When the car turned into the Bridge District, dawn had yet to fully break.
The old quarter's streetlights glowed here and there, their orange light covering puddles of standing water. The road had been soaked soft by the night's rain, and the tires made very little noise as they rolled over it.
Jin'en parked at the entrance to an alley on Halfwidth Street.
Broken Rainbow sat in the passenger seat with her head tilted, her white hair spread over the seat back. She had fallen asleep at some point, still cradling her blade, the end of its sheath pressed against the car door.
He didn't wake her.
After cutting the engine, he leaned back in the driver's seat and closed his eyes for a while.
The instant Herman had been folded inward replayed in his mind several times-space collapsing toward its center, the edges of the man first blurring at his fingertips, then along his wrists, forearms, shoulders.
No blood, no sound.
He opened his eyes and turned to glance at Broken Rainbow.
She was still asleep.
Her breathing was shallow, so faint he could barely hear it. White hair fell across her face, hiding most of it, leaving a pointed chin exposed. Her lips were slightly parted, a tiny white tip of one canine showing between them.
Jin'en pushed the car door open and got out.
He knew the Bridge District-after all, he had spent four days holed up in its abandoned buildings. During those days of surviving on damp biscuits scavenged from trash cans, he had walked every alley in the area.
There were few people in the Bridge District at this hour. The first bus wouldn't leave for another half hour. The pancake stall at the alley entrance had only just been set up, its griddle still stained with last night's grease. The owner crouched beside it, lighting a fire; the match took two strikes to catch.
Jin'en walked over.
"Hey, boss."
"Hmm?" The man didn't even look up.
"Anywhere around here that sells shoes?"
The owner finally raised his head and glanced at him.
Jin'en probably didn't look much like someone out buying shoes at five in the morning-his trench coat was unbuttoned, the silver-gray streaks in his black hair gleamed coldly under the streetlights, and dark shadows hung beneath his dark gray eyes. One look made it clear he hadn't slept all night.
"A shoe shop?" The owner scratched his head and pointed down the alley. "There's an old lady with a stall at that corner up ahead. She should be there at this hour. It's all secondhand stuff. If you want something new, go to New Hethereau. Where would you find that in the Bridge District-"
Jin'en was already walking in that direction.
There was indeed a stall at the corner.
An old woman sat on a little stool, a dingy gray cloth spread out in front of her with seven or eight pairs of used shoes arranged on it.
On the piece of cardboard beside her, crooked lettering read, "Five fons a pair."
Jin'en crouched and looked them over.
He picked a pair of black ankle boots.
The leather had been worn shiny, but the soles showed little wear. Someone had probably bought them and resold them after barely wearing them.
They weren't a large size-he measured them against his palm. They were probably just a little bigger than Broken Rainbow's feet.
He had seen her barefoot far too many times.
On the wooden floors in the corridors, on the iron sand in the training ground, on the concrete in dark alleys.
Her toes were always curled.
"These."
The old woman squinted at him, then at the boots in his hands.
"Two fons."
Jin'en took some fons from inside his trench coat and handed them over.
He took the boots, turned them over to inspect the soles, then rubbed the lining with the pad of his finger-soft, it wouldn't chafe.
By the time he returned to the car, Broken Rainbow was awake.
She leaned against the car door, her blade standing beside her feet. Her white hair lay in a tousled mess against one cheek, and her green eyes were half-open, still clouded with sleep.
"Where did you go?" Her voice was very hoarse.
Jin'en held the boots out in front of her.
Broken Rainbow glanced down, then looked back up at him.
"What?"
"Shoes."
Broken Rainbow stared at the boots in his hands for two seconds.
Some of the haze cleared from her green eyes, but her expression stayed the same, her head still tilted as she looked at him.
"For me?"
"Yeah."
She straightened away from the car door and reached out to take the boots.
Holding them by their tops in her left hand, she turned them over twice, then ran her right index finger across a sole.
"They're used."
"Yeah."
"Where did you get them?"
"Bought them at the alley entrance."
Broken Rainbow turned the boots over, exposing the wear marks on their soles.
She stared for a few seconds, and the corner of her mouth lifted.
"Two fons?"
"How did you know?"
"I know the Bridge District's stuff better than you do." Broken Rainbow set the boots on the ground and glanced down at her bare feet.
Dust from the iron sand still clung to the tops of her feet. Her toes were curled, a little dried mud caught between them.
"I don't need to wear..."
"Put them on," Jin'en said.
Broken Rainbow looked up at him.
Jin'en leaned against the car, the hem of his trench coat stirring in the morning breeze. His dark gray eyes rested on her, his expression no different from its usual blank look.
"You walked barefoot the whole way," he said. "Iron sand, concrete, gravel. Look at the soles of your feet yourself."
Broken Rainbow did look down.
There was a thin layer of callus on her soles, but its surface was covered in tiny cracks, several still red around the edges.
She said nothing.
"Put them on."
Broken Rainbow crouched and pulled the boots onto her feet.
Left foot first, then right. She left the laces untied, the tops hanging loosely around her ankles.
She stood and stamped twice, the soles making dull sounds against the concrete.
"Too big."
"Add a pair of socks."
"I don't have socks."
Jin'en looked at her for two seconds.
"We'll deal with it back in your room."
The two of them left the shadows at the alley entrance and headed toward the Scarlet Letter Mansion.
The Bridge District was quiet at this early hour. The shops on Halfwidth Street were all closed, and only the pancake stall at the corner was ready for business, a thin layer of white smoke rising from its griddle.
Jin'en walked ahead, the hem of his trench coat lifting in the wind and falling again. His combat boots stepped across the wet road, leaving a trail of dark footprints.
Broken Rainbow followed half a step behind. She still wasn't used to the new boots touching the ground, her steps alternating between light and heavy, their rhythm a beat slower than usual.
Jin'en didn't hurry her.
There was an uphill stretch between the Bridge District and the mansion halfway up the hill.
Broken Rainbow stopped midway up the slope to catch her breath-the boots were too big, her feet shifting inside them. As she walked uphill, her toes kept pressing against the fronts, and she had to adjust them every three steps.
"Wait a second," she said.
Jin'en stopped.
Broken Rainbow crouched, pulled off her right boot, and shook it upside down with the toe pointing toward the ground. A small pebble rolled out and bounced twice on the road.
She pulled the boot back on and tied the laces-crookedly, with the left boot's laces a little longer than the right's.
"Done."
Jin'en glanced at her.
The laces were crooked, but at least the boots wouldn't fall off now.
The two continued uphill.
Just before they reached the mansion's back door, Broken Rainbow suddenly spoke.
"Why didn't you buy yourself a pair?" Broken Rainbow added, drawing out the words, though her voice was a little softer than usual.
"I don't need shoes."
"You do." Broken Rainbow quickened her pace for two steps, coming alongside him and looking up at his profile. "The heels on your boots are worn flat."
Jin'en turned to glance at her.
Broken Rainbow was looking up at him, her green eyes paler than usual in the morning light, with something in them he wasn't very familiar with.
"When did you look?"
"At the training ground, when you crouched down to teach Little Red Riding Hood." Broken Rainbow turned back to the path ahead. "There's a spot on the outside of your left heel that's almost worn through. Another two months and you'll have to replace them."
Jin'en didn't answer.
They entered the mansion through the back door.
There was hardly anyone in the corridors at this hour. The wall lamps were still on their dim nighttime setting, dull yellow light spilling down from overhead and giving the wooden floor a warm glow.
Jin'en walked ahead, Broken Rainbow following behind. Her boots thudded softly against the wooden floor, a completely different sound from her nearly silent barefoot steps.
At the second-floor corner, Broken Rainbow suddenly turned aside.
"You're going the wrong way," Jin'en said.
"No, I'm not."
"Your room's on the third floor."
"Mm," Broken Rainbow said.
"?" Jin'en said.
Broken Rainbow kept walking.
Jin'en followed, watching the faint marks her boot heels left on the wooden floor, and followed her all the way to her door.
The door wasn't locked. As it swung open, a faint smell drifted out. It wasn't exactly pleasant, something like rust mixed with old paper, exactly the same as the smell from the years she had spent in Red Letter.
Broken Rainbow walked in and sat straight down on the edge of the bed without taking off her boots.
She looked down at the black ankle boots on her feet, half a size too big, and stayed silent for several seconds.
"Take them off," Jin'en said.
"What?"
"Take off the boots."
Broken Rainbow tilted her head at him.
"Come in."
Jin'en stepped over the threshold and walked to the low table.
He pushed the dagger and braided cord on the table aside, then pulled a plastic basin out from under the bed-it was dingy, with a ring of water stains around the bottom, and looked as though it hadn't been used in a long time.
"How long has it been since you washed your feet?" Jin'en set the basin on the floor.
"I wash them every day."
"With cold water?"
"What else?"
Jin'en picked up the basin, turned, and left the room, heading for the communal bathroom at the end of the corridor.
The bathroom had hot water. The Scarlet Letter Mansion was good in that respect: there was hot water no matter the hour, probably because Inanna herself couldn't stand cold showers.
He turned on the tap and waited a few seconds. Hot water filled the plastic basin, the rising steam heating the droplets on its sides until they were scalding.
When he returned with the basin, Broken Rainbow had already taken off her boots. Her bare feet rested on the floor, tucked together, her toes rubbing against one another.
Jin'en set the basin in front of her. Steam rose from it, forming a thin mist in the morning light.
"Soak them."
Broken Rainbow looked down at the hot water in the basin, then back up at Jin'en.
"Are you going to wash my feet, big brother?"
Jin'en leaned against the low table with his arms folded across his chest, his dark gray eyes on her, his face expressionless.
"Wash them yourself."
Broken Rainbow lowered her left foot into the water.
She sucked in a breath as the hot water covered the top of her foot, her toes curling in the water.
She paused for two seconds, then put her right foot in too.
"Hot."
Jin'en ignored her.
Broken Rainbow soaked both feet in the hot water, her toes slowly relaxing.
She looked down at the wavering reflection on the surface, her toes looking slightly crooked through the water's refraction.
After a while, she bent down and dipped her fingers into the water, rubbed the top of her foot twice, then drew them back. She clearly wasn't very good at washing them.
Jin'en watched her.
"How did you wash them before?"
"Wiped them with a wet towel."
"With cold water?"
"Yeah."
Jin'en fell silent for a beat.
"Those cracks on the soles of your feet," he said.
"An old problem." Broken Rainbow stirred the water with her fingers. "They hurt in winter. They're fine in summer."
Jin'en crouched down.
Broken Rainbow's feet soaked in the hot water. The mud on top of them had softened, leaving a thin layer of pale gray flecks floating on the surface.
He reached in, lifted her left foot out of the water, and rested it on his knee.
Broken Rainbow stiffened for an instant.
Jin'en didn't look at her.
He picked up an old towel from the low table, dipped it in the hot water, wrung it half dry, and wiped the top of her foot.
His touch was light. The towel slid from the top of her foot to the gaps between her toes, rubbing away the softened dirt bit by bit.
Her toes curled in his palm.
"Ticklish?" he asked.
"...Yes."
Jin'en changed the angle and slowly worked his thumb along her arch.
The sole of Broken Rainbow's foot was cold. Even after soaking in hot water, it was only lukewarm. Under the light, the tiny cracks in her arch looked like fine lines in a dried-up riverbed.
Jin'en took a small bottle out of his coat's inner pocket. It was transparent and very small, with "Vaseline" printed on the label. He had picked it up in passing at a secondhand stall in the Bridge District and kept it in his pocket ever since.
He unscrewed the lid, scooped out a little with his index finger, and spread it over the cracks in her sole.
Broken Rainbow's foot jerked back when the Vaseline touched her skin, but Jin'en held her ankle and didn't let her pull away.
"Don't move."
"It's cold."
"It'll warm up in a moment."
Jin'en slowly rubbed along the cracks with the pads of his fingers. His touch was light, but much more careful than when he had wiped off the mud.
The Vaseline melted over her skin and seeped into the cracks, smoothing out the lines in her sole a little.
He switched to her other foot and did the same, from the top to the arch, from her toes to her heel.
Broken Rainbow grew quiet.
She sat on the edge of the bed, both hands braced against it, looking down at Jin'en crouching in front of her.
His black hair fell over half his face, the silver-gray highlights like wisps of smoke in the warm light.
His coat sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. The silver marking on the inside of his exposed right wrist lay still, unlit.
"Big brother," she said.
"Mm."
"Why did you buy me shoes?"
"The soles of your feet are cracked."
"You never bothered before."
"I hadn't noticed before."
"You see them every day."
Jin'en's fingers paused.
"Right," he said. "I see them every day, and only bought them today."
Broken Rainbow's toes curled in his palm.
"Why do you always talk like that?" Her voice softened a little.
"Like what?"
"You're clearly doing something nice, but you talk like it's nothing."
Jin'en finished applying Vaseline to her right foot, dipped the towel back into the hot water, wrung it half dry, and wiped the excess grease off the top of her foot.
Then he put both feet back in the basin to soak.
Broken Rainbow moved her feet a couple of times in the water, spreading her toes and drawing them together again.
"When you made your move today, I felt like something was off with you," she said.
Jin'en leaned against the low table, drying his hands with the towel.
"What was off?"
"When you folded, the direction was toward yourself." Broken Rainbow looked down at her reflection in the water, her voice dropping lower than before. "You folded Herman into your own rift. In that direction, if you hadn't controlled it properly, your own hand would have exploded first."
Jin'en set the towel on the low table.
"That way was fastest."
Broken Rainbow raised her head to look at him.
Her green eyes were deep in color under the warm light. There was a quiet light in them, different from her usual grinning look, and different from when she had cornered him against the wall.
"When my sister used to go on missions," she said, "every time she came back, she'd practice at the training grounds until midnight. I thought she practiced so desperately because there was someone she couldn't beat."
She pulled her feet out of the water and set them bare on the floor.
The Vaseline had filled the cracks in her soles with a thin film that gleamed faintly under the light.
The newly bought boots sat beside her, their laces still crooked.
"Only later did I find out..." Broken Rainbow said. "She practiced until midnight because there was no one to pick up the pieces for her. Once the fighting was over, it was over. Once she came back, she was back. No one asked a single question."
Jin'en looked at her.
Broken Rainbow stood, took a step forward, and stopped in front of him, her face tilted up.
"You asked about the cracks in my feet. No one's ever asked," she said.
There was a faint sound in the corridor outside the door.
Very faint.
The sound of a boot heel scraping the seam between wooden floorboards-that loose board at the corner of the third-floor west wing, in the direction of the stairs from Porsette's room, at the seam between the third and fourth boards.
Someone had stepped on it, then drawn back.
Broken Rainbow's green eyes shifted half an inch toward the door.
She didn't turn her head, and the quiet expression on her face didn't change.
But she knew who was standing outside.
Those gilded eyes, that face that always wore a timid expression, that Little Red Riding Hood who had been watching everyone ever since the first day Broken Rainbow had blocked her at the stairs.
Porsette was peeking.
The corner of Broken Rainbow's mouth lifted.
It was strange.
By rights, she should have been angry-this was her room, her big brother, this little bit of peace she had earned by walking all that way alone through the Bridge District.
But what rose in her heart now wasn't the anger of being intruded upon.
It was something fainter and lighter, like a feather floating up through her chest.
She had seen the color of Porsette's soul. Transparent, with nothing in it.
An empty vessel that turned whatever color someone poured into it.
But now that empty vessel outside the door was watching her.
Watching her big brother crouch down to wash her feet.
Watching those cracks in her soles that no one else had ever asked about.
Watching the pressure of her big brother's fingers as he took Vaseline from inside his coat and rubbed it into her arches.
This scene would remain in Porsette's eyes, becoming a touch of color on that layer of transparent glass.
Broken Rainbow suddenly thought-not bad.
She couldn't describe the feeling. It was like the first time she had seen color as a child in the Eye-Carving Bird's dungeon.
Back then, what she had seen was scarlet, the color of everyone's blood mixed together.
Now what she saw was something very faint and indescribable, slowly lighting up for a moment somewhere in her chest.
She glanced down at Jin'en's hand-his right hand rested on the low table, his sleeve rolled to his elbow, the silver marking on the inside of his wrist lying still.
These hands had folded a person today, then washed her feet.
She suddenly reached out and pressed the pad of her thumb against the silver marking on the inside of Jin'en's wrist.
"Hmm?" Jin'en looked down at her hand.
"It's not glowing," Broken Rainbow said.
"Mm."
"Ever since you folded that person today, it hasn't glowed."
"Practice."
Broken Rainbow pressed her thumb against his wrist again. The silver marking lay quietly beneath his skin, neither hot nor glowing.
"You practiced for ten years," she said.
"About that."
"Just to keep it from glowing."
Jin'en looked at her.
Broken Rainbow withdrew her fingers from his wrist and slipped them back into her cargo pants pocket.
Her green eyes curved, the corners of her mouth lifting to reveal her pointed canines.
"Big brother, you really are boring."
"Mm."
"But I'll remember."
After saying that, she turned her head and glanced toward the door.
The loose floorboard in the corridor outside creaked again.
Very softly-the sound of toes stepping onto it and quickly pulling back.
Then came footsteps, very soft and quick, heading along the corridor toward the third-floor west wing.
The sound of bare feet on wooden floorboards.
Porsette had run away.
The corners of Broken Rainbow's mouth lifted higher.
She turned, walked back to the bed, sat down, and slipped her feet into the boots that were half a size too big, lowering her head to tie the laces.
"What are you smiling about?" Jin'en asked.