[Check Out My P4treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!! And get chapters before publishing them here for free on my p4treon][https://p4treon.com/ThePlotHoleRefuge]
===
Shinji raised his hand, and the Kunai slid from his sleeve into his palm, stabbing toward the opponent.
The Kunai pierced into the abdomen.
"You..."
Miki Ayano looked down.
The Kunai had sunk into her body, and dark wet stains slowly seeped from where the blade met her skin.
Then she looked up, staring wide-eyed at the expressionless boy, her lips moving as if wanting to say something.
Shinji didn't give her the chance.
With a twist of his wrist, the Kunai churned inside her.
That twist was very light, as light as if he were just turning a knob.
But Miki Ayano's body suddenly tensed, then went limp.
She fell into the ruins, her eyes still open, gazing at the gray night sky.
Silence fell within the mist.
Only the sound of the wind passed through the gaps in the ruins, letting out a thin whimper.
The mist flowed slowly, wrapping the three corpses bit by bit.
Shinji stood in place, looking down at the Kunai in his hand.
Blood was still dripping from the blade, one drop, two drops, falling into the cracks of the rubble.
He took a cloth from his robe, wiped the Kunai clean, and retracted it into his sleeve.
Then he turned and walked toward Mei Terumī.
"Shinji."
At this moment, Mei Terumī leaned against a broken wall, her body covered in wounds.
The blood scabs on her knees had cracked again, the bruises on her abdomen were a purplish-black, and there were several cuts on her arms from the rubble.
But she didn't fall, merely leaning against the broken wall that had a large hole corroded by Yōton.
Watching Shinji turn around and walk toward her.
One step, two steps, three steps. He stopped in front of her.
There was less than two steps of distance between them.
Moonlight leaked through the gaps in the mist, a thin strand shining on Shinji's face.
"Are you alright? Is your life in danger?"
"How did you end up here?"
Mei Terumī's face was pale, and she answered with a question. Years of habit kept a trace of vigilance in her heart.
Looking at this stubborn brownish-haired young girl who was seriously injured, Shinji suddenly had a sense of deja vu, as if facing a little lion-dog.
He didn't answer but slowly raised his hand.
"Shinji, what are you doing?"
Mei Terumī's pupils contracted slightly, her body reacting before her consciousness.
She instinctively shrank back, her back pressing tighter against the broken wall.
That hand grew larger and closer in her vision.
But the hand did not attack her.
It merely landed gently on her cheek, wiping away a drop of blood splashed there.
The warm sensation touched her cheek and then left.
Mei Terumī was stunned.
She just leaned against the wall, head tilted up, looking at Shinji.
Forgetting to dodge, forgetting to speak, even forgetting to breathe.
On her face, where the finger had touched, the temperature of that moment still lingered.
"Mei Terumī, be my partner from now on."
Shinji's voice was flat, but it inexplicably carried an unquestionable tone; it was clear this was no joke.
Mei Terumī blinked.
"Partner?"
She had heard this word countless times.
In class, when the instructor explained squad formations.
At the training ground, when others discussed their teammates.
In front of the bulletin board, when she looked at her own class assignments.
But no one had ever said "be my partner" to her.
No one had ever invited her.
Because from the day she was born, she was an orphan of the Lava Release Clan, a descendant of a Kekkei Genkai, someone who shouldn't exist.
Everyone avoided her, gossiped about her, waiting to see when she would be purged.
No one would invite her, no one would want her, no one would.
She opened her mouth. Her voice squeezed out of her throat, raspy like sandpaper rubbing against stone:
"You... why are you helping me?"
Shinji didn't answer immediately.
This question really stumped him for a moment.
The current answer was definitely his best chance to win Mei Terumī over, but the truth certainly couldn't be told.
But how should he answer this question perfectly?
"Because I think you're very beautiful," Shinji blurted out, his eyes filled with sincerity, "and you have a great figure."
"Huh?" The last bit of vigilance in Mei Terumī's heart suddenly collapsed. "What are you saying? Don't joke around."
"Actually, it's because I..." Shinji stood there, eyes slightly downcast, thinking about how to answer.
Moonlight leaked through the gaps in the mist, shining on his profile, making his silhouette look a bit blurry.
Mei Terumī just watched him, waiting, her heart hanging in mid-air, not knowing what she would hear.
It was so long that she thought he wouldn't answer, so long that she began to lower her head, prepared to accept the answer she had heard countless times.
Because you have a Dual Bloodline Limit, because you have utility value, because a monster like you always has a use somewhere.
The next moment, Shinji looked up at her.
"I have a feeling you will save this Village."
Mei Terumī snapped her head up, finding it somewhat absurd, doubting if she had misheard:
"That's even more ridiculous than the previous reason!"
"It's not ridiculous, not ridiculous at all," Shinji said.
"How is it possible..."
Mei Terumī wanted to argue, but she suddenly saw Shinji's incredibly serious eyes.
She opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. She just stared blankly at Shinji.
Because there was a strange seriousness in those eyes, as serious as if he were stating a fundamental fact.
But saving the Village? That was too far-fetched, right?
"No, I can't do it. I can't even manage to survive. If you hadn't come just now, I might already be dead."
"Why can't you? Can you tell me?" Shinji asked.
Perhaps out of the joy of escaping a desperate situation, this twelve-year-old girl finally opened her heart and began to confide in Shinji.
Then, Mei Terumī's voice became even raspier than before, as if forced out from deep in her throat, carrying a certain tremor she hadn't noticed herself.
Since her earliest memories, Mei Terumī had been dodging, hiding, and living cautiously, not letting anyone notice her.
On the day her mother died, she hid in a cabinet, covering her mouth, listening to the commotion outside, not daring to make a sound from beginning to end.
After those people left, she crawled out, knelt in a pool of blood, and looked at her mother's still-open eyes for a long, long time.
Then she closed her mother's eyes, buried her alone, and has lived alone until now.
She lived in this Village like a rat crossing the street. Everyone avoided her, gossiped about her, waiting to see when she would be purged.
Those three people just now.
Her teammates and her captain were the best proof.
Such a person, saving the Village?
She lowered her head, looking at her hands covered in blood and dust.
Those hands were trembling slightly.
After hearing Mei Terumī's story, Shinji looked at her.
"Now I believe even more that you can do it."
"Why?" Mei Terumī asked.
Shinji said indifferently, "Because only those who have been bullied can understand the meaning of protection; only those who have been excluded can understand the importance of justice; only those who have been hated can understand love."
===
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 20 on my patreon, go check it out
exclusive 18+ character images, and early chapters, please visit my Patreon. Thanks for your support!
p4treon.com/ThePlotHoleRefuge
if you want more updates == supports with power stones
Power Stones == Bonus Chapter
every three 5-star reviews == Bonus Chapter