I Like You, Scars and All.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Home Sweet Home

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Chapter Twenty-Six was originally made on January 7, 2024.

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Upon meeting Kirisame and Arashi, the four were led to the hidden shinobi village. All of them were skeptical about what was happening. Kanao could tell that something was especially suspicious about the Uzui patriarch, given what she saw at the treetops. Meanwhile, Yorumi was consumed with unease about coming back to her childhood home, fear captured in her pupils. Genya noticed it once he walked beside her, worried about his girlfriend's mental state. He then glanced at her family members, intimidated by their cold appearances before getting shocked.

Suddenly, they stopped near a waterfall with nets dangling at the edge. On each side, there were shinobi holding the ropes, partnered with another one to cut them down. However, the most horrifying part was that there were children inside of them, blisters invading their fingers as they tried to escape. Some of them were calling for help out of desperation, seeing the group below. Despite being horrified by the sight, especially Yorumi, the ninjas they were traveling with were unfazed.

"We've started to train our young to escape traps." Kirisame stoically spoke. "The rules are to cut the nets down with only their bare hands until sunrise. If they fail, they'll be cut down into the waterfall to die."

"I started it with Yorumi as a test subject." Arashi coldly admitted, shocking the Slayers more. "She was honestly slow, but this practice honestly helped us weed out the weak. At least, you made one contribution to us, Yorumi."

Meanwhile, she couldn't answer his remark, only trying not to shake. She glanced upwards to see some kids with fuchsia eyes stuck in the net before immediately looking down. Mixed between wanting to help and focusing on solving her mission, Yorumi didn't know what to do at that moment.

"Yorumi!" called Kirisame, grabbing her attention.

She then realized that her father, brother, and the other shinobi were already on the other side of the river, walking without them. Her older brother glared at her before handing a wide hat to their father. Kanao looked closer at them for further investigation until they were far enough away from them. She wanted to tell her observations, but Aoi patted her shoulder to remind her of the shinobi around them. Instead, the side-ponytailed girl had to wait until the four of them were alone as the Breathless Tsuguko approached the short-haired woman.

"Yorumi..." asked Genya gently. "We can leave this place if you want."

"It's fine." She replied after holding herself together for a moment. "Let's just get this over with."

The mohawk-haired Slayer looked away for a second before looking at her again.

"Sure, we'll help you. Just tell us if you're not feeling well."

In an instant, Genya was immediately picked up and bridal-carried by Yorumi. Before the rose-robed kunoichi jumped towards the stones in the river, she looked over to Kanao and Aoi.

"Do you want me to carry you two?"

"Um, no thanks." The pigtailed Butterfly Girl declined. "We were trained by Shinobu-san to do this kind of stuff."

"Oh okay." Yorumi replied, jumping from rock to rock while avoiding to look above.

On one hand, she wanted to help those children, but on the other, the sight of her memories being used made her want to vomit. Once she and the other Butterfly Girls were on the other side, Yorumi carefully put Genya down before all of them walked to the hidden shinobi village. All of this while the sun started to rise.