Ja'far

I sit at my desk in the corner, reading and signing papers. However, half of my mind is on the girl standing in the corner of the room silently. Sinbad has assigned me to 'keep an eye' on her. Although we already interrogated her and practically searched for the slightest evil intention, Sinbad let me decide what to do with her because he trusts my judgement. He believed that I knew whether or not to really trust this girl or not.

But the thing is...I don't know. I can't tell if she's trustworthy or not. She rarely shows intentions to do anything. And when she does, I can't tell if they are really good or not. Even back then, while we were fighting, what bothered me wasn't that she was a better fighter than me. In fact, it was clear from her movements that she was not a professional assassin. Sure, she was nimble and swift. But her fighting style was unique from any that I've ever seen.

I should've been able to beat her, but I couldn't.

Her moves...from setting the palace on fire to using my own weapons against me and trying to kill her target even though she knew I was going to kill her...they were all unpredictable. No one I've fought has ever done that. Even when I saw part of her face through the broken mask, I couldn't read her. That one bloodstained eye that showed through the mask didn't show any sign of pain or murderous intent.

I just couldn't read her.

Suddenly, the door bursts open. "Ja'far, how many times have I told you to take some rest? Your wound is still healing!" Yamuraiha exclaims, Sinbad behind her. "And how many times have I told you to knock?" I mutter, a vein popping on my head.

"Oh, it's you," she says, noticing the girl standing by the door. "Hi. My name is Yamuraiha. Nice to meet you," she greets, offering a hand. Hesitantly, the girl accepts the handshake.

"Ja'far, if you're not going to give this girl any work, I will. She can help arrange some of my magic spells. She's not a magician so there's no way she'll be able to understand any of it. I know you still don't trust her to arrange your papers." Yamuraiha says.

"Sinbad told me to keep an eye on her," I object. "It's okay, Ja'far," says Sinbad. I look at him in surprise. He has been unusually quiet during the conversation. What is he thinking about?

"I would like her to feel as at home as possible among us. Besides, Yamuraiha is one of my Eight Generals. I trust her," assures Sinbad.

"Yay!" she cheers before grabbing the girl's hand and running out of the room. "You heard Yamuraiha, Ja'far. Go get some rest," says Sinbad before leaving the room.

I sigh. Of course I wasn't going to listen to that order. As I continue my work, I remember one question we asked the assassin during the interrogation.

"What is your name?" asked Sinbad. She scribbled something down onto the piece of paper. It was a bunch of characters. Squinting at the writing, Sinbad says,"Hm...Kou characters? But they're a little different. Since I can't read this, we'll wait for your neck to heal so that you can tell us your name."

My mind drifts back to her face as she stood silently by the door, her face as expressionless as she was nameless.

I still can't read her.