When Shinobu first heard that a gang member was staying in the village for a while, she could immediately illustrate the stranger in her head. Someone with ugly scars littered over their flesh, a bulky build, and of course the black clothes. And perhaps a knife or two. Even a gun. And immediately she hated it. She hated the idea of her innocent kind village being contaminated by someone like that. She was partly scared too, but more worried.
So she told everyone at the village to never leave their house unless absolutely necessary. It was better to avoid them.
- what if he kills us all?
- if that happens, i'll get revenge on him for everyone.
Shinobu took care of the village. Anyone sick or in need of help came to her. It was a small village that raised her and now she was going to take full responsibility and take care of it. Shinobu picked up her silver tray of dirtied forceps and medical utensils. She trotted out into the empty streets and glanced at the blue sky for a moment. It was a bright happy day and she hated it that this one human was forcing everyone to stay inside, cautious and scared.
And then she tripped.
Shinobu cussed internally as she watched the scissors and knives fly out of her grip and fall to the dirt ground. She sighed and clutched her head, brushing the dust off her dress before leaning down to pick up the utensils. The sunlight glistened on the metallic surface and she winced a little, narrowing her eyes. Her fingers touched the medical forcep and she yelped a little and jerked her hand back, feeling a prickling pain on her finger tips.
She examined her fingers. Yes, she had cut herself. It was bleeding bright red blood.
Someone squatted down before her and a shadow cast across her. Shinobu looked up from her hands, stunned and surprised.
It was him.
The menacing stranger she had never seen until now. He was nothing like her imagination, besides the black clothes. His face was expressionless, which was surprising, she thought it would be angry all the time. He gingerly picked up each tool and she watched, dumbfounded. Light spilled across his face as he looked up.
Their eyes met and time momentarily stopped.
His eyes widened noticeably. His outstretched hand trembled and all the tools he picked up fell to the ground. He took a shark intake of breath and he looked paralyzed. Shinobu knitted her eye brows confused. Wordlessly she picked up the tools and stood up, brushing past him. She felt a grip on her wrist and she turned around, once again confused. The man before her had an oddly sad face. His eyes raked her face again and again, as if he was trying his best to memorize her every feature.
"Excuse me," Shinobu snapped as she jerked her hand away with a scowl. She hastily turned away, holding her hand close by her chest as pain seeped into her fingers. She inhaled sharply, her hand trembling. She stopped when she turned the corner. She examined her finger in the sunlight. Her blood was shiny. She turned her head and peeked down the street.
He was still there.
He was still standing there with his hand covering his eyes. It almost looked like he was crying. Shinobu looked at the figure standing in the sunlight between the houses. He looked so sad. He looked so lonely. And she realized she was never scared of him. She thought she would terrified the moment she saw him. She thought she would be horror-struck. But unlike her assumptions, she had forgotten to be scared. He didn't scare her.
