Fifteen

Carlos looked at Hikari, studying her as he made his way over to the back corner of the room. He sat on the floor, and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how he'd just managed to escape death. "You didn't have to make up some dumb story to get him to save me. He'll just kill you when he finds out you're lying."

Hikari looked up at him, her big dark eyes shining under the sunlight that blared through the window. She ran her hands over her dark brown hair, which had grown from pleasantly wavy to ratty and tangled. "He's probably going to kill me anyway. But—I'm not lying."

Carlos' stomach tightened, and his heart dropped. He scooted closer towards, her, she was sitting in front of the cot that Hachiro had busted. "You told him that I was needed to revive some dead guy!"

Hikari nodded. "Well yes. In order to revive him, a sacrifice needs to be made."

"You screwed me over! A sacrifice! What difference does it make whether I die today or however many days from now!"

Carlos was horrified, angry, and most of all disappointed. The second he thought he'd been made a free man, was the second his freedom had once again been taken away.

It was all too real for him, and it reminded him of the day he'd met Hachiro.

He could remember himself, being too naive to say no to a bad thing. It had been a blizzard outside, his fingertips had fallen numb to the cold, and his hunger had ate at him. Carlos had been desperate for something he couldn't quite describe. At first it had been fun, but then he'd realized that he'd walked into a trap. That he was here, for the long haul, under watch of some man that would kill all in his way.

Hikari blinked, "do you honestly think that I'm going to let myself be used in some freak mission." She edged closer towards him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Hikari bared no mind to the fact that he'd shuddered from her touch, and had scooted back instantaneously. He watched her with hawk eyes, and kept in a crouch.

"My mother stopped caring years ago, but I do have people that care about me, and they are going to find me before it's too late. They're going to come for me, and when they do, I'll make sure they help you too."

Carlos pressed his fingers to his temples and sighed, "who would want to help someone like me? Who would want to risk their lives for some man that was too weak to say no. I wasn't forced to come here. I did so of my own accord. It was only after I signed up, did I know that I wouldn't be leaving. My mother can't even look at me, my father gets sick at the mention of my name. Why would a stranger help me?"

Hikari didn't know the answer. It wasn't her place to put outcomes forth if she didn't truly know they would happen. She did know that the people of her village were generous, and forgiving, for the most part. They wouldn't hold a grudge, and more than anything they would want to stop Hachiro's plans, whether that meant saving someone who had been caught at the wrong time, or not.

She sighed. One thing did pick at her though. "Hachiro's really known as some kind of freak isn't he?"

Carlos nodded, looking vulnerable, sad and alone. He held his hands together, and placed his head on his knees. "Not everyone knows him by name. But everyone knows that the man of green is to be avoided."

"Then why . . . Why is he still at work? If he's such a danger, then why isn't the Mizukage doing anything about it? Why is someone, so horrifying allowed to move about the world so freely?"

He scoffed, his usual cool expression coming back, his eyes lit up and he chuckled a little. "Kirigakure knows to avoid the man in green. The man in green is a horrifying, and ugly sight. It's when Hachiro's arms are longer than fallen trees, when his skin is greener than pine. When his humanity has completely vanished, and all that's left in his cold eyes is hatred." He looked at her. "Tell me Hikari, do you see those things when you look at him?"

"N-no."

"Of course not. You see a young, promising man, with a work ethic, and a collected way of handling things. You see a handsome face and a charming smile. But what you do not see is a monster. And that is why he's not locked up. It is because no one knows it's him. It's because the only ones that know what he can become are either dead, or too scared to say anything."

"When did you learn about how horrible he was?"

Carlos laughed a little. It was a dry, pained sound, and he seemed to be in a state of misery as he began his story. His voice became low, and his tone filled with malice. His eyes had grown hard as stone, and his movements slowed. He was becoming cold and rigid.

"It was within the first week of working with him. It had been a late," he took a moment, "Sunday, I believe. The sun was set, the stars were out and the moon was full. The sky was lit up by lanterns, and if I'm not mistaken it was raining"

He rubbed his forehead in exhaustion. "I had just came outside, and I'd found him, standing with a blood stained weapon in his hands. His arms had been stretched wide, and he'd been laughing like a lunatic. I'd asked him what he had done, but all he would do is laugh. I hadn't seen him change, I hadn't even discovered whether it had been a human he'd slain, or an animal. But what I did know, was that his reasons were wrong."

"How?"

"The madness in his eyes. That is something he's always had. Pure madness and hatred, deep within those green gems all the girls love to fawn over. It's always been there, and I had only noticed it after I'd stared into them for too long. So when I felt that unease I followed him. I followed him, and I trailed him across the village. We'd found ourselves in the village forest. The rain had picked up and aside from my own breathing and steps, all I could hear was the sound of water falling from the sky."

"What happened next?" Hikari leaned forwards, holding herself up with her hands as she craned her neck to see him better.

"His form started to change. Hachiro had started laughing, loud and obnoxious, as all young adolescent boys did. His arms had grown long and wide, and after reaching so far forwards, they'd came snapping back to his sides. He'd grabbed a girl in his hands. A young, pretty girl with big ocean eyes and braided black hair. He'd smiled at her, called her beautiful, said it was sad she'd have to die."

"And?"

"And then he scratched her eyes out, and stabbed her in the chest. And then he'd turned around and held her up by her wrist. He looked at me, laughed for what seemed like hours, and he'd told me to enjoy the rest of the night. And then he was gone." He sighed. "After he'd left I'd walked up to the girl he'd left lying on the ground. I'd walked further into the woods, the same way he had gone, and on my way, I'd seen something. He'd cut her hair. Part of her braid, the ribbon gone, was on the ground. The moment the wind picked it up, and scattered the strands was the moment I turned back around, and decided to run somewhere to stay."

He looked at her, "that madness of his never left those eyes. He doesn't hide it. If you want to know how truly awful someone is, just stare into their eyes. You'll find out more than you ever would from a simple conversation."

"Over the last little while I've come to recognize you as the funny man who would make light of anyone. You're much more serious than anyone gives you credit for."

Carlos shrugged, "it's not something I think needs to be credited. I'd much rather be known as the guy who laughed, then the guy who was serious and annoying." He looked at her, "I have a question."

"Ask."

"You said your mother stopped caring years ago. What about your father? Is he dead?"

Hikari grew uncomfortable, that horrible feeling she'd had before his story, and all day before came seeping back. "If Hachiro gets his way, he won't be for long."

"Your dad is who Hachiro hopes to revive?!"

Hikari wiped her eyes, and stared off into space. "My dad is death to us all, once he's alive."