A few weeks passed since Sophia first spoke to Ren.

Nothing huge changed. The orphanage remained the orphanage. Breakfast was still thin porridge that left stomachs growling an hour later because of low funding. The caretakers still spoke more sharply when donors were not around. The older children still took up more space than the younger ones, sprawling across the common room like they owned it.

But Sophia’s days were a little different now because she talked to Ren sometimes.

Not every day.

Ren was not the kind of person someone could just drag into conversation whenever they wanted. Sometimes he answered, entertaining her. Sometimes he ignored her. Sometimes he told her she was asking useless questions and blatantly told her to go away.

Sophia should have found this rude, but she kept coming back anyway. It didn’t seem like he was doing it out of malice, because even if he told her to go away one day, the next day he may be completely fine.

So she didn’t come back because he was nice. He was not. She came back because he was honest in a way most people were not.

She approached him during one of the quieter afternoons. Ren sat near the side of the yard, reading an old book with a torn cover. It was probably too advanced for their age, but Ren read it anyway. There was once where Sophia tried reading over his shoulder, and she didn’t understand half of what was being written.

I mean, what even is a subpoena?

Sophia sat near him without asking.

A few weeks ago, she would have asked permission. Now she knew he would straight up tell her to leave if he wanted her to.

He did neither, so she took that as permission.

"Breakfast was worse than usual today," Sophia said, talking to herself more than him.

Ren turned a page. "They probably watered it down. Not unusual."

Sophia frowned. "It was thinner than yesterday."

"They probably used less grain because the delivery was short."

"How do you know that?"

"The sacks in the back room were fewer than last week."

Sophia stared at him. "You noticed that?"

Ren answered without looking up. "It was not hard to notice. They come every week at the same time."

This was the kind of conversation they had now. Sophia said something about her day, Ren answered with something practical and strangely observant. It annoyed her sometimes, but she also found it interesting how much he knew.

Sophia thought about how strange it was that she ended up spending time with him. Ren was not warm. He did not comfort her when she complained. He did not agree with her just to be kind. If anything, he made her feel stupid sometimes.

But when he spoke, she felt like he was actually saying what he thought.

That was rare in the orphanage, where everyone said what they thought would keep them out of trouble.

Then Sophia noticed something else.

Ever since she started sitting near Ren, the bullying had stopped a little.

Not completely. The older children still made comments sometimes. They still bumped into her shoulder when passing. They still laughed if she dropped something.

But they did not take her food as often. They did not corner her near the washroom anymore. They did not pull her hair when caretakers were not looking.

At first, Sophia thought it was a coincidence.

Then she noticed the way they looked at Ren before approaching her.

Ren never threatened anyone in front of her. He never fought them. He never said he was protecting her.

That would be absurd. Ren was not that kind of person.

But something changed.

"Did you do something?" Sophia asked directly.

Ren did not look up from his book. "What do you mean?"

"The older children have been bothering me less."

"Maybe they got bored."

Sophia shook her head. "They never got bored before."

Ren turned a page. "People get bored of things when the cost becomes too great."

Ren then grabbed his book and pointed to the exact quote in the book. It read the same thing he just said "people get bored of things when the cost becomes too great."

Sophia stared at him blankly.

"What cost?"

"One of the older boys stole extra bread three days after you first started sitting with me. The caretaker found it under his mattress, and I believe he got punished badly." He paused. "Another girl who liked pulling hair was blamed for breaking a broom handle a few days earlier. A different boy lost his orphanage uniform and got punished greatly because they were forced to replace it."

Sophia slowly realized those were not random.

"You did that?"

Ren didn’t respond for a while. "I only made it inconvenient for them to keep acting the same way. All these events took place on days they messed with you. If people learn that bothering one person causes unrelated problems later, they stop bothering that person. Or at least that’s what I read. It seemed to have worked. They probably just got ’bored.’"

Sophia should have been disturbed by this. A little.

But mostly she felt relieved, and that made her feel guilty. And a little flattered.

"Why did you do it?"

"It was annoying."

"What was annoying?"

"You kept coming to sit near me with a bruised arm or messy hair, and then you asked more questions than usual. It made reading difficult."

Sophia did not know how to respond to that.

It was not kindness from him.

But it was not nothing either. He still helped her.

"Does that mean we are friends?"

Ren looked at her like she said something strange.

"Friends are usually people who enjoy each other’s company."

Sophia’s heart sank a little. "You do not enjoy my company?"

"You talk too much."

She puffed up her cheeks angrily. "You could have just said yes."

"That would be wrong. We are not friends."

Despite that, he did not tell her to leave.

Sophia decided that was close enough.