The tiny bundle of feathers shivers in my palm. "Hello," a voice says. I turn to see a girl with (e/c) eyes and (h/c) hair. But what really caught my attention is the red crescent the colour of fresh blood around her eye.

She glances at the fallen nest beside me where a few dead baby birds lay. "Looks like it's the only one that survived," she comments. I stroke the quivering baby bird in my palm and notice that its right wing is broken. "Let's take it to Yamuraiha. She'll know how to fix that wing," she says.

As we head towards Yamuraiha's room, I stare at her back. I heard that there was a female assassin that burned down half of the palace. Is she that assassin? Her eyes did not contain any bloodlust but they didn't contain any innocence either. Should I keep my guard up around her? Still, I don't feel the usual defensive instinct I get whenever someone suspicious shows up.

Her eyes are...different. They are what some people might call emotionless but to me, that's not quite it. Her eyes did look devoid of emotions like a stone wall at first. But when she looked down at the bird in my palm, her eyes seemed more like frosted windows through which I could see a small flicker.

I get the sense that she's hiding something behind those eyes. But my instincts aren't screaming at me to keep my guard up around her.

"Hello, (y/n), Masrur," Yamuraiha greets us when we walk in. After she heals the baby bird's wing, (y/n) turns to me.

"It still needs to be taken care of. It's not big enough to fly yet and we don't know where the mother is," she says. "Why don't we take turns caring for it? You can take care of it first," I suggest. "Hai. Arigato," she replies firmly, bowing in front of me.

She covers the lower half of her face with her hand, but I can still see a grateful smile stretching across her mouth and eyes. My eyes widen before I hand her the bird and leave the room.

I'm going to follow my instincts when it comes to (y/n), I decide.