Inertia

It had been a couple of weeks since I had moved into the Assassin hideout with her, and while the scornful stares were all but none existent (as far as I could tell), still, most of the Assassins refused to associate with me. So one of the only friends (and I feel now I can refer to her as a friend) I had, was Jun herself. My guess was that, though they would probably still suspect me a spy, if they ever did, they more resented the fact of how close Jun let me reach her.

She no longer flinched when I touched her arm upon reuniting with her after a training session with Daiyu, and responded with a fleeting glance and a smile – she even brought me European wine when I mentioned how much I missed the taste. Yet she was so distant and, from what I could sense, terribly restless when dealing with her own kind. I would imagine it was because of how so many lives weighed heavily upon her, but now, with the Brotherhood thriving as it was; she no longer beared sole responsibility.

And I resented the time I spent away from her, it was not that I disliked Daiyu (she was outspoken, but honest and supportive nevertheless), in fact I enjoyed training with her, and learned much in only a short amount of time – but she was not Jun, and it dejected me. Daiyu, in fact, was an ex-courtesan like myself, and after each session we would enjoy tea together, recollect past events and compare them with one another. She was an excellent orator, and I found myself growing closer with her – however, during Daiyus and I's discussions: I would miss Jun's graceless floundering she commenced whenever she felt she spoke out of turn (it grounded me, and stressed the fact that I was living among humans; not mindless killers).

One afternoon, Daiyu and I were having tea together, though there had been no training session, there was an emergency which had demanded Jun's attention, and Daiyu had kindly offered to watch over me until her return. She was a tall, slender young woman in what appeared to be her thirties, with an average complexion and lengthy, sleek black hair, and a broken nose; which distinguished her from many of the other female Assassins I had encountered thus far.

Though, I imagined she soon began to tire of me as she later excused herself and assigned Zhu as a tempory warden, explaining how Jun was expected soon, but it still left me with hours to spare. After a short while attempting to converse with Zhu, I eventually conceded, and left him to guard me in peace; instead choosing to read until something more impressive claimed interest.

After a couple of hours, I had grown completely restless, and wished to stretch my legs – which Zhu allowed, if another guard would accompany him. I was of no spirit to argue, so granted his request and walked with him until he found Cheng, the young initiative who agreed to join him. No doubt for the experience, rather than caring for my wellbeing, but at least I was able to walk the compound rather than being stuck in one place, so my opinion on the affair was of little matter.

Though I found that aimless wandering wasn't too my taste, so I eventually found my way to the aviary, near the top floor of the hideout. Though Zhu still didn't communicate much, I spoke with Cheng in deep conversation about the construction and accumilation of the aviary – as a novice, she had spent many hours cleaning the cage and tending to the birds. I joined her then, in feeding them, and took an instant, particular liking to a rather amicable osprey when he would take fish from my hands, and be so careful to not hurt me in the mentioned that his name was 'Shenshi', roughly translated to 'Gentleman', and was gracious enough to offer me half an hour of her time everyday to feed the aviary with her, which I agreed too heartily.

It was an hour or so later, that Jun finally returned, finding all three of us still playing with the birds (Zhu had eventually joined us after Cheng begged him too), thanked my companions for staying with me, and we bid each other a good night. Then, she focused her attention on me.

"So, you met Shenshi." She chuckled, pointing to the hawk perched precariously on my shoulder.

I grinned, nodding in agreement while remaining in the same position of petting the bird (which I had been doing almost since I first entered the aviary). "I believe he's had enough of me for today, though." I released Shenshi and stood up, taking off the leather gauntlet and placing it in a box with several others, while continuing to speaking, though still with a smile. "I imagine by now, you're as tired of me as he is."

All I heard for a moment was Jun's soft laughter, and hand against my arm, guiding me out of the room, though I heard her speak as she starting to climb up to grab the cage keys (which had been covertly hidden against the bars above the large door). "I don't think I could ever tire of you."

My heart leaped in my chest, and I struggled find a way to respond – but I needn't, as Jun simply locked the door in silence, then took my arm and began a fresh conversation topic for our walk back to her room.

A/N: I do apologise about the lack of updates; it's coming up to the end of the education year, so I've exams and deadlines and such. Expect updates to slow for the next month or two. They should pick back up over summer, sorry for any inconvenience.