Somehow, Issa bought his excuse of heat cramps, likely in no small part because she was distracted by the delicious smelling loaf of fresh bread tucked under his arm, and the two returned home to enjoy a scrumptious meal of five-day-old rice and five-minute-old bread.

  “I thought we couldn’t afford fresh bread?” she teased, sinking her teeth into her half of the loaf as she devoured another bite. “Becuff thish ish derishus.”

  Rayne blinked. “Chew your food.”

  Swallowing, his sister giggled. “Seriously though, this is fantastic. You’re sure we can afford this?”

  With a nod, Rayne took a bite of his own bread, savoring the soft textures as it melted in his mouth. “I told you, I got a big tip at work today. We’re set for the week.”

  “If you say so…” Though she wore a dubious expression, Issa continued to devour the bread, her soup almost ignored except for dipping as her half disappeared into her gullet. Seeing her greedy expression, Rayne laughed and broke off a portion of his own loaf which he tossed onto her plate.

  “But this is yours!” she protested.

  He shook his head. “Same rules as the other day, sis. Besides, I had a big lunch.” This was a lie, he’d actually skipped lunch, probably a factor in why he had gotten so tired fighting the baniv, but she didn’t need to know that.

  Issa looked at him, then the bread, and finally the rice, her stomach clearly waging war with her mind. In the end, her stomach won, but she looked up at him, her eyes asking one last time if he was fine with it. A slight nod was all she needed, and she happily tore into her new piece as Rayne smiled from the opposite side of the table.

  As she ate, Rayne glanced around the kitchen. Everything was just as it always was. The sink dripped slightly, the enchantments on the pipes having grown too weak to fully turn off, and the countertop was a mixture of scorch marks and gouges from dropped knives—the legacy of his first year cooking for the two of them. There was only one window, set just above the sink, and its dusty glass let in only enough light to navigate by. It was small on purpose to prevent grown men from fitting through, which was a common problem here in the Dregs.

  Pulled back from his observations by Issa, Rayne noticed that she had finished eating. Turning, he looked at her. “How was your day?”

  Pushing her plate to the side, Issa gave him her undivided attention, then started recounting how the day’s classes had gone.

  This was their usual ritual. As someone who had been at the academy before, Rayne had helped her early on with her coursework, which was far harder and more burdensome than what she had been accustomed to at the public school that all children in the city attended until the age of eleven. Even though she had long since surpassed him, who had dropped out in his second year, they still kept up the tradition.

  It was a nice way to unwind, and occasionally, there was a problem that Rayne could offer insight on. Though more often than not, all Issa had to do was talk herself through the issue as Rayne sat there and nodded encouragingly. Truly, her teachers had it easy.

  “—and Tommer was found kissing Fomi Goldhouse behind the gymnasium, which naturally caused a huge fuss.”

  “Because she’s a noble and he’s a commoner?” Rayne intuited.

  “You’d think,” Issa responded, shaking her head. “But actually, no. Tommer’s the son of one of the wealthiest merchants in the city so there’s no problem there. It’s actually because Fomi was caught kissing a different boy three days ago, but the girl who saw them didn’t say anything. Today she did, though, and now everyone knows Fomi’s leading at least one of them on.”

  “Poor Tommer.” Issa made a face, which caused Rayne to chuckle. “Not poor Tommer?”

  “No. He’s a bit of a… Well, none of us girls think much of him,” Issa confided. “He’s too flirtatious. He’s come after me in the past, but stopped after he learned of my background. Shallow ass. I’m actually surprised Fomi would court him.”

  Rayne shrugged. “If she’s anything like her older sister, I’m not surprised. Rani was known during my days at the Academy for letting loose. Their family’s apparently pretty strict at home, so I think it’s their way of rebelling.” Seeing his sister twitch, he leaned in, a mischievous glint in his eye. “And what about you, eh? Anyone you’ve got your eye on?”

  Issa laughed. “Nope. And I would turn that same question back on you. Surely there must be no shortage of interested women coming by the clerk's office, eh? Oh brother of mine?”

  Waving a hand in front of his face, Rayne snorted. “As if. It’s only middle-aged mothers and widowers coming in. Hardly a hangout for eligible bachelorettes. Sorry, sis, but it’s gonna be a while longer before you get a sister-in-law.”

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  Even as he said it, a pair of fluffy ears came to mind, but he immediately banished the thought. Business and pleasure had to be kept separate. That was common knowledge.

  With a light laugh, Issa regarded him. “Then I guess we’ll just have to continue to be lonely together then.” She smiled as she said it, clearly showing that she meant no harm with her words, and Rayne smiled indulgently back at her.

  “Anyways, lovely as this has been, I’m feeling pretty scuzzy after spending all day baking in the heat, so if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll head upstairs.”

  As Issa cleared the table, Rayne retired to the bath, where he sank into a tub of water, hot from the pipes. Normally, he would have been annoyed that the exposed pipes allowed the sun to nearly boil their water before it arrived. But today the warmth felt luxurious, even with the heat that seeped through the tightly shut window with its broken shutter that banged loudly whenever there was a storm.

  It’s a good thing that I didn’t get injured against the baniv. That would have been a lot harder to explain. Despite the intensity of the fight, it had actually gone surprisingly well for Rayne. The baniv had not landed any successful blows on him, leaving only a few marks where it had grabbed his wrists that were easily hidden by his sleeves. There was a reason it was classified as an unranked monster that even new adventurers could hunt after all.

  Apart from the post-fight weirdness, his first day as an adventurer had gone rather well. Syra, as it turned out, was a master at collecting herbs, and he at identifying them, one of the few courses he had truly excelled at back at the Academy. Between the two of them, they had amassed more than the required amount in only seven hours, which was why Syra had had so much time to torture him upon their return.

  Still, the eleven silver they had received was a welcome balm, even after they’d split it two ways, and the baniv horns had fetched him a further fifty copper which added nicely to the total.

  Rayne could not help but shake his head as he reclined in the bath, his feet over the edge due to the tinyness of the tub. In only four hours of work, he had made more than he did in an entire day at the clerk’s office. And that included a two-way split. Had he taken the job alone, it would have taken longer, but he could have likely accomplished it solo and taken the entire eleven silver for himself. It was results-oriented thinking, but becoming an adventurer had clearly been the correct call.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Issa’s voice floated in from outside the door, and Rayne nodded before realizing she could not see him.

  “I’m fine,” he managed as she popped the door open a crack. Not enough to see him, but enough so that they could talk without their words being muffled. “The hot water is helping.”

  “At last, this heat is useful for something,” Issa joked.

  “I always knew my suffering would come in handy someday,” Rayne deadpanned.

  A slight giggle could be heard from behind the door. From the sounds of it, she had sat down, with her back to the doorframe, and Rayne could picture her, hugging herself with both knees drawn up against her chest and her head leaned back against the wall.

  “Rayne?” she said after a few moments, her tone quiet.

  “Yeah?”

  “Everything’s fine, right?”

  Rayne blinked at this, and shifted slightly in the tub, the water rippling as it surged against the sides before calming once more. “Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “I don’t know.” He could hear the frustration in her voice as she confessed to this. Issa hated not knowing things. It was part of what made her such an excellent student, and also why she was so difficult to trick. “You’ve seemed distant these past few days. Prices are going up, and…”

  Rayne gave her a moment to continue. “And?” he prompted her.

  “And I heard a rumor that they’re planning to raise tuition at the Academy next semester. No one has said anything official, but from the way people are talking, it’s a done deal.”

  Rising from the tub, Rayne grabbed a towel and began to dry off. It was not a deep tub, and they couldn’t afford to fill it anyways, so he only really had to towel his bottom half. As he did, he continued the conversation.

  “Perhaps it will be a small raise. It’s not as if they haven’t raised tuition in the past.”

  “But what if they don’t increase the scholarships to match?” Issa cried. “We’re already at our limits as it is. You’re working longer and longer hours, but food prices are rising, rent’s gone up, and now this? How are we supposed to survive!?”

  Tossing the towel back on the rack, Rayne shimmied into his pants and exited the bathroom. This had clearly gone far past a closed-door conversation, and he did not intend to let his sister continue to panic alone.

  The moment he left the bathroom, he found her sitting right beside the door with her knees drawn up against her chest and her head down. Hearing him, she looked up, her eyes bloodshot and puffy.

  She had been crying, he realized, the tear marks evident on her cheeks, and she did not move as he approached, but rather stayed sitting.

  Kneeling, he put his arms around her and pulled her close. “Everything will be fine,” he murmured softly. “Trust me.”

  With a little nod, Issa allowed him to hold her for a minute, then pushed him away. “I know, I’m just being silly.”

  “You’re not being silly,” Rayne began, but she shook her head.

  Putting on a forced smile, she grinned at him. “Yes I am. With all that we’ve overcome, there’s no way a little tuition hike is going to stop us now.”

  She looked brave, but Rayne could tell it was a front. Still, he could not bring himself to tell her that the coming hike was anything but small, and so he mirrored her expression, putting on what he hoped was a reassuring smile as he nodded.

  “Of course not. Now come on, you, get to studying. Because there’ll be no need to worry about scholarship increases if you lose your scholarship!”

  Rising to her feet, Issa nodded, then moved towards her room and entered, closing the door behind her. Just before it shut though, Rayne saw her reach up, wiping her eyes with her sleeve as the door closed between them.