sounded as though she were speaking from behind a pane of glass.
Damian sighed.
Perfect. Just when he had managed to make her lower her guard during their date in the park, she had gone back to hiding behind her walls.
The heiress of the Shinomiya family had once again locked herself inside her cage.
He approached her and, without hesitation, reached out his hand to gently pat her sleek, perfectly combed black hair.
"Kaguya," he said with a tired smile. "I told you, you can be yourself with me. You don't have to talk to me like that."
"Ah…!"
Kaguya's face froze instantly.
Feeling the warmth of his hand on her head, a wave of embarrassment coursed through her entire body. Her composure shattered—blush spread across her cheeks and climbed to her ears.
She looked up without thinking, meeting Damian's calm smile, and her heart began to race so fast she could barely breathe.
"I… I…"
She tried to speak, but her mind went blank. All her logic, her elegance, and her self-control vanished in an instant.
She could even feel Ai's gaze behind her, which only deepened her flustered panic.
Just as the atmosphere was turning warm, a voice exploded.
"BROTHER-IN-LAW!!!!!"
Slamming both hands on the table, Rin shot to her feet. Her eyes burned with such fury it seemed they could set the dining room on fire.
"This is completely inappropriate!"
Her shout was so loud that everyone in the room fell silent. She glared at Damian's hand, still resting on Kaguya's head.
Even she didn't fully understand where that surge of anger was coming from.
Was it for Marin, her sweet cousin, who wasn't home at the moment and whom she felt obliged to protect as "family"?
Or was it… something else?
A strange knot formed in her chest, a bitter pang of jealousy spreading through her body as she watched him touch another girl.
The tension was so intense that even Artoria stopped her fork midway and looked up, surprised.
Meanwhile, Sakura watched the scene with a sweet smile. To her, this was the perfect show: her sister furious, Kaguya flustered, and Damian resigned.
In a soft but clear enough voice for everyone to hear, she murmured toward Artoria, "Saber-oneechan, look… brother-in-law is 'taking care' of another woman again."
!
Damian's eyelid twitched.
This brat just kept throwing fuel on the fire!
Without saying a word, he reached out and mercilessly messed up Sakura's hair.
"Uwah!" she yelped in surprise.
Her perfectly styled hair became a complete mess. When she lifted her head, her large violet eyes shimmered with restrained tears, and her expression resembled that of a helpless victim.
And worst of all, with her pure, innocent face combined with a body that far surpassed that of a normal girl her age, that look of fragile helplessness carried a devastating charm, enough to melt even the hardest heart.
"Damian!"
Rin's scream tore through the air. Seeing her sister's "hurt" expression, something inside her snapped.
All her composure vanished. Without thinking, she lunged at him like a wild animal.
Her legs wrapped tightly around Damian's waist in a swift motion, and in an instant her body was clinging to him.
The sudden impact made Damian stumble backward, forcing him to hold her with both hands, gripping her thighs firmly. But before he could say a word, Rin bit down hard on his shoulder.
"!" Damian gasped sharply from the pain.
…She had actually bitten him!
"Don't bully Sakura, you idiot! Pervert!" Rin shouted through clenched teeth, still biting into his shoulder. Her legs tightened even more around him, like a koala determined not to let go.
The air in the dining room froze completely.
Artoria set down her fork and watched the scene, her eyes slightly widened, completely forgetting her cake. Her gaze was filled with pure bewilderment.
Kaguya's blush faded as she brought a hand to her mouth, unable to speak, staring at Rin clinging to Damian with a mix of surprise, confusion, and an emotion too complex to describe.
Ai, her expression unshaken, stepped forward, positioning herself in front of Kaguya. Her eyes were sharp, assessing every movement in the room, ready to intervene if necessary.
Sakura, with her hair disheveled and her eyes gleaming, looked first at her sister, then at Damian, who was gritting his teeth in pain. Slowly, a mischievous and dangerous smile formed on her lips.
"I'm back~ Damian-kun~ You were going to take Rin-chan and Sakura-chan to school… right…?"
And then, a cheerful voice broke the silence.
Marin's sudden, bright voice, full of her usual energy, burst into the dining room like a ray of sunlight—but it stopped abruptly as she took in the scene before her eyes.
Her smile froze instantly.
Her eyes widened, locking onto the center of the room.
There was Damian, holding his cousin's legs, clad in black stockings, with both hands while Rin clung tightly to him, her face buried in his neck.
From where Marin stood, the scene didn't look like a bite at all—it looked far too intimate, far too close.
"T-this…" she murmured, her voice tight and dry.
That small sound was enough to shatter the moment.
Rin trembled and turned her head sharply. Her cheeks were flushed, and the red mark from the bite was clearly visible.
She froze completely when she met Marin's blank, emotionless eyes.
"M-Marin-neesan?!" Her voice carried a panic she had never shown before. "Why… why did you come back so soon?!"
"Rin-chan…" Marin slowly lowered her gaze to Damian's hands, still holding Rin's legs, then lifted it back to her cousin's blushing face. "You… and Damian-kun… since when…?"
"M-Marin-neesan! It's not what you think! He was the one—!" Rin tried to explain, but Marin didn't let her finish.
"ENOUGH!"
Her shout cut through every thought. The usual sweetness in her voice vanished, replaced by a coldness that froze everyone in the room.
She took a deep breath and spoke calmly, but with an unshakable firmness.
"Now. Family meeting."
Her gaze, sharp as a spotlight, swept over everyone present in the dining room before giving out orders.
"Artoria."
"Take Sakura to school and make sure she gets there on time."
Artoria swallowed the last bite of her cake, glanced regretfully at the empty plate, and nodded without hesitation.
"Understood. Leave it to me."
She stood up calmly, and before leaving, her eyes briefly met Damian's and Rin's, carrying a silent message: Master, may the gods protect you.
Marin turned her head toward Kaguya, her gaze so sharp that it made the Shinomiya heiress straighten her back immediately.
"I deeply apologize that you had to witness such a disgraceful scene."
Her cold voice carried the forced politeness and firm authority of a true lady of the house.
"This idiot," she said, pointing at Damian, "and I will not be attending class today. Please inform the school on our behalf."
"..."
Kaguya stared at her, surprised by the seriousness in her tone.
There was confusion in her eyes, a hint of irritation, and a faint, indefinable emotion when she looked at Damian. She wanted to reply, but Marin's firm gaze was enough to silence any attempt.
With elegance, she lowered her head in a polite bow. "Don't worry, Kitagawa-san. I will make sure to inform them."
Her voice remained calm, though the slight tremor at the end of her sentence betrayed her tension. Without looking at anyone else, she turned around.
"Hayasaka, let's go."
"Yes, miss."
Ai followed her immediately. As she passed Damian, she gave him a brief glance before leaving.
Sakura, her hair still messy, walked up to Artoria with a mischievous smile. She glanced sideways at Rin and Damian, pursed her lips, and exaggeratedly mouthed "ay, ay~" without saying a word, her expression clearly meaning "you're both dead."
Then she hopped away cheerfully, following Artoria out of the dining room.
Within seconds, the once noisy room fell silent, leaving behind a heavy stillness.
Marin cast a cold look at Damian, who was still frozen, and at Rin, who had awkwardly slid her feet back to the floor, so frightened she didn't know what to do. Then Marin slightly lifted her chin toward the living room. "To the living room. Now."
The order was simple, but neither of them dared to argue.
…
In the living room, the atmosphere was oppressive, like the calm before a storm.
Damian no longer had his usual relaxed air. He looked exhausted. His tall, strong frame sank into the armchair, and he rubbed the shoulder where Rin had bitten him.
Rin sat on another chair, her legs pressed together, hands gripping her skirt so tightly that her knuckles were white. Her chin was lowered, unable to look at Marin—or at Damian.
The blush on her cheeks had vanished, leaving her face pale. Everything about her screamed one thing: I messed up.
Marin sat on the center couch, facing both of them, with an authority she had never shown before.
Her legs were elegantly crossed, her hands interlaced over her knees, and her back perfectly straight.
Sunlight streamed in through the large windows, illuminating the specks of dust floating in the air. Her usually gentle face now carried the seriousness of a queen.
She parted her lips slightly and, imitating Damian's relaxed yet commanding tone, spoke calmly:
"Talk. I'm listening."
The resemblance was so uncanny that it caught Damian completely off guard.
He lifted his head, looked at her for a few seconds, and couldn't help himself—he laughed.
"Pfft!"
Rin, beside him, blinked in confusion, looking from Marin to Damian. That tone… she had heard it before—from Damian himself.
Marin's solemn authority instantly crumbled.
Just seeing him laugh made her face flush red, ears included.
"Ugh!" she grumbled, stomping lightly on the floor in frustration. Then, acting on impulse, she completely forgot her role as judge and threw herself at him.
Under Rin's stunned gaze, Marin leaned in and bit his other shoulder—the one Rin hadn't attacked.
"Ow, that hurts~!" Damian complained, though a playful grin spread across his face.
Marin released the bite and looked at the faint teeth mark she had left. She scrunched her nose with a pout, then turned her head toward Rin.
The young Tōsaka girl was frozen, eyes wide, face completely red. She couldn't make sense of it. Marin-neesan… isn't mad? She bit him too?
When their eyes met, Rin flinched and quickly lowered her head. "M-Marin-neesan… you're not mad?"
"..."
Marin looked at her with a tired expression. She sighed, slid off Damian, and sat beside Rin on the couch.
She took Rin's cold hand and squeezed it gently.
"Rin," she said softly, "I'm not mad. Or rather… not about that."
Rin looked at her, confused. Stroking her hand gently, Marin continued:
"I know perfectly well how irresistible Damian-kun can be. Especially for girls who have seen him sing live. Tell me, how many could really resist that glow? Getting caught in that light… it's normal."
She spoke with such calmness that her words felt like an undeniable truth.
Rin opened her mouth to deny it, but no words came out.
Fuyuki…
The concert…
Damian's figure under the lights, the songs that had seemed directed at her…
Her heart began to pound wildly at the memory, racing out of control. Yes… maybe… it was at that moment… when something inside her changed without her realizing it…
Marin watched her in silence. Rin was completely red, her ears burning, her gaze lost.
She understood perfectly, so she didn't comment on it.
"Rin…" Her tone shifted, becoming more serious. "...I don't think it's wrong that you feel something for Damian-kun."
!
Rin's eyelashes trembled, and she lowered her head even more, almost burying it in her chest.
Marin leaned slightly closer to her, lowering her voice but speaking with absolute clarity.
"It's too soon right now. If you rush, you might end up getting hurt… There are things you should think through carefully. Wait until after your birthday, in two months. Once you're sure about how you feel, then talk to him, alright?"
As she spoke, her gaze drifted toward Damian, who was still sitting with his hand on his shoulder, wearing an exaggerated expression of pain.
"Before using the product, make sure you read the manual and the safety warnings carefully. You wouldn't want… accidents, right?"
Rin's mind exploded.
What had Marin-neesan just said!?
Manual!? Product!? Accidents!?
Her face turned crimson, and the heat rushed up so fast she thought she might burst.
"Marin-neesan! W-what are you saying?! I… I—I'm going to school!"
She screamed uncontrollably, jumped to her feet, and ran off without looking back, stumbling on her way out.
The door slammed shut loudly.
Silence once again filled the room.
Damian remained motionless, still holding his shoulder.
Slowly, he turned his head toward Marin, wearing the expression of someone who had just witnessed an emotional earthquake.
She sat calmly, her face serene, as if she had just given a responsible lecture on sexual education.
He tried to speak but couldn't get a single sound out.
A harem?
Was Marin… helping him build a harem?
Even Rin Tohsaka, with all her pride and strong personality, was a "potential candidate"?
And what concerned her the most was… safety?
Damian stared at her, completely stunned, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Marin noticed, blinked a few times, and said with total innocence:
"What is it? Did I say something wrong? It's important to be cautious, don't you think?"
Damian just sighed, covering his face with one hand.
________
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! 💖