Chapter 36 — Home of the Deadly Six
Smoke cleared. Ash faded into the sky. And in the shadowed quiet of the woods—they found it.
An abandoned mansion. Dusty, crumbling at the edges, but the bones were solid. Like them. Broken, but not gone.
"This place looks haunted," DMK muttered.
"Good," Cainen said, shouldering Kaito. "Fits the vibe."
The Reunion.
The front doors creaked open. Cobwebs. Empty halls. A chandelier older than any of them. But it held.
Lilith said nothing. Not a word since they escaped. Not even a joke.
She cleaned.
Wiped every surface. Swept every floor. Took out every bag of trash with surgical precision. No smile. No cackle. No threats. Just silence.
Kaito lay on an old couch, barely conscious.
Cainen dragged a mop across the floor. K helped DMK scrub blood off the walls. They found a stash of old supplies in the basement—soap, bleach, brooms, even paint.
They worked all day.
No talking. Just cleaning. Healing in silence.
Then night fell.
Kaito stirred. Whispered, "...Lilith."
She walked over with clippers, ready to shave the stubble off his chin. Her hands hovered over his face.
He grabbed her wrist.
"I like the stubs."
She froze.
Face twitching.
Anger.
Then a loud sigh.
Kaito let go.
She cut his face clean.
then walked off.
Outside, they chopped trees. Cleared the land. Built fences, burned brush. DMK started carving names into a giant tree trunk.
"What we callin' this place?"
Cainen smirked. "Deadly Six."
K tilted his head. "There's only four of us."
"Doesn't matter. It's who we lost, too. Kekka. Evemond. The old me. The ones we carry."
Everyone nodded.
Home had a name now.
That night, they didn't bother with bedrooms. The mansion had plenty, sure, but the living room was warmer.
Blankets thrown everywhere. Pizza boxes on the floor. One cracked window showing moonlight through.
Lilith slept with her hand inside Kaito's mouth. (No idea why.)
Cainen's foot was on DMK's back.
Lilith's foot was on Cainen's head.
They looked like a pile of corpses. But peaceful.
For once, nobody screamed.
Nobody hid.
Nobody died.
Above them, the stars shimmered.
And in the sky—a smiling face formed in the clouds.
Kekkea.
Watching over them.
End of Chapter 36.