His world has always been colorless, bland, to the point like most other assassins where he thought there was no soulmate for him. Perhaps, it was worse knowing now that he had a soulmate. He'd grown used to the cold of the streets, the staleness of black and white, the lifelessness of the blood flowing through his veins.
As an assassin, he'd never needed a heart. Cold stone logic is what defined his life before, because one had to be quick on his feet and smart too in order to do his job without stumbling and falling short. He'd been a successful assassin all of his life.
He'd never noticed the first time that he talked with her, despite the knowledge of her fiery red hair, he'd noticed her like he'd seen everyone else. Color was just a word, and he'd never met her eyes afterward. It wasn't something that he felt he had to do then; he'd treated her roughly like everyone else despite the little awe that filled his chest at her bravery.
She wasn't like any other woman that he'd ever met, and that awe was the first feeling to come through. It wasn't attraction really, as he'd never really cared too much for the tangling up of hearts as before that always spelled trouble, so why get involved with the risk?
And he knows it would be easier that way, less to lose when you have nothing to lose after all. He figured he was like Torou and the others, a shadow constructed without feeling, something that disappears so quickly into the night and doesn't bother with feelings.
But maybe a heart peeks through even the toughest shadows just the same as he looks over when a box hits the ground or rather the girl that Obi was forbidden to approach. Distance is better than proximity in this case, and besides he'll just go get Zen, the Little Miss's soulmate, he's half-positive he's heard Kiki and Mitsuhide mention before, when Obi isn't supposed to be close enough to hear a word of it all.
But Miss isn't the best on her feet at the moment, and when she picks the box back up, she nearly falls flat on her back. Obi catches her, one hand on her shoulder, the other on the box. He ignores the hint of a spark where his fingers rest against her shoulder, but he can't avoid what happens when he locks eyes with her.
As she's processing how she knows him, he's watching color flicker to life, like grass blowing in the wind though this time it's just her eyes brightening up with more color than Obi had ever imagined anything could. And her brilliant red hair that Haruka told him about once, flickered into being. Bright red that somehow accented both her bright green eyes and her skin tone.
The only expression she wears is shock, just as he'd expect, Having no soulmate apparently wasn't where Obi's life was going, but having an unrequited soulmate. He swallows a lump in his throat, and pictures one of the men he'd worked with years ago. A man that had a soulmate, but she'd died young. He'd mentioned color fading out just as easily as it came to.
Obi doesn't want to cling to the color and appreciate it so much, that he'd bother getting overly attached and helping this girl to stay alive. Eventually, he'll have to move on and just put up with whatever happens.
Even if that means knowing far more about her life even when he's away from her.